Arsène Wenger kept his promise by naming the youngest team in the Club’s history as Arsenal took on Sheffield United in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup this evening.
The squad included two first year scholars along with new 17-year-old signings Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin. Experience was added in the form of captain Lukasz Fabianski and defender Johan Djourou, but the average age was still under 20.
Fabianski (c)
Hoyte – Djourou – Song – Gibbs
Wilshere – Ramsey – Randall – Mérida
Bendtner – Vela
Subs – Mannone, Ogogo, Thomas, Frimpong, Coquelin, Lansbury, Simpson
Match Report – Arsenal 6-0 Sheffield United
Arsenal began the Carling Cup with firm expectations from this years tournament, although most commentator’s were all but ready to write us off with such a young team.
Fran Mérida’s first touch was to attempt a through ball for Vela, but the Spaniard got his angles wrong allowing Paddy Kenny the chance to come and claim.
Sheffield United began to try and put their foot in, and nearly managed to get in down the wing after confusion between Gibbs and Mérida. Ramsey, Randall and Wilshere were beginning well trying to control the play, and the early pressure nearly payed off.
Gibbs was put in by Mérida down the left, his fizzed cross was almost turned home by the arriving NicklasBendtner. Whilst United were showing their physical style, Randall showed the young Gunners would take nothing with a challenge on Nick Montgomery. Morgan would then flatten Ramsey after his neat touches, a physical battle was on the cards.
Danny Webber cut inside and fired a tame shot, an open start to proceedings at the Emirates. Fran won Arsenal a corner with some neat skills on the left, and following Randall’s delivery – Johan Djourou nearly managed to flick home.
Wilshere’s neat feet would then see him dance in field, but found a pass to the advancing Hoyte blocked by Gary Naysmith. A sloppy foul was then given away by Johan Djourou after he slipped up, but luckily the chance was wasted.
The Blades’ steel was seeing them just hold on against the slick Gunners, Halford first blocked Bendtner, and then a stunning run from Carlos Vela saw him create space until he was snuffed out.
Gibbs’ pace was causing problems for United, but still they were willing to be physical to stop the rampant youngsters. Ramsey was controlling play in the centre, yet it was his midfield partner Randall who had the next chance, curling a free kick over.
On 24 minutes the best opportunity of the game arrived, Djourou played a neat 1-2 with Wilshere on the right, and after Bendtner let the ball roll through his legs, Johan unleashed a fierce shot which was well tipped away by Kenny.
The attacks just kept coming at Sheffield, Mérida’s teased cross was flicked on by Bendtner for Wilshere, the 16-year-old twisted and turned but his effort was easy for the keeper’.
Vela had looked extremely impressive on the left hand side, and after turning on the gas he fed Bendtner, who unleashed a curling effort into the corner to hand Arsenal a lead on the half hour mark. A brilliant finish from the Danish forward to hand the home side a well deserved advantage.
Goal – Nicklas Bendtner (31)
Not content with one goal, immediately after the kick off possession was snatched back, Mérida and Bendtner created an opening for Ramsey who failed to get a shot away.
The visitors were being embarrassed by the Gunners’ kids, with the long ball creating the only chances for Beattie, who looked static and lazy in attack. Webber and Cotterill were brighter, however the latter was clipped down by Mérida with half time approaching.
After some good possession football from Sheffield United, Wilshere robbed the ball back and set out on a run which ended up in a corner. Mérida’s delivery was crashed away by Morgan, Djourou wasted the follow up.
Then, Bendtner and Ramsey played a double nutmeg on the edge of the box before supplying Wilshere, he went down but nothing was given. However, the second goal would follow, and it would be that man Bendtner again.
A superb dribble from Ramsey saw him create an angle to shoot – until he was forced away from goal, but he improvised and back-heeled a stunning through pass for Nicklas, who kept composed and finished confidently for the second.
Goal – Nicklas Bendtner – (42)
Cotterill threatened to cause mayhem after skipping forward, that seemed to anger the youngsters who hit back to seal the win. Carlos Vela was released, Chris Morgan tried to play offside, the flag never came, and the calm Mexican bagged his first goal for the Club.
Goal – Carlos Vela (44)
The half time whistle came as a welcome relief to the visitors, they had backed off and backed off and were punished by some delightful football from Arsenal.
Half Time – Arsenal 3-0 Sheffield United
The second half was all about keeping the ball and trying to draw the visitors out before punishing them, something Gibbs nearly did after a sequence of 20 passes, but Kenny saved well.
