Arsenal played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad in the Premier Reserve League this evening. John Guidetti gave City a first half lead via the post, but Jay Emmanuel-Thomas equalised with an excellent curled effort from the edge of the box.
Neil Banfield was again able to call on first-team experience with Johan Djourou featuring again at second string level, while Wojciech Szczęsny played his first minutes in an Arsenal shirt since pre-season. Oguzhan Ozyakup returned from injury to make the bench.
Szczęsny
Hoyte – Djourou – Miquel – Evina
Eastmond – Randall
Emmanuel-Thomas – Aneke – Deacon
Afobe
Subs: Shea, Boateng, Meade, Ozyakup, Murphy.
Manchester City kicked things off but were immediately forced onto the back foot. Roarie Deacon had early joy against Shaleum Logan down the left hand side, and he worked the first great opportunity of the half. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas played a long ball for Craig Eastmond over the back four, he released Deacon who cut inside and had a fierce shot blocked by Ben Mee.
After more pressure from The Gunners, John Guidetti caught the back four cold and forced a fine save from Szczęsny. Just moments later the situation would repeat itself, but with a different result. Randall gave the ball away and Guidetti rode the tackle of Miquel to smash the ball off the post and in. 1-0 to City.
The goal disrupted the flow of Arsenal’s passing and City took full advantage. Hoyte was forced to block Ibrahim’s long range shot and then McDermott’s free kick had Szczęsny flapping in a 10 minute block of pressure from the hosts.
Yet the final moments of the half were dominated by the visitors. Aneke rolled inside and curled an effort over before Afobe got around the back and smacked an effort off the bar. Eastmond had the best chance, though, volleying Aneke’s cross off the post and away. 1-0 at the break.
Half Time – Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal
With Neil Banfield’s words still ringing in their ears, Arsenal began the second half well. Aneke and Afobe played some lovely touch football and the latter managed to spring the back four and get in around the back, yet just as he was about to pick a cross, Mee came across and made another final tackle. It was a warning, though.
City then managed to find their top gear and should have had a second when Ibrahim smashed Djourou’s poor clearance off the bar. There was more pressure from the hosts, but finally Arsenal got the equaliser. Emmanuel-Thomas collected the ball on the edge of the box and cut inside on his left foot, only to curl the ball into the top left corner. 1-1 and an excellent strike.
Both sides pushed hard for the winner in the closing stages and as City began to tire, the Gunners pressed their advantage. Afobe again got in behind but oped to pass when a shot was on, and another promising move came to nothing. Emmanuel-Thomas was next to try, smashing a free-kick inches wide.
The rain poured down and although Afobe had a powerful header saved well, the game fizzled out in the closing stages, finishing 1-1.
nice game but guns missed number of chances . JET should be with the first team . man city keeper kept the result 1-1 by his saves
JET’s equalizer was like WIlshere’s goal against West Ham in the reserves a few years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITVSdAzBjXY
??
Seeing as you watch the kids on a regular basis, from the 4 keepers at the club, where would Szczęsny stands? =)
How was Szczesny playing?
Man City Elite Development Squad??? What the f*ck is that all about?
Top goal and performance from JET. He is doing everything to get himself into the 1st team squad. Glad that Big Johan got some more game time too.
Djourou is still looking shaky at the back. I’m not sure what’s wrong with him though.. he used to be much better than this. Time will tell if he gets back up again. JET, omg, JET NEEDS to be with the first team. He’s just been playing around with the other reserve teams. He’s waaay too good for the reserve. But right now, the first team is packed with good players. i just believe he’d add an extra dimention to our game where he could switch with Chamakh all through the game if he played on the wing
Nice work J.can pls develop a BB application for ur site?
Why wasn’t Nordtveit involved?
I’m hoping he wasn’t involved because he’d be with the first team at tomorrow’s game… that’s only my guess though.
JET needs to play at a higher level because he´s wasting away by not putting in the effort over 90 min. He is clearly good enough technically to play at a Premiership level, but he´ll need to up his work-rate several times if he´s to have a career at Arsenal (which his talent suggest he should). Will be interesting to see how he plays against a PL side at Shite Hart Lane.
Eastmond and Randall were really poor defensively, which gave City a chance to pile up the pressure. Hoyte was poor/rusty and allowed the lw to turn him inside out on numerous occasions.
Djourou is 5th choice atm (which Nordveit´s call up indicates) and he looks well off the pace. He MUST NOT start against Spuds with the way his season has started and it´s unfortunate that his injury absence has put his development on hold.
Good to see Szczesny eventhough not much can be made of this performance.
All in all a decent match and a fair result in the end although we´re capable of playing much better.
@Chappers Excellent analysis sir! I watched the game and your comments are spot on. You didnt mention Aneke who was disapointing today, even though he had a few nice touches I was looking forward to seeing him boss the game. He was rightly subbed in the second half but I’m sure he’ll be back to his best next match.
Same also for Roarie Deacon who started very well but the Citeh RB soon got the measure of him. Hope he continues to improve now he’s been stepped up from the U-18s, he has bags of talent too.
Djourou is a real worry…. lets hope Nordveit is able to step up otherwise I fear we may be “short”.
Pol are getting a bonner over jet you lot should have bendtner at 16 he destroyed reserve teams with pace power skill
Give it a rest with your Bendy love! Get a room!
HaHaHaHaHaHaH…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Still hating on JET, huh John! HaHaHaHa!!!!!!!
Just can’t accept how good this kid is can you! Well I don’t know what your problem is. JET is one of the best prospects in the youth system. He chances of being as good as Bendtner or better look really good at this point.
I believe today’s goal brings his stats to 4 goals and 4 assists in three reserve matches this season. I know that’s awful news for haters like you but, hey, it’s not fantasy my friend, these are the facts. Hate as much as you want, but the boy seems to deliver game in, game out!
