An Arsenal Reserve XI beat Woking FC 3-0 this evening, as the club’s second string youngsters played their first game of pre-season. An early own goal set the tone, before Chuks Aneke doubled the lead just before half time. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas wrapped the win up in the second half.
Henri Lansbury, Craig Eastmond and Gavin Hoyte all missed out through a lack of fitness, but Bolivian Samuel Galindo was included for the first time after moving from Real America last summer. He was joined on the bench by 41-year-old goalkeeper coach Tony Roberts, who was a late inclusion as James Shea’s back up.
ARSENAL: Shea; Hajrovic, Bartley, Boateng, Meade; Özyakup, Aneke, Henderson; Emmanuel-Thomas, Afobe, Watt.
Woking set about their task well in the opening stages, showing just why many tip them to win promotion from Blue Square South next season.
A selection of threatening long balls tested the mettle of the Arsenal defence, before the back pedalling Shea was forced to tip a dipping shot over the bar. Woking were having the better of it, but it was Arsenal who snatched the lead, when Emmanuel-Thomas’ corner was turned in for an own goal, despite Afobe trying to claim it as his own. 1-0.
The game lost its way towards half time, but the Afobe-Aneke combination that worked so many times for the Under 18’s, worked again. Benik played Chuks in on the edge of the box, and the powerful midfielder turned sharply and lashed the ball in to the corner. A brilliant move and an excellent goal. 2-0.
It was the final meaningful action of the half.
The second period saw Brislen-Hall, Yennaris, Murphy, Freeman and Galindo all come on, the latter for his Arsenal debut. Mass changes usually disrupt the flow, but Arsenal kicked on. Emmanuel-Thomas and Murphy both had shots saved, before Galindo’s mazy run resulted in a superb ball for Freeman, but he only found the ‘keepers chest despite being through one-on-one.
Woking threatened briefly late on, but the Cards folded when Emmanuel-Thomas finished where Freeman hadn’t to make it 3-0.
The full time whistle brought to an end a comfortable victory. Many of these players are expected to go on loan, but should he require them, Arsène Wenger has some good prospects in reserve.
Good to see the boys start off with bang.
Hope Galindo has A good arsenal Future
If Galindo can play without a work permit in a friendly, does that mean Miyaichi can play in the emirates cup?
Not without a work permit, for the Emirates Cup you need to be a registered player. But these friendlies you don’t need to be, it’s these types of friendlies that allowed Silva and Miyaichi to trail at Arsenal in the first place.
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/07/15/2576303/cesc-fabregas-is-experiencing-a-kidnapping-arsenal-captains
It would brilliant if we can loan out Afobe & Aneke to the same team. They both seem to have a good understanding
Mr Arsenal:
I agree, I think it would be good to send them out together.
I think Portsmouth would be a good shout, they have a very small squad at the moment so playing time shouldn’t be a problem. Afobe looks ready for champs football and I think Aneke would handle it. Maybe a decent place for Miquel or Henderson as well.
Is Martin Angha on international duty ? or injured ?
Just came back from the match. Ozyakup was brilliant. Meade and Afobe were also good value. Galindo have a few nervy moments to start with but grew into the game as it went on and looked very accomplished in the end.
How was Bartley mate?
Aneke, JET and Afobe back in the saddle.
re Alex: Bartley was solid enough, didn’t really do anything wrong but wasn’t called into action that much either. His distribution was impressive. Also outshone his partner Boateng, although that wasn’t too difficult.
Great for JET to look impressive! I wonder how Ryo gets a 1st team shot instead of JET? I also think Ozzy is going to be better than Cesc(sell him?) end the saga? Aneke should replace Diaby. And Bartley should be in 1st team, One last thing the AFC should pay these young guns more and buy no one else! Pay and Play Bendnter!
It’s an Asian tour, so makes a lot of sense to have an Asian face in the mix. It remains to be seen whether Ryo gets a work permit, so his inclusion on the tour is partly for commercial reasons.
