Arsenal Thread

[Jonny D]

I agree managers should be able to speak their minds, if you think somebody is a cheat you think somebody is a cheat - sure there may be better ways to go about that than to say it to everybody, but in the heat of the moment what's wrong with having an opinion.

[supergrass]

This isn't meant in any way other than curiousity, but can you point out these examples of Arsene Wenger cheating?

My point was more that the attitude taken with regards to manager's comments from the FA seems to be "agree with us or say nothing", which shouldn't be the case.

[fineintent]

He didn't call Wenger a cheat, he called him a hypocrite because he employs cheats. Pires springs to mind - Wenger "didn't see it" when he dived, but saw Rooney. That's not a jibe at Wenger, that's the way of football.

[supergrass]

Yeah, I see it now (I read it incorrectly), and it's a fair point that he's making.

However, I still think the gagging of anybody anti-FA is something wrong with the way of football also. There are a lot things still unresolved in football I guess, most of them probably won't ever be fixed either.

[The Quasi Juice]

Chelsea is the Champion. Lol! And it's all because of Arjen Robben....

[supergrass]

Chelsea is the Champion. Lol! And it's all because of Arjen Robben....

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[public enemy]

Chelsea is the Champion. Lol! And it's all because of Arjen Robben....

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Great post.

You could always go /forum/index.php?showtopic=208">here.

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[FLiam]

No.

Arsenal are the champions.

Chelsea haven't been in 49 years.

Anyone see the game? It was pretty poor, but Sol's goal was amazing, never thought I would see him do that, he has tried about at least 5 times in his Arsenal career, all of them went high into the stand but this one was perfect B)

[AJ]

Was LuaLua named man of the match? If not he should have been. Arsenal weren't at their best I don't think. Portsmouth made it difficult for them today.

[sirdavinator]

Now I'm just relieved Arsenal won again. Campbell used to only score goals from corners, and this goal is a little more surprising.

[G-O-D]

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that the club have opened contract talks with England star Ashley Cole.

The full back has two years left on his current deal at Highbury but was recently linked with Real Madrid.

The Spanish titans were purportedly lining up Cole as the long-term successor to Brazilian Roberto Carlos.

The North Londoners brushed off talk of the interest from Real by insisting they had no plans to part with Cole.

Wenger has now confirmed that talks are underway to try and tie the defender to a new deal that will keep him at the club until 2009.

"We are talking at the moment about giving him a better contract," Wenger stated.

"This will give him the recognition as one of the top players and we hope it will all be concluded in the next few months."

[TMM]

I actually thought the game was pretty decent. Nothing to write home about, but entertaining nontheless. I could see us winning, just didn't know where the goal would come from. And fuck me if I didn't spill my damn drink when Sol scored!

[Guest UmpireAJS]

Glad to see Arsenal going back to winning ways. I dont care how they got it but the win made me sigh out in relief. phew!

[Guest Pirate Chasin' Booty]

Very lucky to get the point there, but even so its not enough, Chelsea go 7 clear, its going to take something special to stop them now, the only teams I can see capable of pulling off a victory over them are Man Utd and Arsenal, and even that is far from certain, they've gotta slip up somewhere or they've bought the title.

Shaun Wright-Phillips is spectacular, I want him, regardless of the fee.

[TMM]

Very lucky to get the point there, but even so its not enough, Chelsea go 7 clear, its going to take something special to stop them now, the only teams I can see capable of pulling off a victory over them are Man Utd and Arsenal, and even that is far from certain, they've gotta slip up somewhere or they've bought the title.

Shaun Wright-Phillips is spectacular, I want him, regardless of the fee.

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Same here. Wright-Phillips is class.

Bloody annoyed now because of the draw. Chelsea have gone VERY clear, and like you said mudda, a mircale would be nice.

[Guest The Real Deal]

The title race this year is going to be amazing. The Mourinho / Wenger / Ferguson issues is really going to kick off.

Mourinho said he'd have the title won in April but I have a funny feeling Arsenal are going to pull back the points and possibly win the league this year.

[FLiam]

Disapointing result, and yes, I want Wright-Phillips too, the thing is. If he signed, where would he play? I wouldn't really want to drop Freddie.

I still believe we can win the league, and we will.

Hopefully.

[supergrass]

You ask where Wright-Philips would play now, but a bit of competition would mean the next time Freddie gets injured we have a great cover, some competition for places.

One thing I think tonight showed, our squad isn't good enough, especially in defence. Hoyte and Senderos weren't bad, but they shouldn't be in there, a club like us should have good, somewhat established players to step in. I think when all are fit we have the best team possibly in Europe, but our squad isn't up to scratch, injuries or not.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Awesome goal from Wright-Phillips, the guy is just stunning.

Title race is far from over if you ask me. Seven points clear? That's barely nothing. If they lose to United and Arsenal, then that's pretty much one point clear of Arsenal. That's when they panic and crack under pressure if you ask me.

I could be wrong but we'll see.

[G-O-D]

'Lehmann may quit Arsenal' - Wenger

Jens Lehmann will quit Highbury this summer if he has not recovered his Arsenal place by then, believes Arsene Wenger.

The 35-year-old starts Sunday's FA Cup third-round tie at home to Stoke but has already been warned that Manuel Almunia is set to return at Bolton the following weekend.

The German goalkeeper has missed the past nine games after being dropped and knows his chances of replacing Oliver Kahn at national team level.

Lehmann has been warned by Germany's goalkeeping coach Andy Kopke that he needs to be playing regular first-team football next season if he hopes to compete with Kahn for the World Cup finals.

Wenger admitted: 'He will fight for his position until the end of the season as he is a competitor and he believes he will win his place back.

'But I don't think he would realistically want to stay in that situation beyond the end of this season if it hasn't changed.

'The World Cup doesn't make the situation any easier for him or me.'

Wenger insists that Almunia is still his first-choice goalkeeper, having been impressed at the way in which he has coped with the pressure over the past month.

Having taken time to find his feet, the 27-year-old Spaniard has kept clean sheets in three of his past four games.

Wenger added: 'I completely agree that he under-performed in the first two or three games, so I can understand why he was criticised.

'But although I knew it was because of the pressure, the question for me was whether he would learn to live with that and show his real talent.

'To give him a chance, you have to leave him in. If, after five or six games, the pressure is still too big, then you must conclude he cannot cope with it.

'But I feel he has shown great strength as he has slowly adapted to that. At the moment, he is the regular choice.'

Lehmann still gets his chance to impress against Stoke, with Wenger also choosing to rest Thierry Henry, Freddie Ljungberg and Ashley Cole.

Gilberto, Edu, Lauren, Sol Campbell and Dennis Bergkamp, as well as Mathieu Flamini and Pascal Cygan, are all still out injured, but Jose Antonio Reyes is poised to return after injury.