Wenger expects Arsenal to impress in Emirates Cup
Arsene Wenger wants Arsenal to use this weekend's Emirates Cup
clashes against AC Milan and Celtic to send a warning to their Premier
League rivals. Wenger's side have gone five years without a trophy and
finished well behind champions Chelsea last season, but the Gunners boss
is convinced the north Londoners are ready to end that barren spell.
Arsenal have an early opportunity to underline their progress in a
prestigious pre-season tournament, at their own Emirates Stadium, which
includes seven-time European champions Milan, Scottish giants Celtic and
top French club Lyon.
Development
After spending most of the close-season fighting off Barcelona's
attempts to lure Cesc Fabregas back to the Nou Camp, Wenger is able to
focus on assessing the development of his young squad and he expects
positive signs.
"I am very confident we'll do better than last season," Wenger said.
"We know in England that the Premier League is the biggest league in the
world and everybody invests a lot of money.
"We invest in our work, in our beliefs, in the quality of our
behaviour and I am confident that will pay off.
"We finished third last year and we hope we can improve on that. But
the race will be tough."
Deadlock
Fabregas made it clear to Wenger he wanted to rejoin Barca before the
start of the season, but Arsenal are refusing to give in to their
captain's demands and there is no sign of the deadlock being broken. The
Spain midfielder will be absent this weekend as he recovers from helping
his country win the World Cup, but Wenger is certain to face further
questions about his desire to keep a potentially unhappy player.
With Fabregas missing, Arsenal fans will get a glimpse of how the
future could look without their talisman. New arrivals Marouane Chamakh,
a Moroccan forward signed from Bordeaux on a free transfer, and Laurent
Koscielny, a French centre-back bought from Lorient for 10 million
pounds, are certain to feature for the Gunners.
Confidence
While Wenger's men head into the season with much to prove, Celtic
will use their matches against Lyon and Arsenal to rebuild confidence
after a potentially disastrous 3-0 defeat at Braga in the Champions
League qualifying round on Wednesday. Neil Lennon's team travelled to
Portugal hopeful of a positive result to keep them on course for a place
in the group stages of Europe's elite club competition. LONDON, Friday,
AFP |