Arsenal’s young starlets were finally beaten this afternoon, as a dubious David Trezeguet tap in saw the Gunners lose the opening fixture of the 2009 Emirates Cup, proving to be their first defeat to a foreign side at the Emirates Stadium – despite a late rally from the elder-statesmen.
Arsène Wenger started with a young XI, epitomized by the fact all but Carlos Vela had one or more appearances for the Reserves inside the last 12 months, meaning the boss had once more put his faith in the kids.
Kieran Gibbs – fresh from helping the Reserves beat Rushden & Diamonds – started at left back, and would provide defensive cover for Jack Wilshere who as we revealed last night, was included in the squad. Carlos Vela and Nicklas Bendtner came into the game with 9 goals between them in the last two fixtures, and they would be charged with the job of helping Arsenal retain the title.
Jack Wilshere began in a confident and menacing manner, and although the first period was rather even, he would look the deadliest player on the pitch. Aaron Ramsey saw himself be kicked around in the congested midfield engine room, but his neat and tidy passing was a firm base to build on.
Arsenal had an encouraging amount of possession, but after Emmanuel Eboue wasted two good positional chances, the final and killer through ball seemed to desert the hosts. One thing which will surely have pleased the boss is that whilst neither side had scored, the incredible young Guns were more than holding their own – with reinforcements sat on the bench.
However, Juventus stepped their passing up, and won a dangerous looking free-kick of the edge of the area. Vincenzo Iaquinta’s scuffed drive found David Trezeguet, he slotted home but was clearly offside. A harsh lesson for the boys, who were clearly robbed just before the break.
Half time brought changes, with Abou Diaby – who finished the campaign in the Reserves – coming on for Ramsey, Gallas for Djourou and Adebayor for Vela. More experience had come on, but the main feel of the side was still young.
Wilshere’s dinked cross saw Bendtner flick over as the Gunners began in rampant fashion. Hoyte and Eboue would then combine to find Denilson in the middle, but he couldn’t convert. With the hour mark approaching, Wenger decided to remove the majority of the kids, and go for the win
Samir Nasri replaced the impressive and outstanding Wilshere, who went off to a rapturous applause.
Kieran Gibbs (pictured) had remained on, and was now bombing down the touch-line on every occasion as Arsenal frantically probed for the equaliser.
Henri Lansbury sporting a crazy Mohawk hair style was warming up alongside Mark Randall, and the pair were certain to feature at some point over the weekend. Back to matters on the field, and the Gunners first team had the same problems that the youngsters had in the first half – getting behind the Juventus back-line.
Lukasz Fabianski finished the season in superb form for Neil Banfield’s Reserves, and he would made a deceive stop to keep things at 1-0. Hasan Salihamidžić let fly, and the giant Pole managed to claw the ball into his possession.
The full time whistle brought disappointment from the fans, meaning Arsenal now needed a minor miracle to retain the trophy.
Article By -J.Sanderson
Sheninigans!
How’d we lose. Good play Diaby. Eboue, sigh. Nice try though.
Some one operate on eboue’s legs please!! and goal was controvesial is was an offside!!
Good job!!
The internationals still need some more games under their belts..but overall..i was very happy.
Wilshere Wilshere!
Honestly we didn’t deserve to win. Our whole team played like Alex Hleb, no one wanted to shoot. We only cross when Juve have got their bodies behind the ball, too late. Yes, only preseason but still disappointing.
Gibbs looked excellent though, as did Wilshere. Nasri still looks out of sorts.
I think the positives from this game has to be
Djorou
Diaby
Denilson
Jack
All in all a very good perfomance and lot’s to be confident about moving into the new season.
Too many square passes, 2 central midfielders fail to grasp the theory of one midfielder going short to receive the ball & the other going slighty.
gibbs was awesome at left back
Anyone who still thinks Bendtner can be relied upon as goal getter is stupid, he is still a massive work in progress and too inconsistent.
Was hoping we would start with the majority of the first team since they need match fitness and also it would have been nice to carry on the winning habit. Wenger spoke about it himself in the press conference but now it seems like we won’t be lifting the trophy come tomorrow.
nasri was rubbish….
Gibbs only played alright, he should have been running on the inside of the fullback when the left midfielder is running on the outside
that was a pretty dull game. My 2 least favourite players (Eboue and Adebaywhore) were actually the brightest i thought. Juve were typically boring- even in a pre season friendly they still play the most boring football i’ve seen.
