Walcott leaving? No way says Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger insisted Tuesday there was never any danger of Theo Walcott leaving Arsenal despite a reduced role with the Gunners last season.

The England international started just 15 league games and scored five goals in the 2015/16 season.

But Walcott, 27, has already matched that goal tally this term following a double in Arsenal’s win over Swansea City on Saturday.

Arsenal manager Wenger, speaking ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Ludogorets, said of winger Walcott: “Look, I haven’t spoken to anybody because I was not ready to let him go. I always wanted to keep him.

“What I’ve seen of him is that he lets the passion for the game come out of his body. That’s what you want from him.

“I’ve felt that since he’s played with more freedom, maybe he lets his feelings come out a bit more and is less calculating: ‘Can I do that or can I not do that?’,” the veteran French boss added.

“He plays with more freedom and more desire. I think he has a less restricted attitude and that shows you that he is a completely different player.”

Arsenal have won their last six matches in all competitions and could welcome Francis Coquelin back into the starting side on Wednesday.

He featured as a substitute against Swansea following the knee injury he suffered in last month’s win over London rivals Chelsea.

– Intense competition –

“I feel 100 percent fit. It took me a few weeks to get back to full fitness, but now I feel good,” said Coquelin.

“When you make these kinds of tackles, and this happened before against West Brom, you are a bit scared. It was a similar tackle to then.

“The good thing was that I could run back onto the pitch afterwards, even if I couldn’t stay on for long. The scan which followed was all positive so that was great news.”

Coquelin is having to fight more for first team action following the additions of Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny over the last year.

But the Frenchman is aware that competition for places will always be intense at Arsenal and he is up for the challenge.

“Let’s not forget we are Arsenal Football Club,” he added. “There’s always going to be great quality in this squad.

“You have to be ready for a fight. It’s good for me to improve my game and give even more in training and every game. It can only improve the whole squad.”

With four points from their first two Champions League Group A matches, Arsenal will be firmly on course for the last 16 if they can see off Bulgarian champions Ludogorets at the Emirates Stadium.

France striker Olivier Giroud and Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey both trained on Tuesday but Wenger wants to give them longer to recover from respective toe and hamstring injuries.

David Ospina is set to replace Petr Cech in goal as he has in Arsenal’s previous two Champions League matches.

German defender Per Mertesacker and England forward Danny Welbeck are still absent with new injuries.

Koscielny impresses but Arsenal's attackers struggle at Leicester

Both sides sat deep to offset the pace on offer at both ends. It was a midfield war of attrition and, although Arsenal had twice as many shots, they can count themselves lucky they didn't concede a late penalty. Hector Bellerin's challenge on Ahmed Musa was clumsy, and after referee Mark Clattenburg got another penalty call right in the first half, the Gunners can be thankful he got this one wrong.

Positives

The return of Laurent Koscielny was very welcome; the Frenchman was imperious at the back and brought out the best in new signing Rob Holding. The fact that Arsenal kept a clean sheet after shipping four goals last weekend also has to be a positive.

Negatives

After Arsene Wenger espoused the ability of Alexis Sanchez to play as the team's main striker, he was hopelessly off the pace today. Arsenal had 10 attempts on goal but rarely looked like scoring. It's almost as if they need to buy a striker...

Manager rating out of 10

5 -- Wenger made changes from the team that lost against Liverpool and defensively Arsenal were much more solid. However, it was clear quite early that Sanchez was struggling and Walcott was wasteful on the right. If he didn't have many options, that's down to his transfer policy this summer.

Player ratings (1-10; 10=best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating):

GK, Petr Cech, 7 -- Made a couple of good, brave saves and turned Jamie Vardy inside out with a crafty drag-back in the area.

DF, Hector Bellerin, 6 -- He's so quick going forward but he and Walcott don't really seem to have much of an understanding. Got away with the late challenge on Musa but generally solid.

DF, Rob Holding, 7 -- The 20-year-old suffered a traumatic debut vs. Liverpool but was given the nod ahead of the more experienced Calum Chambers. With Koscielny alongside him he put in an accomplished performance.

DF, Laurent Koscielny, 8 -- Still short of fitness but turned in a fantastic performance from the Arsenal captain. He was strong and alert, which was necessary as the defence was left exposed a couple of times by the midfield.

In his first appearance of the season, Laurent Koscielny was excellent for Arsenal.

DF Nacho Monreal, 7 -- Kept Riyad Marrez mostly quiet and, late on, his experience was important as Leicester got crosses in, only to find the Spanish international at the end of almost all of them.

