Wenger – "The Youngsters Are Close To Being Ready"

Arsène Wenger has challenged the star performers from Saturday’s 2-1 win over Barnet, by claiming many of them are “close” to breaking into his first team plans for the coming season.

Speaking in his after match interview, Wenger hinted that several of the top talents at the club could be ready to offer something towards next seasons title push, with the Frenchman holding out special praise for first half hero Aaron Ramsey.

“Ramsey did OK. He looked a bit tired because he works very hard, of course it’s a big change for him, but he did OK,”

“He is in the plans like all the players today. It depends on the performances and their quality and you could see that some young players could be very close to the first team.”

These latest comments suggest both Wenger and the Academy directors have back-tracked on the potential release of several younger starlets, and will instead give everybody a chance to work towards the first team.

The ultimate aim for the Reserve boys is to travel with the first team as they jet out today to first Hungary, and then to the traditional training camp in Austria. Wenger is set to take many of them this year having only used just one or two in recent years.

Nacer Barazite scored the match winner against Barnet on Saturday, and with UD Salamanca set to snap him up on loan, it seems unlikely he will be travelling despite another impressive performance.

Kieran Gibbs and Fran Mérida have both been away with their countries, but after being eliminated from the Under 19 Euro Championships last night, they will both return to the club in the next day or two. Gibbs is another expected to complete a loan move in the coming week.

Article By – J.Sanderson

123 thoughts on “Wenger – "The Youngsters Are Close To Being Ready"

  • July 21, 2008 at 9:41 pm
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    can.t wait to retain the emirates cup w.s.y.

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  • July 21, 2008 at 9:42 pm
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    are you all having an early night

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  • July 21, 2008 at 9:53 pm
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    is there something good on the telly

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  • July 21, 2008 at 9:55 pm
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    come on you arsenal supporters lets here what you think of yhe first team players performance of the weekend

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  • July 21, 2008 at 9:58 pm
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    never had an early night in the summer before!

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  • July 21, 2008 at 10:05 pm
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    hi pete ,did you see the game on saturday what wyo.

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  • July 21, 2008 at 10:09 pm
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    JAY SIMPSON HAS GONE TO AUSTRIA NOT SURE ABOUT THE REST BUT HE HAS GONE

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  • July 21, 2008 at 10:26 pm
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    PAUL RODGERS HAS NOT GONE

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  • July 21, 2008 at 10:40 pm
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    hey Super-Gooner, could you give a list of all the players that have gone to Austria?

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  • July 21, 2008 at 10:50 pm
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    i dont acutally no , i just know that simpson has gone , and paul rodgers has not , i dont believe gibbs and merida have due to the under 19 euros i believe vela and adebayor have gone so i take it the strike force is , bedneter walcott adebayor vela simpson

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  • July 22, 2008 at 12:59 am
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    Hey jamie with ades weird situation and diogo not selected for the olympics and aw scouting him for months now do you think something could happen?And btw do you know whos the experienced player hes talking about? Keep on working like that mate!

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  • July 22, 2008 at 7:10 am
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    @john/samuel
    Am I the only one who struggles to understand the vast amount of criticism Phillipe Senderos receives? Opinions on him seem to range from ‘A good, honest lad, but not Arsenal material’ to the less subtle ‘He’s crap!’. However, when you look at the figures, you begin to realise that he is anything but.

    It was just two years ago that many were heralding him as the natural successor to Tony Adams. After playing a pivotal role in our Champions League run, in which we went a record 10 games without conceding a goal, he was superb at the World Cup, acting as a stalwart in the Swiss defence that went the entire tournament without conceding a goal – ultimately going out on penalties. After this, Senderos received the prestigious No.6 shirt, previously worn by the great Tony Adams.

    Where did it all go wrong? Well unfortunately, he picked up a serious shoulder injury, which meant no-time in pre-season to recover and adapt to new surroundings (the Emirates). He came back mid-way through the season into a new system, operating in a new higher line after the arrival of Gallas and the emergence of the athletic Djourou. With little time to settle and the pressure on, his confidence was knocked, which in turn worsened his performances and got him caught in a viscious cycle. In the space of a season, he had gone from hero to zero and had gained the dreaded, seemingly unshakeable ‘accident waiting to happen’ tag.

