As Arsenal look forward to an F.A Cup Quarter Final clash with Hull City, Arsène Wenger will no doubt be delighted that his options have been boosted with the likes of Theo Walcott and Eduardo returning to action.
But while those more established names get back into the groove, the boss will be equally pleased with the progress of Kieran Gibbs, who put in an almost faultless performance left back.
His form has been pretty good since Wenger converted him to full back last season, but the odd mistake has limited the Lambeth born starlet from kicking on. Yet, although Burnley are not the biggest of names, Kieran looked assured and confident and dealt with the danger very well when called upon.
Gibbs is no longer a surprise name on the team sheet, and with Gael Clichy struggling to replicate the form shown last term, Wenger could turn to the England Under 21 international if he decided that Gael needed a break.
He demonstrated that he is learning a great deal this afternoon. As Wade Elliott attempted to attack him in the second period, Kieran stood his ground, and the frustrated Elliott lashed his cross over the bar. The attacking side to his game was also present, as the 19-year-old cropped up in the box late on, and frequently tried to play forward passes, with mixed results.
The F.A Cup and closing moments of Premiership games show that Wenger is nto afraid to throw the prospect in at the deep end, so why not give him a start?
Your opinions are welcome.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Definitely agree with most of that. As I read on another site, Man USA may have Rafael, but we’ve got Gibbs.
Similar to Rafael I believe he needs time to develop the defensive side of his game. Bombing forward and providing good quality crosses and attacking contributions he can match Clichy, he also has that recovery pace, but I hope in time his defensive awareness improves.
Anybody know what Traoré’s future holds? He has been described by Wenger as a ‘monster’ talent, looked good at the back end of last season, and of course brought the infamous knuckle-dusters to Shite Hart Lane thus placing him within Gooner folklore already.
He’s looked decent at left wing whenever I’ve seen him for Pompey, I just don’t really see a place for him the squad next season. Anybody got a view or have any more insight?
Gibbs is a legend. Nice to see and academy product (well, Wimbledon) getting chances in the side.
Keep up the good work J
I appreciate what you say, and next season Gibbs could easily play 25 games. I feel there is just a bit too much riding on the remains of this season. Clichy is very experienced despite his age and slight form dips aside is the still the best left back we have. I have seen clichy mark the likes of Ronaldo out of a match.
Gibbs is quality and hopefully will continue to develop. Its good we have someone who can deputise for Clichy. The LB conveyor belt keeps on churning em out!
yup i think kieran deserved the credit..he’s quick left footed and have a good composure.. i prefer kieran than traore
As for Traore… Well, I really hope there is a place for him at Arsenal, but havent seen him play for Pompey, so havent got a clue hows he’s been doing on the left wing?
Maybe he could be an option for us on the left as back up to Nasri, Arshavin, etc… Given our usual bad luck with injuries, the more options we have the better, IMO.
He’s very impressive,even more so that left back is not his natural position. I’ve never seen Pedro play, only a few highlights so I’m not sure how good he is and not sure what’s going to happen with Traore but in Gibbs he looks like a great prospect. If he had a decent right foot like RVP he could have had a pop at goal that would have most likely went into the back of the net.
Clichy is definatley our first choice left back. And Gibbs is getting his games in as Gael’s understudy. And what a student he is. Kieran has all the attributes to be a top class LB or LM and he has a great mentor in front of him, as did Gael with Cole in front of him. Now the question next term will be what to do with Traore? He is a great talent, one that I’d hate Arsene to let go of. We could utalize him at LM for FA, CC, and some premiership games because we know we’ll have some injuries in the midfield department next season. But what does Arsene do? Once Clichy has served his term at the club and who knows how long that will be with Clichy looking like the loyalist Gunner around. The position will be left to either Kieran or Armand.
Armand is strong, big, physical, fast, and technically gifted. He’s the type of LB that Arsneal have never really had and I LOVE that. I love his versatility. I hope his future lies with the Arsenal because with him infront of Gael/Gibbs that creates a dynamically defensive wing just as equally effective at stiffling attacks,as well at sparking them, on the wing as our other defensive wing duo of Eboue and Sagna.
Arsene can create a very unique wing play system at Arsenal. With attacking left and right backs and defensive/attacking wingers.
