Bravo The Gunners !!! RvP is MOM !!!

Arsenal Hantam Hull 3-1

Rossi Finza Noor - detiksport

Hull - Arsenal berhasil meraih tiga angka penuh dalam lawatan mereka ke kandang Hull City, KC Stadium. The Gunners pulang dengan membawa kemenangan 3-1.

Dalam pertandingan yang digelar hari Minggu (18/1/2009) dinihari WIB ini, Arsenal patut berterima kasih kepada Robin Van Persie. Ia memang tak mencetak gol, namun ketiga gol "Tim Gudang Peluru" dalam laga ini berawal dari assist-nya.

Hull sendiri bukannya tampil jelek. Mereka bahkan sempat membuat pendukung Arsenal deg-degan ketika berhasil menyamakan kedudukan 1-1. Tetapi, mereka gagal mempertahankan hasil itu sampai akhir pertandingan. Inilah kekalahan kelima mereka dalam lima pertandingan terakhir.

Hasil ini tak membuat posisi kedua tim berubah. Arsenal tetap berada di posisi lima klasemen sementara dengan torehan nilai 42. Sementara Hull bertahan di posisi delapan dengan koleksi nilai 27.

Jalannya pertandingan

Arsenal memulai pertandingan dengan baik, mereka tampil relatif lebih dominan daripada tuan rumah. Ketika laga memasuki menit 13, Robin Van Persie nyaris mencetak gol. Sepakan kaki kirinya dari sebuah tendangan bebas mengarah tepat ke gawang, namun bukan ke arah jala, melainkan ke mistar atas gawang Hull yang dikawal Boaz Myhill.

Dua menit berselang, Hull membalas melalui sepakan Daniel Cousin. Namun, alih-alih mengarah ke gawang, bola tendangan Cousin itu sudah terlebih dulu dihalau dengan sundulan oleh Kolo Toure.

Tepat pada menit 28, Van Persie kembali memperoleh kesempatan untuk mendulang gol. Kali ini ia melepaskan tendangan kaki kanan ke arah pojok gawang Hull. Tetapi, Myhill dengan sigap masih bisa menepisnya.

Arsenal baru bisa memperoleh keunggulan dua menit setelah peluang di atas. Van Persie menjadi salah satu aktor dalam gol ini. Sepak pojoknya berhasil disundul oleh Emmanuel Adebayor. Myhill pun hanya bisa melihat gawangnya bobol oleh tandukan Adebayor itu. 1-0 Arsenal memimpin.

Pada menit 36, Adebayor sukses menembus pertahanan Hull dan mengirim umpan crossing kepada Emmanuel Eboue. Sial bagi Arsenal, Eboue gagal menjangkaunya dan bola pun meninggalkan lapangan, hanya menghasilkan tendangan penjuru.

Arsenal terus meningkatkan serangannya pada babak kedua. Kembali Van Persie yang menjadi motornya. Pada menit 50, pemain asal Belanda itu melepaskan tembakan kaki kanan ke arah gawang, namun Myhill masih menjinakkan tendangannya itu.

Bukannya menambah keunggulan, gawang Arsenal akhirnya malah kebobolan pada menit 65. Berawal dari mpan lambung Bernard Mendy, bola sempat membentur kaki Gael Clichy dan meluncur deras ke arah gawang Manuel Almunia. Cousin yang tiba tepat di depan gawang, langsung menyambar bola tersebut dengan sundulan dan robeklah jala Almunia. Skor imbang 1-1.

Sepuluh menit berselang, Van Persie lago-lagi mendapat kesempatan untuk mencetak gol, kali ini melalui tendangan bebas. Namun, sama seperti sebelum-sebelumnya, ia kembali gagal. Sepakan datarnya melenceng di samping gawang Hull.

Fans Arsenal akhirnya kembali bersorak pada menit 82 setelah tendangan kaki kiri Samir Nasri di dalam kotak penalti berhasil mengubah kedudukan menjadi 2-1. Gol kedua The Gunners ini tercipta setelah Nasri menerima umpan terobosan dari van Persie.

Van Persie benar-benar menjadi bintang kemenangan Arsenal dalam pertandingan ini. Ia kembali berperan dalam gol ketiga yang diciptakan oleh Nicklas Bendtner di menit 85. Operan matangnya di dalam kotak penalti berhasil disambar dengan satu sontekan oleh Bendtner, dan tim tamu pun unggul 3-1.

