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THE ONE

Ces Fabregas superb form is keeping Arse-nal with in touching

distance of the league leaders Chelsea.

Arsenal were dawned in a mouth watering Carling cup tie away to Man-chster City. All eyes were on ex Arsenal player Emmanuel Adebayor, following his controvosial goal Celeberation the last time the two teams met in the Premiership... Read more inside

WE ARE GUNNER GETCHA!Man City do the doubleManchester city recorded their second win of the season against Arsenal, with style in the Carling cup.Second-half strikes from Carlos Tevez, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Vladimir Weiss put Manchester City into their first semi-final since 1981 at the ex-pense of Arsenal. Craig Bellamy had the best chance of the first period in what was an enter-taining Carling Cup quarter-final, but his shot from 12 yards went wide of Lukasz Fabianski’s right post.But Tevez made no mistake five minutes after the re-start with a great strike off the crossbar.Wright-Phillips then doubled the advantage on 69 minutes when he ran from near the halfway line to just inside the box before hitting a rocket into the top corner across Fabianski.Substitute Weiss then added a third with a minute to go from close range after a great run and cross from Bellamy on the left.Arsenal’s Fran Merida hit the crossbar with a long range effort in stoppage time but Arsene Wenger’s young side could find no way through as City maintained the dream of ending their 33-year trophy drought.The draw afterwards handed City a mouth-watering clash with rivals Man United, whom Tevez scored four goals for 12 months ago as the Red Devils romped past Blackburn on the way to providing the South American with a winners’ medal at Wembley.Yet his presence in Sir Alex Ferguson’s side that day emphasised that he was not part of the best United team, a fact that became more obvious as the season wore on.The outcome was a controversial move across town to City, whose support-ers initially gloried in the capture of a man Ferguson had tried to keep.However, that enthusiasm - and the infamous “Welcome to Manchester” poster - has given way to a more sceptical view as City’s season has headed downhill.

HustleYet even if the hustle and bustle can sometimes have no meaningful end product, Tevez remains a difficult man to subdue.And when he nicked the ball away from Tomas Rosicky and played a one-two with Bellamy, Tevez embarked on a crab-like run across the box before pulling the trigger on a shot that crashed in off the underside of the bar.City’s long-suffering fans were ecstatic. And they had even more to cel-ebrate 19 minutes later when Wright-Phillips collected Kolo Toure’s short pass and galloped at Mikael Silvestre, who failed to get tight enough.It was an open invitation to shoot and the little England winger obliged, Fabianski again left clutching at air, with absolutely no hope of getting near the ball.For Hughes and his City team, the pressure valve applied by seven straight Premier League draws has been released, until next month’s semi-final against United at least.It has been a very bad week for Wenger. He might argue that this defeat is not on the same scale as Sunday’s hammering by Chelsea.But after four years without a trophy, the Gunners are desperate for some - any - silverware. And they are not getting this.In fact, no matter what the respective managers might have said before-hand, there were a few clues as to how important this match was to the general well-being of both clubs.City fans are never normally short of an excuse to get behind their team.But by turning out the lights five minutes before kick-off to display a mas-sive blue moon that was superimposed on the stand opposite the players’ tunnel, the hosts ensured the noise level was at its maximum as the game began.DeterminedThey had lost out on their nine most recent attempts to reach cup semi-finals, and were determined it would be different this time.Then, towards the end of the half, Hughes and Wenger, who had watched virtually the entire contest next to the touchline, exchanged angry words af-ter the City chief had encroached into the Arsenal technical area to retrieve a ball he felt had not been returned quickly enough.The sight of Bellamy berating referee Chris Foy as they made their way back into the dressing rooms was more predictable.But, with both teams appealing for everything even marginally debatable, it provided an indication of the desperate need for victory.As Hughes astutely observed on Tuesday, Arsenal’s Carling Cup team is not quite the youthful XI Wenger would have us believe.The frantic first half was full of meaty challenges and plenty of thrills, even if clear-cut chances were few and far between.Bellamy had the best one, set up by Wright-Phillips, whose pace was a constant threat.The Welshman, preferred to record signing Robinho, could only drag his shot wide, which hinted at a night of frustration for City and Emmanuel Adebayor, picked to face the Gunners for the first-time since that stormy affair back in September.But Tevez changed the course of history and ended so many years of last-eight misery.Weiss popped up to tap home a third in the final minute, but long before that a whole generation of City fans were expectantly looking ahead to that long-awaited semi-final.

