OZIL WILL REMAIN AT ARSENAL NEXT SEASON!!!

The Arsenal boss has rubish reports that Juventus have enquired about the German Ozil, while Wenger believes Manchester United have significantly strengthened their midfield Arsene Wenger has rejected reports that Mesut Ozil could leave Arsenal this summer and insists the German will be a key player next season. The 26-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Juventus recently, with manager Max Allegri thought to be on the lookout for a new No.10 to replace Carlos Tevez.

But Wenger has rubbished the claims and is adamant the Gunners’ club-record signing will remain in north London, while he is predicted big things from a player who has not always lived up to his £42.5 million price tag. “During this period, the newspapers are creative and have to be creative, but many times the stories are created by agents,” said the Arsenal boss, who is in Singapore for the club’s pre-season tour.
“Ozil is our player, he will remain our player and wants to remain our player. “It's a big season for him because he had a difficult start last year and in the second part of the season he was very important [for us]. He's improved his defensive attitude, he works hard and offensively he's a top-class player.
“There are many offensive players who have an important season in front of them but I’m confident because I think they have the quality.”

Arsenal were in Premier League action on Monday with Hull City at KC Stadium

Arsenal set themselves the target to continue there run but also to continue to make progress as a team, because
 they feel they have made progress during the season. monday 4th of may was a demonstration that they can
improve and that they can keep the quality very high. They played the kind of football they love to play
and they played it for long periods of the game with the quality they desire.

           

Before the game as arsenal fan I thought that it would be a very difficult game. We certainly
 had a few turning points - the fact that we scored first, the fact that our defenders were
 calm on the ball and that we could always dictate our technical level. Never were we under real pressure.
 We got out of tight situations with good technical skills and that took the pressure off our team, and
 we always looked like we could create something with the speedy movement of our players.

 up gunners....

Wenger - My approach to squad building

Arsène Wenger says a successful squad must include a blend of youth and experience.

Hector Bellerin and Calum Chambers are the latest in a long line of young players to establish themselves in Arsenal's first-team squad since the Frenchman took charge in 1996.

Wenger feels it is important to give promising players an opportunity and said you should be able to build a team both for the future and the present.

 
"You want to do both," he said. "Yes of course it is possible. We signed players like Sanchez and Ozil, 25 and 26, and that is a good age to perform now.

"We have as well players like Bellerin and Chambers who are 20. So we have both. The financial potential should allow you to combine both.

"Look, what's important is that we give a chance to the young players. We want to maintain that.

"For years you could say to me: "you have no choice you have to play them" - but we want to maintain that. It's part of the DNA of the club to give a chance to young players.

"When all your main players get close to 30, you can’t buy a 30 year old player. You have to buy a player who is 22 or 23, because if you buy another player of 30 they all [finish their careers] together."

Gabriel - I made the right decision!!!

Gabriel says the consistent quality of Premier League teams was a primary reason for him joining Arsenal. 

The Brazil defender has delivered a series of assured performances since arriving in London, and the Gunners have won each of the first six matches in which he has featured.

Gabriel is impressed with England's top-flight and he feels Arsenal are on the right track.

    If you look at our individual qualities we make a great team. That’s why we are playing well especially now in the last weeks of the season

“Every player knows his quality, we have top-quality training facilities and an excellent team,” the defender told Arsenal.com. “If you look at our individual qualities we make a great team. That’s why we are playing well especially now in the last weeks of the season.

“[The strength of the league is] one of the reasons why I wanted to play here. It’s a tight competition with no weak teams. Clubs at the bottom of the table compete at the same level with the leaders.

“The Premier League is a tough competition. If you lose a game, the team below you in the table will get closer. We are aware of the difficulties, but we are on the right path.



                       If Theo Walcott leaves Arsenal, who could take his place?

One thing is clear. Arsene Wenger has fallen out of love with Theo Walcott.

The man Wenger brought to Arsenal as a mere teenager has been cast aside in
 favour of pretty much anyone who is fit. The ultimate indignity for the pacey
 winger came at the weekend when Danny Welbeck, who was struggling with a
knock picked up midweek, was preferred as a second-half sub vs. Liverpool. Wenger
 would rather risk another player's health than give Walcott a game.

