Arsenal Reserves put themselves back into contention for the Reserves League South title by beating a tricky Stoke City side 1-0 this evening. Nacer Barazite’s 8th minute strike was enough to defeat the Potters on a freezing night up North.
Stoke brought a strong side which included first-team players Diego Arismendi and Amdy Faye while £3.5 million ‘keeper Asmir Begovic made his debut between the sticks. Arsenal also included a scattering of first-team players, although they were all under 21. Luke Ayling captained for the first time while Francis Coquelin and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas were handed starts in new roles.
Mannone
Coquelin – Ayling (c) – Miquel – Cruise
Frimpong – Eastmond – Merida
Barazite – Thomas – Sunu
Subs: Shea, Evina, Yennaris, Henderson, Freeman.
In front of around 500 fans at Nantwich Town’s Weaver Stadium, Arsenal’s exciting forward line got straight to work on the Stoke backline. Flowing football between Fran Merida and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas created space and the Spanish midfielder had the first good chance, just firing wide. It was a warning, a warning which was not heeded, and with just 8 minutes on the clock, Nacer Barazite shook off any shackles by finishing well beyond Asmir Begovic.
Emmanuel-Thomas and Eastmond both had chances to extend the lead, but at half time it was 1-0 to Arsenal on a bitterly cold night.
The second half was a tight and physical affair. Crunching tackles were the orders of the final 45 but the game as a contest really came to a head and ended just before the break when Arismendi was dismissed for a straight red card. Dutchman Barazite was then withdrawn shortly after the hour mark, with another step in his rehabilitation complete. Luke Freeman replaced him moving out to the left while Sunu switched to the right.
There was a selection of further chances but the three points head back to London with the Gunners, who are now right back in the title tilt.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Good to see Barazite back. I’ve missed lots of reserve matches lately so have no idea when he’s returned.
Good for us, why did Begovic move, only to play reserve football?
Pleased Sunu, Ayling, Cruise, Miquel, Frimpong all got chances.
great, so 1-0 all around today
J, is there any way we can watch the goal?
Where can I C R goal from Liverpool match ?
I want to watch it now, put multiple links through, someone help please>
http://arsenalist.com/
u can see the goal there
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2010/02/10/arsenal-1-0-liverpool-premier-league-highlights-video/
here Bedeuro
From what I remember I was always impressed with Lukes “never-give-up” attitude, which can win for hom place in the reserves now, and maybe in the first team in the future. Shame not everyone make it here…
Its not the place but.. anyone know is Eboues contract expires at the end of the this season? It was mentioned in the press but not by Wenger what was the case with Gallas, Senderos, Silvestre and Campbell (strange really thats only CBs). So next season we have defence of TV5 and Djourou with back-up of Bartley, Nodrtveit(?) this kid Savic and Ayling? lol
Are Merida or Sunu going to sign new deals?
Begovic probably left because Portsmouth is definitely going down (and they needed the money from the sale).
i’ll like to see barazite start a game in the first team. i’ve always said he’s our best striker in the reserves
@ jack, dont sleep on the boy Ayling, others might get more hype than him BUT they are definately NOT better than him. Exceptional organiser of players around him, reads the game well, excellent in the air, elegance with ball at his feet, just wait till he is physically developed then you will see.
Good report JS.
Really good to see Barazite back again, hopefully he can kick on and make an impression in the coming Reserves games.
I just have a feeling that Barazite could be really big for us. I never really saw Bendtner in the reserves. I didn’t see RVP either. From past performances as well as this one tonight, does anyone think that Barazite can enjoy this kind of success?? As long as he isn’t injured. Bendtner played well today, but he is a much different player than Van Persie. I get the feeling that Barazite is more similar to Van Persie than Bendtner. Is that correct??
Anyone know whether merida will resign with is?
I don;t think barazite has the strength or ability to be a lone striker. I remember his game for Derby against United, he seemed very light. I think his life will always be on the wing.
barazite to me is more like KAKA
When Bendtner was in the reserves and under 18s he was scoring freely hence his rapid promotion to the first team. I think he was scoring 20+ goals a season – both him and Lupoli.
Barazite is abit similar to Pires the way he runs with the ball and his finishing, pleased to see him back.
