Welcome to the second in the series of Young Guns’ profiles and analysis into which Arsenal youngsters could make it big during the New Year.
Manager Arsène Wenger has already said he is delighted that 2008 is over, and with 2009 just days old, we give you a taster of just who could force their way into his plans during the coming months.
Yesterday we announced the first four names to watch out for, and if you missed it, catch up Here before reading this update. Today we announce our top 5 to watch during the new campaign.
5. Håvard Nordtveit – 18 – Centre Back
Håvard Nordtveit will have one goal for 2009 – to rescue his potential as one of the best young centre backs in the world.
Without doubt Nordtveit could become a future Arsenal legend, but a failed loan spell with UD Salamanca and then months of frustration on the sidelines due to a registration problem as seen Håvard slip behind.
The hard work will begin straight away to transform his fortunes, and with the Norwegians maturity, leadership skills and natural talent, don’t bet against him bouncing back very soon.
His goals for 2009 will be to continue playing for the Reserves, before pushing into the first team next season. Kolo Toure, William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre all have doubts over their futures at the moment, and solid form from the Norway Under 21 international could force Wenger’s hand should offers arrive.
4. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas – 17 – Everywhere!
Arsenal’s flamboyant and super versatile Under 18 skipper is unlucky not to find himself higher in the rankings after a terrific 2008.
The lanky powerhouse has played in every outfield position for the Gunners in recent seasons, but the phrase ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ is far from the truth. Wherever he seems to play, Jay makes a difference.
2009 should see his attacking talents honed, as flaws in his defensive play can be exposed. Leading by example is nothing new to Emmanuel-Thomas, who skippered the Under 18’s whilst still at school.
Former Tottenham manager David Pleat frequently speaks highly of his talents, showing that quality players can defy the North London divide.
3. Oğuzhan Özyakup – 16 – Central Midfield
Oğuzhan occupies the ‘Cesc Fabregas role’ for Arsenal’s Under 18’s. He’s the guy who creates the attacks with his play-making, but the Dutchman also likes to cover the whole of midfield in a traditional box-to-box style.
Like the Spaniard, Özyakup is noted for his leadership qualities. At 16 he skippers Holland’s Under 17’s and has featured for the Under 19’s in recent weeks – marking his debut with a wonder strike.
The likeable youngster looks set for a more regular role in Steve Bould’s outfit towards the end of the season, whilst Reserves action should beckon next term.
Oğuzhan – who can operate all over the midfield – may just have started his career with the Gunners, but long term, his future looks very exciting.
2. Chuks Aneke – 15 – Central Midfield
Chuks is Young Guns’ wild-card for the season. Even die hard Gooners could be forgiven for scratching their head for details on the England Under 16 international, but if he continues to build on the form shown in 2008, Aneke will soon be a player everybody is talking about.
Not since Patrick Vieira left have Arsenal really had a leggy, dominate, strong, and cultured central midfielder, but based on his performances so far, that could be about to change.
Make no mistakes, there is a very long way to go. Yet in just a matter of months Chuks has exploded onto the scene for club and country. Noted for his all action approach and powerful finishing, 2009 should see Aneke push on to the Under 18’s and claim a scholarship deal.
1. Francis Coquelin – 17 – Defensive Midfield
Francis Coquelin is Young Guns’ biggest tip to make it big during 2009. The Frenchman – who joined from Laval over the summer in a deal exclusively broken by us – has taken over the mantle as first choice for the Reserves, and recently made his first team bow in the Carling Cup.
What Gooners like most about Coquelin is not his pace, his passing ability, his powerful finishing nor his tenacious tackling. It’s something much simpler – his never say die attitude.
Sico’s work rate embodies that which all fans wish to see in their players. He hassles and chases balls he has no right to win, and always plays with a smile on his face. Being versatile is another quality, featuring at right back and in midfield so far.
He’s also hit the net twice this campaign, weighing in with the sort of goals he’s usually meant to be defending. 2009 should see Francis push into the first team, and frankly, it’s only a matter of time before he becomes a first team regular.
