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General Reserves Talk

  • Thread starter M+D
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mistaT

Established Member
Enough is asked of Song as it stands, I don't like the idea of him as 4th choice and I really hope Arsène doesn't either.

Who knows though :eek:
 

ricky1985

Established Member
Chuks is a bit special!

Wish I could watch the whole game, Eastmond looked outstanding in the 12 minute highlights, as did JET.

Wouldn't mind seeing all three at White Hart Lane in 2 weeks.
 

Goons AFC

Active Member
MistaT, I don't disagree with you, but Song has proved capable of filling in at CB on ocassion, and I don't doubt he might play there some this season. But I'd much rather have someone who can play his position as a backup then another CB. Thought Frimpong showed glimpses, and Coquelin is highly rated. But with neither of these available anytime soon, I hope the reserves start prepping Yennaris or Nordtveit or other for this position.
 

otfgoon

Established Member
Watched the highlights.

Chuks looks great, will be interesting to see if he gets the odd Carling Cup game this year.

Djourou is going to need a lot of playing time before he gets back to his best, does look like someone who's not played football for a while.

12 min highlights of a reserve game is enough to see a horrible mistake from Fabianski too.
 

M+D

Established Member
Arsenal Reserves vs Manchester City's self-proclaimed "Elite Development Squad" :lol: will be streamed live on City's website - here tomorrow, 7pm kick off as usual.

Guessing Djourou will be given another run out. Be interesting to see whether Mannone or Szczesny plays in goal. Surely one of the two has to be set for a loan move soon.
 

Chass

Active Member
Would be great to see a full live reserve game for the first time since Arsenal TV was disbanded.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
"Elite Development Squad" - what a bunch of tossers.

Hope Chuks and JET take them to the cleaners tomorrow night.
 

bigtimetopbanana

Active Member
Anyone listen to the Radio Five Live Podcast on Monday? Martin Allen and Neil Ruddock were talking about how much the Arsenal line-up from Saturday was different to last year. They gave Arsène a lot of credit for changing the team... but more interestingly, Martin Allen said he'd gone to Arsenal's reserve match with Blackburn and said Arsenal had a forward who, at 18, was "exceptionally very very good".
Didn't say whether it was Benik or Chuks.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
Well, there both actually only 17, but if he's basing it on the Blackburn game, he must have been referring to Aneke. The goal he scored that night was sublime, Bergkamp would have been proud.

Really hoping Chuks gets some involvement at White Hart Lane in the Carling Cup, to see what he can do. He really does look an amazing prospect.
 

Don Pacifico

Established Member
Thanks for the heads up M+D.

Agree with Ricky, it must have been Aneke; still not sure about the hype behind Afobe (other than his movement) but I'd be the first to admit that I haven't seen him play extensively.

Watched the highlights of the Academy game we lost 1-0 to Bristol City. Monakana looked really handy and both our CBs (Monteiro, Angha) looked good on the ball, if a little slack defensively (based on a few games that I've seen). Also think that Josh Rees looks quite interesting.
 

M+D

Established Member
He could have meant JET tbh, he's only 19 after all and was apparently brilliant (again) vs Blackburn.

Here's a small compilation of Aneke done by someone btw, mostly his highlights from the last two reserve games. Worth a watch for that goal against Blackburn if anyone hasn't seen it yet.

I was expecting Man City to field a strong team tonight considering the size of their squad but apparently the idea of this "elite" squad is that they're only under 21 players.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
Thanks for that, M+D. That goal against Portsmouth from last season, with his left foot, is just ridiculous. The power he gets is incredible.

He has to be one of the famous "technically perfect" kids Wenger was talking about. He's very, very special, will be interesting to see how he develops.
 

Don Pacifico

Established Member
I do prefer the look of Aneke to Afobe; out of interest, what is it that makes Afobe so special as I haven't seen enough of him to really comment.

Could Chuks have an outside chance of making the bench against Spuds?
 

otfgoon

Established Member
Yeah, Afobe looks a well rounded player but the only thing that has really stood out about him is his understanding with Aneke funnily enough.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
Don Pacifico said:
I do prefer the look of Aneke to Afobe; out of interest, what is it that makes Afobe so special as I haven't seen enough of him to really comment.

Could Chuks have an outside chance of making the bench against Spuds?
Goals. It's that simple. Whichever level he's played, including internationally, he has scored goals in abundance.

I previously didn't see him making it here, but he has actually impressed me an awful lot in the past 6 months or so. He went away with England in the summer and won the European Championships, playing as a right winger for the most part. With Connor Wickham the focus of the team and the team's creativity, Benik just got on with his job, worked his socks off on the right, and showed a level of understanding of where to move/pass, and in his general link-up play, in an unfamiliar position, that impressed me a lot. He has clearly been well taught by our academy to be more than just the goal scorer that I thought he was; he's a good, intelligent footballer too.

In terms of his goal scoring, he's very quick, has great movement and timing in behind, a nose for where to be in the box when the ball comes in, and is a very good finisher - especially one-on-one.

I think there are 4 or 5 ahead of him with better chances of making it here, but his attitude is absolutely spot on, and I think he has every chance of making a real impact at Arsenal later down the line.
 

M+D

Established Member
ricky1985 said:
Thanks for that, M+D. That goal against Portsmouth from last season, with his left foot, is just ridiculous. The power he gets is incredible.

For him to do that with his weaker foot was just unreal.

@ Don - On Afobe, I'd agree with a lot of what Ricky said.

I think it's really all about his ability to consistently make the right runs from such a young age - he gets into the right positions constantly and obviously he can finish when he is played in - his goalscoring record speaks for itself. He can hold the ball up and has shown in the last season a different side of his game when he's played out wide, not being afraid of taking players on and beating them.

He's not as technically good as others at youth level and I wouldn't have said he's particularly good in the air either but his pace and power allied to his movement has always caused real problems. It's hard to know whether that will translate to senior football or not but if it does then he can make it here.

Btw the City squad for tonights game is: Gonzalez, Logan, Chantler, Kay, Wabara, Mee, Etuhu, Ibrahim, Guidetti, Poole, McDermott, Benali, Karius, Veseli, Bunn, and Ellabdellaoui.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
Looking forward to this game tonight. Interested to see Aneke and Afobe over 90 minutes for the first time in a while. Eastmond looked very impressive in the highlights for the last game, so looking forward to seeing him. There's also a chance for a lot of Arsenal fans to see Szczesny for the first time (I've read he's likely to play) and a few other really promising young players. Should be good, hopefully JET and the boys have a field day.

It can be seen here for nothing, in case any of you didn't see the last page;

<a class="postlink" href="http://live.mcfc.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://live.mcfc.co.uk/</a>
 

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