Arsène Wenger will hand Ignasi Miquel the chance to break into Arsenal’s first-team following confirmation of Johan Djourou’s shoulder injury, which will rule him out for the remainder of the season.
Miquel has started just twice for Arsenal, playing both games against Leyton Orient in the fifth round of the FA Cup. The Spaniard turned in impressive shifts in both games, and with Djourou joining Thomas Vermaelen on the injury list, he is set for a greater role in the title run in.
Wenger does have the option to recall loanee Kyle Bartley from Rangers, subject to the Scottish outfit agreeing to terminate the deal and Arsenal paying compensation. However, this is seen as an unlikely option.
That leaves French duo Laurent Koscielny and Sébastien Squillaci for the short-term, with Ignasi set to train full time with the first-team ahead of potentially securing a place for next season.
The 19-year-old has previously admitted he expected to leave on loan.
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Really impressed with Miquel’s performances in the FA Cup. Calm and composed at all times, good on the ball. Just wished he would put his foot in a little more. Hopefully this spell with the first team plus a loan next year will put him in a good position to become a top class defender.
Vermaelen might be ready to play after the international break. His achilles is fine apparently, but having not played for so long he’s picked up some kind of pull or strain somewhere else that’s set him back. But he’s not far away now.
hey bro.where did u get that news from.i heard vermaelen saying he didnt know when is he going to play.then why did he say that
His parents told this to us last week. So unless something happened in between this was the lastes situation
J what about loan report????
Miquel, looks very tidy but I worry about the Stoke game and the others were JD’s height was such an asset.
Arsenal isn’t playing Stoke, Wolves or B’ham again this season.
Its only bolton that we worry about, n besides, the guy isn’t short
we are playing Stoke actually, but in like 7 weeks, so Song + Vermaelen would have a good chance to be back by then. and actually, Miquel is taller than all of our first team defenders (including Djourou). if he works on his aggressiveness and anticipating aerial balls, he can definitely improve to be a very good defender in the air.
Also cautiously optimistic about Vermaelen’s return, but this is good news for Miquel. He scares me slightly less than Squillaci, which is saying something considering the age difference. Regardless of who is playing at the back, we need to start taking our chances to relieve some of the pressure on them.
So is Miquel going to get another start (this weekend?), or is this article just confirming we probably won’t be recalling Bartley and Ignasi is now 3rd choice?
If he does start, are we expecting to see Koscielny shift to the right Centre-back slot?
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6804979,00.html
Sorry to burst your bubbles lads but The Verminator is not close to a return.
I imagine the club doesnt want to to recall Bartley as it will cost them a few quid to do so. And we cant be seen to spend money now! :D
he’s got a mistake in him like the other players
Let’s just hope squillaci gets injured so wenger will be forced to bring back bartley
oh john i do hope you’re not serious…
get behind every player in YOUR team please, john.
Good luck to Miquel on his promotion to the first team squad. I was impressed with his calm, collected manner against the Orient. I think we could have a potential Arsenal legend in the making.
dan is right he has a mistake in him like every single player who has ever played. Good point there dan, it’s important we all keep that in mind.
I think he is perfectly capable as back up but unless one of the other two get a knock which might well happen then the relaxed fixture list means he won’t play much as rotation won’t be as necessary.
It seems I;m the only fan that is happy we’re out of those other menial competitions, the EPL is the big one for me. I wish we didn’t waste the strength of our team on the mickey mouse cup.
Top work there Bongo, showing up dan’s utterly pointless and stupid remark.
I agree with you accept for the knock-on effect the exits had, along with injuries.
If we win the league, it will still go down as a GREAT season.
I don’t know if we can re-call Bartley anyways guys. Miquel is much better than Squillaci in posession, but I still don’t know if he is better all-round than him. We’ll soon find out by the sounds of things. It’s too early for me to say that he is better than Squillaci. I would expect Squillaci and Koscielny to start. IF Wenger is really adventureous, then maybe we’ll get to see Miquel start. I hope we do at some point. Squillaci is a good 4th choice, but when you have Chelsea up your ass with Man City and you are chasing Man U, 4th choice ain’t good enough. That is really obvious hahahaha.
I am big big fan of Laurent koscielny been impressed since he came in pre season.
Looking at some of the games we have got we could do with Kyle bartleys height and pace.
