Wenger bemoans fixture pile-up

According to reports in Spain, Arsenal have once again plucked a talented midfielder from Barcelona's youth set-up after agreeing a deal with 16-year-old Jon Miquel Toral Harper.It is believed that Toral, who currently represents Barca's cadete A side, has agreed to move to London and that Arsenal will pay Barcelona €350,000 in compensation.The news echoes Arsenal's signing of Cesc Fabregas from the Spanish club in 2003, while Fran Merida and Ignasi Miquel both had spells at La Masia on their CV before moving to North London.While the imminent signing of Toral has been interpreted in some quarters as souring relations between the two clubs in the build-up to the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, it is believed that is not necessarily the case. Arsenal Jerseys Toral's mother is English and Barca showed little inclination to try and convince the player to stay once it became clear he wanted to end his four-year spell with the club and move to England.Toral, who has represented Spain at Under-16 level, is described as a strong and technically-gifted midfielder, and he is represented by Barca coach Pep Guardiola's brother, Pere.
Arsene Wenger admitted a sense of frustration that Arsenal failed to kill off Leyton Orient in Sunday's FA Cup encounter, and he confessed he is concerned by an increasingly congested fixture list.It is reported that Arsenal were also hoping to sign 16-year-old Sergi Samper from Barcelona but he decided to remain with the Spanish champions.Arsenal were pegged back by an 89th minute equaliser from Jonathan Tehoue at Brisbane Road, after Tomas Rosicky had given the Gunners the lead. Wenger did his best not to detract from Orient's achievement, but he could not hide his frustration."We have played the game with the right attitude and could not fault our fighting spirit,Cheap NBA Portland TrailBlazers Jerseys, but you also have to give credit to Leyton Orient because they never gave up and fought very hard," Wenger told ESPN.
"As long as you do not score the second goal, that can happen. Soccer Jerseys Overall it is a disappointment, but we are still in the competition and will now play at home. The most important thing is to go through. You had a match against a team which is technically superior, but fighting spirit has a chance."Wenger continued: "The most negative side of our result today is one more fixture and in fairness that is not what we needed. We have had problems in the cups against teams from the lower divisions to finish them off, but also we have given a lot. Sometimes, mentally, a breather would not be bad."What people forget is that since the beginning of December, we have played every three days, so sometimes to have a week where we could give the players a little breather would not be bad."Yet Wenger did not begrudge Orient their big night at the Emirates.