Here are some of Arsene Wenger’s comments after today’s thrashing of Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates:

on a memorable afternoon…
I felt that recently we had quite good performances but did not get the results. Today we got the performance and the result, which is ideally what you want. I do not give much importance to the seven goals, it is just important we won and played well.

on Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott…
As you know, they are English! I feel providing today was as important as scoring. The flanks provided very well and scored through Alex. Robin is an exceptional football player and you could see that with his movement in the box, which could be shown in every football school. When you feed him in the box, he is deadly.

on why he didn’t take Van Persie off…
Alex Chamberlain played three games for the first time in his career. He had a stiff neck at half-time, so I did not want to take a gamble with him. Then we had a problem with Koscielny, and I wanted to give some playing time to Benayoun.

on maintaining the pressure against 10 men…
We remained serious and were guided by the way we want to play football and not by any extravagant individualism. That is positive. We were mature and serious, we played together until the end.

on Oxlade-Chamberlain’s pre-match knock…
I would not have taken a gamble today. In a very short period of time he has become an important player who can make a difference. I rested him in the last 20 minutes at Bolton, so he was not pushed to his limits. The medical staff said there was no risk he could damage his knee, so that is why I decided to play him.

on why he didn’t use him sooner…
He was not ready earlier in the season. He has made a big step in the last months. He produces team play, he is not only going forwards, he is contributing to the defending and has improved very quickly. He is a fighter as well, with personality. He is much more mature now.

on whether he could get an England call-up…
Would you be surprised? I would not.

on scoring so many goals..
It was important to the confidence of the side that we win a game and get three points but the result in itself will not make us win at Sunderland. What will make us win there with the confidence we got today is to continue to play the way we did today. Every game is a new challenge and Sunderland are in a good spell as well. We have to be ready for that.

on fears that Givet had hurt Van Persie…
Yes I was worried because you never know how bad it is. That’s something we cannot afford at the moment, to lose a player like Robin with Thierry going back to the States. Normally, Thierry today played his last game at the Emirates and in the last minute he scored his goal. So that is something special.

on whether Givet apologised…
Yes he did.

on whether he reads much into a 7-1 win…
No, as we said before we need consistency. Strangely I don’t feel we played very badly at Fulham, nor at Swansea, nor against Manchester United – in the first half we were terrible but in the second half we should have won the game. But every time we just couldn’t get the result and in the end if affects your belief. This will help us slowly to believe again that we could win. To win 1-0 at Sunderland would be fantastic and that’s what we have to prepare for, to produce a good performance.

on sharing the goals around…
Yes, that was a problem I faced in all the press conferences at the start of the season. If he doesn’t score, who scores, you know? It was right, I couldn’t deny that. But I always felt that if you look at our numbers the trio of Gervinho, Walcott and Van Persie were involved in all the goals so they are more the providers because we play with two wingers. But the wingers can score as well, like today. It is something that is needed and we need some more goals from midfield as well.

on Henry’s impact off the pitch…
Only positive. How much, you can never give a percentage, but he was very positive and everyone takes his advice on board because he has delivered here and they want to deliver too. He is respected and he was very positive. He is not going away yet, normally he stays until after the Milan game. So we go to Sunderland now and then we go to Milan – that is two massive games.

on whether he can extend Henry’s loan deal…
I haven’t looked at it, maybe the maximum possibility we have is two more weeks. Normally no [he would not be here for the Tottenham game].

Could not resist the headline!! After the woeful performance against Bolton in midweek, I asked that “ unless Robin van Persie scores where are the goals coming from?” Well Saturday we got our answer as three other Arsenal players, besides Robin van Persie got on the scoresheet.

Some thoughts on the game

• It was the second hat-trick of the season for Robin van Persie, who knows has 28 goals this season in all competitions and a remarkable 22 in the league. When the UEFA player of the year nominations are announced later this year, van Persie is going to be up their with Messi and Ronaldo as the best goal scorers in Europe.
• Thought that Theo Walcott was terrific today. His crossing was much better and he laid on three of Arsenal’s seven goals. It is the kind of performance that makes you ask, why can’t Theo do this every week? And is he not doing that because he is still young?
• Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored two today, his first goals in the Premier League, and was really impressive one again. It will be interesting to see what Wenger does when Gervinho comes back from international duty. Does Gervinho go straight back into the line-up, or does he sit on the bench and watch AOC?
• Nice to see Thierry Henry get a Premier League goal, with an assist from Robin van Persie. The past ans present of Arsenal FC there.
• With Chelsea playing United and Spurs playing Liverpool this is a big three points and it should bring Arsenal closer their biggest rivals for that Champions League place
• Vote for your Man of the Match on our Arsenal Facebook Page

What did you think of the performance today?