More goals were imminent – and Carlos Vela would not disappoint. A clipped ball over the top from Gibbs sent the 19-year-old through, and as Kenny advanced Vela controlled beautifully before lobbing the stopper with a stunning finish.
Goal – Carlos Vela (50)
Shouts of ‘Ole’ rang around the Emirates as the Gunners moved the ball delightfully, quick feet from Vela nearly created the 5th, but although that chance didn’t go in, the 5th goal was would follow.
Jack Wilshere received a short corner on the edge of the box, he took a touch before smashing a low effort into the corner to punish some slack marking. A terrific goal from the 16-year-old, who becomes the second youngest goalscorer for the Club.
Goal – Jack Wilshere – (57)
A shot and a header nearly gave Gibbs the chance to add his name to the ever expanding score sheet, but good keeping from Kenny denied the full back.
Fran looked back to his exceptional best, his lovely ball nearly saw Bendtner complete his hat-trick, the Danish hit-man only just failed to convert. Everybody was pulling together to help finish off United, if this was a fight it would have been stopped a very long time ago.
Bendtner and Mérida worked an intelligent opening for Vela, Kenny was again called into action. Alex Song received a bang on his hip and was forced off, Pat Rice got his notebook out and began to reshuffle the side.
Henri Lansbury > Alex Song
Jay Simpson > Nicklas Bendtner ——– (70)
Francis Coquelin > Fran Mérida
All the changes meant the following team would complete the game.
Fabianski
Coquelin – Hoyte – Djourou – Gibbs
Lansbury – Randall – Ramsey – Wilshere
Simpson – Vela
James Beattie scuffed a rare effort wide, then Greg Halford lashed into the stand. Sheffield United looked uninterested as the game progressed, the two shots summed that up.
Brave defending from Djourou denied Quinn’s shot, the perfect way to celebrate his new contract. Then, Coquelin’s explosive run set up Lansbury, the England Under 19 skipper worked Kenny once more.
A clever back heel from the talented Randall was inches away from sending Simpson through, Jay would see a shot charged down minutes later. The changes had killed the fixture off, but Ramsey was still alive enough to smash an effort wide, he was nothing short of brilliant this evening.
Ramsey would then burst out of midfield, Vela and Simpson made runs around the corner, Aaron rolled Carlos in, who smashed the ball under Kenny for 6-0.
Goal – Carlos Vela (87)
Arsène Wenger was beaming as the Full Time whistle went, 6 goals, a clean sheet, a perfect display, Oh To Be A Gooner.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Fast as hell!!! Damn I wanted to see this match so badly :(
Carlos Velaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
wow , 6-0 I need to see highlights , J.Sanderson was you at the game , that report is quick
Who was the star player apart from bendenter
i mean apart from vela
fast and nice.
Nope, if I was at the game i couldn’t get the report up this quick :)
Glad you enjoyed it :)
great recap!!! i dont know about you guys but carlos velas is going to force arsens hand to start giving him more playing time with the first team if he keeps this up!!!
cant wait to see arsenal vs hotspurs-
or shall i say dos santos vs vela
viva mexico!!!! the gunners need to scout out more young talented players from mexico.
arsen should have a look at cesar villaluz
What a game.
What a result.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!
first post.. what a win.. thank you for the quickest review on the net!!!
apparently not the first :P
Outstanding report so quickly after the game. Thank you. Vela is world class; 5 strikers -, all superb. At least one striker will have to leave in the Summer. My money is on Adebayor for being too shelfish.
J – How did Randall get on tonight? Promising player so his chance tonight to stake a claim for regular first team involvement.
wow..now that im a little calmer, seems like one hell of a game!! I cant believe it was being shown on a single website.
Whens the draw for the next round
Saturday i think, thank you once more everybody :)
oh vela vela the mexican superstar hes better than cantona oh vela vela and dixie don’t be stupid bout us selling ade
I think Randall was excellent tonight, he played some really super passes, outside and inside of his foot. He won’t take the headlines, but he worked really hard this evening, brilliant performance.
The futures bright! We should play our young guns every week lol
I wanna see these highlights 2 hours 2 wait
is there highlites online anywhere???
Peter Beagrie just praised Randall on SSN
For anyone who watched the game tonight can you give us marks out of 10 for all those involved please? Interested to know who impressed etc. Cheers.
