Рулевой "Арсенала" Арсен Венгер заявил, что его команда не откажется от своего атакующего стиля в матче плей-офф Лиги Чемпионов против "Барселоны" в среду вечером на "Эмирэйтс".
Напомним, что "Арсенал" и "Барселона" также встречались в плей-офф Лиги Чемпионов прошлого сезона на стадии четвертьфинала. Матч в Лондоне завершился вничью со счетом 2:2, при этом половину первого тайма подопечные Венгера были просто зажаты на своей половине поля, а зачастую даже вблизи своей штрафной.

Однако Венгер считает, что будет неправильно отказываться от своего стиля, тем более в домашнем матче. "Канониры" собираются атаковать - только так по мнению главного тренера можно обыграть "Барсу".

"Если нам удастся оказать на них давление, мы сможем создавать моменты. В идеале над этим нужно работать перед игрой. Иногда в подобных матчах тебе требуется дополнительная концентрация, чтобы твои действия были более эффективными. Надеюсь, это у нас будет".

"Вопрос лишь в том, изменим ли мы свой стиль на "Ноу Камп" (в ответном матче)? Здесь же мы постараемся сыграть в свою игру. Мы будем атаковать. Если вблизи их ворот мы будем действовать, чересчур оглядываясь на оборону, это будет не наша игра", - сообщил Венгер.

Jamie Redknapp believes England should play Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere is a more advanced position than the one he occupied on his full international debut against Demark last week.

The aforementioned Sky Sports pundit believes the diminutive Arsenal playmaker has all the qualities to be England’s answer to Cesc Fabregas and that the player would be wasted if deployed in the ‘Makelele role’.

Wilshere was superb against the Danes in the first-half, playing alongside Frank Lampard last week, but Redknapp fears his true potential would be stifled as a defensive midfielder because his natural instinct is to go forward as he does for Arsene Wenger’s side in the Premier League.

The Sky Sports pundit believes the ‘Makelele role’ is becoming too frequently used in football, suggesting Manchester United have fared pretty well without one in recent years, intimating England could do likewise.

Redknapp told skysports.com: “Good footballers can play anywhere and this kid (Wilshere) is a very good footballer.

"He has that lovely habit of passing to his team-mates and that helps in that holding role, but I don't think he is best used in that position - he has too much to offer going forward to sit back and play that quarterback position.

"England will not get the best out of him in that role. People always seem to be looking for that Claude Makelele in midfield, but why can't Wilshere be our Cesc Fabregas?

“He is obviously far better going forward, getting into advanced areas for Arsenal, so I don't understand why we are cutting his legs off - for want of a better phrase - and making him sit back.

“I wouldn't rule out using him on the left, either. We have the best left-back in the world in Ashley Cole bombing forward and back all game and if England do want to get an extra body into areas where they can really hurt teams, Wilshere can do just that - just as he does for Arsenal.

“His natural instinct is to go forward and we saw a couple of times in Copenhagen that when he did that, England were left exposed.

“We looked far more solid in the second half when Gareth Barry and Scott Parker came on, but having played central midfield most of my career, I don't see why Capello - and so many other managers come to that - insists on this Makelele role.

“Most teams use it in the Premier League, but look at Manchester United: they have never used a holding midfielder, they just have central midfielders who get up and get back - and they haven't done badly relying on that have they?”

Theo Walcott rates Barcelona's visit to Arsenal on Wednesday night as the biggest game of the season.

The England winger was part of the Gunners side dumped out of the Champions League by the Spanish giants last season and is desperate to return the favour.

Walcott made a big impact when the sides met in the quarter-final first leg at the Emirates last year, scoring within two minutes of coming on as a second-half substitute.

Having gone 2-0 behind and been outclassed in the first half, Walcott's goal revitalised Arsenal, who went on to draw the game through a Cesc Fabregas penalty.

A 4-1 defeat at the Nou Camp ended their hopes of progressing but Walcott thinks Arsene Wenger's side are a much-improved prospect this time around.

"We're looking forward to it, it's going to be a great, great battle," he said.

"It's one of the games you want to play in and hopefully the result can be different from last year.

"I believe we can do much better than last season; we can't do worse to be honest," he said.

"It's going to be an open game but these days when we lose the ball we try to get it back quicker.

"That's what we did against Chelsea and Manchester City and hopefully we can take that into the Barcelona game because it's a massive one this season, the biggest one I'm going to play in."

Reflecting on Barca's Emirates visit last year, Walcott was quick to recall his 69th-minute goal and warned he was looking to have an even greater effect on proceedings this time.

"As a substitute you want to make a reaction straight away and I think I surprised them with my pace," he added to Arsenal TV.

"There's only so long they could last for, they lasted about 70 minutes but they couldn't last 90 minutes.

"I think I surprised Maxwell, came up behind him and tucked it away. That inspired us to get the result we wanted and I want to be doing that from the starting line-up now."

Key to Arsenal's hopes of toppling the Primera Liga champions will be the potency of Robin van Persie.

The Holland striker has made up for lost time since returning to the side after an all too familiar injury lay-off, scoring 11 times since the turn of the year.

He also has four in his last two matches, against Newcastle and Wolves, and Walcott is delighted to have him back.

"It's great to see him back fit," said Walcott.

"He's a great player and I link up well with him. He's banging in the goals now and making up for the time he missed.

"He's a dream to play with."