Back in 1992-1993 Alex Ferguson watched his United youth team reach the FA Youth Cup final for the second successive year. The Scot was left rubbing his hands as he realised that he had a set of youngsters with exceptional potential. They included Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham and Phil Neville who, over the following couple of seasons, were slowly blooded in to the first team. By the beginning of the 19951996 season all were commanding a starting place the United XI. “You can’t win anything with kids” barked Alan Hansen – the rest is history.
With Fabregas, Song, Diaby, Denilson and Ramsey all injured or struggling with match fitness, the centre of the park is looking a little thin for this weekend; step forward two young Englishman with the potential to be just as successful as Ferguson’s Academy propsects – Jack Wilshere and Emmanuel Frimpong. With Wenger stating last week, “We were considering even maybe going on the market for a midfielder. We will not do that now.”, it is possible that come Sunday afternoon both Wilshere and Frimpong will be starting in the centre of midfield at Anfield; the first time Arsenal have fielded two Englishman in the centre of midfield in the Premier League for years.
The two starlets have been at the club since they were 9 and 11 respectively and are close companions on and off the pitch. They have a clear understanding of one another’s game, complementing each other well; with Wilshere’s finesse compared to Frimpong’s tough tackling, tenacity – it is a superb working relationship in midfield.
Wenger placed a lot of responsibility in the youngsters during this summers friendlies, starting both players in every game, and despite a fatigued performance against Legia Warsaw, Wilshere and Frimpong have certainly demonstrated that they have the ability to mix it with the best.
After Wilshere’s loan last year, the youngster is itching to get starts at Arsenal, and it is believed that he has made this clear to Wenger. Especially with the recent call up to the England squad in which he is expected to gain his first cap along with fellow gunner, Kieran Gibbs. However, Frimpong is yet to experience any premiership football, so Wenger may look to send him out on loan in the not too distant future, but until then, with most of Arsenals regular midfielders getting back to fitness it is expected that Frimpong will be there or thereabouts in the coming weeks. Perhaps the one disappointment is that if Frimpong was to follow in the footstaeps of Wilshere and gain international recognition it is likely the Ghanain born will follow his heart and opt for his home country, despite representing England at u16 and u17 level.
With other English youngsters aiming to compete for a first team place, including Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Henri Lansbury, Craig Eastmond and Kyle Bartley along with already established squad players Kieran Gibbs and TheoWalcott, it could be a real breakthrough for home grown talent this season, and a positive for Arsenal football club who have so often been ridiculed for its lack of home grown players.
The main success of United during the late 90s and early 00s was not just the ability of the English players but also the understanding they had of each other across the pitch, due to their years of familiarity with one another. Although it may be asking a lot for the current crop of English talent at Arsenal to compete with the success of the Fergie fledglings over the coming years, the 2010/11 season brings much promise as they look to take a step closer to becoming regulars in the Arsenal set up. Maybe we can dream, but who knows in a couple of years time there may be an English backbone at Arsenal, with Wilshere and Frimpong leading the charge this weekend.
Article By – Nick Love
I think the Arsenal Academy side of 08/09 will rival Fergie’s Fledglings – Wilshere, Frimpong, JET, Lansbury, Eastmond, Coquelin and Bartley all look very promising. And the likes of Cruise, Sunu and Watt could cause a surprise. Freeman, Afobe and Ozyakup were also involved in the U18 set-up that season, another three great young talents.
08/09 was the wonder side of arsenal youth
but even last years side produced some very good youngsters
Arsenal right now are more like Ajax of 70s and 80s rather than united of 90s with its production of very very talented youngsters every year
Excellent post, and one that echoes my thoughts about the season coming up and the seasons to come afterward. I’m a little mindful of Frimpong’s positional awareness, but I am nonetheless delighted to see the youngsters coming through to play for us, no matter the nationality. It is more interesting for me and more entertaining to see them grow up and possibly going on to challenge for honours. Players like Jay Emmanuel Thomas, Henri Lansbury, Wilshere & Frimpong of course, Szcezsny, Keiron Gibbs, and the even younger players like Aneke, Afobe, among others. I’m very interested in how they develop and I would love to see as many of them break into our team to compliment the players we already have.
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Nice writeup Jay. Have been following your blog since inception as I like to be updated on the young gunners.
Unfortunately, Bartley won’t be featuring this season as he is out on loan for the entire term and like you, think Frimpong and also JET should be sent out on loan in January like we did with Wilshere last season.