Man City had some really quick, lively, one-touch skill coming through the midfield and this gave them the advantage on counter attacks. But their balls in the final third were often wayward. They had more luck with a measured approach out wide. Particularly through McDermott.
Eastmond and Randall got the worse of it defensively. They couldn’t control the center of the park defensively. I kept waiting for City to tire and then Arsenal would take over. Arsenal did look a more composed, balanced, and mature side despite the average ages being about the same, I’d guess. In fact, they did get their chances in the second half to match their chances in the first half. But a combination of good defending by their centre backs kept the damage to a minimum.
The Citeh commentator was a ponce.
Yeah he was a tit werent he!
I was stood 2 metres away from that commentator he was a right tit, every time an Arsenal player did anything he had to do a mad scramble for his team sheet
John//
And Bendtner is a young, promising player who has come up with the goods at times during his Arsenal career and if JET can emulate him I won´t be complaining…
Fucking commentator! what a cunt. And even on the website it said city fully deserved the win but was “denied by two shots to the post” We had one to the post aswell and the bar… and we clearly dominated. Their execuse is also “arsenal had lots of experience with djourou and randall.” fucking asshole they had a 28 year old goalkeeper. Elite development my arse
Great blog, read it all the time but have never commented.
Today, I think your comments about JET are abit harsh, on twitter. He kick started our dominance for the last 10 minutes of the first half. Looking extremely lively and willing to take players on. 2nd half looked capable of beating his man, and dont forget he was often ganged up on by atleast 2 at a time. I agree, he went up a notch when he scored, and as the game became stretched, but defensively City looked very competent. Work rate good, but when he wasn’t in the game, its not simply becuase he’s poor. I did notice 3 slips early on, but bar that, was by all accounts good at very least.
Scored a great goal and set up a couple of Afobe chances, which were poorly wasted.
….resistence to believing in and celebrating JET’s ability is the fall-back location for many Arsenal fans!
Why is this…???
Can’t you print black on white? It’s not worth reading white out of black – sorry, but there’s no advantage in being back to front. I would appreciate you switching because I love what you write.
Yeah lets change the whole thing just for you love! Maybe he can change the name too? :D
sorry mate but white on black is alot easier for me to read… i get very bored of black on white… i miss words, read sentances twice. i’m sorry that this is hard for you but its been like this for a ever i can’t see it changing.
You bloody bog trotter!!!
So glad we never signed Smalling. He is shite. And to think he cost the skint mancs over £10 million!!! Brilliant!
Smalling never even got in the Fulham squad second half of the season. So how could he be good enough for a top 4 club. He aint good enough.
Smalling is not a finished article, that why Arsene want to buy him. But he thought he already learn everything and choose to go to Mancs. Just like Anelka when he decide to left Arsenal.
Smalling actually wanted to come to Arsenal but his agent instructed him to choose Man Utd because they offered him more money. To be honest, I think Bartley is just as good, but I may be being biased there.
JET is showing that he is much better then those around him in the reserves. If he doesnt get in the first team this season id like him to go on loan to a premier league club.
Hopefully he will be in the carling Cup team that beats the spuds, then go out on loan come january to a Prem team, like Blackpool (again)
Where the hell was Nordtveit?
JET’s got plenty of time to break into the first team. He’s going to play in the CC and FA cup for sure and if he performs well in those he should get chances, especially if injuries to forwards don’t ease up.
And if we do happen to get lucky in the injury department and JET doesn’t get many games, some PL club will surely come calling for his services.
From going to the game, the one thing that stood out was how far away most of the players are to first team football. JET is the only outfield player close to the 1st team squad but even he still needs quite a bit more work. Don’t know if he feels he should be getting the Wilshere treatment but he did seem disinterested and easily frustrated at times. Positional sense and off the ball needs work as well (He has had to learn positional sense for every position on the pitch though).
Miquel, Aneke and Afobe have the talent they just need a couple more years development and maybe a loan next season
Can’t see Hoyte, Evina and Randall making it, it seems they’re just making up the numbers in the reserves. Can’t see Eastmond making it either though
Agree about JET. There is a lot of resistence to how good the kid is. The 1st team is clearly in his sights. But that said he must improve his off-the ball movement. Mind you, I’m not supporting all this bullshit you read about his work-rate…that’s just lazy bandwagon bashing of the kid. His work-rate is not a problem. He needs to learn where to be on the pitch though, especially with respect to best using his immense talent. That will take a bit more time. But it’s a lovely problem to have compared to some of the other players you mentioned (surely Murphy has to be included in the group that is just “making up the numbers”, no real hope of a future at Arsenal for him either).
Don’t think it’s lazy bandwagon bashing seeing as I was at the game focusing on him the whole game. He’s never gonna give you a full shift in terms of pressing the opposition high up the pitch, having said that he’s definitely no worse than Arshavin for that. I still think he’s a great talent though, hopefully the coaches can now stop his merry-go-round of positions, and he can start developing fully in that position cutting in from the right side of a front 3. Surely they should have specified a position for him a couple of years ago coz that hasn’t helped his development. I wonder if Ian Holloway wanted him back over the summer, or will want him in Jan. Got a feeling we’ll see the best of him next week against Spurs.
Definitely agree about Murphy although it could have been different if it wasn’t for his injuries
Yea, frankly, I still think he’s one prem loan-spell away from the 1st team. I would love it if Hollaway took him back for the 2nd half of the season. They are a decent footballing side with whom he’s already very familiar. It would be a really good fit for him.