MF Granit Xhaka, 6 -- Handed his first start by Wenger, the Swiss international was tidy enough but looks a bit short fitness-wise and seemed a little unsure of what his role was.

MF Francis Coquelin, 6 -- Walked a bit of a tightrope late on and was perhaps a little fortunate not to pick up a second yellow card. He coped well, though, and did some excellent defensive work as the game opened up late on.

MF Santi Cazorla, 6 -- Did fine but is coming back from a relatively long injury absence and it might take him some time to get up to speed. Not helped by an Arsenal front three, who were far too static.

MF Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 6 -- There were some positives to his performance, particularly in the first half when he did try and make things happen, but the midfield only opened up when he went off.

MF Theo Walcott, 6 -- He was quite lively and did some defensive work that isn't normally a feature of his game. Offered little going forward, though, and his decision to ignore a simple pass to Olivier Giroud late on speaks to his poor decision making.

Substitutes:

MF Jack Wilshere, NR -- You could see that Wenger put him on to try and unlock the defence but too often chose the most difficult pass.

MF Mesut Ozil, NR -- His class was evident the moment he came on and Arsenal looked more dangerous as he tried to make things happen.

FW Olivier Giroud, NR -- Found it hard to get involved but the team's decision to stop crossing the ball from wide positions as soon as they put on an actual centre-forward was frustrating.

Bayern Munich rule Brazil winger Costa out of Rio Games

Arsenal’s Francis Coquelin in action with Bayern Munich’s Douglas Costa during UEFA Champions League game at Allianz Arena on November 4, 2015.

MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s pacey Brazilian winger Douglas Costa has withdrawn from the Rio Olympics due to injury, the German champions said on Monday.

Costa had been chosen along with Barcelona’s Neymar among the over-age players in Brazil’s squad for the first summer Games in South America.

Bayern said on their website (www.fcbayern.de) that an injury to Costa’s left thigh had not healed and they had told the Brazilian football federation that the player could not be released.

“I greatly regret this,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “We all wanted Douglas to contest the Olympic Games in his home country, but the player’s health and fitness takes priority.”

Bayern said Costa, who joined them a year ago from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, would continue his sports rehabilitation programme in Munich.

The Olympic gold medal is the only major soccer title the five times world champions have never won.

Analyzing The Tactical Impact of Granit Xhaka on Arsenal

It’s been a long time coming, but Arsenal fans around the world can finally rejoice. Gone are the days of Mathieu Flamini’s headless chicken impression allowing opponents to wreak havoc on their midfield.

For the first time since Gilberto Silva graced the Emirates pitch way back in 2008, the Gunners can once again boast a genuine all around defensive midfielder in the form of new signing Granit Xhaka.

Blessed with an imposing blend of technique, vision and combativeness, Xhaka is truly the sort of player required to shore up the ailing Gunners midfield, sitting just ahead of the back four and covering for the rest of the side as they bomb forward up the pitch. And while recent residents of this role – namely Mikel Arteta, Alex Song and Francis Coquelin – each brought their own unique contributions to the table, none were able to boast the shear completeness that Xhaka exuded during his 2015/2016 Bundesliga campaign with Borussia Monchengladbach.

However, following the club’s capture of the Swiss dynamo, an entirely new dilemma has sprung up regarding Arsene Wenger’s future plans. With a plethora of creative options on hand to field alongside Xhaka and only a finite number of open spots available in the starting XI, how should Arsenal line up come next season?

The most obvious response of course, is to simply continue with the setup they’ve consistently utilized over the past few years. Ever since the Cesc Fabregas era, Wenger has primarily relied on a classic 4-2-3-1 system, built largely around a central midfield duo consisting of a deep-lying holder and a more attack minded central midfielder.

In this case, Wenger would be able to rotate between an engine type box to box player such as Aaron Ramsey and a more creative ball carrier such as Jack Wilshere or Santi Cazorla as Xhaka’s partner, tailoring his match strategy to most effectively counter their given opponents.

Where this approach fails, however, is on the opposing side of the ball. None of Ramsey, Wilshere or Cazorla are particularly gifted at the basic defensive requirements of a double pivot, often venturing too far up the pitch and neglecting to contribute the necessary defensive work. As talented as Xhaka is, no one player is able to cover for an entire attack if forced to do so alone.

This in turn, points to a second option Wenger can explore. By shifting Aaron Ramsey or Jack Wilshere to the right-wing – a role they have both filled multiple times for the club over the past two seasons – he would be able to pair Xhaka with a fellow defensive minded player such as Mohamed Elneny or Francis Coquelin.