Peter Beagrie just said Randall had the least techinical ablity,
well lets hope your wrong Dixie about adebayor because we need him end off but great game finally Randall showed he’s a great player.
That was great, Vela I kept hearing how Fran and Gibbs were superb
nice one jamie, keep it up, goodnite all.
Anyone know when highlights are on tv?
Stewart Robson said you need players like Randall in your team, and said he passing range was exceptional.
Great performance tonight, Night mate :)
JS how the hell did you manage to watch this?? i’m so jealous, spent hours searching for a stream..anyway well done getting an article up so quick!
Highlights on at midnight (BST) Sky Sports 1
Not sure about the highlights being aired tonight but itv are showing the CC games that are on tomorrow night, so we may have to wait until then
Thank you very much for your match report Jay. Btw, what channel will the highlights be shown on.
Oh dear I was right about Randall it seems. All those that talked rubbish about him – hang your head in shame!!!
GOOD PERFORMANCE ARE YOU GOING TO PUT PLAYER RATINGS ON ?
I need see highlights??
Hi. Absolutely thrilled with the result, but just wanted to say thank you for posting so quickly after the game. The detail was superb. Think I’ll have to stay up and watch setanta..
I would kill for some highlights now! 6-0, that’s just stunning.
Imagine how many more goals there might have been if Wenger was just a little more interested in football instead of only business?
Wonder if Pratini will be watching that display on ATVO later tonight?
Fab 6, Hoyte 6, Gibbs 7, Djourou 8, Song 7, Randall 8, Ramsey 7, Merida 9, Bendtner 8, Vela 8, Wilshere 7. Ramsey would score higher but for some lazy moments in first half. Merida pips Vela for the 9 mark due to his all round display, although Carlos was mustard in the final third of the pitch. Wilshere grew in stature as the night went on.
Platini – what a joke, he loves the little clubs but is happy to fuck off from St Etienne to Juventus. Wonder if he got a pay increase. Two faced twat
now that’s the meaning of ARSENAL…
we’re gunning down every clubs who step in our way..
COME ON, YOUNG GUNNERS !!!
… anyway on a more positive note – are we proud gonners tonight or what ?
Vela scored a magical goal. His second was out of this world!!! If u have sky sports news they just showed highlights at 10:35pm. Check back at 11:00 if u want to see.
Nice to see Vela showing his value.
Suerte Carlos !
Stunning performance. I genuinely believe our squad is growing into the best Arsenal squad EVER seen. Will AW finally get all the plaudits he deserves?
were do you see the highlights what channel skysports or setanta or give me a website
who saw the bendtner interview?
LMFAO
Highlights are on Sky Sports News in 2 mins
the full game is on arsenal tv tonight at midnight
its being streamed here http://myp2p.eu/
check out the forum
There was once a youth team that played in a pre-season friendly against their senior team and won 4-0. The manager scolded the seniors, and set up a re-match. The juniors won again, 4-0.
The manager tried to work out where the juniors had won, and which players should be included in the first team. Ultimately he threw up his hands and declared – they’re all in. He fielded the whole youth team on the first day of the new season.
That man was Matt Busby, and that team were the ‘Busby Babes.’
Wenger won’t sleep tonight he’ll be so proud. Now to serious business = if we’re going to be immortalised, we going to need a catchy name to describe the team, or the way the team plays football…
It could just be “The Arsenal Way”
Arsene’s Angels
Combination Football: def: Football characterised by quick interchanges of position and rapid passing.
Tick-Tack – the sound of modern footballs against boot leather with rapid two touch passing.
Humble Pie – lunch made predominantly of spuds.
Any thoughts?
Great the wife is sky+ every girly programme in the World just to stop me watching the highlights !
i went to the game…i think we played really good….
fab 6
djoruou 6
hoyte 7
song 7
gibbs 7
wilshire 8
randall 7
ramsey 8
merida 6
bendtner 7
vela 8
who disagrees??
i think wilshire is unbelievable actually….playin like he did at dis age…he didnt give the ball away once and hes soo intellligent with his passes..
also, hoyte played good tonight….he made james beattie look average
Have to agree about randall he really impressed as did gibbs the football tonight was class at times
stevus & PHADER thank for the ratings, also peng game man, i wish it was on t.v.