Re. the work-rate thing. Point taken. If you were there (lucky-you, btw…I would just love to see the boys live!) then I accept your account of him in person. It’s just that this whole “work-rate” thing seems to be the consumate justification for turning our players into whipping boys. It has happened with Ade, Diaby, Denilson, Arshavin, now JET, and I already am starting to hear these noises made about Aneke. It was perhaps only remotely true of Ade and Arshavin. Diaby and Denilson are just the latest whipping boys. I would hate for that nonsense to take hold with JET and Aneke, but it probably will. I appreciate your analysis, but many times people see a big tall languid player move on the pitch and assume he’s lazy. Ade, Diaby, JET, and Aneke are all tall languid guys but only Ade was lazy at times, and in truth that was his last 2 seasons. His first year and a half he worked his socks off for the team hassling defenders, etc.
Yeh see your point, it’s obviously not the wide forward’s primary job to be winning the ball back, they should be doing damage with the ball at feet or in behind the defence. So maybe being a bit harsh on him, it is after all only a reserve game. Those who say Aneke is lazy are wrong in my opinion, he is an honest hard-working player. He found it a little hard to find space against City coz they were playing a high line with a deep-lying DM, so he couldn’t really pick the ball up where he is most dangerous between the lines. He was almost playing as another striker alongside Afobe, you can tell he’s got talent though, playing at the Emirates would really suit him.
I can’t wait to see it [Aneke at the Emirates that is…even if only on TV].
I gotta say, I’m surprised City are an impressive youth outfit aren’t they. Wouldn’t say they are as good as us, but still they seem to have some real quality players and they were one of the tougher youth teams during the double winning campaign as well.
Up Young Guns!!! They made us proud by showing their fighting spirit towards the Game.
JET is no longer a Young Gunner, He is a Matured Gunner. We NEED Him in the First Team. A.
BRAVO YOUNG GUNNERS!!!
KEEP THE FAITH****
What were the average ages today? Or better still, could someone post the “elite development” squad lineup or a link or summat? Much appreciated.
Thanks J for all the tremendous work done here.
@ Paddy, actually mate you are correct. Initially white on black looks better but when someone write’s a long paragraph it plays with your eyes.
@ Mug, surely it’s too early to say about smalling…how many times have you watched him play, common mate.
PS, randall, sorry mate but you should look for a new club, he doesn’t excel in anything and I do like the guy.
love young guns tho :-)
Shit!! I woulda rather have watched this match then ManU vs Rangers!!!:D I can’t belive I missed it!!!:S Are there any videos of JET’s goal out yet???
The match report is available on arsenal.com
I thought both teams had prospects.
A better question for those in the know would be: How many of the Citeh U-18 team that lost to us two seasons ago are in and around the first team? Comparable, in other words, to Wilshere, JET, and Lansbury, Frimpong and even Eastmond? I don’t know what to say about Sunnu, Watt, bartley or Coquelin in this formulation. (Was V. Weiss in that team?) The announcer seemed to think that this match was some sort of revenge for them from that defeat (while they were winning at least), and I thought two things
1. The two teams seemed evenly matched age wise and in terms of loans to championship
teams.
Arsenal were more able to play like a proper serious team in terms of short-short-long passing (I mean cross field balls – I watched Manure – Rangers after the reserve match and ManU do this all the time, the long accurate balls out wide). City weren’t able to think/play like this yet.
Largely agree with the comments here. The commentator was a right tit, but in this instance he gets paid to be biased.
I thought it was a very encouraging display considering the pitch conditions and rains. Man City have some good players too (the commentator conveniently forgot to mention that some of them were on loan to championship clubs last season and the season before as well).
The good thing is that we may still see at least 3-4 make it at Arsenal. The same cannot be said for Man City. I’d hate to see their famed academy not yielding first teamers. But in this age of instant gratification and too much money, that seems like a distant prospect.
Where the heck is Sanchez Watt? Injured? Abducted?
Abducted by Simon Grayson mate
My only question is why is JET not picked up 4 England under 21`s???
Elite development squad! It sounds like a covert unit of the Israeli military…
Shinji Kagawa has 3/6 for Dortmund now! Wish Wenger forked out the 300k at the beginning of the season and signed him. He is amazing, and i have been following him and cerezo osaka for 3 years now.
I find it a bit disappointing that JET is not getting any bench time. With Nasri, Walcott, Bendtner, Van Persie, Diaby, Ramsey all injured i woulld have thought he could get onto a seven man bench and start to integrate himself into the first team gradually. He’s got no hope once all those guys come back.
My second time of writing on this blog.
Grate run-out for the reserve players and i think they played quite well.
JET for me is a gud player, the coaching crew get to settle him down with a constant run-out in a single position in other to mastermind is play on the picth.
If only they can do, i bet they boy will get better.
Pls anyone, where is giles sunu?
Where is Lansbury? Does anyone know??
Can anyone tell me how I can watch the reserves on TV or PC? I used to watch AFC TV on ESPN and it was a good program. I am amazed that Virgin or SkY
GunerPete: It’s highlight only for AFC reserves/u18’s, ATVO stated that due to lack of viewership and costs?(club is loaded w/dough)? Plus with new behind close doors games no live anymore sorry? Maybe if another club shows live then that I believe is the only bet to watch live? Peace…JOin ATVO online it’s worth the $!
Training with 1st squad, he or Nordtveit in the Braga squad i think.
Jet will definetly play against the spuds in the CC. Who else do you reckon could play from the reserves? Eastmond and nordeveitt are really the only other players i can see making the 1st 11.
Afobe tried to do too much when in front of goal, he needs to learn to take chances quickly. He can’t always turn a defender inside out before shooting.
Jet was top class. Randall played some beautiful passes, but needs to work on his tackling. Hoyte was really struggling, I thought his pace would help but it didn’t.
Eastmond still looks raw, but he has heart and keeps trying. I didn’t see Aneke do much, he played it simple. Miguel lacks pace and struggled. The biggest worry was Djourou, who is a long way off from the 1st team atm.
JS mentions his name once in the article but what amazes me is how nobody has touched on how brilliant Ben Mee was in the first half. I missed the second half but that kid Mee made about three or four last ditch blocks/challenges in the first period, the Deacon one being the first. He easily kept them in the game.
