Jan 2010 Week 4

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Theo Walcott needs six weeks to get back to his best, according to Arsène Wenger.

The England international has barely featured this season thanks to a succession of injuries to his back, knee and, most recently, hamstring.

Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Stoke was only Walcott’s fifth start of the campaign and, understandably, he showed signs of rust during that 3-1 defeat at the Britannia Stadium.

The 20-year-old came in for criticism after the game but Wenger launched a staunch defence of his player at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. He insists that Walcott must be given time to find his rhythm.

“There is no player in the world who can be out for two months, come back and be outstanding,” said Wenger. “He doesn't exist, unfortunately.

“It’s not like you switch an engine on and off in the car. It demands competition and the most important thing for Theo now is not to be injured for five or six weeks. Then you will see a different Walcott.”

Walcott will be one of many talented young Englishmen on show at Villa Park on Wednesday. Martin O’Neill has Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and James Milner at his disposal and the latter has made notable strides this season.

Milner looks a shoo-in for England’s World Cup squad this summer and Wenger expects Walcott to make a similar improvement in the years to come.

“Theo is 20. Milner is 24 - give him [Walcott] three years and then you will see,” said Wenger.

“There is a massive difference between 20 and 24 - that is where you see the evolution of a player.

“People forget how young Theo is. I believe he has improved a lot but this season he has been unlucky.

“He has played three games this year. You cannot be at the top of your game for a striker with three games in six months - that does not exist. He needs a bit of luck.”

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- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says fit-again striker Nicklas Bendtner will see action tonight against Aston Villa.

The last time anyone saw Bendtner in a first-team shirt he was limping off in the early stages of the 3-0 win over Tottenham at Emirates Stadium on October 31.

"Bendtner has qualities that are important in the squad," Wenger said "He's a good player and he is tall as well.

"He will be on the bench, Nasri will be there too. They have had [only] one training session but we are short."

- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger won't rush back his African returnees.

Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue are set to return from international duty at the African Nations Cup after Cameroon and Ivory Coast both went out at the quarter-final stage.

Wenger is likely to give Song some extra time to recover, and maintains his squad have coped well without the defensive midfielder.

"We will see how he comes back. I must say he looked tired in the game yesterday," the Arsenal manager said.

"I believe you focus always on the players who play.

"We won twice against Bolton, so we cannot complain.

"You want all your best players here, but I believe we did quite well."

- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says the big-spending of Chelsea and Manchester City forced him to focus on youth development.

The Frenchman admits he is well aware of the need to balance the fans' expectations with his adherence to his own policy.

But supporters have indeed been appeased by the emergence and progression of youngsters such as Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott.

Wenger said "Some competitors came in with much more financial potential - particularly Chelsea. Suddenly we went from competing well on the money side, then we were stretched.

"The whole game changed. That influenced my decision to change the policy. There were players we were interested in, but then Chelsea would just offer more and more money until they signed them.

"What can you do? Chelsea started to buy players at £28million, which we had never done. It was a different level of competition.

"We had been up against Manchester United before that. Then you add another team, and another, and another. People forget how difficult it is."

- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says it's crazy to compare Theo Walcott with Aston Villa midfielder James Milner.

The pair face-off tonight with Walcott criticised for his performance in the FA Cup defeat at Stoke City.

“Theo is 20. Milner is 24 - give him [Walcott] three years and then you will see,” Wenger said “There is a massive difference between 20 and 24 - that is where you see the evolution of a player.

“People forget how young Theo is. I believe he has improved a lot but this season he has been unlucky.

“He has played three games this year. You cannot be at the top of your game for a striker with three games in six months - that does not exist. He needs a bit of luck.”

- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says Sol Campbell knows he has no guaranteed role.

Campbell made his second Gunners debut on Sunday afternoon, starting in the 3-1 FA Cup Fourth Round defeat at Stoke City.

It was Campbell's first appearance for Arsenal since the 2006 Champions League Final but manager Wenger says the defender's next appearance is not guaranteed.

"His role is to fight for a place in the team like everybody else," Wenger said.

"There is no special role for anybody - we live in a world of competition, and that means to just try to always be good."

-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says winning the 2005 FA Cup final was the moment when he chose to stop buying big.

It was after Patrick Vieira's penalty kick saw off Manchester United in the 2005 FA Cup final that Wenger put the Arsenal chequebook into cold storage.

The Frenchman has used it sparingly since then, refusing to buy a ready-made replacement for Inter Milan-bound Vieira who left that summer, and instead relying on the talents of Cesc Fabregas.

Wenger said "Basically it was the last year of Patrick Vieira and his very last kick for the club won us the [FA Cup] in the penalty shoot-out.

"That was the time when we started to see the end of the Vieira era and the beginning of the Fabregas one. That was part of the reason that I let Patrick go. We had to make way for the youngsters and that period was when we made the change to go for a younger and less experienced team.

"There was a definite moment when I sat down and decided to build our team around young players. I went with youth because I knew we would have less resources available."

-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says Wojciech Szczesny is the club's future No1 goalkeeper.

The youngster is currently on loan at Brentford, where he has put in a string of eye-catching performances, helping the Bees to surge up the League One table.

