Jesualdo Ferreira, Raul Meireles and Ruben Micael speak on their 5-0 humiliation at Arsenal

The Portuguese side came into the match with full expectations.
knowing fully well an early goal will knock the Gunners off their
stride, but some unprofessional errors gifted the team from North
London the edge.
And the visitors situation worsened as they continually danced to the Gunners tune unknowingly (Porto kept pushing for a goal while the Gunners sat back, soaked the pressure, relaxed, enjoyed and counter-attacked at will).

Let's not dwell on the past. As you can see yesterday was just a figment of HISTORY.

Jesualdo Ferreira, Coach of Fc Porto, praised Arsenal's performance
and blamed their multiple errors for their defeat at the Emirates
yesterday.

"There are games that aren't easy to explain. We weren't lucky in any
period of the match. All the goals began from our mistakes.
Arsenal always played on our errors. It's a heavy defeat that isn't just.

"The first goal is illegal, and then all the others are individual
mistakes by us, which took away the serenity of the team.
Whenever FC Porto balanced the play Arsenal went and scored a goal. It
was our mistakes and their talent.

"The substitution was made (Rodriguez for Coelho at half-time) because
we had to run risks. Arsenal are a team with very well developed
attacking systems.

Raul Meireles who earlier maintained they were the predators and
Arsenal the prey, when he said they weren't coming to defend at the
Emirates. Little wonder we caught them napping not once, nor twice but
four times excluding the penalty.
The Portuguese attacker said he's concerned about the future and
insists there are more trophies to be won by them.

"It's not worth talking much. We have to lift our heads. We still have
three trophies to win this season. We are all dissapointed and sad
after this."

Meanwhile, Ruben Micael believes Arsenal's potency up front and their
ingenious counter-attacking style killed off their chances of staging a
dramatic comeback.

"We didn't have the capacity to react. We tried to start the
second-half with a different attitude. We were close to making it 2-1,
but on the counter-attack Arsenal killed off the game.

"In the first-half Arsenal had two chances and scored two goals. We
could have reduced the deficit, even before the interval.
Arsenal took their chances. We're dissapointed but we'll turn things round."

Bendtner & Wenger - we can win the Champions League

Arsenal hat-trick hero Nicklas Bendtner has stated that Arsenal can
win the Champions League.

The 22-year-old survived heavy criticism from every quarter (even we
the supporters are not exempted) after his lacklustre performance on
Saturday against Burnley.
But look how quickly things change, A player who missed a hat-trick of
chances against lowly Burnley scores 60% of his chances on a night
Arsenal fans will not forget in a hurry.

The Striker and his team mates repayed Wenger's faith in them by
sending the visitors from Portugal home without a goal to show for
their numerous efforts.

"This will give us a lot of confidence. We want to win the Champions
League. It's something we haven't done." Bendtner enthused after
booking a Porto bound-flight for Falcao and co.

"Every time I play a game I put it behind me as soon as it's finished.
Sometimes it's one of those days and today I put it right. I'm happy
with my hat-trick but tomorrow we move on."

Arsene Wenger who in his wildest imagination possibly could not have
hoped for a scoreline as rampant as 5-0, has showered encomiums on his
Danish import and the team as a whole.
The Boss has now re-written his own history - he has never recovered
from an away defeat in the UEFA Champions League and a what a way to
state his intent.
Surely, the scoreline flattered us but we were made to work hard for
our win which certainly means we deserved the outcome of the match and
gave Porto counter-attacking lessons they'll never forget.

Arsene Wenger on Bendtner's performance: "His confidence level is
always stable. He has the size and the presence we need. We're usually
a short team so someone with size is important, offensively and
defensively.

The gaffer is as optimistic as Bendtner and insists his current crop
of players can square up with any of the Epl's big boys in the
quarter-finals of the competition.
"I've a good feeling maybe it's good for us an English team.
We have not done well against Chelsea and Man United this year and it
would be a good chance to show we can do it against them.

"We do not choose Manchester United or Chelsea, but if I say we don't
want to play an English team we're in an inferior position. I believe
maybe it's a good opportunity if we get them to show we can do well.

"But if I had a choice I would say yes. If we get them we cannot do
worse than we did in the Championship, we can only do better.

"If I don't smile tonight I will never smile. We controlled the game,
played our fluent football and had a positive start with early goals
which gave us the belief. Over the 90 minutes we controlled 80.

"Overall we controlled the game, scored great goals and were good to watch.
We did what we like to do, we won with style and always went forward
in a positive way."

Arsene Wenger regrets Gallas' gamble

Arsene was infuriated with his decision to push William Gallas back to
fitness in a late bid to prepare him for action.

