ARSHAVIN BACKED BY WENGER

Arsene Wenger maintains it will not be long before Arsenal fans again see the best of Andrey Arshavin.

The Russian midfielder was handed his first start in three matches for Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie against npower Championship side Leeds, which ended 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium after captain Cesc Fabregas fired in a last-minute penalty.

The outcome, however, could have been so different had Arshavin converted a golden opportunity to put the Gunners ahead on 11 minutes after he was played clean through on goal by Tomas Rosicky.

But in what would turn out to be a sign of things to come, Leeds keeper Kasper Schmeichel made a smart save and Arsenal were left frustrated.

Arshavin, and also Nicklas Bendtner, found themselves jeered by some sections of the home crowd after time and again promising moves broke down.

Wenger, though, has every confidence Arshavin will soon display the top-class football he is capable of on a regular basis.

"The fans were frustrated. That comes from when you don't win," the Arsenal manager said.

"The fans are demanding. We were not consistent technically and so they picked on our inconsistencies. "It is not through a lack of desire with Arshavin. He wants to do well.

"He took one touch too many with his first chance and the keeper did well to save another shot he had.

"Every player during a season has strong and weaker periods and he has had a weaker period, then two or three weeks on the bench."

Wenger continued: "I have no worries that Arshavin will come back into the team, but their confidence does suffer a little bit from that.

"We try to analyse our games in an objective way and I am lucky because our players are self critical, they analyse themselves well and they want to do well. "

Wenger felt Saturday's game showed the FA Cup has not lost any of its romance.

After weathering an early storm, Leeds went ahead from the penalty spot through Robert Snodgrass at the start of the second half when Denilson upended Max Gradel.

Indeed, the Championship side could have doubled their lead but for a fine reaction save from Wojciech Szczesny from Luciano Becchio's point-blank header.

Eventually, though, Arsenal pressure was rewarded when substitute Theo Walcott - who admitted he had earlier dived to try to win a spot-kick - was tugged back by Ben Parker.

Fabregas, who was also brought off the bench, stepped up to fire the penalty past Schmeichel.

The Leeds keeper also denied Denilson with a brilliant one-handed save to ensure the Yorkshire side earned a replay.

"Leeds played a good cup game and that is the tradition of the English game," said Wenger.

"They came here, they gave everything and credit to Leeds because they did well."

Centre-back Johan Djourou admitted the Arsenal players were relieved their FA Cup dream had not been ended.

"It is good to still be in the cup because we were 1-0 down and under pressure, but we showed good character to still be in the cup and now we go there to try and win it," the Swiss international said.

"We have to deal with all the extra game, the manager says he wants to win all the competitions so we have to go there and win."

Djourou added: "Theo is a great player, and he gets you in the game, Cesc as well, when he came on.

"We showed we have the players that can make a difference."

There is little respite for Arsenal as they head to Ipswich on Wednesday night for the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final.

Wenger admits if Sebastien Squillaci's hamstring problem fails to clear up quickly, then, given Thomas Vermaelen is still not yet match fit, he will have to move in the transfer market.

"If we only have two centre-backs then that cannot work with the number of centre-backs we have," the Arsenal manager said.

"If Squillaci has a problem then we must quickly go out for a player."

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8...6647792,00.html

The big news of the day so far is that Tottenham have made a club-record £38 million bid for Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero... and have bid fir a number of other La Liga strikers, including Fernando Llorente.

Arsenal not looking to buy but may recall loaned out youngsters due to Samir Nasri injury - Arsene Wenger

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed he may have to recall some of his players who are out on loan after losing Samir Nasri to injury and Sebastien Squillaci to suspension during their 2-1 win over Huddersfield in the FA Cup.

The Gunners were made to work hard for their place in the fifth round of the cup after going down to 10 men in the first half when Squillaci brought down Jack Hunt after the midfielder's mazy run.

They also lost Samir Nasri to a hamstring injury, which makes him a doubt for the Champions League tie against Barcelona.

And Wenger revealed he may have to look into bringing some of his loaned out youngsters back to the Emirates to boost his squad.

He told reporters: "I will look at the option of recalling some loan players.