I thought Denilson showed a lot of promise too
I know its only pre-season but this really shows that Arsenal need that SPARK! Robin van Persie is that guy that make something out of absolutely nothing, whether it be a goal, a pass or set piece. Set-piece danger was also very lacking today. I think Bendtner’s freekick killed a bird. Sucks we lost at home, but its only pre-season.
Nasri is still getting his fitness, dont judge on that game
Gibbs looked great, didn’t see 100% of the match due to work at the side, but he looked really good in his role.
But is Nordtveit in the squad?
Supergunner07 – Agreed 100% Bendtner is still a work in progress.
i believe gallas came on for senderos.
The team was toooooooooooooooooo disjointed in some way.
Again too much time was given to Eb-way. I was furious with him always drifting in and making shit passes. A lot of time wasted because of him.
I’m very worried and I think we all might if we keep playing like this for the rest of the pre-season because it’s definitely not the way.
Arsene Wenger has made a few mistakes in his starting line-up I think. Firstly, Wilshere should be better on the right. If Wenger wants to give Eboue games, he should give Eboue the right back position, not the right wing. The rest of the team were pretty ok.
Bendtner and Adebayor still can’t link up properly I think. This might need more time. But all in all, the passing game was average, and of course, the spectators were very disappointed with what they saw. Not much goal threat and we can and should improve on that.
Nasri still seem very out of place and that’s understandable. It seems like we need more pre-season games for the first teamers in particular because they still look super duper rusty.
dont criticise! we played ok young players will make mistakes and i myself was encouraged! we played well against a good juventus team! very impressed with jacky boy again and gibbs has come on again in terms of confidence and strength. I found myself being impressed by the 2 CM’s aswell great work rate and both retained possession well, they just didnt want to try the killer ball for fear of making a mistake. Vela is a different level of player amazinf first touch and awareness! Bendtner did ok and like last season he will get important goals (against the yids anyone?)! Do not take to much from it, after all will every team we play next season have the likes of trezeguet upfront and a blind linesman to help him?
young gunner:
Maybe we might get blinder linesman. That’s also something to worry about. :(
Were is MERIDA
Wilshere was very good today
gr8 game, but we were robbed with the goal. Wilshire was brill once again, as was Vela.
Adebayor was complacent, as much as the commentators say the opposite.
anyone else think vela was average today?
god i hope not! unless there on our side then we might c adebayor lower his offside count!!
and does anyone else share the idea that sendoros will come good? alot of the older people i sit with at the emirates liken him to big TA back in the day! he used to be called a donkey too lol clumsy and unsure but his heart is there 100%
Lets hope Merida is not injured because he is the one i am really looking forward to seeing in the 1st team. He is exceptional
VELA was one of our top players today!!!
I am really worried with our Approach Play after what i have just seen today, there was an incredible lack of vision on show.
I wouldnt read too much into the result, it was a disjointed performance but they scored a goal that was offside and they defended for the rest of the match.
One positive that we could take from the game was that our defence was fairly confortable for the whole match which is a bonus considering they played thair top dsrikers
I wouldn’t say Arsenal played badly, they were the only team trying to play as more often than not Juve had ten men behind the ball, it must be a laugh a minute watching that all the time. Arsenals first team would find a way to break that down, so lets not panic just yet.
They weren’t playing lightweight opposition. They did bloody excellent considering the experience against them.
Where this game becomes relevant is that last season when there was so many injuries, we were all concerned with who was going to come off the bench and have that game changing impact. These are the guys that we are depending on to sort of fill that role in the business end of the season. Not sure if I’m all too confident in some of them to do that. On a side note Denilson had a good game, while Diaby looked good as well for the liitle time he was on.
mashysmashy, their strikers didnt really matter or trouble arsenal because they were rigid & had poor movement. real test come when we face good movement
Is it me or did Bendtner seem to fade in the 2nd half when ade came one?
Jason, thats the whole point. Going by ur comments we cannot rely on backups and 1st team have to do everything & there is a good chance we will suffer injury during the season. What should we do then?
where was van persie ?????????
Is the midfield. I’m never a fan of Denilson as he doesn’t create much. Any time he’s played the midfield we’ve lacked creativity. I think Ramsey could be more productive and better in the absence of Cesc but that’s what Arsene sees.
i think because arsenal usually gets the wingers to link up with the sidebacks, nasri wasnt too use to it, hence getting less of the ball. i think diaby played exceptionally well in a vieira-esque role, and i wont be surprised to see him and cesc forming a partnership. id like to see walcott and nasri team with these two central midfielders. vela seems to be able to play both upfront and on the wings, and should replace eboue who is not very creative, although he is defensively quite adept. Bendtner is far from the finished product – the previous two games he scored goals but i thought he didnt play well despite scoring. Ramsey shows lots of poise and control and while most people are giving some deserved props to wilshere, i think Ramsey will be the man to watch very soon. Cant wait for our most creative players in Rosicky and RvP and Eduardo to be back. Even today you could see they were passing to no end. Perhaps Diaby could have a go? He scored some beauties last season..
gooner2009, playing 2moro
ooh ok i thought he maybe had a knock or something.