Yeah he does seem similar to Pires!
Nobody should ever get it twisted. Luke Ayling was a big, big reason the under 18’s last year were so successful. It’s no surprise the game he comes back, he helps with a shut-out of a very tricky Stoke side. Great talent. He could easily be our Terry in years to come. A great leader of men.
Noone seems phased by j.e.t playing up top!? Versatilitys good don’t get me wrong but to reach his full potential he needs to focus on one posistion and the aspects of the game that comes with it.
s – I really think that is his best position.
Everyone seems to be really high on this Ayling kid. I hope you guys are right. Bazarite looks like a mini Ibrahimovic to me.
So who should we sign in the summer?
Obasi, Gameiro, Ba, Lloris, Mandanda, Sakho, Sissoko, Corchia, Onouha, Vertonghen, Subotic,
Id b happy with any 1 one them.
Any more details on how JET played up top?
so what’s the deal with Coquelin and JET in different positions? Is Coquelin being groomed as a right back? And is JET going to be a forward instead of a midfielder?
@ Bedeuro
I don’t want any signing. I want anyone of our very promising players to get a chance. If you’re not doing good in the first team then you have lost your chance and someone else should get a chance. If we now sign new players in any position our promising youngsters will not get a chance. Vela is not even in the bench anymore. Imagine RVP, bendtner, eduardo and chamakh being healty.. atleast 2 will not make the bench. Vela might take a place outwide but walcott is ahead of him for some reason. If we sign any player it has to be world class becouse we have already prospects coming through.
Jom – Vela is injured at the moment thats why he isnt on the bench. Whilst he hasnt really impressed when given a chance i think he a bit better than Walcot. I agree with your other points thought.
This was a very good win. Both first team and the reserves pulled out 1-0 wins. Way to go garoto. http://bobbygee.wordpress.com/
@ chazwazza
Are you sure? I haven’t heard anything of an injury. Even when he is fit I can’t see him make the bench easily.
Carlos Vela has a knee injury and missed the trip to Chelsea and the home win over Liverpool. http://www.arsenal.com/the-match/injury-news
Anyone know what happened with Galindo in the end?
Coquelin and Eastmond switch is weird, especially as La Coq didn’t seem up to it at Stoke always drifting central!
do you think there is a good chance of the sunu loan move to derby going ahead i? I personally hope it does as i rate him highly and think it would be good experience for him aslong as he would get game time.
I thought vela was starting to improve. you can’t say he’s really had massive opportunity when he usually only comes on for 15 mins or less. That doesn’t give you serious game time.
Anyway, glad that Barazite is getting back to fitness. It will be interesting to see what happens up-front (i.e. front 3) next season. Barazite, Thomas, Simpson, Watt may all be ready to break into the first team. Vela and Walcott will start to get squeezed out if they don’t produce. Freeman, Sunu, Afobe won’t be far behind either.
I thought Vela was improving as well, largely because he was being played in his appropriate position in our 4-3-3. He’s probably best played as a second-striker, but can fill in quite well as a left-winger in our 4-3-3. Earlier in the season Wenger was playing him, in his limited appearances, as a spearhead of our attack and he was getting crowded out of the game, similar to how Arshavin largely his when he’s put in the same position. You could really see that in the West Ham FA Cup match that when he was switched over to the left-wing and just completely terrorized them. He also, as seen with the cross for Eduardo’s goal, and his pass to Ramsey for the other goal, has improved his set-up play, so those ragging on Vela for lack of goals aren’t recognizing his other contributions. Walcott, on the other hand, has been played on the right-wing for years and this season has had almost completely zero production and has actually hurt our chances to score on several occasions.
Just finished watching the highlights on ATVO and the sending off was absolutely hilarious. Barazite scored a good goal and i gotta say Freeman is a very annoying young man. He can do some wonderful things sometimes, often carving out chances out of nothing through sheer doggedness but his finishing really needs to improve. He can easily get a hat-trick a game if his finishing was any better. I have great faith in him though.