I just got back from the game and the report is pretty much accurate, but you missed the great turn and shot by Djourou, which the goalkeeper saved. I thought Djourou was a rock at the back, Song was excellent as was Gibbs. Ramsay was a little wayward with his passing in the beginning, trying to be too complicated when keeping it simple would have been better, but he improved as the game wore on. Randall was solid, Fran Merida was very creative and also impressively tracked back and tackled successfully when Sheffield had the ball. The star of the show for me was Vela, whose movement and clinical finishing was outstanding. That second goal of his was breathtaking.
Great reporting js. It’s good to be a gunner. And surely on that showing Vela must be very close to the first team. 2nd goal was one of the best finishes the emirates has seen for sure. Very impressive. How did le coq play? See a mention of a good run
http://www.justin.tv/stusports9
its about to start
every1 that has left ratings have been really poor and inaccurate. i was at the game and these ratings are as good as you will see:
fab 6 gav 7 johan 8 song 7 gibbs 8 merida 8 randall 8 ramsey 8 wilshere 8 vela 9 nic 8
I was at the game; i could eulogise about the team for hour and hours but all I can really muster is that they were simply sensational. I was delighted sitting at the emirates to see the team that I had predicted was in fact right so I’ll try to sum up how I thought they played.
I think randall had a good game overall, started of a bit shaky but then really got into it. Ramsey was absolutly brilliant and i think it £5million well spent. Wilshere was as expected a constant threat, this boy is gonna be some player. Bendtner had an excellent game with two good goals, a hat full of tricks and flicks and you can really see the partnership between him and Vela is very strong – as we saw in pre-season. I want to give a big shout out to Gibbs who will be largely forgotton. He had a excellent game and looked every bit the part at left back; he definately has a future with us as clichy’s deputy with traore on the wing. Who’s left oh yes, djourou and song;they had their moments but were largly unflappable and played good games each. Any news on Song’s injury by the way?. Oh and fran as well, he had a good game as did all with some good touches and passes. The subs unfortunately were largely innefectual but the game had died a bit at that point; glad to see coquelin get a game; i think its well merited.
Overall the best game of football I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing so thank you to the youthful talent of Arsenal for a great night out!
http://www.mediafire.com/?xn5yzahlwjj
not my link but enjoy a quick look
Sky Sports News | 528 x 448 (cropped ) | XviD | English
Arsenal V Sheffield United
SSN match report
good link, playon! thanx man!
I WENT..was amazing great nite for the young players,welldone
no probz wiener just hope jamie doesnt mind i know he doesnt like people doing that but this game is no where to be seen i thought the fans us deserve our fix
Our football in the 2nd half was stunning.
The team will get plenty of plaudits for the quality of their passing but you should get equal praise for how hard they worked.
Hey JS the biggest newspaper in Norway, VG(www.vg.no) used this site as a source on a case about Nordtveit’s game at Salamanca.
http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=516845
“According to youngguns.wordpress.com the Norwegian seemed comfortable with the midfield position-”
Dunno if u care, but thought u might wanted to know!
Was at the game tonight. My opinions…
Fabianski (c) – generally very assured with what little he had to do. one wayward kick which could’ve got his defence into some trouble but fortunately didn’t.
Hoyte – very solid defensively, but didn’t offer too much going forward.
Djourou – very solid defensively and surprisingly got involved at the other end too. like the rest of the back four looked very composed on the ball, more than usual.
Song – along with Djourou formed a very sound platform for some of the less experienced players to work from.
Gibbs – kept things very tight at the back, and as the game wore on he started attacking more effectively. very good performance.
Wilshere – along with Ramsey and Randall bossed the midfield right from the start and looked incredibly comfortable and confident. capped an excellent display with a goal.
Ramsey – really excellent performance. looks so comfortable in possession and won the ball very well. technically superb… that backheel was sublime.
Randall – tackled with ferocity. didn’t look at all out of his depth. very good work rate, and some good distribution too.
Mérida – didn’t look very confident for the first 30 minutes and while he worked hard when not in possession he wasn’t finding good positions to support his teammates when we had the ball, and looked to get rid of the ball very quickly when he was in possession. improved hugely as he gained confidence, some excellent eye-of-the-needle balls. his passing was actually good throughout… just his ball carrying etc was much better after we scored.
Bendtner – possibly man of the match. he’s had a brilliant week. showed great maturity and influence over the less experienced players, shouldering a lot of the burden early on, making things happen in the midfield as well as up front.
