Campbell can cope with Rooney threat: Wenger

January 29, 2010

Arsene Wenger insists Sol Campbell can cope with the challenge of facing in-form Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney in Sunday’s crucial showdown at the Emirates Stadium.

Wenger will hand Campbell his first Premier League start since rejoining the Gunners if Belgian centre-back Thomas Vermaelen is unable to recover from the knee injury that forced him off at Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Campbell, who left Arsenal for Portsmouth in 2006, is on stand-by to replace Vermaelen in Arsenal’s most important game of the season even though the ex-England international has made only three appearances all season.

The 35-year-old spent four months out of the game after quitting Notts County. He eventually returned to Arsenal following a lengthy period training with his old team and made his second debut in last weekend’s FA Cup defeat at Stoke before coming on as a substitute against Villa.

Now Campbell faces the sternest test of his top-level comeback as he prepares to go head to head with England forward Rooney, who has scored 13 goals in his last 13 appearances for United.

Wenger has no doubts that Campbell’s experience will enable him to rise to the challenge.

“Sol can cope with Rooney. He is ready if he has recovered well. I have to assess him but normally he will play if Vermaelen doesn’t play,” Wenger said on Friday.

“He has experience and he likes the big games. He can turn up if needed and experience helps in these kind of games.

“It was certainly not expected a few months ago when he signed for Notts County that he would be playing a game like this.

“That shows you how quick football is and I believe that he has worked very hard and credit to him, everyday he was motivated to push himself and he is quite fit.”

While Wenger acknowledges Rooney will pose a substantial threat for United, he refuses to focus solely on shutting out the striker.

“I don’t think they are over-reliant on Rooney, they changed their system a little bit the other day against Manchester City and didn’t play with two strikers,” Wenger said.

“They played with only Rooney up front and then of course he becomes the focal point of the game. But they have plenty of players, for example, in the game on Wednesday, (Ryan) Giggs was as well very influential.

“Rooney was at the end of things but Giggs created a lot of things in the game.”

Wenger hopes Vermaelen could be back in a week if scans show he has not suffered a fracture, but the Arsenal boss will definitely be without Croatia striker Eduardo, who sustained a hamstring problem at Villa, and Nicklas Bendtner could deputise.

Those injuries couldn’t have come at a worse time for Wenger as he tries to guide his team through a period that will define Arsenal’s season.

The Gunners are two points behind leaders Chelsea and one point behind United. With tough games against Chelsea and Liverpool coming up next, Wenger knows a victory on Sunday would be a major boost to morale at such a pivotal point in the campaign.

“I believe that no matter what happens we will still be in a position where we will have a chance after these games, but it can put us in a very strong position and that is what we want,” Wenger said.

“We know that to be successful in this period we have to be more of a team than the other teams. We have to think how strong and how much solidarity it takes to get through a period like that. That is what we want to show on Sunday.

“We love being in the race. Of course it was our dream to be in this position in this period of time.”

Although Alex Ferguson has had the better of his duels with Wenger during their 14 years competing for supremacy in England, the French coach still relishes clashes with United more than any other contest.

“I look forward to it because it is a match which always promises good football,” Wenger said.

“Manchester United and Arsenal have had some tough games, and sometimes they were not easy on the physical side, but both teams always tried to play.

“It was very rarely a boring game, you always thought at the start it would be a great football game, and so you love that.

“It is always one of the games of the season. We are really up for it. We are on a good run. We have good momentum and we want to continue that.”

LONDON COLNEY, England (AFP)

Tags: belgian centre, big games, england international, FA Cup, first premier, four months, gunners, knee injury, lengthy period, manchester city, manchester united, no doubts, playing a game, Portsmouth, premier league, sol campbell, striker, substantial threat, wayne rooney

Schalke ready to deepen Bayern’s wounds

November 6, 2009

Schalke 04 takes on Bayern Munich in this week’s Bundesliga’s top match. The Royal Blues will be looking for a repeat of last season’s result- a 1-0 victory. Bayern are sixth in the league and almost out of the Champions League after Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at home against Bordeaux.

