Experienced Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has described his side's 5-1 away win over West Ham at the Olympic Stadium in London as 'crucial' as Arsene Wenger's side step up their bid to win a first league title since the unbeaten season (2003/04). "It became a kind of must-win game for us when Chelsea won and obviously the gap opened to six points." "We knew what we had to do and we did it in a professional way, so we are happy. "We had a lot of opportunities in the first half but it wouldn't go in. "In the second half at 1-0 their keeper made some fantastic saves and you think it could still be a dangerous scoreline. "I know a lot of people would have been a bit anxious, but we showed the maturity not to panic and we kept going. We thoroughly deserved the … [Read more...]

Former West Ham, Leeds United and Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand has advised North London side Arsenal to give in the wage demands of their star forward Alexis Sanchez. In-form Alexis Sanchez has had a spectacular start to the new season having weighed in with 13 goals in 19 appearances in all competitions for Arsene Wenger's side after he was converted to a centre forward this season by his French boss at the club. Ferdinand, who is also a former England international, said this following the Chilean forward's impressive hat-trick against West Ham United in the London Derby at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday evening as quoted by popular news outlet Evening Standard. In his words, Ferdinand said: "If he comes in and says 'I want to be your top paid … [Read more...]

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has stated that fellow London side West Ham United lacked confidence playing at the Olympic Stadium after his side thrashed the home side 5-1 in an English Premier league (EPL) game played on Saturday evening. Arsenal's Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez was the star of the show as he scored a second half hat-trick to move the North London side to within three points of league leaders Chelsea as the battle for the league title hots up. Speaking in an interview with popular media outlet Standard sport, Wenger said: "I felt overall, on our side, we had a stronger defensive performance today." "To be completely objective I must say as well that West Ham have less confidence at the moment that they had last year at the same … [Read more...]

Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has disclosed that current Real Madrid manager and club legend Zinedine Zidane has always been his idol while also adding that he enjoys watching Barcelona star Andreas Iniesta do his thing on the field of play. Ozil, formerly of Real Madrid, Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen, also revealed that he admired many players but Zidane stood out due to his style of play. The 27-year old German playmaker made the aforementioned statements during a chat with the Times newspaper as follows: "Iniesta is a big player. I like how he is playing, but my real idol was Zinedine Zidane. He was not selfish. He scored, but he also made assists. He was a leader." "I also admire Xavi. Barcelona was huge because of him, his calm with the ball. He was a leader, … [Read more...]

North London side Arsenal have been linked again with West Ham and French star Dmitri Payet ahead of the mid-season transfer window, which opens the next month. Payet has been a sensational signing for his London club since he signed for a fee believed to be around £12 million from French side Olympique Marseille in the summer of 2015. His performances from last season was thereafter rewarded with a new 5-year deal worth £125,000 weekly before the start of the current season. The present season has however not gone as plan for West Ham, who moved from their Upton Park ground to the Olympic Stadium, with the team languishing in the bottom half of the table and just a point outside the relegation zone prompting speculation that Payet could leave the club despite … [Read more...]