In this scenario, Arsenal would effectively sacrifice their renown attacking prowess for outright defensive solidity, stifling a majority of opposing counter attacks through the disciplined nature of their two CM’s.

Unfortunately, such a conservative pairing would leave them susceptible to teams that simply sit back and absorb their pressure, with the absence of a creative presence in the center of the pitch hindering Arsenal’s ability to break down the opposition. It may not be a system that Wenger will be able to consistently employ, however, it could very well act as an especially useful plan B when pitted against a superior possession based side.

At this point, we are able to truly comprehend the extent of Wenger’s predicament. Deciding between creativity and solidity is often a troublesome impasse for any top-level manager, and striking a balance between the two is a notoriously difficult feat. However, there is still one option in the framework that could enable Wenger to check off both boxes: Switching formations entirely.

During the 2014/2015 season, Arsenal spent large portions of their campaign fielding a newly implemented 4-3-3 system. In such, Aaron Ramsey and one of Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere were positioned in the center of the pitch ahead of either Francis Coquelin or Mikel Arteta, creating a skillful yet defensively solid midfield trio.

While the central players thrived in this system, the same cannot initially be said for Arsenal’s star playmaker Mesut Özil. Unable to cope with the physical demands and lack of freedom he was subjected to by his unfamiliar wide role, the German maestro often found himself drifting in and out of matches, attracting the ire of onlookers and media members alike.

However, following a lengthy injury layoff, Özil returned fit and firing, barely resembled the oft derided player who was consistently linked with a move away from the Emirates. Having taken advantage of his tenure on the sidelines to both bulk up and tweak his movement to better suit the wide areas of the pitch, the German maestro finally began to display the form that lead Wenger to shell out a club record £42.5 million to capture his services from Real Madrid in the first place.

While Özil was later handed the reigns to his favored number 10 position once Wenger reverted back to his usual 4-2-3-1 system towards the tail end of the season, the promise he began to display in his floating wide role means the 4-3-3 is still very much a viable possibility.

Should Wenger opt to re-adopt this formation, he would potentially be able to strike the perfect balance between attacking prowess and defensive solidity. With Xhaka sitting behind a more forward thinking central pairing, the midfield would be freed up to drive forward and link up with the attack, knowing full well that they finally posses the necessary cover to do so uninhibited. They’d still be required to track back and defend, of course, yet the individual defensive responsibilities of a three man midfield are significantly less pressing than those of a double pivot.

His signing may represent a conundrum of sorts, however, the fact that Granit Xhaka now offers Wenger genuine options in the midfield will have Arsenal fans brimming with excitement. While the 4-3-3 could very well be the club’s most direct route back to Premier League glory, rotating between both variations of the 4-2-3-1 depending on the opponent is just as viable of an alternative.

Simply put, there is no definitive “right way” for this Arsenal side to line up now that they’ve secured the services of their long sought after defensive midfielder. However, the fact that they now have multiple different strategies to choose from is a major step forward for Arsenal Football Club.

Pochettino sparks Tottenham to leave stale Wenger and Arsenal behind

It was just after he announced he had verbally agreed a new contract at Tottenham that Mauricio Pochettino summed things up.

When asked if committing his future to the club had been a difficult decision, he said: "Why change?" as if it was a question that barely needed to be posed, never mind answered.

Why change, indeed. For this year, barring an alarming late turnaround, there will be no St Totteringham's day, the point in the season previously celebrated by some Arsenal fans, as the day it was confirmed they would finish above Spurs in the league.

That day has been celebrated 21 times in a row, but not this year, as while Tottenham's title bid will surely fall just short, they will at least have the satisfaction of finishing above their rivals.

The concern for Arsenal is not that they trail their rivals now, but whether they will do so for years to come. This season has showed Tottenham improving and moving forwards, offering performances that have surprised both their supporters and neutrals. Arsenal, meanwhile, haven't so much regressed as not changed at all, only serving to frustrate any observer, never mind their fans.

As is often the case with these things, this is a reflection of the respective men in charge of both clubs. It is possible to over-analyse the manner of managers when talking in public, but it was impossible not to note the differences between the two men before last weekend's games.

Pochettino was relaxed, in control, looking exactly like a man who knows his best years are ahead of him. Arsene Wenger, on the other hand, chose to partly blame Arsenal's home fans for their state of inertia, pointing to the "difficult atmosphere" at the Emirates when they've been playing the Premier League's lesser teams. That he did so the day before they played Norwich, one of those lesser teams at the Emirates, when a protest against him was already planned, can at best be filed under "interesting timing".