But the French International couldn't recover from his calf injury in
time to help the Gunners translate their European dream into reality by beating FC Porto in tonight's UEFA Champions League cracker.
Instead he broke down in training and the manager who has already lost
Cesc Fabregas admits that the 32-year-old is "back to square one" and
he faces a long time (up to a month) on the bench all because of his
impatience.

Arsene Wenger is alarmed at the number of Arsenal players injuries
have brought down in the last five years, and has since launched an
investigation in a bid to unravel the mystery behind our injuries and
to curtail future occurences.
Albeit the gaffer also said that he was unhappy with the
unsatisfactory results the findings have shown and he's certain he
will get to the root of our injury problems.

The Boss on Gallas' injury: "Gallas has been out for a month and now
he has had a recurrence of his calf injury. He felt very well on
Saturday and went out, but he has gone backwards again.
We are back at the starting point with Gallas unfortunately.

"We don't know how long it will be. He will have a scan and we will
assess it from there, but for Hull this weekend, for example, he has
no chance.

"We were impatient with him and we pushed him and he wanted to
get on as well, that is why maybe it has happened. But there is no
obvious sign as to why it keeps coming back. He has no pain at all,
then goes for a jog and then it goes again."

Though we are gonna lack Gallas' authority and experience at the back which
makes us more vulnerable to a full-fledged Porto attack, we can at least take
solace from the fact that we play as a team and that is one huge
disadvantage of Porto, whose majority play selfishly. And also derive
some joy from the news that Fabregas who will miss the encounter with
Porto tonight, will not be going under the knife in a bid to end his
nagging hamstring injury.
Fabregas was missing in training yesterday as a result of his
lingering injury and Wenger decided not to gamble on the young
Spaniard to avoid escalating his already bad situation.

Meanwhile, the skipper said he would have loved to play against Porto
but was restricted by the doctors attending to him.
"I wanted to play but the doctors recommended that I rest and avoid
any risk. I am very sad to miss out because Porto is important to us.
I will suffer far more than usual, having to watch from the side."

Today it's gonna be for Kieran Gibbs, so go and make us proud boys. . .
We are counting on you.

Wenger - We'll re-write HISTORY today

The Gunners have never overturned a first leg deficit in the UEFA
Champions League, the only time this infamous record was shattered was
three decades ago.

Arsene Wenger who was elated to win on Saturday is optimistic that the
Gunners and the Blues will surmount their obstacles today and he's
confident they'll do it in style.
But not even his optimism can curb the cloud of negativity already
circulating as Arsenal look forward to re-writing history.
The Boss last night emphasized on the importance of today's Porto
match and charged his lads to overlook the criticism they've been
facing from their critics and instead ensure they repeat what their
seniors did way back in 1971, when they beat Hadjik Split after losing
away from home.
It might be argued that "a lot of water has passed under the bridge"
ever since that encounter but so has soccer evolved and the Gunners
know fully well that even though they have everything to prove, they certainly cannot be labelled as the underdogs.

Arsene Wenger also acknowledged the importance of Cesc Fabregas but
he's convinced that his teammates are more than equal to the
task, and are capable of setting the Emirates on fire in today's UEFA
Champions League make/mar encounter with the team from Portugal.

Wenger said: "We have a good opportunity, we have good chances to make
history. We are very young but we are in a position where we want to
go for both, not in a position where we can make any choice. We want
to do well in both competitions.
"To score away from home is still a massive advent in UEFA rules, that
is why we are confident we can do it. We have scored, that is a
massive difference.
"To lose 1-0 would have been a terrible result. It's completely
different, we know it's a tricky game. But we believe we can do it, we
have good confidence."

Arsenal will be without some established names once again, but this
time the gaffer is confident that his preffered replacements (Sol for
Gallas and Nasri for Fabregas) will deliver the goods and at the right
time.
Almunia is confident Porto will have to go through him (teams do that
a lot anyway) if they are to have their way at the Emirates.
I implore every gooner to support the underfire goalie not because
he's the same old Almunia, but for the fact that he's our first
choice, the best Arsene and the Gunners can boast of, so it's only
logical we give him our undivided support and avoid the boo's for as
long as we can.
Our biggest problem will be our attack, but all the same there's
absolutely nothing we can do but hope our Nikky boy doesn't forget his
scoring boots and flair at home like he did on Saturday.

In his interview Bendtner insisted that we haven't seen the best of
him and attributed his mistakes to injuries and luck.
"I have just returned from injury, and overall things could not be any
better for me. The most important thing on Saturday was not, whether I
scored or not, but that we won as a team.
"I felt that the Arsenal fans really got behind me and supported me,
because I tried to give everything I had. I was just not lucky with my
finishes in that game, but sometimes it is like that."
Wenger also shared the youngster's optimism "You cannot fault his
confidence. He is one who can take remarks and criticism and analyse
it without been offended. He has not fooled himself. He knows that he
could have scored.
"People take a lot from the negative side of his confidence, but he
has a positive side as well. He can face his problems and analyse it
and change his behaviour.
"Nicklas is on the way up in his overall game contribution to the team
performance, but he missed big chances on Saturday.
"It's something that is needed for any young striker, he isolates the
factor as to why he missed and gets it right into the next game. I'm
convinced that he is really improving at the moment.
"He has good mental strength, I'm sure it will not diminish his desire
or confidence to go into the next game. I've spoken about it with him,
but I don't think it's necessary to say here what we spoke about.

