Arsenal - Rise Again

Wenger steps down

After a season full of banners, protest and frustration Arsene Wenger decides to step down as an Arsenal manager.

Despite having had his worst season in 21 years at Arsenal, he leaves the club on a high. His seventh FA Cup triumph makes him the record winning manager in this competition.



Wenger states that he wants what's best for the club and hopes that a new manager can take the club in a new direction. He says that he'll support 'his club' from the stands week in, week out.

"My job here is done."
Wenger rules out that he'll fill another role at the club which means that he won't take the much discussed role of a Director of Football. "But I want the new manager to know that I'll give him any advice he needs in order to succeed."

New man ante portas?
Rumours are that Thomas Tuchel is in talks with The Gunners. Other names surrounding the media speculations are Louis van Gaal, Ottmar Hitzfeld and former Arsenal player and Sky pundit Thierry Henry

At long last some will be saying!

Arsenal appoints Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel signs a two year contract and is now Arsenal's new manager!

The German steps into Arsene Wenger's big footprints but he might just know how to fill them as he was the one who followed Jürgen Klopp as manager at Borussia Dortmund as well.

Thomas Tuchel hasn't won a league title yet but he still knows how to succeed. He guided Mainz 05 into the Europa League twice (2011 & 2014) and won the German Cup with Dortmund in 2017.



After Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal will be Tuchel's first non-german club.

In his frist press conference Tuchel states: "I'm very happy to be here. I want to thank the club that it puts its faith in me and I'll give my best to reach our aims. I know that we've got a challenging season ahead but I believe in our quality and I have no doubts that Arsenal belongs into the Champions League and we will do everything to reach that target. I want to thank the fans for their warm welcome and I can't wait to experience their support in the stadiums throughout the season. I want the fans to know that we don't take their support for granted. I know how much the club means to them and I want them to know that everybody at the club identifies themselves with Arsenal and gives 110% for this great club. I'm proud to be a part of the Arsenal family and I'm confident that I can lead this club to glory!"

Tuchel will surely hope to get the fanbase behind him as many supporters turned their back on Arsene Wenger and the team during last season.

However, this is a new season and Thomas Tuchel's arrival has made many fans faithful ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

Two midfielders sign new contracts

Just a few days after the arrival of Arsenal's new manager Thomas Tuchel, two Arsenal players put pen to paper.

Mesut Özil and Jack Wilshere both sign new four year deals at Arsenal!



Mesut Özil said: "I'm happy that the talks ended positively for everyone. Everybody knows how important that club is to me and everybody knows that I want to be successful."
Özil made his debut for Arsenal in 2013 and added 23 goals and 45 assists in Premier League games since then.
"In football it's all about winning trophies and that is what I want to achieve with Arsenal in the next few years."

Looking back on his time with The Gunners, Özil has been able to add some trophies to his cabinett but three FA Cups in the last four years aren't enough for the German.
"I want to win the Premier League title! I believe that the club moves into the right direction and I can feel that my ambitions are met by the new manager. His plans for the next couple of years convinced me to stay Arsenal."
Certainly the new wage of 180.000 £ has helped in the negotiations but Özil claims that "it was never about the money."

Same can be said about Jack Wilshere, who once promised that he'll never leave Arsenal. The England international is "absolutely delighted" with his new contract. "I love the club and I'm really proud that I've got the opportunity to continue my journey here. The last couple of years haven't been easy for me as I've faced so many injuries but I always kept the faith and I'm thankful that the club now shows faith in me."

While Özil and Wilshere are now bound to the Emirates, it's still unclear what the future holds for Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla who's current contracts run out after the season ahead.

Lacazette signs

Arsenal have completed the signing of Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon.
The club confirmed Lacazette signed a five-year deal at the Emirates Stadium after Arsenal agreed a club record fee which is believed to be around £50 million.



Lacazette told Arsenal's official website: "I am, of course, delighted and very proud too because Arsenal is a legendary club. Throughout my childhood, thanks to Thierry Henry and other French players, I always dreamed of playing for this club so today that dream has been fulfilled. In addition, there are quite a few French players here now, which makes it easier to settle in. In my opinion, Arsenal is also the club that plays the best football in England, so I really wanted to come here."