Rosicky reward

Rosicky has signed a new contract with Arsenal at 29.Rosicky was one of Europe’s

young gems at Sparta Prague.I remember, and I am sure Wenger does too, how he danced around a pretty solid Arsenal team in the Champions league in 2000. In 2002, he was at Borussia Dortmund and I remember hoping that he would not recover from an injury he had for a trip to England in the qualifying stages of the Champions league against Arsenal. He didn’t.However, he scored, assisted and was man of the match for the away game. In a year when Arsenal had a fantastic team, he made our defence and midfield look ordinary. Neither Vieira nor Camp-bell could get near him.His currency rose quickly at Dortmund but I wonder what kept bigger teams away for so long.In 2006 when Arsenal went for him, they had to fight off Valencia.

Fab Fabregas sc-cops monthly awardArsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas has been crowned PFA Fans’ Player of the Month in the Premier League - and few would argue with that. Not least his team-mates and manager who hold the midfield genius in such high esteem. He’s getting better with age and, considering he’s still only 22, that’s quite frightening. The Spaniard is the heartbeat of an Arsenal team that many believe play the best, most attractive football of any side in the country. Again, no arguments there.The architect of the majority of Arsenal moves, Fabregas also has the ability and vision to get himself on the end of some of them.Such a knack has prompted manager Arsene Wenger to liken him to Chelsea’s Frank Lampard, whom Fabregas edged out in the October voting.Wenger said of his skipper: “He’s a bit like Lampard in that he wants to struc-ture the game.Cesc likes to be at the start of things and then get on the end of things, and he can push forward more this season because he has two players around him who can defend.”Fabregas has many fans, hence his latest award, but few are bigger than his Arsenal team-mate Theo Walcott who fully appreciates what the captain brings to the team.Walcott said: “He is fantastic to play with because he spots everything on the pitch and times his passes to perfection, so that you don’t even need to break stride.“He is still so young and, as captain, has a lot of pressure on his shoulders yet he continues to deliver. He is a fantastic person to learn from. It’s hard to believe he is still only 22.”After Fabregas and Lampard, Chelsea hot-shot Didier Drogba third in this month’s voting, with Manchester City’s Craig Bellamy fourth and fellow striker

Darren Bent of Sunderland fifth.

Fran and Alex on songArsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed Fran Merida and Alex Song, have both agreed a new deal at the club.Merida’s future has been the subject of speculation in recent weeks, with Atletico Madrid keen to bring him back to Spain.The 19-year-old’s current contract expires next summer and even thought he has agreed to a new contract, he is yet to sign it and Arsenal are keen to tie him down to a new long-term contract.However, Wenger admits other clubs have been undermining their attempts to agree a new contract with Merida and the Frenchman is not happy with the way Atletico Madrid have let their interest be known.“He has an offer which he has agreed, but has not signed yet,” said Wenger.“Some clubs are doing their work behind our back to destabilise him. We cannot stop that, but it is a fact.”However, Alex Song has signed a new five year contract, much to the delight of Arsene Wenger. Song, 22 , has earned Wenger’s trust as his midfield enforcer and is now tied down until 2014. He joins both Eduardo and Sanchez Watt, in signing long-term deals with the club.

WE ARE GUNNER GETCHA!

My favourite Arsenal player ever is Robért Píres and I was excited when Wenger bought what I thought was the perfect replacement. Wenger himself said that Tomas was the closest thing he could find to Píres.Wenger has messed with players posi-tions ever since I have been aware of him. Lauren from midfield to right back, Touré from midfield to centre back, Henry, Píres, Ljungberg, Song and it goes on. Wenger always says “a good footballer can play anywhere”. Not too sure about that. Píres was an exceptional player and adapted well.The rest were moved to new positions when they were very young and had time to adapt. Rosicky has not adapted so well at his age even though he is a good footballer. In addition, he has had a dreadful time with injury.So much so that one website announced his new contract with this cheeky intro:“Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky has signed a new contract with the club.

Mischievous rumours that he has sprained his wrist in the process and will be out for a month appear to be unfounded.”The best I have seen Rosicky play was in pre-season in the centre and at the end of the premiership game at Man City where he created everything good that Arsenal did including a goal. I am doubtful that Rosicky will be influential anywhere else but where Fabregas and Ramsey play. I would like to see him there while Cesc is injured so he gets the chance to build some much needed confidence and influence in the team.I really like Rosicky as a player. I love watching him when he is in full flow and in control. I have only seen him in complete control in the pre-season game playing in the centre. I hope he can find that confidence and control again. He has not played for long so his body is not as beaten as other 29 year olds so I would expect he has at least 3 more years in him.

