Members Day 2008- Exclusive report and pictures

Today saw Arsenal host their fifth summer members day and the third to take place at Emirates Stadium.

The majority of the first-team squad was present although new signing Amaury Bischoff was nowhere to be seen. Nicklas Bendtner looked like he was coming out but then he decided it was better to stay inside because of the rain. Gallas only came out for a short time as well.

Eduardo was the first to emerge and he ran several laps of the pitch with new physio Noel Reynolds before taking part in some light stretches. He recieved a good reception from the fans and could return to action in November.

The goalkeepers were the next to come out, with Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone in attendance. They did some light running before praticising their shot stopping with ‘keeper coach Gerry Peyton.

Then the bulk of the players came out, including newly promoted Jack Wilshere. The players did some laps of the pitch followed by stretches at the far end of the pitch before splitting into different groups for fitness training. They were:

Group 1: Fabregas, Toure

Group 2: Ramsey, Clichy, Walcott, J.Hoyte, Ramsey, Wilshere

Group 3: Adebayor, Sagna, Djourou

Group 4: Senderos, Vela, van Persie, Eboue, Denilson

Group 5: Rosicky, Traore

Samir Nasri dissapeared down the tunnel whilst Group 1 did short sprints and Group 5 undertook a light jog and Group 2 were accompanied by Arsene Wenger.

The players then split into two teams for a training match. The teams were as follows:

Green: van Persie, Adebayor, Mannone, Wilshere, Denilson, Senderos, J.Hoyte, Clichy, Fabianski.

White: Ramsey, Eboue, Djourou, Vela, Sagna, Toure, Walcott, Almunia.

Vito Mannone played as an outfielder for the Green team and thundered home a powerful shot. Van Persie was also on target, linking up well with Adebayor. Wilshere showed some good touches including a superb flick with the outside of his boot. Halfway through the game, the two sides switched ends and Mannone went in goal with Almunia becoming an outfielder.

After that, the players kicked some footballs into the crowd, whilst Arsene Wenger revealed that it will be a ‘very young side’ that will take on Huddersfield tomorrow night before the senior stars travel to Holland for the Amsterdam Tournament which commences on Friday.

ALL PICTURES COPYRIGHT OF JEORGE BIRD’S ARSENAL YOUTH. NOT TO BE USED WITHOUT PERMISSION.