We played Burnley. Don’t overestimate his performance. Eboue even scored today….
OK, he’s a prospect, but he’s not a realistic cover for LB yet. He needs (a lot) more defensive awareness first…
Vela, Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky, Theo and Traore…. Thats a lot of options on the wings for next season and I aint even mentioned Wilshire… Oh i just did!
With the age of our first team being so low, if we manage to keep them together we are going to have real problems giving our talented youngsters a decent chance.
Can you see many of the current crop settling for a backup and cc role ?
Sadly like it happened for clichy, you need first teamers to either leave or get long term injured
Thor; No one is saying he is 1st choice LB yet, but he has done well when played, not just today, jeeeez, what is it some people just have to be sooooo effin negative?
Gibbs n Traore both are very young.right now they both can compite @ the very highest level.what i want mr.wenger to do next season is to sell eboue n for the left wing we can utilize nasri n traore as his backup.n in the right wing there wil be walcott n arshavin n clichy as our 1st choice LB n gibbs as backup for clichy
He is coming along nicely BUT there is a difference between playing well in odd matches and playing midweek followed by weekends matches and also giving 7/10 most of the time. So let him carry on his development bcuz the pressure of weekly performance is TOTALLY different.
Spike: Henry was moved to a forward position at 21, so I assume Theo will this time next year.
Rosicky’s future is still very unclear, I think counting him as a genuine option is being a bit too optimistic. IF he can add anything, great, but it’s all still a mystery. He didn’t have the best injury record before this all happened remember.
Arshavin has pretty much been bought to give Wilshere time, when he hits his 30s+, Wilshere will be of an age we can consider him properly. Plus, they play on the right.
Vela is a striker.
So that just leaves Nasri and Traore at LM as far as I’m concerned and maybe Merida. RM w/ Arshavin, Theo, Wilshere, Eboue and possibly Simpson and Lansbury seems much more of a mess.
It seems quite simple in fact. Nasri for games in which we prefer an offensive playmaker who has license to drift around, Traore for games in which a bit of defensive cover and pace is needed.
Now, at LB, it’s very much Clichy 1st choice, Gibbs 2nd, with Pedro, I believe, on loan for another season.
Dom: It’s a problem all clubs have and its routine sorting it out. Players just leave or stay and take a place. Take CM for example, Randall and Dunne leaves, Lansbury goes on loan to prove himself, Ramsey obv. stays. And players leave first teams too, like Flamini. It wasn’t that long ago that a similar large scale cull happened, when the likes of Lupoli and Muamba left while Bendtner and Djourou stayed etc.
Of all the criticisms that can be levelled at Wenger – you can’t pretend he doesn’t know what he’s doing with the evolving youngsters at the team.
Dont know what Thor’s on about. Okay, we played Burnley. But he was up against a player in Chris Eagles in the first half who is easily a Premier League player, and he didn’t do shit. I think his general awareness and positioning is very good bordering on excellent for a 19 year-old, recently converted full-back. He’s also very strong and composed on the ball, even more so than Gael (that doesn’t mean he’s better than Gael in case anyone’s thinking about jumping the gun and having a pop at me). He’s easily better at defending than Traore, hence the reason AW has decided to convert him to a full-back and asked Pompey to play Traore as a left-winger. He’s never let us down this season when called upon (i hope i aint just cursed the poor guy). He is easily England u-21’s best left back too. Fuck Joe Mattock and any other clown who may be there or thereabouts. Stuart Pearce knows too!
P.S. Alex Song was something else today.
I have been very impressive with Gibbs this season. He have performed very well in all the matches he played in. H e got better crosses than Clichy and can kick on goal.
clichy has made the most interceptions out of all premierleague players he is monster and still very young we havent seen the best of him yet, but it is good gibbs is putting pressure on him, bothelo is coming back from loan next season to so there will be lots of competion
Thanks TrueGooner for reminding me. Better end product than Gael too.
bury; I think henry was originally a striker at 17, then shifted out wide, then back again!
As for Arshavin… he can pla left, right or behind the striker. Vela may well eventually end up playing as a striker, but he can play LW too. You’re right about Rosicky tho, we won’t know till next season if he has finally recovered fully or not.