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can someone upload the highlights of the reserve game vs stoke
@ amerigoon. i don’t know what to think of theo, and i don’t think anyone really does. the boss has utmost faith in him, but i’m struggling to see any signs of progression or improvement in critical parts of his game.
still, i won’t suppose to know better the AW, so if he says walcott should be better in 6 weeks, then i’ll wait and see.
but id he hasn’t started to produce by the end of the season, i can see him getting squeezed out of the starting lineup next year.
Everyone that seems to love to shoot down Theo and be confused on why Wenger has faith in him, here are some reasons. Did anyone see the goals he scored verse Germany for the u21s? Did anyone see him score a hat trick from the winger position for England verse Croatia. Did anyone see his performance verse Villareal last year with that beautiful chip over the keeper? Did anyone see that run against Liverpool in the champions league where he then set up Adebayor for the goal? These are reasons why Wenger has faith in Walcott. Yes I am like all of you, in the fact that I get frusterated when he does something random in the final third but I have also seem the things he can do. I just think we should give him until he is atleast 23 before we make to many final judgements on him.
Dis is Song en Diaby typ criticism 4rm last season nw its Walcott’s turn. he waz finally camin in2 his own lst cson. If nt 4 his u21 outing he wud hav bin rest en wud hav played preseason en u guy wud prob b on anada 1 of our players. So I blame Stuart Pearce (4 calling Walcott up) en Capello(4 suportin Walcott’s u21 co up).
I’ve liked the look of Barazite for years but how close is he to the first team in real terms in other peoples opinions? I know he’s making a comeback but could we see him on the bench before the season closes? or is he likely to head back out on loan before the March deadline?
@Shane I don’t think any of us forget any of those Walcott highlights, but its blatantly obvious that none of those you listed occurred this season and we’re halfway through February. I’m not saying Walcott can’t rediscover his form, but he’s not trending toward improvement – he’s flat-lining – and has been that way for a long time.
PPL are just stupid writing walcott off hes still 21. Wenger knows a how to make world class strikers ie anelka, henry.
Bendtner, walcott are going through what i call the adaptation period in the premiership the hardest thing is attacking because teams that often play against Arsenal will defend deep and with 10men.
Bendtner and walcott will learn how to break teams down with experience and age and will be better players.
In my opinion in the premiership the hardest position is up front especially nowdays.
Amerigoon…Walcott has been injured most of this year. You try playing football at a high level after you havent been playing in 2 months.
John- I agree. It is because of the pace and physicality of the league. In Spain, a kid can fall down when he is under pressure and he will get the foul. Iker Munian of atletico bilbao is the biggest example of that. In England, you have to fight of the tackle of grown men instead of falling over for the foul.
@ shane – i’m no way writing him off. i’d like nothing more than to see him recapture the form you’ve mentioned, but actually produce it on a regular basis so it is the norm rather than the exception. i think most people have this view.
there are of course some ‘fans’ that enjoy bagging players and calling for mass sackings. i don’t even try and understand that shit. i guess my concern with theo is that he is on a clock. the patience AW shows in him can’t be infinite. and if other players hit form in the meantime, he’ll slip down the pecking order, which will be a big shame.
theo is definitely a confidence player, and his confidence is down at the moment. both because of his injuries, and the fact he must realise he’s not producing his best. So i hope he isn’t flatlined for too long.
as long as he’s fit, it’s a situation he can control. any more injury setbacks though, and this season probably becomes a write-off, along with the world cup, and it will just be a harder road back for him.
but i’m truly wishing that he’s able to play his way back to his best form over the next month or so. what an asset he’d be for the run home to may.
@ john – yes, people are stupid if they write theo off at the age of 21. but that’s not what we’re doing here. merely hoping he can start improving and realise his potential. i think the key to that will be no mor injuries this season.
So we need a tough striker, who will fight more,
Tevez would’ve been great!
Would Walcott might get to play in the last 16 against Porto now that Arshavin is injured?? He might not start, but he really plays well in the Champions League, and the different defences that continental teams employ might help him get some extra room out there. He might not have played well in Europe this year, but he has been back a while now, so he might improve if he is given a chance on Wednesday. Yeah I’m with daspecimen. How many out there think that Barazite could make an impact by the end of this year or next year??
take out that “might” lol. That was a weird sentence.
Bedeuro….You keep listing all these random players that we “should sign” and half of them, we cant and the other half arent better then the guys we have.
