Arsenal defender Armand Traoré made history this evening as the 18-year-old became the first left winger to represent Portsmouth in a European competition after Pompey made their bow in the UEFA Cup against Victoria Guimaraes at Fratton Park.
The Frenchman has been an ever present since his loan spell from the Gunners, and although Harry Redkanpp switched the formation this evening, the fleet-footed starlet kept his place.
James
Johnson – Campbell – Distin – Belhadj
Utaka – Davis – Diarra – Traoré
Defoe – Crouch
Portsmouth had sold out ahead of kick off, just less than 20,000 had packed into the stadium to watch the historic clash, one which Jermain Defoe had the best chances of, but failed to convert.
Guimaraes were then starting to pass the ball well, until Armand stole possession and preceded to go on a 40 yard run – slaloming his way beyond three players, but his tame cross towards Crouch was deflected away.
With 20 minutes gone it was the home side who were clearly threatening, Defoe worked the keeper from just inside the area, and then John Utaka thumped the post from a shot corner. The end-to-end play was exciting the large crowd, Traoré was next to go close, he smashed a shot from the edge of the area, but it ended up in the stand.
The pace was frenetic and the play was nearly bypassing the midfield, with half an hour on the clock it had been the strikers and goalkeepers who had been the busiest men on the field. Traoré and Crouch had combined on several occasions down the flank, but the lanky hit-man had failed to keep possession effectively.
Armand had shown a great first touch and good pace, but in the final third had lost the ball frequently. However, eventually the goal would come. Diarra took a touch in the corner, Traoré made a dummy run around the back allowing space for Diarra to play a 1-2 with Defoe, before smashing beyond the keeper’ from 8 yards.
Just three minutes later the hard work looked to have been undone, Sol Campbell was booked for pulling down Moreno in the area, the referee pointed to the spot. James was comfortably beaten by the shot, but so was the cross bar – a massive let off for the hosts.
Half time brought a chance to regroup and regain their composure, but Portsmouth were living the dream.
Half Time – Portsmouth 1-0 Victoria Guimaraes
The start of the second half saw a more conservative approach from Redkanpp’s men, but after Defoe was clipped down in the box, they had the chance to double the lead and put the sword into a stung Guimaraes. Defoe seemed far to casual and was denied with a simple save from Nilson at his left hand side.
Just minutes later it should have been 2-0, Traoré burst away down the flank with his electric pace, he got to the dead ball line and played a perfect cross for Crouch, but Peter’s header was clawed out by Nilson.
With an hour on the clock, finally the second goal. Armand sent Belhadj away down he left flank, his fizzed cross was stabbed home by Defoe to wrap up an impressive win ahead of the second leg in Portugal.
Deft feet from the on loan Frenchman was particularly impressive, but Crouch still failed to hold on to his short passes.
As the clock ticked down it was the visitors who were controlling matters, but solid defending was just keeping them at bay. Moreno and João Alves had tested James from range, before Armand’s cross was gathered in up the other end.
On the break Pompey were always dangerous, and after Diarra released Defoe in space, it seemed like 3-0 was only a matter of time. His cross was stabbed away from Crouch, but the ball fell perfectly for Traoré 1-1 with the keeper’, yet his powerful shot was saved by the finger tips of Nilson.
With 90 minutes on the clock the 18-year-old was taken off, but the job was already done, 2-0 and it’s one unbeaten for Pompey in Europe.
Full Time – Portsmouth 2-0 Victoria Guimaraes
Armand played 90 minutes for the first time since joining Portsmouth, and was impressive in the second half after an average first period. He will take heart from some good crosses, but for a winger his finishing could do with some work. Still, it’s excellent experience for the youngster.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Armand Mohamed Traorè!!
Haha yes!, your accent on the E is wrong through mate, Traoré not Traorè, nice try anyway :)
Defoe just said Armand was terrific.
It is very obvious that Wenger sees him as a left winger I suppose. His loan move to Portsmouth would seem very very beneficial for his future Arsenal career.
I think he’s stepped up alot since he’s gne pompey but yeah he still needs to improve on final ball and crosses.
Defoe should shut up, we are not ready to lose him to Pompey and they should not try cos the answer will be no.
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Jay Please come online we need to talk
and the injury to kranckjar has helped him get some invaluable game time. Its up to him to maintain his place now, thou i feel he’ll have to move to left back once the croation is back.
i caould of swore traore came off in the 88 min for heridesson
yeh he definitly got subbed but it might have been in the 90th minute
Yeah, i did write in the article he was subbed off, still played 90 minutes though. Just not the 60 seconds of injury time.
Jay please check my email and come online please.
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Traore wasn’t bad…had a few good moments, but he drifted in and out of the game, which isn’t unexpected.
He certainly needs to work on what he should be doing when his team is not in possession of the ball.
This soccer fan base guy seems like a stalker! Well done armand.
“Arsenal defender Armand Traoré made history this evening as the 18-year-old became the first left winger to represent Portsmouth in a European competition after Pompey made their bow in the UEFA Cup against Victoria Guimaraes at Fratton Park.”
I dont understand why you mentioned the above in your article.
Thanks for the report and the excellent blog – essential reading
there was also a first right back, central defender, goalkeeper etc. He played a decent game but was someone overshadowed by belhadj who had an excellent game. it bodes well for us though as i think traore and clichy could have such a partnership and positional rotaion down both flanks would prove a nightmare for other defences and also increase our defencive capabilities. So its all good. On another note diarra had a great game and its a shame we lost him. he would have been very useful in the current team
So, they don’t play for Arsenal do they? so we don’t really care about them.
