Arsenal’s Reserves and Youth have kicked off their pre-season with a 2-2 draw against Conference outfit Crawley Town. After falling behind inside the opening minute, two goals in four minutes from Rhys Murphy put the Gunners in front. Jamie Cook salvaged a draw in the second half.
Gavin Hoyte and Sanchez Watt made their first appearances after loan spells last season, while Mark Randall and Rhys Murphy were other senior names who started. Ignasi Miquel, Nacer Barazite and Jay Simpson all missed out on the trip to Austria and instead featured tonight.
Shea
Hoyte – Boateng – Miquel – Evina
Özyakup – Randall – Barazite
Murphy – Simpson – Watt
Subs: Sean McDermott, Martin Angha, Jernade Meade, Chuks Aneke, Benik Afobe.
The fixture was barely 60 seconds old when Crawley stunned the Gunners by taking a shock lead. Glenn Wilson was on hand to put the Red Devils in front, leaving the back four stunned.
However, lethal front-man Rhys Murphy had began in menacing fashion, and just 180 seconds after going behind, Murphy had struck to level the scores. That wouldn’t be the end of his antics, as three minutes later Rhys had completed the comeback. Three goals in four minutes was just an example of the potential he’s frequently showed, before being hampered by injury.
Arsenal pressed for a third before the break, but resilient non-league Crawley proved physical and solid opposition. The half time whistle brought the end of an entertaining half.
Town made a selection of changes at half time, but their ethics and work rate continued. Chuks Aneke and Benik Afobe replaced Oğuzhan Özyakup and goal hero Murphy, but just as they were settling in, Jamie Cook had fired in the equaliser.
The Gunners pressed for the winner, even introducing Jernade Meade in place of Mark Randall, but the game finished as a draw.
I’d completly forgot about murphy, hope he can have a good season. that looked a strong side however and im dissointed with a draw.
Seems to me they were playing not to get injured? With that lineup they should’ve buried them and defense to let two in?
I thought Sanchez Watt was on U19 duty?
and i thought ozzie was too :/
J whats your opinion on jay simpson and mark randall playing in reserve fixtures
when its quite clear they dont have much of a future at arsenal whilst you have an extraordinary talent in aneke on the bench aswell as benik afobe? Also do you think aneke will play u18 and reserve football this season as i think aneke will flourish with more games and higher level of football
any word on the futures of barazite and simpson?
i’m gutted for barazite that he’s not been picked to go to austria, but if he has a good loan lined up then that would be ok…?
Yeah, I echo the sentiments here. I thought Barazite was good to go last season for a crack at the first team. Now that he’s fit, they’ve left him at home. I don’t think he needs another loan stint at all, he’s already proven himself there. So this is a big disppointment for me. I was hoping he’d be the type of player to challenge guys like Vela and Theo and push to get the best out of them.
I know this is off topic, but why do people want to sell Rosicky?? I must admit I am a fan of his. But looking at it from a more objective standpoint, if we went after Joe Cole and didn’t get him, then why would we cut loose another player in the same postition?? He scored 2 or 3 of the most crucial goals last year and is a good mentor for Nasri, Wilshere and the younger lads. He’ll probably be back to full strength now, and while I’m not predicting a huge, huge year for him, I will venture a guess that he will be better than last year. And he played well last year. I think that when Rosicky goes, Jack Wilshere will take over his number 7!!:D What do you guys think??
i was one of those people who said rosicky should go, but now that i read your comment/ reviewed the season he is a valuable assest to the squad. The problem is that i ( as aa fan) expected him to perform either A). at the level which he was at before his injury and/or B). Consistence for him in his performances. He is a WC talent and like you said Milo, he is a good mentor to the younger wide/CAM players in our team. He is a good player with good experience and skill, i just want to see him really force his name on the starting 11 because now he is behind Walcott, Nasri, Arshavin for the wide right role (nasri and arshavin and tomas can play on the left as well but now vela will prob be pushing for that left flanker.) He needs to prove himself tho, because like DUDU, there are countless players who can/ would love to take his spot. We saw JET play on the right for us at Barnet, we know wenger buts b52 there once in a a while and wislhere should play on the wings in my opinion. do believe he will be our number 7 when he leaves, i got him rockin it in my FIFA 10 manager mode. but he needs to PROVE HI WORTH! one good season in the past doesnt grant somebody a spot of the squad. The top four could open up and we need hunger from our everyone of the players from the starters to the bench.
