Author: Staff Writer

Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger will hand professional debuts to 18-year-old defenders Kyle Bartley and Thomas Cruise tomorrow night in the UEFA Champions League Group H clash with Olympiacos in Greece.

Bartley will start at centre half alongside experienced French defender Mikaël Silvestre – a combination already used in the Reserves. Cruise will make only his second appearance of the campaign at left back. Kyle is handed his chance after Phillipe Senderos limped out of training yesterday while Thomas features due to Armand Traoré being rested for the weekend.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is also in contention to start in a travelling party which includes 10 teenagers. However, the notable news is that Bartley and Cruise will start. Leave your team predictions below.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Neil Banfield’s Reserve team are back in action this evening looking to overcome two successive November defeats and get their title push back on track with a win over Fulham at Motspur Park.

Defeats against more experienced Portsmouth and Aston Villa sides have left Arsenal slightly astray in the push to be crowned Reserve League South Champions, but a win tonight, coupled with their game in hand, would blow the title race wide open once more heading into the Christmas break.

Banfield has seen his squad decimated in recent weeks and with Arsène Wenger taking the core of his squad out to Greece for the Champions League clash with Olympiacos, one of the youngest ever Reserve teams may be fielded. A selection of the rampant Under 18’s will debut with the likes of Chukwuemeka Aneke, Sead Hajrovic and Daniel Boateng all set to start. There should also be a run out for James Shea between the sticks while Sanchez Watt has not travelled, Gilles Sunu has, though.

Predicted Starting XI

Shea
Hajrovic – Boateng – Miquel – Evina
Özyakup – Frimpong – Aneke
Watt – Afobe – Freeman

Fulham are expected to bring an experienced side which should include Danny Murphy, Andranik Teymourian, Pascal Zuberbühler and Kagisho Dikgacoi. Former Gunners Michael Uwezu and Keanu Marsh-Brown may also feature. The fixture promises to be a real test of the potential F.A Youth Cup defending side against a largely exciting and experienced Cottagers’ outfit.

Kick off is at 7pm at Fulham’s Mostpur Park training complex where they have a small pitch allocated for Reserve encounters. Arsenal TV Online are streaming the game live from 6.45pm while Young Guns will have a comprehensive Match Report to follow ON the Full Time whistle.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Arsène Wenger flew out to Greece this morning with a selection of fringe first-teamers and the crème de la crème of the club’s youth players as Arsenal conclude their Champions League Group against Olympiacos on Wednesday.

Wenger has already confirmed that Mikaël Silvestre will captain the side while Jack Wilshere will feature along with Fran Mérida. A further selection of other Reserves will be handed opportunities to impress with the team set to have a ‘Carling Cup feel’ to it. Aaron Ramsey, scorer at the weekend, should play while Kyle Bartley may also get minutes with Philippe Senderos missing out.

So, like we did for the Manchester City game, we’re opening this one up and asking you to provide your predicted team below.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Pedro Botelho scored his first professional goal on Sunday evening as he bagged a late winner for loan club Celta Vigo in their 2-1 win over Girona. The Brazilian, who celebrates his 20th birthday next week, will return to Arsenal in the summer.

Roberto Lago put Celta in front with an early penalty against the Catalan outfit before Jordi Matamala Muntadas levelled the scores. Substitute Botelho then won the game from a corner as he turned home beyond Albert Jorquera from David Català’s knock down. Girona missed a late penalty and Celta Vigo claimed an important three points.

You can watch full highlights of the game below, with Pedro’s goal timed at 5:15. The full Loanees report is available Here.

Click Here To Watch The Highlights

Article By – J.Sanderson

Welcome to this weekends Loanees Watch – Young Guns’ analysis, reports and updates on the progress of the young starlets currently plying their trade away from the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal currently have seven Reserves & Youth players gaining experience elsewhere. Jay Simpson and Henri Lansbury are taking part in successive loans in the Championship with Queens Park Rangers and Watford respectively. There are three youngsters in League One with Gavin Hoyte at struggling Brighton and Hove Albion while Wojciech Szczęsny and Rhys Murphy are enjoying their first spells away from the club at Brentford.

The Gunners currently have two youngsters cutting their teeth abroad. Pedro Botelho is spending his third successive loan spell in the Spanish Segunda, but this time with Celta de Vigo, while Håvard Nordtveit is spending the campaign in Germany with Nuremberg.

