Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini believes that his side can pull off one of the shocks of the season by beating Bayern Munich over two legs in their imminent Champions League clash.
The Gunners are set to face the defending continental champions in the first of their double header with them this week, with few predicting that they can beat the German giants.
Arsenal were knocked out by Bayern last season on away goals at the same stage of the tournament, yet a new look Bundesliga side awaits them this term.
Bayern are now coached by Pep Guardiola and have been playing some of the very best football in Europe this season with a star-studded squad.
Arsenal meanwhile have been stuttering of late, with poor results having seen them slip from the summit of the Premier League.
But Flamini says that the Londoners are “ambitious” and are confident of knocking out their illustrious opponents:
“We know it won’t be an easy game because Bayern are a very strong team, but we are Arsenal, we have big ambitions,” he told the London Evening Standard.
“If we want to qualify, we have to get a good result against Bayern.
“What I will say about this season is that I see a great commitment, I see everyone working very hard on the pitch and helping each other.
“This year, Arsenal have a lot of ambition and are fighting for the league title. We have qualified in the FA Cup and we will do everything to qualify in the Champions League.
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“We know it will be a difficult game and now it is important to recover very well because we had so many games. Today, we will start thinking about Bayern.”
Arsène Wenger has said that both Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs will not be able to play in Saturday’s game against Norwich.
Arsenal’s official website has reported on an update from Arsene Wenger on the current state of the team’s injured players, and some of the Gunners’ key players are still a way from returning.
Wenger confirmed reports Walcott will not play on Saturday saying: “Theo is out for Saturday, for sure. He has an injury to his chest and lungs. We have to treat that clinically. He’s quickly short of breath when he makes an effort but that is bruising and that will heal. It’s no major concern but it will take we think about two weeks to be back to a normal level.” Walcott suffered the chest injury when he was clobbered by San Marino’s goalkeeper in England’s World Cup qualifier last week.
Wenger also confirmed that Gibbs will not play on Saturday, after coming off the pitch when playing against West Ham due to a thigh issue. However, he may take part in Wednesday’s Champions League game against Schalke. Wenger says: “He’s not healed yet. He has a little chance to be ready for Wednesday and a bigger chance for QPR.”
However, things are not looking so good for other Arsenal stars. Wenger said that goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was visiting a specialist yesterday about his ruptured ankle ligaments. He also thinks that first choice goalkeeper Wojiech Szczesny is still two weeks from returning, while he says that other injured stars Tomas Rosicky and Abou Diaby will not return for another few weeks.
Arsenal’s fixture against Norwich kicks off at 17:30 at Carrow Road.
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According to reliable West Ham United insider @ExWHUemployee on his latest The West Ham Way blog, the east London club are ready to listen to offers for defender Aaron Cresswell, rated at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, this summer.
The left-back often filled in as a left-sided centre-back in a three-man defence under David Moyes in 2018, but he often struggled from a defensive point of view with the Irons, whose fans would forget about Manuel Lanzini’s injury blow if they sign £45m attacker target, ending the Premier League season with the joint-worst record at the back having conceded 68 goals in their 38 fixtures.
However, the 29-year-old did show the threat he brings at the other end of the pitch with seven assists – a stat that could tempt their top flight rivals to bid for him.
So, how would selling the former Ipswich Town man truly impact the club from the capital? Football FanCast take a look at the potential consequences of a summer deal for the left-back…
Beginning of the end of an era
Following another disappointing West Ham season, there could be big changes within the squad this summer that could see members of the old guard like Cresswell, Winston Reid, Michail Antonio and Andy Carroll leave – something that @ExWHUemployee alludes to in his blog.
If the 29-year-old does go this summer and some of those names follow him through the exit door it could be the beginning of the end of era in some ways, with the east London club looking to take a new direction under Manuel Pellegrini.
Luke Shaw signs
Pellegrini has usually played with a back four during his managerial career, and he may well choose to stick with that despite the fact that the Irons often played with a back three under Moyes.
If Cresswell is sold then the Chilean boss may well look to sign a new left-back who is more reliable defensively than Arthur Masuaku, and rescuing Shaw from his Manchester United nightmare under Jose Mourinho could be a great move for all parties.
