By Ian Grant
Wenger
In an interview in Italy, Wenger revealed: “My favourite Italian player is Gennaro Gattuso – when he is fit, he is a true lion on the pitch. Can you imagine what sort of midfield he would make alongside Patrick Vieira?”
Arsene Wenger’s personal hearing with the FA to answer a charge of improper conduct will be held on December 16. He has denied the charge, which was brought after his comments about Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Team
Arsenal are currently joint third bottom of the six-game form league.
Frank McLintock said: “They haven’t coped well. One of the things that disturbs me is the number of free-kicks they have conceded. From dead-ball situations they don’t seem to be winning headers.”
So far, Arsenal have four shut-outs in 15 matches; Chelsea boast 11, Manchester United have eight.
George Graham said: “They have to learn that they cannot just roll teams over like they had been doing in the past 18 months. They have to learn how to win ugly for a change. When you’re not at your best you have to grind out results.”
Players
Ljungberg said: “Some of us were saying that we weren’t going into the battles 100 per cent – and that we lost most of them because of that. We have to be hard and we have to win the battles to play the ball on the floor. When you want to play the ball on the floor, and we do, there’s no question about that, we have to get it down on the floor.”
And added:”But sometimes you have to battle to get the ball in the first place. That’s part of the English game and how we play it. That was mainly what we talked about, that we need to win the fight to get the ball.”
The Swede said: “It’s very frustrating, but we have to deal with it and try to put things right. It’s not as if we’re playing extremely badly but we’re conceding some strange goals and we have to address that. We always just think about scoring more than the opposition. But it would be nice to have a clean sheet soon.”
Vieira added: “It’s about ourselves now. But when we’re going through difficult times like now, I have a big part to play. We know that we played better at the start of the season. We’ve lost a bit of the togetherness that you need to win games.”
And added: “But it’s not a worry. I don’t think the other teams are better than us. We have to look at ourselves and try to improve. The only way we can do that is to work harder and harder. If we really want it, we’re going to do it. The quality, the hunger to keep the title is still there. We know what we have.”
Thierry Henry has made a shortlist of three from an initial 35 for FIFA World Player of the Year.
Henry said: “He [Vieira] has had a bad ankle injury. The guy is putting his body on the line.”
Thierry Henry has been signed up by Pepsi for a series of TV commercials.
Sol Campbell said: “I’ve never thought about leaving Arsenal, I’ll be here next season.” Reports suggest he is about to sign a new contract.
Business and Finance
According to the Business Times, Singapore, Arsenal has a fan base of some 28 million over 13 territories, including Singapore. It says fans in the UK number only two million.
Transfer talk
The People says David O’Leary is plotting a move for Jermaine Pennant.
It also says Arsenal and Man U are battling it out for 15 year old Southampton youngster, Theo Walcott.
Miscellaneous
Dietmar Hamann said Liverpool used a fluid 4-5-1 formation, played at high tempo to smother and press Arsenal and says it enabled them to snuff out their attacking threat.
Arsenal Ladies are making up for the men’s team form somewhat. Julie Fleeting helped Arsenal to their seventh-successive league triumph with a 2-0 victory over Bristol Rovers.