Article By – J.Sanderson
niceee, wish havad was higher up, no matter…
exciting stuff, thank you jay, i really enjoy your blog, though im not much of a poster myself…
cheers & 09 is for the gooners
good selection am a bit suprised to see no emmanuel frimpong on the list tho. is there any reason why he has been left out?
good article tho mate
No problems mate. All the players in the list are talents, put them in whatever order you wish.
Good to have you here :)
Thanks very much!
Frimpong is a similar age and similar position to Coquelin, and I don’t see them both breaking through sadly. I also believe Emmanuel’s cocky will get him nowhere either.
I’m sure I was told Coquelin was a striker when we signed him! Nevermind! How close do you think he is to the first team? My concern with all these young players at Arsenal is that, because of Arsene’s style, even at their age they shouldn’t be future first team potential, they should be IN the first team! It’s all very well saying “so and so’s only 17 and is looking brilliant in the reserves”, but Rambo and Wilshere are that sort of age and looking good in the first team! I can’t comment too much because I don’t know that much about the boys but I’d like to know, how many of these players do you think REALLY, genuinely have futures at Arsenal?
Excellent J excellent!!
Just by reading this ranking it makes u appriciate and acknowledge what we have coming through.
My only worry is the amount of central mid on the books and the lack of wingers
Well you say lack of wingers, we’ve got Wilshere, Rasmussen, Watt and Sunu. They’re all tricky, quick, intelligent and all very different. Plus the likes of Merida is learning the role.
In truth if we had a top 50 talents at the club, I’d struggle to get everybody in, that’s how much talent there is here.
Excellent as usual … my 2nd favourite Arsenal site but the one that talks most sense :-)
Thanks
Out of those 4 j i’d only say jack (definitely) and sunu (maybe), who in my eyes is very underated, who’ll make. Watt’s and ras dont have enough class to play the wing role. It just seem that arsene does’nt like to bring in natural wingers.
Anyway i dont want to put a downer to this great post. Keep up the good work J!
don’t forget gibbs can play the wing as well !
Did an article about that on my site :) but don’t look like your, i’m talking about older players too ^^
For the moment on my site: 10)Jay Simpson; 9)Merida; 8)Gibbs; 7)Frimpong; 6)Coquelin
An other thing Jamie, are you sure Ozzyakup played for Holland’s U19s? That would be fantastic. An other thing, i have high hopes for Frimpong and i think you should have put him ^^
Sunu is leaving for Lyon, yes?
And another point, speaking of wingers, I’ve been hearing things about Armand Traore being considered for the left flank when he’s back from pompey?
J.sanderson, do you have any news on if rui fonte will be signed permanent. And do you have any ideas on weather abu ogogo will be given a new deal or where he is likely to leave to.
Frimpong is a mouthy so and so.
Nice piece J. I expected Fran Merida to be mentioned. I think he should be ahead of ramsey and wishere or same par. I heard mention of strenght and endurance but i think he works extremely hard, he’s technical and tactical. What do people think?
hugo – y would u want troare on the wing, he’d just be another eboube. We need a natural winger not one convert like eboube. Have a natural winger will give us a different variation and more with which we’re lacking these day.
wats happening with this south american dude who we’re getting??? any posts?? good article tho n hopefully coquelin makes it
It’s just something I’ve heard mentioned around. But I think it could be worth a go, to me he lloks more of a winger than Eboue ever has. He’s got pace, tricks and a directness that causes problems for defences that Eboue seems to lack. The defensive side of Traore’s game has been his weak point (admitedly that’s true of most young full backs) but I think he could be used as winger, just as an experiment to see if it works. And at least he’s a natural wide player, at the moment we always seem to play with 4 central midfielders across the pitch!
We got Nacer too don’t forget !!
good to see some of under 16’s getting in there but can i ask why its the top 9 as 9 is a odd number to choose y not top ten?
its great jamie and sisco win! he was my winner too! he is simly fantastic! but i surprised where is murphy frimpong or maybe gibbs.
As anyone else heard that Denilson is in talks with Bolton?
I can’t believe it myself as I would rather see Eboue go.
Its now our Denilson its the old Denilson lol
Wrong one Rudecat, Bolton are rumored with the 31 year old former most expensive player in the world Denilson. The one who couldn’t cut it in the MLS!
And i think our Denilson is a very poor player, get him out!