"People like Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Henri Lansbury could come back.

"Kyle Bartley is slightly different because he has never played in the Premier League so it could be difficult."

But Wenger insisted it was not likely he would sign anyone in the remaining few days of the transfer window, despite losing Nasri and Squillaci and having doubts about Denilson's fitness.

He added: "No, we will not sign anyone. I cannot say definitely because if someone knocks at my door tomorrow and says 'I want to play for you' and he is a good player I will sign him."

Arsenal were stretched to the limit against their League One opponents and for long periods look like they would lose their record of never being beaten by lower league opposition during Wenger's reign.

But thanks to a last-gasp Cesc Fabregas penalty the Gunners sealed their place in the fifth round, leaving Wenger's unbeaten cup record against lower league opponents intact.

Wenger said: "[The record] shows how seriously we take the cup, but usually I get questioned about that.

"It was tough, tough, tough today and typical of a cup game.

"We were below par today but Huddersfield are a good team, who were dangerous from crosses and set-pieces.

"At 1-1 and down to 10 men the record was seriously under threat but in the end we had the quality just to make the difference."

The Frenchman also questioned Mark Clattenburg's decision to send-off Squillaci but feared the worst at the time.

He added: "I think the sending off was a bit harsh. Was he the last man?

"There was a long way to the goal but it was a foul and I feared a red card and in the end it was given."

You do know that Barcelona does the same and pulls in youth whenever needed, right?

Also, buying players is a long term action. Remember that January to March are usually harsher on the schedules. So we shouldn't buy (long-term) just for the sake of a few months of tighter games (short-term).

I'd rather have hungry youths trained with our system to play a few months rather than spend inflated prices (January prices are always higher) on players that you have to take a few months to make them fit into our system, by which time there would be less need for them.

I honestly didn't notice Denilson that much, although  Ithought he did mostly okay, except for one horror pass back to a striker stationed between two of our centrebacks.
Inflated prices is extremely important. When we pay for something we expect to get the same value back. I won't pay RM20 for nasi lemak of a quality I can get at RM3 (depending where you live, of course).

UEFA Financial Fairplay rules will kick in soon and Arsenal's prudent financial management puts it way ahead of any other club of conforming. Where other clubs' spending habit will mean they have to endure a massive shock to the system by cost cutting just to comply, Arsenal is already ready.

Another aspect is risk. Buying an eventual flop for £5 million vs. buying an eventual flop for £10 million are two different prospects and two degrees of risk. The January inflated price will increase our risk.

So yes, we must care about inflated prices.

In terms of long-term squad depth, Arsene has already said that at some point, we'll come back to having 4 centrebacks for example. This means that buying another long term will leave us with 5.

I would concede guys like Cahill might help, but at the end of the season, when we won't overpay for him. Arteta is a no-no. Don't think he'll fit in the system.

P.S. You mentioned Henrik Larsson (what a don). He was a loanee. Arsene has said himself that he would consider short-term loans as solution, so he's not discounting a Larsson-type deal. However, again, it has to be at a right price for the right quality. Larsson came cheaper because he was playing for a relatively poorer Swedish club, for which the Mancs didn't need to pay too much of a loan fee. He was also a seasoned veteran who was playing top class football just 2 seasons prior.

Now how many seasoned vets who had just played top level football 2 seasons ago do you know that can come in for cheap? I personally can't think of many. We can't get our Larsson unless there is one to be had.

yup..our team chemistry is on highh

my question,you dont believe in arsenal huh? yess ofcourse they can!!
we're by far the greatest team 

i hope liverpool take their places back.

You seem to think our lack of depth is critical and life-or-death. It's not. We could do with some more depth, but it's not so critical as to spend RM50 on. Certainly not critical enough to break our business model on. Arsenal's negotiators are known to be tough and we've cultivated that reputation, if we show the willingness to spend ludicrous amounts of money, the agents will start seeing us as Man City types. That is NOT good. Ivan Gazidis has said this before, our stance means agents approach us with caution, instead of starting with the highest demands possible. This is an advantage. Buying the RM50 nasi lemak will break this.