They had a few good prospects playing last night but we easily dominated that first period and they relied on their dangerous counter-attacks, despite what the stupid commentator said.
Its alright for Mee to be resilient when City are using seige mentality defending deep in their half, can he put good performances if City’s tactically play different ala pressing higher up the pitch or if he didnt have 3 DM in front of him. Also everytime Arsenal did press him , he gave the ball away
Maybe so Super, but that doesn’t take away the fact he made three or four excellent last ditch tackles/blocks. They were all point-blank, goal-bound efforts that, more than likely, would have been goals had he not been in the right place at the right time.
Mee did have a great first half. Likewise I missed the second half but I’m surprised I haven’t heard people talking about him if he performs like that regularly.
Anyone got a link to JETs goal?
ATVO has it
Arsenal 6-0 Braga
am fucking scared..the last time Arsenal started so good was in 2004/05
“Smalling actually wanted to come to Arsenal but his agent instructed him to choose Man Utd because they offered him more money. To be honest, I think Bartley is just as good, but I may be being biased there.”
how do you know this?
Wilshere was magical, looks like he has now cemented his place in the team
100% agree wilshire was great l think hes ready now, some of the things he was doin was just like cesc super player already
I know we can play well against Man United!!:D We did so last year away from home. All we have to do is up our game against Chelsea and we`ll be fine!!:D I know this not a first team blog, by the way, and I usually don`t like to start talking about the 1st team, but others have started to so I just wanna join in :D We still have a ways to go to match Barca`s quality offensively though. They completed over 750 passes while we completed around 500. We need to learn how to keep the ball even better if that is possible!!:D But we were magical tonight. Actually the only reason we didn`t complete more passes was because we had to pass the ball into the net at some point!!!:D We can play even better!! We might not be able to score as many goals but we can and i think we will play better. I really wanna see us beat Chelsea this year!!:D I think we can do it!!!:D We just have to impose our style against them and not let them get comfortable. We need to keep the ball even if it is just in our own half!!:D If we do that against Chelsea we will beat them for sure!!:D
Well said mate.. But you know the only offensive difference between ARSENAL and Barcelona is Messi..
He is the 1 who actually gives quality to their attack.. Otherwise we are very very well equipped to beat them………….
Knowone should ever question fabregas commitment to arsenal the way he played tonight you wouldn’t even think barcalona made two bids for him.it’s frightening how good fabregas is.And he’s going to get better.it’s going to cost barcalona a lot of money to get fabregas and i hope they never do.fabregas is our leader and i hope he stays with us for the rest of his career.
you know what scary he is just 23.
gotta agree with you marko, i was worried he would be focused on barca and not arsenal but his last two performances were MASTER CLASSES! holy hell this kid is good (only 23???? my god think of a healthy fab in 5 yrs) If he keeps it up Barca are gonna have to pay a Ronaldo to Mardid esque amount (upwards of 60m) because the board and wenger are not gonna let him leave before his contract runs out
jay one quick question where is wellington because he wasn’t in fluminense squad for there game against corinthians or is he still at arsenal training.
who needs messi, lol ? We have Fabregas!!!!
Fabregas is the best midfielder in the world in my opinion and we have wilshere and ramsey.the other top teams in england don’t have half the quality we have been produceing in our youth system.
Afternoon fellow Gooners,
A couple things i wanna share with you guys. Firstly this:
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/445370627?-11203
Ha, fucking, HA! This has to be the funniest football-related story i’ve ever read. I seriously mean that. This fuck-wit Allardyce is sooooo bitter whenever Wenger beats him. Over a whole week has passed since the game and he’s still talking shit. He can’t help having a pop at Wenger. These lines takes the cake…….
“Arsene has most of the media in his pocket now and is almost – almost – affecting the officials so that you can’t tackle an Arsenal player.
“That’s something he’s very clever at working on and it’s almost working in his favour, you can see that.”
Let me get this straight……Arsene Wenger has the media in his pocket? Is he for real? Wenger is the English media’s favourite object of vilification/humiliation. Everything AW says gets a negative spin in the press. Even his pre-match interview with Gabriel Clarke (tw*t) yesterday was twisted to make Arsene out to be a complaining, fidgety, arrogant and abrupt Frenchman. The very fucking questions they ask him are provoking. They wouldn’t dare do such a thing to Ferguson, as everybody knows, is the REAL puppetmaster of the media’s.
Now i see it like this. Fat Sam has a point because Arsene is, in fact, trying to influence the refs. But not how the walrus puts it. Arsene is merely trying to get Arsenal treated on the same level that Chelsea and Man Utd get treated from officials. They say that big clubs get all the decisions. Bullshit! Arsenal get a rough ride from these officials (we’re seen as the foreign club like any true Gooner will tell you), Wenger complains and then gets painted as a moany Frenchman in the media. Whenever clubs like Hull, Stoke, Blackburn and Bolton have got a good result against us in past seasons, we blatantly haven’t been protected by officials the same way Man Utd and Chelsea are when they play these clubs. Hell, do these tosser managers even send their players out against these two with the same OTT rough-house tactics they employ against us? Methinks not. Fans of other clubs call him ‘Whinger’ ffs. What? You’re not allowed to speak up for your own team? That’s all he does. All this nonsense begs the question; has fat Sam ever criticised another manager this way apart from Benitez? I, for the life of me, seriously can’t remember.