The managers have made all the difference. You could make arguments in favour of either squad, but there wouldn't be a huge amount in it. And yet one plays rapid, thrilling football that has seen them go closer to winning the league than Arsenal have since, well, they last won the league in 2004, while the other adopts the same possession-heavy, often ineffective game they have been playing for years.

While Mauricio Pochettino has galvanised Tottenham, Arsenal have stagnated under Arsene Wenger.

Both teams drew at home 1-1 recently, and in a broadly similar manner. Both took the lead, dominated play from that point and created numerous chances. Both failed to take them and were eventually hit with a surprise equaliser. The difference was that for Tottenham against West Brom, it was an exception, a rare case of their attack not managing to break through. For Arsenal against Crystal Palace, it was same old, same old -- to the point that you barely needed to watch the game to know exactly how it had played out.

The positivity and simplicity of Pochettino's attitude and instructions seems to be key. ''It is very clear in our minds," said Hugo Lloris recently.

"Every day, the speech of the gaffer is very clear -- carry on and don't think too much. Whatever will happen, we try to just be focused on ourselves, that's the key, don't think too much about what is going on around us and all the words around the team."

There's a freshness to things at Tottenham that doesn't seem to be present at Arsenal, which is partly to do with youth. Spurs have the youngest average age in the Premier League at around 24. The only Arsenal players that age or younger to start more than 10 league games this season have been Joel Campbell, 23, Hector Bellerin, 21, and Francis Coquelin, 24. Tottenham have seven players in that category.

Not that youth necessarily means inexperience, either. Or, at least, not in the minds of the Tottenham players.

"Sometimes I think experience might be overrated," said Jan Vertonghen, a relative old man at 29. "If you see the way this team plays, we're just enjoying playing together. I can see us playing like this until the end of the season."

Of course we could all be wrong about Tottenham. While it doesn't currently look that way, this might actually be the height of their potential. Their young players might not improve after this and they could slip out of the reckoning next season. Their future is unpredictable.

Arsenal's isn't, though, and that's the problem. While Wenger is in charge, we know pretty much what will happen from year to year. A rot has been allowed to set in, which has led to their relative underperformance in the league in general, but also to finally slipping behind Tottenham.

This team under Pochettino is still a work in progress, one that the manager admits has over-achieved and is ahead of schedule. Arsenal should have won the league this season, but instead are probably going to finish behind their rivals for the first time in a generation. The task now becomes making sure it only happens once.

Francis Coquelin! Why you did that, ask Arsenal fans

The French mid-fielder was sent off for a foul on Harry Kane in the 55th minute of the match.

New Delhi: Arsenal fans on Saturday admonished Francis Coquelin for his red-card in the crucial London derby match against Tottenham Hotspur.

The French mid-fielder, already in the referee's book, chopped down Harry Kane in the 55th minute of the match. His sending off not only allowed Spurs to equalise but take control of the match by scoring the lead, with both the goals coming within seven minutes of his send-off.

The match, however, ended on 2-2, but fans have expressed their reservations about the 24-year-old's decision making. Here are some of the tweets:

Coquelin: No contact with Deschamps over France call-up

Didier Deschamps has not been in touch over the prospect of a France call-up, according to Arsenal's Francis Coquelin.

Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin says he has yet to receive any contact from Didier Deschamps over a possible call-up to the France squad. 

The 24-year-old was sent off in the 2-2 derby draw with Tottenham on Saturday but has otherwise enjoyed an impressive season at the heart of Arsene Wenger's side. 

Coquelin was part of the France Under-19 side which won the European Championship in 2010, but he has yet to earn a place within the senior set-up. 

But while he admits it would be a privilege to be part of Euro 2016 on home soil in June and July this year, Coquelin insists his primary focus is on performing well at club level.

"I'm the kind of person who’s really focused on the club first," he told Arsenal Weekly. "It's how you play at the club that will decide whether you get to go to the national team.

"If I perform well, if it has to come it will come. I'm not really thinking about that too much at the moment because I've got a lot to accomplish here. But if it comes I'll be happy. 

"I haven't been on the phone to him. I think he gives a pre-list of 30, 40 players and picks a squad from there. We haven't had contact there but when it comes I hope I'm on top of the game and show I'll deserve it." 

Coquelin, who issued an apology after his red card at Tottenham, will sit out Tuesday's FA Cup replay against Hull City due to suspension.