I would honestly call upon youngsters who understand our system over paying inflated prices for someone on the short-term, i.e. second half of the season. Remember that fixture congestions will only be a massive issue this month and a bit of the next, after that, normal service resumes and our squad depth is entirely sufficient. Yes, it may not be the best, asking Song to cover in the CB, but this is short-term only. Vemaelen will eventually return, and if we want another CB we can wait until the summer when prices are a lot more sensible. Nasi lemak will cost RM5 again.

You seem to think that winning is important above Arsenal's business model, which is actually one of the core defining policies of our club ever since Arsene's reign began (and even before, we were quite prudent). We've not won anything now, but all the trophies we've won previously wasn't won with money, but a good use of bargains.

Right now, our youth policy is paying more dividends. Barca's current cantera philosophy experienced a change under Cruyff in the early 90s and success took time. Arsenal can do the same, but it takes patience and long-term thinking. Spending big on the short-term only serves to undermine our long-term goals.

Finally, as someone told you before, our centre backs are not just numbers (4 of them, 5 of them), they are humans. If you've ever tried managing humans, you'd know it's not as easy as buying, selling, hiring, firing. Look at the seconds string fielded against Huddersfield, they were obviously rusty. That's the hardest part of rotation. Try giving game time with an overtly large squad and you'll run into trouble. Managing 5 centre backs will be a huge issue on form and morale and giving game time and this should not be underestimated.

Six years is very short. I won't go on and change the entire core principle of Arsenal simply because of a trophyless 6 years. We're playing good football and are well equipped for the UEFA Financial Fairplay rules kicking in (where other clubs in the EPL are not). Don't concentrate too much on the trophies in the short term. Look at Chelsea, they are a far cry from compling with the rules and have realised that they cannot sustain success without a significant investment of money that cannot be recouped in 10 years.

You said, "but that the job for the manager to identify who is the best to sign for short term & can patch the missing link", but Arsene has said they've not identified anyone. Would you just buy anyone in that case, even if they are not a suitable candidate? And what if you pay the RM50 for the nasi lemak and it gives you food poisoning.

Food poisoning for RM50 vs. food poisoning for RM5 are two different risk propositions. If you're gonna overpay, make sure it's damn well worth it and right now there's no one on the market good enough to be overpaid for.

In any case, I look forward to seeing Kyle Bartley in Rangers. If he does well enough (he's been first team at Sheffield United), I would prefer him over some over-expensive January purchase.

Remember that modern football is not just about what happens on the pitch. I invite you to read up about UEFA Financial Fairplay rules. Also, it's worth remembering that Arsenal is a business and every investment needs a return. In the business world, if you pay 5 times what something is worth, you'd be overspending to the point of craziness. There's no reason to look at transfer purchases any differently.

You've ignored everything I've said.

You're only thinking of this season and a bit of the next.

Everything I've said is about the long-term health of the club for the next 10, 20 seasons.

We may spend extremely for honours this year, or we can think long-term and build a team for stability in the future and thus more chances of honours in the future.

If it's the quick glory of winning cups as soon as possible you want, then I'm afraid Arsenal will continue to disappoint you.

I've been explaining to you in plenty of words how prudent management leads to success.

1) It keeps us within UEFA financial fairplay rules that allows to continue participating in UEFA competitions. Without prudent management, we cannot even enter!

2) Not upsetting the team dynamics helps man management and squad rotation

3) Spending big now means diminished ability to spend in the future. We can spend big now and reduce our ability to spend at all in the future. So few trophies now for no trophies later.

4) Imagine the trauma teams like Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool are gonna experience once they have to begin cutting back costs. This means wage reductions and laying off more players, or else they won't be allowed on the Champions League bandwagon. Arsenal will be an oasis of stability in those times, and stability wins trophies.

5) Arsenal HAS been successful. We continue to challenge for all competitions. Sometimes the difference between getting close and actually winning something is luck. We cannot measure success simply by cups and trophies won.
The ambitions of players currently playing with us?  8 out of what is currently our first XI are 23 and below, their ambitions will extend to at least the next 7 years, that's plenty of time and by then, the UEFA financial rules will be in full swing. If the players aren't in this for a long haul then their mercenaries we don't need. Even the Mancs players were willing to wait 9 years for the next CL.