Arsene Wenger also maintained that our non-practice of penalties won't
affect the team's chances of going through and stated in unequivocal
terms why he steered clear of practising shoot-outs even when the
probability of the game been decided on spot-kicks can't be ruled out.
The Boss concluded that any scenario that qualifies us will be well recieved by him.

Go Gunners. . .

Fabregas misses training

Captain Arsenal won't be participating in Tomorrow's epic showdown in
classy Emirates.

The 22-year-old Spaniard's recurrent hamstring injury which forced him
out of action for three weeks after his brilliant cameo
that turned things around for the Gunners at the Emirates during the
closing stages of December last year.
The eccentric playmaker was missing in action at Arsenal's training
ground today and has gone for further tests on his nagging injury.

With Porto's Valera, Hulk, Raul and Falcao. All roaring to prove they
weren't play-acting at the Estadio do Dragao. Our skipper would've
provided the much needed inspiration. But that not withstanding we've
got a team that believes in its capability to rise to the occasion.
Hopefully the Gunners will raise their game Tomorrow to ensure Falcao
and Hansson are put to shame.

In the mean time, Samir Nasri has been given the go ahead by the Boss to dictate proceedings Tomorrow and he has the benefit of playing in a more favourable central position.

"Wenger said: "He is very versatile. You ask any player and they love to play in the middle but he has the pace to play on the flanks.
He can play defensive midfield, attacking midfield and on the flanks. We have a few players like that and I love that.
"He has adapted very quickly. He's a very intelligent boy, a quiet boy.
He analyses what is happening on the pitch very quickly. He has good technical potential. He is the same as Cesc, 22-years-old so very young."

Porto's Falcao should bow his head in shame

FC Porto's Colombian import Radamel Falcao shouldn't be whipping up
sentiments by claiming Arsene Wenger and Arsenal are crying over spilt
milk.

The striker might be right to say we didn't deserve to win at Porto,
but to say the least we didn't deserve to lose by a dubious goal.
Instead of practising new tricks such as: scoring with his hand. He's
busy speaking thrash forgetting that his team will get more than what
they bargained for at the Emirates when they return our favour. Where
Martin Hansson won't interfere with play and voluntarily obstruct
Campbell to gift him an opportunity that never existed in the first
place (it was an accidental backpass).

The biggest culprit on that fateful night was and is still Martin
Hansson who neglected his duties and a smooth criminal took his chance
to punish our "play by the rules" boys. And in the process he has
succeeded in turning Fabianski into a villain. But one unique aspect
of been a gooner is our ability to chastise our underperformers when
they misbehave and also console them when they are underfire, on that
note I assure Falcao he will never catch our boy (Fabianski) unawares.
Only that I doubt if there would be a next time for the Pole.

Hear the idiot: "The goal was within the rule of the game and even
though we've had some dissapointments recently we will go there with a
point to prove.
"For me, the Arsenal manager should be upset with his own players
rather than the officials. It was a good goal.
"We were the better team in the first game and now we have an
advantage and still believe we can go through."

All this talk is getting me bored - What happens on the pitch will be
the deciding factor as to who goes home prematurely at this stage of
the competition.
Bring it on Porto, we've waited this long don't worry about our form.
If you're doubting ask hard-fighting teams like Sunderland, Stoke and
recently Burnley and you might be forced to agree that the odds will
never favour you at the Emirates.

¤ Your Predictions will be highly appreciated by me . . .

Wenger - Fabregas is better than Rooney

Arsene Wenger is weighing the options available to him after admitting
it'll be a huge risk to gamble on Cesc Fabregas.

The Frenchman claimed his talisman and Captain is a better and focused
player than Manchester United's Wayne Rooney.

The 22-year-old suffered a hamstring injury which unfortunately for
him is a recurrent problem and might miss our Uefa Champions League
cracker against FC Porto tomorrow. He lasted only 39 minutes on the
pitch and Wenger had to substitute him on Saturday against Burnley.
Fabregas has been a superlative performer for Arsenal this campaign,
he has single-handedly ensured Arsenal left "no stone unturned" in
their quest to wrest power from Manchester United and Chelsea.
With his current form, the bench won't be a welcome development for
the Spaniard, who suffered the same injury in the same area in his
right leg before Christmas. And he endured three weeks on the bench.