Thought Bartley was tremendous. Looked quick strong and a real leader. Also his distribution is really impressive, has a great diagonal pass. Can’t wait to see him in the first team
for me… galindo and aneke showed some brilliance… the rest were pedestrian at best… but i would put it down to rust. some i couldnt judge because the competition did not really challenge the back line. hopefully the next match would be better.
I’d love to see Aneke and Afobe in the Carling Cup if they don’t go on loan. I suspect Wenger will go back to his policy of playing youngsters in the Carling Cup after seeing how losing affected the 1st team last season
“but the Cards folded”
I see what you did there. :)
This current crop of youngsters are a force to be reckon with, especially the midfield talents with the likes of Galindo, Aneke, Ozy, Henderson, as well as the new recruits Olsson, Bellerin, Toral, Gnarby, jebb and wellington(had to wait for another season thou). The future looks bright but can the fans wait?
Jamie any truth in the rumours we have tabled a £14 million for Lukaku? Please say it is true!
I was trying to ask the same.
same old story….. Let win something tangible and not pre season matches before judging our players
Any vids of the match, would love to see Kyle in action!
As for Lukaku, I just don’t see us outbid Chelsea (if they are in for him), though the thought of him with us excites me.
I’m disappointed that Bartley didn’t go on the tour as he would have benefitted from being around the first team like that,for me I have no problem with Vermaelen and Koscielny but Squilacci and Djourou looked like nervous wrecks and we were only playing against Malaysia! Djourou was brilliant first half of last season but it seems since then that he’s turned into one big donkey,what’s going on there?!Plus what message does it send out when we’d rather take Jenkinson out there when he’s played like 10 games for Charlton in league 1 than Bartley who’s worked his socks off for a chance,I don’t get it at all(even though I thought Jenkinson played quite well),oh yeah and shame about Denilson getting subbed after 20 mins…haha leave him there. As for these Lukaku rumours it’ll either be some lazy writing from the sun or we are doing the “we desperately tried to sign him but we were just out bid (by £15 million)” and then we’ll get the whole we can’t compete with chelsea,man utd,man city,liverpool,crawley town…yawn. If we get him for £15 million I’ll eat my own head.
I guess that is the advantage of being the manager, you get to pick the players that you think best deserve it. The ones that you watch everyday in training, not just for 90 minutes on a matchday. Super Rob, tell me what Premiership teams have you managed?
super rob,
didn’t arsene say he does not plan to play djourou everyweek because of his fitness? then come january he refused to buy new defender he thought vermaelen was going to come back shortly. then he didn’t happen and djourou ended up playing full season.
please appreciate players for the effort they put playing for arsenal fc, blame your manager for refusing to spend money.
sam – blame your manager for refusing to spend money?
I think you will find that it is the board that spends the money, the manager picks the team and recommends to the board the players he wants. So far this summer we know he has asked the board to buy him 7 players Friedl, Jenkinson, Gervinho, Alvarez, Larsson, Jones and Downing. The board have failed him on 5 of his targets
anyone watching the game?
maybe arshavin and squillaci should follow denilson out of arsenal
Walcott.. in a whorehouse.. with a 50 quid note out in his fly.. wouldn’t score.. no siree bob..
ramsey and jack looking sharp though.. Jenkinson solid but unspectacular, ryo quite mixed..
still ryo did better than arshavin
at least he had a shot on goal, i am not saying he’s better player but arshavin needs to realise that football in england is played with heart. you cannot wait around for the magic moment coz its putting a heavy burden on the rest of the team.
This is going to be a long, tough season unless the boys start converting more chances. It’s as if they don’t take anything seriously, even cup and league games. We still suck at set-pieces, just like every season for the past few years now. We still miss sitters and easy chances, loads of them. The same problems are being experienced now.
Hopefully RVP stays injury free and scores 40 goals in the league. That should win us the league. The rest of the lads are not ruthless enough. Arsene himself isn’t anymore.
I am excited to see the development of Galindo, Aneke, JET, and Wellington Silva this year. Also wonder what the deal is with Coquelin. Had high hopes for him. Good to get a win for sure tho.