Carring GunnersIn 2009, Arsenal Football Club an-nounced that they had smashed their fundraising target for the 2008/09 Char-ity of the Season Teenage Cancer Trust by raising a total of £532,816 through-

out the partnershipThis record amount raised smashes all previous fundraising totals for Arsenal’s Charity of the Season initiative and is thanks to the overwhelming support from Arsenal’s local and global support-ers, players, directors and staff of the Club.Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity dedi-cated to improving the lives of young people with cancer, was launched as Arsenal’s Charity of the Season in August 2008 when the Club pledged to raise £300,000 during the course of the partnership to fund an Education Zone within a brand new Day Care Centre, due to commence construction in 2010.

GUNNERS STARS GET FURY FOR CHARITYArsenal Football Club is proud to

release ‘Fundraising Day’, a pro-motional short film starring Cesc Fabre-gas, Theo Walcott, Andrey Arshavin and Bacary Sagna dressed as furry animals in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH), the Gun-ners’ Charity of the Season.The light-hearted film sees the play-ers and Club Manager Arsène Wenger join forces with four patients from the Hospital as they embark upon the streets of London to fundraise for the charity. ‘Fundraising Day’ reflects the players’ support for the children and their families who are treated at the world-renowned Hospital as they will be donating a day’s wages to help raise funds on Sunday 29th November when Arsenal dedicates its Premier League match against Chelsea Football Club to the Charity.The Club is encouraging supporters to give what they can through the ‘Be a Gooner. Be a Giver.’ campaign which has a £500,000 fundraising target over the 2009/10 season and this dedicated matchday will be a milestone for the partnership on the road to achieving this goal.The advert was created and shot by the agency, Brothers and Sisters, and in-cludes a voiceover by dedicated Gooner and national treasure Barbara Windsor MBE, who is also a former patient and long-time supporter of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The film will appear on www.beagoon-erbeagiver.org from 18 November in the run-up to the dedicated matchday and aims to encourage supporters to join in and donate through the site.Arsenal Captain, Cesc Fabregas who stars in the advert and is donating a day’s wages said: “I visited Great Ormond Street Hospital back in August so I know what this means to the charity and the patients. I encourage all supporters to follow our lead and give what they can. This advert is a bit of fun for the players and we hope supporters enjoy it, but there is a very real message in it about helping this Hospital and we hope to raise lots of money for this worthwhile cause.”Arsenal Manager, Arsène Wenger added: “The team and I have met some patients from Great Ormond Street Hospital on several occasions through-out the partnership so far and we’re all struck by the strength and courage they show in fighting their illnesses. We understand the importance of helping to improve the facilities at the Hospi-tal and we’re encouraging all Arsenal fans to help in whatever way they can. The dedicated matchday highlights the work of the Charity and gives players, staff and supporters the chance to do something, however small, to help reach this target.”Dr Jane Collins, Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital said: “We’re so looking forward to our

dedicated matchday and so grateful to the players, directors and fans for raising money to help us build our new Lung Function Unit. It will make such a difference to our patients and their families.”Steve Shannon, Creative Director from brothers and sisters, comments: “We were happy to give our time to this project and all our crew really enjoyed themselves over the two days of filming. It’s a serious message and a great cause, but we also wanted to highlight the importance of giving, which for these Premier League footballers, meant more than money. We also wanted to make the film really fun - the players were great sports dressing up in the costumes and the relationship between the kids and the players shines through on film.”Over the course of the season, through the ‘Be a Gooner. Be a Giver.’ cam-paign, the Gunners will aim to raise £500,000 which will help Great Ormond Street Hospital build a new Arsenal Lung Function Unit for children who have difficulty breathing or sleep-ing. The money raised, through fund-raising initiatives such as the dedicated matchday, will fund this brand new Unit which will make such a difference to the patients and families at the Hospital.