The issue might come down to contract negotiations. Walcott has one
 year left on his deal, and amid contrasting statements from the player and
 manager on the progress of negotiations, all does not appear to be well. The
 last time contract negotiations took place, Wenger was feeling the pinch of
the exits of Alex Song and Robin Van Persie. Many believe the club were held
 to ransom. Not surprising, really; find me an agent who wouldn't use all the
 tools available to earn the best deal for a client.

Although the ire of the manager might not simply sit with monetary demands.
 Wenger shipped out Lukas Podolski on loan to Inter earlier in the season
 despite his obvious finishing ability and the club's lack of options at
 striker. It's clear that one-dimensional players, in the new monied
 Arsenal era, are expendable.

ALEXIX SANCHEZ AND MESUST OZIL BECAME ARSENAL WIZARD!!!!

 Arsenal have picked a better time -- OK, maybe that first Monaco game would have been more propitious but nobody's perfect -- to remind us why Arsenal crowbarred open Stan Kroenke's man purse to spend more than $110 million on your otherworldly talents. And now look where your glorious skills have taken the Gunners. They are inhaling the rarefied air of second place and giddily imagining ridiculous scenarios like, say, all those Chelsea-hating referees awarding 17 thoroughly undeserved penalties to the Blues' seven remaining opponents (including Arsenal on April 26), thus causing the presumptive champions to implode down the stretch and hand the title to a club that hasn't won it in a decade.

 A boy can dream, can't he? I mean, is Arsenal winning the league any more of a fantasy than Brendan Rodgers thinking Liverpool would qualify for next season's Champions League or Raheem Sterling believing he's worthy of wearing a Barcelona, Real Madrid or even an Arsenal shirt and that they'd pay $75 million for the honor? Arsenal brought the Steven Gerrard-less side crashing back to reality -- and the Europa League -- on Saturday with a 4-1 Emirates master class. 


For the Gunners, it was sweet payback for last season's 5-1 mauling at Anfield and their tenth win in their last 11 Premier League games. Far be it for me to gloat, but Arsenal are the best second-place league team not named Real Madrid. And for that, they can thank, to a large degree, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, who have rediscovered the elite-level dynamism that made them so feared when they first arrived at the club. Mark down the date April 4, 2015, as a watershed moment in Arsenal history: the day Ozil and Sanchez both scored in the same league game. It seems incredible that it hadn't happened before now, but even world-class players prove to be occasionally human, especially in a league where defenders like to introduce themselves with the kind of juddering, studs-up, hi-my-name-is-Ryan challenges that can make you think twice about running at them the next time. Ozil, in particular, appeared to be knocked off his silky game by the Prem's physicality, spending three months on the sidelines with knee ligament damage.

 Add to that a recent illness that caused him to miss the team's previous league game against Newcastle but reportedly didn't prevent him from partying with friends at a Berlin nightclub, and you can understand why Arsenal fans and pundits alike have questioned his commitment. Paul Scholes, Manchester United's former monosyllabic midfield linchpin turned garrulous TV commentator, went so far as to say Ozil has been "going through the motions" since joining Arsenal from Real Madrid last season. Ozil responded by bulking up during his rehab so he now resembles a twinkle-toed mini version of The Rock -- I'm thinking of trademarking The Pebble -- who is better equipped to ride tackles and make the occasional challenge himself. But it is still Ozil's technical qualities that cause you to marvel and they were on abundant display against Liverpool. First, he showed off his almost preternatural ability to deliver the killer pass with a sweeping crossfield ball to Aaron Ramsey that led to the opening goal. Then he scored one of his trademark did-you-see-that strikes, a perfectly hit free kick that curled around the wall and caught Simon Mignolet as flat-footed as Rodgers was earlier in the week when Sterling gave an unauthorized interview to the BBC and knocked out a spectacular Luis Suarez groveling-for-more-money impression. After all, how can a 20-year-old who has scored a whopping six goals in the Premier League this season possibly get by on a measly $150,000 per week? But Liverpool didn't lose at the Emirates because of Sterling's unsettled future. 










