Arsène Wenger last night paid tribute to his young starlets after they romped past Championship side Sheffield United and into the 4th round of the Carling Cup, scoring 6 goals along the way.
Football pundits world wide were hailing the Gunners who had an average age of just 19, but Wenger went one better b by telling Sky Sports that the current crop of young players is the best he has ever had.
“Yes This is the best crop Yes. Because there is not one player – Henri Lansbury didn’t start the game because he’s been injured – but there’s not one player who has not the real quality of the Premier League in any position.”
He went further by heaping praise on the Club’s coaching staff and of course everybody at the Academy, who can now finally say the youth system works at Arsenal. The only issue that now remains is for the boss to keep the boys together and push them into the first team on a more regular basis, but with quality and talent in abundance, Arsène is one of the luckiest managers in the world to have such players at his disposal.
Being able to make the step up is something people had questions over, the likes of Gavin Hoyte, Mark Randall, and Nicklas Bendtner had all been subject of criticism over the last season, but when it mattered, they all delivered with devastating consequences.
Not to mention the fact this group still has the likes of Nacer Barazite, Pedro Botelho and Håvard Nordtveit to add, they will be considered as just a few months away from being ready enough to join this tremendous crop.
Not only was last night a victory for the Club, the manager, the players, the Academy, but also loaning. 6 of the starting XI have spent time away from the Emirates getting vital experience, which some people had again questioned, yet yesterday they showed how crucial it had been in their development.
The next few years promise to be the most fruitful in Arsenal’s history, and yes we will be kidding ourselves to suggest every single player will make the grade here, but for the ones who do, bigger and better things from them only seem a matter of time.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Nice article mate.appreciate it.
fantastic performance from the young guns. great commentary as ever JS
Thank you guys, glad your enjoying our coverage :)
I saw the match on a Arsenal Dedicated Channel on J.tv -No links, sorry :D. But, it was pure quality. I’ll be honest i was expecting a 2-0 at most. But man o’man. On FIYA. Sorry to the Manchester lad aswell.
even the ones who dont make it at arsenal will be good prem players it seems
wanted to say thank you for covering the carling cup as well. ur coverage has been brilliant!
Hey seedorf can you email me the link for the arsneal tv channel on J.Tv nicdonati@gmail.com
You made a very good point about the players who are away on loan. These also have to be considered close to the first team. Something needs to give as we have a backlog of talent right now.
Simpson – I’m afraid isn’t gonna make it as Barazite and several younger players look better.
Gibbs – I really thought he played well but Gael Clichy is so dam good and with Traoae and the lad on loan in Spain I do worry for him. Can you really see him moving back in midfield? for me no. I can only see him staying if Troare leaves.
Senderos – Is not coming back and with good reason. Song/ Djourou and Nordveit are all better options.
Hoyte – Too short to play CB and there is also better players coming through in that position. He’s quick but lacks the technical quality to be considered a good full back.
Randell – Again played really well but I fear Merida isn’t a LM. We saw that from him drifting inside and lacking the pace to go outside of his man. I feel it’s either Merdia or Randell that are gonna make it, not both. Also with Ramsey, Thomas, Frimpong and the young frenchman all knocking, perhaps they will both struggle.
Lansbury – From the above list I also forgot about this man who can also play in the centre. He needs a very big season imo to stick around.
arghh..im so frustrated the game didn’t show on tv. instead i’ve to watch pogatetz horror tackle on possedon. even though i’ve seen the goals, i still wants to see the whole match. hope next round there will be live on tv.
I stayed up till 2 watching this game on Arsenal TV, and i’m glad i did. Thought as well as Arsenal played, Sheffield were extremely poor, and it could and probably should have been more than 6. Bendtner needed someone to to tell him to cut the tricks out towards the end, altho if you can’t showboat at 5-0 then when can you. Glad we won because Sheff Utd have given us some tough games down the years.
the vela bendter partnership is looking great as it did in pre season. i liked the spirit of the team, loved it when mark randall was overjoyed when wilshere scored, it could be easy for mark to feel slightly jealous of a lad 2 years his junior making the step up he so far hasn’t managed but he seems very mature
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was a great performance. highlights probably didnt show quite how well djourou played- he really bossed the defense and i dont remember sheffield having a shot on target.
both wilshere and merida were particularly good- not only with the attacking and passing, but they kept their shape well and defended brilliantly when needed.
but sheffield were awful; even in the half-hour before we scored they didnt look up for it, didnt play a physical game and put no pressure on us… really surprised by them.
everything merida touched seemed to go through the legs of an opponent, his anticipation is first class.