Just two things from the game. Eboue cannot be relied upon as a RW, everytime he got in to the attacking 3rd, he fluffed his chance, ignored the runner on the outside and was just generally crap. Other thing, Wilshere is absolute class!
Yeah, but once you intergrate a few of the second string players with the first team I would expect them to perform better.
frichie, but did u notice how Hoyte was not getting to the outside quick enough thus Eboue had to look infield. I have never liked Hoyte and I am not about to start
The only thing I’m going to moan about is Eboué on the right wing! He’s ueseless and I don’t have to sum up why, everyone knows!!
All the players played some good passing football, some players still need match practise and some players need some confidence.
23
22 21 24 18
24 17 20 16
20 19
against
30
28 31 24 25
28 27 23 35
29 31
A draw would have been the right result but thanks to the incompetence of the flagsman we lost it. Tomorrow will be a different match, I’m very much looking forward to it :D
All we can take from the game is neither Diaby nor Denilson can replace Flamini. No surprise there then.
Internet gooner, thank u so much
wilshere was brilliant…so composed n confident…eboue,eboue,eboue-wot we gonna do wiv this guy!,diaby is the fab partner 4 me,gibbs average not much 2 do,djourou looked gd,vela bright,ramsey-promising,denilson not the answer,nasri-not ready,bendtner busy,walcott lively,hoyte-shyte!…overall average but no major worries bout losing..positives were the teens
Supergunner07 – I disagree with you you can’t blame Hoyte for Eboué’s incompetence. He hasn’t improved and he won’t improve anymore. When he beats a man he can’t decide what to do he always needs loads of time and in the end he comes up with nothing. His shots are always of target even if he’s in the box, he is just fit to be back rightback for Sagna because Hoyte doesn’t have a good cross and the pace to play any descent match there. Walcott has to play the right wing and make that position his own.
Here is my take on the game:
There were positives, mainly the fact that Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere proved once again that they can hold their own against good opposition. I am usually someone who defends Eboue as I think he is a good squad player, but he was poor today, and I don’t see him as a right winger. That said, Hoyte’s terrible positioning hardly helped there.
I think we may possibly need a winger in fact, because when Nasri & Rosicky are injured, who will play? Wilshere? He is an excellent prospect but ready? We will have to wait and see. Eboue and Walcott on either wing doesn’t sound that promising.
I have more confidence in our frontline despite the misfiring today. I think that the big test will be how they cope against a team like Juve in the future, 10 men behind the ball-type teams.
Moushin, what i am saying is that the RB & RM must play as a pair otherwise defenders will crowd out the RM if he is not supported quickly
people dont stress yourself over a pre season friendly and dont slate the players after all there games are meant to remove the summer rust i for one am happy with some good performances and lets hope the first team can light it up against real cheer up u all get behind the team
Uhu I understand what ya mean… That’s why we need to pair Walcott/Nasri with Sagna and Walcott/Wilshire with Eboué.
LISTEN TO URSELVES. STOP UR BITCHING AND MOANING!!!
We played a gd game. We were unfortunate with the goal conceded, but apart from that we have to take it on the chin and take positives out the game.
1- Vela and Bendtner can form a gd partnership.
2- Bendtner and Adebayor can play together.
3- Defensively, we did very well.
4- Wilshire showed he’s ready to try and break into the first team
5- Fabianski done gr8
Typical over reaction. Out of Vela, Bendtner, Wilshere, Denilson, Diaby, Eboue, Gibbs, Djourou, Senderos, Ramsey, Fabianski, and whoever else; how many of them will play together like today, once the season starts? Fucking hell, 3 or 4 of them max. If we have to play more of them than that, then I don’t think anyone can complain too much, as that would just be unbelievably unlucky.
If Diaby or Denislon can’t do that role, then somebody else will. It’s not even a role that’s needed every game anyway.
losing a pre season game is no big deal but the way we played was indeed worrying and in short …same old same old… let’s hope the young and up coming kids didn’t pick up what hleb left off — no end products!
again, even allowing for a pre season game we did not play well at all though some kids look promising but that’s about it. we had nothing to show for… couldn’t even think of any highlights that would sound threatening.
if we don;t shoot how the hell do we get goals? i do hope our players know that passing is only a means to an end and that end is scoring — except jack and sagna others could even cross properly eg walcott couldn’t clear the first defender
jack, ramsey, kierran and perhaops vela do look the part — at least they have purpose rather than just passing the ball around for the sake of it and i hope they are not going to be poisoned by the rest of the team in terms of passing and not crossing and shooting!
