Three defeats on the spin for the u-18s

Arsenal u-18s lost their third successive League game this morning as they went down 2-0 to West Ham at London Colney. Wojciech Sczczesny started in goal, whilst Jonas Rasmussen played on the right flank, with Luke Freeman partnering Nacer Barazite up front. It was an icy cold day at London Colney as Luke Freeman went close with a couple of efforts but the ‘keeper was equal to them. Nacer Barazite looked in impressive form as well, making some decent touches and dictating play as he often dropped back to support the midfield. It was also good to see Havard Nordtveit in the u-18s again after so long out; he looked a little rusty but gave a composed performance nonetheless. West Ham’s physical power was too much for Arsenal as on more than one occasion, Arsenal players were sent flying by outstretched elbows. Emmanuel Frimpong wasn’t allowed to dictate things up front and Arsenal’s passing game just didn’t seem to be working. Jay Thomas, playing on the left-wing, was getting increasingly frustrated with goalie Wojciech Szczesny’s inability to pick him out with his goal kicks and was calling for the tall Pole to stay on his line. In truth, it would be harsh on Szczesny to say that he was at fault for the first goal. West Ham played some neat passes before firing a low shot underneath the ‘keeper, but in truth there wasn’t much that ‘Tech 9′ could do. Arsenal were seeing a lot of the ball on the right-hand side but struggled to create chances; on the rare occasions that a chance did occur, Arsenal fluffed their lines. Nacer Barazite was unlucky as the bounce of the ball decieved him at the crucial moment, and Rasmussen fired a weak shot at goal. However, West Ham held on and as Arsenal came forward in the second half, piled on the pressure and ended up doubling their advantage. Steve Bould will be disspointed with the result, but knows that it was a very young team out their today, and that they were missing the creative influence of the likes of Lansbury, Fonte, Murphy and Wilshere. The Gunners are at home to Southampton next weekend and will hoping to end their run of three straight defeats. One other piece of news, it appears that Liam O’Brien, who was on trial from QPR, has not been offered a permanent deal by Arsenal as he didn’t start the game and James Shea was on the bench.

Arsenal: Szczesny; Eastmond, Nordtveit, Hoyte (c), Cruise; Rasmussen, Frimpong, Dunne, Emmanuel-Thomas, Barazite, Freeman. Subs: Shea, Evina, Blackwood, Ayling.

Next three games:

Sat Feb 9- Southampton (h)

Sat Feb 16- Crystal Palace (a)

Sat Mar 1- Norwich City (a)

Loan watch: Randall makes debut

Seven young Arsenal players are on loan at other clubs until the end of the season in order to gain experience. They are Mark Randall and Kieran Gibbs, who are at Burnley and Norwich respictively, Jay Simpson is with Millwall whilst Fran Merida, Carlos Vela and Pedro Silva are all in Spain with Real Sociedad, Osasuna and Salamanca. Vincent van den Berg is with Go Ahead Eagles. Keep up to date on their progress here…

Mark Randall- West Brom v Burnley

Mark Randall came on after 70 minutes and was booked as Burnley threw away a one-goal advantage against West Brom to lose 2-1. Match report.

Kieran Gibbs- Norwich v Preston

Kieran Gibbs wasn’t in the Norwich squad that beat Preston 1-0. Match report.

Jay Simpson- Millwall v Doncaster

Jay Simpson played 90 minutes as a woeful performance from Millwall saw them lose 3-0 to Doncaster. Match report.

Luke Freeman scouting report

Having watched him for 45 minutes this morning, I can honestly say that Luke Freeman has the potential to live up to the hype. Arséne Wenger worked so hard to bring him to the club and you could see why. Despite being only fifteen years of age and having a slight frame, he often went into challenges with West Ham players twice his size. He showed strength in the tackle and worked hard to bring the ball down. The fact that he is playing alongside quality players such as Nacer Barazite is sure to do him the world of good too. He had a couple of opportunities to score; one time he hit a powerful low drive down to the ‘keepers right and the goalie pulled off a good save. It was a decent strike though and he was unlucky not to score. He also worked hard for the team, tracking back and picking passes, it seems like he was born to play for Arsenal. He still has an awful lot of developing to do first though. As I mentioned he needs to beef up a bit but that shouldn’t be too hard. He displayed immense confidence in trapping the ball and releasing a shot immediately. It looks like there will be more to come from Luke Freeman