Arsenal 3 Ipswich 0 Carling Cup semi final results (aggregate 3-1)

25th January 2011 Arsenal 3 Ipwsich 0 (agg 3-1)

Arsenal turned on a great second half performance this evening, hitting 3 goals after the break to dismiss Ipswich Town and get into the final of the Carling Cup 2011.

In the 61st minute, Nicklas Bendtner silenced his critics with a nice Cruyff turn and curler past the Ipswich keeper. Defender Laurent Koscielny and captain Cesc Fabregas added two more as they eased into a higher gear than brave Ipswich.

Wenger's beloved Gunners haven't won any silverware for 6 seasons - they've put the big guns in for 30-40 mins to good effect in both FA Cup and Carling Cup competitions to good effect along with good performances from squad players.

Their name could well be on the 2011 Carling Cup - we shall just have to wait and see on the Premier League . . . and good luck Arsenal against Barca in the Champions League!

FA Cup 3rd round replay Leeds 1 Arsenal 3

Leeds United 1 Arsenal 3 FA Cup 3rd round replay Wednesday 19th January 2011

38,000 packed in at Elland Road as visitors Arsenal proved too much for Leeds United. Despite Arsenal going 1 up very quickly with a goal from Nasri and then making it two with Sagna in the 35th minute Johnson for Leeds Utd scored a great goal (check it on Youtube) to spark a bit of home team possession to end the first half.

Predictably, Arsenal bossed the second half but Leeds stuck to the task of David Batty like midfielding and Chris Whyte like defending.

Towards the end, Van Persie got a third to get Arsenal through to face Huddersfield Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Transfer latest January 2011

Although updates surrounding David Beckham's training and Man City's considerable spending has dominated this January 2011 transfer window, there's plenty going on now. Here are my favourite top 3 bits of transfer news/gossip:

Keane leaves Tottenham Hotspur to join David Bentley at Birmingham City. Great business Alex Mcleish, £4m is a bargain.

Pienaar snubbed Chelsea in a £3m offer...lucky escape Steven if you're not a fan of warming the bench!

Dutch midfield work horse Mark Van Bommel could be eyeing up the Premier League, with Dutch and Italy clubs also interested.

Wales get tough on the Olympics

The Welsh FA have pre-warned the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey ahead of the 2012 Olympics that should they decide to participate they will be banned from appearing again in the Welsh side.

The fact that this is the year for Euro 2012 and that the Olympics will be sandwiched by the Euros and the new Premier League season 2012/2013 will probably make this element of the Olympics a non-event.

The British side would look good with Bale complimenting some of his Premier League colleagues...wouldn't we want to see it in action? Are the Welsh FA being a little bit harsh?

Monday 13th December Manchester United 1 Arsenal 0 Premier League report

13/12/2010 Manchester United 1 Arsenal 0 Premiership result

Sky Sports determined the awkward Monday evening fixture of the big clash Manchester United against in form Arsenal. Currently the Premier League is wide open with 5 teams in it - with all of the big boys playing each other in the next few weeks you would imagine that this will be down to 3 once the festive period is completed.

26 of the 33 Chilean miners the survived the recent disaster attended this evening's match with a great chaperone in David Beckham

In typical fashion, the Old Trafford crowd witnessed a game of chess as these two giants tested each other mainly in midfield. Arsenal looked dangerous on the break but possibly lacking striking power agianst Vidic and Ferdinand. Nasri showed good poise on the ball, demonstrating that he is the key man currently form wise.

The goal came in the 41st minute for Man Utd from a long ball which Arsenal failed to clear efficiently. Rooney flicked a header over to Nani who moved inside with admirable disguise and Ji-Sung Park cleverly contorted his neck to get into a position where he could loop a header over Wojciech Szczesny. A blow for Wenger as scoring 2 at OT is not the easiest task even when you are the Arsenal.

The Gunners started brightly in the second half with Nasri playing in a more advanced central position. They played grest one touch football with Wilshere, Nasri and Arshavin all providing classy movement and passing.

However Fergie's midfield remained resilient with good grafting from Fletcher and Anderson. The Red Devils flexed their muscle when they needed to but it was a good honest contest with no stupid challenges. Wenger got to the 1 hour mark and decided to take a bit of a risk with so much at stake. A double subsitution followed, Rosicky came off for Cesc Fabregas and Wilshere came off for Robin Van Persie.