Www-I go every week,I watch them every week,I pay good money to watch them and I’m not saying I demand perfection but what I am stating is facts.You bring out the excuses that Djourou was only meant to play a few games here and there but that don’t mean jack,I said he was brilliant when he came in,later in the season,the business end it wasn’t his fitness that let him down it was just sub standard defending which ain’t good enough I’m afraid,vermaelens been out for a year but at least his concentrations there,djourou has gone through the same pre season and still looks shaky,don’t give me the ‘he was injured a year ago’ because that has nothing to do with NOW.And no I ain’t managed a premiership team but I’m allowed an opinion you plank.We played crap first half today,once again djourou and squillaci were terrible,how
many times were they beaten over the top?Through the middle?We even got beaten on a set piece by a Chinese team!I mean come on!I think everyone noticed the difference in class when tv and kos came on,they may not be perfect but the effort and determination in the 2 of them is spot on.Also we desperately need a left back,traore is as bad as he was last time he was here,he has a complete disregard to his defensive line and seems to think his pace is enough to cover every issue,liability.I certainly hope someone signs him and given the rumour I heard that he’s in £42k a week I doubt it very much.
0.68 goals against per game average and something like a 30 game unbeaten streak in the premier league and you can still find room to complain about Djurou. And people say that I am hard to please lol.
Also in response to both Sam and www-didn’t wenger also come out later in the season and say he never expected that vermaelen would be back before the end of the season?One of his
magical back tracking comments after the windows closed,in that respect he couldve bought someone had he believed djourou wasn’t fit enough for the season.It seems though that he did think he wasfit enough for the season and well it didn’t work out,this is the premiership manager that watches them day in day out in training and not just 90 minutes,now he’s either stupider than we thought or djourou was just daydreaming last 2months of the season,what one is it www??
superRob, it was neither. Wenger never said that he believed Vermaelen was out for the season, quite the opposite. He was told by his medical and fitness advisors that Vermaelen should be back just after December, and then January etc. He took a gamble and it didn’t work….something that all great managers do including SAF and Jose.
@Sam: Missed most of the first half, but somehow Arshavin’s lack of.. well anything productive doesn’t surprise me.. I did see Vela’s goal,he’s looking trim.. did he do well?
Ok shane going to the effort of looking up some stats to throw at me,well done,who are you trying to impress stato himself mr wenger?Next you’ll be telling me about our ‘quality’ and ‘great mental strength’.Like I said,he played well up till the last 2 months of the season,what youre telling me is the unbeaten streak before that,the part I said he was brilliant in,I don’t doubt that,I am pointing out the 2months where he went missing,you know the part where the best of the best stand up and be counted,john terry,rio Ferdinand,nemanja vidic etc will step up their game to earn the rewards come end of the season,djourou didn’t fall close to their catergory and that worries me,you don’t become a winner over night you need to have it in you and struggle to see it in him I really do,we miss a leader at the back so bad,I just wish sol Campbell was 10 years younger!
Arshavin gets alot of stick on here but I’d take him over rosicky and vela anyday!He may fade in and out of a game now and then but he still has that spark about him that makes him special,he seems to be able to carve out a great opportunity from nothing and I don’t think we can say that about too many of our squad.I’d much rather lose an ineffective denilson/rosicky than him,he’s a great squad player to have.
super Rob!
i will disagree, football is played for 90 minutes you dont have to wait for opportunity you have to make it happen.
i will choose vela over arshavin,he might not the big striker/henri we’ve been waiting for. but given chances he will score some important goals for us.
sorry Rob, i don’t wanna see us replaying the likes of leyton and ipswich. that was the most embarrassing moments for arsenal fc. our young loannees could have done better.
i hope he starts putting some effort soon, i am sure some russian teams are ready to have him back.maybe there he will shine again.
The starting lineup for our reserves is really talented. To think Lansbury, Martinez, Silva, Galindo and Miguel weren’t in the starting lineup. Our young players are really good.
Once again we have someone taking comments made by Mr Wenger out of sequence!
In January 2011, Mr Wenger thought TV5 would be back in action in February 2011. I t was only in February that the situation became clearer and that is when Mr Wenger said that TV5 would be back at the earliest at the end of the season.
