Arsène Wenger hurting but Monaco’s Jardim accuses Arsenal of disrespect

Arsène Wenger felt the turn of the knife after Arsenal had once again come up narrowly short in the Champions League as the Monaco manager, Leonardo Jardim, accused him of showing disrespect.
Arsenal won 2-0 at the Stade Louis II in the last-16 second leg but it was not enough to prevent going out on away goals after their 3-1 first-leg defeat at the Emirates Stadium three weeks ago. Following exits at the same stage to Barcelona, Milan and Bayern Munich twice in the previous four years, Wenger said that this one had hurt him the most.

Arsène Wenger says Arsenal better off dropping into Europa League

Arsène Wenger's comments were evidence of how hard Arsenal's latest last-16 Champions League exit had hit him. Photograph: Chris Ison/PA

Arsène Wenger was so distraught at the finality of Arsenal’s Champions League exit that he wondered whether it might have been better for the club to have dropped down into the Europa League and remained alive in European competition.
The manager offered the bleak and introspective comments in the wake of the last-16 second leg at Monaco, which Arsenal won 2-0 only to exit on away goals. It was the fifth season in succession that Wenger’s team had exited at this stage and, once again, the closing months of their season will be free of European football.
“Maybe it would be better not to advance from the group phase and play the Europa League than be eliminated right away in the last 16,” Wenger said. “We would have more chances to win a title.”
Wenger went on to say that if a club went “out after the group stages, you have no chances after to play again, like you do in the Europa League”.
If Arsenal had finished third, rather than second, in their Champions League group, they would have entered the Europa League and, possibly, fancied themselves to progress in the competition.

Forget about Monaco, Arsène Wenger has an excellent Arsenal team lurking in there

Arsenal’s Mesut Özil leaves the pitch in Monaco in dismay after the team’s Champions League exit - but all is not doom and gloom for the Gunners. Photograph: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Midway through Tuesday night’s fluent, dominant, pointless 2-0 defeat of Monaco Arsenal’s players might just have been tempted to chuck in the odd helpful stray pass, or to offer some encouraging words during breaks in play. Come on, chaps. Buck up a bit. You’re supposed to be the kind of side that beats teams like us 3-1 at home.
Instead, for Arsenal this was the kind of performance that’s so good it makes you look bad: a 2-0 away win that could have been double that against opponents revealed on the night as game but limited middle-rankers. But who were still good enough to knock Arsenal out of the Champions League before the quarter-final stage once again. So after the same old defeat, welcome to the same old analysis. Yes, it’s deja vu all over again for Arsenal and for those who would pronounce on Arsenal, with large swathes of the footballing commentariat reduced to a version of what many critics see in Arsenal’s manager: here we are again, a nation of keyboard Arsène Wengers seeing only the same shapes, the same flaws, the same outcomes.

More Arsenal Soccer Schools in USA

Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce the further expansion of Arsenal Soccer Schools USA.
In 2014, Arsenal Soccer Schools launched centres in New York, Boston, New Jersey and Connecticut. Following a successful premiere summer, the Arsenal Soccer Schools USA are expanding to three more locations including Bethesda, MD, Washington, D.C., and Palm Beach, FL.
The US Arsenal Soccer Schools give youngsters of all abilities the chance to ‘Learn to Play the Arsenal Way’, with the Gunners’ qualified coaches employing the same training philosophies as Arsène Wenger and his backroom staff. Both day and residential courses will be on offer, during June and July, for players aged between six and 16.
Arsenal Soccer Schools USA Executive Director David Evans said: “Over the past year, the response to the Arsenal Soccer Schools has been tremendous. Soccer is really gaining popularity across America, and it is great to be able to offer more young players the chance to receive the best quality training from our coaches.
“Passionate soccer players of all ages will love using the same drills and tactics as Arsenal’s professional players do in the English Premier League.”
Registration is open now for this summer’s new Arsenal Soccer Schools: The Palm Beach, FL camp, at Mirasol Park: June 8-12, 2015

Team news: Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain

Arsène Wenger has revealed the latest team news ahead of Wednesday night's match against AS Monaco:
on the team news...
The only uncertainty I have at the moment is Jack Wilshere but everybody else is available. He was rested [at training], because he trained hard until now. No, it's not a setback but I don't think [he'll play against Monaco].

on whether Oxlade-Chamberlain has returned to full training…
Yes.

No ordinary second fiddle

During Saturday’s match against Crystal Palace, there was a moment where the ball had squirted loose in midfield and two players from opposite teams ran full speed to collect.
Santi Cazorla, the Arsenal man, beat the Crystal Palace midfielder to the ball by mere inches and at the speed he was running I expected him to take a heavy touch and kick the ball to an opponent.
But the ball seemed to stick to him like velcro as he effortlessly switched from left to right foot, skipped by the Palace man, and started Arsenal’s attack.