    Having been burdened with this tag, it appears good performances earns him very little in the way of respect, yet any mistakes exacerbate the situation greatly, with the anti-Senderos bandwagon coming back to life. This season is a prime example: After another ‘terrible season'(basically a poor game against Liverpool), everyone wants rid. They ignore the fact that he had been excellent prior to that. In fact, at the start of the season, we went 5 consecutive games without conceding with him in the side; the last time this was matched was 3 years ago, and guess who played every game in that side – you guessed it, Senderos. You have to go back 6 years to a time when this was equalled (and surpassed) without Senderos.

    There is a reason Wenger persists with him; not out of sympathy, but out of realisation of his talents. How can a defender with such an impressive record be as bad as people claim? He has excellent positioning and anticipation, strong tackling and shows power in the air. With a lack of balance, pace and a poor standing leap, he is suspect at man-marking; hence his struggles against Drogba and more recently Hyppia. However, he has so much to offer.

    I can’t help but feel he is simply a scapegoat used to brush fundamental flaws under the carpet. People seem to have decided he is at fault before a game is started. The Anti-Senderos contingent, I would like to ask when was the last time you put your feelings aside and gave him a fair shot; when was the last time you actually praised him? It’s confirmation bias in my opinion.

    http://theworldsmostbeautifulgame.wordpress.com

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  • July 22, 2008 at 7:50 am
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    seagy44 – very sensible point there. I would also say the same for Eboue as there seems to be a bandwagon growing about him too. It seems there is a section of Arsenal fans who need a scapegoat for when things aren’t going well and these two fit the bill perfectly as they do not have strong personalities or flashy game styles which might make them popular. Yes, they make mistakes but then so do others and so do each of us since no one is perfect. You learn from your mistakes, but these players don’t seem to be given the chance to learn from theirs and get better. I’ve even seen some people here writing off 17/18 years olds who have years to develop and improve. People who cannot give a balanced review of a players strengths and weaknesses know very little about football in reality.

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  • July 22, 2008 at 8:33 am
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    No Eboue is unpopular not because he is a bad player but because he is a cheat that shows up the team everytime he rolls around on the floor.

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  • July 22, 2008 at 8:45 am
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    “With a lack of balance, pace and a poor standing leap, he is suspect at man-marking; hence his struggles against Drogba and more recently Hyppia. However, he has so much to offer”.
    Do you not think that these are basic qualities expected of a CH? What else can Senderos offer FFS?

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  • July 22, 2008 at 8:57 am
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    Going to take a wild prediction here, and I’m not prone to it.

    Remembering that AW had the courage to throw Cesc into the fire at 16, I believe that before this season is out, you will see Wilshere in the first team.

    “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough” — and this boy makes grown men look positively stupid.

    Sadly, I don’t have a prediction about the DM slot. I think AW wants to blood Denilson there but not sure it’ll work.

    Finl thought: If I ever run into Helb, I’ll strangle him myself.

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  • July 22, 2008 at 9:04 am
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    I agree that senderos has been unlucky with injuries especially back and shoulders because shoulders give u the strength and power to muslce ur opponenta as well as increase the pace. When u run 100 metres u need strong arms and when u move ur arms quickly ur hips automatically move quickly and when u got a bad back and shoulders u cant run very fast which senderos has a problem with

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  • July 22, 2008 at 9:04 am
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    exactly dave, you can call it scapegoating Passenal but he was dreadfull when he needed to be good. And it cetrainly wasn’t the first time. The best players perform in big matches. Anyway I think he should stay in our team to be translater as he speaks a lot of languages. Carlos Vela needs one as we’ve seen :D

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  • July 22, 2008 at 9:08 am
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    I am worried about the african nations cup when toure and adebayor and eboue and song leave for the cup. We dont have back up plus if gallas gets injured like he always does we are fukked. We need an experince centre half and havard nordviet looks a quality centre back but he needs strenghten the kids only 17.

    I really hope bendtner steps up this season especially afer his perfomrances for denmark against holland recently he was sensational. He is a superb player i have been watching this kid form the resrves him lupoli, quincy and he was definitley the best. Hs anyone got the squad for the match today. I am hearing: senderos, diaby, djourou, eboue, song, are back but no gallas or fabregas extra holiday. Samir nasri is suppose to make his debut

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  • July 22, 2008 at 9:11 am
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    John the ANC is in 2010 not 2009 :D

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  • July 22, 2008 at 9:34 am
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    seggy/passanal there is no smoke without fire. Yes that have been made scapegoats but thats beacuse their error’s have been most obvious and most costly.

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  • July 22, 2008 at 9:41 am
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    Non Arsenal question As per Johnny Maverik comments earlier – can anyone tell me what happend to Cherno Samba? I know he was released from Plymouth a while ago?

    Reply

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