Holland forward Van Persie has joined Manchester United in a £24million deal following a public statement earlier in the summer that the former Gunners skipper would not be signing a new deal.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger accepted his side lacked a cutting edge in attack following the goalless draw with Sunderland at Emirates Stadium.

Giroud, though, could have made the difference after coming off the bench in the second half – but when the big chance came as he ghosted into the penalty area with nine minutes left, the French striker rushed his shot and fired wide.

However, after his 21 goals helped Montpellier to the Ligue 1 title last season, the 25-year-old is confident things will all soon fall into place with Arsenal.

“It was a game ball, but the coach told me that I had not to worry about it,” said Giroud, signed in what was understood to be a £10million deal.

“This could have been the dream start, but in Montpellier, I did not score for my first game, so I am not worried. Here, I will have plenty of chances and I will score.”

Giroud added: “Last season was wonderful here for Robin, but before that, he took time to settle.

“I am just asking people to be a little patient with me.

“I am not here to make people forget Robin, because he has made beautiful things here, but I just want to bring something new.

“However, I am under no more pressure than that, because if I think about that when I go onto the field, I will play with the handbrake on.

“I know Arsenal is a great club and needs a striker ready and efficient quickly.

“I need games to get confidence, and it is up to me to succeed.”

Wenger accepted Arsenal lacked balance in attack against Sunderland.

Giroud believes that is something which can easily be rectified.

“It is true that we do not always cross on the first chance, but it is something we have to work on,” he said.

“This is important for us because teams come here to defend and we often got the possession. We need be more effective in the final pass.”

Arsenal are set to see midfielder Alex Song also leave before the transfer window after a deal, understood to be £15million, was agreed with Barcelona.

It is another player whom Wenger has schooled for many years deciding to take their career on elsewhere.

“We are left with that decision and now we have to face with it, to deal with it in a correct way,” said the Arsenal manager, who could now move to bring in another midfielder, with long-time target Yann M’Vila still on the radar, as Rennes hold out for a £17m fee, along with Real Madrid’s Turkish midfielder Nuri Sahin, who is also interesting Liverpool.

(The Indipendent )

Match-winner Samir Nasri was a relieved man after Manchester City fought back from 2-1 down to sink Southampton.

It was deja-vu all over again for City as the Premier League champions opened their title defence with a thrilling win over the newly-promoted side.

Not only was the score exactly the same as that final home game against QPR last season, so was the scoring sequence – even the ends they went in at the Etihad Stadium.

But the big difference this time was City did not wait until injury time before responding.

Edin Dzeko was the man who equalised again though before Nasri fired home the winner 10 minutes from time.

Nasri said: “It was like the last game of the season, we’ve started the same and I hope at the end it will be the same result for us.

“It was a difficult game. Southampton played really good football. It reminds me a little of Swansea last year, it was difficult but at the end we got three points.

“Sometimes it’s a little bit hard when you miss the first chance of the game, it can make the confidence a little bit low and they punished us. But I thought we showed great character.

“We didn’t panic. We said we can do it, we did it last year and for the remainder of the season we can do it.”

It was tough on Southampton who stuck doggedly to their task but paid the price for only holding their lead for four minutes as Rickie Lambert and former Ibrox midfielder Steven Davis responded to Carlos Tevez’s first-half opener.

Of the team that started that day in May, only Gareth Barry was missing from Roberto Mancini’s starting line-up.

In his place, Jack Rodwell was introduced, although the debutant could do nothing to raise the tempo of a tepid opening half hour that included a double blow for City.

The loss of Sergio Aguero was a big worry. Brilliant in his first season at the club, and scorer of that title-winning goal, the Argentina forward tumbled awkwardly under an early Nathanial Clyne tackle.

Aguero got himself tangled and the fact he did not move when he went down was a sign the injury could be a bad one.

After lengthy treatment there was a brief moment of hope when the stretcher was ushered away and Aguero was able to hobble to the touchline. It was soon back to carry him to the dressing room though.

It did seem City would make light of Aguero’s absence when Tevez turned far too smartly for Josh Hooiveld, whose attempt to do something constructive just inside the area only sent his opponent to the turf.

The initial surprise was that Tevez didn’t take the spot-kick himself. It looked even more of a strange decision when David Silva rolled a pathetic effort straight at Kelvin Davis.

These events, coupled with City’s general lethargy, gave Southampton genuine hope of springing a surprise.

They had to reach the interval level – but Tevez ensured they didn’t. He couldn’t have timed his run any better as Nasri spotted him about to dart beyond Saints’ defence.

This time Jose Miguel Fonte was the defender who failed to keep tabs on his opponent and Tevez made him pay by drilling a low shot into the near post, giving Davis no chance of keeping it out.

After half-time the ghosts of May 13 began to swirl. As Dzeko, Clichy and Silva all wasted excellent opportunities, a sense of foreboding began to gather.

After 27 goals in the Championship last season, Lambert’s omission had been something of a surprise. Introduced by Adkins, the striker didn’t take long to make his mark, three minutes to be precise as he seized on a loose ball and guided it into the corner of Joe Hart’s goal.

Worse was to come for when Rodwell gifted possession to Southampton inside his own half.

Davis had been on the pitch even less time than Lambert. But he had his shooting boots on and he found the corner from 18 yards and Southampton found themselves in front.

The drama continued. Dzeko, who scored the stoppage-time equaliser against QPR, pulled City level with a first-time shot after Vincent Kompany’s piledriver had been blocked.

And 10 minutes from time, somewhat earlier than before, Nasri belted home from 12
yards to complete yet another thrilling comeback.

(Daily Record ) 

A casual buy no. 43

July 8, 2012 by The Hovian