Wayne Rooney battled well as the lone striker, showing some signs of his unstoppable form in the 2009/2010 season. Nani also displayed persistent qualities in the 72nd minute inside the box, leading to a harsh penalty where Clichy was to have judged to handled. Rooney stepped up and surprisingly gave it the Chris Waddle 1990 treatment, skying the ball over the Arsenal cross bar giving Wenger's men a lifeline.

Arsenal still seemed a bit short. In the 76th minute, Arshavin was substituted for Theo Walcott in an attempt to increase the pressure on the Man Utd back four. Fergie's midfield packed the centre of the park, protecting their defence impressively. This frustrated the Gunners and forced them into optimistic long range shots as they moved into the last 10 minutes.

Walcott had some nice touches, linking up with Fabregas but the home team seemed to work harder and display more physical strength in the central areas of the pitch. As Manchester United successfully killed off the last few remaining minutes, Old Trafford legend Ryan Giggs came on in the 84th minute.

Rooney had a good chance towards the end, trying to chip Szczesny who got a palm to the ball. Rooney did look incredibly sharp and linked up with Ryan Giggs a couple of times showing that he is very much still a huge part of the Manchester United future.

With 4 minutes of added time, Arsenal struggled to find any space in the final third as they desperately attempted to put pressure on the home team. Walcott had one half chance in the 93rd minute but volleyed over the bar allowing Van der Sar to run down some more seconds. The ref blew up to see the home team grab 3 huge points to make a big move for the Premier League, putting Manchester United top with 34 points.

How to not run a football club

>> No.1. Sack a manager with a firm pedigree in achieving top half finishes.
>> No.2. Appoint a flakey manager with a history of walking out if things get tough.
>> No.3 Piss off said flakey manger by appointing Dennis Wise above his head, or by just appointing Dennis Wise full stop.
>> No.4 Act all surprised when said Flakey manager flounces off.
>> No.5. Appoint a manager with a history of heart problems.
>> No.6 Act all surprised when said manager has heart problems.
>> No.7 Appoint a former player who has taken charge of 0 games.
>> No.8 Act all surprised when you get relegated.
>> No.9 Under no circumstances entrust the team to the highly regarded no.2.
>> No.10 Wait until the highly regarded no.2 has got the team into the top half of the table and has the team settled, playing well and liked for the first time in years and sack him.
>> No.11 Act all surprised when you get relegated.

Arsenal v Spurs Saturday 20th November 2010 Premiership preview

Premier League preview: Arsenal versus Tottenham H Emirates 12.45pm 20/11/2010

This is a London derby not to miss, as ex-gooner captain William Gallas travels to the Emirates stadium with his new club Tottenham Hotspur.

The clash will remind football fans of Sol Campbell making his first trip back to White Hart Lane as an Arsenal player, where the abuse and missiles were relentless as the Spurs fans demonstrated the fierce rivalry between these two North London clubs.

To spice up the atmosphere with Gallas even further, French forward Samir Nasri has stated that he will blank Gallas pre-match and not shake his hand. There are rumours that suggest that Nasri has abone to pick with Gallas since the release of his autobiography had references to Euro 2008 and Nasri's supposed negative influence.

The big question for the travelling team will be whether missed forward Jermaine Defoe starts, who is back after an ankle injury. Harry Redknapp has dearly missed Defoe, who yesterday reinforced this fact that missing the England striker for 6-7 games will always mean that you run the risk of dropping points - which has been the case for the lily whites. It is more than likely that Crouch will start and Redknapp will use Defoe as an impact player. Dutch hit Van der Vaart will play a supporting striker role, giving the Spurs team a real added dimension.

Tottenham's staccato league form however is mainly down to their UEFA Champions League debut. Through injury and midweek fatigue, Redknapp has been frustrated by mediocre peformances and forced into regular squad rotation leading to missed opportunities in the form of points.

After recent losses at home against West Brom and Newcastle, Wenger will be keen to show Chelsea and Manchester United that they are a serious Premier League contender in this 2010/2011 campaign - their record in these North London derbies is good when playing at home - most tip the Gunners for a win. Popping into second regularly has given the Arsenal faithful hope - but 3 points today would put them momentarily into 1st - giving their players added belief that this could well be the season to get some silverware.

Jack Wilshere is expected to start, recovering from a back problem which kept him out of the midweek friendly against France.

Predicted first 11 line-ups

Gunners: Fabianski (GK), Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott, Chamakh.

Spurs: Gomes (GK), Hutton, Gallas, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Modric, Palacios, Jenas, Bale, Van der Vaart, Crouch.

Should a a great Premier League derby!