Arsenal Signing: "It's going to be hard for me"

Arsene Wenger will be hoping for the sake of his Arsenal side and their finishing position this season, that his signings, labelled by many as "panic buys," are great successes.

Having lost two fantastic midfield play makers in Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, the squad has been dealt a big blow, and with a very poor start to the Premier League season, signings seemed to be the answer to Arsenal's problems.

So, naturally, there will be pressure piled upon the new recruits, with trophies to win and fans growing impatient. One signing who has plenty of time to improve and impress, is 18 year-old Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain, who spoke to Arsenal's official website about how he is settling in at his new club. On Wenger's plans, the former Southampton attacker said:

"He's just told me I need to put pressure on him, impress him in training and that's all I can do. He's just bought some new players now and I understand it's going to be hard for me, but I'm a young lad coming into the club and I understand I've got a lot of hard work to do to try and impress him." 

He believed he has been welcomed well and has settled down at Arsenal comfortably, but understands he must work very hard to establish himself as a star at the club. The £12 million signing who made his professional debut for Southampton at just 16 years of age said:

"I've settled in well. At first I was a little apprehensive going in maybe, but all the boys have welcomed me nicely and I'm getting into the swing of things."

"I understand there is a lot of hard work to establish myself and get in amongst it, but it's going well for me."

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Watch: Wayne Rooney's Double vs Bulgaria

Wayne Rooney's two easily finished goals inspired England to victory against Bulgaria in Sofia on Friday night. The Manchester United striker has been in top form for his club during the start of the season, reaching and surpassing the fantastic 150 goals milestone, and he showed his goalscoring form for England too, with these two first half goals shortly after Bolton's Gary Cahill broke the deadlock:

  

All clubs will have been watching closely in the hope that their star players will have avoided injuries, and they will have been pleased with what they saw, with all of the players seeming to come through avoiding any  knocks. Wales overcame Montenegro with a rare win thanks to a winner from Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey, and they will be up next for England next Tuesday.

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Rooney Has Faith In De Gea

When Wayne Rooney loses possession of a football, he doesn't stand like many other strikers would, sweat dripping, eyes to the sky, and hands dejectedly placed on hips.

Since we all first saw him on a football field playing for Everton as an enthusiastic teenager, he chases his opponent fiercely to win back the ball, and build another attack for his team.

However, if he doesn't have the pace to make amends for losing the ball, fortunately for Manchester United, he has every faith in the clubs recently signed Spanish goalkeeper, David De Gea, in stopping that ball from bulging the net.

After a few shaky performances, the critics were naturally out and screaming for the young Spaniard's head. Only two games into his competitive career with Manchester United and there were serious suggestions that the 20 year-old simply wasn't good enough to replace the retired Edwin van der Sar.

As a player who has experienced one or two rough patches in his so far illustrious career, Wayne Rooney can easily empathise with his team mate over the quick to judge fans and media, and the English striker is in no doubt that David de Gea will come good as a Manchester United number one. Rooney said ahead of England'd Euro 1014 qualifier against Bulgaria on Friday:

"David is obviously a good shot-stopper. I hadn’t seen much of him before he signed, but that was something I saw immediately. Also his passing out from the back is alongside Edwin’s. He rarely kicks long to a forward."

"He is still young and has probably got a lot to learn, but he is working hard and doing well in training."

As a team mate of de Gea's, Rooney is in a far better position to assess the goalkeepers start to his career in England. In the dressing room and in training for example, the United players can witness how other players recover mentally from mistakes. De Gea seems to be impressing:

"He is a strong character. After the Manchester City game, and then West Brom, he didn’t seem to be affected."

"He was on the training pitch the next day, working hard. The last couple of games he’s done well for us and he will only get better the more he plays."

Sir Alex Ferguson's young squad has had a magnificent start to the season, and as the manager knows, a strong goalkeeper as the rock of the team is vital for future success. We can all see that this Manchester United team has the potential to be something special, but they all need to perform together to fulfil that massive expectation.

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