Huddersfield V Arsenal – Gunners Announce Young Squad

Arsenal have named an incredibly young side for tomorrow’s friendly against Huddersfield Town, with several Under 18 players included in the travelling party.

The fixture was billed as a first-team game – but Arsenal are taking a Reserves & Youth side with several of the Under 18 starlet’s making the step-up. The youth in the side is epitomized with two 16-year-olds named in form of Jack Wilshere and Emmanuel Frimpong, and eleven of the squad featured at some point for Steve Bould’s Under 18’s last year.

However, Theo Walcott, Carlos Vela, Lukasz Fabianski and Jay Simpson over relevative ‘experience’, but the fact Arsène Wenger has named such a youthful team shows his confidence in the Academy.

Predicted Starting Line-Up

Fabianski
J.Hoyte – G.Hoyte – Djourou – Gibbs
Lansbury – Randall – Ramsey – Wilshere
Walcott – Vela

Check back tomorrow afternoon for a full Match Preview, and seconds after Full-time for a Match Report.

Article By – J.Sanderson

78 thoughts on “Huddersfield V Arsenal – Gunners Announce Young Squad

  • August 5, 2008 at 3:58 pm
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    u reckon this is the CC sqd for this season ?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 3:59 pm
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    i reckon Bendtner was going to play but he picked up a knock on sunday towards the end of the R.Madrid game

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:00 pm
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    It is partly it.

    Expect Denilson, Senderos and co to be added, this is just a trial for some of these boys.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:01 pm
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    No Nordtveit? Since when was G. Hoyte higher rated than him? Never been really impressed with him.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:02 pm
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    Nordtveit will start i reckon ahead of Gavin

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:02 pm
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    am going to this, looking forward to seeing vela, ramsey and wilshere!

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:02 pm
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    Nordveits in the sqd peteE

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:03 pm
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    I thought maybe Diaby would play, but I guess wenger wants to see more of Randall and Lansbury. You get the feeling that these 2 are going to have to start taking their chances soon or the first team will remain a distant dream. 2 small men up front but lots of pace and trickery. we should beat huddersfield.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:09 pm
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    got to play nordveit, interested to see how good he is

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:11 pm
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    Nortdveit and Barazite are in the squad so both might start, though I think the former has just returned from injury so I doubt he will. Personally I’d like to see Barazite on the wing and Lansbury in the middle. I would question whether Walcott needs this game with the Ajax tournament coming in which he will feature.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:18 pm
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    J.S who do you think needs a really good game to stay at the club

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:19 pm
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    line-up against Huddersfield:

    Fabianski
    Hoyte Nordtveit Djourou Gibbs
    Walcott Ramsey Lansbury Wilshere
    Vela Barazite

    Halftime substitues: Jay Simpson –> Vela, Randall –> Walcott, Hoyte –> Djourou

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:19 pm
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    Where the fuck is merida?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:20 pm
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    no article on members day J?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:20 pm
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    How disappointing that Arsenal send such a squad to a game they agreed to play out of respect for a club with which they share so much of their early history. Huddersfield deserved better.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:21 pm
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    interesting bit of selection from the manager i reckon a last chance for the likes of randall, lansbury and barazite to impress in pre season for a first team role would like to nordveit play and some good workout for theo, vela , ramsay & wilshere too bad coquelin has a knock from austria

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:24 pm
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    Jay do u know anything about the potential candidates for new signings before the window closes ?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:25 pm
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    I am a little annoyed by this, Cesc and Toure should get a start, instead of throwing them in against Ajax or Sevilla. There not many games to go before CL and PL, and there still a few first teamers needing some game time. Diaby has looked very short of match fitness too.

    While it will be nice to see the kids, some players will be entering the season with less than 180 minutes under their belts.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:27 pm
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    Nice to see theo play striker, it will be good 2 c how he does. pretty strong team though

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:29 pm
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    WHERE IS FRAN MERIDA AND COQELIN Are they injured?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:34 pm
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    Exciting squad, will be interesting to see some of these young guns I haven’t seen much of in action. What’s the situation with Gibbs btw? Will he be loaned out or will he be cover for Clichy, since he got to play some LB last season in CC as well as in the Emirates Cup? He looked really good against Juventus.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:34 pm
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    why this hypocritical press missed this? I’d expect rants of Wenger acting like a xenophobe for their standards. How the hell could he pick Randall or Lansbury ahead of Barazite? I mean he does it again and again. :P

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:35 pm
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    Mouhsin, wenger likes to put to players out of position for development purpose just like Wilshere is playing LM instead of RM so i dont think Lansbury will in CM. I am pretty sure that.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:35 pm
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    For me I would play
    ____________Fab
    G.Hoyte___Djororu__Nordveit___Gibbs
    Randall___Ramsey___Lansbury___Barazite
    __________Simpson___Vela