I think its a great problem to have, a lot of attacking options.
Then again, if Wenger continues playing a 4-2-3-1 formation, then that may well suit the type of players we have, as they will be able to drift all across
He’s been good all season, seems like he makes less misteaks every game. He’s tot he point now that he’s not to far. I would worry if I saw him start in a league game at all. I’m so happy for him.
I have to say that Kieran’s run today around about 4 players was magical, until he got to the penalty area! Elsewhere I feel that Alex Song was superb today, making numerous defensive interceptions as well 2 brilliant assists.
Armand Traore is now a left midfield player rather than a left back. His defending was not up to scratch.
Merida will be send on loan next year.
It has already been anounced that Pedro will again go loan next season. He cannot yet claim Spanish citizenship nor will he pass the permit (no playing selection with Brazil).
Next year Wilshere will continue his football education with maybe some loan.
Nasri and Traore will be dedicated Left midfield player. Traore being used when we need more defending or more physical presence (Hull, Stoke, Bolton). Rosicky is likely to be missing for at least three months of the season.
Do you have any news on Tomas Rosicky? I thought he was going to play in the reserves this month, is he still on course to play or has he suffered ANOTHER setback??
Where did you get that info Valentin? J, do you think Traore will stay with us next season? And do you think Wilshere will go on loan aswell?
3 months out of NEXT season? Erm, how you know this?
Have to say, some of the youth crop are showing tremendous potential. Still lots to prove but if they continue to mature some will make our squad and hopefully they will stay and fight and be patient like the Man Utd lot always seem to do. Look at the squad and who it could contain in a few years (if players stay at the mo):
Almunia (Fabianski)
Clichy (Gibbs)
Toure (Norveidt)
Gallas (Djourou)
Sagna (G.Hoyte)
Nasri (Rosicky, Traore, Pedro)
Song (Denilson, Coquelin, Thomas, Frimpong, Lansbury)
Fabregas (Diaby, Ramsey, Merida, Randall)
Arshavin (Theo, Wilshere)
RVP (Vela, Simpson, Afobe)
Eduardo (Adebayor, Bendtner)
—-
May be others I missed out on, but those are the squad players that have the most potential currently. Still be nice to see 1 or 2 experienced players come in to help aid the team (a CB or DM preferably).
I think bartley and Ayling are ahead of Nortveit…
did jeffrey monakana get a scholarship
did jeffrey monakana get a scholarship and who else got one????
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I remember Kieran Gibbs saying that he asked to play in defence by Arsene Wenger so as to develop his game. Essentially he thinks that he is a midfielder and he believes that Wenger feels the same. Gibbs wouldn’t be the first midfielder to develop his skills in defence. And if you don’t believe me ask Gilberto Silva! Not forgeting the great German Paul Breitner among others.
ohh my, what a mess. these quality players are giving me headache. i cant think of the future team, better let wenger decide on that.
but overall im happy we have such quality players coming through.
just wondering, why arsenal never produce a decent right back? hmmm…watever, come on arsenal!!!
Have to say, some of the youth crop are showing tremendous potential. Still lots to prove but if they continue to mature some will make our squad and hopefully they will stay and fight and be patient like the Man Utd lot always seem to do. Look at the squad and who it could contain in a few years (if players stay at the mo):
Almunia (Fabianski)
Clichy (Gibbs)
Toure (Norveidt)
Gallas (Djourou)
Sagna (G.Hoyte)
Nasri (Rosicky, Traore, Pedro)
Song (Denilson, Coquelin, Thomas, Frimpong, Lansbury)
Fabregas (Diaby, Ramsey, Merida, Randall)
Arshavin (Theo, Wilshere)
RVP (Vela, Simpson, Afobe)
Eduardo (Adebayor, Bendtner)
—-
May be others I missed out on, but those are the squad players that have the most potential currently. Still be nice to see 1 or 2 experienced players come in to help aid the team (a CB or DM preferably).
BTW I love your blog!
Barazite.
It’s amazing where we are with left backs considering before A. Cole we had no real cover for Silvinho and Winterburn before that. I remember when we hd to play our RB’s as Left back, luzhny and lauren spring to mind.
