Arsenal kicked off their pre-season plans with a 3-0 win over Barnet this afternoon. As usual, the squad boasted a selection of the most promising youngsters in the ranks.
Although only a few starlets were named in the initial squad, a whole host including a selection of last seasons loanees took part. Havard Nordtveit, Jack Wilshere, Jay Simpson and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas all started the game, as did Emmanuel Frimpong. A large amount of Reserve regulars featured in the second period.
First Half
Håvard Nordtveit – Had the difficult proposition of starting in unusual right back position. He subsequently was over aggressive in chasing and tackling, but wasn’t afraid to clear the lines with a longer ball. Looked stronger but tired quickly.
Emmanuel Frimpong – Looked strong, powerful and now fully fit. He chased, he hassled and tackled back well. Emmanuel seemed a more like-for-like replacement for Alexandre Song. Good use of the ball and all the energy and flow that was a little missing in the centre of the park.
Jack Wilshere -Began in a more central role and instantly impressed. Full of running, Jack looked taller, stronger and a yard quicker. Two brilliant assists and numerous beautiful touches. However, he is a notorious pre-season star, and hasn’t quite carried that form through the season.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas -Had a bright start on the right hand side but drifted out of the game as the half went on. Was always dangerous when allowed to cut inside on his favoured left, and could have won the scored if it wasn’t for a fine Jake Cole save.
Jay Simpson – Surprise starter but certainly took his chance in the shop window. Two tidy finishes but both goals were layed on a plate. Struggled with his back to goal but was typically always in the right place at the right time. Will no doubt have raised his price tag after a tidy half.
Second Half
Conor Henderson – Very quiet and only had a few touches. Conor seemed a little daunted by his surroundings, but tried to bring the ball forward at times against a very defensive Barnet midfield.
Henri Lansbury – Just like Henderson, didn’t really show a lot. Barnet flooded the midfield for the second period and made life incredibly difficult for Henri. Wanted to get his foot on the ball and dictate. Only excellent reverse ball setup a chance for Barazite late on.
Craig Eastmond – Solid and decent at right back. Nothing much to do.
Ignasi Miquel – Didn’t have a great deal to do, but was involved right from the kick off, cutting out a through ball. Won some headers and overall looked to have enjoyed his debut.
Nacer Barazite – Creative and intelligent, Nacer turned in another solid shift against Barnet. He didn’t walk away with his usual goal, but playing in central midfield he looked a lot more at home. He picked out Walcott with some great over head balls, and generally caused problems with his power.
The Barazite love in needs to finish. He wasn’t very good. Emmanuel Thomas was twice as good.
JET started off brightly, but faded. Its only a preseason game, we’ll see which one of them gets on the plane to Austria.
Very impressed with Frimpong, pressing well, won alot of 50-50s, maybe play in Carling Cup?
Nordtveit & Miquel looked calm, composed, both did well.
4-0*
Wilshere- “However, he is a notorious pre-season star, and hasn’t quite carried that form through the season.”
He’s only had 2 pre-seasons and one was when he was 16, bit harsh to call him out on that.
Yeah, thats not fair on the young lad. He`ll become great anyway, but it might take a season or two.
does anyone know where i can find a squad list for this game? i saw a couple people in different shirt numbers (i know its preseason but some players like walcott still kept their number), such a young blood with the number 10 shirt previously worn by big Bill. So i guess he is out. good to hear frimpong did well, as well as wilshere and simpson.
http://arsenalaction.com/2010/07/17/players-rating-frimpong-the-star-as-arsenal-win-4-0/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=players-rating-frimpong-the-star-as-arsenal-win-4-0
The players who are in the FIRST TEAM SQUAD kept their original number e.g. Fabianski had 2, Walcott 14, Arshavin 23, Chamakh 29, etc. All the youth and reserve players simply took up a random number from what was left over. E.g. because Sagna didn’t play, #3 was available for Eastmond, 12 for Lansbury, 9 for Simpson, etc. The only change is that I THINK, NOT CERTAIN, was that Szcznesney had the #1 jersey. Once again, NOT SURE.