i think wenger is split on the decision to either A)loan out wilshere and let rosicky have a fresh season or B)cut him loose and give wilshere his place in the first team squad..i personally think we shud sell rosicky while hes worth something as i think wilshere has more to offer and a season on the bench making cup appearances and bein a impact sub will suit him well
If a season on the bench would suit him well, then we may as well keep Rosicky ight?? We really don’t know how ready Jack is. I guess that was part of your point. But why cut players when we don’t have to?? We all know we need depth. If Nasri or Cesc or Arshavin get injured do you want to gamble on Jack?? Maybe, but I say keep Rosicky around another year and then release him. I know we might not get as much value for him like that, but i think it will be better for the team overall. Remember, Rosicky is a key influence in the dressing room!! AND he is one of Cesc’s best friends.
just come back from the game tonight. i will tell my beliefs on squad:
James Shea – looked very solid and had good hands on all set pieces did one blinding save from a freekick. don’t know if this was a good game but did look very good.
Daniel Boateng – defensively looked quite suspect but is quick and looked solid going forward. looked like a normal right back.
Cedric Evina – looked one of the better players. is very fast which aids him going forward which he liked to do and used it to good effect, might well see him in the carling cup early rounds.
Gavin Hoyte – skipper for the night. looked solid but unspectacular and got beatne on a fair few headers. another player that is fast nad looked composed on the ball. i believe another loan is exactly what he needs.
Ignasi Miquel – for me looked very good and possibly my man of the match. he is technically very good and did one amazing bit of play where he carried the ball round 4 players. defensively solid wouldn’t mind him in the first team squad.
Mark Randall – in the first half looked good and has a good range of passing but he is too much like denilson and i believe he might well move on very soon with the centre mids being very young.
Nacer Barazite – this guy confuses me as one minute he looks like a ronaldo and other times he looks very average. has good confidence but hit 5-6 long shots off target when the play could have been built up. he may struggle to get first team football.
Oguzhan Ozyakup – looked good. good on the ball has a good range of passing and could well feature in reserves a lot this year. outside chance of carling cup as he looks a little lightweight.
Rhys Murphy – another player who confuses me. took his goals very well and calmly but needs to stop using flicks all the time as one didnt come off tonight. loan would suit him this season.
Jay Simpson – very quiet and a little disappointing. uses his strength well on high balls but his general play isn’t up to scratch and didn’t look as composed in front of goal.
Sanchez Watt – looks a little lightweight but has pace and good ball control. i am hoping he gets a couple of carling cup games as his link up play is very good.
subs were spectacular although afobe has good movement and could be a very good plauyer. meade was accused of diving for a penalty which the 6’5 goalie didnt like and started pushing meade who must 5’4 or so.
subs were unspectacular, sorry.
Thanks Daz!
HaHa…funny about Meade and the 6’4” goalie!
re: barazite, he’s obviously got the skill to be a very useful attacker, but i wonder if the way the club has jerked him about has taken away from his confidence?
Nice report DAZ thanks, My question did all the players look like they were busting their ass(playing with passion ?) for the cause AFC? Tracking back etc!
Gunner 17 – barazite has all the technical skill and for me looked confident as he wasn’t afraid to have a go from 30 yards but the problem was…not one hit the target and this happened bout 3 or 4 times. he needs to learn to be a little less selfish and build play up more.
Matt – they were playing for the shirt proudly. they were lightning on the counter attack as watt, barazite and randall all were busting a gut to help with play. at the end they all looked pretty gutted to have drawn the game and in the last 10 mins were really getting on with it which i like as it showed they have a good winning mentality.
The arsenal website said Chuks Aneke was good when he came on.
Rhys Muprhy needs to stay injury free i think arsenalk should keep him cause the kid has got unbelievable ability.
chucks was ok was a little slow on the ball and played centre when he came on which i dont think is his natural position. forced a fine save from the keeper but his passing wasn’t that crisp. he did alright for a 17 year old!
How long before Ignasi Miquel gets the calling of Barca DNA?
maybe never…barca rejected him i think?
