Neil Banfield accused some of his players of ‘thinking they are better than they are’ last week against Aston Villa, so this evenings Reserves League South clash at home to Stoke was more about restoring pride than the points.
The second string were boosted with first team debutant’s Mikael Silvestre and Amuary Bischoff, Francis Coquelin also returned. Szczesny replaced Mannone between the sticks, whilst injuries and International duty left a depleted number of bodies for selection.
Szczesny
Ayling – Bartley – Silvestre – Gibbs
Randall (c) – Coquelin – Wilshere
Bischoff
Simpson – Fonte
Subs – Shea – Steer – Eastmond – Frimpong – Sunu
Match Report – Arsenal 3-2 Stoke City
Arsenal won the kick off and showed some neat touches in the opening seconds, a classy jinking run from Bischoff gave his confidence a much needed boost, before Stoke established themselves.
Two firm challenges on Randall and Fonte saw the youngsters in a physical battle, as City adopted a similar type policy to that of Aston Villa last week.
The early pressure would pay off for the visitors, who brought their hosts back down to earth with a thump. Pericard barged off Randall outside the area, before unleashing a curling pile driver from 25 yards into the roof of the net. A simply stunning effort to hand Stoke the lead, the second time in as many games the Gunners had gone behind early
Goal – Vincent Pericard (3)
Rui Fonte, Mark Randall and Amaury Bischoff both got stuck into tackles, but the hosts were being dominated by the much stronger Potters. Szczesny was forced into a positive punch via Pugh’s deep cross, yet Arsenal’s performance was very flat.
Jack Wilshere made two tenacious tackles before captain Randall was booked, although Fonte had mastered the art of drawing free-kicks from Davies and Shawcross.
As the half hour mark approached Banfield’s shouts from the touchline seemed to work, a complete step up in play created openings for Fonte, but he missed two very good chances. Rui first volleyed Randall’s deflected fizzed pass over, before seeing Hamilton unbelievably save the Portuguese strikers side footed effort from 3 yards.
Randall’s excellent passing was helping prize a gap in the middle, but poor control from Simpson killed two promising moves. Bischoff’s lovely footwork and intelligent movement drew Stoke’s defence across the pitch, but Amaruy’s cross was cleared away.
Eventually the goal would come as the visitors tired, Ayling fed Coquelin on the edge of the area, he was allowed time to turn before crashing a left footed drive into the bottom corner to level proceedings. His first goal for the club – chalked up in a brilliant manner.
Goal – Francis Coquelin (32)
A quickfire move involving Silvestre, Gibbs and Bischoff allowed space for Wilshere on the edge of the box, his lashed shot could have easily deflected in, but the Yellows were holding on. Seconds later Bischoff was released down the middle, but the elegant play-maker looked short on speed and fitness, he still managed a curling shot, yet it ended up in the stands.
Pericard’s deft flick around the corner would have set up Soares for a simple finish, Mikael Silvestre’s right boot had other ideas, Szczesny pounced on the loose ball.
Silvestre then used his experience to block a thunderbolt from Wedderburn, the defending was much more confident after the goal. Andrew Davies dived in with studs showing on Wilshere, the free kick would prove vital despite the severity of the challenge.
Randall lobbed the ball into the wall, Danny Pugh was adjudged to have handled, and a shock penalty was awarded. Jay Simpson stepped up and wrong footed the keeper for 2-1, his second penalty of the season.
Goal – Jay Simpson (44)
Half Time – Arsenal 2-1 Stoke City
Banfield scrapped plans to replace new boy Bischoff at the break, meaning he would gain valuable minutes in his rehabilitation, but Emmanuel Frimpong would have to wait a little longer for more Reserves experience.
Wilshere’s party tricks were slowly drawing out the City back-line, finally working an angle to send Bischoff through, he dragged his effort across and behind for a corner. Hamilton flapped at the resulting set piece, Simpson failed to capitalise.
Two extremely well judged clearances from Szczesny backed up his reputation as one of the best young keepers in the country, as Arsenal began to hit cruise control.
On 56 minutes Bischoff was replaced by Sunu, the Frenchman came in and out of the game in bursts, but looked overall a very tidy young player.