My second point:
I was at the Emirates last night getting my money’s worth. I knew today’s newspapers were gonna say what they’ve said this morning (it seems the Chavs are getting more praise than us for beating a Slovakian side that 90% of people in this country didn’t even know existed). It’s absolutely fucking ridiculous. Now whether they give us enough credit or not is their problem, i’m really not fussed, but already today i’ve had to hear Cascarino and Cundy demeaning Arsenal’s performance last night. I’ve read one clown’s (from the Telegraph i think) article about last night’s performance and how it showed Arsenal are still suspect defensively (he duely got what was coming to him in the comments section of that particular article). Now, i don’t dispute Arsenal may still be suspect on the defensive front but you can’t say that on last night’s showing. I never felt Almunia’s goal was under any real threat and that was as comfortable an Arsenal game i remember seeing. But they’re all saying pretty much the same thing (as they do) and that is that Braga are a very poor side. Now, hang on a minute………
……..Before the game, all the talk was about how they’re a very dangerous side on the counter-attack and of how they dispatched of Celtic very easily and then outclassed Sevilla both home and away. Ninety minutes later and they’re one of the worst teams to ever grace the CL. God almighty, whatever happened to “you can only beat what’s in front of you?” Where’s our credit for making them look like that last night? You only have to look at their manager’s dejected expression when his side were 5-0 down to know that this team aren’t used to getting tanked like that.
It reminded me of what my dad (big Man Utd fan) used to tell me when i was a young lad and got pissed off with teams that used to do well against Arsenal and then crumble completely when they faced Man Utd. He used to say, “Don’t get mad son, they’re not playing well because we’re not letting them,” before winding me up further by tilting his head back and laughing like a man possessed while slapping his knee. That’s basically what we did to Braga last night. If any of you were there, you would have noticed the phenomenal work-rate of every single one of our players last night. EVERY SINGLE one of them – even Arshavin. Cesc covers so much ground, like you wouldn’t believe. Jacky boy has got very good positional sense for one so young and rarely wasted a pass last night (i read somewhere that he had a higher pass completion rate than any other attacking player in red and white last night). I have never seen Clichy so dominant (must be feeling Gibbsy breathing down his neck). It was a brilliant team performance but the scary thing is, is that there is still sooo much room for improvement. One such example is that AA23 is still far too wasteful for my liking (he breaks down a lot of our fluid attacks because he’s not always on the same wavelength as the others – much like Adebayor in his time here). But Arsenal need to put that type of effort in against EVERY team we come up against. There was a steely determination about them last night to keep a clean sheet. I loved that. It’s our main problem and one we need to fix if we’re to collect any silverware at the end of the season.
P.S. Messi was at Hackney Marshes yesterday but got mobbed quickly once SSN reported it, so had to move to another location quickly. His security were terrified! :)
Oh, truth be told. Anyone who believes the media propaganda about Chelsea and how they look unbeatable, don’t be fooled. They have had an easier start to the season than us and have brushed aside a couple of sides but if you watch the highlights of their last two games (against the Slovaks and West Ham), you will see that Chelsea conceded a few goalscoring chances where, with better quality opposition, would have been punished. For example, if Piquionne scores that open goal and pegs Chelsea back from 3-0 up back to 3-2, then questions will start getting asked about them. But, it didn’t go in and therefore the game was judged on MOTD (and by their accomplices) as a very comfy Chelsea victory. Bollocks! This chance wasn’t the only good chance West Ham created in that game either. Look at the poor goal they conceded last night. Is that shit unbeatable? No. It was straight dodgy. They won’t mention it too much though cos it wasn’t Almunia or an Arsenal ‘keeper who made the error. I still think they’ll win the league but my point is that they’re not as good as the media will have you believe.
I read the same thing regarding Allardyce vs Wenger on Goal.com. I know it’s goal.com but still, I read it there and i was really pissed off too. I don’t live in England so it’s very hard to tell what kind of media coverage Arsenal receives in there home country. It doesn’t sound very good going by what you have described. Over here in Cnanada, they are percieved as a team that is very talented but lacks heart when it really matters. I don’t believe that but that is what they say over here. I’ve never seen Cascarino on tv before but he does sound like a twat.
Wenger isn’t just trying to protect his players…he’s trying to protect all the players. Yes he has an interest in his own team, but he has said this many times. He has said he is trying to protect all the players in the league. I thought he showed great restraint concerning the Bolton match!!! I would have been so enraged by what Robinson did and what Cahill did. He didn’t go bonkers or anything like that. He even said that he didn’t think Cahill’s was a sending off. He said that he didn’t see it and he’d have to see it again to judge whether it was a red card offence or not.
Wenger is by no means perfect but he isn’t nearly as bad or blinkered as people tend to believe. That is how I see it.
As for Chelsea, well I don’t need the media to tell me they are a good team. But I don’t think they are as good as us. I’ll say that right now. If we play our best and they play their best I say we beat them by 2 goals!! :D At least!! :D
FUCK MESSI I DON’T CARE!!!! :D
Whoa I meant Canada
Do you guys think Chuks and Afobe will be in the Carling Cup XI?
I would think that one or both of Aneke and Afobe would be in the team because Wenger rates them very highly and they are above their age group in terms of talent. I can’t wait for that match!!!:D I Don’t live in London so I can’t really ever tell what the rivalry between arsenal and Spurs is like, but I’m really sick of them reminding us of how they beat us the last match, and how they are going to overtake us in the premier league…I hope we show them a thing or two about our youth academy and we beat them with style and flair!! :D Our boys can do it too. Even if Spurs play a full strength XI ,which I doubt, I’m sure our movement and passing would confound their defence!! :D
JET’s goal http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xeuj0j_curler_webcam
Wow!! :D Thanks for that Parker!! :D I was looking all over trying to find a video of that goal. I don’t have ATVO cuz I can’t afford it right now. What a strike that was!!! And the pass before hand to Afobe was class as well!!! JET is a great player who will go on to make the 1st team squad I have no doubt. If he keeps on improving the way he has been, there is nothing that can stop him!!! :D
Hi Guys,
I just wanted to drop in and update you and give an apology. Firstly, apologies for the lack of updates during the last two weeks, I took a holiday first of all, and now I’m working on something exciting, which is taking up most of my time at the moment.
