Chelsea's Kalou keen on a move to Arsenal

Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou has said he would consider joining Arsenal at the end of the season after being told of Gunners boss Arsene Wenger's apparent interest in him.

Speaking to Setanta after Chelsea's 1-0 first-leg, last-16 Champions League win over Juventus on Wednesday evening the 23-year-old revealed he was honoured to be linked with Arsenal before heaping praise on Wenger and his side's style of play.

''Wenger said he thought of signing me? That's an honour for me, an honour'', said Kalou. ''He is a very great coach and I know that every single player in the world dreams of playing for him. I have a lot of respect for him, he is one of the best coaches in the world so why not?

''I am still under contract with Chelsea but of course I have plenty of friends who play for Arsenal in Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Emmanuel Adebayor. They are achieving huge things at Arsenal and watching them play is just beautiful.''

Kalou's revelation could prove to be destablising for Chelsea who have attempted to distance themselves from reports of in-fighting and under interim boss Guus Hiddink have appeared a more unified squad.

With Joe Cole ruled out through injury Hiddink has started Kalou in both of his two games in charge of Chelsea, but a lack of first team football before the Dutch coach's arrival could tempt Kalou to consider his options in the summer.

''You are never guaranteed to be in the Chelsea starting XI. Every single player fights to earn his place, including me, and the coach is the one that has the final word.

''At the present time I'm happy at Chelsea and I hope that the things that I want to happen will happen. I will think of my future once the season is over,'' added Kalou.

Champion's League: Gunners spurn chances

Arsenal 1 - 0 AS Roma

Arsenal gave themselves a slender 1-0 advantage to take to Rome after a first-half penalty from Robin van Persie in their Champions League clash at Emirates Stadium.
However, the misfiring Gunners should have put the tie beyond the hosts - with Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Eboue both spurning golden chances as Arsenal's recent trend of poor finishing continued.

The Eternal City will host this year's Champions League final in May, and the massed ranks of visiting supporters had clearly travelled in genuine hope rather than just expectation after seeing their side qualify for the knockout stages ahead of Chelsea at the top of the group.

Arsenal had drawn blanks in each of their last three Barclays Premier League games, as manager Arsene Wenger was left to reflect on his team's inability to breakdown determined defences.

The encounter looked set to be a more open affair, with Roma all too aware of the importance an away goal would bring to the tie, and so it proved.

Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri was handed a roaming role, and broke the offside trap to dash into the right side of the penalty area.

He pulled the ball back for Bendtner, on the penalty spot, but it was just a yard behind him and the Dane's first touch was heavy, allowing the defenders to recover and block.

Then full-back Gael Clichy picked out Nasri with a deep cross from the left - but his glancing header flew wide.

There was a warning for Arsenal when Marco Motta let fly from 25 yards with an angled drive, which was heading towards the top right corner before Manuel Almunia tipped it behind.

Roma defender Simone Loria then somehow managed to stab the ball over when he was picked out in the six-yard box by a quick free-kick.

Despite all of their possession, Arsenal were again unable to convert it into a goal.

However, the Gunners were awarded a penalty on 37 minutes when Van Persie got into the left side of the area, and was tripped by Philippe Mexes.

The Dutchman stepped up to take the spot-kick himself - and coolly dispatched his 15th goal of the season into the bottom right corner.

Van Persie was in the thick of the action again when he dashed towards the goalline and pulled the ball back, but Bendtner was crowded out at the near post.

Daniele De Rossi was somewhat fortunate to only get a yellow card following a two-footed lunge on Nasri, who went sprawling into the far touchline. The defender will, nevertheless, now miss the second leg.

The second half opened in farcical fashion as Roma kicked off when Arsenal only had nine men on the field.

William Gallas and Kolo Toure eventually dashed from out of the tunnel, with the Ivory Coast defender running straight on to the pitch - and was promptly booked by Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen for entering the field of play without permission.

Bendtner should have made it 2-0 on 53 minutes.