The 22-year-old England international is still young and has plenty to offer at this level, and he could be the Irons’ first-choice player in that position for a number of years.
Vashon Neufville makes first-team debut
The highly-rated 18-year-old is yet to make his bow for the east London outfit, but he showed how highly thought of he is when he was named on the substitutes’ bench for the FA Cup third round tie against Shrewsbury Town in January.
ESPN reported back in May that Arsenal and Manchester City are both watching the teenager closely, and if he doesn’t get more first-team opportunities soon there could be a real risk of him moving on.
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The departure of Cresswell this summer would surely ensure that he makes his Irons debut under Pellegrini next term.
So, West Ham fans, should your club sell the £10.8m-rated Aaron Cresswell? Let us know by voting below…
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Thomas Lemar is a player well-known to Liverpool fans given that the Monaco star is regularly linked with a move to Anfield.
Last summer, the Frenchman was touted in the media as a possible target, and this month following Philippe Coutinho’s switch to Barcelona, the 22-year-old’s name emerged again.
In recent weeks, the speculation has quietened down, but now a report by Yahoo! Sport has claimed the Merseyside outfit have agreed a deal with the player, who has also been linked to Arsenal.
The sticking point, though, is that the Premier League club are refusing to meet Monaco’s asking price of around £90m.
The Ligue 1 giants let a number of first-team stars leave the club last summer, including Tiemoue Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva and Kylian Mbappe.
If Lemar is to join Liverpool, then it is likely that Monaco will try to squeeze as much money out of the deal as possible.
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These latest reports have got Liverpool fans talking.
This weekend’s victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford more or less concludes the recovery of Manchester United. The crisis is put on hold for now, and David Moyes gets some breathing space. Instead of falling 11 points behind the Gunners, Man United are now only an Arsenal loss followed by a draw away from catching up at the very top in the premiership. What’s more, the win was a statement of intent; the Red Devils refuse to roll over just because of a bad start.
Still, this merely papers over the cracks in United’s squad for a limited time. It was a hard fought and thoroughly deserved win in my opinion, and especially in the first half, the home team’s game plan went perfectly. Arsenal’s attacking trio of Özil, Ramsey and Cazorla had no space to perform their magic in, and the United midfield, with Phil Jones in particular stepping up his game for the occasion, looked rock solid. With a Barcelona-like pressing game, they never gave Arsenal time on the ball. As a sentiment to the home side’s midfield dominance, the combination of Özil and Ramsey completed less passes than in any game earlier in the season.
This certainly suggest that United have found the answer to their midfield conundrum. If Phil Jones can do the job Marouane Fellaini and Tom Cleverly have failed to perform alongside Michael Carrick, then there should be no need for a new arrival at Old Trafford i January, right? If they have found a player that can provide that DM-solidity in their own ranks, things look rosy red for the champions, right? Well, not quite.
Former Manchester United first team coach Rene Meulensteen answered questions from fans on Twitter recently, and was asked which player he thought his employer of over a decade should sign in January. His answer: Ilkay Gundogan.
And I find it extremely easy to agree with Mr. Meulensteen. Borussia Dortmund’s German international would in my eyes turn the wobbly and unhinged United side we have all been criticizing recently into a challenger for the Champions League. Although putting Jones next to Carrick worked well on Sunday, it was a one time measure, based on a lack of options more than anything. Moyes simply doesn’t trust Cleverly’s defensive ability or Fellaini’s ability to move each and every one of his 6 feet and 4 inches about the pitch quickly enough. Therefore, Jones’s Rino Gattusoesque rampaging approach to defending got the nod ahead. Wisely so.
But Jones lack the creative ability Carrick’s partner should have. His passing accuracy last night was very good – he didn’t lose the ball a single time in the first half – but he plays it safely. He’s a longterm centre-half at United. Therefor, they should invest in Gundogan when 2014 arrives. The German possess one of the most ferocious capacities in European football. A true midfield engine, Gundogan have the legs to get on the right side of opponents, close them down, and make a powerful run at the oppositions defense. He also have goals in his game, like the brilliantly taken curled strike he provided in July’s 4-2 win against Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup.