Wilshere’s running power was becoming a huge problem as Stoke struggled, Simpson again failed to finish after a sweeping run from the 16-year-old. Composed play from Silvestre, Sunu and Ayling showed how the tempo had fallen away, it was just a matter of how many.
A flowing move of 50 passes ended in a delightful Sunu run and shot, the corner gave the opportunity for a change, Frimpong replacing Coquelin.
With 20 minutes left it was all one-way traffic towards the visitors goal, until a lapse at the back cost the youngsters. A punt down the middle caught Silvestre cold, Pericard’s shot was parried into the path of Danny Pugh who slotted home.
Goal – Danny Pugh (70)
The goal seemed to upset the Gunners who looked for an instant reply from Wilshere’s left peg, yet little did they know things would get even better. A childish swipe at Sunu saw the Potters down to 10 men and a striker light, handing the momentum back to the Young Guns.
Finally, the pressure would toll on new boys Stoke with Fonte the recipient, sloppy play from Shawcross allowed Rui the simple job of nipping in front of the former United man before nutmegging the on rushing goalkeeper for 3-2.
Goal – Rui Fonte (85)
Arsenal made sure they sealed the three points by moving the ball among themselves in stoppage time, it finished Arsenal 3 Stoke City 2, with Neil Banfield surly being a happier man than last week.
Article By – J.Sanderson
fonte did well i hope they sign him for good !
It was a really disorganised match I thought. Positioning in midfield was all over the place players continuously moving out of position and tactically less aware. They need to work on this side more I feel. That’s why 2 goals where let in against what wasn’t a great team.
ohhh k….
what player would you lot compare bischoff 2??….is he a rosicky type player or what??….to those who saw this match anyway.
and how did silvestre get on?…has he still got the pace?
Bischoff was brill, as was Francis Coquelin. we shoulda killed the game off in the second half. we had to much possesion, but like the first team, we couldn’t capitalize on our possesion.
Szczesny (7) did okay, made a couple of very good punches, nothing he could do on the 2nd goal but perhaps his positioning for the first was a little suspect, unless it took a deflection? Ayling (7) was very good at right back, not sure that’s his preferred position but he looked competent going forward and defended well when asked questions by Stoke. Bartley (7) did what was needed, was rarely tested and he was pretty calm when in possession of the ball. Good to see Silvestre (7) make his debut aswell, he was perhaps the influence to a mature performance from Bartley beside him, he swept up well and dealt with the difficult situations admirably. Gibbs (7) is really impressing me recently, I remember explaining to someone before how I didn’t see anything that special in him but I really think the loan spell at Norwich was very good for him, he’s matured a lot and has endless speed it seems, defending or attacking, he did well tonight.
Bischoff (7) did well considering it was his first game for about 8 or 9 months, his passing was good and he was always looking forward, looked tired when he came off but it was a good shift and I look forward to seeing what else he can bring as the weeks go on. Randall (7) was quiet but very efficient, not looking for the usual Hollywood balls, just going about his business and keeping the play ticking over. Did give the ball away a few times but recovered well in the tackle. Coquelin (8) was brilliant, took his goal very well but he never stopped harassing, his passing was good and he looks like a very skillful player too, looks like he could have a real talent on our hands if he progresses over the next few months. Wilshere (9) was probably the man of the match, his first half performance was good, but his second 45 was outstanding, dictating play, drawing reckless fouls all over the place, beating his man and was unlucky not to score himself, a huge improvement on last week.
Simpson (8) showed glimpses of his potential and if he wasn’t 19 already, I’d say he was one for the future, but he showed that he can make a career out of football outside of Arsenal. His turn of pace is exceptional and if he can work on his first touch and concentration around the box, perhaps some composure, he can be a good striker. Fonte (8) was just as good, wasn’t phased by the physical nature and went about his work very well, took his goal exceptionally well too.
Sunu looks much better than last year already, direct running, pace aswell as strength and some decent offloads too, last season he looked a little lost but he showed big improvement tonight. Frimpong didn’t really have much to do, the ball was already being sprayed around all over the play and he contributed to that I guess.
Overall a very good night, conceding 2 goals isn’t the end of the world but the inexperience showed as we pushed way too forward when already leading 2-1, perhaps Banfield could have told the boys not to commit too many forward and that’s what cost us that 2nd goal.