    Wilshire doesnt need further exposure in his homeland nor does Theo, rest them for Ajax and Sevilla.
    Give the local lads a chance as previous post mentioned the history etc in this fixture.
    J.Hoyte,Simps,Randall and Lansbury all need big showings although I feel this exercise will be the last viewing we get of a few of the lads as they will be loaned out for the season.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:42 pm
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    I hope Djororu stakes his claim above Senderos and continues to impress.
    We will need a CB whilst Toure and Song are not available, hope Johan can step up.
    AW seems to now prefer Djororu to Senderos as he has had more gametime with Gallas this preseason as if AW is trrying to strike up a partnership.
    Remeber Johan debut in the league, 7-0 V Boro.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 4:54 pm
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    Townian – you are severely mistaken if you think this squad is disrespecting Huddersfield. These are very good players and they will give you a good game. All Arsenal players at all levels play the same way and you will not be disappointed. You are getting to see stars of the future here.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:01 pm
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    J.S what do you think, isn’t Wilshere better on the right wing? I mean he can cut in, which is one of his biggest weapons. I hope to see Lansbury in the middle, too, Randall doesn’t seem to impress there.

    Also, you write often about the Reserves games like you attended them. Do you know some of the youngsters? If yes, maybe you could do some interviews with the likes of Barazite, Lansbury, Wilshere, it would be brilliant.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:08 pm
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    Passenal – I fully understand that these are highly talented players & probably the best that will be seen at Huddersfield this season. But the game was agreed as a first team fixture by Arsenal and, whilst no-one expected to see the same team that might line up against say Liverpool, 16000 tickets have been sold (including 2400 to AFC fans)in the expectation of at least seeing the League Cup squad plus a couple of bigger names. It’s Huddersfield’s centenary game for the Herbert Chapman Trophy, not just another pre-season game such as Barnet, so it’s seen as a bit disrespectful in Yorkshire, and it’s surprising since Arsenal seem to outsiders to have more sense of history than other big clubs.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:11 pm
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    Townian, even though i disagree with u, accept our apology on behalf of Arsenal to all Yorkshire population

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:23 pm
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    MERIDA is on holiday, and COQUELIN is injured.
    but why is gibbs playing left back man, that better not be his position from now on, hes much better left mid.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:31 pm
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    I thought gibbs done pretty good left back against juve. Is barazite not playing then?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:31 pm
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    Simpson needs to prove himself ..when he scored against Barnet all us gooners thought he was ready , he has a bit of a bad game in the 10 -2 win and everyone is sayin hes not ready and hes not good enough THATS BULLSHIT he is a great talent ,and i hope he proves his qualities tomorro

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:37 pm
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    Awesome to see eduardo running again today at members day also rosicky was doing light training too which looks promising

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:37 pm
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    Still duno about Simpson. He has potential, but thats not the question, the question is how much potential. He stood out in league one, but would he stand out in the championship as he is now? How much does he have to improve? Will he ever be able to improve enough?

    Basically he is a striker who can play on the wings. We have Gibbs, Barazite who are similar in that respect, both younger and both going on the what im seeing at the moment, in my opinion better.

    I prdict this is Wenger giving Simpson one last look over, probably a loan move to a championship side after christmas, maybe 45 mins in the carlin cup. If he impresses great, but if he doesnt show enough then he’ll sell him to a championship or league 1 side for around 400-800k.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:39 pm
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    will be at this game.

    ____________Fabianski
    __J.Hoyte Nordtveit Djourou Gibbs
    __Barazite Ramsey Randall Wilshere
    ___________Theo___Vela

    it takes a generation to create a team dynasty, GURU Knows

    SNIPER10

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:41 pm
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    As explained yesterday, Fran Merida is on holiday. He has onyl had a short summer so has been given more time.

    And yes mate i agree, Wilshere on the right is much better.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:42 pm
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    Where can I watch this?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:42 pm
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    As for the squad, looks exiting, giving some of the young lads a last chance to impress infront of Wenger, or for the really young ones more just another taste of profesional football.

    Hope to see Barazite, Ramsey and Wilshire try and take the game by the scruff of the neck and run it and hopefully Randall will give a better performance than he has so far this pre-season. If vela scores it’ll be a bonus aswell. The more the better cuz it’ll all add up to his confidance building up to the season and thats what he needs, he has the ability and the experiance, he just needs the belief. Expecially since he’ll be acting as out step in for Eduardo until hes back, meaning he’ll be behind Adebayor and Van Persie in the pecking order and probably along side Bendtner (Bendtner back up for Adebayor, Vela back up for Van Persie).