“It won’t be an easy game, but it’s definitely possible to beat Bayern,” said Schalke striker Jefferson Farfan at the club’s website.

“Great clubs like Bayern, who have such good players, are always under pressure. However, we’re only focusing on ourselves; their problems on the field are of no concern to us. We’ll just try to get the best possible result in Munich.”

Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, who feels the heat in the Allianz Arena after a weak start of the season will be able to call up some fresh legs as Belgian centre half Daniel van Buyten returns from his calf injury. Another boost for Van Gaal’s suffering side is the return of fully recovered Arjen Robben, who will reclaim his spot in the starting line up.

Striker Luca Toni is set to grab a spot ahead of Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller will return in midfield after his Champions League suspension.

Van Gaal gave his players a rare day off on Thursday to flush the midweek defeat out of their system, knowing that a defeat against Schalke would make his position uncomfortable.

“The day off is for the heads to clear and turn to focus on Schalke,” van Gaal told reporters. “This is a crucial match which we must win.”

Paul Haring

Tags: allianz, allianz arena, Bayern, bayern munich, belgian centre, Bordeaux, Bundesliga, calf injury, champions league, Daniel van Buyten, great clubs, jefferson farfan, louis van gaal, luca toni, mario gomez, match, midfield, Munich, Paul Haring, robben, royal blues, starting line, thomas müller, Toni, Van Gaal

Cahill backs City target Lescott to cope under fire

August 15, 2009

Everton midfielder Tim Cahill believes Joleon Lescott will be able to ignore the storm surrounding his prospective move to Manchester City if he plays in Saturday’s Premier League clash against Arsenal.

Lescott stunned Everton manager David Moyes earlier this week when he handed in a written transfer request at Goodison Park in an attempt to provoke a move to City, who have already had two bids for the England defender rejected by the Toffees.

The former Wolverhampton centre-back remains a priority target for City boss Mark Hughes and has been offered the chance to triple his wages at Eastlands.

Everton fans may not take a sympathetic view of Lescott’s transfer request but Moyes has spoken to the player at length about his state of mind and is confident he will remain professional amid the furore, despite concerns about the reception he will receive from home supporters.

Moyes is not about to further weaken a defence already without Phil Jagielka and Australia star Cahill is convinced Lescott has the strength of character to cope.

Cahill believes Lescott will not be distracted and said: “It’s a catch 22 for the lad. Sometimes there are once in a lifetime bids and it’s astronomical money.

“But he is such a great professional and I know at the weekend he will give everything. It’s very hard for footballers these days to be put in such a difficult position.

“He’s a big player for Everton and England. If he goes, he goes, if he stays, he stays. But whatever decision he makes, I’ll support him.

“We make decisions for our families and the one thing about Joleon is that he is a great professional.”

Meanwhile, Thomas Vermaelen intends to stay one step ahead of the game at the heart of the Arsenal defence this season.

The Belgian centre-back, manager Arsene Wenger’s only signing so far, is hopeful of recovering from a groin problem to make his full debut at Goodison Park and shore up a defence brutally exposed last season and now missing Kolo Toure.

The former Ajax player said: “I will always give 100 per cent. I have a good mentality. I want to do my best for Arsenal, playing as well as I possibly can.

“I think I am decent in the air and technically and I always want to battle on the pitch. You do need a little time to adapt and we will see how fast it goes, but I want to adapt as quickly as possible at Arsenal and play as many games as I can.

“I am looking forward to playing Premier League games. I have always admired the way the teams play, the commitment of the players. They always want to fight and that is what I like.”

Wenger’s main focus will be on how many of his internationals return fit from their midweek games.

Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) and Samir Nasri (broken leg) have both already been ruled out for the opening few weeks of the season, while Eduardo, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott, Andrey Arshavin, Emmanuel Eboue and Carlos Vela all represented their countries.

LIVERPOOL, England (AFP)