'5 Points which can help Arsenal Progress after the 3-1 loss against Monaco'

The defeat against AS Monaco have surely made the task a bit heavier for Arsenal in the 2nd leg, if at all they want to progress to the next round of Champions league. The 3-1 scoreline was in the favor of the French side, who have a superb defensive record at Stade Louis II, and it will surely take a far-more improved performance by the gunners to give them a slightest chance of advancement in the tournament.

But, as we know in football nothing can be taken for granted, so Arsene Wenger must take this five steps in order to overcome the two-goal deficit.

Per Mertesacker must be dropped.

Yes, the lack of pace in the German Defender was clearly exposed in the first leg, which also opened the defense line of the whole team which made the job easier for the Monaco strikers. So, if Wenger wants a positive result in 2nd leg, he must drop the German and instead select the quicker Gabriel Paulista alongside Laurent Koscienly.

 A Proper mid-field player!

Another important place where Arsenal lacked was the mid-field, Mr. Wenger gave Jack Wilshere a precautionary rest in the first leg and instead chose to play Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin in the middle of the park, on the reflection of which we saw what grave error it was.If Either of Wilshere or Ramsey is fit to play in 2nd leg, Wenger should not think twice to deploy any one of them alongside Coquelin to ensure that the Gunners have a stable base at the middle of their park.

Wojciech Szczesny must be brought back

Yes, it’s time to bring back the polish international after David Ospina failed to convince his form in the first leg , failing to stop the three goals against the French side, especially the third and much easier to save goal which was scored by Monegasque. So, Arsene must consider Wojciech in the 2nd leg in order for a possible victory against the French side.

Have More Patience

Arsenal have bad habit of concentrating more on attacking rather than focusing on their defensive strategies, which leads them to a subsequent ‘sucker punch’ in their face. Arsenal needs almost 3 goals in the 2nd leg in order to qualify but that doesn’t mean that they have to get those goals within the first 15 or 20 minutes. There should be some stability between their attacking ambition and the defensive strategy, and that balance will only be the turning point for them.

Play Monreal instead of Gibbs

It was a big mistake when Mr. Wenger chose to play Gibbs over Nacho Monreal in the first leg, when the Spaniard was in the peak of his form. As we know that Gibbs has a tendency to get caught up the pitch, so selecting him was nothing but a gamble that didn’t pay off well. So, If Arsenal wants to win the second leg by a margin of 3 goals they need to play their best man in form.

So, this will be the five points that I think Arsenal Should keep in mind and must implement if possible, so that they can have the score-line which can help them progress to the next round of the tournament.

/Anuttam/

"Sir Alex forced me to cut my Mohawk',reveals Beckham

Former England Football superstar David Beckham revealed the fact that how Sir Alex Ferguson made him to cut his new Mohawk hairstyle in a toilet at Wembley back at 2000, when United was about to face Chelsea in a Charity Shield match.Beckham have played around 265 matches for Manchester united scoring about 65 goals before moving on to Real Madrid.

David Beckham, other than playing football, is also famous for having dashy looks, wearing expensive brands and changing his hairstyles often. The 39 year old English footballer had a very tough relationship with his ex-manager Sir Alex Ferguson, but he insists that there was no bad blood between the two of them and even told that Sir Alex is like a father figure to him.

Beckham told ‘Graham Norton’s Show’ that how Sir Alex made him cut his clippers out before the game,

"I was in the dressing room with an hour to go before kick off when Sir Alex Ferguson saw it and made me shave it off," Beckham recalls.

"I said no at first and then I saw his face change very quickly so I went and shaved it off in the toilet. He was very strict.

"It was the reputation of the club, he wanted all the players to look professional and he felt it wasn’t the right look. We were playing at Wembley too, so he kind of had a point!"

"Some of them have been really bad – I hadn't thought them through"

"The topknot wasn't too bad but the cornbraids were a bad decision. It was bad timing as well as I was going to South Africa at the time with England and ended up meeting Nelson Mandela so that’s why I regret that one."

