Arsenal international players report – Great news – No injuries!

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Bob

It was not a great night for Arsenal players on international duty but the best news for Gooners is that there are no more injuries to worry about. The only two Gunners who played whole matches for their countries were Thomas Vermaelen and Johann Djourou. Arsene Wenger will be pleased that Djourou got some game time after vowing to keep the defender and promising to play him this season. He played at left back as Switzerland beat Albania 2-0.

Walcott missed England’s hard fought draw against Ukraine due to illness, and they could have done with his speed down the wing. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain struggled to make the same impact he had against Moldova, to be honest he looked tired. Hopefully he will be ready and raring to go against Southampton on Saturday, but we don’t want to risk burning him out.

Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski were left out of the starting line up for Germany’s visit to Austria. Germany were lucky to get away with a 2-1 victory and had to work very hard to keep Austria from equalizing. Podolski was brought on for the last 15 minutes but both players will be fine for Saturday.

Laurent Koscielny was left out of the France team again, which is a shame because he is in danger of getting rusty. Giroud started in the middle of a front three for France, with Karim Benzema of Real Madrid and Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich either side. France wasted quite a few chances in the first half, Giroud included and the Arsenal striker was subbed after an hour, not the confidence boost he needed.

Even worse was the knock to his confidence that the Wales captain, Aaron Ramsey, received. They were thrashed 6-1 by a Serbia team that had been struggling to find the net for a while. Former Wales captain Kevin Ratcliffe slated Ramsey’s performance.

“He might need to be left out…at the moment we are not getting anything from him.”

Spain were nearly held to a draw away to Georgia, despite their usual control of possession. Santi Cazorla was brought on for Man City’s David Silva after 64 minutes, but it was Cesc Fabregas who finally unlocked the resolute defence to set up Soldado for the winner.

All Gooners can breathe a sigh of relief and get back to the important matter of Arsenal’s challenge for silverware.

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Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany hails Arsenal striker Robin van Persie as 'great player'

Roberto Mancini's side have been heavily linked with a move for the 29 year-old although reports today suggest Manchester United are in pole position to sign the Dutch striker.

"It's very easy to say you want to play next to Robin van Persie," said Kompany, the Manchester City captain.

"He's a great player. He's proved it so many times last season and any team he would play for he'd make it stronger."

The Dutchman, whose Arsenal contract expires at the end of the 2012-13 season, announced earlier this summer that he would not renew his deal and was booed by some Arsenal fans during their friendly against Cologne on Sunday.

Team-mate Thomas Vermaelen does not believe the speculation or reception from Arsenal supporters have had a negative effect on the striker, who scored 37 goals last season.

"To me he looks fit and sharp in training," said Vermaelen.

"He's working hard. He's working on his fitness. I don't see anything [different] and I hope he stays the next four years as well.

"I don't know what happens behind the scenes but at the moment I can only say he's a player for Arsenal.

"I feel really positive for the new season. If we all stay fit, the squad is strong enough to compete for the title."

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Van Persie – You DON’T need trophies to be a Great Player!

Do great players have to have won trophies? by SV

This article may seem a little off-topic to many, but it is a question that has been nagging my mind for some time. When people are arguing about who is a better player (Ronaldo or Messi, Henry or Drogba, Adams or Ferdinand…you get the idea), the statistic of how many trophies these individuals won is always pulled out.

This is, in my opinion, a ridiculous way of comparing or judging players. First and foremost, as a team sport, any trophy won is due to the contribution of the whole squad, not a single player. The best footballer in the world could be playing for an average team and so not win any trophies. So how is it fair to compare individual players like that? Let me give you an example. Last season, Romelu Lukaku won two prestigious honours, the FA Cup and Champions League; Robin van Persie, on the other hand, won nothing. Does that mean that Lukaku is a better player? Of course it bloody doesn’t.

Secondly, and this only really applies when you’re comparing players across nations or time periods, some trophies are far easier to win than others. In Scotland, for example, there were only really two teams in for the top honours, and the quality of football is generally lower, so a SPL League win really can’t be compared to winning, say, the Premier League. I say this matter-of-factly, by the way, and am not disrespecting the Scotland in any way (having lived there for a large part of my life myself). So the number of trophies a player, or even a team, has won is often no indication of their strength, as a number of these trophies could be worth relatively little. Think about it, we as Arsenal fans could say how may Emirates Cups we have won, but it won’t really be seen as impressive.

Finally, I’d just like to point out a few players who, despite not being hugely successful, are still classed as great players. Think about Alan Shearer, his only trophy was the Premier League in 1995, yet he is still widely recognised as one of the greatest ever Premier League strikers. Think about Paul Gascoigne, he is touted as the greatest EVER English player, and yet he one five trophies in his career. Bear in mind, though, that four of these were during his time in Scotland, which, as I said before, can’t really be compared to major league honours.

Basically, what I’m trying to say, is that when judging a player, please don’t use the lazy statistic of ‘how many trophies they have’, it really is most infuriating.

If you liked this article, you can follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SVGunner.

COMMENTS GUIDELINES: ANY COMMENTS WITH SWEARING OR PERSONAL ABUSE WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT EXCEPTION: PLEASE DISCUSS THE SUBJECT IN A FRIENDLY AND OBJECTIVE MANNER. SERIAL ABUSERS WILL BE BANNED. PLEASE BE NICE TO YOUR FELLOW GOONERS! NEW IDEA!! If A comment is deemed EXTRA SPECIAL I reserve the right to sopy it and use it as an article in its own right. (Edited of course!)

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Villa for Van Persie…Now that’s a great deal for the Gunners

News coming out of Barcelona are that the Catalans are preparing to offer David Villa plus cash for the services of the want-away Van Persie. Yes you heard right, we will be getting the services of a world cup winning striker and £13 million in exchange for a player who clearly do not want to be with us anymore. Now, if that is not a great deal, I don’t know what is. I seriously don’t know how true these rumors are but if it was true that we really should thank our transfer negotiators for getting us such a good deal

Of course, Villa had a major injury this season but it does not take away the quality the guys has. In fact, it was clearly Villa’s absence from the Barcelona squad last season which caused them the Primera Liga title. Moreover one major injury does not destroy a player’s capability. If this were true, we would not see Van Persi...

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