This is the first in a series of articles this week previewing the upcoming season for Arsenal’s Reserves and Academy. In this article I look ahead to the upcoming Carling Cup campaign, always a great chance for Arsenal to blood their youth players into first team football.
Firstly, it must be mentioned that there are limiting factors as to how many of our youth players can play a significant part in this year’s tournament. When fit, we actually have a large first team squad. Players who were considered “young guns” last year are now in the First Team squad, but will still not be playing regularly enough to warrant a rest for the Carling Cup. The likes of Wilshere, Ramsey, Vela, Gibbs, Fabianski and Traore will play a large role in this year’s tournament.
However, even with this senior spine, the squad will definitely be padded out with the core of last year’s U18 side, and any reserve players who aren’t on loan. The issue of further loans will certainly affect the make-up of the team, with Hoyte, Randall, Lansbury, Simpson and Barazite all likely to start in the Cup if they’re still at the club by the end of August. It’s more likely though, that at least 2 or 3 of these players will spend the season away from the club, leaving younger players to fill their space.
So, who will get their chance? Although obviously dependent on their form in the early stages of the season, we can look at performances last year and during pre-season and judge who may play a part. Sanchez Watt, for example, has played a larger than expected part in pre-season and will be looking to start as part of the front three, assumingpresuming Arsenal play the same 4-3-3 formation that the First Team have adopted. Conversely, Jay Emmanuel Thomas will believe that his performances last season may earn him a similar role. Frimpong and Coquelin will also point to their partnership last year as a case for their inclusion. Up top, Rhys Murphy and Giles Sunu will hope for some game time, but competition will be fierce with Wilshere and Vela presuming leading the line. In defence, Bartley and Ayling may play a role following their impressive outings last year.
Depending on the make up of the starting line-up some of the academy’s leading lights may get a role as a substitute, with Luke Freeman, Benik Afobe and Connor Henderson all possibilities.
Whatever the team, you can be sure that Arsenal will challenge for this trophy once again with a dazzling array of talented youngsters. If they are to lift this Cup then it would be a fitting testament to the quality of our academy and the promise of some of these lads.
Article By – Gianni Sonvinco
Has Merida actually gone yet? I thought he had however he was with us for Valencia, so I’m not sure if Rosicky’s injury is holding this up. I’m looking forward to the carling cup this year, our youngsters are, at times, more exciting to watch than our first team with the exception of one or two players.
I’m not sure about our defense, as if I’m honest I’m not too aware of our defensive talents outside of our first team, however I’d say our CC team will be:
Fabianski,
Hoyte, Djourou, Silvestre?, Gibbs
Ramsey, Coquelin, Lansbury/Traore
Wilshere, Bendtner, Vela
I really think bartley and ayling could play in arsenal defence. Henri lansbury is injured apparently hes picked up a groin injury so he could play more in Carling cup. What happening to randall?
I heard JET was goin to sheffield Wednesday.
Gianni: Re-reading your work can be invaluable :) Still a good article though.
Presuming certain loans (such as Merida to Levante; E-Thomas to Wednesday etc.), my choice would be:
Scejzeny (or however you spell it.)
Eboue Djourou Ayling Gibbs
Lansbury Coquelin Ramsey
Wilshere Barazite Vela
Subs: Fabianski, Gavin, Bartley, Frimpong, Traore, Watt, Afobe.
What I think it will be:
Fabianski
Hoyte Senderos/Ayling Silvestre Gibbs
Wilshere Ramsey Randall Traore(/Rosicky if getting back to fitness)
Vela Barazite
Subs: Mannone, Bartley, Ayling/Eastmond, Lansbury, Coquelin, Simpson, Watt.
yo chris, is there any news on Jay Emmanuel Thomas going on loan, just a freind of mine close to shef wednesday said they are hoping to get him on loan?
Mannone
Hoyte, Bartley, Ayling, Gibbs
Ramsey, Coquelin, Thomas
Barazite, Sunu, Vela
Fabianski
Hoyte Ayling Djourou gibbs/traore
Merida Coquelin Ramsey
Wilshere Bendtner Vela
Fabianski is out for two months and the CC 3rd round is in a month. That mean ether Szczesny or Monnone will play. Will be intresting to see who Wenger prefers. Hope it is Szczesny, he seems more talented to me.
The rest of the team really depends on who will stay and who will go out on loan. Hope the starting eleven will be something like this:
Szczesny
Hoyte – Bartley – Ayling – Gibbs
Ramsey – Coquelin – Merida
Wilshere – Barazite – Vela
Monnone, Frimpong, Afobe, Watt, Lansbury, Cruise, Eastmond
Randall, Simpson, Sunu, Murphy, Thomas out on loan.
Szczesny
hoyte ayling djourou gibbs
lansbury coquelin ramsey
wilshere bendtner vela
5 english and a welshmen. Though i think one of denilson diaby and song will start ahead of lansbury.