Well said Ali and that’s exactly the way I feel tomorrow will be different and I think that the players really want to fight and win! And if they don’t no problem, I think the Amsterdam Tournement is more important. They need to hit topform before the CL qualifier and I’m going to be there :D
Ali,the comments that i stated 1st was not as a consequence of this result but because of patterns which i spotted in previous game & also occured in the game today even though we never lost the previous friendlies
Adebayor + eboue == LOSE Forever
Denilson is not the solution in the absence of Cesc. The problem with Denilson is that he lacks creativity and most of his passes are squares rather than penetrative. He’s neither defensive nor offensive mid. Anytime he plays mid, our forwards work overtime, trying to pick the balls from midfield on their own as they don’t get the much needed passes. I believe Ramsey will be the real deputy to Cesc in the medium and long term
Wilshire outshone Nedved, Diaby, Nasri, Walcott and co. Surely we cant keep saying he is too young after this performance!
Btw dont you hate it when sky,the bbc etc failto mention that Juve scored an OFFSIDE goal!?
In my book this was a 0-0.
Nasri has now played just 75mins in pre season,he will need at least another 135mins to get his sharpness.Eboue was well! SHIT!Carlos Vela,Aaron Ramsey and Jack were being kicked all over the place and got no protection from a set of incompetant officials.
If that is Juve’s strongest team then i feel sorry for them.
To me Eboue’s seems similar to Diaby, they both like to hold on to the ball a lot but Diaby knows when to pass it and can carry out those passes.
Bendtner faded away in the second half and his partnership with Vela was much more dangerous, and I have to say Vela looked our most likely threat while he was on.
Djourou did well (and so did Diaby when he came on) but the game wasn’t helped on by the diving feast that Juve gave us to slow the flow down as much as possible.
We should’ve expected something like this though, an offside goal and then 10 men behind the ball, a lot of teams will do that to us and we have to find a way to break them down (think Boro at the Emirates). At least with Van Persie and Cesc we’ll have better set pieces so that’ll help.
WHY ARE ALL OF YOU SO NEGATIVE????? HUH??? WHY COMPLAIN SO MUCH…..IN LIFE ONE HAS TO STAY POSITIVE IN ORDER TO OVERCOME SOME TOUGH SITUATIONS.I FOR ONE IAM WITH THE PERFOMANCE.I TOOK SOME POSITIVES OUT OF THE GAME.THE BOYS WELL GET BACK TO FULL FITINESS I THINK BY THE END OF THE AMSTERDAM TOURNY…THE ONLY NEGATIVE WAS EBOUE…HE IS A USELESS PLAYER.THERE ARE TIMES WHEN U WANT HIM TO RELEASE THE BALL BUT HE HUNGS UNTO IT FOR ALONG TIME THE OPPONENTS COME AND COVER….IT IS SO DISAPOINTING.WALCOTT IS GREAT HE SHOULD MAKE THE RIGHT SIDE HIS OWN,ACTUALLY HE HAS LEARNED TO CARRY THE BALL AND RUN PAST DEFENDERS.HIS SPEED IS GREAT,HE KNOWS HOW TO USE IT BETTER AND HE IS NOT OUT MUSCLED AS HE USED TO BE.WHEN HE CAME ON WE WEERE DANGEROUS ON THE RIGHT.HE WAS LINKING WELL WITH SAGNA.WILSHIRE(TOP CLASS)RAMSEY….ANOTHER FABREGAAS.DIAAAAAAAAAABY..WAS VERY GOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK,HE TACKLES WELL,I BELIVE HE WILL BE ABLE TO PLAY WITH CESC,HE JUST NEEDS CONFIDENCE.DENILSON! WHAT A GREAT PLAYER,I LIKE HIM.GIBBS IS CONFIDENT.FABIANSKI IS VERY ALERT.JOURU VERY GOOD COMPOSURE TODAY.SENDEROS,I GUES WE SHALL HAVE TO BEAR WITH HIM…..LOL. HOYTE;O DEAR!! I LIKE HIM THOUGH!!!VELA, VERY GOOD……..I GUESS THE LITTLE LADS WERE OVER WHELMED BY THE EMIRATES ATMOSPTHERE, BUT THEY TRIED AND KEPT POSSESSION FOR LONG PERIODS,IF IT WASNT FOR EBOUE WE WOULD HAVE SCORED FIRST HALF.THATS MY OPINION
Jrock, your caps lock key seems to be stuck, shame now no one will bother to read what you wrote.