I have heard arguments that Gundogan would further influx the United attacking three. Former Dortmund playmaker Shinji Kagawa in partly a victim of their desire to play 4-2-3-1. Kagawa enjoy’s playing behind the striker, but has fallen short of Wayne Rooney, and is pushed out on the left where he has struggled to find the superb form that put him on United’s radar in the first place. The argument I’ve been confronted with is that Gundogan would simply become another casualty of Wayne Rooney’s status at Old Trafford. This is missing a key point – Gundogan isn’t originally an attacking midfielder.
He can certainly fill that position with much confidence, like he did in the mentioned game against Bayern, yet this is not where he made his trade. In Dortmund’s two golden seasons in the Bundesliga, in 2011 and 2012, Gundogan sat back alongside Sven Bender in the midfield, with an attacking three pushing forward ahead of him. The exact system Moyes hope to succeed with at Old Trafford. And guess what other playmaking prodigy had the best years of his career in that Dortmund system, scoring 21 goals in 49 games from an attacking midfielder position: Shinji Kagawa. Perhaps a transfer would alight the little Japanese’s career in England as well.
Gundogan has barely appeared for the Germans this season, though, due to a back injury, but is expected to be ready for action before Christmas. I firmly believe that this addition would strengthen United sufficiently to extinct the ghosts of the 4-1 thrashing at the Etihad earlier in the season. However, they are unlikely to rob Dortmund of yet another talent without any fight. Jurgen Klopp will be reluctant to let yet another instrumental feature in his side leave Westphalia, and even if he does, Real Madrid are reported to be monitoring Gundogan closely, looking to replace the unsettled Sami Khedira.
It remains to be seen if Moyes and Ed Woodward can put the disappointing summer transfer window behind them in order to seal the deal, and put Manchester United back in the mix with the best in Europe.
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Would Gundogan put Manchester United back in the top of Europe?
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has stated that his side want to win the Europa League and will field a strong side against Bordeaux on Thursday night.
The Magpies have a Premier League clash with Manchester United this weekend, but the Tyneside chief has confirmed his intention to take the European competition seriously.
“We have entered this competition to win it and this is a significant game to up the levels. The team has to be good enough to beat Bordeaux but I have Manchester United coming on Sunday and have to make sure the Premier League result is right too,” Pardew told reporters, published by The Daily Mail.
“It is difficult to produce a team to play at maximum in two games but we will not beat Bordeaux and Man United if we are not at the maximum.
“No one analyses players performance physically, mentally and tactically more than us and we need to put a team out to play Bordeaux and, with all due respect to the teams we have played so far in this competition, our team needs to be stronger.
“It is pretty obvious they are favourites for the group after the fine result in Bruges and to win would be a big step towards qualifying. They are a very good side, had a terrific result on Sunday so are in good form but it is at home and we are strong at home, regardless of the opposition.
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“This is the first real time in this competition where our fans will be taking it seriously too and that will be important for the atmosphere and to focus our minds.
“In European competition your concentration level goes up a little and you have to be prepared for this type of opposition,” he confessed.
Arsenal have been linked with moves with a number of central midfielders – including Sevilla’s Steven Nzonzi and Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure already this year, but Gunners fans have urged their club to sign Tanguy Ndombele instead following an impressive campaign on loan at Lyon.
The France U21 international joined the Ligue 1 club on loan from Amiens last summer for the 2017/18 campaign, and he impressed by making 50 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and providing a further eight assists.
Lyon are expected to get the athletic 21-year-old on a permanent basis, but his fine performances may mean that they still face a battle to keep hold of him this summer after he showed how effective he can be from both a defensive and attacking point of view in the middle of the park.
Arsenal supporters, the large majority of whom want Emery to reunite with a £63m midfielder this summer, have been quick to have their say on Ndombele, and while one described him as “better than both” when comparing him to Nzonzi and Doucoure, another said “Ndombele would be a dream signing”.
As reported by The Daily Record, Manchester United are considering making an offer for Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Fred.
What’s the story?
With the January transfer window hotting up, the biggest and best clubs around Europe are on the hunt for elite talents that can improve their squad in the second half of the season when major silverware is up for grabs.
Manchester United are no different and it seems that Jose Mourinho is planning to prioritise his central midfield areas.
The Daily Record report that the Portuguese is hoping to bring in Brazilian international Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk.