Squillaci has been terrible but if was good against stoke. I just think he will crack under the pressure.
the reason we miss three computation i would say is wenger
No John, Squillaci has not been terrible. he had a dip in form as players will tend to go thru, particularly new players to this demanding league. he has since played better of late, like vs Stoke.
So, shut up you retard.
Miquel was not impressive in BOTH games against Leyton Orient.From the very few times that he was tested (especially in the first half of the second match and in the end of the first match) he was found out. I agree with Jamie Sanderson that Miquel is not good enough and he will never be good enough for Arsenal. Many top defenders(Carvalho,Samuel)do not have pace just like Miquel but they are not slow on the turn which is one of the most important things. He was struggling on every occasion against a League 1 team.On the other hand, Kyle Bartley is absolutely unbelievable. He is not worst than Smalling who is 2 years older.If Wenger does not recall Bartley, it would be another unbelievably bad decision by him this season. I have been a huge Arsene Wenger fan over the years but some of his decisions recently really disappoint me. If he makes this simple simple mistake now , I dont know what to make of it anymore. You do not need to think about this, just get Bartley back. Are we amateurs or professionals?
you really know NOTHING about football.
Explain how it would be good for Bartley to leave rangers, where he gets experience and playing time at a top club, for a POSSIBLE spot at Arsenal?
Your a twat for making that comment
he is gaining excellent and is playing week in and week out where at Arsenal he would only play as a fill in for Kosy or Sebastion if they got injured. He should stay, and WHEN did Jamie EVERY say Miquel would NEVER make it at arsenal, and i guess thats why hes been training with the first team….
Shows how much you know
Jdilla,
Based on form , Bartley can even replace Squillaci from the starting eleven.
Jamie has said plenty of times that he thinks Miquel will not make it at Arsenal so you do not need to insult me about this because you are not well informed. Also, Miquel is training with the first team but it does not mean he will make it at Arsenal. Cygan,Sylvestre,Almunia and Denilson have trained or have been training and playing for us but it does not mean they were/are good enough.
What planet are you on!? Ricardo carvalho was extremely quick in his prime! That’s why he was so good. Not only a top defender through his positioning and reading of the game, but he could make up for any mistakes by the fact he was much quicker than most strikers.
That destroys your credibility I’m afraid.
screw off Jamie!!! Why are my comments being moderated??? Becasue I swore in one of my more recent ones??? Ever heard of a thing called pent-up anger and frustration??? You’re gonnna lose one of your more ardent fans and supporters. Thanks a lot.
I agree to phv, Wenger has made many bad decision so far, so he needs to call Bartley back even though we need to pay for compensation. We realllllly the one who can deal with the high balls. I love Miquel but please don’t take a risk because of paying compensation.
phv shows herself up for being a clueless moron. You know nothing about football. Go away you boring old woman.
so jdilla.
you will be happy considering we play squillaci and kozzer for the remaining 10 games of the season. If as jaime said, Bartley is able to be recalled its a no brainer. we pretty much need to win our remaining 10 games to win the league. and due to a stream of horrible arsene decisions i see us having no chance as we do NOT have enough players. Players we do have such as Diaby, Rosicky and Denilson ( bored of mentioning bendtner) do NOT have the heart to be top class. they have the ability minus bendtner. but no heart. Arsene wasnt born with a silver spoon in his mouth. 15 something players on loan and 5 something players in the 1st team who couldnt give a monkeys.
BTW lansbury has come on and changed the game for norwich.
Man this kid is special scored a great goal.
The kid is a match winner. Hes likes gerrard, drives into the box gets shots in, has great vision, skills.
Next season he will be massive for Arsenal
From what I’ve seen of him I agree. He has a bit of everything, and I really can’t see how players like denilson can stick around much longer with players like lansbury around.
Denilson, contrary to what many fans will have you believe, has more than enough talent to succeed, but what is so frustrating is that he doesn’t seem to have the drive to win, and consequently hasn’t really progressed since we signed him. Players like lansbury, wilshere, ramsey etc clearly have both the talent and the drive, and just have to overtake our squad players who only seem to tick the first box.
Davi. 100% correct. u could be the best player in the world (technically) but without the drive your not gonna be a winner. we have too many guys who are content with their wages- minus silerware
What’s important is: did he do the Dougie again?
Based on the leyton orient games I really don’t think this kid is ready. He looks extremely talented, and I’d back him to be as good as pique in a few years, but he is too slight of frame and not aggressive enough in the tackle yet.
