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Gilberto and Song on standby for defensive job at Charlton
Charlton Athletic v Arsenal
Barclays Premiership
The Valley
Sat, Sep 30, 2006, 3pm
By Richard Clarke
Arsène Wenger may have to draft in an emergency centre half at Charlton on Saturday if William Gallas and Johan Djourou fail to recover from injuries.
The pair picked up knocks at either end of the 2-0 win over Porto on Tuesday. Djourou aggravated a previous foot problem in the warm-up while Gallas damaged his hamstring in injury time. Both face scans in the next couple of days.
With Philippe Senderos still absent, Wenger admitted he may have to employ midfielders Alex Song or Gilberto in an unfamiliar role.
“Neither Gallas nor Djourou are fit at the moment,” the manager told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday afternoon. “Djourou will have a test tomorrow. Gallas is having a scan today and that will decide whether he participates in the Charlton game. Personally I am very pessimistic.
“We are short of central defenders at the moment because Philippe Senderos is still out. But Alex Song can fill in. He has played in central defence. Gilberto can play there too so we will just have to see.”
Arsenal TV Online subscribers will be able to see the full interview with Wenger on Friday morning. In it the manager discusses: the victory over Porto, why Arsenal’s form has improved in the past month, how he will celebrate his 10 years at Arsenal, Charlton’s poor start and the absence of Alan Curbishley
Charlton Athletic v Arsenal
Barclays Premiership
The Valley
Sat, Sep 30, 2006, 3pm
By Richard Clarke
Arsène Wenger may have to draft in an emergency centre half at Charlton on Saturday if William Gallas and Johan Djourou fail to recover from injuries.
The pair picked up knocks at either end of the 2-0 win over Porto on Tuesday. Djourou aggravated a previous foot problem in the warm-up while Gallas damaged his hamstring in injury time. Both face scans in the next couple of days.
With Philippe Senderos still absent, Wenger admitted he may have to employ midfielders Alex Song or Gilberto in an unfamiliar role.
“Neither Gallas nor Djourou are fit at the moment,” the manager told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday afternoon. “Djourou will have a test tomorrow. Gallas is having a scan today and that will decide whether he participates in the Charlton game. Personally I am very pessimistic.
“We are short of central defenders at the moment because Philippe Senderos is still out. But Alex Song can fill in. He has played in central defence. Gilberto can play there too so we will just have to see.”
Arsenal TV Online subscribers will be able to see the full interview with Wenger on Friday morning. In it the manager discusses: the victory over Porto, why Arsenal’s form has improved in the past month, how he will celebrate his 10 years at Arsenal, Charlton’s poor start and the absence of Alan Curbishley
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Wenger: 'Van Persie's strike was the goal of a lifetime'
Charlton Athletic 1-2 Arsenal
Barclays Premiership
The Valley
Sat, Sep 30, 2006, 3pm
on Robin van Persie's second goal
"It was outstanding, quite unbelievable. Nobody expected that. When Eboue crossed I did not see anybody in the box so it thought, like many times, we have nobody in there. Then suddenly Van Persie arrives.
"Technically it was perfect, with full pace and power. I felt the ball would go over the bar at the start, then it finished in the top corner. It is the goal of a lifetime."
on whether it was the best under his reign
"The best? I must check that because I have seen some good ones. But it is certainly in the top five."
on thoughts of taking him off after his first-half booking
"Just after the incident, I waited a bit to see how he responded to it. That is football - if I had substituted him, people would have said yes I did the right thing, if he got sent off after people would have said I was stupid. That shows as a manager you need luck as well because I kept him on and he scored two goals."
on that incident
"Hasselbaink made a little bit more of it. He is a very clever player."
on Van Persie's improvement
"He has matured. He has the talent and when you can adjust to the right attitude then you can become a great player. But first you need the talent. He has that and the attitude you can work on. He is getting better and better.
"He can score goals. He has that quick spontaneous movement that tells you that there is class in there. Even over the first goal, he did not take much time. It was control and then it was in the net. Once you have that you have chance to be a good player."
on Charlton
"Charlton fought very hard. When you go away after a Champions League game and are 1-0 down, you need some quality to win. It was an entertaining game. We could have finished it off a few times, but Charlton could also have come back with a few minutes to go and they had the header from [Jimmy-Floyd] Hasselbaink. When I saw it was him, I thought it was 2-2. He missed it, luckily for us."
on their goal
"It looked offside but, on the replay, they tell me that it was not. Maybe it was Kolo [who played him onside]. The linesman told me that Hoyte covered him but I said it is impossible. He played on the flank of Hasselbaink and Hasselbaink was on the front of him."
on playing Gallas despite his injury
"I had a decision to make on whether to play two injured players. One we needed to inject to play — Djourou — and was a little gamble. So I thought a player with experience could cope with it better than a younger one."
on getting back to form
"We have found the momentum. We have won twice away from home — Charlton and Manchester United - and two Champions League games. So it is five games on the trot, but the negative thing is the interruption now [for international duty].
"When the players come back, they do not have the same focus on the club as they did before they go. The second regret is that the Champions League match [in Moscow] comes straight after the international week."
Charlton Athletic 1-2 Arsenal
Barclays Premiership
The Valley
Sat, Sep 30, 2006, 3pm
on Robin van Persie's second goal
"It was outstanding, quite unbelievable. Nobody expected that. When Eboue crossed I did not see anybody in the box so it thought, like many times, we have nobody in there. Then suddenly Van Persie arrives.
"Technically it was perfect, with full pace and power. I felt the ball would go over the bar at the start, then it finished in the top corner. It is the goal of a lifetime."
on whether it was the best under his reign
"The best? I must check that because I have seen some good ones. But it is certainly in the top five."
on thoughts of taking him off after his first-half booking
"Just after the incident, I waited a bit to see how he responded to it. That is football - if I had substituted him, people would have said yes I did the right thing, if he got sent off after people would have said I was stupid. That shows as a manager you need luck as well because I kept him on and he scored two goals."
on that incident
"Hasselbaink made a little bit more of it. He is a very clever player."
on Van Persie's improvement
"He has matured. He has the talent and when you can adjust to the right attitude then you can become a great player. But first you need the talent. He has that and the attitude you can work on. He is getting better and better.
"He can score goals. He has that quick spontaneous movement that tells you that there is class in there. Even over the first goal, he did not take much time. It was control and then it was in the net. Once you have that you have chance to be a good player."
on Charlton
"Charlton fought very hard. When you go away after a Champions League game and are 1-0 down, you need some quality to win. It was an entertaining game. We could have finished it off a few times, but Charlton could also have come back with a few minutes to go and they had the header from [Jimmy-Floyd] Hasselbaink. When I saw it was him, I thought it was 2-2. He missed it, luckily for us."
on their goal
"It looked offside but, on the replay, they tell me that it was not. Maybe it was Kolo [who played him onside]. The linesman told me that Hoyte covered him but I said it is impossible. He played on the flank of Hasselbaink and Hasselbaink was on the front of him."
on playing Gallas despite his injury
"I had a decision to make on whether to play two injured players. One we needed to inject to play — Djourou — and was a little gamble. So I thought a player with experience could cope with it better than a younger one."
on getting back to form
"We have found the momentum. We have won twice away from home — Charlton and Manchester United - and two Champions League games. So it is five games on the trot, but the negative thing is the interruption now [for international duty].
"When the players come back, they do not have the same focus on the club as they did before they go. The second regret is that the Champions League match [in Moscow] comes straight after the international week."
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