AUCTIONING ARSENEArsène Wenger had his mind auctioned earlier this month raising £11,500 for Arsenal’s Charity of the Season, Great

Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.Sir Philip Green successfully bid for 60 minutes with The Boss at the Krug Mindshare charity auction on the 5th November where bidders fought for the chance to purchase an hour in his company. Sir Philip Green’s mind was also up for auction that same evening, but the Topshop tycoon was keen to be the lucky winner of unprecedented access to the Manager, and a chance to delve into the mind that has steered Arsenal to three league titles, four FA cups, a Champions League Final and a new state-of-the-art stadium.Arsène Wenger’s involvement signals his deep commitment to Arsenal’s Charity of the Season, and his desire to raise as much money as possible for the world class work of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

VAN PERSIE BLOWArsenal’s title ambition suffered a massive blow with the news that Robin Van Persie is set to miss the rest of the season with injury.The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, has written off the idea of Robin van Persie playing again this season as the striker could be out until May with an ankle injury.The 26-year-old Dutchman suffered the injury while on international duty in November and was initially expected to return to full fitness in six weeks. But instead surgery was required, and Wenger concedes the problem will keep Van Persie sidelined for several more months.“If you are very positive you would say [he’ll be back in] April,” Wenger said. “If you’re a bit cautious you say May. It is virtually the rest of the season. I thought, ‘Let’s put it in my head that he will not play again this season and hope that I will have a good surprise’.”However, Wenger is confident Van Persie will bounce back from the injury and rediscover his top form. “When you have such big surgery the most impor-tant thing is the opinion of the surgeon of whether he will be the player he was before. We had a clear answer. ‘Yes’. The second thing is if he has an infec-tion or not. He hasn’t. The third thing is patience. He cannot do anything, he is just sitting at home waiting until he can work again. The first two steps have been very successful.”With such an important member of his attack gone, Wenger is expected to dip into the transfer market next month and the Frenchman admitted he would have no problem signing a player who is cup-tied for the Champions League, just as he did in signing Andrei Arshavin last January.“We are going for the domestic title and the FA Cup as well and doing that allows you to rest a player for the Champions League or play another player in the Premier League. I would prefer the player who can play in both competitions but sometimes there is a bargain you can not turn down. Don’t forget, Arshavin got us in the Champi-ons League last season.”

Out now...

6 REASONS WHY ARSENAL CAN WIN THE TITLE THIS YEAR

Arsene Wenger was laughed out of TV and radio studios and ridiculed in news columns

when he suggested at the end of November that Arsenal were still in the title race and Chelsea would drop points. The contempt and disdain shown toward Wenger for even think-ing that the presumed Juggernaut from the Kings Road would falter, was matched with the arrogance of Chelsea’s premature coronation as champions.Many wrote of Arsenal at the start of the season. however the start of the new season proved they have what itr takes to be champions.4 months is a long time in football; humble pie is an effective leveller. Here’s my 8 reasons why I believe Arsenal can win the title this season:

1. The strength and depth of our SquadThere is a perception that Arsenal’s squad injury-riven cannot cope with the demands of challenging for any trophies. An objective look at their achievements despite the injury crisis totally discredits this misguided view. Even with the current 9 players frequenting our medical facility, the squad has coped admirably with an unforgiving league.Often, excuses are rolled out to explain how injuries have affected the performances of other top sides, but very little mention that Arsenal has

had its fair share of medium and long term injuries, but we’re still defiantly sitting at the high table. Traore, Our 3rd choice left back for example is challenging anyone to call him a 3rd choice anything and is absolutely holding his own, it’s hardly noticeable that we’re missing Clichy or Gibbs.For most, it’s easier to complain about how injuries are affecting us and how we need to buy reinforcements, but few rarely stop to consider that it is indeed our strength and depth that is sustaining us well thus far.

2. We’re the most lethal striking force in Europe69 goals in 29 games in all competi-tions from 18 different players. That’s an average of 2.38 goals a game and still maintaining that lethal edge with-out our preferred talisman. Enough said.

3. Solid founda-tion and Financial stabilityManchester United – £699m in debt and rising with an operating loss of £45m; Chelsea – £700m debt (half masked as equity and Abramovich flushing the rest down the drain as a loss), and still with operating losses of £69m; Liverpool – £300m and count-ing while the gloss fades away on the

pitch; Manchester City – £90m operat-ing losses even with their filthy rich owners making the £400m investment so far disappear from the liability column into the equity column on the balance sheet. Need I go on?In the era of brazen ‘cheque book’ management where profligacy is a fashion statement and prudency is seen as a virus, Arsenal stands head and shoulders above all elite clubs. Our financial stability and manage-ment model is the envy of most clubs who are now scrambling to emulate us.We have a solid platform to build and maintain success for the new decade and beyond. And as Colombo would characteristically say – ‘Oh, one more thing’, we actually make a tidy profit.