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That was Coquelin’s first proper goal at youth level for any team!
silvestre still lacking match practice? rusty?
It is hard to point out an exact similarity with another player but he looked like he prefers playing attacking mid as opposed to central mid but still looked pretty comfortable.
Maybe similar to Andy Reid on Sunderland (I know he’s not a great player but u could see similarities). He drived forward at times and played some nice passes.
Silvestre was okay but also looked a bit too relaxed. It didn’t help that the match was so disorganised in front of him. Pace wise not bad.
yes i agree, he has been really good in pre-season and has been consistent for the reserves, im glad bischoff played, werder bremen damaged his career when they ere forcing him to play, i think it was good for the other youngsters playing alongside silvestre, he will pass on his experience
from what i’ve seen, both simpson and fonte have little chance to make it into arsenal 1st team. fonte is a natural finisher but apart from his goal, he gone missing the whole game. simpson simply not good enough. i think gibbs shown little interest in the game as he keep past the ball backward while ayling looks a good footballer but maybe didn’t athletic enough to play in that position. randall in my opinion really improved a lot, now he touch the ball less but move it more effectively. coquelin really had a great game. he control the ball well and he got tricks as well. wilshere i think didn’t need to mention as he class above. the gk can handle the ball well but he needs to strenghten his body a bit. center back bartley had a decent game but since arsenal always in control, he didn’t have much to do. but still, he got undone by pericard. needs to work on his composure. silves n amaury they just play to gain match fitness, so its not fair to comment on them. overall, really like senior team, always in control of the game but lack of concentration almost caused all 3 points. still, a good game for the youngster.
Thats it i want coquelin to replace denilson in central midfield. Or atleast give merida a chance. Infact j where was merida.
He was on Spain u19 duty, scoring twice. Look down the homepage and J has a little article on it.
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And mate, it was only Stoke Reserves, Coquelin is a good prospect but he’s not better than Denílson, let’s not get too excited here..
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J.Sanderson, what’s your take on how Bischoff played today, bearing in mind that he’s trying to regain fitness & form?
He is. Honestly, i have watched denilson on numerous occasions, and he is nothing special. His passing, which is meant to be one of his main attributes, is not often on par with others in the team. Futhermore his posistioning is terrible. And don’t ge me started on his shooting.
Merida is away with Spain u19’s.Jack Wilshere was a class above everyone else on the pitch.
Merida is with Spain’s under 19 team.
I only saw the 2nd half of the match,when Bischoff got replaces. Really wanted to see him play. The kids are getting better! I thought Gibbs,Coquelin,Wilshere (of course) and Randall did an excellent job. Randall did give the ball away couple time near the end but overall looked composed. Silvestre and Bartley looked real calm and composed at the back,maybe too calm awhen the 2nd goal scored. Still not sure about Fonte and Simpson looks like he has the potential to be great in the future. Sunu also impressed me as I have not seen much of him. Overall a good performance,didn’t see the first but I heard they struggled a bit.
“a complete step up in play created openings for Fonte, but he missed two very good chances. Rui first volleyed Randall’s deflected fizzed pass over, before seeing Hamilton unbelievably save the Portuguese strikers side footed effort from 3 yards.”
to be fair to Fonte, his first half shot was deflected behind rather than missed by him and the goalkeeper was very fortunate to get a hand to the ball for the save.
I thought Bartley was very good in the air, solid in the tackle and with his passing out from the back. Sylvestre was okay considering he hasn’t played for a while and I was impressed by his desire to prevent a goal by throwing his body in front of shots. Stoke were really ‘robust’ with their challenges and they were lucky to keep 11 men on the pitch as long as they did! Wilshere seemed to be the main target but he handled the buffeting quite well. And finally, I have to say a word for Jay Simpson. He has got a really good first touch and works very hard for the team.
Hi Passenal, what’s your early take on Bischoff, bearing in mind he’s trying to regain match fitness and form?
Coquelin played a few stray passes too, and was he knackered by the 55th minute, imagine if the tempo doubled (to Premier League level), he’d be dead by half time!
I like him a lot, I really rate him highly but he has some work to do to get ahead of Denílson, who is a good player himself, I think you’re over-rating Franny and under-rating Dení.