I read it! Kiss me!
please sell eboue he is completely useless and as for adebenry (adebayor) there is no way he is worth 10 million let alone 30 he needs to sort him self out, even if it is still preseason, he still claimed he was worth 120 k a week and if he was really worth that he would have no excuse
Arse&Nose what do u mean stuck?? PeteE read it..lol
Jrock
We should bear with Senderos for how long? I mean its been five years now. I can foresee him losing his place to Djourou this season as Djourou is quicker and better header.
Lol most off you guys are pathetic..think you’ll so knowledgeable about football and arsenal :P. Thank God wengers in charge and not one off you lot…and yes wilshere looks good but certainly not ready for a epl season. Surely to think such is naive. And stop writing off our players when cos when they hit form you guys will be saying we knew it all along
Ahhh man, Wenger faces a huge dilemma about what to do with Jack Wilshere.
He has to play in the CC this year. I mean, I’ve been talking about protecting him and not playing him at all for another year or so, but after performances against Stuttgart and Juventus, he’s showing amazing promise, unbelievable in fact.
We have a superstar, I haven’t seen a 16 year old perform every time in the first team since a certain Cesc Fabregas came to the club in 2003.
wenger wont use wilshere in the PL BUT if we had a few injuries I think wenger wouldn’t fear throwing him on. he was the best player on the pitch (again). Some really good peformances today. the whole team was probably just a few percent off in terms of creativitiy, but it was a young side and Juve were defending with 10 once they got a dodgy goal. In some ways, losing unimportant games is sometimes good for the players in terms of learning.
i have never posted on here but a lot of you sound like a bunch of YIDS. For christ sake it was a team with the average age of 20. They did OK, there is plenty of class there to be seen. My only real worry is Walcott. He still can not command his position I think Wenger is worried about this.
How can anyone slag Nasri off lol, go watch the Spurs.
why there is no traore?
is gibbs our no2 left back?
is wenger don’t trust traore anymore?
i like traore~
Diaby is absolutely fantastic. He has without question the lock on CM this year with Fabregas.
Djourou played very well also.
Denilson was poor. A Gilberto tackle to give Juve their goal really summed it all up for me.
Bendtner and Vela are young and inconsistant. They will be class and are on their day divine, but like all young strikers their day comes and goes.
I thought Theo was very positive and more unpredictable with the ball than usual.
Gibbs was class. I really think he’ll make it here, especially considering that this isn’t the first time he’s sparkled against top class opposition, and he seems consistantly good in the reserves.
I hope Wenger doesn’t sell or loan Gibbs out. He was very impressive yesterday. I like Traoré, but he doesn’t look as good defending. I’d like to see him more of a winger, think he would do better than Eboue! Think Gibbs could provide depth and a interesting option if Clichy needs a little rest.
Thought we had a decent game yesterday. The linesman won the game for them really! The players I was most impressed with was Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey, Bendtner and Vela. Diaby did feel more at home in central midfield but still holds on the ball a little too much for my taste. But a good tackler and good dribbler. Eboue was the worst on the pitch. I do think he is a good footballer but since moving to RM he holds on to the ball far to long, takes shots but misses the target and takes the wrong passing options. I hope Wenger has other plans for that spot.
Djourou should be ahead of senderos now he has had enough chances in the 1st team, Djourou should get more playing time now, he is quick and good in the air given time he can become gd player for us. Like look of diaby in DM, those two players can give the team more height which is needed. Would like to see Merida and Barazite and Traore in the game today, also RVP amazing player hope he stay fit please god!!!! Arsenal. well played Gibbs and Wilshire 16 star in the making.
Eboue has to go…I love him,but he is not good enough for arsenal he should be a back up for sagna.He lacks ideas going forward.killing avery move we start……..I HOPE wenger sees this.Gibbs was so good yesterday,very composed player.Jourou is so confident i belive he is the one to come in for gallas or toure.
Diabby,what a player!! he tackles,he dribbles…felt at home in the middle.Thats where he belongs…me thinks!
relax la eboue sucked. good play nasri and wilshere
look at everyone criticising denilson in this game, and look at his peformance agaist madrid, he played brilliant.
i agree 100% that eboue should never be out 2nd right midfielder, he lacks creativity and vision. hes a right back arsene.
i want to play for the youth academy