I would agree that certain players, Kos, Djourou, Wilshere for example were exhausted at the tail end of the season.
What point did I say you have to wait for an opportunity to come along??What I said was arshavin can make things happen out of nothing,I don’t think vela can.He may turn out a decent player but I don’t think he’ll ever be as good as arshavin,I do however think that we should be using this tour to try arshavin in fabregas position and keeping nasri wide because I think our plays too slow with him in ghe middle,he holds onto the ball too long and ok he can dribble past 4 players at once but when it comes to the final ball it’s already been Sussed out,arshavin can mix it up a bit more and I believe he’s more intelligent to know when to dribble and when to play that final ball,I think his assist stats will back that up.Plus I would certainly not be blaming him for our cup draws with orient,Leeds etc I think playing rosicky in the hole,bendtner as a winger,denilson as a protector of the back 4 and crap like squillaci are more to blame,that and the fact that clearly if you’re gonna play bendtner and chamakh together then put them up front and go 4-4-2,it’s always square pegs in round holes,I’m happy with our formation but surely there must be times where it is just so bleeding obvious that you need to change style to suit certain players
fabregas position? rob please! even nasri won’t be able to fill that unless we change formation.
if you were looking for a striker and you want to judge by the last 2 games. who would you chose?
a mexican fox in the box or a russian tourist
if you don’t believe me go check
we struggle when cesc is not playing. we even failed to beat a chinese team today.
I wasn’t suggesting replace fabregas with arshavin I was suggesting playing him in there to see how he does and if it worked out then it’d give us another alternative when/if fabregas does his bloody hamstring again. Well Sam considering velas a striker and arshavins an attacking midfielder then yeah I’d choose vela but remember that a goal against malaysia and a tap in against some Chinese league side is the equivalent of rosicky scoring against leyton orient,did you cream in your pants over that goal too?Who was it that said earlier ‘please appreciate players for the effort they put playing for arsenal fc’?Then proceeded to call arshavin a Russian tourist and say that him and squillaci should follow denilson out the door after today’s game! Don’t tell me,it was your alter ego that posted those comments?
Yes we struggled to beat a Chinese team today with rosicky and nasri in centre midfield and vela upfront,what’s your point?Or you arguing with yourself?
At any rate pre-season isn’t the time to get worked up over anything.. We always look shite on preseason tour, remember that 6-5 vs polish team (? Lech Poz).. There’ll be plenty of time to crack the shits when the league starts proper.. And yes, without Cesc, we’re in deep doo doo..
Emirates cup will tell how good we are. By then Ryo and a few more must show consistency. I just can’t see how all our young players will show class until the last match. Everyone will be extremely tire and if one thing goes wrong everything can go wrong. We must by experience.
is this not about the reserves or have i missed something?! No more reserve football for JET…..it would be tragic if he did not make it here! For me he was the outstanding player of the youths 2-3 years when we were at the top! Name him in the 25 for this season and i am sure he will show his worth. It would be a great shame to watch such a talented individual not make it at the highest level. C’mon JET…..sort it out!
joel campbell wikipedia page saying he agreed a move to arsenal, is it real?
Arshavin has been played out of position sense the day he got here. He does not have the endurance to track back and forth as a winger. He is a number 10 play maker behind a striker and a damn good one at that. Anyone that saw him play for Zenit and Russia in his prime knows that. Even in a bad year he got 11 assists. My 2nd favorite player ever behind Juninho (Formerly of Lyon).
we have had our disagreements shane but you speak the truth about arshavin… he is no winger and should play behind the main striker or somewhere in the middle of the park. Did you see his pass to Van Persie that allowed Vela to score??? Class!
Statistics from the EPL show that on average 1 in 10 youth players make the first team in the top 6 EPL clubs. In Arsenal’s case it is more like 2 in 10 but it all depends on the year and the number of experienced players leaving or transferring in. So far only Clichy has left the first team, we still need to lose Almunia,Denilson,Rosicky, Squillaci, and Bendtner. That removes 6 from our list of 25 players over 21 years of age. Coincidentally the above talented youth can all fill in the above positions except for goalkeeper.