Tacklers Team Tackles Success rate
Behrami…….West Ham…….33….73%
Petrov………Aston Villa……30….63%
Butt…………Newcastle……29….62%
Muamba…….Bolton………..26….81%
Denilson…….Arsenal………26…..73%
Passers Team Passes Accuracy
Alonso……..Liverpool…..424……84%
Denilson……Arsenal…….416……85%
Lampard……Chelsea……415……84%
Parker……..West Ham….353……87%
Butt………..Newcastle…352…….81%
Player Team Assists
Arteta Everton 4
Young Aston Villa 3
Barry Aston Villa 3
Denilson Arsenal 3
Ireland Man. City 3
Denílson has been one of the better midfielders in the league this season where it counts. He has given the ball away, but he’s also kept the play ticking over, won the tackles and distributed while Fab wasn’t firing, I think you need to give him a break.
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Thanks for that it gives me a real insite about what denislon has done. Maybe i should be a little bit patient. Lets see how he gets on, on saturday.
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Ell: The stats are good I must agree but they don’t tell the whole story; they could have been easy tackle and the ones he failed in where hard. I haven’t seen him yet make a great tackle and I have watched all Arsenal matches this season. Some good tackles yes, his passing hasn’t been great. Too many square passes when in the middle of the park. It’s when he is higher up is when he does better passes. I like I just don’t think he is the answer just yet.
I only watched the last couple of minutes of the match so how good was Jack Wilshere tonight?
denilson’s just getting used to first team football
that record is awesome, but he needs to work a bit on consistency
im positive hel develop to a fantastic, maybe world-class, midfielder but he needs a bit of time to complete his game
the trouble is the team isnt capable of carrying someone for even one game it seems
Denilson’s stats may be good, but I think the intangibles in his game really make his overall play worse than the numbers would indicate. Although he has a high pass-completion percentage, I would wager that a large number of those are little passes to Cesc or to the outside MFers, not defense-splitting, insightful finds (though, to be fair, he has had at least a few this year.) The main trouble for me is that even though most of his passes do find their mark, the numbers dont show that they often slow down the receiver, as they are slightly too slow or slightly behind the player. These little differences cost the side attacking fluency, as defenders can regain their positioning and anticipate the coming move more easily. The subtle beauty of a passer like Cesc, for me at least, is that his passes not only find their mark but find their mark EXACTLY, allowing the player to continue without hesitation or correction. Though Denilson is a quality player, he is just not good enough in my opinion.
I have so much hope for Bartley! Height, pace, strength, technique! Potential to be awesome!
On an aside, if any of them are reading this, the idiots at the back of the stand shouting shoot! Funny at first, after 20 just annoying and sad!
I thought we where very good at times tonight some of the passing and movement was superb wilshere coquelin and gibbs where all very impressive. And surely we have to sign rui permanent this season we would be crazy to let him go back to sporting
“Hi Passenal, what’s your early take on Bischoff, bearing in mind he’s trying to regain match fitness and form?”
Magneto, I thought he did well considering it was his first competitive game for about a year. He did not shirk from the physical challenges early in the game and he was very mobile – I thought he started in the centre, but he seemed to drift left and right inter-changing well with Coquelin and Wilshere. He made some neat short passes linking play well and moving the ball forward. I didn’t notice any stray passes, and he took one pot-shot from outside the area which was off target, but at least he was willing to have a go when the opportunity presented. With more match practice and match fitness he will be alright as it’s clear the talent is there.
Also what went wrong with rene steers trial at cheltenham. I read that they where really impressed him after the reserve game last week
how did bartley do?
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Bischoff won’t get a single appearence for us this season. He was rather poor tbh. Silvestre did not look commanding either…strange considering the experience he has.
Bischoff is an AM…but we’ve got better players in Ramsey and Merida there.
i thought bischoff was ok. nothing more or less.
silvestre was decent and seemed more composed in the air than gallas and kolo can be, but he was dwarfed by pericard which sort of highlights our weaknesses.
after an indifferent first half, wilshere was the best player on the pitch in the second.
having seen a few appearances now from the following i do not think they are good enough to make it: simpson, fonte and randall.
coquelin looks like on for the future, but seemed to be more ofan attacking outlet than a defensive midfielder. he took his goal really well.