The pair’s relationship fall-out during the time of 2003 which saw the departure of Beckham, but now it’s all have been dissolved down, with recently the couple was seen in Chelsea’s first leg match versus PSG in Champions league football.Beckham also insists that the ‘2003 fall-out’ is now like water flowing under the bridge and paid tribute to his ex-boss.

"We get on. It was made worse than it actually was. He was a father figure for me for so many years,

"He brought me to the club that I loved as a kid and I was successful at the club, so he gave me everything in my career.

"He will always be a man that I look up to because he gave me the dream of playing for Man United.

"There was no olive branch. We just bumped into each other at certain occasions after I left Manchester United

"We never discussed the falling out. There were things that upset me and there were definitely things that upset him about me, but I have so much respect for him as a manager and as a man and he gave me my dream.

Beckham have represented England Football team 117 times and was one of the top players of his generations.

/Anuttam/

'I admire Frank Lampard',says Iniesta

Spanish Midfielder Andres Iniesta reveals his admiration for the ex-Chelsea Midfield star Frank Lampard. Both of them may come face to face in the Champions league round of 16 clash between FC Barcelona and Manchester City on Tuesday night at Etihad Stadium, but the 30 year old Barca Midfield says, he can learn a lot from his fellow midfielder Frank Lampard.

Iniesta paid tribute to the 36 year old veteran English midfielder telling,

“Lampard is a reference in football, both in England and worldwide. I can't say much more about him. 

“He is really experienced both at club and international level. He's got all my respect and huge credit to him as he's one of those players you can look at and learn.”

Iniesta also hinted that Barcelona should not get complacent with the third bid for Champions league glory and further adding,

“We are at a great level but that shouldn't make us complacent. The fact we're going through a good period doesn't make us favorites”

“The Champions League is a very demanding competition and we will be up against a team full of really great players. Just a couple of mistakes can make us lose the tie so we will just enjoy this moment and try to keep up.

“Champions League is a great competition where everybody tries to get as far as possible. It will be very difficult, we will do our game and then will see what happens.”

Barca’s 11 consecutive winning streak came to end last Saturday after a shocking 1-0 defeat to Malaga, while Manchester City scored 5 goals to beat Newcastle United in Barclays Premier league.

/Anuttam/

'Manchester City one of the five best team',says Pique

The ex-Manchester United centre back says that he has the utmost respect for Manchester City and thinks it will be a much more difficult game than the last year’s round of 16 where Barca beat City with 4-0 aggregate over the two legs. Pique also believes that Manchester City are among the top 5 teams in the world and are very difficult opponents to face.

FC Barcelona is going to face Manchester City tonight after a shocking 1-0 defeat to Malaga last weekend at Camp Nou and defender Pique believes that a win in the first leg at Etihad Stadium could put the things in right order and the result could compensate the loss against Malaga.

Here, what the defender said,

Having a game every three days is great because it's a chance to prove ourselves again," the Spain international told reporters at the official press conference in Manchester. "We get to play again and forget about Saturday a little bit. 

"You never forget about a defeat at Camp Nou, but it's the chance to come here and get a good result to take back to the second leg."

And he added: "City are one of the five best teams in the world and the Champions League is the most important competition, the most prestigious one. Now the most important thing is to advance to the quarter-finals."  

Pique also silenced the speculation that the players are not happy with the manager Luis Enrique, says that the players are fully behind the manager and have the utmost respect for him.

"There is no unsettled atmosphere surrounding Luis Enrique," he said. "The team are behind the coach. While we were winning, nobody talked about any of that."

Pique also believes that the absence of his ex-team-mate Yaya Toure will be huge boost for Barcelona and will surely give Barca an advantage, but things are not predictable in football.

Yaya is such an important player," he said. "He has so much quality. I was looking at some statistics on television and when he is out, you definitely notice the difference."

