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ARSENAL BLOW

Arsenal have been dealt a blow in their hopes of reaching the final of the FA Cup with the news that star midfielder Mesut Ozil will be unavailable for the semi-final against Wigan athletic. The FA Cup now presents a great opportunity for Arsenal to end the trophy drought, as they are much better than the currently in the competition. The likes of Wigan are certainly capable of coming up with a surprise result on their day after all they managed to knock out the likes of Manchester city prior to this round. However, Arsenal are certainly the better team on paper.

Arsene Wenger, though, will not be able to field the £ 42 million signing Ozil for this match since he has not recovered sufficiently from the hamstring injury he suffered during the 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich a few weeks ago. Arsenal’s challenge in the Premier league has almost concluded after the 1-1 draw with Manchester city, but the team has the opportunity to win the FA Cup. Ozil has been criticised heavily for his poor performances of late, but he played a huge role in helping the club reach this stage. He was the star player in Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Everton in the quarter-finals.

“The FA Cup will be too soon for him, but he will hopefully be back soon after that. He is still out. The earliest [he will be back] is next week, the latest is the week after. They are all right. They are doing well. It is still early for them. Of course, for Theo the season is finished, and Jack is progressing well,” said Wenger giving out the latest injury updates for the upcoming few weeks. Arsenal will face Everton on Sunday in a match that could decide their fate in the top four of the Premier league.

MISSED PENALTY HURTS

Arsene Wenger says that the missed penalty against Bayern Munich has affected the German star Mesut Ozil psychologically, but he is hoping that the club’s record signing can overcome the issue by performing exceptionally well in the second leg. Signed from Real Madrid for £ 42 million, Ozil has been one of the best players for Arsenal this campaign. However, his performances have dropped in recent weeks and the missed penalty against Bayern Munich drew a lot of criticism. A goal would have given Arsenal hope of recovering in the second leg.

As it is, they face a mountain to climb due to the 2-0 deficit on aggregate. Ozil has been looking tired in recent weeks and Wenger says that this tiredness is not just physical. Hence, he decided to leave out the 24-year-old from a couple of matches. This seems to have worked its magic after the midfielder returned to his best in the 4-1 win over Everton on Saturday. This helped the club reached the semifinals of the FA Cup after a long time. Ozil was the best player on the pitch against Everton and Wenger says that the player has benefited from the period of rest.

Up until now, the German international has been used to a winter break, but he has been playing without one for the first time this year.

“I think it [penalty miss] affected him mentally too much. It was not only physical, it was mental. He had the feeling he let the team down at a very important moment of the game. That affected his performance very much. Psychologically sometimes the wound is like a physical one. You can talk and talk and talk but it takes time. You just have to leave it to time. I think he is over it,” said Wenger.

PENALTY PRACTICE

While all England fans know it’s a case off when not if their side are dumped out of this summer’s World Cup in Brazil on penalties, just how might England go about winning a penalty shootout – which they DEFINITELY won’t.

As well as not handing David Batty the ball, just how should teams go about not having to suffer the unique heartache that comes with exiting the World Cup on penalties – one which England fans are as used to as heartburn. Continue reading PENALTY PRACTICE

UNDER PRESSURE

Arsenal’s club record signing Mesut Ozil has come under intense criticism in the last few weeks following a run of poor performances, which reached its peak in the 5-1 thumping at the hands of Liverpool. Ozil was brought to the club for a record £ 42.5 million from Real Madrid in the summer. He provided an instant lift to the club, which was reeling on the back of the opening day defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. Arsenal managed to go through several months on the high of signing Ozil that they have been top of the table for most of the season.

The performances of the German, though, have dropped in recent weeks and he was at his worst in the defeat against Liverpool on Saturday. He was responsible for two of the five goals scored by Liverpool, as he lost the ball very carelessly in the middle of the park. Amidst a lot of criticism for the player, manager Arsene Wenger has defended him ahead of the match with Manchester United. He says that every Arsenal player was guilty of poor performance against Liverpool and it was wrong to condemn only Ozil for this defeat.

