Fabregas & Walcott Out - And Arsenal want Bojan Krkic

Despite the injuries, there is good news. Arsenal apparently want Bojan Krkic of Barcelona [Full Story].

That seems unlikely; especially as Barcelona have only recently called Arsenal "immoral" in their capture of a Barca academy player. I wouldn't think Barcelona would be too keen on dealing with Arsenal after that.

Anyway...
Fabregas and Walcott will miss the Carling Cup final through injury, and Walcott is likely to miss the Barcelona clash on the 8th March. This must be unbelievably frustrating for Fabregas especially, seeing as his main aim as captain was to lift a trophy, and now Arenal's best chance of doing so has come about he is going to be nothing more than a Wembley spectator.

Wenger said of Walcott who suffered an ankle injury against Stoke:

"Walcott will be out for two to three weeks with an ankle problem.

"I would say today it is very unlikely he will be fit for the second leg of the Barcelona game.

"I imagine the worst so maybe I will be surprised in a positive way but I just give you my gut feeling at the moment."

And of Fabregas:

"You cannot play football when you're injured. He's sad and disappointed but it could have been worse the injury - it's a very small one. We have many targets in front of us so it is important he is not out for longer."

Asked how long he would be absent, Wenger replied:

"One or two games maybe."

I think it isn't so bad that Fabregas will miss the next few games. The injury isn't at all serious, so he will just be rolled up in cotton wool and rested until the Barcelona game. It may work out well. No disrespect to Birmingham, but even without Fabregas and Walcott, Arsenal are comfortably the better side and should win comfortably.

The Walcott injury on the other hand isn't so good. His pace will be missed against Barcelona, but Arsenal should cope - although Wenger hasn't completely ruled him out of it, and still hold the hope that he will be pleasantly surprised.

Fabregas & Walcott Injuries [Pics] & Reaction

So Arsenal claimed victory against a physical Stoke side to move within a point of Manchester United at the peak of the Premier League. But the three points came at a price. Two of Arsenal's talismanic players in Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott went off the pitch injured, with the latter having to be stretchered off.

See what Arsene Wenger had to say about the injuries below:

Wenger on Fabregas injury:

"Fabregas has a hamstring problem. We will assess that tomorrow. It is impossible to see how serious it is. We will know Thursday."

"It is of course a concern that he (Fabregas) is injured but it happens unfortunately. He was very upset. I am as well. But it is not his fault or mine. It is part of sport.

"It's strange when it happens early in the game but we have to face it. We did the job after that in a very professional way."

Wenger on Walcott Injury:

"Theo Walcott has an ankle sprain and he is out. For how long, I don't know, but he is definitely out of Sunday.

Games for Arsenal are coming in thick and fast, and injuries are the last thing that Wenger would have wanted, especially to their captain Fabregas and sometimes game changing winger Walcott. The three points will however soften the blow as the days count down towards the Carling Cup final on Sunday against Birmingham.

Wenger praised his sides performance against a defensive Stoke side:

"We did the job after the injury in a very professional way against a Stoke team who defended very well. They were very compact but we were intelligent, calm, patient and overall I believe we were resilient."

Stoke have been criticized for the way they play sometimes - using Rory Delap's long throw, not playing on the ground and being too physical - Wenger even once said they played with "rugby" tactics. But he had no complaints after Wednesday's game:

"No. I have no issue with the long throws and I do not have issue with any other aspect of their game. It is a team you know you have to prepare mentally for before the game because you will not take the points if you do not do it.

"Nobody likes to play against Stoke because they have a very special way to play the game, but I have to say tonight for me they defended in a very intelligent way. When we found some space they quickly cut it off and we could not take advantage."

Watch: Arsenal 3 - 0 Ipswich

In the end, Arsenal cruised to victory to reach the Carling Cup final. Ipswich, under new manager Paul Jewell, held on for as long as they could to their impressive one goal lead that they brought from the first leg, but the quality of Arsenal was all too much for the Championship side who could do nothing as Arsenal scored three, gliding to the final as strong favourites to win their first trophy sine 2005.

Ipswich gave a very good account of themselves, with Arsenal captain Fabregas conceding that it was a tough two legs for them to play in, and despite the Gunners usual defence cutting quality play, struggled against Jewell's side. Ipswich got numbers behind the ball, had their attacking players tracking back and were very resilient in defence, whilst they sometimes tried to break out of their defensive play under enormous Arsenal pressure to venture on a couple of attacks themselves, unfortunately proving fruitless for them.