Cocquelin is deffo gotta be close to the 1st team by next season. I just hope Haavard and Jay E-T get there too.
Good work fella.
R u goin round all the Arsenal blogs with that bullshit rudy?
Its not that Denilson its a different one who used to play for Real Betis, alot of players mistaked it that arsenal signed him at the time.Suprisingly he was the dearest palyear in the world around 10 years ago.Really hope Wenger promotes Sico sooner rather than later.Arshavin on his way to the mity gooners.
Oh, its THAT DEnilson!
The one who used to do about 300 stepovers a game when Ronnie the Winker was still wetting his mama’s bed!
Not since Patrick Vieira left have Arsenal really had a leggy, dominate, strong, and cultured central midfielder, but based on his performances so far, that could be about to change.
—
Umm… Diaby? Or hell… Manu-Thomas?
its not our denilson, its the guy that used to play for Betis. Remember him, hes in his early 30’s.
I think if Colqulin was a little bit older, wenger may have tried him out in the first team, see if he could protect our back four.
2009 should see Francis push into the first team, and frankly, it’s only a matter of time before he becomes a first team regular.
—
Fucking hell. Is he really this good J? DMs usually take a lot longer to mature (look at Song! He might become very good but it’s the inexperience and immaturity letting him down) and with him only being 17… you sure? I mean, Randall is still ahead of him in the Carling Cup team.
Loved the articles though. How about an article on the likes of Randall et al that are stuck in that odd space between Carling Cup team/loan and the first team? And not just a ‘oh noes if we buy Arshavin a 16 year old might not make it’ one? (Sorry, that last comment sounded bitchy, but I think you could add some proper insight into those players that are starting to crowd our squad but not get games and are making fans anxious.)
iz der gonna b a match report of the reserve game? i wana no how eduardo did?
“We need a natural winger not one convert”
Players are trained and learn positions on the pitch so there is no such thing as a ‘natural winger’. They are not born, they are made, through hard work on the training pitch and experience in games. Pires and Ljungberg were not ‘natural wingers’ but I don’t hear anyone complaining about what they achieved at Arsenal!
What about Fran Merida? He is class!
P.S. I do agree about Coquelin – he will be a star and sooner rather than later. But I’m not sure why Merida never gets a mention in this sort of list? He may not be an early developer like Cesc, but he is amazingly talented and has a wicked eye for a pass.
what about Barazite and Wilshere?
Based on the players listed, excluding Simpson, it’s all players who haven’t appeared for the 1st team, true youngsters in the Arsenal world. I think that’s why players such as Wilshire, Ramsey, Merida, etc. are not included, despite their youth.
J, can you way what position you see JE-T playing for the 1st team, assuming he gets there?
I do have to laugh at the constant completely over the top hype over the Nordster on this site.The chap cant even hack the reserve league nevermind the first team.He would be miles behind Djourou and Senderos at the same age.
Merida, Ramsey, Wilshere, Randall they’re all around the first team setup at the moment. These are some of the boys who you will see more of in the coming months, and can push on towards the Carling Cup squad.
Does anyone know whats happening with Amaury Bischoff? as thought he was on a 1 year deal? also he seems to be used as an attacking midfielder in reserves but hasnt been anywhere near the first team even with Cesc being injured
The Daddy, I hope you do know that Nordtveit was suspended from first team action until January?
Is jonas ramussen winger. I thought he was a holding midfielder. Does he have pace and tricks? Also JS is the arshavin deal close or is it complete lies.
Maybe we might get Arshain on loan with a view to a permanent deal because we got fabregas, theo nd rosicky coming back
Glad to read I’m not the only one who thinks Coquelin is the business. Can anyone else see Ramsey and Coquelin, running the midfield in a couple of years time? Also, I can see Jay E-Thomas and Nordtveit behind them. Would Jay be wasted at CB? I don’t know, but I cant wait to find out. This is pie in the sky but this is my tem of the future:
Fabianski
Gilbert J E-Thomas Nordtveit Gibbs
Wilshire Ramsey Coquelin Botelho
Barazite
Vela
Hang on we could put out another team nearly as good!
great stuff by the way, have we any word on danijel aleksic or the danish defender we were scouting? i would like to see if we have made any progress on them.
