While Real Madrid might like the chance to see Wenger in charge, would it be reciprocated at Arsenal? i was reading Ian Wright’s column today and he thinks not.

I personally agree with Wrighty when he states:

Mourinho has brilliant tactical ability but also a nose for an argument.

He always seems to be in conflict with his players, opposing managers, fans or the board. The Premier League is where he is happiest. Perhaps over here, the fans understand what he is all about.

But I just do not think he would be suited at Arsenal, who have a history of doing things the right way.

I cannot imagine any Gunners manager celebrating a goal by sliding on his knees in the Emirates technical area.

Equally, I do not think Mourinho will ever get the chance of managing Manchester United for much the same reasons as why he will not manage Arsenal. More here.

I think Ian Wright has some valid points to consider and although there is no doubting The Special One’s ability having won leagues in England, Portugal and Italy and being 7 points ahead of mighty Barcelona, Mourinho wouldn’t gel at Arsenal for the reasons that Wrighty has stated above.

It would be a magnificent feat to win the league in Spain and would certainly cement his success as a great trainer. Sometimes clubs don’t need great trainers, they need someone that understands the players, the fans and the board at the same time. Good luck with you job hunting Jose!

Thierry Henry capped his fairytale return to Arsenal with the winner to sink Leeds.
It was just like the good old days as the Gunners legend, 34, came off the bench to light up the Emirates with his ‘va va voom’ and the only goal of this FA Cup tie.

It was the 227th goal of his stunning Arsenal career. And an emotional Henry admitted: “It’s incredible. I never thought I would play for Arsenal again, let alone score the winner.

“I love this club and I wanted to help out.

“It was an amazing feeling when I scored and hopefully it won’t be the last one.
“I will always remember this night. It’s kind of weird, 15 days ago I came back from holiday in Mexico and it wasn’t the plan to be the hero.

“But it was very important to take that first opportunity because you never know if you are going to get a second and I took it well.”

Henry, who is on loan from New York Red Bulls until the end of February, raced straight into the arms of a delighted Arsene Wenger as he celebrated his 78th-minute strike.

The Gunners boss beamed: “It was a dream comeback, the kind of story you tell young kids about football.

“He was already a legend here but tonight he has added just a bit more to the whole story.

“He is a special player who has seen and done it all yet is still focused, motivated and has an immense desire to do well. That’s what champions are all about.

“There was a lot of pressure on him because he’s a proud guy and he didn’t want to come back and disappoint people.Read the rest on The Sun here.

So, after an amazing fairytale return for the former frontman, everyone seems to be talking of amazing comebacks. With Manchester United bringing Paul Scholes back into action against Manchester City in the FA Cup and now Henry getting in on the act poor old Ian Wright is o so jealous and quite rightly so! These guys face a lot of pressure by coming out of retirement or coming back to their old team and they don’t want to disappoint their fans. Who knows, Thierry Henry may be just the ticket to lift the Gunner’s morale and propel them forward just like the old days!

Robin Van Persie has ordered Arsenal to forget about pretty football.

The Gunners have not won a trophy since 2005 while often being accused of putting style above substance.

And, ahead of their visit to Aston Villa tonight, striker Van Persie said: “Nobody can play beautiful football all the time.

“When that happens I tell our lads ‘If it’s not happening for you, just try to kill off the game so we can move on’.

“I am still a lover of the beautiful game and always will be but I have become more realistic.

“It is too romantic to think that you can win matches by playing beautiful football alone.

“Barcelona are the exception — and I have to admit they and Arsenal are the only teams that I often watch on TV.”

And Van Persie applies his ‘ugly’ rule to his own goals too.

He added: “I have felt more like a centre-forward recently.

“In the beginning I had to get accustomed to the idea, I was not convinced that I could play in this position.

“Since then I have become clear in my mind, and grown into the role. I enjoy scoring more now these days.

“You can see it from my goals — some come about from willpower pure and simple.

“You can see it in my face, ‘OK, the ball’s got to go in no matter how’.

“I used to think about other options when faced with the goal — looking to find team-mates with a clever pass, going for a hook shot or blasting it. More here at The Sun.

With that off Van Persie’s chest, maybe Arsenal can get on and keep up the good record. Who knows, the Dutch scoring machine may have a point and we’ll certainly see if it produces the goods in the coming games!

“What does Arsenal mean? It means class.” Those were the words of Charlie Nicholas ahead of this, a celebration of 125 years of football at the North London club. It is testament to Robin Van Persie then that a crowd who have witnessed Henry and Bergkamp leave mouths agape in years gone by, will have seen few strikes classier than today’s decider at The Emirates.

The control, the power, the ease with which the imperial Dutchman guided home his 70th minute volley was not what most impressed about the goal. That Van Persie had been largely absent in an end to end affair before breaking Blue hearts by striding from anonymity to snatch all three points, shows the Arsenal marksman as more than just that, he is a predator, and one who now looks ready to take his place among the pre-match precession of Henry, Wright and Nicholas himself.

For Everton, the journey will be one as taxing to their legs as it is their morale. David Moyes’ men held out stoically before brilliance denied them. Riding their luck in the first half, they rebuffed the advances of Gervinho, a one time target made unattainable by money, or a lack of. They even managed to curtail Theo Walcott who was a game runner for the scythe passing of former Toffee Mikel Arteta.

Defending has not been Moyes’ problem though, had that cost him the points, it might have been easier to take. Instead the travelling Evertonians watched along with their manager as another ninety minute exposure of their toothless attack painfully played out.

Louis Saha recovered from a thigh strain to be available for the trip, but his minimal impact was clear in one stat: Everton couldn’t muster a single shot on target at The Emirates. More worryingly, it is the second successive game this has happened, a fresh approach in attack is becoming a matter of desperation more than desire. The show of sublime striking at one end was cruel on the goal starved.

