Posts Tagged ‘Arsenal’

Fabregas wants more options

Wenger – RVP surgery went well

Hughes worried about African Cup of Nations

• African duo could miss up to nine games
• Players set to depart as early as 27 December

Manchester City are to appeal to the Ivory Coast and Togo for special dispensation to reduce the threat of losing their captain, Kolo Touré, and leading scorer, Emmanuel Adebayor, for up to nine games in the middle of the season because they are needed for the African Cup of Nations.

The first game of the tournament in Angola is on 10 January but City’s already significant concerns have been exacerbated by Fifa’s confirmation that the countries involved can call up players to prepare for the event two weeks in advance. That would mean City losing Touré and Adebayor on 27 December and not seeing them again until the start of February if the Ivory Coast or, less likely, Adebayor’s Togo go all the way to the final on 31 January.

“We want to keep the players here as long as we can but there is a Fifa indication that teams competing in major championships are allowed a two-week preparation period,” Mark Hughes, the City manager, said. “Whether of not that is set in stone we will have to see. We are obviously aware of it and it’s a case of whether or not an understanding can be reached with the [countries'] associations.

“We haven’t had any communication with them yet but it’s a possibility we could lose two of our players for a long time-span and I would imagine there will be numerous discussions between now and then.

“That is a period of huge relevance to the outcome of the Premier League and it also takes in the Carling Cup semi-finals and the FA Cup, so we want to keep the players as long as we can. I’m sure they [Ivory Coast and Togo] will push hard but it’s a case of having those discussions and waiting to see what comes back from them.”

City will not be alone when it comes to trying to negotiate with the relevant football associations. Chelsea are set to lose Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and Mikel John Obi while Arsenal, from whom Touré and Adebayor both moved to City during the summer, face a month without Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboué.

Hughes, however, says he will not be panicked into trying to find a replacement for Touré or Adebayor in the January transfer window. “We won’t go into the market just because we have players missing for the African Cup of Nations as that would be foolhardy,” said Hughes, who has the fit‑again Robinho available to play against Hull City tomorrow.

“If players become available who we think will enhance the team long-term it goes without saying we will be interested. But nothing will be happening in terms of covering us just over the short‑term.”

Kroenke increases Arsenal stake yet again

• Club reports American has bought 20 more shares
• Kroenke must make a bid when he has a 30% stake in club

The American businessman Stan Kroenke has bought his second batch of Arsenal shares this week, edging closer to the threshold that forces him to make a takeover bid.

The Premier League club said that Kroenke acquired 20 more shares at a cost of £170,000. Kroenke took his stake in Arsenal to 29.9% on Monday by purchasing 10 shares. If he reaches 30%, he has to make a takeover bid.

The American also owns the Colorado Rapids soccer club, the Denver Nuggets basketball franchise and the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey enterprise.

Wenger tells Walcott to focus on Arsenal

• Arsenal manager hits out over World Cup distraction
• Winger’s return to European action is overshadowed

Arsène Wenger is considering giving Theo Walcott only his second start of the season, and his first in more than a month, in tomorrow evening’s Champions League tie against Standard Liège with the Arsenal manager growing weary of suggestions that his players may become distracted by the reality of the World Cup finals looming large at the end of the campaign.

Walcott was introduced from the bench in Saturday’s disjointed defeat at Sunderland having missed five weeks after suffering medial ligament damage to his right knee in a challenge from the Birmingham defender Liam Ridgewell last month. Arsenal, who need a point to ensure progress into the knockout phase, are still adjusting to life without Robin van Persie, leaving Wenger to consider playing the 20-year-old alongside two of Carlos Vela, Andrey Arshavin and Eduardo da Silva in a front three.

Wenger’s squad is crammed with full internationals aspiring to play in South Africa next summer but the Arsenal manager is clearly annoyed by hints that the World Cup may overshadow his attempts to win silverware at club level this season. The Frenchman’s response was prickly when asked to reflect on Walcott’s prospects of making Fabio Capello’s squad.

“For me the big season is with Arsenal, not at the World Cup,” he said. “We do not pay players to go to the World Cup. We pay them to do well for Arsenal. The first pride of a man is to do well for the guy who pays you in life.”

That exasperation subsequently resurfaced. “Why should I not be frustrated? The guy asks me if it’s an important season because Theo is going to the World Cup. The World Cup is in June. Is he on holiday until 9 June? He’s paid by Arsenal every week to perform, and well paid. The reality in life is: ‘Do your job, my friend. And make sure that no one can ever say you’re not committed every day to what you are paid for.’ I don’t have to tell Theo that.

“Listen, a guy who has a poor season has a poor World Cup. It’s as mathematical as that. A guy who wins with his club goes to the World Cup and has a good chance to win it, because [opposing] players are not afraid of you if you do nothing all season. You have no respect from the manager if you don’t do anything at your club. The experience I have of working with players who won the World Cup is with [Patrick] Vieira and [Emmanuel] Petit. They won the title, they won the FA Cup, then they went to the World Cup in 1998 and they won it, too.”

Walcott’s season has been severely disrupted by injury and his captain, Cesc Fábregas, shares his manager’s view that the winger may have suffered as a result of playing for the England Under-21s in the summer’s European Championships , much to Wenger’s annoyance,having just returned from World Cup qualification duty with the senior team.

The forward was restricted to just 45 minutes of action in pre-season before succumbing to side and back complaints. The knee ligament damage, suffered in his second competitive appearance for Arsenal this term, prompted further frustration. “It has been really bad luck for him since the start of the season, probably because of what happened in summer,” said Fábregas. “When you play a long tournament in the summer sometimes it is difficult to come back. Maybe it was ‘burn-out’. He is still very young. When you make him play so many games at that age…”

Arsenal could do with Walcott’s energy and bite after the deflating defeat on Wearside. That left them eight points adrift of Chelsea, whom they welcome to the Emirates on Sunday, with Van Persie’s absence keenly felt. Standard, third in Group H, are still within reach of the knockout phase but the onus will be on Arsenal’s front line to prove they can maintain the side’s prolific early-season form.

“They have to do it for themselves,” added Wenger. “That’s what is most important. They have to show that they want to be winners. It’s as simple as that.We didn’t produce enough in the final third at Sunderland, or have enough fluency in our game. I don’t deny the loss of Van Persie but I feel we have enough quality in the locker to win when Robin is not there. The perfect way for us to go into the Chelsea game is to respond to that defeat by beating Liège.”