Wenger’s Pre-United Press Conference; Verma Back For Reserves Match

After suffering a horrible defeat on the weekend I decided that I needed to step back from everything and have a breather. Martin is currently drowning in a sea of papers wondering what possessed him to become a lawyer and I have been filling in some of the blanks of my own life while the world of Arsenal continues to turn. Quite frankly, everything that has to do with Arsenal has been hammered to death on various blogs and I have nothing original left to say on most matters. We will be doing a full season review once the actual season is over so I don’t see the point in regurgitating all of my thoughts just to churn out some meaningless post every day. Sure, there’s been talk of protests at the next home match and murmurings about potential transfers, but I can’t tell you how much those topics make me want to jab a fork in my eye. The insular bubble of online gooners had swallowed me whole so a short sabbatical from the blog and twitter has done me good.

Well then, let me give you all an update on some Arsenal news since I’m here and Martin will be back with a match preview on Saturday. Wenger held a press conference to talk about the upcoming league game against Manchester United. Here are some excerpts that you can all freak out over:

“Yes it was a great chance, because if you look at all the numbers it is the closest we have been,” he said. “We could have had nine points last week but only took two. We feel more frustrated than ever because we are closer than ever to win this league. This year we had the quality to win it. The unfortunate thing is there are plenty of moments to look back with regrets. There is not one moment, we missed many opportunities. I feel we have made up a lot of ground and we have a good opportunity to show that on Sunday.

“The game was targeted as being a decider for the championship [but] it certainly will not be. We still have to give absolutely everything and you never know, if we beat Man United, it would come back to six points. You never know. It is important for us to show some fighting spirit, some fighting attitude and some pride. There is more at stake on Sunday than just the mathematics. We will never give up as long as there is a mathematical chance because if that is [not] the case we have not the right to be at Arsenal Football Club.”

On buying and selling players:

“We do not want to sell our players,” said Wenger. “Our players have contracts and they will stay here unless we decide otherwise. This is a subject that is not creative, we have answered it in 80% of press conferences. This is a subject that has to stop because the past has shown the question is useless. I do not want to go on about the transfer market now, and whether we will buy or not buy.”

On the impact of the Carling Cup loss:

“Since we lost in the Carling Cup, everything has turned a little bit against us. When we were on all fronts, this team had fought very well and it has a fantastic attitude. I just feel that after the Carling Cup we continued to be absolutely spot on with our attitude but we missed a little bit of that subconscious belief that makes you win. That frustrates you because you know that it is there and you want to fight against it.”

On mentality and the way the season has gone:

“The players gave everything and I am responsible for the results so if there is someone to blame, it’s me. I have to stand up for the results and the way that we play and the way that we behave, and that has not changed since last Sunday. We are certainly wounded [and] we have to build up the animal until Sunday,” he said. “We have been hit very hard. It is vital for us [to respond]. We had a blow on Sunday with a last-minute goal and it is vital for us to show that we have some mental qualities and finish with a very strong fighting spirit.

“Manchester United are now in a very strong position but we have to fight until the end of the last second of the season. It is very unlikely for us now – let’s not hide the truth – but the pride of our group is to, first of all, finish in the Champions League places. It’s important for our pride, for our mathematics in the table and for what we delivered this season. Because I feel until now, we delivered top quality games and once the season is over, and we look at the best games played this season, I’m sure that Arsenal has played a big part in it.”

There was some other stuff about Messi and Rooney and Mourinho’s claim that there’s a giant UEFA conspiracy, but that’s the meat of it. Read into it what you will. And I know you will. Some good news to emerge from today is that Thomas Vermaelen is finally back and he played a full 90 minutes with the reserves team against Man Utd’s reserves. The game ended 0-0 and by all accounts, Verma performed really well, which is great to hear. I would like to caution people to not get too carried away about his return. Since he’s been out, I’ve heard a lot of people say that he could have been the difference to our season and that he’s one of the only leaders. Maybe this is true, but it’s easy to build someone’s reputation up in their absence. You’d think Verma was the second coming of Maldini the way some people talk. Aside from that, it will be great to have him back and complete a full preseason before next season begins and hopefully he will be fit for us for as many games as possible.

So, Verma’s fit, but he will not play on the weekend. Diaby is not fit and Craig Eastmond (on loan) has joined the injury list by breaking his ankle in training. Pretty much everyone else seems to be fit and available this weekend (except Fabianski of course). That’s probably the only positive going into the Manchester United game. We just lost to Bolton after a string of draws while Man Utd destroyed Schalke in their usual late-season ruthless manner and look good to pick up a Premier League/Champions League double. Yippee. I do not look forward to this game. I hate Manchester United and I hate how we keep losing to them. There is nothing more I would like than to destroy them on Sunday, but that looks pretty damn unlikely even though Evra said we’re wounded animals that are going to look for revenge or stand up to prove we’re not losers or somethingorother. I just pray we finish the season in the top three to secure Champions League football for next season. That’s all I’m looking at now and that should be the focus of the team as well.

Moving along, there are a couple of other Arsenal results from this week besides the first team and the reserves. Our under-16 team was invited to play in the prestigious Ferroli Cup. They faced the AC Milan youngsters and won 2-0. Arsenal Ladies beat Barnet 5-0 to advance to the FA Cup final, but also suffered their first league loss against Birmingham who beat Arsenal 2-1.

The teams for this summer’s Emirates Cup have been announced. PSG, Boca Juniors, and New York Red Bulls will all be participating in the 2011 tournament, which means we will see our beloved Titi come home again with his new team. The Emirates Cup is always a fun tournament, and two of the teams are from outside of Europe, which is a nice change. If nothing else, it is the one trophy we tend to win during the year, so might as well look forward to it! Finally, I thought I’d share with you this article from the Offside which shows the highest earners in football. It’s interesting, and also it gives some perspective to how much it actually costs to have top players at your club. Arsenal only have 3 players in the top 100 and our highest earner (Cesc) comes in at #27. Contrast this with heavyweights like Real Madrid who have a whopping 12 players in the top 100, 3 of whom are in the top 20 and 2 of whom are in the top 10. The purists of Barcelona, who only play for the beauty and honour of the game have 8 players in the top 100, with 5 in the top 20. On top of that you have teams like Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, and Inter with several names on the list, many of them high ranking. It’s a fascinating list, have a look!

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Category: Arsenal Ladies, Arsenal News, Arsene Wenger, Injury Report