Arsenal manager Thomas Tuchel had his say on the transfer: “I’m really happy that this deal has been completed. Alexandre is an excellent finisher and will certainly be winning us points on his own. But it’s more to him than just goals: he possesses very good technical abilities and has a high footballing understanding which means that he perfectly fit into our tactical system. I’m looking forward to work with him and I can’t wait to see him in action but I still want to ask the fans to stay patient as he might need some time to adapt to the British game.”

Lacazette boasted the highest chance conversion rate in Europe's top five leagues last season (38.9 per cent), scoring 37 goals in 45 games as Lyon secured a fourth-placed finish in Ligue 1 and reached the Europa League semi-finals.

Three in, three out

Arsenal has unveiled three new players!

While the arrival of free agent Sead Kolasinac has only been a matter of time, the signings of Mitchell Weiser and Kostas Manolas have been completed this week.

Mitchell Weiser joins Arsenal for a fee of £26 million from Hertha BSC Berlin. Weiser played for Köln in his youth before he joined Bayern München in 2012 where he wasn't able to enforce himself. The German left Bayern on a free in 2015 and signed a contract at Hertha where he was introduced into the starting eleven straight away. The 23-year-old right back looks ready to finally impress on the big stage.



Kostas Manolas was one of Thomas Tuchel's main targets and the Arsenal manager will certainly be happy that this deal has been completed. The central defender joins The Gunners in a deal worth £25 Million from AS Rom. The Greek international developed into one of Europe's top defenders after he joined Rom for £13 Million from Olympiakos Piräus in 2014.



Sead Kolasinac joins Arsenal on a free from Schalke 04. The left back played for the German side since his youth and has featured in more than 100 Bundesliga games for the Königsblauen. It's likely that the 24-year-old will be competing against Nacho Monreal on the left back position for a place in the side.



But it's not only time to welcome new players but time to say goodbye as well.
With Coquelin, Debuchy and youngster Pleguezuelo, three players will leave North London this week.

While Pleguezuelo is on his way to Sevilla for a fee of £250 thousand, the ways aren't too long for Coquelin and Debuchy as both will stay in London.
Coquelin joins West Ham in deal worth £25 million and Debuchy moves to Crystal Palace for a fee of £3.4 million.

With the Community Shield final against Chelsea coming up at the end of the week, it seems as Tuchel finally gets a squad together that suits his tactical approach.

Gunners triumph in Community Shield clash

Arsenal gets a narrow 2-1 win in the last showdown before the new Premier League season kicks off next weekend.



The Gunners started perfectly and took the lead after just five minutes thanks to their new man Lacazette who converted a Ramsey throughball and fired it into the back of the net!

But Chelsea wasn't too impressed, increased their tempo and got the equalizer in the 30th minute thanks to Musonda who scored an excellent solo goal.
However, it were the Arsenal fans who celebrated just a few minutes later. Alexis Sanchez set Aaron Ramsey free and the Welsh man scored from the edge of the box to restore Arsenal's lead.

A drab second half saw a top defensive performance from Arsenal while both teams struggled to get chances. Willian missed the only real chance for an equalizer as he dribbled through Arsenal's defence only to find his master in Ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Arsenal manager Thomas Tuchel showed his delight with the win in his post match interview:"I'm very pleased with our performance today. We showed that we have the quality to compete on top level and I'm very proud that we have got the deserved win. This result ends an extremly positive pre-season in a special way. That title is for the fans and I can assure them that we are hungry for more. We are ready for the season!"

Chelsea 1-2 Arsenal
Wembley, 90.000

Goals:
Musonda (30.); Lacazette (5.), Ramsey (35.)

Arsenal XI: 4-2-3-1
Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Ramsey, Xhaka (74.); Welbeck (55.), Özil (70.), Sanchez; Lacazette (62.)
Bench: Ospina, Mertesacker, Holding, Elneny (74.), Iwobi (70.), Walcott (55.), Giroud (62.)