“Glad to read I’m not the only one who thinks Coquelin is the business. Can anyone else see Ramsey and Coquelin, running the midfield in a couple of years time? Also, I can see Jay E-Thomas and Nordtveit behind them.”
I can definatly see Ramsey and Coquelin running the midfield, not sure about Jay Thomas at centre back, still not convinced its his best position but ive never seen him play bad in any position as J said in his article. Nordtveit…massive talent.
Good article since i didnt know anything about Aneke’s form or potential, ill keep an eye out from now on.
Only Benik Afobe on that top ten list impresses me.
kent you are one miserable bugger. begs the question why you hang around an arsenal youth website when you think they’re all crap. you constantly dis the players, do you ever have anything good to say about the arsenal young guns??
stav…. what are gilbert doing in your team ;) he was a one-hit-wonder IMO
I praise players when they deserve it and most of these players have done nothing to deserve it yet, as for the list if one mabey two of these players makes it to become a first team regular here at Arsenal we will have done well but most of them wont.
I’m happy that Sisco won, he sure does deserve it, a young makelele or diarra mould player, for those who like comparisons. One question though, where did you hear about Sunu leaving and is it credible? Also, is it possible that he could stay because he has in my opinion arguably the most potential out of all the players at arsenal along with wilshere, sisco and howie. And hes an Henry-esque winged striker, a magician. I hope he stays. But anyway, kudos on the top 9 list.
stav: surely our first team in five years will be –
(Fabianski? I’ll think we might end up buying a proper eventual Lehmann replacement)
Sagna Djourou (Gallas/Toure replacement) Clichy
Wilshere Ramsey (Cesc if he’s still here) Denilson Nasri
Theo RVP/Eduardo
w/ a back up team:
Keeper
Eboue? Nordtveit ?E-Thomas? Pedro/Gibbs
Bisch-maybe or a new signing/young star Coquelin Merida Traore
Bendtner Vela
Our first team, expect for at CB/GK and LOLsicky, is 25 and under. By and large, it is the team we will see for the next 10 years and its going to get harder and harder for youngsters to penetrate positions in midfield and up front. and left back!
The likes of Afobe will be against Theo, Vela and Bendtner hitting 25/26 and RVP/Ade/Eduardo hitting 30 – all players in their prime! If they are already, and don’t get frustrated by me saying this, top 4 material, with players like Vela and Bendtner already having years of international experience at 21, our current first team looks like it will be very hard to penetrate.
So, whereas say Randall can currently get on the bench now, in five years time our central midfield will see Denilson25 (mainstay of the brazil team by then?), Cesc26 (if he’s still here), Ramsey23, Diaby28 (?), Song26 (most dms start really showing their potential at 23, and this will be with added years of CL and international experience before then), Lansbury23, Ozyakup21, Coquelin22, Aneke20, E-Thomas21, Merida23 – we will get closer to a Barcelona-esque situation where you’d have to top J’s list to make a real name for yourself at Arsenal (or come second or third I guess).
Can’t wait.
Excellent list Jay. Great work as always. It’s just a shame that all the plastics that boo Wenger don’t recognize how far he’s brought our academy.
You said yourself you’d struggle to fill a list of 50. Our academy is the envy of world football. Any couch worth his salt has been to take a look at it.
But, without meaning to piss on anyones parade, i would absolutely love us to sign Arshavin. The guy is quality now, not down the line baring injuries like some of these lads. Let’s give chucks and afobe and le Coq some trophies to look at, some inspiration instead of us ending up a feeder club which is inevitable without silverware.
Anyways, isn’t there a rule that anyone with ARS in their name have to come to Arsenal and be a legend? I’m sure it was written under Herbie Chapmans bust at the old Highbury :-)
Here is a question for you Jay !
Are we not in danger of over saturation with all the possible youth players comming through particulary as a lot of Arsenal fans in general would consider that possibly some of the current first team squad are not Arsenal material yet still remain with us, AW seems slower perhaps NOT to wield the axe as often as other clubs.
Do you also see the situation getting to a stage where because of the quality of the youth team currently that its going to get hard to keep enticing all these young prospects coupled with the fact that players like Eboue dare I say it remain in their way ?