Haven’t heard anything about Eastmond this pre-season. Is he injured?
Can’t take any credit for this one, it’s Nick Love’s work.
I think Frimpong, JET and Eastmond will all be a part of the first-team until at least January when, if we’re out of the Carling Cup and there’s not much chance of them playing, they’ll complete the season on loan. But for the time being, they’ll be in the first-team.
What has Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster got to do with Arsenal’s youngsters?
frimpong may still decide to represent england over ghana. He may be influenced by the success players such as Benik Afobe have had with England and also might realise that he is coming through with a strong bunch of english players. he might have more success with england than ghana. Also, it appears that wenger would prefer him to choose england over ghana, which may have an influence
But Benik Afobe was born in England and has grown up here where as Frimpong was not.
Afobe was born in Congo came here aged 3
JS is Henri lansbury going on loan? I hear Blackburn are intrested in him?
I heard it was Palace who were interested in Lansbury? Personally, I wouldn’t want ANY of our players going on loan to a Sam Allardyce team. Bolton wouldn’t be a bad option for him, especially as they missed out on Wilshere this season having looked after him so well last?
I agree with Theo, the Walrus doesn’t deserve anything from us and won’t do our players any good. Lansbury isn’t that different from Wilshere so he could do a great job for Bolton. He should go out on loan, at least for the second part of the season and it should be an EPL team. Henri is just way too good to play in the championship. Ferguson said Cleverley will play 20 games this season for United, I could see Lansbury do something similar until Ramsey is fit and running.
wenger might keep him in the team until our first teamers recover but he should be loaned out to a PL club by the end of the month
Bolton
New Castle
West Brom
Blackpool
are all interested and I would prefer Blackpool because he will get the most playing time with that team while still playing in the PL
i’d like to think we’ve got a bumper generation coming through into the first team that will go on to do some great things over the next decade or so.
i’m not sure they will win as many titles as ManU’s lot did, given how much more competitive it is now, but i can see them forming the core of an England team that actually challenges for the World Cup.
I hope that ManU’s golden generation and Barca’s current first team turn out to be apt comparisons for these kids.
i totally agree .we really can have reallistically high hopes for the future with this current crop of Wengers Wonders .i doubt things will be so easy for them as it was for Fergie’s Fledglings . it wasnt as strong a league back then. without a doubt Arsenal are in an enviable position for the long term and we have plenty to look forward to.
those youngsters had older players to mold them into world beaters
we are sadly lacking that
hopefully Vermaelen can do for the defenders
Song and Diaby for the midfielders
and Arshavin and Van Persie for the strikers
and fifa are bringing in new rules to stop this arab and russian spending sprees we see every couple of years
Its great for the youngsters but how are so many already established first team players still unavailable to play? Its beyond a joke. Unfortunately I fear Gerrard, Cole, Kuyt, Jovanovic et al might make the most of the inexperienced opponents.
I’d rather seen Mannone/Scezny in goal over Fabianski at the moment.
I’ve said it before in the comment section but I don’t believe Frimpong will start at Anfield. If Diaby or Denilson don’t make it in time, he will go with Eboue as he did couple of times last season (or was it the season before?). It’s a very thin looking squad but I think he will opt for the experience of Eboue. Wilshere, however, is pretty likely to start. If Wenger starts Walcott ahead of him, I will be very disappointed.
diaby is back training but Denilson is still out injured
they might be on the bench but I doubt wenger will throw them in the first team
Wilshere will probably be on the bench next week as he was sick just a few days ago and our midfield should be ROsicky – Frimpong – Nasri
I’d be interested in views as to which of Frimpong and Eastmond everyone thinks is the better prospect considering that they play in the same position. Frimpong looks more the Flamini all action type holding midfielder, while Eastmond reminds me more of Gilberto.
I agree with Stone that Eboue will probably be played as the holding midfielder in the absence of Song, Diaby and Denilson. He has had a good pre-season and he has the defensive skills. Rosicky and Nasri have both looked excellent in midfield in the pre-season, so I’d predict them being the other midfielders, with Walcott, Chamakh and Arshavin making up the front three.
Frimpong is more like Essien or Gattuso
Coquelin is a lot like Flamini
Eatmond I am not sure
what is the web address of the official england soccer team??
im unable to access http://www.thefa.com
has it been changed now??
thakns in advance
Its still the same mate!
http://www.thefa.com/
And its ‘football’ ;)
Cheers for the feedback folks!
