Arsene Wenger

José Mourinho has had a long-standing rivalry with Arsene Wenger and this is seen no signs of simmering down in the last few years even after the departure of Mourinho to foreign leagues.

Ever since his return back to the Premier League, the Portuguese has been highly critical of Wenger and his inability to win trophies on a regular basis. He even termed the Frenchman as ‘a specialist in failure’ a few seasons ago. Now, though, there seems to be a change in stance after having seen Wenger lift back-to-back FA Cup titles. Mourinho now reckons that Wenger’s men will be a force to reckon with next season.

Arsenal have surprised many by getting into the second spot with six games remaining in the campaign. They have been able to do this even while suffering a number of injury problems to keep players.

A major reason behind this push into the second spot has been the eight game winning run. The sequence started after the club had suffered a 2-1 defeat against arch rivals Tottenham. Back then, this defeat threatened to disrupt their top four ambitions once again. However, Arsenal have remarkably turned round and are now in a position to think about the title challenger as well.

One of the big decisions that Louis Van Gaal made at the start of his stint as Manchester United boss the previous year was to get rid of Danny Welbeck and get him sold to Arsenal.

That move did not receive support of too many of the Manchester United fans. Some believed it was a mistake by Van Gaal and Welbeck’s performance yesterday would have only firmed their belief.

Van Gaal had clarified his stand ruthlessly at that time saying that for him, Welbeck wasn’t the player who could produce quality Football for the whole period of 90 minutes. He couldn’t be banked upon and at best, could only produce some decent substitute shows.

Arsene Wenger is a football figure that is consistently being targeted for criticism and this due to a number of different reasons, one of those reasons is because of the persistent injuries that the players of Arsenal endure and the training regime of Wenger could be why the squad of the Premier League club is always being bombarded with injuries.

It wasn’t until a few months ago that Arsenal managed to end their trophy drought of over 7 years with the team of Arsene Wenger being able to win a major piece of silverware thanks to a 3-2 victory over Hull City in the FA Cup finals.

Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil has claimed that he is confident that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will make him a much better player.

The club record signing has struggled for form in the last 12 months, while his latest injury will not see him back in action until the start of 2015. Ozil has been heavily criticised for his inconsistent displays and his lack of desire to help out the defence. Signed for a cost of £ 42.5 million from Real Madrid in the summer of 2013, Ozil says that Wenger has complete trust in him and this in turn will help him develop his game in the future.

Thomas Vermaelen joined Barcelona during the summer transfer window as he made his way to the Spanish club with a transfer fee of around €19 million but the Belgian defender still has not been able to perform with his new club as he is still recovering from a hamstring injury that he sustained during the 2014 World Cup.

Barcelona is considered to be as one of the best clubs in the world and some say that even in history, but there is a weakness that the Spanish side has always been suffering and that’s in the defensive section and this is why Vermaelen was signed on August 9 of the ongoing year.

Arsene Wenger has suggested that fatigue could be a problem for his Arsenal players as they take on Besiktas in their second match in three days. The Frenchman saw his time achieve an incredible victory over Crystal Palace during the weekend. The team needed injury time in order to get the 2-1 victory that ensure that the positivity surrounding the club was kept intact. Ahead of the buzz, there was a lot of buzz that Arsenal could end their trophy drought in the Premier League just as they did in the FA Cup last season.

Brad Friedel has lauded the players of his national team USA for their brilliant outings in the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

The Yanks have made it to the pre quarter final round in Brazil against the Odds. They got beaten by a very strong German side in their last group game by 0-1, but, despite that, they got through the group round.

They were equalized with Portugal in terms of points, but, their goal differential helped them get the no. 2 spot in their group.

Till this point of time, it isn’t clear which team USA would face in the Round of 16. It can be any of the four Group H teams i.e. Russia, Belgium, South Korea or Algeria.

Arsenal fans have called for the club to sack manager Arsene Wenger following the transfer of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona to London rivals Chelsea.

The Spanish international midfielder joined the West London side for a reported fee of around £ 30 million following three years at Barcelona where he failed to establish himself as a regular in the first team. And although Arsenal had the first option on the player, a clause inserted on the contract while selling him to the Catalan giants in 2011, Wenger chose not to take up the option of resigning him citing a congested midfield.

Arsene Wenger has stated that he is confident that he will not allow the pressure to spoil what could be a fantastic day for Arsenal as they take on Hull city in the FA Cup final. This would be a great opportunity for Arsenal to end the nine-year wait for a trophy, but it is also giving a lot of pressure to the club. Arsenal have reached finals of competitions in previous years, but they have wilted under pressure. This time around, they go into the match as the clear favourites. Even Hull city manager Steve Bruce has said that Arsenal will be the overwhelming favourites for the win.