please log in to view this image Arsenal 4-0 Singapore Select XI (Barclays Asia Trophy Semi-Final): Venue: Singapore National Stadium Wednesday, July 15th 2015 KO Time: 1.30BST please log in to view this image Arsenal 3-1 Everton (Barclays Asia Trophy Final): Venue: Singapore National Stadium Saturday, July 18th 2015 KO Time: 1.30 BST please log in to view this image Arsène Wenger spoke to the media on Monday following his side's arrival in Singapore for the Barclays Asia Trophy. This is what he had to say: on being in Singapore... I'm happy to be in Singapore. I have been here before, I know it's a very good place, a very safe place and usually things are well organised. So we can hope to have a good combination of competition and preparation in our training sessions, as well as good conditions in our hotel, which is important. on it being important to get off to a good start in pre-season... We want to win every game. A few years ago nobody was interested in these games but now there is so much interest in the preparation that if you do not win these games it's already a crisis! It's important that you start on a positive foot. on Everton and Stoke ensure it is competitive... Of course, Everton and Stoke are two competitive teams. Stoke had a great season last year and they always make life difficult for you. In the Premier League were are used to playing against each other and the games are always very tight. on the possibility of winning the title this season... Look, we finished third last season and won the FA Cup. The pressure is on us to do better, but there are plenty of competitors to win the Premier League. You have seen the buys clubs have made already, but we will give absolutely everything to do it. on further transfer deals... That doesn't depend only on us, it depends on whether we can find them, but if we can find one or two players we will do it. on what Petr Cech will bring to the side... I believe he has many guarantees. He will give us his talent, his experience, his knowledge of the top-level game. He can contribute to stabilise our defensive sector. I must say that in the second part of the season we conceded 13 goals from 19 games, so there is not much wrong there. That means that the requested level is very high. on how many points he will be worth... That is difficult to measure, but what he can give us is to contribute a stability. Also all the other keepers here are still young, so he can contribute as well by developing our goalkeepers because they are top quality. on whether he will he be the only new signing... It depends, if we find ideally what we want, we are still hoping to do something else. on Raheem Sterling... It looked a done deal for a while, because Sterling said he wanted to leave. For me Sterling is a top-class player. It's a good buy for Man City. An expensive one, but they can afford it. Personally I like him. I didn't make a bid because he plays in an area where we have plenty of players. We have Welbeck, Walcott, Chamberlain. Sanchez, Wilshere can play there, Gnabry. He's a wide player basically, or behind the striker. on Manchester United's signings... We knew they wouldn't be happy with finishing outside the top three, they will respond. They have made some interesting signings. They came out of the season thinking they have to rebuild their midfield, and they did it by buying two important players - Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin. They are two top-class players. One who is now coming up to the top level - Schneiderlin, and one who has done it all. It will be interesting to see how they mix with the other players. please log in to view this image
Wednesday 15th July first match - (This match kicks-off at 8.30pm local time - 1.30pm BST) * Live broadcast on Sky Sports 1
Not worth making it's own thread so I'll put it here. Ozil after Germany won the World Cup in Brazil paid for 23 sick children to have surgery/treatment there, he has now a year later paid for another 11 children, saying he wants to leave a mark and make an impact. It's always nice to see footballers using there money to help people, so well done Ozil, good man.
Pictures of players departing to Singapore: http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150712/players-depart-for-singapore
It is an awesome thing to do, I've heard of Naismith is it (one of the Everton players) doing lots of good community work as well, but maybe nothing on this scale. Good on him, wish you'd hear more of these stories rather than 'footballer crashes brand new Ferrari while drunk' stories. Sounds like Ozil is a really great guy all round.
Hats off to Ozil. wouldnt it be nice if every footballer who earns £100k or more a week then donated a months wages to boost the pay of nurses - a band of people that u hold in very high esteem yet get under paid by NHS. I know Arsenal players gave a days wages to charity recently (maybe a few years ago actually). Just a thought
Why should it just be footballers ? There's plenty of people in this country earning more than £100,000 p.w.
Are there? According to wiki (from 2012) there were 6,000 people earning over £20k per week. Doesn't break it down any further at the higher end, but take sportsman and actors out of that and I bet not too many earn £100k pw. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom
How about instead of £100k a week (which not that many people get paid weekly I imagine), then do it by people who earn over a few million a year, then I'd imagine the figure would jump significantly. I read somewhere that London has more millionaires than any other city in the world, while the majority of MPs are millionaires. You have a huge amount of wealthy people in this country, and if they could donate just a fraction of their wealth, in the same way as if every person in this country could donate £1 a month to a good cause, then this country and world would be a lot better place...
The page I linked to shows people earning £1m per year (I converted to pw just cause the comments were on a pw basis). Also, difference between Income of £1m and Wealth of £1m. The way property prices are going, there'll be lots of millionaires soon, many of whom would never have earned a £1m in one year as a salary. A salary of £200k would enable you to buy assets worth over a £1m I would imagine.
from your web site Team in full: Martinez, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal, Flamini, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Iwobi, Akpom. Subs: Szczesny, Bellerin, Toral, Zelalem, Crowley, Willock, Cech, Gibbs, Chambers, Koscielny, Ozil, Walcott, Arteta, Cazorla, Giroud, Ramsey.
1-0 at HT. Akpom and Iwobi have been lively. Ox has had a couple of shots saved. LIve stream here if anybody wants: http://mamahd.com/watch-sky-sports-1-live-stream-1.html