I think personally that Frimpong has more potential than Eastmon
In the long run, I see Frimpong being in the Essien mould in that he is strong in the tackle and defensively minded, but not the main defensive midfielder. That type of player works great in a three man midfield but not really in a 4-4-2
Flamini did that role i.e. DM in a 4-4-2 in his final season with us. just touching on the DM role re Frimpong/ eastmond. I suspect the arsenal management are moulding eastmond into a RB. checking out the reserve profiles on arsenal.com he is in the ‘defence’ section. IMO but then only arsene and the other coaches really know what plans they have for the youths
i just cant wait till the first team is populated by the youngsuns!
good work J and co. Nice write up N. Love.
in the long run i see Eastmond returning to right back.
They’re different types of players. Frimpong is a bit like a young Essien, though hopefully he’ll learn to be less reckless and card-prone; Eastmond looks calmer and less box-to-box rampaging but he’s very alert and solid defensively. I like Coquelin better than either of them, but am not optimistic that he’ll end up being the first choice. He may be better suited to a slower and more skilful league than the Premiership?
coquelin should make it into our team if he has a good season in france then wenger will bring him directly into our first team
anyway is he back with the first team?
With it being such a big game to start the season and the likelyhood of us being without Fabregas,Song,Diaby and Denilson from our midfield I’d be interested to see how Eboue and Gibbs would do in central midfield with Nasri ahead of them. Although both Frmipong and Wilshere have been impressive in pre season I have seen our defence as exposed as usual and I think we will not get away with being so open against a team with Gerrard,Cole,Babel and Torres up against our fragile defensive unit. I think with the amount of players missing we need to avoid defeat here rather than our usual you score 4 we’ll score 5 philosophy,balance is needed.
My team would be –
Almunia
Sagna Koscielny Vermaelen Clichy
Eboue Gibbs
Nasri
Walcott Arshavin
Chamack
Subs- Szczesny Nordtveit Frimpong Wilshere Rosicky Vela Emmanuel-Thomas
can Eboue play as DM player? has he played for us there ?
although Wilshere will play before GIbbs
just saw on the website that diaby is fully fit so I am guessing he will be our DM player
I like that side, except Id have wilshere, rosicky or vela over walcott.
I’ve been wanting gibbs to be tried in CM for a while now, and a partnership with eboue might work well. It’s probably the best option we have if diaby, song and denilson are all out. Tbh gibbs and eboue might be better options in the centre than denilson anyway.
Yeh I think Coquelin could be a very very good holding midfielder.
He was excellent for the u19s in the euros! And for me has been superb for Arsenal sice joining two years ago.
Coquelin holding, Frimpong box to box and Wilshere dictating…….would love that to be our furue midfield!!!!
Coquelin will do better at box to box and Frimpong holding but both can play the formation
I don’t know, I really like Coquelin as holding personally. Where as Frimpong has got the power and drive.
Coquelin is very good going forward and add to that he has a tank that never runs out
a midfield of Frimpong, Coquelin and Wilshere will be scary
although its hard to see either Frimpong or Coquelin beating Ramsey in the midfield so maybe
Wilshere -Ramsey – Coquelin is a 3-4 years time
Yeh i know what you mean, Coquelin is good going forward, but I think Frimpongs got the potential as well. And I know is still only young Frimpong, so he can learn, but I think Coquelin is bit more disciplined and tactically aware. But in all honesty there very similar.
Yeh Ramseys certainly got his foot a little bit further in the door, but its a really exciting future with them four fighting for places in midfield!
The midfield, if everything pans out, will be Song-Nasri-Ramsey. You have to remember Song isn’t that old. He’s 22, Nasri’s 23, and Ramsey’s 19. They have all shown more in the middle of the park than Frimpong, Coquelin, and Wilshere. In the future, one of Frimpong, Coquelin, or Song will be sold because there just won’t be space for all of them. Wilshere will probably take over Rosicky’s role and move between midfield backup and wing-forward.