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:49 pm
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    Oh lol, was tomorrow :P

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  • August 5, 2008 at 5:57 pm
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    The reason Arsene Wenger is playing Jack Wilshere on the left wing is to probably improve his right foot because he is predominantly a left footed player because, if you notice in that Youtube clip against West Ham reserves he comes in from the right with his left foot too set up Rui Fonte with that reverse pass and also with that curling shot into the top left han corner with his left foot, now imagine if he learns to do that from the left hand side of midfield with his right foot kind of like what Robert Pires used to do for us a couple of years ago, Arsenal and England could have a very special football player on there hands a player who can play on eather wing with ease or as a second striker IMO

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:00 pm
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    hey J

    what do you think of the inclusion of wilshere? do you think this is a way of bringing him back down to earth?
    also can you check out ma blog to see the progress arsenalgunnernews.wordpress.com and maybe get a link to eachothers blogs?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:00 pm
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    I know lansbury been injured , but compared to merida , in cm or randall rw i dont think hes good enough and im suprised hes in all these squads

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:00 pm
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    Any word on the Murphy injury?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:03 pm
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    Townian, I take your point but 60,000 people paid to watch a mostly young Arsenal side narrowly beaten by Juve’s first team thanks to an offside goal and I haven’t heard much complaining about that. Also looking at the squad, there are at least 11 players who are in and around the first team. We have injured players and players carrying knocks so maybe some of those other fringe players who may have appeared have to be saved for cover for the other games to come.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:05 pm
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    Lansbury not good enough Lol he was our best player in the reserve team last year before he got glandular fever

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:08 pm
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    im pretty shocked anyone know , why theres no steer , ogogo , rogers is this a sign there going to be relesed

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:11 pm
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    i still think lansbury hasnt shown anything and him having glandular fever is a good reason , but hes had a whole of pre season like any over player , hes not better den merida or randall in my opinion , and there being no steer , or ogogo or rodgers shows they might be relesed in my opinion what you guys think

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:23 pm
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    Lansbury is a better player than Randall, he’s got backs of talent, it just a pity he’s trying to model him hair style on that pratt David Bently.
    I hope that these players all get the chance to be the backbone of the Carling cup squad.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:27 pm
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    Randall sucks i hate him. I shouldn’t ’cause he’s from my hometown, but i do. He’s ugly as sin as well, both haircut-wise and facially. LOL. Doesn’t look the part for a footballer… He should be flogged to a lower division side, cause he has no future with us unlike Wilshere, Ramsey, Merida and possibly Barazite.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:35 pm
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    i think randall and lansbury both done shockingly awful in preseason

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:49 pm
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    Wilshere is playing left to aid his development and to make sure he doesn’t become one-dimensional by playing RM all the time and cutting in. He may be better there but it is best if he plays both positions at his age. Also not too sure about gibbs at LB but he kind of reminds me of De Jong who plays in the same positions as him. It looks like time out for Randall with all those ahead of him, but lansbury is younger so a better chance. Barazite is still 17 so maybe a loan spell is best.
    N.B- Arsenal are looking for 30+ DM to play sparingly like Gilberto did but we’re nit close yet.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 6:53 pm
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    I think Nasri, Rosicky, Wilshere and Walcott can all play on both flanks that’s what makes it so great. We can even switch during the game. I think they’re all equally adapt to both wings maybe Walcott has played less on the left but still he would be dangerous from that position.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 7:18 pm
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    hey js – was just wondering….how would you rate frazer campbell from man utd compared to jay simpson, nacer barazite etc ?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 7:27 pm
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    Kent paul & frank butcher, I am not a medical expert but if G Fever is still having any effect on Lansbury, it will be on his fitness not his footballing brain thus he should not be lost on the RM like he has been during this pre season.

    Also Kent paul, who told u that Lansbury was the best reserves team player last year when he only played the odd match and the previous season he played mainly for the U18s with odd reserves match.

    As for others asking why Agogo & Steer are not playing, are you blind? Agogo is plain rubbish & Steer has only had one good season during the FA Youth Cup run season.

    Get your knowledge up to scratch before typing.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 7:35 pm
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    Kuzz, Simpson is a better player than F Campbell because his technique is slighty better, he is more versatile, playing RM & CF and he is 1 yr younger.

    As for Barazite V Campbell, F.campbell is nowhere near him in all department apart from strength.

    Although Simpson will eventually be sold cuz he is not good enough for Arsenal & too much competition.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 7:37 pm
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    Take it easy Supergunner07.

    I think that Campbell guy is better than Simpson, but Barazite is a class above. Campbell did score 14 goals in the Championship for Hull last season, not bad at all.