Santi Cazorla

That moment of skill didn’t make any highlight reels and for many who watched the game might have been lost among the more stellar moments of the game, but for me, it epitomized the play of Cazorla, a player who somehow quietly does the brilliant work in the background while others take the glory.

Legends attend 'Invincibles' premiere

The ‘Invincibles’ side of 2003/04 is celebrated in a new Arsenal Media documentary released this week.
The film, which took almost two years to complete, includes contributions from Arsène Wenger, Thierry Henry, Jens Lehmann, Sol Campbell, Martin Keown and Ray Parlour.
It premiered at the Everyman Cinema in Hampstead on Monday evening, with members of the Invincibles squad in attendance along with a host of famous fans.
‘Invincibles’ will be aired for the first time on Sky Sports 1 & 5 after Wednesday’s Champions League match with Monaco, with an extended version of the film available on iTunes and DVD from March 30.
The documentary will also be aired in the United States on NBC, with the premiere at 12pm (Eastern Time) on Sunday, March 1 following the Arsenal v Everton match.
It will then be screened again the following day at 9pm, as well as on March 14 on 6am  and at 4pm on March 22 (all Eastern Time)

‘I’ve missed Champions League music!

Olivier Giroud cannot wait to return to Champions League action on Wednesday night - as he has particularly missed its “fantastic song”.
The France international has not played a single minute in the competition this season after being ruled out of the group stage with a broken foot.
Now fully fit, the 28-year-old is expected to lead the line in Arsenal’s last-16 first leg clash against Monaco at Emirates Stadium.

I haven’t played a Champions League match for a long time so I’m really pleased to come back, listen to its fantastic song and hopefully go through to the quarter-final
Olivier Giroud

“I haven’t played a Champions League match for a long time so I’m really pleased to come back in this competition, listen to its fantastic song and hopefully go through to the quarter-final,” Giroud said.
“We need it as it has been long time since we reached that stage but we are facing tough opponents. Monaco have some really good young players, even if they don’t have a lot of Champions league experience.

Arsenal v AS Monaco - Match Preview

For a man who has always preferred to look forward than hark back, the past few days must have been somewhat trying for Arsène Wenger.
As soon as the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League was made back in December, the narrative was writ large. This was to be a long-awaited reunion between the Frenchman and the club where he had such success in his formative managerial years.

Wenger pre-Monaco

Welbeck - We don't think of past exits

Danny Welbeck insists Arsenal will not dwell on previous seasons ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 clash against Monaco.
The Gunners have not reached the quarter-finals since 2009/10, having been knocked out by Bayern Munich, Barcelona and AC Milan in the past four campaigns.
However, Welbeck believes Arsenal have put those exits behind them and have enough quality to overcome Monaco.

It's about making things right and learning from that experience and taking it into the next game
Danny Welbeck

“It is not something that comes into discussion,” the forward said. “You can’t be looking into the past too much about what you could have done, it is about making things right and learning from that experience and taking it into the next game.
“We know that it’s going to be a tough tie for us, it’s going to be played over two legs so we’re not just going to be focused on this one. But obviously getting the right result will set us up nicely for the next tie.

Arsène Wenger says he fell in love with Arsenal when he visited Highbury for the first time in 1989 during his time as Monaco manager.
The Frenchman arrived at the Gunners' spiritual home on his way back from a European Cup scouting mission in Turkey where he was checking up on Galatasaray.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash against his former side, Wenger revealed how the chance visit indirectly led to him succeeding Bruce Rioch in 1996.

There was a fantastic atmosphere at Highbury. Even at that time I thought it would be great to be part of that
Arsène Wenger

“I remember the first time I visited Highbury, I was on my own and it was January 2, 1989,” Wenger told the Arsenal Magazine.
“I had been in Turkey two days earlier watching Monaco’s next opponents in the European Cup and I had to fly back on January 1, but I saw that in England they play football at that time of year so I decided to fly back from Ankara to France via London to watch a game first.

Monaco’s squad is well balanced’

The sides will meet for the first time in a competitive fixture, in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at Emirates Stadium.
Coquelin has watched Leonardo Jardim’s team numerous times this season and feels Monaco’s squad is well balanced.
“They’re a very good team,” he told the official matchday programme. “As a French person I follow Ligue 1 a lot so I’ve watched them play many times.
“There are big players who have left in the summer so they have put faith in their young players, who have Dimitar Berbatov and Joao Moutinho around them to learn from. It’s a good mix so it’s going to be a really tough game.

Matchday Programme Read the full interview in the Monaco programme

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“They’ve also produced David Trezeguet but now it’s all about Yannick Ferriera-Carrasco, Anthony Martial and they’ve got a left back who’s just been called up for the France national team called Layvin Kurzawa.
“They’re known for their academy and they bring players through from Belgium, so it’ll be a tough game.”