Next Game

Indonesia All Stars v Arsenal

Sunday, 14 July 2013, 20:30

Friendly Match

St James' Park, Newcastle

Last Game

Newcastle 0 - 1 Arsenal

Sunday, 19 May 2013, 16:00

Barclays Prem

Wilshere earns Wenger praise

Arsene Wenger picked out Jack Wilshere for praise after his performance in the 2-0 victory over Montpellier.

Last Updated: 22/11/12 at 13:32 Post Comment    Bet with SkyBet  Champions League. Click here to bet.

Manager Specials

So who will replace David Moyes as manager of Everton after his appointment as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor at Manchester United? Wigan's Robert Martinez heads the betting. Check out the latest odds

The victory - courtesy of goals from Wilshere and Lukas Podolski - combined with Schalke's win over Olympiakos, means Wenger's men have advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League with a game to spare.

After a poor first half Wilshere scored his first goal since his comeback from injury, clipping neatly over the goalkeeper from Olivier Giroud's cushioned header.

And Wenger was full of praise for the central midfielder.

"He's getting strong physically. Tonight he got in the box - he's the complete midfielder you know," he said.

"I believe he can defend well, attack well and these kinds of matches will give him confidence."

Arsenal are second in the group behind Schalke, and they need to beat Olympiakos in Greece and hope Montpellier hold or beat the Germans to finish top.

Wenger said: "We will try to finish top of the group. You always feel a bit guilty if you don't do it. There are groups where you have Dortmund first, Real Madrid second - you don't really know what is the best.

"But overall statistically it is still better to finish top because you feel you've done your better if you finish top of the group.

"We will try to win at Olympiacos and Montpellier can beat Schalke at home. We will take a full-strength team.

"In this competition you just want to get to the next round and win the game. That's all you can do. Now of course we go into a cup (knock-out) competition which is a little bit different. We have some time and it's important we go into March with our best team available.

"I found Montpellier well organised, strong in their challenges and quite aggressive so for us it was a question of being patient, not making mistakes, using our experience and wait for a chances.

"The first half we had problems in the transitions to go from defence to attack and in the second half it was better.

"We moved the ball quicker, made more incisive runs and scored two goals."

TEAMtalk Facebook Fan Page

The TEAMtalk fan page is a great place to meet like minded people, have football related discussions and make new friends.

Related News

Sky Bet

    • Retrieving latest Sky Bet odds

Most Commented

Readers' Comments

I

m absolutely disgusted that I've been misquoted in saying that if a chance came up to join Arsenal I would be interested. What I meant to say is if Man United or Chelsea were interested......

gulliver
Agent cools Benteke exit talk

L

FC league positions and points from last 4 seasons - 7 (61), 8 (52), 6 (58), 7 (63). Werner calls it progress, I call it mid table stability.

kolev_lfc
Reds progress delights Werner

I

s there a PR agency covering Begovich, Odemwingie, Steven Fletcher and Grant Holt or something? Why would you offer a quote like that without having been announced by either club. #headsshoulderskneesandtoesgone

Havelange
Begovic hints at Liverpool move

Footer 365

Championship play-off final: Watford boss Gianfranco Zola targeting Europe

Watford manager Gianfranco Zola hopes play-off victory over Crystal Palace will be the first step towards Europe.

Experience key for Blues - Lamps

Frank Lampard has stressed the importance of strong personalities in the Chelsea dressing room and denies any have ever got a manager sacked.

Heynckes hails Robben impact

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has hailed the impact Arjen Robben has made on his side's run to the Champions League final.

Mail Box

Wayne Rooney Is Just An Average Athlete

That's the difference between him and someone like Cristiano Ronaldo - his body just isn't right. We have mails on him, Sparky, Brendan Rodgers and the Europa Lge...

Saving The Europa League And More...

Nice one UEFA, but not far enough. We have some ideas to make the Europa League better as well as more views on Wayne Rooney, Vermaelen in midfield and...

© 2013 British Sky Broadcasting Ltd. All Rights Reserved