Skor tersebut bertahan hingga peluit panjang dibunyikan.

Susunan pemain

Hull City: Boaz Myhill, Samuel Ricketts, Michael Turner, Kevin Kilbane, Nathan Doyle, Ian Ashbee, Ryan France (Craig Fagan 84), Peter Halmosi (Manucho 54), Bernard Mendy, Daniel Cousin, Geovanni (Richard Garcia 87).

Arsenal: Manuel Almunia, Johan Djourou, Kolo Toure, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Abou Diaby, Denilson, Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Eboue (Nicklas Bendtner 69), Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor (Alexandre Song 87).

( roz / roz )

Still you should buy new quality player to replace Capt. Fabregas as playmaker, Mr. Wenger

'Arsenal Kini Lebih Solid'

Rossi Finza Noor - detiksport

London - Arsenal kini tengah memburu playmaker asal Rusia, Andrei Arshavin. Namun, seandainya Arshavin gagal didapat, Arsene Wenger mungkin tak akan kecewa karena Arsenal disebutnya sudah jauh lebih solid.

Arshavin dibidik Wenger karena manajer asal Prancis ini membutuhkan unsur kreativitas di lini tengah. Apalagi gelandang Zenit St Petersburg tergolong cukup berpengalaman, hal yang tentunya cukup berguna mengingat skuad Arsenal banyak dihuni pemain muda.

Namun, hingga kini kepastian proses transfer Arshavin masih belum jelas. Pihak The Gunners dikabarkan agak kurang setuju dengan bandrol yang diberikan Zenit, yakni sebesar 20 juta poundsterling (sekitar Rp 336 miliar).

Meskipun demikian, kondisi tersebut tak terlalu dikhawatirkan Wenger. Ia sudah cukup percaya dengan kondisi skuadnya saat ini yang disebutnya jauh lebih solid dibandingkan pada awal musim, di mana ketika itu mereka tampil cukup labil.

"Sangat jelas kami sudah jauh lebih solid dalam beberapa pekan terakhir," ujarnya seperti dilansir Sportinglife. "Sebagai tim kini kami lebih baik dalam bertahan dan saya pikir krativitas akan kembali seiring terbangunnya kepercayaan diri."

"Dan ketika Anda bermain konsisten, kepercayaan diri juga akan datang dan dengan demikian sisi kreativitas permainan juga akan datang," tandasnya.

Arsenal akan mengawali laga perdana mereka di Premiership tahun ini dengan menjamu Bolton Wanderers, Sabtu (10/1/2009). Saat ini mereka masih berada di posisi lima klasemen sementara dengan koleksi nilai 35, atau berselisih tiga angka dengan Aston Villa yang menduduki urutan empat.

( roz / roz )

Arsene Wenger Glad To See The Back Of 2008

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted he is relieved that 2008 has ended and is looking forward to a much more profitable 2009.

The Gunners ended the year without a trophy, having missed out on the Premier League despite leading for large parts of the season and having been knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool.

According to The Sun, Wenger confessed that he had found last year extremely disappointing.

“2008 was not a great year and the way the last season ended was very, very frustrating,” he said before adding, “We did not get the trophies we deserved because everything that could go wrong did go wrong.”

The Gunners have also struggled for consistency so far this season in the Premier League, but the Arsenal boss refused to admit he had made any mistakes. He said: “Unless you are completely crazy you can not say you would not have done anything differently.”

The Frenchman also appears confident that the club’s potential will blossom in the coming years. He explained: “The work we have done at this club over the last two or three years will only be appreciated by some people in 10 years’ time.”

Wenger also pointed to the club’s financial position as one of it’s greatest assets. The Arsenal boss said: “The way we have managed this club will put us in a very strong position because we don’t live on the edge financially.

“We do not rely on one person to finance us and we won’t depend on the banks.”

The Frenchman also insisted that despite his side’s lack of trophies, they were still in excellent shape. He concluded: “We have a new stadium, we are in good financial shape and we are still playing at the top of the table every year.”

Gill Clark, Goal.com

Toure Not Going Anywhere, Insists Wenger

The winter window had begun in dramatic fashion at the Emirates as reports surfaced that Arsenal's Ivorian international Kolo Toure has handed in a transfer request.