He still looks a little weak though, there were a few challenges where he got shrugged off with ease but that’ll come as he gets older, I’m real excited by these players, wilshere and merida more so.
Randall was excellent, ran the show and boy does he enjoy a challenge.
I might be mistaken, but I think only 5, and not 6, of the starting eleven have been on loan at other clubs: Alex Song, Kieran Gibbs, Fran Merida, Mark Randall and Carlos Vela. I’m guessing you included Hoyte in there, but it was of course Justin and not Gavin who was on loan at Sunderland.
Keep up the good work, you give fantastic reads!
Randall was excellent best player on the pitch but vela just looked different class amazing but with jack wilshire he seems to fade in and out of games but i guess thats cos of his age.
Gibbs the new ashley cole.
Gibbs soudns exactly like Ashley Cole, but let’s hope he’s the new Clichy and NOT the new Cole!
lol @ The Sun saying Vela is the new Henruy because of his first goal, shut the fuck up haha, Vela is his own man, Henry is the old Vela.
do u think wenger will play vela and bendtner up front against hull? give adebayor and van persie a rest
completely vindicates wengers way of developing a team and completly shows up Platinis stupid remarks as many of these players are very very good footballers and wil go onto be international players and play for top level teams around the world so how it can be said wengers not doing anything for football is mind boggling!
Why spend £30m on David Villa when we’ve got Carlos Vela?
Dave, I actually thought Merida was stronger than I expected plus he tracked back and supported the defence when necessary. I was very impressed with his vision and passing in particular.
One of my highlights was Jack Wilshere. After he got clobbered while jumping for the ball against one of the Sheffield players, he took the next opportunity for some payback with a strong challenge which left the same player on the deck a few moments later. He’s not to be messed with, despite his size!
On a bad note i feel for the lads who won’t make it. Hopefully they can go onto have successful careers elsewhere and not be bitter about not making it at Arsenal like Bentley
i think bendtner deserved more credit than just his 2 goals. his well taken 1st goal really settle younger players into the game. bendtner, in my opinion play superb role as a senior member of the team.
in my opinion, i think gibbs will make it at arsenal, but as our second left back…i dont think traore will be considerd as a left back anymore, im sure arsene see’s him as our left midfielder..
yeh i agree, i dont think simpson will make it at arsenal, neither mark randall…
not to sure about hanri lansbury tho,…cant even see him gettin a game at center midfield with all the central midfielders we have…and he certainly aint goin to make it as a right midfielder…soo i aint too sure
Nic, here. It’s not streaming matches, so it’s all legal. It’ doing films now or Berkamp goals later. Just ask the channel Owner.
Forgot the link, Lol. http://www.justin.tv/agooner
…..and Morrisey lookalike, Amaury Bischoff will have to be a darn fine player to force his way in to (even) the CC team.
Hoyte impressed me even out of position. Fast, strong, technically sound, offered way more going forward than his brother ever did and that wasn’t even his natural position. Trust me he will become and very good centre back.
Djourou was fantastic, I’m so pleased for him. I’m convinced he needs to be first choice centre back for us now (out of what we have) simply because of partnership and balance at the back.
Song was nice as usual.
Gibbs was very Ashley Cole like. I still don’t see why he can’t become a top left midfielder because when he played there against Inter last summer he was excellent – but he also looks good at left back. Needs games and experience there though.
Wilshere was quiet in the first half but whenever he touched the ball he made everything look so easy. In the second half he was GENUINELY world class. He is silk personified – what a player for his age.
Randall was good overall but he showed some of his preseason exploits with a few sloppy passes. Great tackling though and he has fantastic long range vision – just needs to work on execution.
Ramsey was very good, very skilful player with an eye for the killer ball.