Read all the latest reports below.

Read more →

Arsenal’s Under 18’s continued their rampant title charge this morning with an impressive 2-0 win over a hugely talented Chelsea side in the London derby at London Colney. Luke Freeman continued his superb form against the Blues with his 10th of the season before Conor Henderson wrapped things up with a fine strike to seal victory.

Dunn
Hajrovic – Boateng – Miquel – Evina (c)
Aneke – Frimpong – Henderson
Deacon – Afobe – Freeman

Benik Afobe smacked the post and forced two stunning saves from the Chelsea ‘keeper while Roarie Deacon could and should have made the scoreline look even more comprehensive. However, Steve Bould’s boys will take the 2-0 ahead of a key few weeks which sees them take on Norwich and then Crewe as the Gunners look to defend their F.A Youth Cup title.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Arsenal will return to Brazilian Serie ‘B’ outfit Juventude in January with a second and ultimately successful bid for their exciting play-maker José Luis dos Santos Pinto, known simply as Zézinho.

After the 17-year-old had a successful trial last summer, Arsenal have been intent on snapping up the Brazil Under 17 international but a bid of £1.5 million was rejected, with Juventude asking for closer to his buyout clause of £35 million. However, after prolonged negotiations, Ivan Gazidis has thrashed out an arrangement which will see around £5 million change hands for the prospects services.

A diminutive, skilful and strong left footed winger who can play as a striker, South American scout Sandro Orlandelli has been making regular checks including witnessing him bag a stunning winner against Portuguesa in August. Celta Vigo have already been in touch regarding a potential loan spell but Arsène Wenger is yet to assess his options.

Zézinho is one of the most experienced youngsters in the Brazil youth teams and you can check out the goal that Orlandelli watched the starlet score in August below.

Click Here To Watch The Video

Article By – J.Sanderson

Diminutive striker Luke Freeman has collected the Lamb Awards sponsored Young Guns Player Of The Month crown for November 2009, after the powerful front-man bagged two goals and maintained his position at the top of the Reserves and Youth goalscoring charts.

Luke’s month began on the 2nd when he played the final 13 minutes for the Reserves as they went down 2-0 to Portsmouth. The young forward replaced Sanchez Watt and looked bright but couldn’t find the net to help start a late fight back.

Five days later Freeman was in action again as the struggling Under 18’s took on Charlton at London Colney. He walked away with two goals in a 6-0 win and could have had even more if it wasn’t for some smart goalkeeping from the Addicks. The efforts were his 8th and 9th of the season.

Following the international break, Luke’s next outing was the Under 18 clash with Southampton on the South Coast. The youngster didn’t net in the 3-0 win but he came close on numerous occasions and turned in a typical hard-working shift alongside Benik Afobe. The two are forming a lethal partnership in attack for Steve Bould’s boys.

The former Gillingham and Charlton trainee is the first player to win the Player of the Month gong twice, after previously winning it in August 2008. You can see the full list of winners Here.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Arsenal representatives were among a strong crowd in Croatia last night to make checks on the progress of Romelu Lukaku in RSC Anderlecht’s Europa League clash with Dinamo Zagreb.

Chief Scout Steve Rowley has already sent Tony Adams to Belgium to check on the giant front-man and after being impressed, the club have gone for a second look on a much bigger stage for Lukaku, the Europa League. Zagreb claimed the points thanks to Miroslav Slepička’s winner but they had goalkeeper Tomislav Butina to thank for keeping 16-year-old Lukaku at bay.

Romelu exchanged passes with Mbark Boussoufa to open up the Dinamo defence on the half hour mark but Butina came rushing out of his goal and managed to slide tackle the powerful striker. 15 minutes later he had more work to do as the same man cut inside and fizzed a left footed drive right at him, another solid block did the job.

The burly starlet has 8 goals from 13 league appearances for Anderlecht but it’s at youth level where he’s really stood out. 121 goals in 88 fixtures for the B team and 1 in 1 game for Belgium’s Under 21’s make him a real prospect for the future. Real Madrid and Chelsea have shown tentative interest while the Gunners are set to continue their scouting before making a decision.

The player’s family have previously issued a firm ‘hands off’ warning, stating Romelu will stay with Anderlecht until he is at least 18, but whether that stance continues it is unknown. In the meantime, check out Lukaku’s talents in this compilation video.

Click Here To Watch The Video

Article By – J.Sanderson