The exciting thing I’m working on is a new design for Young Guns. It should be completed over the weekend and the normal updates should start on Monday. I can’t say much more, but you’ll see the new ideas we’ve got coming in shortly.
Cheers!
Jamie
can you make a place were we follow Spurs and see how bad they are doing
No apologies necessary js!
You are the creator of the best Arsenal blog out there and I, for one, am thankful!!!
Keep up the great work, man!
Looking forward to the new design!
on twitter you said there are news for a DM. Is this player close for joining us and who is it. Thx in advance
Cool should be intresting.
JS just out of curiousity i have heard reports in Denmark saying bentner may retire cause of his injuries is this true?
BTW ppl are saying havard nordtveit is injured and saw him with crutches against bolton
And hows aaron ramsey doing?
Have to watch this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1SD0yQmRsM&feature=grec_index
@ john http://justarsenal.com/bendtner-rejects-appalling-danish-rumours/5283
Off subject but Le Grove state that the circus formerly known as Sky Sports News have failed to include Vela’s wonderful team goal (and probably the goal of the season) against Bolton as part of their best 8 goals of the week. Unbelievable is an understatement!
Oh, and does anyone know if the PL is run by a bunch of Spuds cos it sure as hell seems like it. Why do Pompey owe the Spuds £1m for Asmir Begovic when he didn’t go there but to Stoke? I mean, wtf? Can anyone elaborate cos i aint listening to SSN’s take on it as i know they’ll spin some bullshit to make it out that Spurs are REALLY owed this money.
I swear i heard something about this money is owed to the Spuds because they tried to HELP (yes, help) Pompey in a financial sense by purchasing Begovic off them. It obviously didn’t happen and he went to Stoke but now, apparently, Spuds are somehow owed £1m from the club that sold the player…….i’m lost on that one.
I wouldn’t be so wary of such conspiracy theories but look at how they allowed them to cut corners to speed up VDV’s transfer. It still wasn’t registered in time but they still allowed it. Transfer DEADLINE my arse!!!
Apparently Spuds wanted Berg and hard a exclusivity verbal agreement so to help Pompey they payed 1m down payment however after that agreement an agent must have offered Pletikosa on trial so they decided to go for that bcuz he is intermational with CL experience. So when Berg got to their training ground and saw Plet he decided against going their and Plet later suffered ligament injury with Croatia and that deal was dead.
Pompey have decided to fight the case on the grounds that the deal only fell thru bcuz they started looking at other option which was off-putting for the player as it would given Spuds 4 international class GK.
Only Spuds can get themselves into such a mess LOL
You need to see this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4FYBeA5wXQ
Arsenal 49ers
watch and enjoy the invincibles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWg3j1lqGUw
I see Alban bunjaku profile is on the reserves/youth hes the youngest player there.
Looking foward to seeing him
I really hope eastmond gets to play against the Spuds in the Carling Cup midweek. And I hope that this time he can settle down and play as well as I know he can play!! :D I am really pulling for him to make it somehow and a good performance against SPuds would go a long way to putting him back on track the way he was last year!! :D I know most people don’t think he can make it, but I really, really want to see him do well when he is given the chance:D I hope we play a really young squad and beat them handily. I know we are capable of doing it too :D Come on you Gunners!!!! :D
I really hope we put out a young squad and win the carling cup. We have too many important games ahead of us and there is no way we can survive with 3-4 more injuries of our regulars. Vela, Denilson, djourue, will be in the team too I think and will be the experience players. If Vermealen will be fit he will play too to get back in match fitness. Right-back is a big question mark for me. Hoyte might not be good enough but he has played there before in carling cup. Maybe Eastmond can play there too but he hasn’t played there for a long time. You never know but lansbury might be back in the team and he could play there too.
I can see how Afobe and Aneke actually get to play in the starting 11. Aneke has done good so far and has been quite solid.,”If you are good enough you are old enough” so why not. I can come up with 3 starting line up right now. But I don’t know how many will be available after the sunderland game. Wilshere should not play the whole sunderland game for sure but then again carling cup comes second to the league so if he is not available Aneke or JET or Randall can come in.
Milo I’m with you,I rate Eastmond,you always get a solid performance from the boy,ok he’s not seriously flash like some of our other youngsters but he’s effective and has a good work effic,I’d get him and Denilson to hold our midfield together and Aneke in the free role to express himself at The Drain on tuesday night.
The young lot with a good mixture of experience will do me,not too fussed about the result so much as it’s not a priority like it is for those mugs down the road but a win against the spuds no matter what is always good.
My team would be –
Sczcesny
Nordtveit, Djourou, Squillaci/Vermaelen, Gibbs
Eastmond,Denilson
Aneke
Eboue,Emmanuel-Thomas,Vela
Any thoughts?
SWAP EBOUE FOR WILSHERE U GT THE TEAM IMO
I really hope that Djourou can get back on track as well. It will be a tough match to get back into the flow of things for him, but with a little help I think he will be fine if he plays. I also want to see JET get a chance!! :D I really like him as a player!! :D
Clichy out. Gibbs in. Simples
Why hell did Clichy smash it against Koscielny giving him no time to react. All in all draw is fair thougg
We didn’t deserve to win and nobody can argue that!! We were lucky to draw. I don’t know how a European game in midweek could jade us so much. There really isn’t any excuse for that in my opinion. If that is how we are going to play after every Champions League match in midweek, then we will not win the title. No excuse for the performance that I saw today. None. I don’t care if it’s an away match or not. England is a small enough country that travel shouldn’t be an issue. NO EXCUSES WHATSOEVER FOR THE PERFORMANCE THAT I SAW TODAY!! this is why we will never be able to beat the best continental opponents. We cannot impose our will against the opposition in the really tough matches. I saw this last year and the year before. In 2008 we were able to at least play to our potential in the toughest of matches. We didn’t play like I know we can. Away from home, we play mutch differently and I do not know why. I don’t think I am being too harsh in my judgements. We DID NOT dominate Blackburn away from home like we should have, and we did not play well at Liverpool at all. Our away form will have to improve if we are to challenge for the title as well as the Champions League. That is the bottom line, NO EXCUSES!!!!!!!!
