Arsenal

ARSENAL



Arsenal Football Club (also known as Arsenal, The Arsenal or The Gunners) are an English professional football club based in Holloway, north London. They play in the Premier League and are one of the most successful clubs in English football. Arsenal have won thirteen First Division and Premier League titles, ten FA Cups and in 2005–06 became the first London club to reach the UEFA Champions League final. Arsenal are also members of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs.
Arsenal were founded in 1886, in Woolwich, south-east London, but in 1913 they moved north across the city to Arsenal Stadium, Highbury. In May 2006 they left Highbury, moving to their current home, the Emirates Stadium in nearby Ashburton Grove, Holloway. Arsenal have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, located four miles away in Tottenham, with whom they have contested the North London derby almost every season since 1913.




CESC FABREGAS


Having made the first team at a young age, the teenager went on to break several of the club's records as he began to earn a reputation of a technically-gifted player, excellent passer of the ball and key component of the Arsenal lineup. While Gilberto Silva provides a more defensive presence, Fàbregas functions primarily as a playmaker. In international football, the Spaniard's national career began at the youth level, representing the Under-17 side at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship. As a result of his club performances, he was called up the senior squad and played in the 2006 World Cup. In 2006, Fàbregas committed his long-term future to Arsenal and signed an eight-year contract.

THIERRY HENRY

After a slow start in the Premiership, Henry has since emerged as Arsenal's top goalscorer in almost every season since he joined the club. Long-time mentor and coach Arsene Wenger's conversion of him into a prolific striker has made Henry Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with over 200 goals; with Arsenal Henry has won two league titles and three FA Cups. With France, he has won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. In recognition of his abilities, Henry has been twice nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year,[4] and has twice received the Barclays Premiership player of the season award.[5][6] He is today regarded by many as one of the best footballers in the world.[3][7][8][9]







EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR

Adebayor started his professional career at a training camp in Lomé. He made it to Under-15 level and was spotted by French club, FC Metz. After a trial, Adebayor joined the club in 1999, and after playing at Under-17 level for two years he moved up to the first team. In his first season, he played nine games and scored twice, however he could not stop them from being relegated. In the 2002-03 season Adebayor scored 17 goals in 35 games, which attracted the attention of top clubs including Arsenal and Juventus.










MANUEL ALMUNIA
Despite his occasional mistakes, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has not given up faith in the keeper, and he has since played in some important matches for Arsenal when Jens Lehmann was not available. He is usually selected as Arsenal's goalkeeper for Cup matches, where he has been able to show his penalty-stopping abilities. This includes a win over Sheffield United in the 2004-05 FA Cup, where Almunia made two saves in a penalty shootout after the game finished 0-0, to take the Gunners through to the quarter-finals. Another successful shootout win with Almunia in goal came at Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup in 2005-06. Unfortunately his goalkeeping prowess or lack of, led fans to nickname him 'Fawlty Manuel', in homage to the clumsy Spanish waiter Manuel on the British comedy programme Fawlty Towers.




Aliaksandr Hleb

He scored his first goal on his debut for the Gunners against Barnet FC at the Underhill stadium, in a pre-season friendly within two minutes of coming off the bench at half-time. On August 21, 2005 he played his first competitive match for Arsenal, away to Chelsea. However, soon after, Hleb sustained a knee injury while on international duty with Belarus and was out for several months. Finding it hard to settle he was linked with a move back to Germany.[citation needed]

WILLIAM GALLAS

William Gallas is a graduate of the French Football academy at Clairefontaine. He started his professional career at 2nd division Caen helping them to promotion as champions in 1996. He was subsequently transferred to Marseille in 1997. Gallas spent four seasons at Marseille, playing alongside Robert Pirès and Peter Luccin among others. He made his debut in the Champions League playing for Marseille, and he also played against Chelsea in that competition in 2000.

KOLO TOURE

Touré quickly established himself as one of the best centre-backs in the Premiership. He is now a fixture in the Arsenal starting eleven, and a firm fans' favourite. He was a key member of the Arsenal team that won the premiership title without a single defeat. In the 2005-06 season he established a formidable defensive partnership with Philippe Senderos. Both centre-backs had immaculate form towards the end of the season, helping the Arsenal team reach the 2006 Champions League Final after keeping 10 consecutive clean sheets (a European competition record). After his imperious displays in the Champions League his stock rose dramatically, he was now regarded as one of the finest in the world in his position. The Italian press even went as far as labeling him the 'African Fabio Cannavaro' after Arsenal knocked Juventus out of the competition.

THEO WALCOTT
His performances soon attracted attention from the British media, who saw him as one of the most promising young English talents of his time. There was speculation that Walcott would move to the Premiership and media reports linked him with some of the league's top clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur as well as interest from the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus, Milan and Barcelona.

THOMAS ROSICKY

Rosicky is preferred as a left-winger at Arsenal, as some of his play resembles his predecessor of his position, Robert Pires. Both first choice wingers at Arsenal, Hleb and Rosicky have played in the Bundesliga as attacking midfielders, but Arsene Wenger prefers to play both in wide positions, and have full-backs such as Clichy and Eboue overlapping down the wings. While still at an early stage in his career, Tomas has gained the nickname(s) of "The Little Mozart" and "The Mozart of Football" for his ability to orchestrate play on the pitch

ROBIN VAN PERSIE

English club Arsenal, undeterred by a rebuff during the January 2004 transfer window, made a move for the striker at the end of the 2003-04 season. Van Persie also emerged as a target for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen, and Spanish side Sevilla. However Arsenal fended off other club interest and signed van Persie, despite already having signed Spanish striker José Antonio Reyes from Sevilla. Van Persie completed his move for a fee believed to be in the range of £3 million, to the Premiership on May 17, 2004. Praised by Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger for the strength of his talent, he made his debut for the team in the 3-1 FA Community Shield victory over rivals Manchester United on August 8, 2004. Early on, he played as a left winger, but he predominantly plays as a striker for Arsenal. He is touted as Arsenal's long-term replacement for his idol Dennis Bergkamp.

GILBERTO DA SILVA

Gilberto, real name Gilberto da Silva Melo, (born April 25, 1976 in Rio de Janeiro) is a football (soccer) player from Brazil. He is a midfielder with Hertha BSC Berlin and the Brazilian national team but can also operate at left back.
He played for Brazil in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and scored against Japan, his first goal since making his debut for the team against Nigeria on 11 June2003.


























JENS LEHMAN


Lehmann joined Arsenal on July 25, 2003 as a replacement for David Seaman, and played every match as Arsenal went unbeaten for the entire '03-04 FA Premier League campaign, becoming the first English club to accomplish this feat since the 1880s. However, Lehmann's confident, aggressive style of play, often coming out of his goal to intercept passes occasionally led to mistakes, such as in the title-winning match at local rivals Tottenham Hotspur when Lehmann pushed Tottenham striker Robbie Keane as the pair waited for a Tottenham corner,[5] and made mistakes that led to both goals in Arsenal's Champions League defeat at home to Chelsea the same season.[6]