Don’t worry about abc, he only comes to pick faults at this blog.
hahaha. oh well. you’ve done a good job on this blog JS so i’m not particularly worried about any holes that appear. What I would say is that half the pompy team used to be arsenal players so we can have some pride in them. wouldn’t be surprised to see good old freddie join them too. but still, with people around him who know arsene’s way it is only helpful for traore and i think he cold play a good part next season.
Yes, he was subbed right at the end. Hredisson? replaced him, and Kanu replaced Crouch.
There was one absolutely stunning cross from Traore nipped in while sprinting at full pace straight at the goal line. It was straight onto Crouch’s bonce, but unfortunately he headed it straight at the keeper.
This lad is really starting to look good.
It sounds like Traore did himself and Arsenal proud, but I genuinely do not understand what you are trying to say in this sentence:
“Arsenal defender Armand Traoré made history this evening as the 18-year-old became the first left winger to represent Portsmouth in a European competition after Pompey made their bow in the UEFA Cup against Victoria Guimaraes at Fratton Park.”
I like Traore, hes a flair player and we dont have many of those at Arsenal, only Van Persie and Nasri can really be called true flair players, the others tend to turn it on and off, which is a good thing, but its also good to have players you know will pull a few tricks, turn a defender and potentially do something outstanding.
I dont see , how he can start all these games for pompey and come back and be a bench man
Great… now we’ve confirmed that he’s a winger, rather than LB. He should be very useful for us next year.
Good luck traore..hope you success for your career.
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I’m with ABC on this one JS!! Why did you say “He’s the first left winger to represent Pompey in Europe..etc”?? Am I missing a deeper significance here!?? You could have said that about the entire Portsmouth squad!
Sol Campbell became the first player called “Sol Campbell” to represent Portsmouth in Europe last night…………
Imagine the pace and power we could have on each flank with Traore being backed up by Clichy and Walcott being backed up by Sagna…..
It’s Vitoria not Victoria
i just fort of sumfin j imagine we play nasri n fabregas in cm n rosicky/traore n walcott dwn de wings as wenger says he considerd wouldnt dat be a more complete team dan currently
If he shines at Portsmouth, surely Harry will wanna bid for the lad. With Nasri, Rosicky, Walcott and Vela all capable of playing out there. You gotta wonder if Wenger will accept. I like Traore, but I wouldn’t be too fussed about him leaving. It’s good that he is getting Premierleague experience tho, it’s gonna make him so much better.
Oh and also the fact that we got Pedro coming back next season to go straight to the first team. Providing back up for Clichy. And Silvestre is on a two year contract. I just get the impression we’ve seen the last of Traore in an Arsenal shirt. This is just my opinion.
It looks as though Armand may have been the youngest player in that team…?
People who don’t understand JS’ comments. Portsmouth’s debut in Europe yesterday. Therefore Traore was their first left winger in Europe. Relevant to us ‘cos he’s ours…..?
Are the under 18’s playing tomorrow if so where are they playing
yeah they play at reading a 11am. check the official website for a fixture list under youth fixtures
Cool cheers where do reading under 18s play there home games
Obviously lots of readers don’t understand simple English. Haha.
The sentence is so easy to understand and yet people question about it.
@kevlinefm and tom
Sorry, it still doesn’t make any sense at all. Every player in the Portsmouth team was the first player to represent Portsmouth in that position in Europe. And if you’re saying it’s relevant to us because Traore is our player, then that only makes it more confusing since we have had plenty of left-wingers (and every other position) in Europe.
Anyone like to shed any light? I seriously do not get what JS is trying to say. He must have missed out a crucial word, or something.
in this day an age, history is written every day. I was the first person in my office to have a cup of coffee using the office kettle :-) (today)
everything is history
I think he wants to hype Traore. Shocking!
Is AT a left-footer? If so I highly doubt he will ever play first-team for Arsenal. Wenger has consistently picked left-wingers who can cut inside to shoot/link play rather than crosses ot the ball. This is amplified by the fact that Ade like THenry before him tends to drift out to the left wing. Our right-wingers provide width/crosses, left-side provides more of a goal scoring opportunity. For eg, TWalcott has scored most of his goals when switched to the left (eg FC Twente), thats where Nasri scored his from etc etc. Traore is more of a potential left-back fo us.
By the same logic, we will know when Wenger believes Waloctt is ready to move to the next phase in his development, because he will start playing him on the left. On the right he learns positioning, how to beat a man, and deliver a final ball. On the left he becomes a real goal scoring threat, before moving up front to become an out and out striker.
@FunGunner: …yes every Portmouth player was a first in Europe but JS pointed out Traore to add an interesting fact since he’s a player that we’re interested in following…
@dbp: AW started playing Walcott on the left last season. Wilshere like Traore is left footed and plays on both sides of the pitch.
DOES ANYONE THINK TOMAS ROSICKY WILL EVER GET BACK TO HIS BEST??…
I WAS JUST READING A ARTICLE ABOUT HIM, SHOULD BT BACK PLAYING FOR US BY XMAS…
The bit about Traore making history was meant as a joke. You guys take yourselves too seriously.
I was screaming for Traore to play LW last year when Rosicky went down. He would have been better than Diaby. After watching him in play for the reserves, I’m convinced that he and Clichy together would have been a nightmare for any team to cope with. Wenger opted for Diaby, though. Nacer was good for the reserves but I was more impressed with Traore last season.
Traore has been playing real well for pompey
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