Arsène Wenger spent much of his Arsenal TV press conference hailing two of the club’s brightest talents ahead of tomorrow’s Carling Cup clash with Newcastle. However, such is the hunger to win the trophy, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Henri Lansbury are expected to have fringe roles at St James’ Park.
Wenger also took time out to confirm the goalkeeper situation. As Young Guns reported earlier in the season, the Frenchman was always determined to loan out third choice Vito Mannone rather than promising rookie Wojciech Szczęsny. Speaking yesterday, he said;
“Wojciech is the third choice. I decided at the start of the season that Vito would go on loan, but we couldn’t find the right club for him. Wojciech was always the number three.”
Many expect Szczęsny to start against Newcastle due to an injury to Manuel Almunia. However, he will have a fitness test today and is in contention to be a part of the squad. Elsewhere, Wenger lavishly praised Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who bagged a stunning hat-trick for the Reserves last week.
“He is knocking hard, with two hands! he has outstanding quality. He works hard to get his fitness right, and when he does, he will be a great player, not a good player. He has massive talent that you can’t give to people. And his build, he is built like a dream, but he also has a very short back lift.”
“He is unbelievable in front of goal. He’s an unbelievable finisher this guy. It’s just down to how far he wants to go. He has big potential.”
Henri Lansbury scored in the last round of the Cup and impressed. So what of him? and reports linking the midfielder with a second loan spell at Watford?
“I like Henri very much; because of his quality and desire. He is a Ray Parlour type. He has a good team attitude, endless engine and can get in the box. You could highly see him (start a Premier League game). He is one I want to keep at the club.”
Wenger is poised to name another strong squad, including Theo Walcott, Denilson, Nicklas Bendtner and other fringe first teamers.
wow wenger is that impressed by JET
didn’t know
my team
JET – B52 – Walcott
Denilson – lansbury – Rosicky
Gibbs – DJ – Kos – Eboue
Szczesny
lets go for another 6-0
its between JET and Vela right now I think. One will be on the bench and the other will start
HA you just beat me to it, looks like I’ve pretty much copied your team there
Szczesny
Eboue Djourou Koscielny Gibbs
Denilson Lansbury
Diaby
JET Bendtner Walcott
That will be a very exciting team to watch, it would be great to see Lansbury get a start in the middle. Guess Theo would rather play wide right than left but him and JET can interchange. Wenger might go for Rosicky instead of JET or Lansbury for the experience but would rather see those 2 in the same team. Good game for Bendtner to get his sharpness back although didn’t look like he needed it on Sun
What i interpret.
Chesney – You are number 3. Period
JET – I am giving you a start, but you need to GRAB IT!
Lansbury – Welcome to Arsenal Son! :)
someone posted this on arsenal mania
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRWCY6u_ATE
People need to understand that Wenger plays a 4-2-3-1 formation now.
So, for tomorrow i WOULD LIKE to see
Szczesny
Eboue Djourou Squillaci Gibbs
Denilson Lansbury
Walcott Rosicky JET
Bendtner
People need to understand??? what a ridiculous way to word your post. The formation is interchangeable anyway
I think the squad should be a mixture of only the top young kids and first team squad members. I believe we got so caught up with seeing our youngsters in the carling cup that we started lowering the quality that we put in the squad. JET, Szcz, Lansbury, Vela, Walcott, Gibbs are the ones that should be involved with Aneke and Afobe getting around the CC Squad. I don’t see the point in wasting time with guys that are championship or league 1 quality.
another player with very short back-lift
hahaha
What’s short back-lift?
It means he has a powerful shot with out shifting his leg way back to get power, or something like that!
Once again Wenger says something like “It’s just down to how far he wants to go.”
Clearly JET is still working on his attitude – Wenger has mentioned it a few times and Holloway said the same at Blackpool.
It reminds me a bit of Anthony Stokes who left Arsenal and went downhill and is only now starting the climb back up again.
Pffft, it means nothing of the sort. It simply implies that he has all the talent in the world and all that can prevent him is how much he wants it.
Is there a single Arsenal fan that doesn’t want to see Szczęsny start this game?
Reading between the lines. If JET is to make it at our club at the top level it is all down to his attitude and how hard he works as it appears he has everything.
Lansbury report was encouraging I think both of these can go far with us
Szczesny
Djourou Koscielny
Eboue Gibbs
Denilson
Diaby Rosicky
Walcott Vela
Bendtner
Do you think there is any chance Fabregas will play like at Stoke last year? Particularly with Wilshere out
I absolutely love his comments. Brilliant!
How exciting is it to be an Arsenal fan at the moment?! Look at the talent cooming through:
Ramsey, Gibbs, Wilshere all 1st team already.
Then: JET, Lansbury, Frimpong on the fringes of the squad
Then: Aneke, Afobe, Meade, Miquel…
WOW
Also..little mention to Bartley who is out injured at the moment but has been very good for Sheffield United. Really hope he can make it here.
