The vast majority of Arsenal youngsters last tasted action over a month ago, and, whilst yesterday’s 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion in the U21 Premier League provided an opportunity for players outside of the first-team squad to receive some much-needed game time, the decision was taken instead to name a largely experienced line-up, with seven first-team players featuring in total at London Colney.
There were several positives to take from the afternoon, despite the fact that Terry Burton’s side failed to get the better of West Brom at the third attempt. Abou Diaby, on his first appearance since September, was largely impressive in the 65 minutes that he was on the field, as he dictated the play with his range of short and long passing and his ability to alter the tempo of the game. Carl Jenkinson, too, put in a commendable shift at right-back, and the 20 year old, on this evidence, can count himself somewhat unfortunate not to be involved in first-team matters at present, especially with Bacary Sagna enduring a difficult run of form.
Whilst Diaby and Jenkinson impressed, some of the other more senior players were not at their sharpest yesterday. Francis Coquelin gave the ball away in dangerous areas on several occasions, whilst Emmanuel Frimpong continued his customary trait of getting sent-off for two bookable offences, having kicked the ball away in frustration following the second challenge. Frimpong, back from a loan spell at Charlton Athletic in which he failed to impose himself, did not seem entirely accustomed to operating in the left-wing position in which he found himself yesterday, and will receive a three-match ban from U21 football.
Yesterday also saw the welcome return of Conor Henderson, another player whose embryonic career has been stifled by injuries, but the midfield player looked to be lacking match fitness following his introduction as a substitute, and made an ill-judged back-pass which put Mannone under considerable pressure.
The U21s are not in action again until they face Southampton away in ten days’ time, when a younger line-up is likely to be named as the first-team will be taking on Chelsea at the same time. Before then, Arsenal must do battle with Fulham in the FA Youth Cup a week today, when the likes of Hector Bellerin, Isaac Hayden, Jon Toral and Kristoffer Olsson, who were not involved yesterday, will receive their first action of 2013.
For the likes of Nigel Neita, Josh Rees and Samir Bihmoutine, however, game time has not exactly been forthcoming so far this season. All three players have featured intermittently at U21 level, and are now too old to feature in the Youth Cup or U18 league. It is hoped that they may receive further outings in the near future with several members of the U21 squad, most notably Thomas Eisfeld, possibly going out on loan before the end of the month.
Any chance of Eisfeld going out on loan?..Also Miyaichi getting called back?
Are you sure Frimpong’s serving a three match ban? It’s normally one match for two yellow cards.
Jorge, I was going to ask exactly the same questions.
Is Eisfeld going on loan until the end of the season or is he likely to make an appearance for the first team this season?
Are you sure about Frimpong three matchs ban? Usually it is one match for to yellow cards.
sorry i meant a one-game ban. a decision hasn’t been made on eisfeld yet.
hopefully wenger eases diaby back in gently and slowly. i think if he can play a couple of these games, and then restrict himself to a game a week, he can avoid these recurring injuries.
Why should diaby be treated any different? if he cant cut it due to fitness then re-negotiate his contract or ditch him. if any of us were in his position at work we would have been laid off years ago. After 7 years of continuous work even foregoing holidays and without any sickness days i then missed 6 weeks off work with an inflammatory condition and it was goodbye thanks very much. honestly free loaders like diaby are just taking money from our pockets for nothing other than taking the.piss. im sick of it!………..rant over lets hope he comes back on sunday and puts yaya in his pocket.
Bc he’s hardly a free loader like others in the squad, he doesn’t ask to be injured and when he plays he pretty much always puts in a top performance! I agree about re-negotiating his contract but remember this guy is massively talented so much so if he were fit for the rest of the season we would grab fourth without a doubt! I’d rather have him one game a week than not at all, look at the way 5pur2 managed Ledley king and Fergie manages rio.
Plus you can’t compare football to real life look at the wages these guys are getting for kicking a ball for starters!
“if he cant cut it due to fitness then re-negotiate his contract or ditch him”
Were you saying the same thing about Van Persie 2 years ago?
You should be looking at the situation from the club’s point of view, not from your own petty jealousy. Diaby is very, very talented. Fellaini and Yaya Toure are two of the most coveted players in the Premier League and Diaby is just as gifted, if not more so, as they are. If we can somehow ‘fix’ Diaby he is an immensely valuable player to have. Whether he’s still fixable or not at this point only the medical team will know. If we look to keep him beyond the summer I think that’s a clear indication the club still believe he can have an injury-free future. Diaby is 26 and Van Persie didn’t get over his injuries until he was 27/28. And now that ‘crock’, ‘glass legs’, etc., hasn’t had an injury in two years! He played in every one of our 38 league games last year, starting 37. Obviously Diaby’s problems might be totally different but it does show that players can get over consistent injuries. Once a crock, not always a crock.
the sooner we get rid of Coquelin the better, the kid won’t make it i’m sorry
wenga does not trust him
the sooner we promote Toral the better
Toral is better than Coquelin, Frimpong, Aneke, Arteta etc..
Is it just me or does our youth team look really disjointed these days? I think that the previous years’ teams were a joy to behold. The current teams are as bad as the first-team.
the other clubs have cached up. City has always looked dangerous but now we see it even more. Chelsea too. For me it just prove that our football needs to change a bit. Like more defending as a team.
Diaby is Arsena’s best player, we need to give this guy a contract asap.
I am very confident that he will overcome his injury problem