Arsenal grabbed their first goal through Nicklas Bendtner - a fantastic individual goal, as you can see below.
The two other goals, including a Koscielny header from a corner and a captains goal from Cesc Fabregas, you can watch here.

Managerless Ipswich Beat Arsenal - and it was no Fluke

A couple of points above the relegation places in the Championship, without a manager, and off the back of a humiliating 7 - 0 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea, Arsenal's Carling cup semi-final first leg against Ipswich looked as if it would be a breeze. It was anything but that however, as Ipswich were able to control a lot of the game, make more chances and even win the game through a Tamas Priskin goal in the 78th minute.

Arsenal were not able to cut through Ipswich as they would have liked, and what Arsenal fans would have expected, as predictions ranged from a comfortable 2 - 0 to a 4 or 5 nil thrashing. Walcott had a couple of good chances, but the keeper Fulop stood up strong to save. Fabregas had a clear chance late on, but his view was obscured as the cross came in by a jumping defender, and he wasn't able to connect as he would have liked, and instead of scoring a tap in, the ball was scuffed/headed wide. It wasn't Arsenals night, and although putting out a strong team including 11 first team starters, perhaps excluding Denilson, they could not get that goal that they may have been able to build on.

Ipswich worked very hard throughout, chasing lost causes, pressurising the Arsenal players in all areas of the pitch, defending resiliently and eventually getting the winning goal. All of the players had great games, and all worked hard, but Connor Wickham, the young Ipswich striker whom I have not seen play much before looked particularly impressive. He is certainly a big prospect, and will be attracting, if not already, Premier League teams. Its quite amazing that he is only 17 years-old.

Ian McParland stood in as manager as Paul Jewell watched on in apparent delight to see his future team playing with such passion and commitment to the cause. Beating Arsenal is a tough feat, but anything can happen in the cup, as Ipswich have proved.

Arsenal are still favourites to progress to the final by winning the second leg at the Emirates, but now the Arsenal players know, the Ipswich side should not be underestimated. With Paul Jewell being the manager by the time the fixture is played, and probably a more stable team in place, Ipswich will not simply role over and let Arsenal win. They should rise to the occasion and prove that this show of quality was no fluke.

Roy Keane to Take on Old Rivals in Cup Semi Final

Just as cup draws always seem to do, two former rivals will fight fiercely against each other once again. Former Manchester United captain, Roy Keane and his Ipswich side have been drawn against United's notorious rival in Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, while the former Birmingham owners will see their current club, West Ham take on their old side.

Keane was renowned for his highly competitive, and aggressive style of play - the perfect leader therefore, for a massive club, and his Ipswich players would probably tell you that he hasn't lost any of his massive passion for winning. In his playing days, there was no team that Keane loved beating more than Arsenal, so the Irishman will gratefully snatch the chance to re-live his United glory days and progress to the Carling Cup final.

Birmingham, who progressed to this stage thanks to a 2 - 1 win over bitter local rivals Aston Villa, have been drawn against lesser rivals; but rivals for a different reason. David Sullivan and David Gold owned Birmingham for 15 years, but left amid certain allegations in 2008 and admitted that:

"deep down the public have had enough of us".

Thanks to comments made by Gold, including calling the Birmingham chairman "disgusting" he was banned by Birmingham's ground, St Andrews for the recent Premier League match between the Blues and the Hammers, so it will be interesting to see the on the pitch battle between the two teams fighting for a cup fnal place.

There will be two legs to the semi final games, and the winners will book a place at Wembley on February 27th. The semi finals look like they will be entertaining games, but surely this cup is Arsenal's to lose as their biggest challengers, Manchester United, crashed out 4 - 0 in the quarter finals against West Ham.

Watch: West Ham 4 - 0 Manchester United Goals & Reaction

Watch 1st Goal

Watch 2nd Goal

Watch 3rd Goal

Watch 4th Goal

Manchester United crashed out of the Carling Cup in an embarrassing defeat to West Ham, 4 - 0. Read Match Review Here

The West Ham manager, as you can imagine was delighted with his teams performance which pushed West Ham into he semi-finals of the cup:

"Today we played fantastic and also scored and we kept a clean sheet. So I'm very happy. I thought we could win, but not by that score.