Eboue dashed forward and into the right side of the box, before squaring for Van Persie.

The Dutchman was hustled off the ball, which broke to Bendtner on the left.

The young Dane took a touch to set himself in the six-yard box - before then blazing his shot high over the bar.

Arsenal continued to press forwards, with Diaby's shot on-the-turn from 18 yards forcing Alexander Doni into a smart save, down to the keeper's left.

A mix-up in the Roma defence when Loria slipped suddenly gifted Eboue a golden chance as he latched onto a loose ball at the edge of the area, However, the Ivory Coast midfielder went wide and skewed his shot the wrong side of the post, with the keeper beaten.

Wenger sent on Mexican winger Carlos Vela, replacing Bendtner, to inject some pace for the final 22 minutes.

Arsenal sat back, looking to protect their lead, but it looked a dangerous tactic.

Nasri's shot was deflected behind as Arsenal looked for a crucial second goal, but in the end had to be content with just the one to show for all their efforts.

Wenger backs Arsenal's "golden generation"

Arsene Wenger insists his struggling Arsenal side will become the best in England within the next few seasons.

The Frenchman believes he has his very own "golden generation" at the Emirates Stadium - such as that which came through the ranks at Manchester United in the mid-1990s and went on to dominate the English game for several years.

Wenger's young team have struggled to live up to the Gunners' high expectations this season, and face Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday night knowing they may need to win the competition in order to qualify for next season's version.

Star striker Robin van Persie has already hinted at his unhappiness with the way things have gone this term.

But the Arsenal boss has told his players and supporters to keep the faith in a squad he is adamant can become the best in the Barclays Premier League.

"I believe that no matter what happens it is important to keep this team together. This team is as good as anything in England," Wenger said.

"At the start of the season, we played with (Theo) Walcott, (Abou) Diaby, (Cesc) Fabregas, (Samir) Nasri and Denilson and the oldest one was 21.

"When they will all be 23 or 24 they will comfortably beat all the other teams, believe me."

He added: "We have to keep them together no matter what happens and that is where the danger is in the modern game.

"What we achieve in the rest of this season and the trophies we win is important in keeping players like Cesc and Van Persie."

Arshavin to make Gunners bow

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that club record signing Andrei Arshavin will make his debut against Sunderland at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Gunners are looking to maintain their bid for a top-four finish in the Premier League this season and hope the £15million Russian playmaker can help close the five point gap to fourth placed Chelsea.

The 27-year-old was named as a substitute for north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur shortly after his arrival from Zenit St Petersburg in early February but did not make an appearance.

Arshavin has not played a competitive match since the end of the Russian Premier League season in late November and Wenger is undecided on whether he will start Arshavin against Sunderland or bring him on from the bench.

"He will be involved," Wenger told Arsenal TV. "But I have not decided what I will do with him yet."

The Gunners boss still has few doubts over the midfielder's match fitness but expects Arshavin to be fully ready in a week's time.

"He is still working on preparation and he is not qualified for the (Champions League) game against Roma (on Tuesday) so we can give him another week of hard work," said Wenger.

"At the end of next week, that will be three weeks with us and one week with Zenit, that should be enough."

However, Wenger had a setback when striker Eduardo was ruled out for two weeks with a hamstring injury just days after returning from a broken leg.

The Croatia international only made his comeback after a year out of the first team in Monday's FA Cup fourth-round victory against Cardiff.

The 25-year-old marked his return with two goals in the 4-0 success at Emirates Stadium but his latest setback is not described as serious.

Wenger said: "Eduardo is out for two weeks. He picked up a hamstring injury two minutes before I took him off. What a nightmare.

"Nobody knows how it happened but I knew straight away after the game it would be a two-week job.

"It is nothing like he had before but I do know that little setbacks like this are part of being nine months out.

"After that long out, nobody plays six months on the trot. It is impossible.

"But at the same time it is a blow because, of course, he can score goals. He had shown that on Monday night."