Really can’t see RVP being here in five years, Samuel. Would not be surprised to see him leave this summer or next. Extremely talented, of course, but somehow not a team player.
excellent article. I get more excited learning about the progress of our young guns than news signings. Realistically, none of the above may make it into the first team, but at least there its a lot of hope for the future of the club and these players.
Chucks… Bons guy… mad lanky but far as i’m aware hes a ‘hotters’.
Great list J, very insightful, especially interesting to read about players like McDermott and Aneke.
Guys, some of you need to realize that only a portion of our youth will make it here. In 5 years time, our team will look nothing like our current team and not every position will be filled with out current youngsters. 5 years ago many were probably expecting a team today with players like Lupoli, Owusu and Larsson in it. Who of you did not believe Lupoli was gonna make it big time here?
Let’s look at it a bit more realistically. Players like Jay Thomas will never make it here, probably not even make the bench. He is a day younger than Ramsey and he barely plays for the reserves. There is no way he will make it. League One or maybe the championship is more likely his destination. Murphy is one of my favorite players but the chances of him making it are very slim. I don’t think you should just look at how old a player is and what he is doing compared to others at the same age. Merida is not a failure because Cesc was MoM against Juve at the same age. But still it gives a pretty good clue.
Of the current crop I think Vela, Ramsey and Wilshere will be legends here. Coquelin has a very good chance of making it and so does Nordveit. Barazite might well make it and Merida, Gibbs, Hoyte, Traore and Lansbury could become squad players. Pedro is really much a wild card. Of the players that aren’t even old enough for the reserves yet, we really can’t judge. But surely there are few players that have the potential to make it: Aneke, McDermott, Afobe, Ansah and so on. We have to wait a couple of years though to see if they are the real deal or not.
When you try to assess a player you have to think if he will make it ahead of those already here, plus a potential future transfers. So take Randall. He is very talented and I like him despite his small figure. But he will be fighting with Wilshere, Fabregas, Denilson, Ramsey and others for a place in the line-up. I think that battle will be very uphill for him. Or Bartley: Will he be better than Djourou, Hoyte, Nordveit or let’s say Upson if he come in.
Anyway, hope you get my point.
In 5 years:
——————- Szczesny ——————-
Coquelin — Nordtveit — Djourou —– Clichy
————- Ramsey — Fabregas (C) ———-
Walcott ———————————— Vela
——————- Wilshere ——————–
——————– Afobe ———————-
/slaps forehead
People forget that we have as it is a very young squad, and so thinking that all the players or most thomas, will be replaced is wrong. In 5 most of our outfield player will be 29-29 at the oldest. With Ade, RVP, and the two best fullbacks in the league around this age. Fab and Denilson and others will be mid twenties. So if anything as someone said b4 we may well have a Barcelona setup, where in 5 years, we have most of the first team we have now plus other squad players like the 8 or 9 out of that carling cup squad that wenger was talking about, plus some others maybe who are bought in or others from the youth team that maybe have not yet featured. But if anything i wouldn’t be surprised if our squad in years to come looked like this. Almunia remember in 5 years will be 36 which is not too old for a goalkeeper.
—————Almunia—————
Sagna—Djourou—*/song/nortdveit—Clichy
Walcott—Diaby—Fabregas/Denilson—Nasri
———-RVP———–Adebayor
Hoyte
Lansbury
Merida
Ramsey
Eboue
Wilshere
Fabianski
Sisco
Randall
Vela
Bendtner
Sunu(Wenger is known to like him)
Eduardo
Traore
Botelho
Senderos if we keep him (prob be starting by this time though)
Bischoff if they decide to keep him
+Any other signings and more
But what i think a big squad like this would enable us to do, is keep all the players by rotating the squad ala Barca, while keeping the ‘BIG’ players for ‘IMPORTANT’ matches. However, in order for a system like this to come to fruition, we would need to start winning things to convince the good young players to stay and by those players i mean Ade, Cesc, RVP, Walcott, Vela and Bendtner. And if Salamanca are promoted young players at Arsenal can be sent to play over there before they break in and are also playing in a top league against good opposition.