"It's very special. To perform like this against the best team today in the country and score four goals, what more can I ask?"

Sir Alex Ferguson on the the hand was not so pleased:

"(There were) too many younger players making errors and giving away goals," he added.

"They can't give away goals like that, even though they're young."

Read my match review here: http://bit.ly/gTO88t

And Watch the Goals Here

West Ham 4 - 0 Man United - United Humiliated in Cup Quarters

West Ham cruised to a 4 - 0 win against a petty excuse of a Manchester United team. That is something you don't hear very often, but the Carling Cup quarter final showed that Sir Alex Ferguson had massively underestimated the London club.

It was a clash between the top and bottom teams in the Premier League, but by this performance, you wouldn't think that United were the team unbeaten this season and sitting proudly at the top. Their defense was an absolute shambles, their midfield created nothing, and the attack had nothing to work with. It was atrocious. West Ham completely outplayed United in the snow, as the visiting players seemed to take a break in their job as footballers, wondering aimlessly around the pitch, watching Avram Grants side control the game around them.

Jonathon Spector of all people - the former Manchester United defender scored two of the goals for the Hammers, both in the first half, and Carlton Cole scored the other two in the second half.

Victor Obinna of West Ham had a great game - a big threat to United throughout; being the source of most of the chances created. It was a player like this that Ferguson's side were missing. Johnny Evans had a bad game, and he knows it. He was turned too easily for Cole's goal, while the defence in general fell asleep for numerous West Ham attacks.

In truth, after the second goal went in, there wasn't really any way back for United. Sir Alex had no one on his bench who could come on and make an impact. No Rooney, no Berbatov, no Nani. the Scot had no options that he knew could change the game.

We all make mistakes, and Sir Alex made one today. Of course, no one could have expected that his team would perform so poorly, but he should have had one or two top players on the bench that he could rely on to create something if it came it. In the end, it did come to it, and Ferguson wasn't prepared.

West Ham have breezed passed the holders of the competition with ease, and humiliated the young United team in the process. Before the game United were unbeaten in all competitions this season. That record is shattered in pieces as the Red Devils travel to Blackpool on the weekend, but it is a huge confidence boost for the struggling Hammers who travel to Sunderland on Sunday on the back of a brilliant 4 - 0 win.

Chicharito is United's Saviour Again

Hernandez: Next Big thing?

It was a nervous performance from the Manchester United youngsters. After twice gaining the lead, they threw it away - true to the current form of the side, and put the United fans on the edge of their red seats - something that the United fans are beginning to get used to.

A frustrating first half saw very few chances for either side, and that was evident thanks to the bore of a goal-less half. Uniteds new, and controversial signing Bebe looked lively in the first half, but couldn't create anything on the right wing, despite seeing most of the ball. He showed good pace, and a fairly good ability to get around his man, but his crossing needs a big improvement after constantly failing to get the intended cross right.

The second half was a complete contrast to the first. It was goals galore as goals from Bebe, Elokobi, Park, Foley and Hernandez crossed the lines, but in the case of Bebe, not rippling the net.

Bebe began the goalscoring. After going past a couple of players on the right wing, he got into a position to cross the ball, and as he did, the ball took a few deflections before looping over Wayne Hennessy in the Wolves goal and just crossed the line as a Wolves defender headed it away. It was a good decision from the linesman who flagged for the goal, and it was this goal that changed the game.

Only about five minutes later, the Wolves left back Elokobi rose above the United keeper, Ben Amos to head the ball viciously from a corner, almost tearing the United net open. It was the big left backs first goal for Wolves, and the equalising goal against a United side that lacked any of their big name stars.

Ji Sung Park made the best of a bad job from Macheda, and scored with a great finish. Park fed in Macheda, but his poor first touch enabled the defender to deflect the ball away, but only to the feet of Park, and he curled it into the side of the net with a beautiful finish.

Only five minutes later however, Wolves were equal, as Kevin Foley scored after a nice flick from Steven Taylor-Fletcher. All Foley had to do was keep it low and on target - which he did. Was it going to be another one of those days for Manchester United?

Javier Hernandez answered that question. He came on for Bebe, and the United fans sporting Chicharito scarves and... big hats, went wild for the Mexican youngster. He immediately brought life to the United team, as he ran around, fighting for the ball, and when he got his chance, he was brilliant.

