Arsenal’s Under 18’s extended their lead at the top of the Academy League Group A table this morning, with a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town.
The shaky form looks like it’s finally been put to the sword, as a Rhys Murphy brace helped secure the points against the Tractor Boys. With Benik Afobe playing and scoring for the England Under 16’s, changes were on the cards.
Rhema Obed’s poor recent form saw him replaced by Anton Blackwood, whilst Roarie Deacon and Sam Byles were restored. Luke Freeman and Emmanuel Frimpong returned from International duty and were both included in the squad, the latter started in a 5 man midfield.
Shea
Blackwood – Bartley – Ayling – Cruise
Deacon – Byles – Thomas – Frimpong – Evina
Murphy
Subs – Mann – Miquel – Obed – Özyakup – Freeman
The blustery conditions made for a tentative start by both teams, yet eventually the game got going, with Arsenal showing their dominance. Blackwood’s storming run down the right hand side saw the visitors back off, the resulting cross picked out Evina, the Frenchman’s tame effort was well saved.
Byles kept the ‘keeper working with a powerful drive, before Ayling could have opened the scoring via Frimpong’s dipping corner. After a break for what looked a terrible injury on Ipswich’s Jamie Griffiths, the Gunners stepped up a gear and had the Blues holding on.
Bartley with a header and skipper Jay Emmanuel-Thomas with a delightful back-heel should have been goals, Bould was clearly frustrated on the touchlines. The half time whistle arrived with the scores still level, one of the manager’s famed team talks was needed.
Half Time – Ipswich 0-0 Arsenal
The focus of the chat must have been the influence of Jay Thomas, because the powerhouse led the charge to secure the points after the restart. A powerful run past several Ipswich defenders created space, a casual pass into Evina saw the winger again come close.
Özyakup replaced Byles on 53 minutes to inject some creativity and energy to the side, it nearly paid instant dividends. The Dutch play-maker showed awesome composure to tease the ball out of his feet, the resulting shot won a corner.
Murphy wasted a low cross and then a header, Thomas also nodded wide. Deacon and Özyakup continued the constant barrage of attacks, yet the consistent theme continued with the Tractor Boys dealing with everything.
Shea was then forced into a reaction stop to keep things level, the chance seemed to make Arsenal angry. Indeed, Frimpong went straight down the other end, and after picking out Murphy in the area, it was 1-0.
Özyakup had a darting header clawed off the line, before controversy stuck. Shea came racing out of his box and smashed into Town forward Reggie, Ipswich were furious at the lack of a red card. They were still complaining when Evina’s cross was glanced on by Özyakup, Murphy snatched on the ball and turned it home for 2-0.
It finished 2-0 leaving the Gunners in a terrific position at the top, although make no mistakes, Ipswich have some very exciting players for the future.
Full Time – Arsenal 2-0 Ipswich
Article By – J.Sanderson
What was the score in the under 16s and who scored as afobe was with England wasn’t he?
nothing to cheer because of senior team…. :(
At least the Under 18s know how to get shit done. I think I will follow them more than I planned to this season. The boys in the senior side screwed up AGAIN, season OVER right there. Under-18s and reserves should keep me interested though.
What has happend to the senior team – passionless, cocky, and unable to finish their dinner! There is a serious lack of leadership and Almunia is not up to scratch. I would be fearful of finishing 4th this year.
Its really great that we sold a tall CB in Senderos and not replace him aint it, yeah…….sound decision making. Don’t worry guys we lost a lot of experience but we don’t need to replace that………God no, were fine. We are potentially a whopping 9 POINTS behind but were good because the TEAM SPIRIT is good………..FANTASTIC.
Derrick – i agree on most points but Senderos is only on loan to Milan. Biggest loss has been Gilberto – we miss his influence. I dont want to get on Gallas’ back but Fabregas would be a better captain.
this is the worse arsenal team arsene has put together…i dont know why arsene thinks this team is good…he keeps sayin ‘potential’ but then why say we are good enough to win the premiership…
im sorry to say it, but arsene can go now…why cant he be our director of football…i say get dennis bergkamp as the new manager..
why didnt walcott start today?? was he injured
What a load of rubbish about the senior team. Its bad enough being kicked off the park, losing two players through injury and for the young team to have enough of the so called ‘Unbiased’ media having a go at them without the likes of Arsenal fans not appreciating the quality football they try to play. This team needs supporting when the chips are down not being kicked by their own so called fans! I like this website and its because Arsene Wenger has tried to develop the teams youth rather than buy any old average player that it is so successful! The season is not over yet. Arsenal are able to win the league from this position and we are still in the champions league. Support the team at all levels, especially the first team because that’s where players in the U18, U16 are trying to get to.