He expected the German to come back strongly when Arsenal take on United at the Emirates looking to go top of the table.

“It’s always a disappointment to lose a game but we’ve been very stable defensively; we’d just been on a 10-game unbeaten run so you can’t see one game as a trend. It’s down to the team to respond in a positive way. Mesut Ozil? He was like everybody on Saturday – he was not in a good day. There’s nobody really to ostracise from that game – we are just conscious we were not good enough,” said Wenger in the pre-match press conference.

WENGER BACKS OZIL

The performance of the German international Mesut Ozil may have dropped in recent weeks, but manager Arsene Wenger says that his signing has made a lot of difference to the club. Arsenal have so far resisted the lure to sign big players for huge transfer fees. They have stuck with signing youngsters, who have then been sold on huge fees to other clubs. This model has not helped Arsenal win trophies, but it has helped them create a stable financial business. They finally decided to splash the cash in the summer by spending £ 42 million on Ozil.

The 24-year-old started his Arsenal career in impressive fashion by assisting numerous goals in the first few matches, but he has since gone off the boil in recent months. Despite this, Arsenal have been able to sustain the momentum and are currently top of the table. Wenger says that the signing of Ozil had given the club a huge boost, which has helped them win matches that they have previously lost or drawn. It was expected that the club would spend big in January as well, but so far, they have been quiet.

Ozil has scored five goals in 23 matches for the club, but there are numerous assists in these matches.

“The fact that we brought Özil in at top-level money has turned belief around again. What we can do in every window is spend the money we have available. We are still strong. If the money is available, yes we will go for special players. But we have to plan our resources. It is very exciting to be capable to fight [in the transfer market] and keep your players,” said the manager.

Wenger has said that he is hoping to announce new contracts for Per Mertesacker and Bacary Sagna, while also committing his future as well.

OZIL HEADS TO ARSENAL

Arsenal is not a club characterized on spending huge amounts of money on a player but they headlined the news when Mesut Ozil was penned up for a club-record fee of £42.5 million.

The money was however well spent as the German player is playing a key part in Arsenal superb form that sees them toppling the Premier League in 1st place. The coach of Manchester United revealed that he had the chance on signing Ozil before the German made his move to Arsenal.

Moyes said. “We didn’t need that position at the time. I didn’t even say it was an interest, it was put to us and it was just something at the time we didn’t need.

“As a very private person I’m enjoying the area, there’s always something to see, something to discover.”

Arsenal is leading the charge not only in the Premier League but also in Group F of the Champions League as they are starting to reveal themselves as a top team for this season and Ozil plays a crucial part in their recent burst of success.

Mesut Ozil had to be the scapegoat for Real Madrid as they signed Gareth Bale but this move gave Arsenal the chance to sign a world class midfielder which has lifted the hopes for the English club to win the trophy they have failed to obtain since 2003.

The former Real Madrid player talked about what it feels like to be in Arsenal.

“Everyone is equal at this club from the cleaning lady to the chairman.

“Everyone is important, but nobody thinks they’re better than anyone else. Everyone treats each other with politeness and respect. The city is fantastic’’.

“I think it’s one of the most ­beautiful cities in the world.

OZIL IS READY

New Arsenal record signing Mesut Ozil has said that he is ready to win the Premier league title with the club. The German midfielder recently made the £ 42.5 million move to the Emirates stadium from Real Madrid. He comes with the reputation of being one of the best playmakers in the world right now. Only Lionel Messi has created more chances than him in the last four years. Boasting this incredible statistic, Ozil is ready to fire Arsenal to their first league title since 2004. The last Arsenal team that won the title went on an unbeaten run to the season.

This time, though, Arsenal have already lost a match and it came in the first match of the season. Since then, they have recovered to be in a challenging position in the last two encounters. Ozil is expected to make his Arsenal debut in the difficult away match against Sunderland. Winning this HGH encounter would put Arsenal on the top of the table. Olivier Giroud has started the season in sparkling form and is already the top scorer in the league.