Traore is still young and so is Botelho so hopefully they’ll push on but defensively Gibbs looks to be the best at the moment but that is not saying too much. Let’s give the boy a few more months as he is yet to face a top quality winger. Next up, Mendy and then Kalou. Then we will see.
was he really that good in that game? i was not impressed. he still has a lot to improve, especially 50-50 tackling.
bury; I think henry was originally a striker at 17, then shifted out wide, then back again!
—
theo was a striker at southampton!
This article is jumping the gun WAY to fast.
First,m The opposition was Burnley. Gibbs is not challenging Clichy until we could put him in vs Man U or Chelsea and he doesnt get crushed by the likes of Ronaldo or Joe Cole.
Second even vs Burnley, Gibbs was not closing down crosses fast enough for my liking. A better opponent would punish this with more acurate crosses and ebtter finishing.
That said, Gibbs is making fast progress and unlike many of ouryoungesters he seems strong mentally and physically. He is a premeier league ATHELETE. I think he needs to be groomed also at left midfield and made to work on his right foot, which is useless at the moment. That will allow him to do more offensively coming inside.
Traore is also a preier league athelte in terms of speed and size. But he lacks strength still and his decision making both offensive and defensive, is lacking. Defensively, this is no crime as he is clearly not got defensing in his blood. He should be groomed to provide the thrust and speed on the left, that Walcott does on the right. NONE of our LMs (Nasri, Rosicky and even Arshavin) can provide that kind of dominant speed and potential physical strength ( Traore is 6 foot one or two) that he can. But he needs to bre brought back here and groomed for this. And stop wasting his time as a left back. He has a left fooot for crosssing, potentially as godo as Beckhams crosses. But the rest of his game needs rounding off.
Anyway this is encouraging. We have for far too long been a team full of midget weaklings and these two kids are real athletes. We need more like that, to take us back to the days when the like sof Henry, Pires, Bergkamp, Wiltord and so on would put a HURTING on teams with 2-3 passses end-to-end to score on the break.
Jay didnt you once say that JET looked quite poor in the reserves. I´ve got the feeling that he´s looking good this your because of his height and body advantage and that coquelin and possibly frimpong are more talented.
Do you think that frimpong has similar talent to muamba? I would love them to make it but its a big step up and i think that most likely only coquelin, gibbs, wilshere and maybe afobe (havent seen him play yet) will make it.
Peeze, it’s a mistake to think that Jay Thomas looks good because of his height, he is a very skillful player , always confortable in possession. That’s his main strength.
It’s a question I would ask about Afobe though, does he score so many goals because of his incredible talent or is it because he already has a man’s body?
I don’t forsee Traore competing with Gibbs in the deputy for Clichy. Traore is defensively poor at LB. In fact his tries at the position didn’t end well. Re: Arsenal Manu FA Cup at Old Trafford. Spurs CC game, Serville CL, all last season, matches he was very poor.
Arsene decided to push him forward and he showed signs of promise. Lately he’s not featured in Portsmouth games so it means his progress as stalled.
AW will keep Gibbs at LB deputising for Clichy and keep Traore at LM however, with so many players at LM, the future don’t look good for him expecially with Rosicky also coming back.
Armand Traore doesn’t lack strength, he’s a beast and was a champion kick boxer before quitting to take up football, he’s been trained to use his body well and has a hell of a lot of upper and lower body strength, don’t let his slightness fool you, Essien did that in the Carling Cup Final when Traore was only 17 and got knocked to the ground twice…
Was wondering with all the talk focusing on the left back position what’s the view on Kerrea Gilbert. I know there has been a big question mark over his attitude given problems with previous loan deals but ths season he’s played in the majority of all conqueroring Leicester’s games. Haven’t seen him play so interested to know the opinion of anyone who has.
By the way saw Stokes score a fantastic goal for Palace at the weekend.
Kick boxing or no, Traore on the field is not able to put real strength to bear on people. He doesnt impose himself physcially defensively or offensively, which is why he is riding the pine still.
At the moment, he relies too much on speed and that sweet left foot cross. But he needs to look at Beckhan and broaden his game in the same way.
If he does that, then we have a champion left winger. Unreal.
But at the moment he is one legged, defensively naive even for a midfielder, and far too easily dispossed.