Stupid decisions on team selections have to be blamed to for a few of our results this season. Did robin and nasri really need resting. And denilson is not a right mid. And vela deserves more playing time than bendtner
impatient arsenal fans yes its annoying but its not all his fault the players aren’t showing full hunger and ability besides who’s gonna replace wenger at this moment get real!!!!
I’d hardly say arsenal fans being impatient but 5 years with out a league title looks very likely and with our squads we have had that is not good
@ topgunna – Therein lies thr problem. The avg age of tis team is some 22-23 yrs. No one, not even Arsene Wenger can work miracles, I doubt very much that anyone would want the job. Unless the board decide to free up the cash to bring in experience. I heard taht the look on Fabregas’ face was awful. Like he is ready to join his best friend Hleb.
exactly…denlison on right midfield..i dnt understand dat
basic selections….i think i was being over the top when said arsene should be replaced…but come on man,stoke
2 big strikers upfront??…..why??
which player of our today could run in behind stoke’s defenders apart from clichy lol…
we lack soo much pace 2…
we need to go back to the overmars,anelka,adams,winterburn,seaman says..
stong defence (adams & so on)….powerful midfield (vieria & so on)….and pacy strikers
5 year without a league title – so what! 46 years for the rubbish down at the lane. 17 years for Liverpool. Have either of these teams built new stdiums in the last 5 years? No. I would like arsenal fans support the team and the fantastic football they play – not help the media destroy it!
But guys…we have potential….we will learn from our mistakes….haha. Same old interviews from Wenger for the last few years. We can’t hide behind our youth and inexperience anymore. Admit it, the likes of Denilson will never cut the Arsenal level.
neither of the CBs is reliable….
Denilson maybe, maybe not who knows wether he will be in the first team for long. Ramsay, Wilshire, Fabregas, Walcott, Vela who out of those 5 players should be replaced at the club. OK I agree we need someone to play alongside Kolo but thats it.
why does everyone say denilson….like fabregas has been any better this season
and adebayor….with them wages he gets..he should be tucking a goal in for us….come on
Silvestre actually seems to be our best CB. But who should we buy? All the really good CBs seem to be at good teams competing against us in the CL or PL. Michael Turner from Hull, maybe? But seriously, no one but someone like Vidic, Ferdinand, or Puyol would give us a substantial boost unless we get our team spirit and everything back.
What about upson! I think the team needs it fans especially Cesc. What that lad has done for this club is unbelieveable. Get behind the team and please stop having a go at them. The media are more than capable of doing that!
Talk about this match for fuck’s sake. Use Arsenal-Mania if you want to discuss the joke that is our first team.
A Puyol-type is the last thing we need, he’s just like Gallas and Toure. Small(er than both of them) and pacy.
@ bloodbore8 – We don’t know who we can buy, but do you honestly believe that a manager as astute as Wenger with the network of scouts that he has can’t find a tall strong CB and DCM to get us going? Do you honestly believe that this is the case? If our ‘lives’ depended on it, he couldn’t fing anyone? I don’t buy it.
Does anyone know something about Nordtveit?
i agree derrick…there must be someone out there
i heard we are close to signing yaya toure…but i dont really want him…we have diaby already
do u people think denilson & song have a future at arsenal??
sky sports news:
Arsene Wenger conceded Stoke City were sharper physically after Arsenal slipped to a 2-1 defeat at the Britannia Stadium.
well, dats not good enough arsene
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anybody with enough brain power to stay on topic?
spurs winning is actually a good thing for the first time,
it still gives us a decent chance of winning the title, if we get our act together!!
cmon lads!
and fabianski is ready to step up to the plate, watch closely mauel, any more slip ups and thats it…
@ Samgooner4ever – Agreed. We started the day 6 pts behind the leaders and we finished the day in that position. Still worried though.