The defender is alleged to be feeling perturbed at falling down the pecking order, as he was an unused substitute during the drab 1-0 victory over Portsmouth last Sunday, while Swiss centre half Johan Djourou has been seen as the preferable partner for former captain William Gallas.

Wenger used his latest press conference to state categorically that Toure is not going anywhere.

"The situation is that he is a player who has a two-and–a-half year contract and will remain with us," insisted the Frenchman.

"I am happy with players who are committed and Kolo is a big example of that. There was a minor incident that you could multiply by 20. It happens every day in every club and it is sorted out now. Kolo is happy here."

When asked whether Toure had requested to leave, Wenger said "Yes, but we spoke about it with him and I think he has changed his mind.

"It's not a question of Kolo Toure or William Gallas," the manager continued.. "It is that the two together are a bit short in the air. We needed to add some size centrally.

"I think they get on, personally. They get on much better than people think and if you lived with us every day you would see that. Anyway, nobody can prove fantastic friendships help you to win football games.

"Kolo did have a little problem when he came back from the African Nations Cup [earlier this year]. He wasn't exactly the same sharpness any more. Now, he has come back to his best level and he works very hard in training.

"He is a fantastic guy, Kolo Toure."

Derek Wanner, Goal.com

Arsene Wenger's view about Arsenal wins 2-1 against MU

Wenger: We showed our quality and our spirit

Dear Supporter,

I feel it was a very important result on Saturday because I can imagine what would have happened if we had lost.

Mathematically it was very important for us to stay close to the top and to show what kind of determination, spirit and mental attitude we have. We went out there thinking that we will win no matter what happens. No matter what happens on the pitch we will keep going and that is what we did.

I didn't doubt the spirit of my players. I acknowledged that we made some mistakes, especially against Tottenham, but I never questioned the spirit, quality or ability to play for the championship.

There is only one thing in our job and that is to go on the football pitch and show how much you want it, show quality on the pitch - and spirit - and that is what we did. I believe above all today it was a fantastic football game because both teams played with the right spirit.

We won against, for me, a great Man United side and the difference was maybe we took our chances early on and they didn't. After we scored the second goal we did hang on but tried to score the third goal on the counter-attack. We couldn't do that and that is why the game remained very tight until the end.

Samir Nasri scored our goals and he can finish with his right foot or left foot. He has a lot of pace and power and I encourage him to go into the final third. He was more of a playmaker in France who gave the ball and took it back but I believe that with his pace he can penetrate in the final third and he will score plenty of goals for us.

Nicklas Bendtner had an outstanding game. It shows how this job can change because on Wednesday he was not especially on his best form and three days later he produced a quality performance. We showed that we have the quality in our squad, even though it is questioned so many times. We showed that no matter who plays we have the spirit.

When the fourth official showed six minutes of stoppage time I was a bit surprised. I asked him if he was sure because I have never played six minutes at the end of a game.

I personally would have preferred it if my players had taken the ball to the corner flag. I prefer that to passing the ball around in our own half with three minutes to go. We would prefer to have a positive attitude in the other half of the pitch. I want them first to be in the other half of the pitch and then as close to the corner flag as possible.

We have been criticised recently but I believe that, apart from Stoke, we went to Bolton and Blackburn and we won in a convincing way. We had one accident at Stoke and after it provoked hysteria. After the 0-0 against Fenerbahce we still have eight points in the Champions League and no one else has more apart from Juventus who have 10.

It is difficult sometimes to understand why everybody became so critical so suddenly. But hopefully we answered a few critics on Saturday.

Thanks for your support.
Arsene Wenger's signature

Arsène Wenger

Arsene Wenger's e-mail about lost from Stoke City

Wenger: We looked physically jaded at Stoke

Dear Supporter,

Saturday was a game where we had a lot of possession, but Stoke defended very well and were well organised. We were not sharp enough to create chances and conceded two goals on two throw-ins. They fought for every ball and they waited for their set-pieces.

Rory Delap was an influence even though we had a plan to deal with his throw-ins and we had worked on it. They fly into the box and it is difficult with 20 people in there. That sort of thing is not our greatest strength. We were punished and I believe we were unlucky as well.

People who love the traditional English game would have been happy because they got what they liked on Saturday. It was a traditional game with a lot of fight and commitment. And at the end of the day Stoke deserved to win the game.