The Boss didn't hide his thoughts about his influential Captain and as
expected, refused to accept that Manchester United and England
playmaker Wayne Rooney, is better than Cesc Fabregas.

"You look at the numbers and statistics of Fabregas - it's amazing.
"He has scored 14 goals 15 assists. He's a fantastic player, with
fantastic attitude and commitment.
"And what people forget an unbelievable work rate too. He's everywhere
and this season he has made a big step forward, massive. It was
interesting to see that he has already played at 16 but at 22 he has
matured."

Arsene Wenger also maintained he won't be having his way at the
expense of the midfielder's health and insists that he may have to
gamble on the youngster's fitness.
Meanwhile, he has Alex Song, Andrey Arshavin, and Abou Diaby available
and his more preferred central defender in the person of Sol Campbell
as he strategises and plots Porto's downfall at the Emirates.
"But we were 1 - 0 up and I thought we shouldn't take a gamble so we
took him off. He has little chance, yes. I haven't spoken to the
medical people yet we will have to assess that.
"It depends how big the gamble is. I'm ready to take the gamble. But
if it's more than 50 per cent chance his hamstring goes I will not
take it."

Raul Meireles - we won't defend at the Emirates

The first leg at the stadium of the Dragon was a match Gooner and
Gunner alike will pay anything to forget.

It was a horrible performance devoid of any iota of Arsenalism.
Fabianski's inexperience and lack of proper judgement was undoubtedly
the reason Arsenal lost at Porto. But we all have to accept the team
is a collective responsibility, and some malfunctioning parts
indirectly handed Porto the advantage at home.
We've waited for this opportunity and it's drawing close, hopefully
there won't be mindless backpasses and Fabianski won't be available to
facilitate Porto's victory. And maybe our away goal might just make the difference, as we prepare to face the biggest match left in our calender this season.

Following their win at the Estadio do Dragao, Raul Meireles has
claimed that Porto won't change their attacking style for Tuesday's
trip to North London.

Raul is 100 per cent certain, that the Gunners will falter at their
own backyard. And he's optimistic they won't defend their slender win
when they repay Arsenal's courtesy visit to their home.

"We will not be ultra-defensive in London. That's not our style and to
try and play that way would be a disaster for us.
"Arsenal are a dangerous team in attack and to give them the ball
would cause chaos for us.
"The big battle will be in midfield. We must stop Cesc Fabregas but
also the other men in that area.
"I'm optimistic and our squad have the confidence and belief that we will
reach the last eight."

Sol to possess his possession at the Stadium of the Dragon

Arsenal are ready to place their Champions League hopes on veteran Sol
Campbell if the need arises.
The 35-year-old former England international is yet to make a European
appearance since the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona almost
four years ago.
With majority of our regulars suffering from one injury or another.
Gallas - calf injury.
Alex Song - knee injury.
Andrey Arshavin - hamstring.
Eduardo - yet to fully recover from his nagging hamstring.
The veteran might just make his third appearance and arguably his
biggest in recent years. Sol has already managed two appearances for
the Gunners ever since abandoning his contract at Notts County and
re-signing for Arsenal in January. He played all 90 minutes against
Stoke City in the FA Cup defeat at the Britannia and coming in as a
substitute for Thomas Vermaelen in the 0-0 Epl draw at Villa Park.

The manager believes in the veteran's ability and might give him an
opportunity to prove he's worth the recall.
"It's a possibility that I don't rule out at the moment because if he
(Campbell) doesn't play there it would mean you play with two
left-footed players (Vermaelen and Sylvestre) that I don't really
like.
"It would mean he can show his signing was worth doing and he can help
us in going through to the last eight."
He maintained before the team departed for Porto yesterday.

The Squad:

Lucasz Fabianski
Vito Mannone
Nicklas Bendtner
Carlos Vela
Theo Walcott
Samir Nasri
Denilson Neves
Aaron Ramsey
Tomas Rosicky
Abou Diaby
Cesc Fabregas
Gael Clichy
Thomas Vermaelen
Emmanuel Eboue
Mikael Sylvestre
Sol Campbell
Armand Traore
Bacary Sagna

Speculation is still rife about the future of our Captain Francesc Fabregas.
as media reports continue to claim the eccentric midfielder is set for
a Camp Nou comeback.
Arshavin has spoken out on the rumours, but he didn't dispel them.
Which indirectly means there might be an iota of truth in them.
"If he goes to Barcelona, I will understand his choice. But as an
Arsenal player, I really don't want this to happen," Arshavin
enthused.
"I remember when there were rumours of his departure last summer, I
told him half-jokingly, half seriously: "Stay at least a year or two,
I want to play with you."
"We joke about this topic again now. But Cesc is a grown man and only
he can decide."

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