He hasn’t played for 9 months, let’s give him a few months to gain some fitness before judging whether he’s better than Ramsey and Merida..
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bischoff looked a bit off the pace
1st game back for ages though so he will hopefully got more n more match fitness as he plays
it was me shouting shoot by the way with a few others ;)
It’s good to finally see Bischoff play for the first time in the glorious red’n’white. You can tell he’s been out a while though.
Boy some people sure are demanding with Bischoff lol. He hasn’t been playing for nearly a year, judge him once he gets back to 100% match fitness and gels in with the team. Can’t judge him after his first game for being out such a long time.
what the f**k!
denilson is no flamini….flamini was unbelieveble…did anyone see how he kept kaka quiet wen he played ac milan…no1 has ever done that….plus the way he used to bomb forward…he done it against liverpool and scored for us and also bombing forward against newcastle providing the cross for adebayor….he was the the pfa team of the year after all..
i think arsene shud have offered him a big money contract…him & adebayour deserved it..
also,why does everyone rate song so much??…i say he should be a center back
Thanks, Passenal.
Havent seen Ayling play before and I was surprised at how good he was.
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Is Mark Randall too agressive when playing ?? I see he got a yellow card last night & was lucky not to get a red card in the last game. I’m all for showing a bit of agression during the game (it’s probably something the 1st team lack, but that’s another story) but controlled agression would surely be better. Bear in mind this is a player that has been sent off in the Youth team for headbutting & also sent off in the Reserves for an ‘off the ball incident’.
People lay off Denilson he is not the kind of player you want him to be be but he is doing his job well and no one considers the fact that some times he is played off position. Would Cesc have the same effect if he was palting on the right or left?
Randall plays too many telegraphed passes that are easy to read. so many of his passes get cut out. and he makes rash tackles. he has the vision but he needs to improve his execution.
i know this is not relevant to this but when it involes this player, it dosent matter
Cesc Fabregas has told Spanish radio that he will assess his future at the end of the season.
The Spanish star has also admitted that a return to Barcelona would be a ‘dream come true’.
Fabregas admitted he opted to stay at Emirates over the summer following his success at Euro 2008 with Spain.
The midfield schemer claims he stayed for the sole reason to try and win trophies at Arsenal, as so far during his five-year Gunners career he has picked up just one medal after lifting the FA Cup in 2005.
Now he is determined to pick up some silverware this term, but admits he will then look at his options.
“Right now I’m fine at Arsenal but I cannot deny that to return and play for Barca would be a dream come true,” he told Catalan based station RAC 1.
“I chose to stay at the club last summer and right now I’m totally focused on the reason for that decision which was to try and win trophies.
“We’ll see how things have gone by the end of the season.
phader.
I don’t care whether it’s Cesc, Ade, or the tea lady, no matter who you are, if you WANT to leave Arsenal, YOU CAN GO.
Bartley looked very good so that a bonus but he has a way to go yet.
Coquelin just looks better and better, i wouldent be suprised if hes promoted to the first team next season if theres space and he carries on like he is. Fonte looks much better but i cant help but feel that it’ll be a bit like Bendtner and Lupoli with Barazite and Fonte, the more versatile player will stay and the other will go. Maybe im wrong though.
Bit worrying that we conceded two and both goals were avoidable…but its a bit of a transition period for the reserve back four what will Rodgers, Agogo and Steer all off trying to get contracts elsewhere, so its not suprising.
Frimpong looked class again.
i thought bartley did well, i saw him in the portsmouth match and looks like he is very strong and quick, is he better than hoyte or?
I was very impressed with Sunu’s technique. I’m not too sure about Simpson because he drifts in and out of the game although his work rate can’t be doubted. Fonte was impressive but I can’t help but feel he has to go out on loan (if he can) in the Championship to play professional football before we can judge him.
reading abt bischoff i get the feeling that once fit wenger wants to use him as in the ‘hleb’ role as the no.10. i really do think that we miss hleb and flamini. fabregas in an interview even said said he misses playing with hleb. i really do think that wenger needs to get in some world class esp. in the DM role and we need a player like flamini/essien someone with lots of energy and who drives forward and is covering the whole field. a gilberto type player who jst sits there does not suit our style/speed of play.
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