Arsène Wenger has revealed the latest information ahead of the Blackburn game:

on the latest team news…
We have a little problem with Oxlade-Chamberlain that we have to check today [Friday] because his knee jarred a little bit and we will see how he has recovered from it. All of the other players look alright.

on making changes for Saturday…
A little bit yes because we gave a lot on Sunday against Villa and gave a lot against Bolton on Wednesday. I am thinking about it at the moment, yes.

on Kieran Gibbs…
Gibbs is nearly ready but what he lacks a little bit is confidence. He has not played since the beginning of October. He had two surgeries so I will have a little chat with him. He maybe needs a game with the reserves, I do not know yet.

If AOC misses the game could we see Henry start or will Wenger go with Arshavin?

Highlights from Arsene Wenger’s press conference today in which he touches on the Gunners injuries and the planned fan protest:

Arsenal are reported to be working hard on lining up Claudio Yacob from Argentina’s Racing Club for a move to Arsenal this summer.

Yacob, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is a 24-year-old combative midfielder, who is often compared to compatriot Javier Mascherano. Mascherano plays a similar role for his Barcelona and Argentina.

Have to admit I have mixed emotions about this story which was in today’s Daily Mail. One emotion is happiness that Wenger is finally looking to fill the void left by Viera in the center of the pitch. The other emotion, is that I really like Frimpong and I was hoping that after six months on loan at Wolves, that he would come back and become a regular in the Arsenal line-up next season.

Either way, regardless of whether it is Frimpong or Yacob, having a bit of steel back in the center of the park will be a great thing to see.

Here are some highlights of Yacob in action:

With the January transfer window now closed, Arsenal have submitted their playing squad for the remainder of the season to the Premier League. You may register a maximum 25 senior players with an unlimited number of eligible under-21s (many of Arsenal’s players are in the under-21 list)

Arsenal – 25 squad players Player
1 Clarindo Dos Santos, Andre
2 Arshavin, Andrey
3 Arteta Amatriain, Mikel
4 Benayoun, Yossi
5 Chamakh, Maroune
6 Diaby, Vassiriki Abou
7 Djourou-Gbadjere, Johan Danon
8 Fabianski, Lukasz
9 Yao, Gervais Kouassi
10 Gibbs, Kieran James Ricardo
11 Koscielny, Laurent
12 Mannone, Vito
13 Mertesacker, Per
14 Park, Chu Young
15 Rosicky, Tomas
16 Sagna, Bacary
17 Henry, Thierry
18 Song Bilong, Alexandre Dimitri
19 Squillaci, Sebastien
20 Van Persie, Robin
21 Vermaelen, Thomas
22 Walcott, Theo James

Under 21 Players
Afobe, Benik
Alves da Silva,
Wellington Aneke,
Chukwuemeka Ademola
Amachi Angha,
Martin Yves Ansah, Zak
Andy Bartley,
Kyle Bellerin,
Hector Bihmoutine,
Samir Boateng,
Daniel Brislen-Hall,
George Bunjaku,
Alban Campbell,
James Andrew Campbell,
Joel Charles-Cook,
Reice Jordan Coquelin,
Francis Eastmond,
Craig Leon Ebecilio,
Kyle Stephen
Joel Eisfeld,
Thomas Fagan,
Zachari Freddy Casey
Frimpong, Emmanuel Yan
Galindo, Samuel
Glasgow, Benjamin Luke
Gnabry, Serge David
Hajrovic, Sead
Hayden, Isaac Scot
Henderson, Conor Alan
Hoyte, Gavin Andrew
Jeffrey, Anthony Lamar Malcolm
Jenkinson, Carl Daniel
Lansbury, Henri George
Martinez, Damain Emiliano
McDermott, Sean
Meade, Jernade Ronnel
Miquel-Pons, Ignasi
Miyaichi, Ryo
Monakana, Jeffrey
Monteiro, Elton Almada
Murphy, Rhys Philip Elliot
Oldfield Spence-Neita, Nigel Paul
Olsson, Mats Kristoffer
Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexander Mark
David Ozyakup, Oguzhan
Ramsey, Aaron James
Rees, Joshua David
Roberts, Philip James
Shea, James
Szczesny, Wojciech Tomasz
Toral, Jon-Miquel
Watt, Herschel Oulio Sanchez
Wilshere, Jack
Andrew Wynter, Jordan James Cecil
Yennaris, Nicholas

Mikel Arteta has admitted that it will be “tough” for Arsenal to break into the top four of the Premier League following their 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers.