4. We’re a much better team than we were last year This time last season, we had clocked 30 points from 19 games with a goal difference of +4. This season at the midpoint, we have 41 points after 19 games with a goal difference of +30. Do the math.Also the fantastic addition or Vermae-len could prove vital this year.

5. Our players are a year older and more experienced

In an era where experience is misguid-edly measured by a transfer value, name or reputation, little regard is given to the growth and personal development of individual players. Much less attention is paid to the collective growth made by a team that has been playing together and learn-ing through the difficult experiences of each campaign. One of Arsenal’s biggest strengths this far has been the fact that people haven’t seen this team coming.The ’youth’ label so often associ-ated with Arsenal has provided a false sense of security to many of our competitors and non-admirers in the establishment. The folly of think-ing that youth equals inexperience is catching up with them.

6. We have arguably the most effective mid-field unitWhether it’s the dynamism or creativ-ity of our midfield, or whether it’s the fact that 43% of our goals in the league have come from the midfield, you’d have a job on your hands arguing against the effectiveness of Arsenal’s midfield unit.This isn’t just about the individual brilliance of Fabregas, or the industry of Denilson, or the solidity and reli-ability of Alex Song or the presence and power of Diaby. As a unit both in defence and offence, our midfield works together as a well oiled and efficient machine, and they will only get better.Apart from the plethora of chances the Arsenal midfield weave out, their mas-tery of transition play from defence to offence is improving with every game, and is the key to our regular dose of Wengerball.Did I mention they score goals too?

Magnificent on mersyside

Also-rans? Arsenal might be rather more than that on the strength of this performance.

They were written off in most quarters before a ball was kicked this season but Arsène Wenger’s players showed they mean business with an emphatic win on Merseyside.Denilson curled in a sumptuous 25-yarder to get the ball rolling and Thomas Vermaelen marked a hugely impressive debut with a thumping head-er from Robin Van Persie’s free-kick. William Gallas nodded in a third from close range as Arsenal took a strangle-hold on the game before half-time.Cesc Fabregas rounded off a classic counter-attack two minutes into the second half and added a fifth from long range before Eduardo tapped in late on to compound Everton woes.Louis Saha scored a stoppage-time consolation for Everton but that did not stop the travelling fans roaring a heart-warming refrain as they left Goodison Park: “We are top of the League!”

There’s an awfully long way to go, of course, but Arsenal have laid down a marker. The early signs are promising to say the least and they won’t face many tougher away trips than this before May.The most notable name on Wenger’s first team-sheet of the season was Vermaelen’s. The summer signing from Ajax had a taste of the ‘up and at ‘em’ nature of English football at Barnet last month but Everton, among the top flight’s finest set-piece exponents, would test Vermaelen to the limit. He passed his examination with flying colours.

After kicking off four consecutive seasons on home soil, Arsenal were probably due an opening-day away trip. And they don’t come much harder than Everton. Mind you, as Manuel Almunia pointed out last week, he’d sooner be here in the August sunshine than the January frost. The Goodison Park sur-face is rather more pristine at this time of year and you sensed that might suit Arsenal’s neat, passing game.With Alex Song providing a solid base in midfield, Fabregas and Denilson broke quickly to support the front three of Nicklas Bendtner, Andrey Arshavin and Van Persie. And after an even open-ing, the pendulum swung Arsenal’s way.Bendtner and Van Persie had already fired early shots across Everton’s bows when the Dane made a break down the right in the 25th minute. He clipped the ball inside to Fabregas and the cap-tain slid it into Denilson’s path, who smashed it in 25 yards from goal. Later on in the half, Gallas and Ver-maelen added to quality goals from set pieces, to increase Arsenal lead to 3-0 in half time.In the second half it was all about captain fantastic, Cesc Fabregas. The spanish genius scored twice in space of 10 minutes. The first goal was a typi-cal Arsenal counter attack, involving Denilson, Van Persie and Fabregas. the second goal was a brilliant solo goal.Eduardo added the sixth but Everton got a consulation goal in extra time.

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CONTEX PAGE:1.Front page.

2.Man City report + Gossip.

3.Man City report + Gossip.

4.Advertising.

5. Charity page.

6.Advertising.

7.Catching the Champions.

8. Contex Page.