Aj his situation is totally different compaired to Cesc’s. Miquel was released outright by Barca. Cesc was never released. He was taken before he could sign professionally, but Cesc wasn’t released by Barca. I would be very surprised if Ignasi goes back there because they have treated him much worse than Cesc or Pique. HE WAS RELEASED!! I can hardly believe it myself.
anybody know how barazite did?
To be fair most of these players are youngsters and this is very early doors in the season and is some cases they may just have had their harts ripped out of their chests, but being harsh. This is crawly town for christ sake, I bet if you compare the wage bill of the team Arsenal put out compared to that of what Crawly town put out, my money is on the arsenal one being considerably higher. I see a lot of people saying they are sad Barazite and Simpson didn’t make it onto the plane with the 1st team, but the truth is they are just not good enough to play for arsenal and if you are not going to make it at 20 then they will probably won’t make it at all., especially if you’re not good enough to take on Crawly town. Giggs, scholes, gerrard, anelka, rooney, Cesc, how many tops players in the EPL where struggling to make a real impact in friendlies at 20 years old against conference sides. One arsenal youngster who didn’t get a mention in this right up was Ben Smith, now of Crawley town who’s spent the last odd decade bouncing between clubs in league 1 and the conference. Fair play to him and the rest of these lads because i’d probably swap jobs with them in a second, but the harsh fact of life is, most of these players won’t make it at arsenal and will do very bloody well if they end up playing for a team in one of Europe’s top divisions. The premier league now has 500 jobs going for footballers over the age of 21 and of that only 180 have to have had their football schooling in the uk. the other 320 can be made up of the cream of 3 billion potential players from 193 countries. Tuff gig hey… oh and while I’m on this rant, take Denilson, every single day I read how shit he is on arsenal blogs and he’s a damn sight better than any of the players in that match who are over or close to 20 and thats a guy who’s been playing with a broken spine. To end on a high note, what was it 6/7 teenagers who have all against the aforementioned odds, got a good fighting chance to carve a career at arsenal made it in the squad, unbelievable really especially, when you add Vela, Ramsey, Coquelin, Wellington, Gibbs, Szczesny and god know how else Wenger has up his sleeve.
Ppl dont get it. Foreign players will want to move ignasi miquel would go back because of spain.
Ppl think its all about money, trophies but they forget things like country, culture, food, weather which is also important.
Foreign players will always move on with any club thats why we need to start producing our own british talent they are more likley to be loyal and more comitted
are you forgetting about Dennis
im gonna go ahead and guess ashley cole, sol campbell (soon to be twice) david bentley, mathew upson etc never left us cmon guys its nothing 2 do with where they come from if a player wants to leave they will leave because they only come here 2 improve under wenger lets face it
Long live Rhys Murphy! Well done indeed after all the injuries. Hopefully this new GPS tracking system Arsenal are introducing will help him in the long run.
@John well said, I concur.
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Wenger has no faith in barazite. i would have loved to see him partner simpson in this game, there combination is always absolutely devastating.
However, i’m fully confident, that unlike other players,who think – its arsenal or nothing- barazite would not waste his time trying to get into wenger’s good book- i wouldnt be surprised if he is already, ochestrating his exit from the club, this would be a shame, cuz he is obviously the finest attacking talent our academy has produced.
Another indication that wenger, is gradually losing the only asset that has made him a top manager. AN EYE FOR TALENT.
stupidity know no bounds
John – what are you talking about mate???
Boozy by name, Boozy by nature.
J
Angha has jumped ahead of Harjovic in the CB que
Dan – thanks for the match round.
Alexl – I agree completely with everything you said. If those players cannot finish off Crawley Town then they are not good enough for the first team, especially if they were busting a gut and giving 100%! I am concerned because it looks like this team would struggle in the early Carling cup rounds for us. Some of those players may well be still tired from playing in tournaments or not match fit. I know Aneke was injured. I don’t think Hoyte, Randall and Simpson are going to make the grade at Arsenal. I do think that they might be better off at a club like Watford in the long run.
Jay Simpson, Nacer Barazite, Gavin Hoyte and Mark Randall playing in this kind of game shows they don’t have much of a future. We already know Simpson and Randall are for sale, and Barazite pretty much had his career finished by being ommited for the Austria squad again by Wenger.