Don’t forget Sanchez Watt…it would be absolutely fantastic if he made it at Arsenal; we could do with a few grafters coming through too like Lansbury, Watt and Gibbs
You forgot our most exciting prospect…
Wellington Silva!!!!
In Wenger we trust!
Gibbs and Bartley at the back; Wilshere, Lansbury, Ramsey and Frimpong in midfield and Emmanuel-Thomas upfront…bloody hell
I want to see Szczesny, JET and Aneke in action.
One reason he is off and Wellington will take up his role as up and coming star, he has not progrssed the way the like of jack whilshire, afobe, JET have and so he is a vistim of his early rise..recently he has scored but the third goal or the 4th goal, he needs to score the vital goals… last week he was playing for the reserves and i watched it…he is not even in the same class as JET and he is not even a full international (JEt bagged a hatrick and the assist for the 4th)
trust me JET will be as good as whilkshire if not better due to his physical and techniquw abbilities
Having watch this group for 4 years now (& Arsenal youth teams for 23 years) just a couple of points. JET could be a very good player for Arsenal but never in Wilshere/Ramsey class. The only player who might reach that level is Wellington.
Watts is not good enough to be an Arsenal 1st team regular. The only reason he started the FA Youth Cup games a couple of years ago was the injury to Murphy.
Andrew,
I feel your comments are completely wrong! If you pay attention to the way in which JET is scoring and making goals, it’s not to see JET as potentially a dominant player and easily in the class of both Wilshere and Ramsey.
@kc
seriously? jet is good but very few players play the game the way wilshere and ramsey do
KC…..I see where you are coming from but we have to see a little something verse first team players, not just reserve. You are comparing him to an 18 year old that has already become a starter and probably our 2nd best player.
I have always liked JET from the time I saw him in the year we won the FA youth cup. I thought he looked like a young Diaby with a great long shot. Now we can all see that he can make for a great target man. It is funny because with all the hype about Lukaku, I feel JET ( i know he is older) has far better on the ball skills than Lukaku. I just feel he has far more quality than Lukaku who is mostly just power.
Shane,
Wilsher has been excellent this season. His development is coming along magnificently. He’s the best in the country at his age group, no doubt. But “the 2nd best player on the team”. Not a chance. Even if Nasri were not absolutely on fire, Wilhere wouldn’t be better than him. An average Nasri is still better than an average Wilshere. Nasri has 5 years experience and just as much, if not more skill.
The Wilshere legeand will take care of itself just fine. It doesn’t need any help…
Have you not been watching this year? People get caught up in goals to much. Wilshere has been our best player this year. Did you see the Birmingham game up until the 90th minute red card? I don’t think Wilshere gave up the ball 1 time. Football is more than just the guy that kicks the ball in the goal.
Don’t get me wrong, Nasri is a good player.
What a clueless comment by Andrew! Who seems to think he knows young players better than Wenger and the AFC coaches!
Get a grip!
first that’s a different andrew and I do think JET can become as good Ramsey and Wilshere
Szczesny
Eboue – Koscielny – Djourou – Gibbs
Denilson – Lansbury – Diaby
Walcott – Bendtner – Vela
Subs:
Fabianski, Rosicky, Fabregas, Afobe, JET, Eastmond, Squillaci
I expect Lansbury to start the match. Wenger is big on mental strength and he knows that Lansbury needs to built on his performance at spurs. He hasn’t been fielded in league matches but he’d be depressed were he not to start tomorrow. Wenger is tough but fair and so Lansbury will start. And if anything spurs is rated higher than Newcastle. He might even play Jet from the start. As for Vela he will start – as usual!
be interesting to see whats happens, because he’s already said that Walcott, Vela, JET and B52 will play with Lansbury and Eastmond in the squad so someone will be on the bench. I’d expect to see something like
Szczesny
Eboue Koscielny Djourou Gibbs
Denilson Eastmond
Walcott Lansbury Vela
B52
Subs: Almunia, Squillaci, Clichy, Nasri, JET, Rosicky, Song
Could drop Lansbury alongside Denilson and start with Rosicky or JET in the hole or
ohhhh.. what about VEla.. he needs game time more than walcott as walcot is almost certainly to have lots of first team game..
Erichero,
“It’s just down to how far he wants to go”.
The skeptic and the cynic will hear a criticism of his attitude. I hear encouragement and belief in his ability. A push that says go on and realize your potential.
Andrew,
You say Jay Thomas will “never be in the Wilshere/Ramsey class”. HaHaHa! What nonsense. He can be better than both of them easily! He’s that good!
The skpticism around this player is stunning. People are resistent to acknowledge how good he is. But apparently, Arsene Wenger, on of the top five football coaches in the world for the last 12 years, is not.