Bench
Barazite
watt
walcott
frimpong
bartley
traore
silvestre.
Mannone
Hoyte – Silvestre– Djourou– Gibbs
Ramsey – Coquelin – Lansbury
Wilshere – Vela– Barazite/Watt
Mannone
Hoyte – Silvestre– Djourou– Gibbs
Lansbury – Ramsey – Coquelin – Traore
Wilshere – Vela
It will be one of those 2 teams.
Sczesny
Hoyte Djourou Silvestre Gibbs
Merida–Ramsey–Coquelin–Traore
———–Wilshere
———–Vela
or diaby for coquelin and barazite for traore, as long as all the players stay at the club this season.
I read some spanish reports and looks like Merida to Levante is off. According to Levante’s director, the deal was ready but Monsieur Wenger did not want to part with Merida just yet. He explained that Fran will have plenty of opportunites to play for Arsenal this year. Wenger seems to rate him highly and Im sure wants to give him more minutes on the pitch.
I’m looking forward to seeing JET, Coquelin, Barazite and of course JFW in action (loans pending). Sometimes the CC squad provides more excitement than our 1st team (unfortunately). But its always great seeing our next crop of youngsters come thru the ranks
Szczesny
coquelin-bartley/ayling-djourou-gibbs
ramsey-lansbury-merida
wilshere-barazite-vela/watt
no.9, you reckon walcott will be on the bench? as opposed to a goalie. I doubt it
walcott has to be on the bench otherwise if we’re losing we’ll only have barazite and watt and maybe traore who can come and help us win.
if you think about this year, he had even less experienced players on the bench to those that were starting.
whAt are you saying ctocker, you think its better having not even one half experienced player on the bench. Without one we’re gonna just as bad as last year in this cup/
When you lot step back and take a look and then have a lil think about the team that WEM has posted, does anyone else start drooling? Haha.
Just kidding, but that team, even though they lack experience will probably produce a more exciting brand of football than anything our first might even match this season. They all play with that freedom and love to express themselves and if AW can get that team to play as a unit then we’ll definitely be in for a treat. I would play Eboue ahead of Hoyte though as although there’s something about his attitude that i admire, i think he’s a bit of a liability.
Just the thought of Vela, Barazite and Wilshere playing that interchange game, with quick one/two touch passing and movement mixed in with a bunch of flair and creativity and backed by Coquelin, Ramsey and Merida for equal measure and a solid English wall in the shape of Ayling and Bartley behind them that actually love to defend sends a shudder down my spine. Not to mention an attacking full-back in the shape of Gibbsy who when he does get forward doesn’t fuck up his end delivery 9 times out of 10 (i love Clichy, Sagna and Eboue to some extent, but they really try my patience with their constant failure to deliver), and not to forget a magnificent young keeper who really, really has world class potential.
Two things though:
AW seems to rate Frimpong ahead of Coquelin (although many a Gooner see it the other way round) so if any one of the two plays it’ll probably be Manny.
Also, if Eboue doesn’t play in this comp (which i doubt) i believe Gilbert will play ahead of Hoyte (if they’re both kept at the club).
Our cc team will be our 1st team if they keep getting injured at this rate..
Szczesny
Eastmond Bartley Ayling gibbs
lansbury Frimpong ramsey
wilshere Barazite vela
I think it would be harsh to bench Djourou/Silvestre in both the Carling Cup and the first team so they might play
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Think people are being too optimistic about the number of youth players who will make it to the carling cup. It’s essentially for young first team players and the substitute goal-keeper. The regulars last year were Fabianski, Hoyte, Gibbs, Song, Djourou, Randall, Wilshere, Ramsey, Merida, Vela and Bendtner. Of these eleven who does Wenger consider first team players? From the season before he’d promoted Almunia, Walcott and Denilson and they didn’t feature last time. So maybe Song, Djourou and Bendtner wouldn’t feature this time round. Last time the real break through players were Wilshere, Ramsey, Hoyte, Gibbs and later on Simpson as Bendtner saw more first team action. Hope Lansbury gets a look in!
I think this is really interesting because the team has been getting younger and younger recently.
I think Frimpong will play – he was on the bench at Portsmouth and played against Barnet.
I think Coquelin or Landsbury might play RB as this is their best opportunity in the first team atm altough Hoyte needs the chance to show whether he’s got a chance or not.
Maybe
Mannone
Coquelin Ayling Bartley Traore/Gibbs
Lansbury Frimpong (Merida/JET if not on loan)/Traore/Rosicky
Watt Vela Barazite
exciting times http://s.wordpress.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
I’m pretty certain that our 4th and 5th choice centre backs are going to play instead of the FA Youth Cup fellas. As that stands, it’s Senderos and Silvestre. However, if Senderos is sold and someone like Hangeland is bought in (and I’m not saying this will definitely happen, or that it’ll be BH), I guess we are looking at Djourou and Silvestre.