Scott
why do people forget about rotations and the numbers of game and injuries we suffer
Diaby – Wilshere
Nasri – Ramsey
Song – Frimpong
Coquelin can play everywhere so he will be in there aswell
Frimpong adds a certain aggression to the midfield, something which Arsenal has not seen since Paddy. Still, i think he might be too raw to play against Liverpool.
our most possible XI for the pool game
http://i35.tinypic.com/iyoqjl.jpg
like always, great work.. love reading your posts.. just wish that the nationality of frimpong wouldnt keep popping up so often.. your last post had 150 odd comments with atleast half of them relating to his nationality.. i get that its a hot topic, and your England fans as well, but its something i feel thats getting a bit too much publicity imo.. its ok this time because this post was by nicky love, but i sincerely hope that this is the last time this particular topic comes up again.. its a tricky topic which really should be left alone for the time being i feel..
Has Eboue ever played DM? Yes, at least twice. On one occasion he was terrific and I thought it might even be his best position; on another he was absolutely disasterous!
If the obvious candidates are all injured, I wouldn’t mind seeing Frimpong given a go. Liverpool is big step-up for him but, in addition to his energy, his long diagonal passes are impressively careful and accurate for such a young player. He can’t give the ball away more than Denilson.
Wenger just confirmed Diaby is fully fit so he will be playing the DM role
and maybe wilshere and Nsari will start alongside him although
Frimpong is not English, he is from Ghana. Given the fates of the 2 squads at the world cup, I suspect he will not be jumping ship to play for England any time soon..
he might stick with england to play alongside his team mates
WIlshere, GIbbs, Waloctt are sure to be in there
The young Arsenal players will shine in Arsenal colours.I hope that in the coming years,they will become the top Arsenal players and their loyalty to the club will not forget.
I’d guess it will be Ashavin and Walcott who have both done wonderful things at Anfield before – remember Walcott running the entire length of the pitch and passing (accurately, for once) for Ade’s goal in the CL quarter-final; also his assist for Arshavin in the 4-4: not that Liverpool’s defence will that crap under Hodgson, unfortunately.
So, Nasri, Diaby and who in the middle – Frimpong or Rosicky? Presumably Vela won’t even be on the bench, assuming he’s even back yet? Pity.
you didnt watch pre season did you ?
Vela has been playing the pre season
and Diaby will be the DM so Nasri and Wilshere will probably be alongside him
I watched all the pre-season games. Vela has been with the national squad in Mexico City. Assuming he only got back late last night or early this morning, he won’t have taken part in training today and may still be too jet-lagged to fly straight up to Liverpool tomorrow afternoon. This was one of the things many managers were complaining about – players involved in friendlies on the other side of the world and therefore not back in time to be in a fit state for this weekend’s games. Though the fact that we’re playing on Sunday is a help, the fact that we’re away makes it more difficult.
has Gilles Sunu went back to France on loan or is he still recovering from the Euro Championship?
I understand he was looking on going on another loan and France was his preferred destination i.e Coquelin.
Thank You in advance
I hope Sunu goes to France not sure if any top flight club in france is looking for services though
if not another loan at a championship club is more likely
Jay anyone quick question. or has Gilles Sunu went back to France on loan or is he still recovering from the Euro Championship?
I understand he was looking on going on another loan and France was his preferred destination i.e Coquelin.
Thank You in advance
Great post: all the lads mentioned deserve lots of prise for what they have already achieved in the game so far.
As for sending them out on loan sorry not for me, only few if any @ all.
Because this where we have gone wrong in the passed, leaving ourselves short come the end of the season when the injuries kick-in, what AW need to install into theses boys is that they have years ahead of them can ONLY improve & they are our future, not letting other clubs get their hands & minds on them after all our good work as a club bringing them through.
AW as I say has to get these boys believing that winning any trophy for the club is as important as winning the CL & PL, that’s what it MUST be about @ their age.
Because I sincerely believe the squad we have NOW, (however an additional couple of signings would not go amiss though) if it’s kept together can compete on all levels & theses lads will only gain from this experience WITH US.
I think either Frimpong or Easmtond will be kept permanently in the first team to cover for Song and the other one will be loaned
WIlshere is going to be intergrated in the first team same goes for Nortvedit
so three players are permanent
JET will most likely stay with the first team for 6 months and then go on loan to a PL club
as for Lansbury he’s attracting a lot of interest from a lot of PL clubs and wenger will probably keep him until the end of the season till Fab, Song, Diaby and Denilson are back and training
Ramsey is coming back by November which is again a plus
these promotion make sure we have plenty of players and cover for our midfield and attack for the first time in years
defense is still a worry
end of transfer window
What I don’t get is why Diaby would play and not Cesc or RvP. Wenger says Diaby is “fully available” and yet he has not played one minute of football since last season and just started training. Meanwhile, Cesc and RvP have been training for more than a week and Cesc played 45 minutes against Mexico. I would risk them now and rest them for Blackpool at home. It would be awesome to be able to see Diaby-Nasri-Fabregas in midfield with Chamack/eboue-Rvp-Arshavin up front
Diaby was back in training earlier than both RVP and Cesc who were given extended leaves due to their countries getting into the World Cup.