Substitutions:
55. Welbeck × Walcott
62. Lacazette × Giroud
70. Özil × Iwobi
74. Xhaka × Elneny

Yellow Cards:
55. Lacazette
84. Sanchez

Great read so far. Great signing of Manolas.

First trophy: secure!

You've certainly strengthened the side although think Wilshire will spend a decent chunk of that 4 year deal injured

@anshum2007 thanks mate :-)

@mgriffin2012 hopefully just the first of many!

@ninjaskill well hopefully not but sadly it's pretty likely...had to keep him just because of his passion anyway

Arsenal season preview

It’s only a few days until the 2017/18 Premier League season opens its doors. Today we take a look on one of England’s greatest, Arsenal FC.



The manager
One of the biggest changes in comparison to previous seasons is of course the manager. After 20 years of serving, Arsene Wenger stepped down as an Arsenal Manager at the end of last season. The new man in charge is Thomas Tuchel, a German who previously managed Mainz and Borussia Dortmund. The 44-year-old has been in charge for roughly a month a now and has been working hard since then.
Here’s what he has to say ahead of his first season as an Arsenal manager:”We have a hardworking squad that is hungry for the new season. We all know what the fans expect from us and we are ready to deliver that. Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in England and that is the mentality we are working with. We must step into every game, knowing that we are able to win it. We won’t hide from anyone. There are many top clubs in this league but with the right commitment we can beat anyone.”

The squad



Goalkeepers: Cech, Ospina, Macey
Right backs: Bellerin, Weiser
Left backs: Kolasinac, Monreal
Central defenders: Koscielny, Mustafi, Manolas, Holding, Chambers, Mertesacker
Central midfielders: Ramsey, Wilshere, Xhaka, Elneny, Cazorla
Right wingers: Walcott, Welbeck, Nelson
Left wingers: Sanchez, Iwobi
Attacking midfielders: Özil, Dragomir
Strikers: Lacazette, Giroud, Nketiah

Pre-season review
The Gunners won all of their five pre-season games, ending their preparation for the new season with a Community Shield win against Chelsea. The team looked sharp and ready to go in all their games, scoring more than two in every of them. The shady side is that Arsenal will go into the new season with plenty of injuries. Long term patient Cazorla isn’t expected to be back until January 2018 and Chambers is set to miss the first three months of the season while Wilshere, Manolas and Weiser will all miss at least 2 games at the start of the season. Adding up to this, vice-captain Koscielny is still suspended from last season and will miss the first two games of the season as well.



Season prediction: 3rd place
Arsenal is certainly one of the most interesting sides to follow this season. It’s going to be interesting how they’ll put up with the challenge of Thursday night games in the Europa League and Premier League clashes on the weekend. But while Arsenal might be able to rest some players in midweek, all top 4 contenders must put up with Champions League opponents and while therefore have to play their strongest line up in order to stay in the competition. I expect The Gunners to benefit from that and therefore predict a finish inside the top 4.

Warning trophies inbound!

Start of the season

Arsenal gets off to a positive start into the season as The Gunners claimed a dramatic last minute win on opening day against Liverpool.
But the defensiv errors from the first game popped up in the second game as well and that's why Southampton were able to score twice despite missing numerous chances against an uncreative Arsenal side.
While Arsenal was lucky to get at least a draw against The Saints, the three points against West Brom were never in doubt.



Arsenal 3-2 Liverpool
Emirates Stadium, 60.432

Arsenal XI: 4-2-3-1
Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Mertesacker, Monreal; Ramsey Xhaka; Welbeck, Özil, Sanchez; Lacazette

Substitutions:
60. Welbeck x Walcott

Goals: Lacazette (23), Walcott (66), Xhaka (90+3); Milner (4), Mané (90)
Yellow Cards: / ; Matip (32)

MOTM: Mesut Özil (rating: 9.0; key passes: 9, assists: 1)

Southampton 2-2 Arsenal
St. Mary's Stadium, 32.384

Arsenal XI: 4-2-3-1
Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Mertesacker, Monreal; Ramsey, Xhaka; Walcott, Özil, Sanchez; Lacazette