Merida was quiet and a bit introvert at first but that’s not his natural position and as the game progressed he showed just how good his passing and ideas are. Definitely got a big future.
Bendtner was sublime. I’m so pleased for him now because he has so many critics. He’s not always going to do the prettiest thing on the pitch because his body coordination can be a little off which leads to occasional sloppiness. But his football brain is absolutely awesome and he will soon be first choice striker.
Vela. Nothing needs to be said. An unbelievable talent. Despite his world class goals, since preseason I’ve been astonished at how well he shields the ball, links up play, and how composed he is under pressure.
Coquelin looks a potentially very good DM. Lansbury clearly not 100% but he’s very highly rated and could be our version of Gerrard but with Arsenal technique. Simpson I thought looked very comfortable playing ‘Wengerball’, people like to write him off because he’s not our most glamorous striker. The only reason he won’t make it with us is due to the obscene talent and competition for places up front.
If Arsenal can get two or three players out of this particular batch then we will be very lucky indeed IMO
Vela, wilshere and Merida are quality!
http://themostbeautifulgame.com/
As much as i love watching the kids play, (and destroy teams might i add) i do wonder how wenger will integrate them into the first team. I mean, the kids will be delighted to have a place on the bench, but can you see the likes of Gallas sat on the bench whilst Djourou plays, or Bendtner keeping Adebayor quiet on the bench. I just don’t see how Wenger can keep basically 2 teams happy. Sooner or later, first teamers will be sold and the kids brought in, or the kids get released and come back to bite us in the arse. I’m happy to bide my time and enjoy this season and wait to see how it unfolds….
Ben Jones
Is rather Traore who won’tmake it at LB. Arsene has already pushed Traore to LM. Traore is defensively poor having shown that against Chelsea, Spurs, MANU and host of other teams hence AW’s decision to push him upfront. AW has already said that Gibbs is now Clichy’s understudy and he might even play him against Hull if AW feels Clichy is still not fit and Sylvestre is yet to recover fully. Gibbs has the potential to play at LB than Traore.
Its possible Traore might be sold to Portsmouth.
I’m so thankful I saw this game live. I have a feeling in a few years the 57,000 people there will be able to say: “I was there when Jack Wilshere made his first start for Arsenal”. The game will live on in legend because I’m sure all eleven players who start it will have great careers at the highest level. Some have the potential to be absolutely world-class.
I would be happy to put Gibbs in a home league match if Gael was injured.
An interesting thought is this: In 4 years time how many of the 14 players who played yesterday will still be at the club? I hope virtually all of them.
Alex Djourou went on loan to Birmingham remember?
Gibbs was wonderful, a modern full back – no need to be over aggressive, sliding about , he nicked balls. Jack… how lucky are we??? What a talent and he is OURS!!!
I saw Liam Brady’s first game for our reserves and his FT debut and have rarely been so excited about a player since. If you don’t remember Chippy Brady ask your dad(grandad??!!)
Cant argue with Wenger, ive never been so exited about a Carling Cup campaigne and its always been one of the highlights of the season for me ever since Wenger decided to use it to blood talent.
Can pick anyone out for a bad performance…its incredible, everyone was above avarage, even the subs. Ramsey, Vela, Wilshire, Gibbs and Randall especially impressed. Wonderful assist from Ramsey for Bentners second.
I dunno but I can’t get myself as hyped up over this result as I know I should be :( The fact of the matter is that we have TOO MANY TALENTED KIDS at the club and at the rate that we’re getting them off the production line, a lot WILL leave to seek regular first team football elsewhere :( *sniff sniff* (the way Cesc left Braca for us!!!) I just hope and pray that we win a major trophy soon so that the players feel that they’ve started something that could be great and possibly lead on to greater things e.g. retaining a Champions League (look @ Manure, I doubt that ANY of there players would want to leave right now!!!). Anywho, great game by the boys and I hope that they build on it!!! Also credit to the members of staff that put the boys through their paces day in and day out! Wenger rightfully gave them the credit that they SOO RIGHTFULLY deserve and probably don’t get the credit for!!! Gunners For Life!!!!! Thanks and keep up the great work J!!!