A cool through ball from Darron Gibson was met by Hernandez, and after a fake shot which saw him skip passed the committed defender, he showed immense composure to finish with his left foot. He seems like a breath of fresh air for Manchester United this season - a 22 year old with a healthy ego and an obvious love for football - and Manchester United - as he kissed the badge in front of the United fans after his goal.

Two goals against Stoke City at the week-end, and another match winner today - it brings Hernandez's total to six in the season. He has so much potential, and is not letting anyone down with his excellent performances. Is he the new Michael Owen? Or is he something new? Something better?

Carling Cup Round Up 22/09/2010

The Carling Cup's opening few rounds aren't usually the most exciting of games - tonight was an exception.

A 5-2 win for Manchester United against Scunthorpe saw United go a wonderful strike down early on, only for them to fire straight back against a very resilient and brave Scunthorpe side. A Gibson chip, 2 typical Michael Owen goals, a Park strike and Smalling finish was enough to see off the Championship side who had double the amount of attempts on target than United but were thwarted by a good game by Tomasz Kuszack. The game also saw Bebe grab his first game for Manchester United's first team as he came on as a second half substitution. I have been a sceptic since he signed, however he did look bright when he did have the ball. He isn't short of confidence with a long range shot being deflected and a few dribbles which unfortunately were intercepted. He showed good pace but apart from that didn't do much else.

Another seven goal thriller was at Stamford Bridge. Previously unbeaten this season, Chelsea were obvious favourites against the newly promoted side Newcastle. However, the Magpies went 1 - 3 up, with Kalou going off injured. Chelsea had used all of their substitutions so they were now reduced to ten-men, but this seemed to have the opposite effect to what you may think. Anelka upped his game and scored one, whilst equalising with a penalty. When it seemed to be heading to extra-time, Shola Ameobi scored the winner to send Chelsea packing from the League Cup. A great game.

Manchester City's millions didn't help them as they crashed out at the hands of West Brom. City striker Jo scored the opener, only for the Albion to bounce back with two goals in quick succession to defeat Mancini's flailing side.

Gerard Houllier made a good start to his career at Aston Villa as he watched his team beat Blackburn 3 - 1 at Villa Park. Givet put Blackburn ahead in the 34th minute, but Heskey and a double from Ashley Young secured Aston Villa's place in the next round.

Liverpool's dreadful season continued with a very poor performance against the lowly Northampton town. The reds created very few chances and were even taken to extra time. Normal time finished 1- 1, with Jovanovic scoring in the ninth minute for Liverpool. Ngog got the goal in extra time - just in time, but Liverpool were taken to penalties. Astonishingly they lost, with David N'Gog and Jovanovic missing their penalties and sending Liverpool out!

Carling Cup Third Round

Results

FT Wigan Athletic 2 – 1 Preston North End

Jordi Gomez 87, N'Zogbia 90 Treacy 23


FT Scunthorpe 2 – 5 Manchester United

Wright, J 19, Woolford 90 Gibson 23, Smalling 36, Owen 49, Park 54, Owen 71


FT Aston Villa 3 – 1 Blackburn Rovers

Heskey 59, Young, A 75, Young, A 77 Givet 34


FT Chelsea 3 – 4 Newcastle United

van Aanholt 6, Anelka 70, Anelka (pen) 87 Ranger 27, Taylor, R 32, Ameobi 49, Ameobi 90


FT Liverpool 2 – 2 Northampton

Jovanovic 9, N'Gog 116 McKay 56, Jacobs 98


FT West Brom 2 – 1 Manchester City

Zuiverloon 55, Cox 57 Jo 19

Mame Biram Diouf Scores A Hat-trick for Blackburn

Manchester United's youth seems to be getting better and better. The promising 22 year old striker Mame Biram Diouf, who was sent by Sir Alex Ferguson out on loan to Blackburn for the season to gain some Premier League experience scored a hat-trick on Tuesday night to help Blackburn beat Norwich 3 - 1 in the Carling Cup.

Sir Alex seems to have an eye for the younger players, after the signings of Chicharito Hernandez, Chris Smalling and Diouf. Either that or United's financial position is forcing Ferguson to go for un-established, young players with potential. Nevertheless, they seem to be slowly proving their worth.

With Chelsea seeming like they could run away with the Premier League title this season with their six goals a week policy, United need all the firepower they need. Diouf may not be with them this season, but he certainly seems to be one for the future after begginning to prove himself as a great goalscorer.