The squad for you:
21. Fabianski
2. Nordtveit
6. Koscielny
5. Vermaelen
30. Traore
7. Rosicky
4. Frimpong
19. Wilshere
11. Emmanuel-Thomas
9. Simpson
23. Arshavin
Subs: 1/53. Szczesney, 24. Mannone, Miguel, 20. Djourou, 28. Gibbs, 3. Eastmond, 8. Nasri, 10. Henderson, 12. Lansbury, 16. Barazite, 14. Walcott, 29. Chamakh.
Thanks for the quick responses yall, much appreciated.
1. Badly wanted to see Nordtveit play in the middle of the defense , looked edgy throughout. Cruel on Arsene’s part to have played him at RB. Thoroughly lacks confidence
2. Frimpong – Boy ! only if he d chosen to represent England.
nordtveit did well in my opinion and certainly much better than eastmond did.
WOW WOW & WOW
FIRST HALF ANALYSIS
FRIMPONG WAS INCREDIBLE IN THE FIRST HALF. If he continues the same kind of performance in the pre-season then I want him to stay with the first team. He can be our 2nd or 3rd choice DM player
what a beast and what tackles OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOD
Wilshere too was incredible. If you see the third goal you have to ask does this guy have eyes in the back of his head
Nortvedit can be a great player and versatility he provides is great
JET didnt have any impact at all
SECOND HALF ANALYSIS
Boring second half to be honest
Gibbs and Djourou looked very good for players who have been out for an entire season
Barazite, henderson, lansbury were very poor
Eastmond, chamak and Walcott very okay at best
the only good player in the second half was Nasri who had a brilliant game
oh yeah miquel was also very very good and I love it
Andrew…You are joking right. How can JET have had no impact? That’s idiotic mate. He was critically influential in the 2nd Arsenal goal. He won the ball in midfield and put the ball through to Simpson. The resultant chaos in the back saw Wilshere collect and play a tidy pass to Simpson for a 2nd effort that scored.
I know how intense the desire is from some to see JET fail, but at least give a realistic picture of what happened!
“…no impact…” Bullshit!
Agree on Frimpong & Wilshire, Traore played well with AA. JET was good for about 4 plays still one of my favs for stardom! Second half = Walcott/Nasri looked great blessing they missed out on WC! One game in!!! Looks as we have a another gem to go forward from the back in Koscielny? Can’t wait for Wednesday! Peace
Walcott was excellent today.
I’d willingly pay £3 to watch these games but the site won’t let me – the page is stuck so it’s impossible to get down to the bit where you sign up and pay. I had this problem once before with Arsenal TV – is it just me? Anyone know a solution?
Would love a match report that included the senior players. Who looked good?
are you using firefox or IE
I would use IE if I was you. I got the yearly subscription and the media license wont download on Chrome and Firefox, only on IE.
Andrew, IE
Another question: what’s Simpson doing? Didn’t he have an offer from Omonia, who look to be flying in the CL qualifiers? Did he turn them down hoping to get an offer from some troll club in England? If so, what an idiot.
Try it with Firefox and if not Google Chrome. Simpson played so that he could raise his profile and potentially raise his transfer value should a suitor come about. It proved beneficial, as surely now his value must have increased after scoring twice in 45 minutes, albeit simple finishes.
Any links to highlights?
Get Arsenal TV online? Should post in next 12-24 hours probably only way for highlights! GL
Good idea, thanks, I’ll try it, or failing that, there’s Iraq goals – it looks like Justin TV are doing the Austria games. Did Szczesny have a save to make?
I honestly think NONE of the keepers had a same to make. Same can’t be said about their keeper though :D
My personal anaylis:
Keepers – All had decent games, none of them had much to do to be honest. One thing though, Mannone’s distribution was slightly unconvincing.
Nordtveit – Had a decent half, he was very quick at running up the flank and he put in a few good crosses, which only looked bad because we lacked height up front. He did make one or two minor errors though.
Frimpong – Phenomenal. I questioned his place on the starting line-up but he proved me wrong, was very good at hassling the ball and was the driving force in our midfield. Only question remains is would he last this long for 90 minutes.
Wilshere – Probably my man of the first half. Was the main creative force and showed class in both his assists. Looks like he’ll have another brilliant pre-season.
Emmanuel-Thomas – I thought he did alright but it was obvious he had no right foot, I don’t think there was a single time he didn’t cut in on his left. Also, at times he was hesitant and slowed down play.