I am not sayin that the season is over…I want to make that clear lol. I am just saying that we will have to drastically improve our away form and style of play to be able to challenge for the top honours this season!!!
And why doesn everyone want Clichy out?? apart from one or two instances he had El Mohammedi under control for most of the match. They decided to overload that right side with the fullback oveerlapping and i thought Clichy did very well. If El Mohammedi played on Sagna’s side you fucking idiots would want to get rid of Sagna now wouldn’t you?? People are so dumb, I can’t believe it sometimes. I’m not calling you a fucking idiot “Vince.” We all are entitled to our opinion. I’m just talking about all the idiots on Goal.com who are calling for Clichy and Denilson’s head, which I can’t stand. WE STUNK TODAY!!!! FULL STOP, BOTTOM LINE, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO SAY!!!
Clichy is no way a bad player,infact a very good player,I think the reason people bemoan him is because he tends to have his little panicky moments,ie yesterday,Birmingham away,Bolton at home last year to name a few.
I thought we played well considering we had 10 men for the entire 2nd half,the defence looked strong and composed,we didn’t get beaten by over the tops like we have in the past so on a positive note I think both Koscielny and Squillaci looked brilliant. We were 5 seconds from everyone on here saying ‘that was the result of champions’ let’s not go over the top.
Reason why we don’t play as fluent and quick as we do at home is generally the state of the pitches,ours is perfect,smooth,slick,quick etc,good players thrive on it,play on a pitch like at Sunderlands and the differences are massive in comparison,plus I can’t have been the only one along with the 2 people next to me at the time who all said ‘Rosicky will put this over’?? Hecan’t even hit the target in any situation anymore so why would a penalty be any different,couldn’t believe that Nasri and Chamakh who both took them in pre season didn’t step up,disappointed gooner yet realistic,it’s not over by a long way.
Super Rob, we didn’t even try to get the ball down and pass. we played scared offensively. i odn’t care about the condition of the pitch. We will have to play better offensively if we are going to win anything. i know that sounds weird, but it’s true. Away from home, you have to have the courage and composure to play YOUR GAME> Our game is not hoffing it up the pitch and praying to score a goal. We can do that with Chamakh, but that isn’t how we play best. Do you see where I am coming from here?? Just because other teams play differently away from home, doesn’t mean we have to. The defense was fantastic i thought and there wasn’t any consistent threat emmanating from Sunderland at all. I still stand by wha tI said about playing asway from home though. You have to have courage and belief that you can play the way you want to. You don’t have to be naive like we were last year, but we have to come out of our shell more away from home take the match to the opposition.
This is a game where we missed someone like aaron ramsey.
These games are where you need a midfield general to dominate play.
Wenger feels fabregas isnt a central midfielder anymore who can defend as well as attack.
Denilson is a runner, great work rate, song is dogged plays simple,
Nasri and wilshere are playmakers.
Aaron ramsey is our best central midfielder he can defend and attack and he would have had an influence in this game.
Up north, bad pitch, rainy ramsey is one of those players who will fight and when the chips are down you can rely on someone like him.
Fabregas we have seen in big games we were lose a lead guys like cesc, song, diaby drop thier heads down.
The sunderland game shows why you need british players.
All sunderland did was get the ball and get into the box whether its crosses, set pieces.
Its a british game which is why wenger played wilshere rather thn someone like denilson whos not used to it.
Just feel if ramsey was playing with fabregas and song we would have controlled the ball better and dominated possesion.
I also think kieran gibbs should replace gael clcihy. Sorry but clichy always seems to make so many mistakes in vital games.
Gibbs is calm, cool under pressure and hes got a better end product he can cross a ball and hes gets into goal scoring chances. Hes great in the air as well
Just pointing out that saying Wilshere (15 domestic appearances) is more familiar with English football than Denilson (99 domestic appearances) is nonsense.
John – I have to say, in the main, i agree with both your posts.
Milo – I know your a big Arsenal fan who lives in Canada and you may already know this but in case you don’t i’ll let you know.
In london, where i live, Arsenal are envied and hated by about 95% of Spurs and Chelsea fans. The other 5% have respect and aren’t delusional and know Arsenal are in another league to them with regards to history. Fans from other London clubs, although they may not like Arsenal, have admiration for all that we are. Everyone just loves watching us but they don’t like our personnel (namely, our French manager and mainly foreign squad). Still, this is absolutely nothing to how we’re perceived in the north of England where we’re absolutely abhored by most.
Now, i haven’t ventured to the north of England much in my life (i’ve been to Leeds once and that’s the furthest i ever plan to go) but there is a shameless disrespect and disregard for anything foreign on the whole in these parts of England (and i’m not just talking football). They’re shameless because they say what they want about our club and love demeaning us in some way or another – simply because we’re the foreign club over here. At the same time, they (over)hype anything English, while trying to destroy anything foreign. This is a cold, hard fact and anyone who can’t or refuses to see it is either delusional or they have another agenda.
One of the latest examples is just from the Sunderland game past. I watched the game on ESPN until Song’s dismissal, as i had to go somewhere. I left the house and jumped in the car and proceeded to listen to the game on the radio – on a station known as ‘five live’. Now, there was some northern twat on there (don’t care what his name was) and Stan Collymore. I tried finding another station to follow the remainder of the game on, but to no avail, so i was stuck listening to these two morons. You would NEVER believe they were trying to be objective in their following of the game, such was their desperation for Sunderland to get something out of it.
