Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen has hailed his manager Arsene Wenger, and has declared his desire to earn progression to the next round in a notion to repay Wenger for his continual support.
Arsenal face a colossal task ahead of the second leg of the round of 16, when they face German leaders Bayern Munich. The Bavarians have an advantage over the Gunners after they dismantled them in the first leg at the Emirates, defeating the London side 3-1. This enabled Bayern not just to earn a healthy two goal advantage, but also take three very important away goals to the next leg scheduled to be played tonight.
Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen who has been in less than inspiring form himself, has made an attempt to fire up the cavalry by asking them to win the match against Bayern for the sake of their under fire manager Arsene Wenger.
Arsene Wenger has come under much criticism for failing to win any silverware in the last eight seasons, in addition to this with the top four slipping out of Arsenal’s reach many Arsenal fans have reiterated their opinions that Wenger is no longer the man to lead Arsenal.
Arsenal skipper Thomas Vermaelen however has refused to rule out his side yet, despite being under a heavy deficit and being against a team which has not tasted defeat since October last year.
The Belgian has advised his troops to take inspiration from their Champions League campaign last year, when they faced AC Milan. The Gunners were hammered in the first leg, when a rampant Milan defeated the London side 4-0. Arsenal had been completely ruled out of the tie, but returned as a completely different team and stormed into the match. Some excellent attacking displays saw the Gunners score three goals past Abbiati, and were close to capping up an impressive comeback but just fell short.
Even though Arsenal were ultimately knocked out of the tournament, they were not humiliated and surely earned the respect of their counterparts.
Speaking to reporters the Gunners skipper said:
"We go into this game to win and get through. Last year against Milan we almost did it and most people thought it was impossible."
"In football anything can happen. Of course it’s difficult but we believe in it and football is a strange sport."
He also urged his teammates to win for the sake of their manager Arsene Wenger, who has given them continual support and confidence.
"We owe the manager. We want to give him something back because he gives us confidence and belief.”
The Arsenal defence has been very shaky this season, and has leaked unnecessary goals. Vermaelen himself has been under heavy criticism after his below par performances, but he has assured the fans that efforts are being made to rectify the problems.
He continued: "We are working on the defence every day of the week. We always take it personally.
“You have to keep going and not care too much about what people say."
Another man who has come in defence of Arsene, is departing Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes who has hailed the Frenchman as "one of the best managers in Europe" of the last decade.
The 67 year old believes that Arsene is a man of tremendous quality, and reiterates that he will be sad if the Gunners boss decides to leave the club at the end of the season.
"Arsene Wenger has not just brought success to Arsenal," Heynckes told reporters. "He is a very creative manager, producing almost fantasy football. The football they have played is fantastic year after year.”
Heynckes praised the “beautiful” football Arsenal have been playing under Wenger, but has also identified their lack of silverware under his management.
“Always his teams played the most attractive football but maybe not the most successful football. For me in the last 10 to 15 years he has been one of the best managers in Europe.”
The German has acknowledged the sale of key players to being one of the main reasons of Arsenals decline, further to this Arsenal and Arsenes failure to replace his departing men with world class players has also led to a miserable campaign for the Gunners.
"Arsene Wenger always had really good players, world-class players, but if you look at the last two years [and more], you have to say that the absolute top players have been transferred to other clubs."
“Talented players have come in but for every manager it is essential that if you want to play at the absolute top level, whether you are Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid, you have to have the players to do that.”
"I think that at Arsenal maybe it has been a bit more difficult for Arsene Wenger.”
Despite their two goal cushion and the away goal advantage Heynckes still believes that it will not be a walk in the park for the Bavarians and he fully expects Arsenal to come to the Allianz Arena with a winning mentality and pose a massive threat.
The German continued: "I know with certainty they will come to the Allianz Arena and give everything to get a result.”
The German also acknowledged Arsenal’s tendency to spur a comeback, following an inspirational second leg against AC Milan last year.
"Last year Arsenal lost to AC Milan 4-0 and in the second leg they won it 3-0 and could have scored a fourth due to the chances they had. You can see from that how much I respect Arsene."
Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen who has been in less than inspiring form himself, has made an attempt to fire up the cavalry by asking them to win the match against Bayern for the sake of their under fire manager Arsene Wenger.
Arsene Wenger has come under much criticism for failing to win any silverware in the last eight seasons, in addition to this with the top four slipping out of Arsenal’s reach many Arsenal fans have reiterated their opinions that Wenger is no longer the man to lead Arsenal.
Arsenal skipper Thomas Vermaelen however has refused to rule out his side yet, despite being under a heavy deficit and being against a team which has not tasted defeat since October last year.
The Belgian has advised his troops to take inspiration from their Champions League campaign last year, when they faced AC Milan. The Gunners were hammered in the first leg, when a rampant Milan defeated the London side 4-0. Arsenal had been completely ruled out of the tie, but returned as a completely different team and stormed into the match. Some excellent attacking displays saw the Gunners score three goals past Abbiati, and were close to capping up an impressive comeback but just fell short.
Even though Arsenal were ultimately knocked out of the tournament, they were not humiliated and surely earned the respect of their counterparts.
Speaking to reporters the Gunners skipper said:
"We go into this game to win and get through. Last year against Milan we almost did it and most people thought it was impossible."
"In football anything can happen. Of course it’s difficult but we believe in it and football is a strange sport."
He also urged his teammates to win for the sake of their manager Arsene Wenger, who has given them continual support and confidence.
"We owe the manager. We want to give him something back because he gives us confidence and belief.”
The Arsenal defence has been very shaky this season, and has leaked unnecessary goals. Vermaelen himself has been under heavy criticism after his below par performances, but he has assured the fans that efforts are being made to rectify the problems.
He continued: "We are working on the defence every day of the week. We always take it personally.
“You have to keep going and not care too much about what people say."
Another man who has come in defence of Arsene, is departing Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes who has hailed the Frenchman as "one of the best managers in Europe" of the last decade.
The 67 year old believes that Arsene is a man of tremendous quality, and reiterates that he will be sad if the Gunners boss decides to leave the club at the end of the season.
"Arsene Wenger has not just brought success to Arsenal," Heynckes told reporters. "He is a very creative manager, producing almost fantasy football. The football they have played is fantastic year after year.”
Heynckes praised the “beautiful” football Arsenal have been playing under Wenger, but has also identified their lack of silverware under his management.
“Always his teams played the most attractive football but maybe not the most successful football. For me in the last 10 to 15 years he has been one of the best managers in Europe.”
The German has acknowledged the sale of key players to being one of the main reasons of Arsenals decline, further to this Arsenal and Arsenes failure to replace his departing men with world class players has also led to a miserable campaign for the Gunners.
"Arsene Wenger always had really good players, world-class players, but if you look at the last two years [and more], you have to say that the absolute top players have been transferred to other clubs."
“Talented players have come in but for every manager it is essential that if you want to play at the absolute top level, whether you are Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid, you have to have the players to do that.”
"I think that at Arsenal maybe it has been a bit more difficult for Arsene Wenger.”
Despite their two goal cushion and the away goal advantage Heynckes still believes that it will not be a walk in the park for the Bavarians and he fully expects Arsenal to come to the Allianz Arena with a winning mentality and pose a massive threat.
The German continued: "I know with certainty they will come to the Allianz Arena and give everything to get a result.”
The German also acknowledged Arsenal’s tendency to spur a comeback, following an inspirational second leg against AC Milan last year.
"Last year Arsenal lost to AC Milan 4-0 and in the second leg they won it 3-0 and could have scored a fourth due to the chances they had. You can see from that how much I respect Arsene."