Elsewhere, Emmanuel Eboue is back from suspension and Johan Djourou is fit following his sickness on Monday night.

Match-winner Eduardo earns Wenger praise

Arsene Wenger tonight described Eduardo as a ''mountain'' of mental strength after the striker capped his return to the Arsenal team with a match-winning performance against Cardiff.


Eduardo was a surprise name in the Gunners' starting line-up for their FA Cup fourth-round replay - after almost a year out injured - and rewarded his manager with his first goals since scoring against Manchester City in February last year.

Nicklas Bendtner and substitute Robin van Persie also got on the scoresheet as the Gunners brushed aside their Coca-Cola Championship opposition 4-0, making light of the 0-0 stalemate in the initial tie.

''Everybody is very happy for him. This is the kind of game we love to play, and it was good to see them play with the handbrake off,'' said Wenger.

''He played a big part in that, and I'm very pleased for him.

''He made a big step forward in training two weeks ago, and you could see he found his sharpness in front of goal.

''He's been extremely strong mentally. I've never seen one minute of doubt in his mind, not one minute where he said 'I don't want to do this'.

''He is always wanting more. This guy is small but he has the mental strength of a mountain.''

The Frenchman may have to manage the comeback of his Croatian striker carefully - he came off while still in search of his hat-trick with a slight hamstring complaint - but admitted he could yet boost his side's prospects in the end-of-season run-in.

''He had a slight tightness of the hamstring, but we expect it will be a small thing,'' added Wenger.

''We'll know at the end of the season how important it [his comeback] is, but I'm very happy to have him back. He can play as a striker, on the flank, behind the striker, up front on his own. That is important for us.''

Wenger also explained Eduardo's decision to celebrate his second goal, which he earned himself following a second-half surge into the Cardiff box, by running straight to the Arsenal support staff.

''Our fitness coach spent more time with him than with his wife,'' he joked.

''He deserved that hug, as did the physios and the doctors - they all did a tremendous job. They spent a lot of time with Eduardo.

''We get to use him when he is ready, but they all did a great job with him.''

Cardiff boss Dave Jones had less to smile about after a disappointing performance from his team.

''All I can take from tonight is that (goalkeeper) Tom Heaton played very well,'' he said.

''I'm glad the game is over, because we didn't do ourselves justice tonight whatsoever.

''Sometimes when you come to an Arsenal or one of the big clubs you just have to suffer for 90 minutes - and tonight I think we suffered for 90 minutes.

''We couldn't get any passes away or any control.

''People are telling me we haven't played for two weeks or whatever. But I could look for as many excuses as I want - we just didn't play to the level we are capable of.

''If I could have substituted 10 of them I would have - because we just didn't perform.

''People are saying the Championship is our priority, but it would have been nice to have come here and put in a performance.''

Guardiola content despite end of winning run

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola remained in upbeat mood despite seeing his team's winning streak come to an end at Real Betis.

Barca went into the clash at the Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera having won 10 successive games in La Liga but they had to settle for a point after playing out a 2-2 draw.

It could have been much worse for the runaway leaders though as they trailed 2-0 after just 25 minutes and were indebted to a brace from Samuel Eto'o, whose equaliser came six minutes from the end, for salvage something from the match.

Guardiola said: "We came to win and it didn't happen, but there are no reproaches. We cannot say that we didn't fight and that we didn't put the effort in. We battled throughout and created many chances.

"When a team have performed the way Barca have you cannot reproach them at all. I'm very satisfied. I worry if we slip up when we've played badly, but I don't have this feeling.

"I think we dominated the game. I would have liked like to have won, but it is what it is. We picked up a point."

The draw means Barca's lead at the summit can now be trimmed back to 10 points if Real Madrid beat Sporting Gijon away this evening.

"There are still 15 games to play, a lot of the league ahead. We've been saying this for a long time, you have to continue forward and take it step by step," Guardiola added.

He also had words of praise for Betis, who despite spending big over the last six months find themselves worryingly close to the relegation zone.