"I really believe in him that he will one day be Arsenal's No 1," he said.

"He has all the qualities you want from a goalkeeper. That means a good basic confidence level, he is
very brave, fantastic size, very agile and his speed in his reflexes is absolutely unbelievable.

"When you think it is a goal, with him it is still no goal. He makes unbelievable saves. We are great believers that he will be an outstanding goalkeeper."

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Striker set to remain at San Siro

AC Milan insist striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar will not be leaving the club in January, despite strong interest from the Premier League.

The Holland international recently admitted that he was considering a loan exit from the San Siro as he looks to secure regular action ahead of the World Cup.

Huntelaar has struggled to force his way into Leonardo's thoughts after moving to Italy following a similarly short and unhappy spell with Real Madrid.

Everton boss David Moyes confirmed he would be interested in the former PSV and Ajax striker if he became available, while Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham have all been mooted as possible destinations.

But Milan general director Ariedo Braida is adamant that Huntelaar will still be in Milan when the window closes at 5pm on Monday.

He told tuttomercatoweb: "Huntelaar stays here, all talk is unnecessary. Arsenal? No, I repeat that the player remains at Milan."

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Aston Villa away, Manchester United at home, Chelsea away, Liverpool at home. Daunting? Not a bit of it, according to Aaron Ramsey.

The fixtures computer was at its most mischievous when it handed Arsenal a run of games against each of their 'Big Four' rivals plus a Villa side that has claimed the scalp of all three of those rivals this season.

It's a sequence which could define Arsenal's title challenge but, far from fearing what lies ahead, Ramsey is relishing the prospect of taking on the cream of the Premier League in the space of two weeks.

"Obviously we are playing Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool straight after each other so it is going to be a difficult period but these are the things you want to be a part of," he told Arsenal TV Online.

"These are the occasions you look forward to the most. Hopefully we can make the most of the situation we are in and take maximum points from all the games to put ourselves in a really strong position.

"I think Villa have been a solid, strong team this season, and they have a good spirit. They have caused a number of teams problems and that shows from their position in the League. They have done well and it won't be easy for us but these are the games we all want to play in and hopefully we can get the right result."

The prospect of Ramsey playing in tonight's game seemed rather outlandish nine days ago when the Welsh midfielder was ruled out for three weeks by Arsène Wenger after picking up an injury. But the 19-year-old shocked even himself with the speed of his recovery and was fit enough to come off the bench at Stoke City on Sunday.

"I had a grade one strain just below my hip but people take different periods of time to recover from injuries and luckily I was relatively quick," said Ramsey. "Hopefully now I can stay fit for the rest of the season. I feel fine now, I came on against Stoke and I felt OK.

"Earlier in the week they had me down to be back for the Villa game but the day before the Stoke game I trained with the first team and then I heard that I was in the squad. It was good to be back in the mix.

"It was a disappointing result for us at Stoke but these things happen and it's how you bounce back from these situations that is important. We want to make the most of Wednesday's game and hopefully take three points from it. We bounced back from blips earlier in the season so hopefully we can do the same this time around."

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Originally Posted by amendogg

Gunners boss has not given up on Cottagers defender

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is refusing to concede defeat in the race to sign Fulham starlet Chris Smalling.

The Cottagers are reported to have accepted a bid for the 20-year-old defender from reigning Premier League champions Manchester United.

It is also claimed that the Gunners saw an official approach for the England Under 21 international knocked back.

Wenger concedes that United have stolen the upper hand in the battle to secure Smalling's signature, but insists he will continue to pursue the youngster until a deal has been agreed.

"It just looks like Manchester United offered more money than us, but as long as the player has not signed anywhere it is not the end of it," said the Frenchman.

"Let's see what happens there.

"We will not come out on what we are doing exactly. It has come out [elsewhere], but that does not mean it is true. If we have anything more to tell you we will let you know."

Opportunity
Wenger has also played down speculation that he is chasing AC Milan striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but admits Jack Wilshere appears destined to head out of the Emirates Stadium on loan before the winter transfer window slams shut.

"We have interest now from a few Premier League teams, it will be decided today (Tuesday) or tomorrow," Wenger said.

"Burnley is an opportunity. But, at the end of the day, Wilshere will have his word to say, because he needs to decide where he likes to go."

Arsenal saw their chances of landing a major trophy this season dented on Sunday when they crashed out of the FA Cup at the hands of Stoke, but Wenger has defended his decision to play an under-strength side at the Britannia Stadium and insists he has already forgotten about the 3-1 defeat.

He said: "I do what I feel is right and that's it.

"I have already forgotten Stoke, I did not know we even played at Stoke because I am focused on tomorrow. That is the most important thing."


It just looks like Manchester United offered more money than us, but as long as the player has not signed anywhere it is not the end of it.

Arsene Wenger on Chris Smalling.

Manchester United have won the race to sign 20-year-old Fulham defender Chris Smalling, but the champions were forced to raise their offer to £10million after late interest from Arsenal. United thought they had agreed an £8m deal for a player who cost Fulham £10,000 from non-league Maidstone 18 months ago and has only started two games in the Barclays Premier League.