When our penalty was given, the commentator said (and this is no word of a lie) “And Nasri has gone down in the area, and Arsenal have a penalty, where he wasn’t even hacked down or nothing – that’s a soft penalty”, in a very disappointed tone. So, here’s me, thinking we just won a soft pen (i later watched the highlights and saw that it was a very clear-cut pen as you know). Cue delirium when it was blazed over. When the equaliser came, he near enough passed out from the sheer euphoria he was feeling at the time – MUG. Him and Collymore were laughing their heads off at Arsene running up the touchline to confront the fourth official about too much time being added on. You think they laugh at Fergie for doing the same thing? Fuck no! He’s not even a Sunderland fan (the commentator) – just an anti-Wenger/Arsenal guy. Now Arsene is the subject of an investigation into pushing the fourth official – big news in today’s press. Now i heard Rooney pushed Howard Webb during yesterday’s game with Liverpool but i’m yet to hear of anything about that.
But that basically sums up how we’re seen up there. I read newspaper articles and blogs and there’s always people over here far too eager to have a pop at Wenger for stupid things. They all jump on the band-wagon and it’s a common known fact that Ferguson has acquired a team of cronies to fight his AW battles for him, i.e, Bruce, Hughes, fat Sam, tango Brown, Pulis, McCleish and Mick McMarthy to name but a few. Even Owen Coyle, who is a very good manager and someone AW helped out last season by loaning him JW, has become influenced by that bunch. He talks a load of shit just like them. There are two very classy English managers in the PL and one of them is an ex-Spud – Roy Hodgson and Chris Hughton.
Now, here’s the really bad part. Most refs in the PL are northerners. I can’t think of any southern refs right now, truth be told. Whichever league you play in, in whichever country, you tend to find refs favouring the home side. That’s simply because they shit a brick when 20,000-90,000 people put pressure on them to give decisions in their team’s favour. However, when Arsenal go up north, we’re usually dealing with a ref who is a northerner and is dying to screw us and help the home side. Just watch a re-run of the Sunderland game and the amount of blatant fouls that we should have had and didn’t get was atrocious. I remember a stat coming up on the screen towards the end of the first half (i think) that read something like we’d conceded over 10 fouls and they’d only conceded one. Absolutley amazing stat. I remember going nuts cos they were having attack after attack simply cos that fat ref was being a biased cu** of the highest order. Watch it back and you’ll see what i mean. This is just one game! It happens in EVERY SINGLE game Arsenal play up north. That’s where the ‘Arsenal don’t like it up north’ shit comes from. Of course you’re not gonna like it up north if you know you’re gonna be screwed before you even get on the coach to make the trip up there. We’re lucky we’re a good side and win most of these games even when the ref is up to doing the devils work – and because of this, we, the Arsenal fans, only complain when we’re robbed of some points.
Alex Song got his first yellow because he was upset at the ref for falling for Jordan Henderson’s VERY BLATANT DIVE! (Yes, yet another ENGLISH boy that dives and gets away with it). Still there’s not even the slightest whisper about it in the press. ESPN/MOTD/ITV/Sky Sports are laughable cos the moment they see the slowed down replay, they shy away from saying anything about Henderson but had it been the other way round, they wouldn’t hesitate exposing the foreigner. If your memory serves you correct, you will remember the dastardly, cowardly swine that is Clive Tyldesley crucifying Eduardo against Celtic. He went on so much about the incident afterwards that UEFA were forced to retrospectively punish Eddy.
Wenger complained last week about probably the worst challenge this season so far – Robinson on Diaby. He was made out to be moaning and whinging as usual (shit is sooooo fucking tired now). Why? Cos he has the audacity to protect his players’ limbs? Look what the media made of Gallas’ challenge against that Davies lad from Bolton last season. Now, that was a bad challenge and he could have easily seen red for it but the media made it massive, obviously trying to get Gallas banned. There was nothing about the Robinson tackle last week. It’s fucking ridiculous.
Wenger can’t say these things in the press because he will be charged with bringing the game into disrepute but we can. We can’t make much change because the powers that be are also northern Englishmen and they can’t stand AFC. We will continue to get screwed by these cu**s. You watch and see. The playing field is NOT level in this country and it has been this way for years.
About Clichy:
I think Gibbs will do a much better job than him at LB. Clichy’s concentration levels are very, very poor and he has next to no end product. There’s an article on another Arsenal blog that highlights his best work is done through his sheer pace and i couldn’t agree more. He has poor decision-making and panics far too much. Against Braga, he was quite dominant in a game where we were hardly troubled but still managed to make the worst mistake from an Arsenal player on the night, allowing the ball to bounce a good two/three times in his own box before trying to clear it, only to have it nicked off his toes and nearly ending up in the back of the Arsenal net. Some of you may remember this incident well. He’s at the age where he should have rectified such inadequacies but there is still no change. Will Arsene drop him for Gibbs though? That’s the question. Arshavin grates my nerves too but that’s for another time…..
I admire Wenger so much. I couldn’t do what he does with the press. If they asked a question or brought up a decision from the referee I would go bonkers. Absolutely bonkers!!! I would be fined, charged, you name it. That’s how I am. I tell it like it is. I would be fined repeatedly!!! I had an idea about the whole Arsenal vs the north thing because over here there is some of that:S Not nearly as much as over there though. Not even close. And the refereeing situation was really brought to light by you. I know GIbbs is the better prospect and a better player than Clichy. But Clichy isn’t as bad as some people make him out to be and I feel more than safe with him in the back four. I feel Gibbs offers more going forward than him as you do. And if Wenger gives Gibbs time he will be great. I don’t have a fear that Wenger won’t play him. I think he will. And not just in the Carling Cup. I think he’ll play meaningful matches this year!! He already has in fact. I wouldn’t worry about Wenger not playing him.