Afobe and Aneke coming from the bench are the two real exciting ones in this squad, Angha too. Agree with the points about defending, it’s really awful. Steve Bould has his Under 18’s defending well but it usually falls apart once they leave his coaching.
Bould’s a former defender he teaches how to keep the defensive shape
other coaches don’t
Aneke is surely an arsenal legend. A born Arsenal fan and been with arsenal for years now
Angha too is an arsenal fan and is currently ahead of the Que from Harjovic which is quite a good achievement
ozzyakup again is an exciting prospect and looks certain for the first team
Miquel is looking too good for the reserves now
other than that I am not sure who looks like a genuine youth candidate for the the first team
So Da Silva will be leaving …. I hope this isn’t AW’s method of getting the cash needed to sign Mark Schwarzer … I hope this transfer will allow Jack W, JET or Lansbury to be given a chance this year.
Has anyone got any ideas who else we may sign this transfer window?
Eduardo is being sold because he will never feature for us in a 4-3-3 formation
Wilshere and Lansbury hopefully will be kept in and around the first team this year
Wilshere can take over eduardo’s job
& Lansbury can fill in for Ramsey
Nortvedit looks certain to be in the first team
Eastmond/Frimpong one of them should be loaned other person should be kept in the first team. (wenger can decide who is ready and who is not)
Wenger will in my VIEW buy Schwarzer 2-4m & Diakhate for 6-7 million
he’s getting 6 million from eduardo sale and other he will probably make up from Almunia sale.
Our team improves and we spend only about 10 million extra
Goal Keeper
Bought : Schwazrer
Sold : Almunia
Loaned : Mannone
Team : Schwarzer, Fabianski, Szczesny
Defense
Released : Gallas, Silvestre, Campbell, Sendros
Bought : Koscielny, Diakhate
Loaned : Bartley
Team : Vermaelen, Djourou, Koscielny, Diakhate, Nortvedit, Sagna, Eboue, Clichy, Gibbs, Traore
Midfield
Loaned : JET, Eastmond/Frimpong (one fo them)
Team : Song, Denilson, Diakhate, Eastmond/Frimpong, Diaby, Wilshere, Lansbury, Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Rosicky
Attack
Sold : Eduardo
Bought: Chamak
Team : Chamak, Bendtner, Van Persie, Vela
Entire Team
Bought : Schwarzer (2-4 m), Kos (10m), Diakhate (6-7m), Chamak (Free)
total : 18-21 million
Sold – Almunia (3-5 m), Eduardo (6m)
total : 9-11 million
Loaned : Mannone, Bartley, JET, Eastmond/Frimpong
What worries me is the lack of English players who will get game time … Wenger needs to start playing more English players as the 6+5 rule will start soon, and I think if Arsenal start using more of our English players from our youth team, it can benefit the national teams as well
6+5 rule is the academy rule? Which mean clichy, djuroue and a few more who is born elsewhere but has been in the academy for some time will qualify as homegrown talent?
If so Wenger don’t need to change anything.
barazite looks very tough and confident, so he fairly deserve the 1st team players like eastmond, frimpong, lansbury and wilshere are wonderkid players and wenger must not chase them to play at least some of the games.
loaned: bartley, henderson, ozzy.
release: eduardo, denilson, almunia and cesc (not need to play arsenal he is catalan and catalanians are racist look why most of the catalan platers just talking about cesc look buyol, xavi, iniesta, bescuets and even the coach)
plz give a chance simpson better than eduardo.
I dont think Wilshere and Lansbury will replace Eduardo (17 starts and 15 subs), last season, i think its more likely that the boss is looking at Vela to do that. With Wilshere, Lansbury and JET likely to fill Vela (6 + 14) and Merida’s (4 + 4) game time between them. Unless of course he shocks us all and makes a signing. Interesting to read Liam Brady’s take on last night and the players who played, he gave the biggest hint yet that the majority were playing for loan deals or moves away from the club.
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Jom but we do need more Englishmen in our squad
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Gui assulin is at a seven day trial at blackburn!!!!!!!! why arnt arsenal after him. J you know why arsenal artn after him? I cant understand why, plus he has a eu passport i think from one website’s account.!!