 They were obliterated because they had no defenders who could cope with Ozil and Sanchez's audacious talents. Who would ever have thought that Martin Skrtel's absence in the heart of Liverpool's rearguard -- the Slovakian was suspended for stamping on Manchester United's David De Gea in the closing seconds of Liverpool's 2-1 defeat -- would be as catastrophic as, well, as the Suarez-shaped hole in attack? It took Arsenal 37 minutes to shred a defense featuring Kolo Toure, a member of Arsenal's fabled Invincibles side, who, despite his lack of pace and craft, always gave everything he had for the Gunners. He did so again on Saturday only in a Liverpool uniform. The 34-year-old Ivorian endured a nightmarish afternoon as Arsenal broke open a taut contest with a stunning eight-minute first-half goal blitz. Ozil had been quietly probing from the opening whistle, but he and Sanchez exploded into life during that period of Arsenal dominance. Both players had been criticized this season for not imprinting their talents on big games, and while an under-strength Liverpool team is not to be confused with Chelsea or the two Manchesters, they harbor similarly grand ambitions. You could see how much the occasion meant to Ozil when he celebrated his free kick goal, running toward the rapturous Arsenal fans pumping his fist. It was his first Premier League goal since scoring on Feb.

 7 against Tottenham, and fourth overall in the league. Perhaps more importantly, Ozil has put to rest the growing fear among Arsenal supporters that their midfield isn't built to accommodate the contrasting styles of Ozil and Sanchez, the former effortlessly gliding from the flanks to the middle, the latter a blur of churning legs and high velocity venom often looking to exploit the same spaces. There were times before Ozil was injured where Arsenal's two most expensive toys would get in each other's way and the Gunners' attack would break down. When Ozil was out of the lineup, Sanchez had open swathes of the midfield in which to operate and he rampaged through them.

The Gunners must be heavy favourites this weekend

Arsenal are ready for liverpool.liverpool travel to Arsenal on Saturday for a vital game depleted by injury and suspension for what looks like a must-win match.

They face an Arsenal team that has been in the  form that wins championships with nine wins in the past 10 matches. Arsenal have set an Emirates Stadium record of eight league wins on the bounce at home.

The Gunners must be heavy favourites this weekend, especially with Olivier Giroud grabbing nine goals in his past nine matches and putting a coat of gloss paint on his reputation.

Despite their arrogant and complacent display in losing at home to Monaco in the Champions League, Arsenal have been playing some sizzling football. The return of Aaron Ramsey from injury has boosted the Gunners, and Santi Cazorla is a tireless creator, while Mesut Ozil is looking fitter and sharper despite the bizarre episode in which he reported ill for the trip to Newcastle yet was seen in a German nightclub that very same evening.

Arsenal's only slight concern is that Alexis Sanchez's form has dipped a little, with only one goal in his past 12 matches.
Brendan Rodgers has been under some extra stress in recent weeks but must find a way to outsmart Arsene Wenger on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers must plot a successful strategy without the services of his key defender Martin Skrtel, who starts a three-game suspension. Indeed, his absence might be felt more keenly than that of the also banned Steven Gerrard, who might not have made the starting lineup anyway.

Then there is the muscle tear that has been troubling Daniel Sturridge and the club's clumsily handled impasse over whether Raheem Sterling will sign a new £100,000-a-week "treble-your-money" contract. Sterling went public this week insisting he was no "money-grabber," saying he was interested only in winning trophies. His apparent reluctance to sign any new deal can only mean he is not sure Liverpool are equipped to win things.

Either that, or Sterling wants to see what reinforcements are signed to make Rodgers' team genuine challengers next season. In any event, his contract runs to 2017 and his attempted charm offensive in giving a BBC interview without the club's permission is looking naive.

If Sturridge is ruled out for Saturday's game, it is possible that Sterling might be asked to play at the point of the attack. It is hard to imagine the manager opting for the out-of-favour Rickie Lambert or Mario Balotelli for such a big game.