Simpson – Yes, he scored twice but they were very simple finishes. Was hardly involved.
Simpson’s first goal wasnt such a simple finish. Those boxes look really small though
i thought that frimpong was immense and really shone today.
jet looked impressive if a little bulky.
simpsons general game was poor and he looks unfit.
norveidt was solid i thought. won some headers and supported jet well.
troare’s crossing is devillish!!
connor looked tidy i thought but a little nervous and i think will do well but needs more time.
eastmond should have played in central midfield really. didnt learn anything new about him from todays showing.
barazite was ok. looked to me that he was playing the arshavin role, not centrally. he just drifts in a lot and played some nice passes and through balls.
solid start to pre season. a few, frimpong in particular really gives the manager something to think about.
Fimpong – 8.5 best youngster on the pitch
Wilshere – 8.5 excellent display from the jewel in the AFC Youth Crown
JET – 6 decent display; played a major part in Arsenal’s 2nd, tested the keeper well on another occasion, but was in and out of the half on the whole
Simpson – 7 excellent display of classic poaching from the young striker. Makes you think about it…but no…still don’t believe he’s Arsenal material
Gibbs – 6 solid, performance; looked sharp enough I suppose
Eastmond – 6 same as Gibbs for the most part
Barazite – 6.5 looked confident and composed on the ball; showed some good vision and passing; decent display
Miquel – 6 also looked confident, but still showed a moment or two of youthful judgement about clearances and was slow of thought once or twice and caught in possession
Henderson – 4 poor display. Had one run passed the keeper and crossed for Barazite, but overall was unseen and unheard
Lansbury – 4 also very poor; a virtually anonymous performance; nothing much there to justify all the fuss based on that run-out.
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frimpong looks to of grown into a beast.get him in there and oost delnilsong out.
Thats pushing it but he should for sure be ahead of Eastmond at DM.
henderson needs another good year to improve,one season short.
Dan you don’t like Song?? Frimpong leaps ahead of Song based on one pre-season match?? That’s kind of weird…very strange evaluation of talent.
JS, Any news about one Stefan Savic, a young defender that was to be signed this summer?
At who’s expense did Simpson make it into the squad?
I’m fairly certain he wasn’t initially on the squad list when it was announced.
Any thoughts on why Randall wasn’t included? Is he likely to go to Austria?
eduardo
i’m pretty sure almunia was meant to be in the origanal squad but didn’t feature at all.
I disagree to many here. frimpong was good but man of the match? he was probably the one who played the most aggressive style. And since this is preseason many don’t expect so much aggressiveness. Players are not fully awaken and concentrated on and off the ball but Frimpong was determined to get the ball and did go in hard and won some too.
He was only OK for me.
Wilshere did the most for the team I think.
When I judge a performance of course I watch the opposition too. And Barnet players is very poor. Therefore Frimpong only is ok. nothing special was showed today.
JET, wilshere, hendersson, eastmond and many more showed a lot of maturity on their play and that is really really good for the future.
Jack and Frempong were the stars of the match…
Veyr happily surprised to see them all grown up like in that Avatar movie , ready for premiership.
I wonder what was professor feeding them with !lol
Did Eduardo get injured in the build up to the game?
LANSBURY
Surprising how little commentary there is on this site about how poor Lansbury was today. He gave the ball away several times with some simply awful passing. And other than that, for the most part, he was the invisible man. His play lacked confidence and he seemed a bit out of his element.
But many who posted comments on here (Jom, daspecimen, Tony, and Andrew, specifically) don’t even mention Lansbury’s abject display in their critique of the players.
I can sort of understand how you could forget he was on the pitch considering the way he played, but I doubt that’s it. Maybe people just can’t bring themselves to criticize Lansbury no matter how bad he plays (reverse hype, if you will…lol). But he was simply very poor today. He looked every bit the average Championship player he was last season at Watford.
I only reviewed the players of the first half, to be honest I couldn’t be bothered to comment on the other 5-6 youngsters who played. If you must know, I thought Lansbury didn’t really get a chance to impress because to be fair to him Nasri stole the show and Barnet tightened their midfield after the break as they moved that Cox fella in defensive midfield. There were one or two sloppy passes from Lansbury but in the whole I thought his passing was decent.