Last weekend's win derby win over Sevilla and the draw against Barca have left Paco Chaparro's side six points above the bottom three ahead of today's matches and Guardiola envisages no problems for the Seville-based outfit come the end of the campaign.

"I want to congratulate Betis for the game they played, I expected our opponents to play like that," Guardiola said.

"It was an entertaining game and the fans will have enjoyed it. We faced a great team, made up of very good players. We expect to see them safe at the end of the season."

King Cup: Barca ease through Copa semi-final first-leg win

Barcelona 2 - 0 Mallorca

A Thierry Henry header and a curled freekick from Rafael Marquez gave Barcelona a 2-0 win over Real Mallorca in their Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Thursday.
The Primera Liga leaders dominated the early stages at the Nou Camp and teenage striker Bojan Krkic and midfielder Andres Iniesta both went close before Henry struck in the 35th minute.

Bojan clipped over an inch-perfect cross from the right and the French international leapt between two defenders to nod past Mallorca goalkeeper German Lux.
Marquez stepped up in the 73rd minute to take the freekick after Iniesta was brought down just outside the area and the Mexican defender bent the ball over the wall and into the top left corner. In Wednesday's semi-final first leg, 2007 winners Sevilla fought back from a goal down to beat visiting Athletic Bilbao 2-1 thanks to Lautaro Acosta's injury-time winner.

The second legs are scheduled for the first week of March and the final is on May 13 in Valencia.

Transformer 2 This Summer

Here's the trailer for your pleasure....

'Transformers 2' Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

Perak Government in the Brink of Collapse

In the most mysterious and twisting political drama in Malaysian history, I can say what happen in Perak now will be topping the chart for a long time.

That Bota ADUN who jump to PKR for 10 days now is back to BN and he brings two other ADUN with him. With DAP Ngee also on board, mean that the majority is on BN side now and they can topple PKR lead government anytime, pending Sultan decision whether to proceed or to make a re-election. If the latter decision is picked, PKR may breaths for a while but it will be hard-fought battle since Najib take over as Chief of BN Perak from Tajul Rosli a few weeks ago.

Najib want to prove a point and he want to convince others that he can be a good PM by winning back Perak and PKR also have their points with corruption is the main issue.

We'll see how, but for sure this drama isn't at the climax yet...please wait for season finale...SOON!

Arshavin signs for Arsenal

The Premier League have confirmed Andrei Arshavin is an Arsenal player after approving his move from Zenit St Petersburg.

Both the Gunners and the player himself had endured an anxious wait after a race to get a deal agreed, signed and sealed on deadline day.

The 27-year-old moves to the Gunners for an "undisclosed fee on a long-term contract" as is now the statutory transfer statement at the Emirates.

"I am so happy to be joining Arsenal. They are one of the leading football clubs in the world, with a group of fantastic young players and a great manager,'' he said.

"I am looking forward to making the Arsenal supporters happy and helping this great club win trophies. I'm happy to be an Arsenal player, it was my dream.''

The Russian revealed the prospect of playing under Wenger was one of many reasons why he had his heart set on the move.

Arshavin told Arsenal's website: "I moved because I like the Arsenal style, Wenger as a coach and I like some of their players. I followed each game from the moment when I met Arsene Wenger.

"He told me every time I talked to him, he said: ''I want you to come to Arsenal". He had confidence in me.''

When asked if he had a message to the Arsenal fans, he answered: "Trust in me and Arsenal.''

"It was a very hard few days for me but now it doesn't matter because I'm a Gunner, it's great,'' he added.

Having played for Zenit in this year's Champions League, Arshavin will not be able to play for the Gunners in the competition.

Wenger hopes the Russian will kickstart the club's campaign for qualification to the Champions League next term, however.

"We are delighted to have signed Andrei Arshavin, he is a player I have admired for a long time,'' the Frenchman said. "He is a versatile player with great experience, who will add real quality to our squad.

"Andrei is an exciting impact player with a huge amount of ability and has been an influential force with both Zenit St Petersburg and the Russian national team in recent seasons.''

