Arsenal’s pre-season preparations continued apace at London Colney today, as the first match action, against Southampton and Anderlecht on Saturday, grows ever closer.
For one particular individual, today’s session was a memorable one as Kyle Bartley was told that he will be part of the first-team squad this season. The 21 year old, who joined from Bolton Wanderers five years ago, has experienced two separate loan spells at both Sheffield United and Rangers and, with Sebastien Squillaci poised to depart the club, looks set to add to his solitary appearance for the Arsenal first-team.
Another returning loanee, meanwhile, will be out on temporary transfer yet again with Wellington set to spend the forthcoming campaign in Spain, although his exact destination is not yet known. The Brazilian winger demonstrated glimpses of his potential whilst with Alcoyano last season following a troublesome spell with Levante, but it is hoped that this will be his final season away from the club before finally breaking into the first-team picture.
Some youngsters who were not involved with the main group yesterday, such as Chuks Aneke and Jernade Meade, trained today, with Arsene Wenger also taking time to cast his eye on the promising duo of Jon Toral and Serge Gnabry, who could be outside bets for cameos in the Capital One Cup this season.
It is expected that Arsenal will name a 22-man squad for the Markus Liebherr Cup this weekend, with the youngsters from outside the first-team squad particularly keen to impress in training in the hope of earning a place in the travelling party. After the weekend, the first-team and Reserves will go their separate ways, with the senior squad heading for a three-stop tour of Asia whilst the second-string will participate in four friendlies of their own.
Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth 
Could Kyle Bartley play that holding midfield role that arsenal is trying to fill, or even Djourou.
No
Well done Bartley. Next stop Lansbury. Just dont let either of them go on loan again. Give em their chance. I’d have Lansbury over sick-note Diaby
I think Wenger is keeping Diaby in the side for the same reasons he kept Van Persie. Although often injured, he has the potential to become one of the best central midfielders in Europe. Getting rid of him would be as foolish as the time Wenger let Yaya Toure leave Bevren without doing anything about it.
Never seen so much rubbish written about Diaby and Lansbury. Diaby might be injured all the time but whoever doubts his ability must be blind.
“Lansbury on the other hand, is still 21, has time to improve. He is a box-to-box midfielder with great work rate, he pitches in defencivly, something Diaby doesnāt do. He has pace and is a good finisher. Most importantly, he is better mentally and contributes more on the pitch, a better team player than Diaby.”
Have you seen him play?! Lansbury’s work rate is average, he does little defensively, and he is most certainly not an individual with a great mentality. And this picture that Henri put up on twitter of himself last week tells you all you need to know about the hard work that he’s (not) putting in in the gym:
Does it mean Wenger isnt buying another defender?
Serge Gnarby is worth a spot.
I guess no. Instead he will furnish some young lads.
so happy for the guy. Definitely deserves his chance and wasn’t utilised at rangers properly. Reflects well on our academy too. It would be great as Dylan said if one of lansbury or henderson make it…oh and i see Yanbi has reverted to his prehistoric excuse for english…hmmm it seems to deteriorate with every academy prospect making it through whilst improving with every external transfer of proven talents..at least thats what i think!
So what… they can speak gibberish for all I care, as long as they find the right coloured shirt on the pitch and better still, find the back of the opponents net!
OOps scrub that last comment… I thought you were talking about Serge Gnabri’s english
Bartley is a big who had been tested, bring him back to unstudy our defenders, give him some games, cos, he is tall,, stronge and dont forget he can secore goels,,
I hope he will nt repeat dat foolish and seemingly deliberate own goal again. Pls demote Gibbs as he is nt ready to learn .
Remember our last game against Westbrom?
That tackle gave us a Guarantee for UCL, mind you.
Get see Bartley getting much game time but he can learn from Vermanlen and Kozzer. Really hope Djourou and Squallaci ( the fuck) are sold/released.
I think we could do with a player who is versatile in defend and someone like Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is the answer. I dont rate our LB Santo cant defend for shit and is a liability Gibbs is injury prone. Other defensive options would be Sakho and Banines.
This Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa geezer is so boring why don’t you fuck off.
I really want to see Lansbury, Bartley and Botelho given places in the squad this year.
There will be space. Almunia and Benayoun are already gone. Squillaci and Arshavin are sure to follow. Hopefully at least one of Chamakh and Park will go too. Bendtner, RvP? Maybe.
These guys have been on loan enough. They’ve earned a season at least. Denilson got 5!
I can see bartley used as right back cover as well. its not his strongest position and against nippy left wingers he will struggle though. he could be 3rd choice DM behind song and coquelin with frimpong going on.loan when he is fit. wenger has apparently told djourou he will be rotating the centre bacls mpre so perhaps with squillaci sold and miquel out on loan bartley would be 5th choice. But rotated correctly he could get 15 appearances under his belt easily in all 4 comps across 3 positions.
Looking forward too seeing Bartley perform, he’s a player I have always rated highly. Found this compilation on him from a psv v rangers game. Check out this video on YouTube:
Ummm is it just me or is this a pretty worrying video? He looks decent aerially but he didn’t look sure on the ball. Some of his passing would have been picked off by Premier League sides and I swear he could have easily given away a penalty for a push in the box? I hope it’s just Carling Cup for him this season.
I hope we sell Squillaci and Djourou bringing in a leftsided centerback. With Vertonghen going Tottenham my first choice would be Sakho of PSG giving us …
Santos and gibbs at leftback
Vermaelen, Sakho and Miquel left centerback
Koscielny, Mertesacker and Bartley right centerback
Sagna and Jenkinson at rightback
Koscielny and Sakho could also cover the fullbacks in case of injuries (ie Sagna) along with Coquelin who performed well out of position both on the left and right.
Probable Squad for Liebherr Cup: 1. Fabianski, 2. Mannone, 3. Jenkinson, 4. Bartley, 5. Vermaelen, 6. Djourou, 7. Squillaci, 8. Gibbs, 9. Santos, 10. Arteta, 11. Diaby, 12. Song, 13. Coquelin, 14. Lansbury, 15. Gervinho, 16. Miyaichi, 17. Chamakh, 18. Gnabry, 19. Ebecilio, 20. Miquel, 21. Angha, 22. Wellington, 23. Aneke
I’m glad Bartley’s been promoted to the first team, he’s got all the attributes to be a future captain, he’s got a no nonsense type of attitude and I hope he gets some playing time this season!
Delighted to see Kyle Bartley given an opportunity to stake a claim for a place in the senior squad.
Hopefully Lansbury will be given the chance as well.
As for you Yanbi, forget the football and just concentrate on your jiggy jiggy.
AK…agree,it’s time Wenger gives chance to the aforementioned guys and decides if they are good enough for first team,if yes-happy days,no-just sell them as those who are not good now are already too old to be kept on reserves side,especially now that there is new flow of really talented kids coming up the line…
We need Bartley and Lansbury, at least to fil the home grown quota. So rubbish or not as some of you had mentioned,it is the practicalaspect thats of equal importance.
Players that are added to the senior registered squad THIS season at the moment are – Pedro Botelho (if staying at Arsenal), Szczesny, Ramsey, Lansbury and Eastmond.
James Shea, Kyle Bartley, Francis Coquelin, Conor Henderson and Sanchez Watt are those who would need to be registered for 13/14 season.
At the moment the homegrown players at the club (exc Denilson) are Mannone, Szczesny, Gibbs, Djourou, Song, Eastmond, Lansbury, Ramsey, Bendtner and Walcott.
Good news for Bartley. Best of luck to him!
Like to see Sanchez Watt given a chance also! Can’t wait for AFC matches! Arsenal Player rules! Gunners and Gooners be positive we have a great future!!!
I think its almost certain we won’t be buying another cb, especially with Djourou’s recent quotes about staying. I frankly don’t mind our cb’s. Its at rb i’m concerned. Hope jenkinson comes good, and stas good. If given the chance, that boy will retire at arsenal.