I don’t think Lansbury was that bad actually. He didn’t played with the best team which was the one in the first half. And as already mentioned Barnet didn’t want to concede any more goals so the whole team was in the penalty box.
No one in the whole world can do a perfect match until you die. Lansbury can’t do shit when a whole team is staying in the box.
We all did expect a lot more from him but this is only preseason after all. However I did not expect Arsenal to be so good and so dominant the whole match. If we keep playing like this in preseason, I think thats a indication of not buy players and we will be very very good in the league.
milo,song’s shit,frimpong’s already better then him,song out frimpong in.
wat in the hell is wrong with you??? Frimpong better then song??? Listen, Song is an established DCM in both the international scene and the EPL. Frimpong is a great prospect but is not ESTABLISHED yet. You can not base this off ONE game, especially a pre season friendly against league two barnet. i think he will get promoted but he wont over take songs place, please GO TO SLEEP LITTLE BOY!
Haha “Songs shit”. Good one.
Dan. u are the only one that think song is shit…maybe u are not arsenal supporter after all
I think Mark Randall has left (and in my view not before time). Can anyone confirm that? I wish Jay Simpson had had the balls to sign for Omonia (assuming they made a decent offer) but maybe with the new rule in the Prem and the shortage of home-grown players on the market, he’s thinking he’ll find a Premiership club? Seems a bit unlikely if QPR didn’t want him, though, but here’s hoping he does, if that’s what he wants, and we get a good price.
Agree with Jom – aggressive isn’t the same thing as good (though in English football, where skill is in short supply, it’s often assumed to be). Maybe Frimgpong will be good – I haven’t seen enough of him to judge – but I’ve always liked Song. He’s calm and intelligent, doesn’t just tear about putting in bone-crunching tackles (like Shawcross, for instance) because he’s too dim to do anything else. When do they go to Austria? Is it Monday?
Yeah I think the WC players minus Fabregas and van Persie will join in aswell.
I was out and missed the game today, but what was the story with Mannone coming on at half time (46min) and off again after an amazing 22mins (68min) !??
Unfortunate to hear about Lansbury having a so so game :S
I’m still have to watch the game but according to your view, Havard was impressive, I like him a lot as a player, and wait very much from him. Hope he will be included in the squad towards Austria.
kind of baffled by some of the comments on here.
i agree henderson and lansbury were fairly poor – both looked a bit lightweight and hesitant. barazite on the other hand looked comfortable all the time, composed and i don’t think he gave away the ball all half.
I missed the game today too:S Dan you are crazy. I know most people aren’t even willing to argue with you because you are so nuts. Why do you come on here?? Maybe Frimpong will get a couple chances this ytear to impress, but it will be a few years, if at all, before he can lay claim to being as good as Song. Could you possibly support another team?? Spurs or ManU or Chelsea perhaps?? You might find youself more at home.
I thought Frimpong was excellent today. Was refreshing to see a player put in lots of effort and really want the ball! I would like to see more players put in this sort of effort. Even though I am a massive fan of players like diaby and JET, I think they would benefit from putting his sort of effort in.
I would be interested to see the stats on how far the players travelled.
j they won 4-0
simpson scored 2 arshvavin 1 and nasri
i watched the game on the internet and wilshere looked really good and so did simpson
lauren koiscley didnt really get involved neither did chamakh
henderson played well
but frimprong was the best player by a mile
he passed it well, he put pressure on people and his tackling was excellent
he is one for the future
‘lauren koiscley didnt really get involved neither did chamakh ‘???
Please give them a time and you can’t expect them a good player overnight! ;)
Good question for everybody: what the hell is on Andrey’s back on that picture? http://cli.gs/jmnznE (Sorry for linking, but it’s only a pic.)
I saw it on Nasri’s back at same stage of the match.
@athlon – I suspect it’s something to do with a heart rate monitor or something similar. I’ve seen pre-season games before where shirts have been taken off to reveal a heart rate belt across a player’s chest; just to assess pre-season fitness I suppose!?
It’s GPS device the club said they would be using for training purposes!