    Lansbury´s fitness is probably not at the highest right now, but he is mostly affected by the lack of match-fitness.

    Supergunnner07. I agree that Agogo and Steer will never make it at Arsenal, neither will Rodgers or Randall.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 7:48 pm
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    I just dont understand while , when i read all these reports no one ever mentions how poor hes been ,He G Fever must have cleared up for arsenal to allow him to sign pro , he has been given the same pre season as the rest of the squad who was out of the euros.

    I think Jay Simpson is better than campbell , the fact that Frimpong is in there , shows there two lads born and raised in tottenham in a arsenal squad , not a problem with that but I think it signals the end for Dunne , Ogogo , Steer

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  • August 5, 2008 at 7:57 pm
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    I think Randall will eventually be a squad player, i cant see Arsene selling because he very good vision and passing range. The problem that i noticed this summer is that he is not decisive in his decision making hence he is getting caught on the ball.

    But when he is decisive, his abilities shows and he already played 2&1/2yrs of reserves football, being on loan, had premier league apperance and has started a Carling cup match.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 8:09 pm
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    Randall has a good passing range , but so does merida and ramsey aswell as fab do well really need another one

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  • August 5, 2008 at 8:47 pm
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    frank butcher, like i said before he eventually be a squad player especially when season is very long & injuries occur plus we are usually going for 4 trophies & you can never have Too Many good passers with vision [Diaby certainly wouldnt mind buying passing range & vision from those players].

    Just remember last year against Wigan when we had almost all our AMs injured & suspended thus had to play to Fab in RM, end result = 2 points dropped

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  • August 5, 2008 at 9:33 pm
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    kind of ugly picture of Wilshere at the top don’t you think. It’s like he’s licking his own face. Good player and keep up the good work.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 9:33 pm
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    Campbell is at the level of Bendtner in terms of experience, but talents, i rate Nicklas higher.

    Btw new banner added :)

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  • August 5, 2008 at 10:16 pm
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    Guys Frazier Campbell will be 21 in September while Simpson will be 20 in December. If Campbell is better than Simpson then age is definitly a factor. I think it would be better to compare the Frazier of last year to Jay next season on loan. Then you will see who is better.

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  • August 5, 2008 at 10:27 pm
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    Where are Sunu, Fran and Coquelin?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 10:35 pm
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    J.Sanderson with

    RODGERS
    OGOGO
    STEER
    DUNNE

    not being included this is surely a sign that they will being RELESED right ?

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  • August 5, 2008 at 11:09 pm
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    The 20-man squad is as follows…

    Nacer BARAZITE
    Kyle BARTLEY
    Johan DJOUROU
    Jay EMMANUEL-THOMAS
    Lukasz FABIANSKI (GK)
    Rui FONTE
    Emmanuel FRIMPONG
    Kieran GIBBS
    Gavin HOYTE
    Justin HOYTE
    Henri LANSBURY
    Vito MANNONE (GK)
    Havard NORDTVEIT
    Aaron RAMSEY
    Mark RANDALL
    Jay SIMPSON
    Theo WALCOTT
    Sanchez WATT
    Carlos VELA
    Jack WILSHERE

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  • August 5, 2008 at 11:11 pm
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    wat does anyone think of lorik cana hes hard

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  • August 5, 2008 at 11:14 pm
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    i may be wrong but didnt randall play against blackburn in the carling cup? he had an outstandingly composed game so i think the criticism on him is unwarranted. i said it before and ill repeat it-kieran gibbs is the next ashley cole talent-wise. barazite and merida are long-term arsenal players imo.

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  • August 6, 2008 at 9:48 am
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    Sanderson what is the latest on Jibril?

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  • August 6, 2008 at 11:55 am
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    Arsenalfan,

    I’d love to see Lorik Cana in Arsenal shirt!

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  • August 6, 2008 at 12:41 pm
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    do we really need jabril?
    i no he play 1st team football already but he’s too much of a dwarf.

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  • August 6, 2008 at 1:19 pm
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    Great site. You will probably pick up on this sooon, but the Danish press are reporting that Jonas Rasmussen has been offered a three-year senior contract.

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  • August 6, 2008 at 2:09 pm
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    Rumour or fact? Professionals – Van den Berg, Rodgers, Steer, Ogogo, Dunne, all been told they can find a new club
    1st year Scholar – Rasmussen been offered a contract
    1st year Scholars – Shea, Eastmond, Ayling, Blackwood told they have a year to prove their worth
    is this correct?

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  • August 6, 2008 at 2:51 pm
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    What I like about us having many british talents, is that we will probably produce a couple of squad players, pref of higher quality than J. Hoyte! We all need a couple of Parlours!

    Reply

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