Arsenal Thread

[TheArsenal]

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says he does not want Ashley Cole to leave the club.

In the promotional material for his new book, Cole criticised the Gunners for making him a "scapegoat" over the tapping-up affair with Chelsea.

Wenger said: "He has two years on his contract and unless we sell he has a future. I want him to stay.

"Nothing is decided yet and for me he is just an Arsenal player like everyone else. Football players are there to play football," he told Sky Sports.

Cole, Chelsea and Blues' manager Jose Mourinho were all fined after they breached league rules by meeting without Arsenal's knowledge.

Cole went on to sign a new contract with the Gunners but has now revealed his anger at how the club handled the fall out surrounding his Chelsea meeting.

"Arsenal hung me out to dry, using me as a scapegoat to get back at Chelsea," he is quoted in The Sun as saying.

"The board 'rewarded' me with an insult and threw years of loyalty back in my face.

"I'll reveal the shattering truth about who fed me to the sharks. It changed my view forever on the club I regarded as family."

However, Wenger insisted: "When we look at Ashley Cole we can say Arsenal have helped him a lot. He is intelligent enough to make a difference."

[9 to 5]

Let Cole go for a big price. It's clear he wants off, and if he goes to Chelsea I can't see how that will help his career much especially if Roberto Carlos is going to Stamford Bridge as well. Besides knowing Wenger, he will find someone twice as good.

[TheArsenal]

Arsene Wenger has denied Arsenal are planning a £4m move for Barcelona's Argentina star Javier Saviola.

The 24-year-old striker's agent Alfredo Cabrera Brizuela claimed he was a target for the Gunners.

But Wenger said: "We are not interested in Saviola. I have enough forward players. We have bought Tomas Rosicky.

"We have Ljungberg, Reyes, Van Persie, Henry, Adebayor, Walcott, Lupoli, Bendtner and Aliadiere. So where do I put all the strikers?"

Saviola, who has 34 international caps and has scored 10 goals, made three appearances at the recent World Cup.

The 1999 South American Footballer of the Year has made more than 100 appearances for Barcelona but has struggled to make an impression at the Nou Camp since moving from River Plate in 2001.

He spent the 2004/05 season on loan at Monaco before returning to Spain last term when he helped Sevilla to Uefa Cup success.

Saviola's Barcelona contract is set to expire in 2007 and the European champions are keen to recoup some of the reported £15m they spent on the striker.

Wenger is more likely to move for a defender to cover the departure of Sol Campbell, but will not pay £10m for West Bromwich Albion defender Curtis Davies.

He said: "We will sign one player, or two maximum, but no more. Davies is a player who I like, but I have not made an inquiry or a bid - £10m is too high."

Edited July 17, 2006 by TheArsenal

[TMM]

Shoulder injury could sideline Senderos for three months

By Richard Clarke

Arsène Wenger has revealed that Philippe Senderos could be ruled out for up to three months.

The Swiss centre back dislocated his shoulder in the World Cup game with South Korea on June 23. It forced him to miss the rest of the tournament and, it could stop him starting the Premiership season for Arsenal.

With Sol Campbell having left the Club, the manager has admitted he may need to bolster his backline as a result.

"We have lost Senderos for the next three months," he said after the goalless draw with Barnet. "Johan Djourou and Gael Clichy have had injuries as well.

Wenger added: "If we find a player who can play centre back, left back then we are still open [for transfers]."

The World Cup players are due to return to training later this week. In addition to the defensive problems, Freddie Ljungberg is injured.

"Freddie has had an inflammation in his foot," said Wenger. "We have to check it with a scan. We will see."

Source: Arsenal.com

Well bollocks. The only plus side from this is it means it might well force Wenger to sign a new defender, which can only be good news because we're seriously lacking back there.

Also, he says "a player who can play centre back, left back" so it seems he's preparing for life after Mr. Ungrateful (AKA Ashley Cole).

[Guest muddatrucker]

Fuck Ashley Cole, had he not been an upity cunt I could have seen him as a future captain but now I just want to see the back of him, regardless of talent.

I'd love to see us get Buffon but I would hate that to result in Lehmann becoming backup since he deserves so much more but I can't see him going for too much longer (infact I can, but people will doubt him as he ages). We need a centre back and we need a proper left back too, I just hope Wenger can find somebody.

[TMM]

Fuck Ashley Cole, had he not been an upity cunt I could have seen him as a future captain but now I just want to see the back of him, regardless of talent.

I'd love to see us get Buffon but I would hate that to result in Lehmann becoming backup since he deserves so much more but I can't see him going for too much longer (infact I can, but people will doubt him as he ages). We need a centre back and we need a proper left back too, I just hope Wenger can find somebody.

Buffon has apparently come out and said he wants to stay in Italy. Dunno if that means with Juventus or just Italy in general. Can't remember if it was him or his agent that said that. Although the guy who said that said he likes London as an option.

Thing is, Italian players historically never seemed to get picked for the country if they don't play there.