And as I've said before, "THE PROBLEM" is not as big a problem as you think! We've got the same squad depth Man Utd has, and we're both at the top of the table!

Can we have better depth? Perhaps. But is it a major life-or-death problem every year? No! Things have gotten far too exaggerated. The only problem area is in defence, and that is a relatively new problem of depth, one which will be resolved by March. Even before then, Squillaci will return. You might say he's not good enough, but he was solid in Sevilla and there's no reason to think that a far too expensive January purchase will suddenly fit in.

Prudent management defines Arsenal, and to throw that all away and join in the insane melee that was the January transfer window will be ludicriously short-term gratification.

P.S. What I am saying that you're missing is that the matters on the pitch CANNOT be separated from the matters on it. When you spend desperately for on-pitch success you jeopardise off-pitch success, which is important to keep the football good.

EDIT: Much apologies for being very harsh and rude in this post. Not having a good day indeed.
And I'm telling you there is NO opportunity to be missed because the inflated prices decreases opportunity.
We cannot compete in the highest level if we overspend and don't meet UEFA's financial fairplay rules! They reserve the right to expel teams fro mtheir competitions.

And we also lose long-term competitiveness. Someone mentioned Leeds, who spent shitloads and are now in League One!

Spending too much will affect competitiveness!.

And spending in January WILL BE EXPENSIVE.

You're making me repeat myself in bolds and caps here!
You're thinking short-term again!

These 'rookies' will not be young and rookies forever. They are growing and maturing, and at a sustainable cost!
That's the same for Man Utd! Against Blackpool they were dire until the 96-year-old Giggs came in. And he is not a long-term solution. The names you mention are long-term solutions!
Look! I've even brought out the exclamation mark.

You're still harping on the short-term results, not what we can achieve in the years ahead.
1) If you only want cover without fitting in well, then we already have cover! Song can go to CB and Kyle Bartley or Ignasi Miquel can cover the position. So if cover is all you want, we don't have a problem. If we're gonna spend money however, we'd better spend on someone proper, in the summer when prices are more reasonable.

2) I will tell you nobody's available. Because that's the fact of the matter. You can wish and wish that somebody is available and it's just that Arsene is being ignorant, but the fact is nobody's available. You can't think of anyone, I can't think of anyone.

3) We ARE competing well in all competitions. Competing well enough that we don't need to splurge £25 million on a panic-January buy and wipe out last year's profits on a high risk purchase.

Look, I never say we don't need depth. We could do with more depth. But you're approaching the problem in a binary way, to you it's trophy/no-trophy, buy/don't-buy, depth/no-depth.

These are NOT binary issues. There are different degree of squad depth and transfer spending. If we had somebody to cover at £4 million, maybe, but if it's at £20 million (which, let's face it, is what people like Emir Spahic will cost in January) then that's a bigger risk.

It's not buy/don't-buy but buy who, when and for how much and for how long?

We do not lack depth to compete in the highest competitions. Our second string is quality, but lacking in confidence. The performance against Huddersfield was subpar for everyone concern, but we know from history that those same players are capable of much, much more.

Buying more players in January won't help confidence and neither will it help squad depth, if I'm honest, simply because they won't fit in right away.

P.S. Apologies if I sound harsh. Work pressures as well (which is why I'm escaping to football). But I must insist that you stop separating matters on the pitch with matters off it. You do keep banging on about squad depth, but squad depth is not independent of team spirit and finances. They are all related and the level of squad depth you wish for is simply unsustainable and may even affect the morale of the team.

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Added on February 1, 2011, 9:32 pm

I doubt that includes Torres and David Luiz yet, but Chelsea has been cutting costs in anticipation of the UEFA rules kicking in.

Which is why many people found last night's splurge a surprise.

stop with those debate . let focus on later game against everton .

I don't understand why field Rosicky instead of Chamakh? Chamakh didn't be a michael owen to his team just to be our reserve.... Really hope at least CHamakh will get to play at least once a week.

ha..thanks to arsenal, koscielny now included in french squad..

clichy here.?