“He’s working hard on his fitness. When he gets his fitness levels right he will not be a good player he will be a great player.”
“He has outstanding quality.”
“He has a massive talent that you cannot give to people.”
“Right foot, left foot…he is unbelievable in front of goal.”
“He’s an unbelievable finisher this guy…in the box and outside the box.”
“He has outstanding quality…there is a big potential. It’s just a matter of how far he wants to go.”
The boy scores 8 goals and bags 5 assists in 5 reserve matches, Wenger’s praise is profuse and unquestionably accurate, and still there are the non-believers.
Well, I get it because that’s how i feel about Lansbury. Yeoman, journeyman. Wenger loves his “attitude and work ethic” and sees him as a Ray Parlour type. So be it. It the boss sees it, it must be there. But aside from the goals at Shyte Heart, the kid has shown me little to nothing when he’s on the pitch.
Although it was only reserve team football, JET looks like he can go past players at will, with pace to burn as well as power and all from wide positions!
He could be a top top player!
THAT’S A DIFFERENT ANDREW
I havent seen Arsenal Youth for 23 yrs
KC, will like to second you. I never understand why people use the term “will never be as good as …” Players – nay the human race – never develop at the same pace.
KC//
I think most who have seen his performances for the reserves this season and the way he played for Doncaster last season knows he’s a massive talent. the question-mark is if he is willing to work as hard as he can to fulfill that talent. There have been murmurs at the club that he has to show more maturity in that regard. He is probably the most improved player after Wilshere, Theo before his injury and Nasri this season. He already was a big talent and in the rate he is improving it’s just a matter of time before he breaks into the first team.
I hope we see him tomorrow against Newcastle and he ocntinues his rich vein of form.
Szczęsny is starting Wenger said on arse.com
We have soo many potentially world class midfielders/attacking mids. We are sorted in the midfield and attacking positions, eg: when fabregas, arshavin And rosiky go we will have ready made replacements.
The next 10 years should b a good watch.
There must be a question mark over Vela’s future with the form of the players in front of him (Nasri, Chamakh, Theo), those already established (Van Persie, Arshavin) and the younger ones coming through (JET, Aneke and Afobe).
I have always stuck up for Vela and hope he uses this an opportunity to establish himself. But just as Wenger says bringing in a player can kill someone coming through, surely the same can be said for continuing to give the same players a chance when they are not producing.
Vela is fine. People just expect to much to soon. RVP was not a starter at his age here. It is not easy to lead the line in the prem at 21. Vela is still our biggest striker talent in my eyes.
Szczesny
Eboue Koscielny Djourou Gibbs
Denilson Lansbury
Walcott Rosicky(c) Vela
B52
Subs: Almunia, Squillaci, Clichy, JET,Eastmond,Song,Chamahk
Jet is also alot like Millner, if even more versatile. He is outstanding in attack but also very very very good in midfield and even at the back. he is too good for his own good.
ahem……so just out of curiosity…..what are Arsenals current debt status???….need an authoritative figure……you see…..i cant sleep at night…….kadwaa i love you!!!
Szczesny
Djourou Koscielny
Eboue Gibbs
Denilson
Diaby
Rosicky(c)
Walcott Vela
Bendtner
Subs: Fabianski, Nordtveit, Eastmond, Lansbury, JET, Fabregas, Chamakh.
Would love to see Vela have a good performance. He has so much talent and is Arsenal-class at his best but he has blown a bit hot and cold of late. JET deserves his chance without question, he should play on the right hand side of the front three when he comes on. Can’t wait to see Szczesny get the full 90.
I don’t see how Vela has been hot and cold. With the first team he scores almost every time he gets on the pitch. He had 1 poor game in the CC and thats it. Vela is one of those guys that is definitely better with better talent around him. He is a pure finisher and needs service for that. He is also a guy that links up well but is not going to be able to hold the ball up while midfielders run from deep which the lesser players tend to do more often. Vela is one of that first group of Arsenal talent that I truly believe will become world class.
JET has all the skills to make it at the top level. I have always said that he reminds me of an even bigger and less selfish Mario Balotelli. He has all the skill and technique to make it as a centre forward or attacking midfield player in the premier league…WITH ARSENAL!!!!:D
quote – Jet is also alot like Millner, if even more versatile
Come on S JET doesn’t suck. He is a great young player :)
JET is better than Vela for me. He is a match winner. He was outstanding in the u18 and now in the reserves. Some runs in the first team and he will eat Walcott alive.
JET and Vela are incomparable. You cannot compaire them because they are two cmopletely, completely different players. they couldn’t be more asimilar to eachother. Walcott on his current form is just as good as JET but there again, you are comparing two players who are not anything like eachother. That is very hard to do and it is a good thing that Wenger is the one who has to decide in the end who stays and who goes and not you or I.