[fineintent]

I don't think that's necessarily true. Zola played for Italy, even scoring against England in the 98 qualifier at Wembley. It just so happens that the ones that go abroad are usually shit or happened to not be at a decent enough level at the time (Gattuso anyone?).

[TMM]

I don't think that's necessarily true. Zola played for Italy, even scoring against England in the 98 qualifier at Wembley. It just so happens that the ones that go abroad are usually shit or happened to not be at a decent enough level at the time (Gattuso anyone?).

Except for Zola, I can't think of anyone else. That said, I can't think of anyone else who was a regular for Italy who's LEFT Italy, and I think that's the reason why. They're afraid that if they don't play in the country they won't be picked.

[fineintent]

I don't think that's necessarily true. Zola played for Italy, even scoring against England in the 98 qualifier at Wembley. It just so happens that the ones that go abroad are usually shit or happened to not be at a decent enough level at the time (Gattuso anyone?).

Except for Zola, I can't think of anyone else. That said, I can't think of anyone else who was a regular for Italy who's LEFT Italy, and I think that's the reason why. They're afraid that if they don't play in the country they won't be picked.

[TheArsenal]

This scandal could be the change of things. I mean, not all those stars will want to stay in Serie B, and may move to Spain or England.

The Italy national team won't want to shun them all.

[TheArsenal]

Dennis Bergkamp believes the future of Arsenal is in more than capable hands as he calls time on his career.

The Dutchman, 37, is retiring after 11 seasons with the Gunners but expects his former team-mates to challenge Chelsea for the Premiership title.

"Last year gave a lot of teams some confidence because Chelsea dropped some points," Bergkamp told BBC Sport.

"Liverpool and Manchester United and us will be up there, there is more of a chance for the other teams this year."

For the last two years Chelsea have raced away with the title, but Bergkamp says rivals should not be overawed by their spending power.

The Blues have gone out and added, amongst others, Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack to their squad.

In comparison, Arsenal's summer spending has been limited to the £6.8m outlay on Czech Republic international Tomas Rosicky.

"You can have six world-class strikers but you can only play two, maybe three," Bergkamp added.

"If you have a strong team with a solid defence, which is what Arsenal have worked on in the last two seasons, there are always players in this team that can make the difference, score goals and win games for you.

"I'm sure we'll challenge for every title."

And Bergkamp feels Arsenal can take great confidence from reaching the Champions League final last season which capped a campaign in which Arsene Wenger blooded a host of young players.

The Gunners pipped north London rivals Tottenham to the fourth Champions League spot before narrowly losing the final of that competition to Barcelona after seeing Jens Lehmann sent off.

Bergkamp considers it crucial to carry over the momentum they built up at the end of last season.

"From us being favourites two years ago it's different now, and maybe we are not favourites anymore," he said.

"But I feel with this team, every year, is getting stronger and stronger, they are more experienced and many of them played in the World Cup, and if they can bring that to this team I really think they can challenge.

"Last season our Champions League run gave us a lot of confidence and at times we took that into the league.

"And with a good pre-season and a good start they can build on that and keep it going again. It's not that long ago they were at the top, they have the experience, it's not new to them."

[FLiam]

Picked up the new shirt today with Fabregas on the back. I don't like it that much, wish I didn't buy it now, it is just a bit weird.

I want to see the new away kit. The goalkeeper kit is fucking horrible.

[TheArsenal]

I got the new kit today as well. Nothing on the back, I never name my shirts.

I like it, but the badge seems a bit bigger than usual....

[Stevie B]

The Bergkamp testemonial is a rather good game.

Grimandi's take-down of Davids was classic.

[Guest muddatrucker]

Yeah, although the first half was like watching your mother get raped, they were pure shit. Decent send off never the less, my brother has a habit of getting tickets to all the best games (last Arsenal/Spurs at highbury, last game at highbury, first game at the Emirates etc) what a cunt. Oh well at least I get a programme.

[Liam]

Haha, I just found it funny that Corals decided to void all bets as seemingly it was seen as two matches rather than one.

[TMM]

When I saw Ian Wright sit down next to Patrick Vieira I had this image of him trying to convince him to come back to Arsenal.

[CraigOrion]

He probably was but then Wrighty's shouts of "SWP for England!" clouded the issue...

[TheArsenal]

Arsenal trio Gael Clichy, Philippe Senderos and Abou Diaby will miss the first six weeks of the season.

Midfielder Diaby, 20, suffered a broken and dislocated ankle in May and manager Arsene Wenger said: "He is ahead of what we expected for him.

"But it is November at the earliest for him. The news is quite good for Diaby, Clichy and Senderos but the first of these will be back in October."

Left-back Clichy has an ankle injury while Senderos dislocated his shoulder.

The Swiss defender suffered the injury at the World Cup.

Wenger is confident that Freddie Ljungberg will only miss the first game of the Premiership season as he recovers from an ankle problem.

"He is doing well," said the Gunners boss. "He may not be there for the first game of the season but he will be there around the start."

[fineintent]

Why should Immigrants Stadium host an England match when its team have no English players? It should just go about hosting foreign internationals.