Substitutions:
Özil x Giroud
Walcott x Welbeck
Ramsey x Wilshere

Goals: Gabbiadini (47), Tadic (66); Lacazette (6), own goal (59)
Yellow Cards: van Dijk (59; /

MOTM: Steven Davis (Southampton; rating: 9.0; key passes: 6)

Arsenal 3-1 West Brom
Emirates Stadium, 60.432

Arsenal XI: 4-2-3-1
Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Ramsey, Xhaka; Walcott, Özil, Sanchez; Lacazette

Substitutions:
53. Koscielny x Manolas
62. Monreal x Kolasinac
68. Walcott x Iwobi

Goals: own goal (28), Lacazette (33), Walcott (35); Rodriguez (74)
Yellow Cards: Koscielny (37); Krychowiak (9), Livermore (32)
Red Cards: / ; Yacob (second yellow; 3 & 48)

MOTM: Alexis Sanchez (rating:8.2; key passes: 3, assists: 2)



Tuchel's comment:
"All in all it was a positive start into the season. I am really happy with our performance against Liverpool on opening day and luckily we did ourselves justice with the last second winner.
I was really confident when driving up to St. Mary's but we just weren't good enough. The point was more than we deserved but of course we will take it anyway. We showed our real face in the first half against West Brom and sealed the deal before half time but what happened afterwards wasn't what I have told my boys during the break.
We wanted to score some more goals and I thought that we would get them easily after the visitors got one man sent off just after half time. But it just seemed like my players were satisfied already and I guess that's why we stopped creating chances and just passed the ball around in a boring fashion. We actually conceded despite having one man more on the pitch and that's why I wasn't pleased with that game.
However, I am happy that our new signing Lacazette scored in all three matches, proving that he is worth the money.
Looking on our next games, we surely have some very tough games coming up. Chelsea at home, Everton and Newcastle away with an Europa League game against San Sebastian and a Carabao Cup fixture against Reading at the Emirates in between."

Deadline day transfer

Arsenal complete the signing of German midfielder Leon Goretzka during the last hours of the summer transfer window, paying £35 million for the Ex-Schalke player who signed a long term contract at the Emirates.

"It's been a long process! We've worked very hard to get him and we are pleased that this work finally paid off.", Arsenal manager Thomas Tuchel said."The negotiations lasted a few weeks but are completed now."

Schalke wanted to keep Goretzka but the German wanted the move to the Premier League."As soon as Arsenal got in touch with me, I had no doubt that I wanted to join them."



Goretzka was in the last year of his contract and of course Schalke wanted to keep one of their key players but after the German international told the club that he wants to leave, the Königsblauen re-entered the negotiations with Arsenal and in the end got "at least an appropriate compensation", as Schalke manager Dominic Tedesco explained. "He's a heavy loss and of course it's going to be difficult to replace him."

However, Schalke's loss is Arsenal's gain.
Arsenal star Mesut Özil seems excited as he says:"I'm very happy that he will be here soon. I know him from the national team and I know that he is an outstanding footballer. He will certainly help us."
And helping is what Goretzka intends to do:"I want to win titles with this great club. I've followed many games of Arsenal over the years. I really like how they, or should I say we, play. I will work hard to contribute to the success of this club and I'm looking forward to my first training sessions with the team and of course my first games in front of the fans. As a child every player dreams to play in England one day, so a dream comes true to me."

The 22-year-old central midfielder was part of Germany's Confed Cup winning squad and has been a part of Schalke's first team since he joined them from Bochum in 2013.

"I've met him in the Bundesliga more than only one time and he was one of the players that always was able to your team. I am really happy that he will put this threat on our opponents from now on and I'm 100% sure that he will be a very good player for us. He has a good understanding of what's happening on the pitch. His vision combined with his passing abilities will help opening up oppositions and his work rate makes him available in every situation." ,Thomas Tuchel added.

Goretzka might make his Arsenal debut against Chelsea after the international break.