I believe we tried very hard and I think Stoke are sharp at the moment while we look jaded physically. At the moment we play a lot games and we suffer a little a bit because of that. It isn't a confidence issue but we gave a lot on Wednesday against Spurs. We play again in midweek and that is why, in the repetition of games, if you don't score first you can suffer.

The result was not the only bad news from Saturday. Robin van Persie was sent off and I think that his red card was very, very harsh. He shouldn't have challenged the goalkeeper like that but I don't think it was a red card.

We have injuries too, very bad ones to Adebayor and Walcott. One or two have knocks as well, like Sagna. Saturday was the kind of game where if you are a little bit short on sharpness, you are less agile and get out of tackles less quickly.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger

Kesalahan besar Mr. Wenger, kenapa ditarik keluar pemain intinya ?

Kamis, 30/10/2008 10:00 WIB

Wenger: Ambil Positifnya Saja

Kris Fathoni W - detiksport

Emirates Banjir Gol
London - Bermain di kandang sendiri, Arsenal ditahan 4-4 oleh Tottenham Hotspur yang bikin dua gol telat. Tak kuasa memetik tiga angka niscaya bikin Arsene Wenger sedikit banyak kecewa, tapi dia hanya ingin mengambil positifnya saja.

Di Stadion Emirates, Kamis (30/10/2008) dinihari WIB, kemenangan sudah di depan mata Arsenal ketika masih memimpin 4-2 saat pertandingan memasuki menit ke-89. Tapi tiga angka buyar setelah Spurs mampu mengejar.

"Saya percaya kami menampilkan permainan luar biasa dan itu adalah sisi positifnya, bahwa kami lebih superior. Kami tampil sebagaimana yang kami inginkan dan berusaha keras untuk tampil seperti itu. Yang negatif adalah kami tidak menang dan saya percaya itu dikarenakan kurangnya kematangan," sebut Wenger dalam situs resmi Arsenal.

Dengan materi tim yang didominasi pemain muda usia, boleh jadi kematangan adalah aspek yang belum mengakar dalam diri pemain Arsenal. Namun, Wenger tak mau kalau kematangan itu dihubungkan dengan pengalaman.

"Saya ingin mengambil hal positifnya malam ini karena saya meyakini bahwa kami benar-benar luar biasa dan saya tak percaya kekurangmatangan dikaitkan dengan pengalaman. Kematangan akan meningkat dengan kecerdasan. Saya pikir pemain cara cerdas dan mereka akan belajar dari kesalahan."

"Dalam hidup Anda harus berusaha maksimal dengan apa yang Anda miliki. Dalam partai malam ini kami tak mendapat hasil (maksimal) yang tersedia, kami harus berpikir 'bagaimana ini bisa terjadi?' dan memastikan itu tak terulang lagi," demikian "Si Profesor" setengah berfilosofi.

( krs / arp )

Wenger's view : Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

Wenger: We knew we couldn't afford to drop points

Dear Supporter,

It was a big win for us at West Ham because if we had come out of that with a frustrating 0-0 draw, we would have felt that we had wasted an opportunity to get closer to the top of the table.

For us it was important not to make a mistake and to take one of our own chances. We gambled a lot and fortunately we had some strikers on the bench and in the end that made the difference.

We knew before the game that we couldn't afford to drop points at Upton Park but I must say that West Ham can feel frustrated because they defended very well and gave absolutely everything. In the end we got a little opening, maybe they got a little bit fatigued in the last 20 minutes.

It could have been one of those days. West Ham decided to frustrate us by defending very deep. They protected the centre very well and I thought in the first half we tried to go through the middle a little too much. We needed to stretch their defenders in the final third and we did that better in the second half.

West Ham had claims for a penalty and maybe they had a case with the deflected handball in the last five minutes but I did not see the other one. It was a guy who was protecting himself when it hit him.

However I felt that their keeper, Robert Green, was outside the box when he handled the ball in the first half and as a result they could have been playing with 10 men. Green always has the game of his life when he plays against us, and he repeats that every year.

Emmanuel Adebayor came off the bench with 25 minutes left and he fought very hard to make the difference. That shows how good he is. I took off Theo Walcott because I want to rotate my squad and keep players fresh, but we will see more from him. We have all been 19 and we were not all better at 21, but he will be better.

We face Tottenham on Wednesday and it will be Harry Redknapp's second game in charge after he left Portsmouth. It was a surprise for me to see him move from Portsmouth to Tottenham in October but football is full of surprises.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger