Главный тренер "Арсенала" скептически отнёсся к высказанному предположению, что после того, как действующий обладатель Кубка Лиги "Манчестер Юнайтед" выбыл из борьбы за трофей, сенсационно уступив со счётом 0-4 "Вест Хэму", его команда автоматически стала главным фаворитом турнира.

В то время как "Вест Хэм" на "Аптон Парк" разрывал на части "Манчестер Юнайтед", "Арсенал" в параллельном матче не без труда сломил сопротивление "Уигана", одержав итоговую победу со счётом 2-0 и вышел в полуфинал турнира, после чего у "Канониров" в потенциале появилась хорошая возможность завоевать первый с 2005 года трофей.

"В этом сезоне мы уже видели в Премьер-Лиге, теперь мы это  увидели и в матче с "Вест Хэмом", что как с "Манчестер Юнайтед", так и с "Челси" и нами может произойти всякое, - сказал Арсен Венгер. - Необходимо принять, что никаких гарантий нет, и то, что мы вышли в полуфинал, ещё не означает, что мы выиграем турнир. Для победы необходимо сражаться в каждом матче".

"Болельщики хотят большего, и это естественно. Первый трофей - это очень важно, но делать из этого наваждение не стоит. Мы хотим фокусироваться на качестве нашей игры, а остальное будет следствием нашей игры".

"Главные трофеи - это Лига Чемпионов и чемпионат, но если мы сможем выиграть и этот турнир, мы это сделаем. Мы хотим выигрывать трофеи, мы хотим быть на самом верху, но мы можем сделать только то, что можем".

Клубы английской Премьер-Лиги смогли за последний год сократить расходы по выплатам агентам при заключении трансферных сделок, однако общая сумма комиссионных в любом случае осталась на достаточно высоком уровне, составив £67,1 млн.

Согласно последним данным Премьер-Лиги, по состоянию на 30 сентября 2010 года клубы выплатили агентам в общей сложности £67,1 млн, и это ненамного меньше тех £70,7 млн, которые пошли на выплату комиссионных за аналогичный период предыдущего года.

Больше всех на услуги агентам потратился чемпион Англии "Челси" (£9,3 млн),обошедший в этом рейтинге лидера прошлого года "Манчестер Сити", который сократил эту статью расходов более чем в два раза - с £12,8 млн до чуть менее £6 млн.

Суммы, которые на "Стэмфорд Бридж" заплатили посредникам при трансферах игроков, находятся в разительном контрасте с размером комиссионных, которые выплатил, к примеру, дебютант Премьер-Лиги "Блэкпул" - всего £45 000.

Отметим также значительное увеличение агентских выплат в "Ливерпуле", пришедшееся на сложный период смены власти в клубе, выросли расходы по этой статье и у таких клубов, как "Астон Вилла", "Бирмингем", "Блэкберн", "Болтон", "Эвертон", "Фулхэм", "Манчестер Юнайтед", "Сток Сити", "Сандерленд" и "Вулверхэмптон".

Таким образом, внимательное изучение цифр приводит к выводу, что в большинстве своём клубы АПЛ стали тратить на комиссионные БОЛЬШЕ, и что снижение итоговой цифры стало возможным только благодаря значительному сокращению этой статьи расходов у "Манчестер Сити", а также у "Арсенала", "Тоттенхэма" , "Вест Хэма" и "Уигана".

В общей сложности за отчётный период было совершено 742 транзакции (803  прошлом году), однако не все они предусматривали выплату комиссионных агентам.

Напомним, что в июне 2008 года Премьер-Лига приняла на вооружение новое правило, согласно которому, начиная с сезона 2009/10, все без исключения клубы 30 ноября публикуют сумму агентских вознаграждений в период с 1 октября предыдущего года по 30 сентября текущего года.

Клуб

Период с 1.10.09  по 30.09.10

Арсенал                 £3,660,199.00                     £4,760,241.00
Астон Вилла         £2,279,536.50                     £1,708,374.00
Бирмингем Сити £1,518,529.09                     £974,982.00
Блэкберн Роверс £1,623,232.92                     £1,610,885.00
Блэкпул                 £45,000.00
Болтон                 £3,549,316.72                     £3,166,611.00
Бернли         £468,398.00
Челси                 £9,293,751.48                     £9,562,223.00
Эвертон                 £3,599,040.51                     £2,008,407.00
Фулхэм                 £2,087,373.55                     £1,469,258.00
Халл Сити         £1,599,188.00
Ливерпуль                 £9,032,528.49                     £6,657,305.00
Манчестер Сити         £5,952,261.33                     £12,874,283.00
Манчестер Юнайтед £2,312,726.00                     £1,517,393.00
Ньюкасл Юнайтед £2,417,776.00
Портсмут         £3,184,725.00
Сток Сити                 £2,196,968.50                     £716,042.00
Сандерленд         £4,421,990.72                     £2,007,040.00
Тоттенхэм Хотспур £5,361,229.87                     £6,066,935.00
Вест Бромвич         £614,195.73
Вест Хэм                 £3,419,089.99                   £5,527,548.00
Уиган Атлетик         £2,461,500.00                   £3,576,972.00
Вулверхэмптон         £1,291,794.00                   £1,235,703.00

Итого
                              £67,138,040.40                   £70,692,513.00

It was absolutely freezing last night, but at a tenner for my ticket it would have been rude not too. First of all I would like to thank the company I had last night – as always the legend that is Arsenal TV Online’s Akhil and Steve were on top form and we tried our very best to liven up the graveyard that is Block 1. There were many others, too – I’ll list their Twitter usernames over on there so keep an eye out on @thegoonblog.