The result at the Reebok Stadium left the Gunners in seventh place, five points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea, as they remain without a league victory in 2012.

Arteta acknowledged that more consistency is required if Arsene Wenger’s team are to secure qualification for next season’s Champions League.

“It is going to be tough to finish in the top four but it depends on us,” Arteta told the club’s official website. “We have got the talent and the quality in the side to do it but we have to show it day by day. I am confident because we train together every day and I know how good we are but we have to show it every day, not every two or three weeks. I am sure that Chelsea will start a good run and we have to do the same and win games like we did a month ago. But I am still positive – there are still a lot of games to play and hopefully we can get that done.”

 

Listen to Arsene Wenger talk about the draw to Bolton last night and how that every game is now a cup final for the Gunners:

Here are some of Arsene Wenger’s comments after tonight’s disappointing draw away to Bolton:

on the result…
We feel we have dropped two points because we had chances to win the game. But we produced a decent game against a difficult opponent who gives you the ball, marks tight and waits for their chance. We took all of the risks and we were a bit unlucky as well because we hit the bar, the post and missed some great chances. In the end we took a gamble to play four strikers and we nearly got caught in the last five minutes from a Bolton chance.

But I cannot fault the effort, the commitment and desire to win the game. On the positive side we haven’t lost and we haven’t conceded a goal. Of course we have regrets because we did not take our chances tonight.

on missing early chances…
Of course. In the end you could see as well that we had one day less recovery than Bolton and that we had given a lot in the second half against Aston Villa to come back and win the game. We had a few heavy legs to finish the game.

on one point in four…
We give our best in every game and that is what we did tonight. Journalists always talk if you are concerned but it is about the game you have played just now. You do not go in after a game and think it is the most difficult period.

We had even more difficult periods when we won championships and went six games without a win. It’s part of football when you lose three games like we did, when you do not lose the fourth game it is already not too bad.

on Jack Wilshere’s injury…
I don’t know really. We made a statement today and we stick to that. I can talk and talk but I do not know more than you.

on how frustrating that is…
You want your best players available in February when you go away in the Champions League and play in the FA Cup. You want to come back into the top four and you want your best players available, so of course it’s frustrating.

on confidence of top-four finish…
There is a long way to go and I am confident that we can come back, yes. We have gone through a difficult period where we lost the three championship games, but we could have won them as well.

on past finishes giving confidence…
I believe we had to produce it game by game. For us, every game in the championship is a cup final now. We go into a period now where we play in the FA Cup, the Champions League and it will be difficult to balance all three. It’s important that we do not have more injuries. We now have Sagna back, Gibbs is not far and Arteta is back so overall I think we can cope with it.

on what is missing…
What I feel is missing at the moment, and in the game tonight, is taking our chances early in the game. That could have changed the whole game because they would have had to come out. They defended very well and as long as we didn’t score, they were not in a position where they had to change their tactics.

Not sure where to start with this one. How can Arsenal be held scoreless by a team that had only kept two clean sheets all season? Easy, unless Robin van Persie scores where are the goals coming from?

Tonight Wenger sent out a midfield three of Song, Arteta and Ramsey with Walcott and AOC out wide. None of those five players are known for their goal scoring ability. Tonight was also the first time that I realized that Wenger has not replaced Fabregas and his goal scoring ability from midfield. Fabregas has scored 15 goals already for Barcelona this season. I wager a bet that the Arsenal midfield collectively does not score 15 goals this season.

With Chelsea only picking up two points from their last two league games, this has been a great chance for Arsenal to put together a winning streak and move into that fourth Champions League place. But the Gunners are now winless in their last four league games and have dropped to SEVENTH in the Premier League.

It is a very real possibility that Arsenal will not qualify for the Champions League next season, hell at this rate the will not even make the Europa League, and the damage that will do to the team in unthinkable.

How will Arsenal be able to attract top quality players without the lure of Champions League football? How will Wenger and the Arsenal board be able to convince their one and only world class player to sign a new long-term deal without being able to offer him Champions League football?

Can someone cheer me up? Is their a silver lining to this cloud that I am not seeing?