Vela – unspectacular, even slightly disappointing for the first 20 minutes. exceptional thereafter… some phenomenal finishing and tight control.
overall an exceptional performance, but i think we should all remember that while arsenal were excellent, sheffield utd were really piss poor. they didn’t look interested at all… while they didn’t make mistakes particularly for the goals (so take nothing away from the arsenal players for that) their work rate was appalling; they didn’t hassle us or close us down with any urgency. we were given far, far too much time to play. they didn’t really ‘rough us up’. if i was Kevin Blackwell i would’ve gone nuts. i would really like to see how this arsenal team would do against a more accomplished side. maybe we’ll find out in the next round…
Wow, this game was worth the wait. I isolated myself until 01 AM (when the game would be broadcasted on ATVO in Sweden) and I didn’t regret it for a second. Don’t think I’ve ever been this proud of an Arsenal display. I can’t even try to pick a MOTM, but Randall and Vela are definitely challenging for it.
WOW They were amazing and I’m so excited to see more Carling Cup games. I can’t wait to see who the kids kill next lol
Adebayor selfish? crap. he has many assists and is part of most goals in the first team very often doing the winger or Number9 job behind bendtner . He does that naturally, he works hard on top of that
merida was heaps gd
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GQU8BBGY here is another link guys missing first 13 mins but has the rest of the game so knock ya self out
ooh again not my link but thought you guys here would appreciate it
The whole team was great, but Vela is just exceptional. His skills and his composure in front of goal totally belies his age. He’s definitely more than a bench player in the first team IMO. Eboue, watch out.
Bendtner and Vela are a very promising front 2 for the future!
coquelin can play right back? wow
Just remembering all them people who bitched about Bendter all summer.
For he’s a jolly good Velllla for he’s a jolly good velllla for he’s a jolly good vellllllllllllllllllllla and so say all of us…. hooray!
for he is charlie vellla, for he is charlie vellla, for he is charlie velllllla and so say all of us… arsenal!
I’m a little worried about the future of Lansbury. If he can’t get in the starting cc team what chance has he got for the first team?
Also J is it true that Frimpong has chosen to play for Ghana. If this is the case I also worry for him. Wenger has one eye on any changes in the quota system and not picking England could go against the lad. Also he would get more support from the fans if he were to pick England.
Before the match I’d commented to a friend that Vela would score a hat-trick… He is quite simply world class! Have you guys seen the video on You Tube of his performance against Real Madrid last season?
wenger says lansbury was injured which is why he didn’t start
Not To Sure It was an injury to lansbury more the fact of his glandulafever!! still gettin match fitness and strength up!!! dont think he’s completed full 90 mins for the reserves this season !!! nearly got on the score sheet last night!!! just dont understand why AW is playin him on the right!! he’s clearly a CM just look at his performance for england u19’s MOTM and played a very big part in both the goals!! i just hope he does big things for arsenal in years to come!!! Up The H!!!
i love this match
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Anyone think some of yesterday’s performances will have Championship managers begging for us to loan them some of our youngsters? I think it’s possible it’ll happen. Rather than wait for the next Carling Cup match…perhaps some of this young guns will prove competitive football week in and week out.
i want wacth this game….anybody have the highlights???
so badly,no live at Malaysia
That Vela goal was SO good, for highlights go here:
http://themostbeautifulgame.com/
I know Vela’s second goal was pure class but I really liked his first as well, it just seemed to float at a certain level and it didn’t go up or down. It just curled its way into the far corner beautifully.
It was good but still his second was just out of this world
http://theworldsmostbeautifulgame.wordpress.com/
I think the first finish was close to the quality of the second. If you watch it from the angle from behind the goal, you’ll see what a great finish that was.
The finish was fantastic but then the control for the other one was sick
http://themostbeautifulgame.com/
I didnt wanna say anything until id seen it and now i have. Incredible, not a bad performance in the side. Absolutely outstanding, going on that game any one of those players can go on to be stars for us. Obviously not all will but it shows how well we train these kids when they can go out and do that.
So happy for Jack aswell. Bit miffed that there isnt as much hype about him as there was for Rooney, Bale, Walcott and last season Ramsey to name a few, but in a way its a very good thing and he certainly hasnt gone completely un-noticed and with out praise. The kid is like a cross between Hleb, Fabregas and Scholes, and its brilliant (cept the tackling which he needs to work on, his timing is sometimes a bit off).
I want to see Ramsey, Wilshire and Merida get some play time against Hull.
TQ to All Gooners for the highlights…so now I realy enjoy to wacthing the highlight…it’s fantastic to see…
now Vela is my admire…