Many may criticise Wenger, but i’ve thought for a while thta he may have been planning something like this, and when someone else mentioned it above i thought i’d write about it. Also, the list is not to say that people wont be sold and bought but i think his plan to build on youth may in 5 years time make Arsenal the world football powerhouse. Or at least i hope it does. lol
I’m pretty certain that of the current squad: Cesc, Ade, Eboue Gallas, Silvestre, Senderos and Toure won’t be here. Plus, Diaby, Song and Almunia look shaky. Randall and Simpson won’t make it, and we won’t be able to keep all of Pedro, Gibbs and Traore. If Arshavin comes, Merida will have to go on loan and have to wait till he’s about 21. Lansbury, Murphy and Hoyte are all going to have work incredibly hard to prove themselves, but I’d be surprised if they make it – they look like they could have a Bentley/Pennant-esque future though.
We don’t know how to make world class CBs and to replace our current wasted players we’ll have to spend 30m to do it properly (say… Mexes, Hangalaand, Sakho and Nordtveit) and unless the fella J mentioned ends up like Buffon at 17 playing for Parma, we need a proper 15m keeper too. Maybe a DM but frankly, our first team set up of Denilson-Cesc is good enough imo, so it would just be a short term option while Song is shaky as back-up.
The rest of our squad is sorted for the next 10 years and will become harder and harder to breakthrough into.
Some good points in here, the team I put up was an example and im sure some of the current 1st team will still be involved. I doubt Fab will still be here in a couple of years, but I like Djourou, Clichy, Sagna, walcott, Eduardo, RVP. I was just trying to show how much talent we have behind the 1st team…oh and Merida etc …lol
why do you assume we won’t have bought anyone in 5 years
the team may contain some academy players but most of it will be new players
look at the current team, the team before, the team before
the team won’t be here now
i bet wenger won’t even be there in five years
For someone who hasnt played u18s yet how good is Aneke or is it bcos hes 6ft and looks half decent. To rank him ahead of others who have played 18s and reserves seems mad plus most of us here have never heard of him and he didnt feature for England u16s so he cant be that good.
Francis is surely #1 I agree with you all the way.
good list, i guess lansbury is too well known to put on this list, but i think he is one of the most promising. he doesn’t get enough minutes for the reserves though.
also i’m surprised Murphy hasn’t made it on to this list. a couple of years ago he looked like the next big thing, is he not rated anymore?
Ozyakup and Rasmussen will make it in one of the top teams in the world if not at Arsenal….theyre class
great site jay! i cant wait to emmanuel-thomas in years to come he has great potential in my view and if he works hard and learns of some of the older players he can be a great player
Now of days it shuldnt be about winnig to prove your better or for the money it shold be about entertament and having fun
As always, brilliant piece of work Mr. Sanderson…looking forward for the next one…
I laugh at the way people on here are telling us which players aren’t going to make it and all that. How could anyone possibly know what will happen in 5 years time?!
Don’t forget new rules are coming in to have a certain amount of academy players in 1st team squads and UEFA and FIFA are determined to bring in a rule that sees locally born kids playing for the 1st team, so the English kids may well still be here in 5 years time.
Also Wenger has said in the past year that Arsenal in a few years time will be predominantly ful of players from the Arsenal academy and mainly British.
The problem at Arsenal is that because Cesc has been a 1st team regular since he was 17 and the likes of Ramsey, Wilshere, Theo, Clichy etc have been playing in the 1st team since they were teens, everyone seems to think that once a player in the academy has reached that age and is still not in the 1st team squad then they won’t make it, give them a chance.
Most Arsenal fans complain that there isn’t enough experience at the club, yet complain that some youngsters aren’t going to make it because they’re not in the 1st team!!!
I only came on here to just mention what fantastic news it must be for Conor Henderson as he’s just signed a professional contract at the club. After his serious injury picked up on his reserve debut, he was worried that he wouldn’t be offered a pro deal as it was this season where he would find out if he was going to get one or be released.
But some people on here are probably thinking ‘he’s 17, not near the 1st team yet, hmm…he’s not going to make it’!!!
Sorry for the rant, have a nice evening.
D.Block
Chucks Aneke played for the England U16’s team against the Northen Ireland U16’s, and from what i saw of him he looks like he has a great first touch and very very very good passing ability, but he did not look the most mobile of football players think Tom Huddlestone but looked even slower than he does.