Shane, I said ‘would’ve’ , not we should, lol,
You dont have 2 agree.
As soon as I say a player i like, you try to make it out that I’m trying to get wenger to sign him.
He works harder, my Dad n bro r manu supporters so I have to watch their matches, and i was always impressed by Tevez (and welbeck)
Dont worry, I support Arsenal,
I mean, Tevez is one of the hardest working players ive seen,
They are not random,
They arent out of our league,
They arent worse than our players.
Nordtveit again didn’t make the bench today and I haven’t seen any news of him being injured. Not good.
they brought in a few defenders in the window so will be tough for him to get games now
That was to be expected, after Nuremburg sign 3 players on loan not to be relegate
Damn,
Perhaps a loan spell to Celta might be a good idea for Nordveit.
FC Nuremberg signed CB Breno and DM Ottl from Bayern Munich and DM Tavares from HSV in January on loan, but I think the change in manager matters more. The new manager, Dieter Hecking, has no loyalty to Nordtveit or Wenger which the first manager, Michael Oenning, had pursued and worked with, respectively, and consequently he played every time Nordtveit was healthy.
Its too bad Arsenal couldn’t or wouldn’t recall Nordtveit in January after the change in management and their subsequent loan signings. He didn’t like Spain, so I don’t think Celta would have been a good destination, and, really, I think going to a Championship side, like Bartley did going to Sheffield United, would have better prepared him for the physicality of playing in England, especially since he’s not an aggressive player to begin with. Its that side of his game that needs the most improvement and Spain isn’t the best place to cultivate that.
Maybe Crystal Palace or Derby
I don’t think Nordtveit can be recalled – most long-term loan signings don’t have a provision for that. The situation is somewhat similar to Armand Traore at Portsmouth. He played very consistently under Tony Adams, but basically never played after Paul Hart took the helm.
Beduero…Tevez falls under that, “we couldnt sign” category. And I am not saying all of the players you list are bad, but youve listed like 50 players over the time.
And I think I know my players, they can make it, whether you think so or not.
Youre not Wenger and I’m not Wenger,
We could’ve signed him , we have some money …
LOL…are you really suggesting we could have signed Carlos Tevez? That might be the funniest comment I have read on here.
@Shane:
U should learn to respect other people’s opinion Shane. Yeah, U are free to criticize anyone’s opinion & comment, I give u that. But still, u should do it in a “friendly” manner. Remember, most of the commenters here are fellow goner, so instead of insulting each other we should try to make friends w/ others. I hope u don get me wrong mate, coz I really don’t mean to offend u or anything. In fact, u are one of the commenter that I truly respect for making some sensible comments. U just have to stop acting like u are smarter than everyone (when u do that u don’t sounds smart anymore, u sounds arrogant) and start to respect others, that’s all.
Cheers.
We were after Tevez after he deciced to leave Manchester United.
we were after Tevez as he was at West Ham.
U right Dudu, we did. I remember Wenger gave a statement regarding this on Arsenal.com. If I’m not mistaken, he even explain the reason why he ended the chase.
I’m sorry I mean “arsenal4ever”, he said he ended the chase as soon as he realized that United were also chasing Tevez. I almost forgot about it…
Shockinly Southampton hav a beta pitch dan Chelsea
http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/3247225/youth/portsmouth-yth-v-arsenal-yth?tab=report
So I was right ?
Only joking.
Portsmouth vs arsenal commentary please?
Wanna read it from here and see what you guys thought of the game
Szczesny has 1 – 1 games today. I dont know so he is good today?
Rumour is he cost like 40 million pounds for Man City. On the short end 25 million pounds. I just find that silly to suggest we could have signed him. Also “we have money”. I believe Wenger just said this week that Arsenal could not run by spending big money on big names and big wages. That teams are running on 150 million pounds annual lose and Arsenal could not survive with running like that. Not my words, Wengers words.