The game wasn’t all that amazing, the conditions weren’t the best and we got off to a sluggish start – only a couple of players really stood out with very good performances, the others were teetering on the good/average borderline. The players that stood out for me were Kieran Gibbs who must start against Fulham at the weekend, he was absolutely sensational and really deserves his shot – fingers crossed he can maintain his fitness. Johan Djourou also stood out, winning balls in the air on every occasion and he is finally starting to find his feet after a long, long lay off. Johan is a player that a few months ago really didn’t convince me – he is turning that opinion round and pretty quickly too.

Here are a few more observations I made:
Jack Wilshere put in yet another good performance, he will have competition for his place soon enough and I’m backing him to keep it, too.



Bloody grin..
Denilson put in another solid performance, it is easy to see why he is not noticed and therefore criticised when things don’t go our way – he is one of our most important members of the squad in my book.
Emmanuel Eboue is woefully out of form, his attempt at a back-pass early on was horrific. Laurent Koscielny, who put in a good performance too, bailed him out.
Wojiech Szczesny’s distribution is by far the best of all our keepers, and the absence of Manuel Almunia surely means its curtains for his Arsenal career.
Carlos Vela is an infuriating player, we know what he can do but just when he has a chance to put himself back on the radar he doesn’t. Oh, and I wish he would stop bloody grinning when he does something wrong. Shout, swear, kick the ground – just something that makes it look like you care!
Whatever you say about Bendtner, he equals goals. However, having heard an infuriating story about him yesterday and not even looking at the manager when he was hauled off (didn’t shake Wenger’s hand, didn’t even look at him), it seems as though my source was bang on.

With Man United getting smashed 4-0 at West Ham, that game also serves us a timely slap around the face: Don’t underestimate any team we come up against. This is the best chance we have had of winning something in years, we just can’t afford to throw it away. We just have to win this competition now, we all know that is the easiest part of it, the hardest part is building on success, but it will be a step further up the ladder than we have taken for the past five years. What a boost to have in one of the coldest and darkest parts of the season? Lets light it up with a trip to Wembley and a trophy.

Our next opponent in a two legged semi-final remains to be seen, it could be West Ham, Villa, Birmingham, Ipswich, West Brom.

We can beat any of those teams, especially over two legs and even more-so in a one off game. If you were going to look at the hardest of those teams to beat I would probably plump for Villa, though there is not much difference between them and Birmingham to be fair – One of those in the Semi-finals and then West Ham or Ipswich in the final would do me just fine.

Come on Arsenal.

Manager Arsène Wenger has explained his decision to send midfielder Aaron Ramsey out on-loan to Nottingham Forest.

The Frenchman had previously stated that he had no intention of sending the Welshman to another club to gain match fitness, but surprisingly reversed his decision last month.

Ramsey has recovered from a double fracture suffered in a reckless tackle by Stoke City's Ryan Shawcross, and is now vying to regain his match fitness.

The 19-year-old returned in the Reserves last week and was expected to continue his progress there.

Wenger admitted the deal was rushed due to Football League deadlines and added that the player made the final decision.

Wenger said: "Aaron is fit but not competitively match-fit.

"I left him the choice to go where he wanted. There are seven games before January when he comes back and I thought that is the best way.

"I decided to give him a run in the Championship and if he manages to play four or five out of the seven he will be fit to play for us.

"We were a bit pushed by the deadline. To do it before Christmas we had to do it last week so I rushed a bit my decision but it was the only opportunity."

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas believes it is for the good of the team that he does not return to action too soon.

The Spaniard is out with a hamstring injury that has troubled him for much of the season, and admits the team is playing better without him, as he has not been able to reach his best form.

Fabregas is, as yet, unable to give a date for his return, but insists he is keen not to rush back into action as he has done before in recent times.

He explained: "I will wait until I'm completely ready. I don't want to put a date on my return yet, I will take my time.

"The team did really well without me against Aston Villa, so I will wait until it is completely ready.

"I know I haven't been at my best. I started the season really strongly, the first few games, but after that I had an injury and got into a pattern of missing a few games, and then starting again.

"So it is better my team-mates play, because they are fitter than me. I will just try to get back whenever I can."

The 23-year-old admits it is very frustrating for him to watch the team from the sidelines, but hopes he can remain positive and just work on returning soon.

He added: "It is so frustrating, though. It seems when something like that happens, it all goes wrong at the same time, so you have to be strong, put everything behind you and keep working."