It also spared Arsenal from the nil all draw which could have given home fans, longer in tooth, mind of times less fast inside the Highbury library, before a French revolution took hold. The Gunners squandered good chances in the first half, Gervinho and Aaron Ramsey inexplicably neglecting to sort out an easy tap in between them, before the Ivorian slammed a one on one shot straight at Tim Howard.

After Ramsey found room in the box, minutes before the break, to craft a lob over Howard which dropped agonisingly onto the roof of the net Arsene Wenger might have felt it one of those days. His readying of Rosicky and Arshavin on the hour confirmed those fears but, on a day which was all about history in north London, a flying Dutchman proved the future, as well as the past, is orange. The subs sat down and zipped their jackets back up, the victory, and Everton’s fate, was sealed. Original article here

A great game by both sides and it was the brilliance of Arsenal’s Dutch superstar that broke the deadlock in the 70th minute.It was a truly beautiful strike from an awesome pass and Arsenal deserved the win at the Emirates. The Robin Van Persie volley will go down in history for sure!

The injury was confirmed by the French Football Federation and the 28-year-old will be out of action until the new year.

The French Football Federation statement read: “The doctor of the France team, Fabrice Bryand, was informed by Arsenal of a fracture to the right fibula of Bacary Sagna.

“The player (Baccary Sagna) was hurt during the match lost 2-1 by his club against Tottenham on Sunday. The defender will be operated on and is not expected to be available for at least three months.”

Arsenal Wenger is under immense pressure after his side suffered three defeats in five games of their opening Premier League.

But England wing Walcott acknowledges he and his teammates must be made to run the club’s disastrous results.

Walcott said: “The boss is a great man, he can handle anything thrown at him.

“It was the club for over 15 years, and it is not under any pressure whatsoever.

“We players, we need to look at and start doing it on the ground, to be honest.

“Many people would say a matter of defense, but it is not just a back four, you must try to defend the whole team.

“We were not able to do so we need to ensure that we are against Bolton last weekend.

“It will be a difficult game. They come from a good result in the middle of the week.

“We have our fans at home as well. We have some home games and is important for us to have our support at home.

“The head can deal with something.”

Arsenal will be playing from the back of the disappointing 4-3 defeat of Blackburn last weekend.

But despite claiming four points from five games, Walcott believes the Gunners will soon turn the page and go on a winning run.

Speaking to Absolute Radio, he added: “We score goals, we managed to score three goals away from home and still lost, which was disappointing ..

“But we just forget it. We just spent.

“It’s important for us not to dwell on these results, we have had.

“We just have to try to win just take match after match. Maybe we think too far this time.

“As soon as we begin to have a good run, hopefully you will see Arsenal to return true.

“Manchester United had a poor start last season, not as bad as us, but may recover in this way have nothing to fear.”

The Gunners looked in firm control after a first half that saw Gervinho and Mikel Arteta open their accounts for the club, even taking into account a debut goal from Yakubu as he took advantage of some characteristically slack defending from the visitors.
In a quite remarkable second-half at Ewood Park, though, Arsenal imploded in a fashion that is becoming all too familiar for the North London club and the under-pressure Wenger. Yakubu claimed a second, albeit from an offside position, and Alex Song and Laurent Koscielny both scored own goals as Wenger witnessed the disintegration of his defence.

Substitute Marouane Chamakh headed home for his first Premier League goal since November, but Blackburn held on for only their sixth win in 26 games under Kean, in the process condemning Arsenal to defeat and drawing level with the Gunners on four points from five games. However, Blackburn are ahead on goal difference.

Blackburn had lost nine times at home to Arsenal in the Premier League era – more than any other club – and struggled throughout a first half in which they afforded the visitors far too much space down the right wing and also saw the midfield trio of Aaron Ramsey, Song and Arteta dominate in the centre of the park.

more here on Eurosport

Pat Rice revealed last night revealed that he hated every minute of Arsenal’s dramatic draw in Germany. The Gunners No2 stood in for Arsenal boss Wenger, who was serving a touchline ban.

Rice, who saw Robin van Persie’s opener cancelled out by a stunning 88th-minute strike from Ivan Perisic, said: “Did I like it? No. It has never been one of my ambitions to be manager of a football club.

“It was too stressful for me and extremely strange not to have the manager with me. He is normally shouting in my ear.

“It was a strange decision by UEFA for him not to be on the bench.

“But we battled really hard and we knew it would be a hard game. I don’t think many teams will beat Dortmund.

“Dortmund are a really good side. No question. From our point of view, we wanted to win the game. We were so close. We were very near.”

Dortmund equalised with a stunning 25-yard strike from substitute Perisic.

Rice said: “Their player could try that 35 or 40 times and he would hit it wide. It was a great goal.”

Asked if Arsenal have turned the corner, Rice added: “Very much so. Particularly the game on Saturday when we beat Swansea.

“It seemed as though it was our start to the season after uncertainty. The players we have signed are very good, contrary to what other people have said. I am sure they will show it in the games to come.”

Rice also praised skipper Van Persie, who discussed tactics with stand-in boss Rice during breaks throughout the game.

He said: “Robin is the club captain and we encouraged him to be verbal on the park and off it.

“He was asking me one or two things about what we could do better and I was saying one or two things which could make the team better.”

Van Persie struck in the 42nd minute with a superb right-foot shot after being put through by Theo Walcott.

Rice said: “As for the goal, it is nothing unusual to see Robin do that. It was a great run by Robin and a terrific ball through.

“It was unusual to see Robin hit it with that foot but it proves he is not a one-foot footballer.”