The think not to forget is the youngsters are playing for the few spots on the Austria trip and therefore will determine their own season. When the chance is there I would expect the player to really try to showcase himself. I think the comment about Jack being not coping well with a full season is harsh, his body is developing and that strength will come
Frimpong was very impressive, especially his tackling and then his pace surprised me. However, it’s worth remembering, before people start calling for his inclusion into the 1st team squad that he was playing with better players around him who i noticed covered for a lot of his inexperience. On numerous occasions he was way out of position and playing more as a box to box when in our set up the dm, if we are using just 1, he has to be disaplined. I’d put this down to eagerness to further impress once he’s made an impressive start so basically his immaturity showed there. If it wasn’t for Rosicky dropping back regularly and Vermaelen having a blinder, plus the poor opposition, i swear the dm position would have looked vacant at times.
I’m just pointing this out because people seem to hype up performances like these and go over the top. He had a great game tho and showed his talents and that will have been noticed by le boss, but he still lacks experience of playing competitive football so a a good stint in the cup games and after a 6 month loan we’ll see a more capable player.
The player that impressed me the most was Havard Nordtveit. He looks like hes physically developed and looks more of a man now.
Frimpong i wasnt impressed with yh he showed agression and commitmen but in terms of keeping the ball and passing he didnt really do anything.
Wilshere was ok didnt really go past players or penetrate as he usually does
And second half its hard to judge players lansbury was ok i thought. Conor Henderson had another shocker like last time against barnet, Gave the ball away too many times.
I thought kieran gibbs was outstanding second half looks the complete package.
Its hard to judge players but the signs look good and i was impressed with chamakh and koscielny as well both look like they can fit in the premiership.
Focusing on our defense, which we know is our weakness and the one area we are waiting patiently anxious for an addition SOON, i’d opinion that our options are looking pretty damn strong back there.
I like the look of Nordtveit, Miquel a lot. I’ll enjoy seeing them as backup CBs in the near future.
Kos just needs to settle but he’s definetly got it.
JD is solid and only lacks game time which he’ll get preseason.
Vermaelen rules!
Gibbs is ready. Traore same as ever, weak in defense better going forward. But Gibbs is better in both depts.
Eastmond 1st DM backup now. Even ahead of Denison and Diaby because he is a proper DM.
Depends on the opponents obviously.
Frimpong needs experience so short loan. I explained my reasoning above somewhere.
Thats not a bad squad in my opinion. I’d buy 1 more prem experienced CD, maybe 30yrs old give or take 1… or Cahill who i rate and would be my first choice.
….And a gk!
thoughts?
I forgot Bartley and Coq who we’ll just have to wait and see their progress.
The others i missed our obviously 1st teamers already.
We’re really not far off Dominance. Waahaahahaaa!!!!
Yh i agree frimpong needs to go on loan. I dont think hes ready needs to improve his passing and composure or he could end up like Fabrice Mumba.
Conor henderson, nacer barazite need to go on loan.
Was anyone else really impressed with theo walcott i think this year is going to big for him and i think he will learn fromhis mistakes
Well he didn’t make it at Arsenal but Muamba’s making a very good career for himself at Bolton.
Absolutely, Walcott looked dangerous when he was getting service but he has to go look for the ball more when he drifts out the game. I liked when he popped up in the striker role playing off the last man and making runs behind.
The formation changed to something like a 4222 variation of 442 with 2DMs (Landsbury/Henderson) 2AM (Nasri/Barazite) make runs wide or into the box for crosses, then Chamack & Walcott feeding.
Does anyone know what time the u21 game is tomoro?
Its U19, playing right now. Tom Cruise starting.
Almunia pulled out sick according to Arsenal.com, however, rumours were rife around the ground that both he and Eduardo were in talks with other clubs (Sunderland and Shaktar Donetsk)
As for performances, if Eduardo is moving on i would like to see his place in the squad go to the fox in the box, Simpson. OK he will never become first choice, he struggles with back to goal, but he does offer something that none of our other strikers offer. It would be interesting to see how he does coming on as a sub and adjusting to the pace of a game, etc. I thought, Eastmond, Frimpong, Nordveit, Simpson and JET were the pick of the “non 1st teamers” Lansbury and Barazite were next, Henderson & Miquel were the least impressive for me. Cannot really comment on the keepers as i cannot remember a single save for any of them.
traore was excellent in the first half with his rampaging runs which is in absolute contrast in how eastmond played at right back, because there was the one time eastmond had a well load of space in front of him to run into but instead he decided to pass it sidewards back to the cm. Frimpomg really impressed as he did decided to go forward a few times aswell as being solid defensive cover. in the second half team i think walcott and nasri were the only one who performed, which really shows the gulf in experience between them and the youngsters in the second half.