Arsenal have broken their transfer record quite remarkably by managing to pay more than £ 40 million for the player on transfer deadline day. Wenger is hoping that this proves to be a shrewd investment.

‘When he first went to Madrid we were in touch. We wanted him then. His style of play will integrate him immediately. His movement, his ability and his creativity. He has the attributes of being one of the leaders in our team,’ said Wenger. ‘I want to play attacking and good football. ‘Attractive football is good but we need to be successful, too. I can’t promise we will win trophies but I can promise we will give our all,’ said the midfielder in his first press conference as an Arsenal player.

The Numbers Game

When he left Chelsea under somewhat mysterious circumstances back in 2008, many questioned just how successful a boss Jose Mourinho could be. He arrived at the Bridge on the back of a Champions League triumph with the unfancied FC Porto and led the blues to domestic honours before a “disagreement” with owner Roman Abramovich forced him out of the club.

A move to Inter Milan followed, as did further success – notably the Champions League – before another “disagreement” with the Italian media led to him leaving the San Siro for the Bernabeu and the Real Madrid job. More silverware followed here, but you always had the feeling that Mourinho was waiting for one particular job offer to arise… Continue reading The Numbers Game

JOSE HEADS HOME

José Mourinho recently brought an end to his three-year stay at Real Madrid by departing for his former club Chelsea. Even though there have been several reports that he did not get along well with the players at the club, several stars including such as Sergio Ramos have been paying tribute for the Portuguese. German internationals Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil are the latest to pay tribute to the 50-year-old by saying that it was a privilege to work with him. Mourinho was responsible for bringing the two players to the Santiago Bernabeu after the end of the 2010 World Cup.

They have managed to establish themselves as important players in the Real Madrid squad. Both players have gone on to social networking site Facebook to express their gratitude for the former manager. During his time at Real Madrid, Mourinho managed to win the league title once. He also lifted the Copa del Rey as well, but many see him as a failed experiment by president Florentino Perez since he failed to win the Champions League. It has been more than a decade Real last lifted this famous trophy, which they have done nine times in the illustrious history.

Ozil has stated that he always thought that Mourinho was a great manager and the reputation has been strengthened even more after working with him.

“Dear Jose Mourinho. Three years ago you took me to Real. In those three years you have taught me a lot and given me a lot of confidence. For this, I would like to thank you and wish you all the best in the future,” said Ozil. “I want to thank him for the opportunity he gave me at Real. I want to thank him for the support he was given me. He has always had my back, especially when I was attracting criticism from the press,” said Khedira.

PEPE LEFT OUT

The Portuguese defender, Pepe, was recently left out of the starting line-up against the Turkish club Galatasaray in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Pepe has established himself as one of the important members of the squad over the last few years, and it was a shock for many to see him out of the starting line-up in such a crucial match. However, manager José Mourinho has said that he left the defender out of the starting line-up because there was a high level of competition within the squad. He said that he was really gifted to have such a strong squad at his disposal.

Instead of the Portuguese defender, Mourinho decided to use the youngster Varane in partnership with Sergio Ramos at the back. The result of the match cannot bring Mourinho any criticism because they managed to win this crucial first leg encounter 3-0 with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gonzalo Higuain. It has a thorough performance that almost puts Real Madrid in the semifinals of the competition. Pepe recently underwent an operation in order to recover from an injury problem.

Mourinho has confirmed that the player has indeed made a good recovery following this surgery. Mourinho has said that Pepe will certainly feel aggrieved because he has not been in this position before.

“Pepe’s situation is the norm at clubs like Real Madrid, where competition for places is high. Players who come out of the team, due to injury or suspension, are replaced by others of high quality. This makes it difficult for them to then get back in the team. It makes it difficult for me now, because I’ve got a lot of players in good condition. It’s quite new experience for Pepe, because he will not feel his place is guaranteed,” said Mourinho.