I believe it was Goodplaya who made an excellent point that if Senderos was ‘replaced’, (or even returns to his astonishing pre-Gallas form) we will be dramatically improving our defence over what is was last season with another ‘big fella’ defender and I think people forget this too easily.
Let’s not get carried away, many reserves will start but like the previous seasons most of the eleven are fringe but first team members. If it’s the traditional 4-4-2 it will be:
Vela, Simpson
Wilshire, Merida, Ramsey, Watt
Gibbs, Ayling, Djourou, Hoyte
Mannone
Or the first team’s 4-3-3:
Vela, Simpson, Wilshire
Thomas, Randall, Merida
Gibbs, Ayling, Djourou, Hoyte
Mannone
That’s presuming no one goes on loan. Anyway, Arsenal.com have updated their squad lists for 2009/2010, Merida and Szczesney are now officially first team with #46 and #53. Also, most of the players from the Reserves have a first team squad number, despite not being included in the first team roster.
Ye I noticed that Merida now is officially first team member. Do you think this means he is not going to Levante?
Frimpong IN – Randall has to GO
Crocker94 – Merida is staying due to key injuries on nasri and rosicky
Samuel – I’m one of the few Gooners who doesn’t want Senderos to go. Like you say, he is the ‘big fella’ we need in those games against the bully boys. I’ve always maintained that he is the most unluckiest player i’ve ever seen. He’ll play great for the whole game and then have a lapse in concentration and we end up conceding. I’ve seen the great Tony Adams and Martin Keown make similar mistakes that didn’t lead to goals conceded but whenever Senderos has done so it has usually led to a goal against us. When he is 28 (Hangeland’s age) he will be a great defender and we will rue the day we let him leave.
Before anyone jumps the gun, i’m not saying let’s wait 4 years for him to come good, he’s already good. I’m saying we should wait four years for him to become one of the great CB’s around. I’m quite sure of that. All the adversity he has faced will push him to prove people wrong! Tony Adams was infamously known as ‘Donkey’ throughout his younger years.
Doubt if Afobe will be involved. Did you see the two goals from his u17 team mate Connor Wickham (16) for Ipswich in the CC.
Merida is not going. It’s confirmed on skysport.com amongst others.
TJ DA GOON, completely agree with your words about Senderos. 04/05 he was amazing. Upson is a good example of where Senderos can be, though I believe Senderos will be better
I think he will too sebjob
could be senderos and djourou is the players wenger is assessing maybe together with barazite and merida. logical especially players like senderos that have been away are players wenger would assess
in assessing meaning the balance and need of the squad he talks about
Would like to see our big phil prove critics wrong.. Defenders are usually in their prime late 20’s to mid 30’s, so he may do the job yet..
I agree, I really hope Senderos stays. It will cost us some money to keep him but it will pay back manifold. He is way better than Silvestre and more experienced than Djourou. Vermaelen and Gallas were fantastic today but injuries to them would leave us to bare bones. Song can’t be considered a CB as he is the automatic starter for the DM position.
I agree, I really hope Senderos stays. It will cost us some money to keep him but it will pay back manifold. He is way better than Silvestre and more experienced than Djourou. Vermaelen and Gallas were fantastic today but injuries to them would leave us to bare bones. Song can’t be considered a CB as he is the automatic starter for the DM position.
As for the first game in the CC.In goal we might see Mannone as Fabiansky is injured for few weeks. I would like to see Tech9 but Wenger seems to believe in Vito and he will probably be given the chance.
In defence we will keep the same form as last year, except that Song will not play as he is our first DM. So Senderos might come in (if not sold), otherwise we might have to do with Silvestre taking a slot from Bartley or Ayling. Why do people suddenly rate Ayling higher than Bartley? I would think that Kyle was ahead in the pecking order. So the defence might be Hoyte–Djourou–Bartley–Gibbs
Midfield will be different this year as we will only have three players. I can’t see Randall staying and I really hope others get the chance ahead of him. Ramsey and Merida are automatic picks but the third spot is a question. Coquelin will be looking to fill that, as well as Lansbury. Otherwise Wilshere might play in front of Ramsey and the Spaniard. So we could look at that spot at the same time as the three forward spots. In those four spots we will at least have Wilshere and Vela. Bendtner is too involved with the first team to play this year. But another candidate would be Armand Traore for the left forward slot. He is surely not putting Gibbs out of LB so it’s the only other option for him. Therefore, my personal pick would be:
———-Szczecny———-
Hoyte–Djourou–Bartley–Gibbs
——-Ramsey–Lansbury——
———Merida————–
—Wilshere–Vela–Traore—-
Of those, 7 players started last year, 1 came off the bench, 1 would have played if not for loan and two newcomers in Bartley and Szczesny.
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