I think JETS progress signals an end to Benik afobe in my opinion.
I have to hold my hands up jay emmaneul thomas had improved greatly and quite quickly as well.
I am very pleased Wenger wants to keep lansbury a player i have admired for so long great attitude, quality, leader just watch when he plays in midfield hes different class.
Afobe is a striker, JET is a winger different position, different players
both complement each other
Its funny Wenger was raving about henri lansbury on ATVO about last month and now hes raving about Jay thomas today.
Joh,
…redeem yourself! Admit you were wrong with all this tiring drivel about Nasri not being any good.
You’ve been on this silly campaign for a while now. Don’t know where it comes from but it’s really stupid and embarrassing for you.
You say he’s useless and then he scores one and makes one against one of our arch rivals.
You should admit your folly…
I watched the game again I thought nasri was ok he didn’t really do much. Our best player was cesc fabregas by a mile with song and denilson
Samir nasri I still think isn’t good enough to be in the starting line up when everyone is fit
Paul……..you’re a mug. Just shut up.
Intresting to hear wenger about Randall let’s hope he can sort his attitude he’s a great talent
John,I meant.
WTF ppl are going overboard on nasri.
He has scored about 100 penatlies and ppl are going about how hes got 7 in 7.
In general play nasri doesnt do alot.
I watched the city game he didnt really do anything he had a good 10 min spell and that was it.
he didnt really go past players, didnt create chances for chamakh.
He was just passing the ball around
He was easily the MOTM. Cesc probably gave him or Fabianski the champers cos they deserved the award more than him.
OK OK…..lets face it….John is partly right and the rest of you are partly right.
Samir is a good player and is exactly a player we need….he can link up, has good movement of the ball and CAN FINISH. He is not our best player or even top 3 but he is good. People ARE getting overwhelmed by the stat sheet and you have to admit that some of those came from the PK spot.
For John… I don’t get why you slate him though. You are always going on about what he doesn’t do but not what he does do. You have to understand that players have different qualities that they bring to a team and the coach is the one that is suppose to put the players in the best place to use those qualities.
Is Nasri not moving of the ball well? Is he not linking up well? Is he not finishing?…..Nasri is doing all the things he is good at. You can not expect a guy to be a playmaker if he is not a playmaker, in the same way I wouldn’t ask him to play centerback.
This ironically touches on the Arshavin situation. People hate on Arshavin because he is simply being asked to do things he is not good at. He does not have the endurance to track back as a winger and still be able to play his best in attack. If Arshavin was played in his proper position behind the striker, you would see the best of him. What Arshavin does still do good is create chances with the final pass. Ask Nasri.
Hope that helps you out mate.
Very few people in the game “go past players” anymore mate; it’s usually team play that gets the crosses in. Why do you think we persevere we Walcott! Did you think Beckham was useless? Have a look around sometime. Nasri sometimes holds the ball too long, but sometimes the team really needs that composure in possession when we are being harried and harrassed. He is a cert to rarely lose possession so a valuable outlet when we are under the kosh. He isn’t feared like some wingers can be but he demoralizes the opposition by being so stingy. He’s not gladiatorial so maybe your dislike is cultural. He’s more of an annoyance. But alongside Diaby’s dribbling, Cesc’s vision, Wilshere’s metronomic handling, Denilson’s tidy play, Rosicky’s penetration and Song and Eboue’s cheeky chappy stylee Nasri plays a valuable role. Let him mature in peace. If he scores three others this season as important as the first at Man Citeh then he’s become a super valuable member of the squad!
Wenger said hes becoming efficient yh if you look at the numbers and pens hes scored.
But in general play he doesnt look threatening whatsoever.
Walcott and arshavin may not keep the ball like nasri but they will dribble past players do something different.
nasri looks like a one trick pony, doesnt really have the tricks, or dribbling ability to go past players
you are seriously not very bright. I am actually just going to avoid reading every comment you make.
Your conception of the modern game of football and how it should be played is completely wrong and Samir Nasri, without a shadow of a doubt, is one of the best dribblers in Europe. It’s not about step-overs, pace and shit. Along with Lionel Messi, Sam’s ability to drop his shoulder and beat his man is different class.
Arsenal have got enough passers in the team with fabregas, song, denilson.
Samir nasri slows the play down and tires to piss pass the ball around.
Arsenal need something different we cant have 11 passers in the team. We need some pace and direct runners running at players you cant always pass you way through
Samir Nasri is our best player by a country mile up to this point. I’m thinkful he’s on the team. We need many more like him.
And with Wilshere developing at a phenomenal rate, Ramsey coming back soon, and Aneke also developing rapidly, we will soon have 3 more excellent creative midfielders like Nasri.
It’s going to be a golden era at the club.
Samir Nasri is developing into an excellent player! He could soon be world class! Nuff Sed!!!