As for the midfield, i reckon one signing is needed. To cover for arteta when injured. I don’t know about ebecilio, so i reckon someone like joe allen/ yann m’vila (pass and move type) will be good.
Bartley vs psv…old video but I Think it was deleted
Arsenal don’t have the best record recently regarding defenders … I won’t bother to name them all, but start with Squillaci and stumble back from there. That said, we do have Kos, TV5, Mertesacker, and Djourou now … four centrebacks that can get us through a season of cups and league and average misfortune.
But Bartley I really don’t understand. It’s perverse. Letting Miquel go to Brighton, and bringing Bartley back from Rangers only makes sense in business terms. Rangers is a club in limbo; ergo Bartley is a loanee in limbo.
I’ve seen Bartley play quite a few times now. And – to be honest – I’d rather have Squillaci. The only thing Bartley has on his side is youth. He’s 21.
The problem I’m going to have with Bartley in the first team squad is that he’ll most likely end up in the cup sides. And every time he plays I’ll be reminded just how often the nay-sayers claim that AFC has “too little ambition”. Because every time Bartley plays I’ll be thinking the exact same thing.
I wish the lad well. But if Bartley can’t light up one of the worst leagues in Europe with Rangers, then he’s never going to make it at Arsenal.
I don’t know if he necessarily had to light up the SPL but he at least had to be solid. I’m not sure he was even that. He just doesn’t look calm.
I’ll be glad seeing bartley in the first of arsenal……..waiting to reply soon.smith.
I’ll be glad seeing bartley in the first team in arsenal……..waiting to hear soon.smith.
Good to hear that
Wenger, should buy new faces into the team and keep van percie.
Hopefully this year our cup teams are made of youngsters with potentials than our first team bench warmers like last year with park, chamakh, benyoun, djourou,squillaci,
Wenger buy player 4 us
Pleased for Kyle, and no matter how you rate the Scottish league, it is one of the most physical in Europe, so he’s learned how to take a knock and dish it out.
Now all AW has to do is introduce some silk to go with the steel.
i agree with harry , Bartley learnt how to take a knock and the physical side of defender now at arsenal he will learn the tatctical side im starting to get fed up with people saying sign this french guy and that one use he youth bartley will turn out to be a good defender no one rated keown then we sold him the and he became a beast give him a bloody chance before for you slate the kid he might end up in starting 11 by the end of the year he is a leader in defence let him prove you wrong and if he dosent by the end of the season that fair just give the lad a bloody chance and tbh we dont need to sign a defender we have 4 internaional cb and bartley as cover along with song who can play there sanga and jenkinson and cogulin as cover and lb santos and gibbs and yennaris i think can play there as cover tbh i think thats a good defence just need to figure out why they keep getting injured we ment to have top training etc but at least 8 player per season get injured for a month or more what we need is a keeper to challenge tech
tbh he is a good player and will improve since he will be training and learning from like of kozzer and tv5 i susspect you where on of the people trashing kozzer after his first season
Yanbi, based on what I saw this year, you are correct. Bartley isn’t good enough to command a first team place. Based on what I saw of him 2 years ago, he actually DOES deserve a chance. Bartley seemed to lose his way in a playing sense last season. Whether that can be attributed to Ranger’s financial problems, or more likely, the prospect of having to play 3 or 4 DIFFERENT positions in the same season has yet to be determined. Something made him regress a bit, BUT if we can find what made him succeed in the Europa League and the Scottish League, before last season, we could have a very solid player on our hands. He will never be the refined type of centre-back that Koscielny is, or even Vermaelen, BUT he will contribute to our overall play by being difficult to play against and beat. There is nothing wrong with this.
Very good points but like mama always used to say: you cannot polish a turd.
Bartley is a liability, he is even worse than Squillaci.
Would rather prefer Jenkinson to cover as 5th choice cb
here we go again spend some money wenger