Giodono…Yes I know I come of cocky and I have been trying to tone it down but sometimes silly comments just stand out to me.
so shane I dont think Wenger is telling us the complete truth. Anyway in the sun ( i know ) we are linked with a done deal for Marouane Felliani!!
http://www.footballpress.net/?action=read&idsel=54508
If I look hard enough, I can probally find something that says we are in for Lionel Messi but that doesnt meen much. Also Marouane Fellaini is not a “big name” and I doubt we will spend 40 million and 140,000 pound a week wages on him. He is a good player though.
Shane, I am only saying that the names I pick out of my magic hat are not random, we have had and still have a possibility of signing them, and anyway, I cant think of anything controversial to say , so I will leave.
Obasi, Gameiro, Ba, Lloris, Mandanda, Sakho, Sissoko, Corchia, Onouha, Vertonghen, Subotic…..That isnt a random group of names. You got keepers, strikers, wingers, centerbacks, rightbacks, Sissoko with no first name, back up man city player randomly thrown into a comment of who should we sign. Not to mention over the last few articles you have listed Khouma Babacar, Romelu Lukaku,Chamakh,Lee Chung-Yong, Gladson Awako, Emmanuel Mayuka,Bance, Sanmi Odelusi, Asamoah Gyan, Ashley Young, Loic Remy, Gervinho,Toivonen, Bryan Ruiz. By the way, not being a smart elec, but I am curious if you have actually watched all these players play in actual games, or youtube videos or just read about them or what?
Shane, I think ya gone a little too far here in trying to “expose” Badeuro, or make him look bad, or whatever you are trying to do. I’ll admit that you know a lot more than I do about players around the world, and maybe more than Badeuro too, I don’t know. But no one on here should feel they have to keep their comments to themselves, because someone will question their knowledge. I don’t know. No one on here should feel scared to post because someone might make them feel stupid is all I’m saying. I’ll leave you two to fight it out I guess.
Milo….I said one small comment and people responded and Beduero too. I didnt take it this far by myself. I just stated 1 line and that should have been it. The last post will be my last post on that topic because it proves my point. I dont feel I did anything wrong. People that think we should sign every player under the moon gets a little old. Like I said those players that I listed were just names thrown out in the recent articles. I have no problem if you have a couple players you like and you think we could use but this isnt a transfer rumour blog but if anyone wants one to post those kind of thing football-rumours.com is the place for that.
Know more players than me, doubt it lol,
and Milo refrain from calling me badeuro, I don’t think it’s adult like to call people names
Ps,
watched em all, like the look of em’,
and don’t worry about being a smart alec, we don’t think you are one,
joking.
I don’t name players unless I rate them highly,
seriously, it’s sad you went through my comments , probably spent the entire day doing it
I didnt say I know more players than you and I didnt say you dont have knowledge of players. You must read and respond properly or you just sound angry. I dont know if my knowledge on players is better or not and I didnt say it was. I just asked a simple question and I said “not to sound like a smart alec”, because that is what I ment. I was asking you if you watch the players you name, in full games or by highlights or read about them. You have said many times I believe, that you dont get to see alot of games and you are always asking for links to highlights. Also I named the guys you named off of my memory. Anyways it was a simple question and I am not down grading your knowledge on players, just dont like when people say we should sign 20 different players. It is down grading the talent we have. If you have a couple people you think would help our team or a couple positions than that is cool but you list like 5 guys for every position. That is pretty much saying our team sucks.
Shane, I was talking to Milo, and I am not saying our team sucks, I think you are trying to take offense.
You need to take a chill pill.
He was defending you….and read your comments, you sounded like you were talking to me. By the way if you dont get how naming guys for every position that we should sign, says that you think the team isnt good enough then I dont know what to tell you.
You could just not argue with someone half your age,
honestly Shane , I think I know wether I am dissing my team.
Your not half my age bud but anyways pulling the age card is soft. Arguement over tho.
Soft?
Or are you just embarressed?
I am aloud to like players, and I am aloud to want arsenal to get them.
Ps. Why did you even start this argument?
How old are you Shane?
( this isn’t a sarcastic question)
Oh and Milo, thanks for defending me.
If we actually ‘ fought it out ‘ , i practice martial arts, and would kick his sorry, offended ass.
:D
Disregard that one, someone dared me to write that.
Watch them play in England and when I’m back in England, and also I watch highlights of their games on the Internet,
it’s just hard to get arsenal matches over here.