The Future Is Bright
Apr 14th, 2008 by 'holic
Whilst I am looking forward to attending the game against Reading on Saturday there is a kind of end of term feel about today. I thought I was relatively restrained in my report on the game yesterday, but a day on and the quality blogs have been a haven of objectivity.
Arsene has decisions to make about how many new faces to bring in, and what mix of youth and experience will be represented. Transfer targets can wait for the end of the season when we have nothing else to speculate about.
One of the considerations he will face in the coming weeks will be which, if any, of the current crop of youngsters are due for promotion. I think this is the fourth week running that I have watched at least half of a reserve game, and it is clear we have some very special talent coming through the ranks.
Obviously it is usually only one or two lads from any intake who get the chance to progress, and I have to say from what I have seen thus far the two outstanding talents of the current second string are both effectively in their first full year at this level.
Nacer Barazite scores and creates goals. I wouldn’t burden him at this stage with comparison to any senior players but he has wonderful control, good vision, and does much of his best work in a deep lying striker’s role. He has a very promising future ahead of him with someone, and if he can maintain his present rate of progress I would love it to be us.
The captain is Havard Nordtveit, a central defender who looks comfortable on the ball and who displays fine distribution. He is surely in a position where it is hardest of all for youngsters to make the step up, and may need another year learning his trade. I would not be surprised though to see him start regularly in the Carling Cup next season.
The last couple of weeks Armand Traore has been pushed forward into the left side of midfield, and the move seems a good one. Armand found himself back up to Gael Clichy from the age of sixteen, and in the second half of this season it is probably fair to say his confidence has been badly affected by his experience in big cup ties. Going forward is his strength, and we are short of talent in wide areas. This may just be the switch he needs.
There are also decisions to be made about the young players currently gaining experience elsewhere. Carlos Vela will surely appear in a Gunners shirt for the first time next season when his spell at Osasuna comes to an end. Fran Merida is also likely to return from Sociedad. Kieran Gibbs, Mark Randall, and Jay Simpson could also be in the equation, although it must be doubtful that all three will be back.
For sure we cannot promote all of the talent we are producing internally, but equally certain is the fact that Arsenal are producing large numbers of quality players who can only go on to strengthen the game overall. If you get the chance to watch the lads, do it. You won’t be disappointed.
26 Responses to “The Future Is Bright”
Great post holic. I think it’s important fans know that our future is very very bright.
I’m struggling to keep up with the ‘holic posts! 😉
Yes the future is bright, and I must admit I haven’t been able to watch any reserve games as I live over in the US. People calling for wholesale changes this off season are the ones who’ve lost the plot in my opinion. Though the season is not yet over, it is pretty impressive that we came so close to taking the championship and getting to the semi-finals of the CL with our best striker and starting left winger out for most of the season. In fact, the argument can be made that, if it were not for a string of poor refereeing decisions, we would be top of the league and preparing to face Chelsea in the CL.
Though you will wait to post on summer needs/changes ‘holic, I’m bored so I’ll take a stab at it (in order of importance)
Gilberto and Lehmann should go.
Flamini must be kept.
D’jurou is the big CB that we need, he’s 6’4″ after all, but if he is not ready, someone like Lucio would be a good signing.
Jeskulinen should be signed.
Eboue should be used as a reserve RB, nothing more.
Sign one of the following three: Eto’o, Robinho, Benzema.
There you have it. If these things happened, I am confident we could win the championship, the CL, or both.
i wana try out this team for some of the remaining matches :
——–fabianski————
k.gilbert,toure,gallas,traore
denilson,song,diaby,clichy
——RVP,walcott———–
WALCOTT ——— FUTURE OF ARSENAL !
by a MILE !!!
CHELSEA has just got the lead against wigan..
& you just get the feeling that they will close shop & shut the game now & go home with a 1-0…
its that kind of a feeling of security..unfortunately.. we wished.. we had
yeah just seen the match and the last few games too traore was sesational in those games and tonight on left wing but i think wilkshire was top top class did anyone see him tonight he is 16 about 5ft 6 and dribbled past players for fun on his reserve’s debut it was like watching mesi/hleb he is going to be involved in first team soon
I agree ‘holic – I’ve watched a bit of the reserves recently and there are some promising players coming through. It would be good to see some of them make it as far as the first team at some point in the future.
Please… Please… PLEASE stop using the word YOUNGSTERS.. it’s so bloody patronising. Besides it makes you sound like a pipe pondering knob head.
We should still fight for the 2nd place, now that Chelsea drew with Wigan!
It’s an auto CL qualification at stake, and we can’t risk giving it away like we did with the 5 pt lead!