Samee..
Im quite worried about Man Utd next week!
But to be honest when we are potentially title contenders i think its best that we have a start like this than to finish like this, get all the poor form out of the way before christmas with some decent points on the table, going into the second half of the season all guns blazing,
C’mon You Gunnners!
And Calling for Wenger’s Head is ludicrous!
As i saw on the BBC 606, cant be true gooners in my opinion!
18s were great today! Get some in the first team!!
J. Sanderson!
Do you know when will announce Havard’s comeback at arsenal.com?
You’re all morons.
score line predictions against manchester utd wid all our players out????
How is the yids winning a good thing?,We have no chance of finishing ahead of Chelsea or man u and it’s better the scouse murderers win the league than those cunts.Also needless to say the yids are our scum local rivial’s you plastic cunts.
Despite the aweful senior results, I don’t think calling for Wenger’s head makes any sense. But he has to change some things to address some worrying problems:
– Our defense. How is it we can go year after year unable to properly defend set pieces or score from them ourselves? We need better defensive coaching.
– Our tactics. Why are we playing so narrow? We need width. We need to be able to break down defenses. Right now we can’t. If we can’t unlock Stoke with 72% of the possession, how can we be serious title contenders?
– Player commitment is waning. If we get a bad result we should be putting it behind us quickly so there is no impact on the next game. But just look at Cesc at the moment. His head is somewhere else and his form is very average. Denilson is actually performing better. The squad needs some hard-headed, experienced leadership. It has to come in in January.
– Poor form can’t be rewarded. Good form needs to be. Vela has been excellent when he’s been given a decent go (I don’t mean the last 5 minutes of a game) but he doesn’t get a start. Why didn’t Djourou get a start last night. Better than an unfit jaded Toure.
No question, Wenger must shoulder some of the responsibility for the poor form. The tactics, the selections, the squad balance – these areas rest with him, and they are causing us problems at the moment. It’s primarily up to Wenger now to show some leadership of his own and address them. No glossing over the cracks. Arsenal need to start backing up their stylish play with silverware. Thats already looking like a big ask just 11 games into the season.
I think that Wenger firstly need to change Almunia and to bring FAbianski bc in last 4 games he didnt make a clean sheet and concede 9 goals. He is main problem. Secondly, he need to put Djouru in for Toure. Lets him and Silvestre make deffense pal. And finally Wenger need or to play with 5 in midfield or to play 4-4-2 until January market and to gamble with squad and title hopes. We lack in defensive midfielder and thats a truth now.We oncede goals from squads that made as same shoots on our goal. I dont belive what Im seeing bc we used to see good games and good results too, but only hope that I have is to belive in an old saying ” he who smiles last have sweetest smile.
What is some peoples problem, i mean get a grip dude,
id rather spurs beat liverpool then liverpool ending the day 9 points infront,
use your brain before you speak mate, and your mouth needs rinsisng, theres no need for that language here
And beeny i agree with you, djourou needs a chance to prove his worth, if i were him id be breaking my neck to get into that fragile defence, hes a powerful lad.
*benny
i agree benny…
but whos going to be the lone striker….ade cant do it every game…and bentdner’s work rate is not good enough…
and also where does this leave van persie??
toure is still our best defender….it would be crazy to drop him
In game against fenerbahce wenger did well with 4-5-1.Don’t forget that van persie can play as a winger, or in case when Ade is out, to change roles with Diaby. Colo Toure is not at his best and in last game it was his mistake on first goal and Djouru is more fresh and more powerfull than Toure. Thanks God that Eduardo is near to get back in squad and we hope that he will change our game as it did last year. We missed him an his great finishing game too.
I thought this was an Arsenal youth blog? Jamie goes to the trouble of writing about the game and not one of you has acknowledged the performance by the under 18’s or Jamie’s report. There are plenty of places you can go an rant about the first team, if that floats your boat.
Thanks for the report Jamie and well done lads.
Jamie,did Zac Ansah score again for the u16’s at the weekend?
Something tells me Samgooner followed the team from 98 onwards
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