He needs more time to develop physically and gain a bit of experience in less important matches imo. I really think bartley should be recalled. He probably isn’t quite ready for arsenal yet either, as he seems to be quite inconsistent still, but he’s a damn sight bigger and stronger than miquel and has something like 2 years of 1st team football under his belt.
I certainly don’t want to put miquel down–I do think he’s a massive talent–but he really doesn’t look ready yet to me.
Davi.
Lansbury is like ramsey, fabregas hes got that ability to see a pass straight away from anywhere.
But hes also quite skillful, great in and around the edge of the box.
He shoots as well from outside the box.
Hes Arsenal through and through we need him now but next season he could be massive
ramsey.lansbury and wilshere are the future midfield for arsenal,fcUk the rest…….
I’m sad that Djourou is injured and scared of losing the EPL because of his injury, as he saves Arsenal a lot against teams like Stoke and Bolton but what can we do.
Between Miguel and Bratley, I prefer Miguel as he is calm using the ball and don’t give it away recklessly like Bartley, I don’t have anything against Bartley, but I really think the best thing to do now is leave him playing at Rangers and add to his experience and maybe at the end we will have a great defender.
As for Miguel he will have to fight hard to convince us that he has a future at the club and he won’t have a better stage other than the EPl.
Let us put it this way:
Bartley > Miguel
Physically more fit for the EPL and would survive easily
Miguel > Bartley
Intelligence, calmness, starting the attack from the back in the Arsenal way.
So it’s difficult to know who is better right now as the two complement each other and cover their weaknesses, so it will be a big gamble from Wenger and we hope it will be a success and we will have two more great defenders next year to choose from.
I hope Wenger extends Lansbury’s contract soon as I believe it runs out at the end of next season (2012). I am sure after his excellent performances many teams would be interested in signing him.
Think that Wenger will sort out his contract in the summer. Could be a big year for Henri next season. He gets into the box & scores goals, unlike a lot of our currant midfielders. Not a bad habit to have.
Nah.Landsbury’s contract ends in 2015. He signed a new 5 yr deal last summer i think.
i really want to see mannone, bartley, lansbury, botelho and vela all brought into the first team squad and kept at the club next season. coquelin too maybe. all these guys are ready to help the first team. all could be good for ~10-15 starts.
You forgot Miyachi. He is such a gr8 talent
but Miyaichi will not be eligible for a work permit by next year. he might get some caps for Japan, but not enough. we would have to get lucky with the “special talent” provision.
I *think* Botelho can get a Spanish passport this summer though. obviously he has no chance of getting enough caps for a work permit anytime soon…
bartley can’t come back this season can he?
having played in two leagues already this season?
I’m not sure if that applies for loans, but it is a good point.
miquel will be decent but prem teams playing today will brutalise the boy. where the fudge is the verminator?
I would love to see Bartley come back but pretty sure this wont happen.
I think the rule about playing for more than two clubs apply only for transfers and not loans im guessing.
Dont think Rangers would agree to let him come back anyway.
Will Lehman play at all? Lets hope not, no matter how good he was he had retired, which most likely meant that he stopped training for a period of time, at his age this could be disasterous.
Everyone keeps talking about how good Miquel was but in the first game, besides a good cross field pass he was not good, the only reason it wasn’t exposed more was because it was Leyton Orient. He couldn’t win a header to save his life, and he wouldn’t get stuck in either, he just ran around with people. Second game looked more comfortable but not sure he’s ready for first team. BRING BACK BARTLEY!
Time for a bit of cool-headed analysis. Kos plays the Bobby Moore role. He needs the big No 5 in front of him, which is where Djournou played. Squallici has the experience but doesn’t really play as a No 5. Miquel could.
@ dan:if ramsey, lansbury and wilshere are the future, what is the formation that will make that trio work?
Arsenal still have a good chance to win the league, so Wenger should not hesitate to recall Bartley. There is certainly no guarantee that Kos and Squid will both stay fit. Even if Miquel is drafted into the squad we still need 4 central defenders. And Bartley’s development should not take precedence over the needs of the team. A team more likely to win the league with Bartley recalled than the are to win the league with him at Rangers!
wenger likes miquel a lot it seems..bartley for me should be recalled he is better than miquel…
The problem with Arsenal is that we have too few good players outside the 1st eleven, and we tried to compete on four fronts.Arsene need to bring a minimum of four new player world class striker,good Defensive Midfielder, and two defenders.Then arsenal can challenge on four fronts.
