Arsenal Football Club (often simply known as Arsenal or The Arsenal, or by their nickname The Gunners) are an English professional football club based in Holloway, North London. They play in the Premier League and are one of the most successful clubs in English football, having won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups. They hold the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the English top flight and are one of only two sides to have completed a Premier League season unbeaten.
Arsenal were founded in 1886 and, in 1893, became the first club from the south of England to join the Football League. They won their first major trophies—five League Championship titles and two FA Cups:—in the 1930s. After a lean period in the post-war years they became the second club of the 20th century to win the League and FA Cup Double, in the 1970–71 season, and in the 1990s and 2000s recorded a series of successes – during this time Arsenal won a Cup Double, two further League and FA Cup Doubles, and became the first London club to reach the UEFA Champions League Final.
The club's colours, traditionally red and white, have evolved over time. Similarly, the club have moved location; founded in Woolwich, south-east London, in 1913 they moved north across the city to Arsenal Stadium, in Highbury. In 2006 they made a shorter move, to the Emirates Stadium in nearby Holloway.
Arsenal have an estimated 27 million fans worldwide, and the fans have long-standing rivalries with several other clubs; the most notable of these is with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom they regularly contest the North London derby. Arsenal are also the third-richest club in the world as of 2009, valued at over $1.2 billion. The club have regularly featured in portrayals of football in British culture. Arsenal Ladies are the most successful English club in women's football and are also affiliated with the club.
Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky: Why Arsene Wenger Should Keep the Two Players
Over the last six to seven years, Arsene Wenger has adopted a strict policy for players who are above thirty. In Arsenal’s present squad, there are two players who are hovering around the thirty year mark: Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky.
There have been several rumors and calls from fans to sell these two players, especially Rosicky. Granted, both he and Arshavin might not have had the greatest of seasons this year for the Gunners, I believe they still have something to offer the club and Wenger should retain these two experienced campaigners.
If there something that we have learned from Arsenal’s campaign in the last two years it is that experience plays a crucial role during the title run. Both of these players have plenty of familiarity in the top flight, but more importantly, they have experience in winning trophies which is something currently very rare within the Arsenal squad.
More than Arshavin, it has been Rosicky who has come under fire and harsh criticism in recent times.
It has been a well documented fact that over the last two to three months, Tomas Rosicky and has showed none of the potential that once made him the Bundesliga’s most expensive transfer. Rosicky got his Arsenal career off to a promising start as he scored six goals in his first season and looked bright. He seemed that he adjusted quickly to the Arsenal team and looked to be another great buy by Arsene Wenger.
His next season was cut short by a hamstring injury that kept him out for 18 months and resulted in him missing the entire 2008-09 season. He finally made his competitive return against Manchester City on September 2009.
Since his full return from injury, Tomas Rosicky has looked a shadow of his former self and has struggled to keep a place in the starting lineup. He has sorely lacked consistency, and despite showing some magic in glimpses has looked off pace at times.
Last season he found the net thrice including a great goal against Bolton. This season he has played 30 games but has found the net only once. He had a thirteen month goal drought that ended only when he scored against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup.
He may be struggling currently, but let’s not forget that during the start of the season he actually played very well and did impress in a central role. During the absence of Fabregas, it was the midfield trio of Arshavin, Nasri and Rosicky that put in some wonderful performances and dictated the game.
It is possible that he is simply going through a lean patch at the moment and can always bounce back. Wenger is known to show faith in his underperforming players, and has shown by his actions that he still believes that both Rosicky and Wenger are capable of reversing their mediocre course.
Many Arsenal fans have called for the immediate sale of the Czech Republic international but I beg to differ. Even if Rosicky is sold he will fetch no more than 5 million considering his age. Also next year Arsenal will have players like Henri Lansbury who will be pushing hard for a first team spot and players like Rosicky can provide these up and coming players leadership and be a guiding force for these young talents. Rosicky may be underperforming right now but he has shown that he does have the quality and Wenger should look to keep him. Arshavin on the other hand has been frustratingly inconsistent this season. One match he will be terrorizing defenders and the very next matches he will pass pathetically, miss easy chances and put in a completely lazy performance. One sometimes gets the feeling that with all his talent, he is capable of being one of the world’s best wingers.
He initially got off to a flying start but as the season progressed, Arshavin continued to struggle. He looked weary a number of times, but most importantly he seemed to be never giving a 100 percent effort on the field, and it was obvious to everyone watching that he was putting in extremely lazy performances.
He would not chase down balls and would not offer protection of any sort to his full back which meant that Gael Clichy too started to struggle.
The real nadir came in the match against Leeds United as he put in a horror show which culminated in the Arsenal fans booing him.
But since then he has improved and put in match winning performances against Everton, Barcelona and has impressed ever since. He has taken on defenders and beaten them with ease and he has once again started to look like the man for whom Arsene Wenger broke the club transfer record.
But despite his struggles this season it is interesting to note that he has scored nine goals for the club, but more importantly has provided 17 assists which is a truly impressive statistic. It just goes to show how he possesses the quality to change the game even when not at his best, something only few players in the world can do. Arshavin is still a match winner and he should be kept at the club at least until the likes of Ryo Miyaichi, Lansbury and Emmanuel Thomas are ready to fill their places.
Even if they are sold Wenger has shown that he prefers to replace outgoing players with young and upcoming players, and it is unlikely that Wenger will buy a replacement. So it would be best for the club and their youngsters if Wenger kept these two players until the youngsters come of age.
Last year Chelsea won the league, and this season they bought just the one player but sold two to three other players who despite being only squad players, were experienced campaigners nonetheless ‒ Michael Ballack was one of these players.
This season Chelsea have a very minimal chance of winning the league, and although the sale of these players are not the only reason, one cannot discount that they did play an important role.
Arsenal are a club that is progressing, and selling two of their more experienced players like Rosicky and Arshavin will only be a step backwards for the London club. By Aditya M S (Featured Columnist) on March 17, 2011
There have been eighteen permanent and five caretaker managers of Arsenal since the appointment of the club's first professional manager, Thomas Mitchell in 1897. The club's longest-serving manager as of 2009, in terms of both length of tenure and number of games overseen, is Arsène Wenger, who was appointed in 1996. Wenger is also Arsenal's only manager from outside Great Britain and Ireland. Two Arsenal managers have died in the job – Herbert Chapman and Tom Whittaker.
In the 2003-2004 season, Arsenal went unbeaten, becoming only the second side in the history of professional English football to do so, which earned the squad the nickname "The Invincibles". It should be noted, however, that the other side to accomplish this feat, Preston North End, did so in the 1888-1889 season, playing only 22 games to Arsenal's 38. The Gunners' final record at the end of this impressive season was 26 wins, 12 draws, and 0 losses. To commemorate their championship, the Premier League commissioned a special gold version of the Premier League Trophy. Arsenal went on for 49 Premiership games unbeaten, until they finally lost 2-0 to Manchester United in a controversial match.
Arsène Wenger
Current season
Edit
By Aditya M S (Featured Columnist) on March 17, 2011