Arshavin, who will wear the number 23 shirt, believes it will take him up to two weeks to return to full fitness but insisted he will have no problems adapting to the English game.

Earlier on Tuesday Zenit reported the fee to be a total of £16.95m including future incentives.

The playmaker shot to prominence at Euro 2008 after being a hugely important figure in Russia's qualifying campaign as well as being instrumental in Zenit winning the Russian title in 2007.

Arshavin played 232 games for Zenit, scoring 51 goals and was the 2006 Russian Footballer of the Year.

It seems uncertain when the player will be able to make his debut for the Gunners as he has not played since managing only the first 45 minutes of Zenit's Champions League defeat at Real Madrid on December 10. And before that Arshavin's last game was 70 minutes against Juventus on November 25.

Zenit's official website earlier on Tuesday stated: "The St Petersburg club will receive £16.5m - £15m for the transfer of the player and £1.5m compensation for breaking a long-term contract.

"In addition there is a further 500,000 Euros [£450,000] in bonuses which Arshavin has not yet received which will not be paid and instead make up part of the transfer sum.

"The overall sum of the transfer is around US Dollars 24m [£16.9m].''

Should those figures be correct, the deal would represent a transfer record for the unners.

Arshavin, who is reported to have been prepared to take a pay cut to join Arsenal, will now return to Russia to complete some personal arrangements before starting work at his new club.

Guardiola delighted as Barcelona's run goes on

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola felt his side were full value for their win over Racing Santander even though the runaway Primera Liga leaders had to do it the hard way before recording their 18th league victory in 19 matches.

With second-placed Real Madrid winning on Saturday night to trim Barca's lead at the summit to nine points, the Catalan giants were under a little bit of pressure at El Sardinero, especially after falling behind through Nikola Zigic's 56th-minute penalty. However, the arrival soon after that goal of Lionel Messi from the bench totally changed the complexion of the game, with the Argentina superstar equalising six minutes after coming on and then scoring a superb winner 10 minutes from time.

Barca could not relax even after that though with defensive duo Gerard Pique and Rafael Marquez being sent off in the closing stages, but despite all those setbacks, Guardiola believes his men were worthy winners.

"We dominated and attacked throughout the match. It's true that when Messi went on we scored the goals, and that was what we lacked in the first half," Guardiola said.

"We did not test the goalkeeper enough, did not create enough danger, and that makes it difficult to score. That was our only problem.

"We had an excellent game. I think we deserved to win and we have taken another step towards the league, but there is still a long away to go.

"We won at a ground which historically has been very hard for Barca."

Messi's match-winning strike had double significance for Barca, as it was also the club's 5,000th league goal.

The Argentinian admits he did not realise what he had achieved during the game, but was keen to ensure the ball was kept for posterity afterwards.

"I took the ball for the 5,000th goal. It's for the club and for the museum. The ball will go to the museum," Messi said on his club's website.

"We always want to score goals, but we hadn't thought about the 5,000th goal.

"I didn't know it was the 5,000th goal, despite having heard talk about it."

EPL: Arsenal's title bid suffers fatal blow

Arsenal 0 - 0 West Ham United

Arsenal's Premier League frustrations continued as a determined West Ham held out for a goalless draw at Emirates Stadium.

Abou Diaby saw an early header deflected onto the crossbar, and Emmanuel Adebayor missed two good chances in the second half, while even the introduction of leading scorer Robin van Persie from the bench could not conjure up a winner.

The Hammers, who continued their unbeaten run, defended well as a unit throughout and were worth a share of the points.

The Gunners, meanwhile, may have not lost in the Premier League since beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on November 30, but remain well adrift in the title race and, crucially, outside the top four.

It was a bright start by the home side, who almost snatched an early lead when Diaby's header from a corner deflected off defender James Collins and onto the crossbar.

West Ham - who became the first team to win at Emirates Stadium in April 2007 during their successful battle against relegation - continued to sit back and invite pressure.