Wenger has brought this on himself because of his stubbornness – but he need not have. He could have spent £50mil on proven quality any time in the last 3 seasons without damaging Arsenal finances and won major trophies. Though the board have to take some blame for giving him too much power.
He will leave next season because the outrage from the fans will be too loud to ignore or if he doesn’t leave the board will knife him in the back. Its a shame really because Wenger could have had it all.
£50M ON NEW PLAYERS = £100M INCLUDING WAGES FOR WORLD CLASSS PLAYERS .NOT FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE FOR ARSENAL.IM GLAD WE TAKE THE SENSIBLE OPTION ,NOT WIN OR BUST.
Djourou’s back sooner than we thought now.
Apparently Djourou has said that he may be back playing in time for the internationals. We’ll see how true that is after the arsenal medics have their say.
As for the Miquel Bartley debate. I feel gutted that we hare even having to have it at all. The fact that we are in a position to choose between a 19 year old with only two first team starts against a L2 oppasition or player who is doing well gaining experience else where is shocking. There seems to be too large of a gap between all of our center backs, TV is miles ahead of JD who inturn is miles ahead of SS and LK. And although KB and IM may have the ability to be as good as any of them, there is no way that they should be considered give the lack of experience they have.
Given the choice i would bring back bartley. It will temporraly stunt his growth abit but whats more important, this season on the next couple. He’s still young and willl have plently of opportunity to gain the experience or even overtake LK or SS as first choice.
for me the team needs few more guys like lansbury and bartley who will offer more fighting spirit to the team. As for Djourou, he is an average, it is suprising how much people are hyping him at the moment. Look closely how many times he gets into difficult situations, on saturday he couldn’t even win a header against chicharito. On the other hand Kos is amazing player, really committed defender, proof – watch how he defended against messi and co in 2 games against barcelona.
Did you also see how he cost us the Carling Cup? Or how he gave away that penalty against Barca?
Is miguel foreign yes – 1st team
is bartley english yes – on loan
Who is easily the better player Bartley.
Can you seriously see Miquel dealing with Stoke forwards. He couldnt handle Wickham
last year hat-trick in 3-1 and scored in FAYC loss 2-0. Plus hes got the reaction time of cement see 1st goal v Chelsea FAYC
and Orient FA Cup goal Brisbane rd.
i really dont understand people not rating kos. for his first season in the epl i think hes done great. him and johan built a great partnership. everyones going to make a mistake or two, and granted he has. I do feel he’s going to be a big player for us in years to come, and more importantly he has an important role to play for this club this season. squil’s also got the opportunity to show he can handle it now, he admitted himself in a recent interviews he’s getting better as he plays more and i think the recent game with stoke showed this. either way his experience will be vital. bartley wont be recalled, that debates over. he cant be. miguel will be around the first team squad for the rest of the season. he’l do fine. but lets hope kos or squil stay injury free!!!!
yeah I completely agree. his partnership with Djourou has looked pretty good, although recently they have both looked a little tired (and therefore making more dumb mistakes). Koscielny + Squillaci looks like a pretty sketchy partnership though. doesn’t mean he’s a bad defender – sometimes partnerships just don’t work. Toure + Gallas is a great example… Toure was great alongside Campbell and even Senderos, while Gallas worked well with Vermaelen.
I think it’s funny how much Arsenal fans complain bout our defensive problems, when there is another team with even worse problems – Man Utd! Right now:
Ferdinand – injured
Vidic – injured
O’Shea – injured
Rafael – injured
Evans – injured
Wes Brown has started 3 games at centre back this year. In those 3 games, he has conceded 4 goals (including an own goal) and his only clean sheet was against Crawley.
In fact, their injury crisis is so bad right now that Carrick might have to play in defence against Bolton. At least our situation isn’t that desperate yet.
But you should also look at who they are able to bring in to that defence even after all them injurys. They still have
Evra – First choice LB
Smalling – Better and More experianced that Bartly, Miquel
Fabio – Been very impressive
Brown – not great but experianced cover
Thats still a very decent back 4 who would easily cope with most prem teams.
Arsenal have a fair bit of cover at the back but i think the prem experiance at CB is what is lacking.
I think the topic ‘who will be our CB’ itself is not worth disscussing.We have to realize that when we defend as a team.we are ‘actually’ defending.That is exactly what our team cannot do but the best teams do.Speaking of the title race…i’m looking forward to next season.I hope the next season finally ends our drought.
please bring back bartley