The paper say Mourinho is planning the future direction of the Red Devils’ midfield with the futures of Marouane Fellaini, Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick in doubt at Old Trafford.
Rated at £17.1m by Transfermarkt, is he the right man to partner the likes of Paul Pogba?
Anchor man
Pogba has been effective this season but arguably doesn’t have the midfield freedom to truly focus on supporting the Manchester United attack first and foremost.
Bringing in a player like Fred would certainly go a long way to solving that problem, his style of play focusing on winning back the ball and protecting his side’s defensive line.
He has plenty of experience under his belt despite being just 24 years of age and was integral to the Ukrainian’s progress to the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League this season.
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He could be a perfect accompaniment to the French international and forge a successful career at Old Trafford, especially with ageing defensive minded midfielders potentially on their way out of the club.
Wilfried Zaha is the archetypal Alex Ferguson signing. Like Chris Smalling, like Phil Jones, like Rafael and Fabio, the then Crystal Palace winger was seen as a talent worth moulding for the future. A heavy outlay, yes, for someone who had never kicked a Premier League ball. But that was Ferguson’s game, and on occasion age didn’t matter.
But this isn’t Ferguson’s team anymore. He has entrusted managerial duties to a man who he believes walks the same path is he. David Moyes, at Everton, made the most of what he had. He dipped into the youth system and made promising players good or very good, capable, certainly, of attracting attention from the Premier League’s biggest clubs, such as Manchester United with Wayne Rooney and Manchester City with Jack Rodwell.
So here’s the question: why is Wilfried Zaha any different?
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Can we say with absolute certainty that Zaha is ready for the Premier League, or at least Manchester United? No, because there is no evidence to support one claim or the other. And yet, at 20, Zaha, who has seen regular playing time over the past season in the Championship as well as a call up to the England national team, is watching on as a midfielder two years his junior steals the headlines.
Zaha isn’t a bad player, he has the talent and the potential to become a good Premier League footballer. But the timing hasn’t been right for him at Manchester United. Ferguson could have played Zaha in 50 per cent of the matches so far this season, and win, lose or draw, very little would have been said about his inclusion. Not because Zaha maybe earned his place – though he may have – but rather because Ferguson has earned the right to do as he pleases with his squad.
Moyes doesn’t have that yet. You have to wonder whether he will ever have that at United. He had freedom to dip into the academy at Everton, though that was predominantly due to the fact that he had little option. On one front, his hands were financially tied, while on the other, how can any manager overlook the talents that have come through the Everton ranks?
But at this time, Zaha represents a gamble. Not only is he not Moyes’ signing, but he’s a young, inexperienced player who Moyes simply cannot cater for at present with the mounting pressure. There may be arguments to say Zaha deserves an opportunity because the other wide options have been so dire – and that is fair. But what if it all goes wrong? Moyes doesn’t have the power to bat away aggressive questioning over his squad selection; for the most part, he’s dealing with a lot of that now.
It’s hard to see anything personal in Moyes’ constant decision to overlook Zaha. The United manager has suggested at least twice now that a short-term loan move would be best to aid in the player’s development. But these are still the early days of Moyes’ tenure at United and he’s still very much adjusting to life much further up the mountain than he’s used to. Clearly Zaha is a gamble that Moyes is a reluctant to take.
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Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has stated that he will treat the Europa League with respect and is eager to win the trophy.
The European second-tier competition has been looked down upon in the past, with some sides fielding weakened sides.
However, the Portuguese trainer has stated that the north London club will aim to prevail in the tournament, which he won with Porto back in 2011.
“I have always regarded the Europa League as a prestigious competition and I think it should be promoted that way,” he is quoted as saying in The Sun.
“It gives the winners access to the European Super Cup and we want to do something special in this tournament.
“If we can win this trophy it would represent a lot for Tottenham’s history and would be something really, really special.
“The best teams outside of the Champions League are all involved and then the sides who don’t qualify from the Champions League group stages also come back into the Europa League.
“And sometimes, as we saw last season, some of those teams we are speaking about are among the top teams in the world.
“It’s important European football is not all about the Champions League.
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“The Europa League is a very hard and strenuous competition. But we will give it our best efforts,” Villas-Boas confirmed.
Spurs take on Lazio in their Europa League opener on Thursday.