Samir Nasri was causing all sorts of problem with his pace down the left, and Nicklas Bendtner was only inches away from connecting with his cross into the six-yard box.

The young Dane should have perhaps done better than to head wide when, in the 21st minute, he did get on the end of a deep centre from the busy French winger.

There was a hold-up when Emmanuel Eboue needed treatment after being flattened in a challenge with Scott Parker. The much-maligned Ivory Coast midfielder limped heavily on his return to action, and was eventually replaced by Mexican youngster Carlos Vela with 10 minutes to go before half-time.

Nasri moved into the middle as Arsenal looked to be more creative.

However, while it continued to be one-way traffic, West Ham held their defensive line well.

To their credit, Zola's men looked to counter attack as possible.

Collins sent a header goalwards from a corner, which was knocked away by Gael Clichy on the far post.

Arsenal again enjoyed a good spell following the restart after Hammers skipper Lucas Neill pushed over Vela on the left.

The free-kick was sent deep towards the back post, where Bendtner knocked it down and Green punched out.

Kolo Toure acrobatically hooked the ball goalwards over his shoulder, but Collins was on hand to head clear.

Arsenal were on the offensive again when some quick footwork created space for Diaby on the edge of the penalty area, only for the midfielder to then drag his low shot wide.

Denilson had two efforts blocked as Arsenal again threatened the West Ham goal.

A quick counter attack released Bacary Sagna on the overlap down the right.

His cross towards the near post was met by Adebayor, who slid in ahead of his marker, but could only guide the ball wide.

Denilson pulled the trigger again from just outside the box, and his angled shot flew over the top corner.

With 22 minutes left, Wenger turned to Van Persie - who has had a hand in every Arsenal goal this month - as the Dutchman replaced Bendtner.

It was then West Ham's turn to make an attacking change when record signing Savio Nsereko went on for Mark Noble.

Adebayor had another golden chance when picked out in the middle by Vela's cross from the left, but could only head the ball straight at Green.

Vela was booked for going down as he charged between defenders into the left side of the penalty box, which looked somewhat harsh.

With seven minutes left, West Ham introduced former Gunner Luis Boa Morte for David Di Michele.

Diaby was carried off following an awkward fall in a challenge with Savio and was replaced by Song.

The Gunners pressed for a winner, but the visitors remained resolute to the final whistle during four minutes of stoppage time.

La Liga: Messi double gives Barca narrow win

Lionel Messi came off the bench and scored twice in the second half as Barcelona, who survived two late dismissals, won 2-1 at Racing Santander on Sunday and maintained their huge lead in the Primera Liga. Racing gave the visitors little space and took the lead after the restart when Nikola Zigic scored from the penalty spot.

Messi's introduction galvanised Barca and the Argentine stole in to score the equaliser within 10 minutes of coming on the pitch, and grabbed the winner nine minutes from time. Barca, who had Rafael Marquez and Gerard Pique sent off in the closing minutes, restored their 12-point lead at the top of the standings -- moving on to 56 points from 21 games.

"I was pleased with the way we kept control of the ball and did not lose our shape when we went behind. It's an honour to work with these players," Barca coach Pep Guardiola said.

"It's another three points and another small step forward."

Champions Real Madrid, who beat Numancia 2-0 away on Saturday, are second.

Third-placed Sevilla, with 38 points, lost ground on the leaders after losing a bruising encounter 1-0 away to Sporting Gijon in the late game.

Sporting missed a fifth-minute penalty before Diego Castro headed them in front, but they were reduced to ten men just before the half-hour mark when Roberto Canella was sent off.

King's Cup semi-finalists Sevilla were unable to find a way through their spirited hosts and are now just one point ahead of Valencia, who were led to a 3-2 home win over Almeria by a fit-again David Villa.

The Spain striker scored a penalty and the decider to take his tally for the season to 17.

Villarreal stay fifth with 34 points after falling 3-0 away to Deportivo Coruna, who climbed to sixth.