RE: “has not played one muinte of football since last season” – Diaby played all 3 of France’s World Cup games. He may not have played in our pre-season games but then again neither did Song or Denilson.
Very good article Nick
I think Wenger’s just pulling a fast one over Hodgson. I expect Cesc to start (played a half for Spain on Monday). Diaby will play a full game. If Song is fit he will start at DM but otherwise Denilson will, he has played thru that injury before and it’s a bit of a concern that he still carries it this season.
I can see Wilshere coming on for Cesc who may not see out the game. I think Frimpong will be on the bench just in case.
Watching the Emirates Cup I’m not sure Frimpong is the type of DM we need. He looks to pressure straight away where as in a 4-3-3 we really need that player to hold his position in front of the CB’s. I’m sure he will get better but he plays with a lot of energy and doesn’t use his head enough at this stage. He’s gonna come up against clever players in midfield who will flick the ball around him if they know he’s prone to dive in so I see him collecting a few cards.
Wilshere is ready to be a squad player for me. He has shown great determination to go along with his undoubted ability. I still think long-term he’s more of a Pires-style winger then a CM. He just doesn’t have the tackling ability to play CM at such a high level but I understand we put him there so he sees plenty of the ball, and it has worked from that perspective.
If Cesc leaves, for me Nasri is the man to take over as the CM/AM with Arshavin, Walcott, Wilshere filling the wings and Bendtner/Eboue chipping in there too. Nasri just has that mongrel about him and he seems to enjoy playing there more because you can beat players with work-rate rather then acceleration (which he doesn’t have the best).
Eboue actually played the CM/AM role towards the end of last season a couple of times and looked very good. I prefer him there then as a RM as we’ve played him previously.
Even if Cesc leaves our midfield just looks ridiculously deep at all levels. We do need a few players to put their hands up for the DM spot tho. Yet to be completely convinced Frimpong is the answer but I think he has shown enough to at least be given some opportunities but I wouldn’t play him at Anfield, that’s too big a game.
I always thought Frimpong’s energy would suit the box2box role a bit more with Coquelin’s ability to read the game and his technique suiting him a little more as a DM. I fear JET might get squeezed and to be perfectly honest I don’t see Lansbury having a long-term future here. He reminds me a bit of Sidwell who got squeezed because we had so much quality but went on to gain EPL experience with other clubs.
It will be fantastic when the likes of Diaby, Denilson, Song, Nasri, Bendtner, Walcott are in their late 20’s and we’ll still have the likes of Ramsey, Frimpong, Coquelin, Ozy, Wilshere, Aneke, Afobe, JET all in their early/mid 20s … we’ll be ridiculously deep if we can keep all those guys together.
All we need to do now is sort out our defense!!
“it is possible that come Sunday afternoon both Wilshere and Frimpong will be starting in the centre of midfield at Anfield; the first time Arsenal have fielded two Englishman in the centre of midfield in the Premier League for years.”
Two English men? LOL.
Sending Coquelin on loan is beyond comprehension if we’re not bringing in another DM.
Francis is infinitely more talented than the other two who have been fast-tracked beacuse of their nationality (yes, i know Frimpong is classed as Ghanaian) and not talent or merit, like our dear friend Theo Walflower. A master conman who’d give Bernie Madoff a run for his money, who despite churning out shite performances week in, week out still manages to bag a contract worth 60k per week and have his mug plastered over cover of a video game other than ‘Track and Field’ or the ‘Burnout’ series (he specialises in hitting objects head on, at speed after all).
It’s a real sad state of affairs when Frimpong and Eastmond are in contention for a place in the first 11 against Liverpool.
*In b4 the Feo apologists mention that incident where he came on against a tired liverpool defence, ran in a straight line whilst repeatedly kicked the ball 20 yards and chased it b4 poorly cutting the ball back to Adecuntface*
United have better talent welbeck.cleverly, kiko macheda,hernandes gibson. sorry fellas
frimp is just using england nt as opportunity to catch ghana fa eyes so they can cap him ask him! frimp and wilshere will be deadly