/Anuttam/

'Southampton has the capability to qualify for Champions league'.

It has been the finest campaign for Southampton this season as the ‘Saints’ are sitting right in the top four of the most prestigious football league in the world. Nobody expected them to perform like this after finishing 8th last season but the underdogs have performed really well and the most important thing is that they have been consistent and have been able to compete with the top level clubs and beat a few of them too.

Well, there is no limitations to dream and so the Dutch manager of the club and ex-Barcelona player Ronald Koeman believes that his team has the potential to qualify for the champions league next year. But the manager has ruled out any possibilities of saying that the things can be taken for granted, he even have warned the players not to get over-confident and lose concentration over the growing possibilities of remarkable achievement.

Koeman solely demands concentration on games in hand as Liverpool visits on Sunday.

"I know the players around myself and the club are talking about the position in the table and about the possibility of being one of the top four teams," he told reporters. "But it's too early to think about that.

"We must keep focusing on doing what we have done so far. Maybe then - with four or five games of the season remaining - the situation will be much clearer.

"I think the Champions League is a good possibility but others have real quality in their team, and we don't have that experience," he added.

"They know how to play under high pressure but I believe we don't have any pressure and we are surprising people with our position in the table. Most people didn't expect Southampton to be in fourth place at the end of February."

With 13 matches still remaining in the premier league Southampton has good chance to qualify for Champions league next season and reach the wonderland.

/Anuttam/

"Guardiola happy with Bayern"

Bayern Munich have now scored more than 5 goals successively in Bundesliga after beating relegation threatened team Paderborn in their latest 6-0 win yesterday. The German giants added 6 goals to their 8 goals that they scored against Hamsburg a week ago to make sure that they have complete domination in the league.

Lewandowski celebrating one of his two goals

Ex-Dortmund Striker Robert Lewandowski scored twice along with the Dutch winger Arjen Robben,while Franck Ribery and Mitchell Weiser shared one goal each to give Bayern an easy win against Paderborn. The win against Paderborn means Bayern Munich is clearly 11 points ahead from Wolfsburg and racing towards their third Bundesliga title in a row.

Guardiola in an interview

Pep Guardiola is happy seeing Bayern’s performance and expresses his gratitude in an interview

Pep was ecstatic in the post-match interview and was full of praise for his team’s performance.  "I'm delighted," he said. "I'd like to congratulate the players. We've taken a big step forward today."

Lewandowski's two goals mean he now has 14 for the season from 31 appearances in all competitions and Guardiola was thrilled with their attacking efforts.

"We scored a lot of goals and are delighted with the result," he added.

Second place Wolfsburg is yet to play the match against Hertha Berlin, but as current situation stands, Bayern Munich is ahead with a 11 point gap in the table and held their nose high at the top of the table.

/Anuttam/

Manchester United agrees '37m Euro deal' for Hummels.

According to the latest reports from Spain its being said that Manchester United have reached a 37m Euro deal for signing their long time target Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund.The 26 year old German defender has been long linked with a move away from the yellow-black outfit after a disastrous start to the season with Borussia Dortmund that sees the club sitting down at the bottom of the Bundesliga table.

Spanish Newspaper 'El Mundo Deportivo' claims that recently an agreement has been reached between Old Trafford and the defender and the English club is hoping to sign the defender before the shut down of this transfer market.Manchester united have already sign the ex-Manchester City defender Sadiq El Fitouri on a 18 month contract following an impressive trial at the club.

Though the transfer news regarding Mats Hummels is spreading like a raging fire all over the world yet Louis Van Gaal has rejected any speculation regarding the issue and ruled out any possibility of the club making any new signing in the winter transfer window.

Manchester United is also being speculated of having a keen interest on Dortmund teammate and compatriot Marco Reus in order to build their front boundaries.However,it will be a great news for Manchester United fans if the transfer news regarding Hummels came out to be true.