Chuks Aneke – I love that name, and want him in the first team pronto. Peter Hill-Wood would probably like it too, as everyone will want a shirt of ol’ Chuks.
Kent Paul
Mate if hes slower than Huddlestone then whats he doin at this academy i thought Wenger likes quick Walcott type players –
he will never make Prem if hes that slow maybe the Spuds should have him for 750k plus appearances seeing as hes played for England a few times -seeing as hes 15 he might b still growing so i wont be too harsh. I will look out for him in u18s
Look at Gibbs, he is closing on a breakthrough too now, and he is allready NINETEEN!!!
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/content/Islington/gazette/Arsenal/story.aspx?brand=ISLGOnline&category=ArsenalNews&tBrand=ISLGOnline&tCategory=defaultArsenal&itemid=WeED07%20Jan%202009%2016%3A11%3A12%3A727
Here is an interview with him by the way.
jonny j said this on January 7, 2009 at 12:18 pm
The likes of Henry, Vieira, Ljungberg etc. stayed for most of their playing career. Not to mention part of the reason for us creating our squad in such a manner is to encourage a connection, a love for the club that the likes of Hleb didn’t have. The likes of Denilson, Clichy, Cesc (ok, we know he’ll eventually leave but…), Djourou…. they play like they love the club that gave them their chance. And although some might leave, the majority aren’t going to be bitches going “*cough* webster *cough*”.
Nordtveit’s attitude Salamanca irritated me so much and apart from his distribution from the back in terms of long range passing but nothing in his defending that says to me “future arsenal CB”. He may yet prove me wrong until but people need to quit talking about him like he is special young defender. With the development that i have seen in Ayling this season, HN other young defenders ahead of him needs to watch out big time.
Supergunner07, what attitude at Salamanca are you talking about? If your talking about him not being patient, that was down to Arsenal, they recalled him when they weren’t happy about his lack of playing time.
Nothing has ever been mentioned about his attitude
Awesome post. I really hope that Nordtveit holds up to expectations, we could really use a quality center back.
nice super young gunners …. but they to weak 4 face the real game!
Jay ET no4? Are you mad?
No Frimpong?
I doubt the recall wasnt instigated by HN complains because with Arsenal knowing he will not be able to play any football for almost 2 months until Jan 1 by coming back, Arsenal at least would have left him at Salamanca until Jan 1.
His rotten attitude is exactly what Gallas described in his outburst, some of our young players want it all but they want to graft for it. Salamanca was top of the league so you couldnt really arque at that time against their manager leaving him on the bench. Nothing comes easy in life, you have to work for it.
That’s a bit strong against Harvard mate. Salamanca didn’t even play him in defence, the couple of chances he was given was as a midfielder. Perhaps the opposite of what you said is true. Perhaps he takes his development very seriously and knows he can’t waste time being messed about.
The thing is, unless we were there and witnessed what happened, we are not really in a position to slate him.
On a different tack, Armande Traore will be coming back soon I hope (unless we loaned him for the whole season). He always looked a bit special in reserve games, very, very fast. If we could convert him fully to be a winger (yes I know we don’t tend to play LM and RM as wingers) but it would give us tactical options and width.
KP
For someone with the inside track on the u16/18s your view that Chuks is slow is wrong- when last did you see Chuks play for Arsenal ? bcos he isnt slow unless your comparing him to Usain Bolt. Chuks is 15 and 6ft 1 approx so hes probably still growing and has 4/5 years before he is fully developed. He isnt a Diarra type player but a more attacking Vierra/Gerrard.
ps Coquelin is a junior Diarra and has good prospects only lacks height and strength for a 17 y/o.
I have only seen him play for England not Arsenal and when i watched him he looked one paced were he was playing as a holding midfielder, obviously if people have seen him more than i have they will have a different opinion on him, but like i said before he looked and played like the Tottenham Hotspurs football player Tom Huddlestone.
So KP you admit’I have only seen him play for England not Arsenal’ so your opinion is based on 45 min of one England game for a player who been at this club for 8 year. Hardly qualifies you to give an opinion on this or any other matter on ‘the kids’ if that is your level of research. You need to get out more. The U16/18s play at Shenley usually on Saturday mornings @ 10.45