Brian, How do you know I’m not a ‘pipe pondering knob head’?
😉
And A GUNNER, if that is Chelsea being secure thank God we support Arsenal…
😀
Gosh ‘holic. What a lot of drinkers there are here
🙂
No Arsenal through and through… body and soul. Always have been always will be.
50 years and still counting.
Keep Gilberto. He’s been a faithful servant, and he’s a calming influence in the club.
Lehman has served us very well, and I hope he chooses to stay and have one last magnificent season. I think Arsene will grant him that if he recognises he’s no longer automatic and will have to justify his place in every single game. Keep the oldies who’ve won. We need them.
Sorry Brian. looks like you misunderstood. The second half of my post was aimed at comment 6.
The first half was aimed at me 😉
You and I have probably been to a lot of the same games down the years. I can’t promise not to call them youngsters again though. It’s what they are.
I can’t believe how crap Chelsea played. They have no heart. If it wasn’t for Joe Cole there to push em on, they would be a gut-less bunch of prima-dona rich boys. Fuck em. They don’t deserve the second spot, we do. We have heart and we have character. LET”S GO FOR SECOND!!!
By the way Jrock, excellent choices in Eto’o, Robinho, Benzema. Finally someone thinking with their skull. No factory seconds for us…
The latest rant by Galas is food for thought. He demands an end to losing in style. i agree with him. Who would remember Bayern Munich losing the 1999 cl final?
AW vows to maintain his attacking philosophy. It’s well and good as long he is not like brazil whose mentality of you score one I score two. What happens if you can’t score at all?
Therein lies the problem of attacking soccer. Make sure your back line is strongbecause nowadays it’s very easy to frustrate the attack.An all out attack can backfire if the other team adopts the guerilla tactic of hit and run.
i’m afraid AW has not learned/or does not bother about it. He has to decide between losing beautifully or winning ugly.
If he does not comprise his philosophy i’m afarid all gooner fans will have to stomach more defeats.
I don’ agree the future is bright. For all iknow the gunners could be struggling to stay in the pl.
few points to make
firstly when arsene says one addition i hope he is not including replacements for players who leave (ie.lehmann,gilberto,maybe flamini)
secondly the positions where there have been problems seem to be gk,cb,lm and striker the last two have been affected by the fact that rosicky and rvp have had injury problems throughout.i find it difficult that all of these wud be solved by getting reserve/youths into the first team no matter how talented they are.but arsene needs to think long and hard about retaining faith in his current set of cbs
i’m not disappointed at arsene’s policy because two months ago we looked on course for a premier league title so our squad hasnt changed suddenly that everything he did was wrong.
but arsene’s got to get 2-3 quality players just to cover for the fact that all his best players wont be available which is what has cost us this season.the only player i see stepping up to a regular starting place is walcott that too as a wide player.
You forgot Rui Fonte, ‘holic. Ive been impressed with the lads’ skill in recent games, although his finishing can improve.
Overall, I was disappointed that Gibbs & Randall did not figure in more 1st team games this season. Those players you mention above should feature in the CC, and anything more will be a pleasant bonus (and we shouldnt expect it).
From the loan watch updates, it appears as if Gibbs, Randall & Simpson are not good enough to merit a regular starting place in their resp sides (in the Championship & League 1). I dont see how they can be good enough for arsenal next season itself.
Alright prits. To be fair I didn’t forget Fonte. I think he has only played in one of the games I’ve seen and to judge anybody on that would be hugely unfair. I know they have high hopes for him at the club.
I wouldn’t read too much either into young on-loan players not starting games at this stage of the season in the Championship. Clubs are looking to grind out important points down there and may consider their more experienced players are required.
11Goonerholic
Brian, How do you know I’m not a ‘pipe pondering knob head’?
And A GUNNER, if that is Chelsea being secure thank God we support Arsenal…
—————-
Well i forgot that they are not managed by Mourinhio..but what i meant was having that skill that Mourinhio employed to win 2 trophies in succession…not bad eh- for a team that is struggling to win a trophy?
So dear learned Holic – i dont see anything wrong with that tactic !!!
Hi ‘holic…
I’m still depressed but yes, our youngsters are very very promising. Can’t wait to blood them eh?
x
actually jay simpson is a starter for his team Millwal and has won league one player of the month 2 times please get your facts right otherwise you end up sound like a mug
Cheers ‘holic. Even I havent seen that much of Fonte, but the little has impressed me.
I hope that the loanees can come back and challenge for 1st team places in the CC. Good to know I was reading too much into their exclusion while on loan.