I thought Lansbury did not play that bad, anyone know when the list of players going to Austria will be up?
Fimpong – 8 aggrssive ball winning. Needs to stay with the first team and understudy for Song. Carling Cup run and a couple of CPL away games up-north when a battle is needed.
Wilshere – 8 superb. Would like to see him stay and learn to play the AFC way not the Bolton way, think that might set him back now. He’s ready!
JET – 6.5 good early contribution but needs to get down the gym, don’t think he’ll travel as he needs to get some of the weight off.
Simpson – 5.5 finished well but no celebration clearly doesn’t want the shirt and looked dejected. Typical AFC bring ’em through and let ’em go. However, will never be world class, so cash in now and set him free of the shackles of being a young gun!
Gibbs – 7 never look troubled but then was rarely troubled. At least he’s fit again and Austria should hone his fitness.
Eastmond – 5 Poor but the standards he could reach. I think a loan spell will be his best chance this season,
Barazite – 6.5 confident and composed with the ball, decent range of passing, shame Theo could convert what he was provided. Carling Cup and a loan in January to a Championship side looking to boast into play-offs.
Miquel – 6 confident coming forward not bad in the air caught in possession on a couple of occasions which was very much in the Senderos mould.
Henderson – 3.5 very poor display. Can’t remember much about him and he is one that I really want to progress. Disappointing!
Lansbury – 3.5 at CPL he’ll be exposed. He is a lower half Championship player at best on this performance, send he back to Watford and see if can up his game over a whole season.
Walcott – 6 he’s begining to frustrate now. Great runs and positioning, but lacks a final ball both delivery and shooting. 1 more season and then see, if not sell him to Liverpool aka Pennant!
Traore – 7 Easy game as Barnet didn’t offer him a right winger. Got forward well, some good balls into the box and looks fit. Be interesting who he decides to keep if Botelho gets his permit!
Overall good start to the preseason for most of the young guns.
Almunia to Sunderland, not Szczesny for a few months loan while Gorden recovers? That means (a) we’re about to sign a new no. 1 – good; (b) we’re going to use Szczesny ourselves – good but risky; or (c) we’re going to promote Fabi to no. 1and we’re releasing Almunia – catastrophe.
Frimpong as usual proves his physical prowess BUT as a DM, his ball manipulation/technique, passing & vision needs improving because he needs to starts our attacks thus stopping the attacking midfielders from coming so deep to get the ball.
Thats the difference between frimpong and coquelin.
Coqulin can do the dirty stuff but he can play Frimpong sadly cant which is why i can see him being like fabrice mumba.
How can anyone complain about lansbury. Did ppl not see him when he came on against Fulham how he looked so comfortable on the ball.
Ppl just havent seen him play cause hes been on loan and hes been injured and had an illness.
For me Lansbury is a top top player and i look at our midfielders he seems to be the one most comfortable on the ball and he can see a pass first time which is his strength.
I dont think i have seen a footballer like lansbury who can see a pass with his first touch thats what makes him special and unique
yes John, how can people have different opinions, really unlikely…
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…uh oh…here we go again….
….earth to John… Henry Lansbury was the worst Arsenal player on the pitch. As you say he played many 1st touch passes, but almost everyone of them went straight to Barnet players. He was a disturmbing mix of technically poor and invisible. He didn’t even look like an Arsenal player. He looked like a scared kid that had been given a trial at the club but was completely over-awed by the occasion.
I don’t expect you to let go of the fantasies you hold abou the player Lansbury is. Hell for all I know he could turn it around and become a great players. But the truth is he was very average at Watford in the Championship, and, surrounded by top-notch Arsenal youth and 1st Teamers, he looked hopelessly out of his league.
The partners will not be dragged down by this problem as this is an amazing opportunity to build upon by working hard.