Another Premier weekend went by with the clubs from Manchester setting the early season pace. Wayne Rooney has turned into football’s Midas because everything he touches turns to goals. Arsenal received a first hand demonstration of his newly-found clinical ability in front of goal.
Arsenal secured its first win the Premier League last weekend and the result put smiles back on the faces of gooners worldwide.
Arsene Wenger was delighted with the vital win against Swansea:
“It was vital for us to win this game. We started well but slowly the nerves took over and we played with the handbrake on and [were] restricted in the second half.
“It is not often you see us pass the ball back to our goalkeeper when we are on the halfway line but you could see the nerves in the second half. We just wanted to get over the line and not make a mistake. If you make a mistake, you know you then don’t win a game it is vital to win.”
“But credit to Swansea, they played really well they have some good players and are brave to get the ball at the back. It’s not easy to come here but they were brave and showed some confidence. It wasn’t easy but I’m glad for the debuts and glad for the three points.”
He also spoke of the performance of his new recruits:
“Mertesacker was calm and composed. He leads the line well and of course needs time to adapt to the pace of the game in this country but I was pleased with him.
“Benayoun brought us something when he came on. He was mobile, dynamic and overall did well.”
“Arteta played very well overall, especially in the first half. In the second half it was more difficult for him but you could see he will bring something to us technically in a team that likes to play the way we play.”
Arteta also had a thing or two to say about the game:
“It was important to get the three points and we’ve done it. It was important to forget about what happened two weeks ago [the 8-2 defeat against Manchester United] and now we have a big Champions League game on Tuesday [Borussia Dortmund] and let’s focus on that now.
Wenger has also stated that the squad is stronger than last season and he’s confident that they’ll go all the way this time.
Arsenal’s captain Robin van Persie has also stated his delight for the acquisitions made this summer:
“We have some new additions that we are very happy about, I followed the transfer deadline day quite closely from Holland, and was in touch with people over here. It was quite crazy really, I followed it like I’m sure all the fans did.”
Walcott and van Persie were among the players that openly stated about the need for new recruits during the summer so I’m sure that the deadline day arrivals brought butterflies to van Persie’s belly.
News regarding transfers are supposed to be minimal with football headlines dominating proceedings but the media Vultures are having none of that because January is closer to them than the rest of the football world.
They’re reported that Arsenal are on the alert after Vagner Love stated that he wants to leave CSKA in January.
With van Persie leading the front line with the likes of Chamakh and Park CY behind him, I don’t see the need for another striker; especially the type that will dye his braids to colour Red if he joins the club.
They’ve also revealed that Arsene Wenger wanted to sign Cahill but he backed out after getting Mertesacker:
“I don’t want to compare [Mertesacker and Cahill] and I like Cahill as a player so both are good players.
“Mertesacker is a good player, has more experience, more international experience. Cahill is a young, promising English player. Both would have done well for us, we would have accepted both.”
Mertesacker is a proven experienced international while Cahill is a talented footballer but Koscielny is equally as good as Cahill so I’m happy with the present lot of center backs at the club.
Finally, the media Vultures say that Arsenal is ready to make a bid for Esteban Granero. The Real Madrid midfielder was a star at Getafe but he has failed to shine at the Bernabeu so an exit might seem on the cards for the playmaker.
Arsenal’s next match comes up tomorrow in Germany against Borussia Dortmund. The German outfit won the Bundesliga last season and they possess a very exciting squad that has the likes of Mario Gotze, Shinji Kagawa and Lucas Barrios.
Having played against them many times in his Werder Bremen days, Arsenal’s newbie Per Mertesacker has issued a warning to Arsenal ahead of their Champions League curtain raiser tomorrow:
“Dortmund were the best team in Germany last year, they do a good job passing the ball and have great players”
“It will be difficult for us but I know we have very good players and I’m confident we can get a result.
“Dortmund are the toughest opponent in our group, so we will be very happy if we can take something from this match.”
Placing Dortmund in the same scale with Olympiakos and Olympique Marseille, it’s fair to say that they are Arsenal’s toughest opponents in Group F.
However, the Polish contingent in Dortmund have ridiculed their compatriot Wojciech Szczesny following his 8-goal haul at Old Trafford.
Lukasz Piszczek, Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski teased Szczesny for conceding eight in Old Trafford but I tend to wonder if Roman Weidenfeller would have fared better on the 28th of August against the clinical Wayne Rooney and the technically astute Ashley Young.
Arsenal’s leading scorer Theo Walcott has come out to say that he’ll be rubbish without his pace:
“I’d be rubbish [without it]! It’s about touch as well, but pace in the Premier League is massive.”
“I’m fairly quick. I’d be up there. There’s a lot of pacy players in the Premier League but I’d be right up there definitely.”
He also gave his take on Arsenal’s 8-2 loss to Manchester United:
“It [the result against Manchester United] hurt a lot.
“Seeing the players go through that, no player wants to be part of that.”
Everybody knows that Walcott will be ranked among the top 10 fastest players in the business but its good to know that he has matured as a player and this is evidenced by his performance last season (13 goals, 11 assists).
He has started this season on a good note but there’s still room for improvement because he has age on his side.
In other Arsenal related news, Stan Kroenke broke his long standing silence to speak about Arsenal’s transfer policy:
“There’s a risk of going backwards if you overreact and start throwing money around in an attempt to solve your problems. Our track record is out there for people to see. If we think there’s good value, we’ll spend.”
Be the judge of that.
To round it all up, Arsenal’s Joel Campbell shined on his Lorient debut against Sochaux and the club has hit back on Capello following his rash comments about the club’s role in Wilshere’s injury.
As Bugs Bunny would say,
“That’s all folks”
Sayonara.
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