Former Spurs man Kevin Prince Boateng has no doubt endeared himself once more to his former club by claiming that their North London rivals Arsenal do not have the bottle to win in the big games.
Boateng, now at AC Milan will face Arsenal on Tuesday night in the Champions League and believes his current side should have no issues seeing off the English side.
Whilst admitting that Arsenal will occasionally “play amazing football” he is equally confident that they tend to follow up such displays with displays where “they play really badly”. This criticism that the Gunners lack the consistency to compete at the business end of competitions will ring all too true with many Arsenal fans, having not won a trophy in over six years they are developing a reputation for the nearly men of football. They are the side that came so close to eliminating Barcelona in last year’s Champions League but were also humbled in the Carling Cup Final by Birmingham, who would go on to be relegated from the Premiership.
Boating puts it down to inexperience claiming that “Arsenal don’t know what you have to do to win titles – they’re always close but they break down.” Arsenal’s class is no doubt apparent, when they turn it on they are as good as anyone in the world but in big games they do seem to struggle.
Boateng’s complacency may come back to bite him and his team mates though. A last 16 tie with a side who have not challenged at the business end of European competition in recent years may not be the scale of game Boateng is implying. Arsenal have shown, even this season they can beat some big names in Chelsea, Dortmund and Marseilles. All perhaps sides that have fallen from the very top of the European game, but the same can surely be said of Milan.
With the two Manchester clubs having crashed out of Europe and with no side yet standing out as Barcelona and Inter Milan have the last couple of years this season’s competition provides an opportunity for Arsenal to prove they are not the perennial bottlers that many have them down as. AC Milan will be the first chance to prove they can cope with pressure and Arsenal fans will no doubt be hoping they prove they are capable of proving themselves under pressure.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was linked with Real Madrid a few seasons ago. Real Madrid finally decided to go for former Chelsea manager José Mourinho after Arsene Wenger rejected any chances of moving to the Santiago Bernabeu. Now it seems that the opportunity is set to come once again for the Arsenal manager, as it has been reported that Real Madrid are not very happy with José Mourinho at the moment.
Even though José Mourinho has a spectacular record at Real Madrid, he has so far won only one major trophy with the club, while Barcelona continue to dominate both the domestic and European campaigns. Real Madrid have also been eliminated from the Copa del Ray this season after suffering yet another loss at the hands of Barcelona.
This has made the management at Real Madrid extremely unhappy with the former Chelsea manager. Further, there have also been reports of a mutiny amongst the players against the manager, which has been reported in the tabloid papers in Spain.
As a result of it, that has been growing speculation that José Mourinho would finally leave his position at Real Madrid in the summer. It is thought that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is the first choice for Real Madrid once again.
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Arsenal, one of England’s top four football clubs, had their glory years during the period 2001 to 2005. They won the Premier League during the 2001-02 season and again during the 2003-04 season. They also won the FA cup thrice during this period, in 2002, 2003 and 2005. In addition to domestic titles, they also finished runners-up in the Champions League against AC Milan in a nail-biting final in 2005, which went to a penalty shootout.
The main reason for the dominance of Arsenal in football during the time was one particular player called Thierry Henry. Everybody else in the team contributed to the team’s success, but if there was one person who stood out, it was him. Unfortunately, he left the team after in 2007 season (to join the Spanish side, Barcelona FC. In 2010, he joined the New York Red Bulls in the American MLS), and since then the trophies have stopped flowing to Arsenal.
The good news for Arsenal fans is that Henry is back! He’s back at Arsenal on a two month loan and this is probably the best thing to have happened for the club in a very long time. Arsenal have been floundering chances and losing a lot of matches because of their willingness to pass in front of goal instead of just getting the ball into te back of the net. Although the club boasts of some of the country’s most talented youngsters in its lineup, the trophy cabinet has been lying empty for the last few years and this is probably the boost that they need to bring them back to form.
Thierry Henry is on a short term loan from his current club and should play in eight league matches, the last of which should be a tantalizing north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. He has proven himself at the club back in the day, and the fans are hoping that he can recreate some of the old magic at the Emirates stadium. Let’s see if he still has it in him to lead Arsenal to more victories…
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February 14, 2012 8:13 pm | 
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