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Chuks Aneke started and played the whole game but couldn’t prevent Crewe Alexandra from losing 1-0 to MK Dons. The midfielder had enjoyed an impressive return to the League One club, however, as he scored during the midweek Capital One Cup victory over Bury.
Francis Coquelin, meanwhile, played the first half on the right wing before being withdrawn as Freiburg suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in their opening Bundesliga fixture.
In the same league, Johan Djourou missed out through injury as Hamburg took on Schalke.
Ignasi Miquel was not registered in time to feature as Leicester City took on Leeds United, but should be involved away to Derby County next week.
Joel Campbell played the first 45 minutes and had a shot saved as Olympiacos concluded their preparations for the new campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Valencia in a friendly.
Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth 
Thank you for your news and good work. It’s nice to have a point of view regarding Arsenal youth players.
He may not think so but I actually think Coq’s best position is RB and I think he is better there than Jenko. Although I love Jenko! Therefore I’m not disappointed to see him playing on the flank.
I agree that Coquelin’s best position is RB and that he is better than Jenkinson. For me, Jenkinson would have been loaned out and Coquelin would be Sagna’s back up this season. Coquelin would even be my favourite choice for the starting spot after Sagna leaves the club.
Coquelin on the right wing? What is the Freiburg coach smoking?
Our youth team is embarrassing , we should close it down to save money!
Jeorge Jeorge Jeorge… excellent work as usual. I gotta say, I think Aneke would be Arsenal material after all. I think he should be played as a DM, with his size, passing ability, vicious shooting boots but average pace, he could be the kind of deep lying playmaking DM our 4-2-3-1 system needs. I know some people would scream bloody murder about insinuating he plays DM but the kid was self-assured when played at center back during our Asian Tour. As such it is not a far stretch to see him at DM.
I think aneke can improve to become our CM
None of them won’t make it. But. as they played CL football we should be getting a very good fee for Coquelin. The loan fee they paid us is very good
some are deluded if they think coquelin is better RB that jekinson. Coquelin play very few game and only in emergency player shortage at RB , most of the time he play CM at youth level and on loan .Actually at lorient he start playing for them at RM half of the season before be move in more central place
After ramsey make them shut up with excellent performance they are moving to Jekinson.He is 21 years old ffs,you are expecting from him top performance every match.he is gone make some error , its normal at his age
Arsenal should not have lone Francess Quelin and Joel Campbell
Coq wont make it for sure. We pay him 35k a week! When he barely done anything for us! We could have gotten a very good La liga player for us that are willing to get 35k a week! This is insane when I thought he looked average at Lorient.
35K per week, if true, would more based on the fact that we got a young player for cheap and so paying for his potential and the ability to make aprofit when selling him, even if it doesnt work out.
That said, Coquelin’s problems, IMO must be mental or attitude – he has all the physical attributes and ball skills to be a premiership CM or DM, on some teams even an AM. We already know he can do a job at right back and left back. And still you dont think a 20 yr old with those attributes can be a star he can.
What’s missing is application. Go and watch the friendly vs Man City and see the hunger and the work rate Sebastian Perez put in when he came on, plus the postitioning, which was impressive too. That type of hunger and intensity you dont see from Coquelin, but you did from Perez. And if you think about it Ramsey and Arteta put in that same work rate like that.
That’s the missing piece for Coquelin. Its just mental at this point.
We have very different views about Coq. First and foremost you must have the techniques. Then comes the vision and intelligence on and off the ball. He got good techniques but he is lacking in vision and intelligence. What I see is constantly running around and throw away too many passes without any impact. I want to see almost every pass to be the right choice. I saw many many balls going nowhere from him and only mess up our play.
And second of all Perez came on late with very fresh legs in a FRIENDLY GAMES! His positioning was missing big time. Thats why he won very few balls and was far away from the ball and he got very few passes when we got the ball. It was not like he is in good position and could have done anything from there. When he got the ball he did the easiest thing in the world which was passing to a guy standing only a few meters from him. What kind of vision is that? Is that a talent you want from an Arsenal player?
Ramsey and Arteta is head and shoulders above Perez and Coquelin! They actually make passes with purpose with very high success rate.
Amazing commitment and for sure a better talent than Coq. You saw it from this performence? You really conviced be he could be the next flamini. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02EtvC-I-zg
Well lets put it this way, Sebastian Perez is 20 and he put in a fantastic performance when he came on.
– At the same age (20) Alex Song, who was fantastic at reserve level, but constantly suffered nerves at first team level, had to be sent to Charlton to be able to get the butterflies out.
– Flamini had the same issue and it was not until he was 22-23 that he really put it all together to be able to impact games
So I wouldn’t underestimate this Perez kid, seeing how he came in vs a team like Man City and showed the combination of that high energy/constant harassment, while still maintaining great positioning and passing the ball sensibly. That’s the kind of game that when Flamini put it together, gave Arsenal a platform to let the creative players flourish. It’s also very infectous and you find even the attacking players getting on board. Wenger MUST sign this Perez guy, as he is ready to play NOW, hungry and everything too. yesterday was no mistake. He did a great job in a postiion that is very difficult for young players.
In the same breath what I am also saying about Coquelin is at age 20 it is no shame if he hasn’t put it all together, given that Song and Flamini both took until about age 23 to become top players. You have to realize that the ones like Vieira who can turn up at age 20 and provide instant impact right then are there are really rare.
At 20 pretty sure most would have done equally good vs city in a friendly game. The performance was nothing special and I saw nothing of what you told me. This is a friendly game and they was never committed to win at the later stages. You already think he is better thank coq after 20 min in a friendly game. This is ridiculous. You don’t know if he will be nervous in a real game vs real quality and challenges. When the tempo is at least twice as high and the pressure to perform is at least 3 times more. I saw a much better performance from Frimpong throuout the preseason and in the premier league when he broke through and I think he is the one who got the quality we need. He was consistent in the league on loan and in preseason. I really get what you are saying by it takes time to mature but I didn’t see it this time from Perez. When he play in a real competition vs real quality on loan or in the league we will know for sure. First 2-3 games is very crucial for your confident. I don’t want to see us compete for the 4th place again. Kind a tired of it actually.
If you watched the game, you’ll find that city actually had HIGHER intensity at the end of the game. They were really ratcheting up the pressure, partly due to embarassment at the scoreline and partly due to their subs trying to compete for starting jerseys. And with Zelalem on he was moving about but basically we were now10 1/2 vs 11 on defense. A 20 year old defensive midfielder in that cauldron – yeah that’s a test.
Side note: was a shame to see Jovetic in the Man City jersey. He’s not up to speed yet and not an athletic superstar but lovely movement and sharp brain on the guy. You can see the quality and team orientation he has. Take him for 25 million, buy a good defender of 20 million and we’d be better off than blowing 45-50 mil on Suarez.
Its still a friendly game in the end of the days. That back faint was nothing special. Almost any player can do that. He barely put any pressured when they had the ball and was in bad positions too. jogging around trying to be in position. But again this was his first game. What will you say if he is complete shit in a real competition? Do we HAVE to sign him as you say like after 20 min vs city in a friendly game? Just because this was City doesn’t mean any player who come on like he did will be a top class player.
Saying Song and Flamini was top class when they were 22-24 does not mean Perez will be one of them. The chances of him being as good is actually quite small too.
There are a few positions in Arsenal where we have to spend money. Without Arteta our midfield looked less solid. I don’t believe in Perez. He can go either way at 20 years old. Frimpong and Coq looked good vs Tottenham and a few other quality teams yet they are not even close to our first team and I think Coquelin looked really shit to be honest. If we want to sign a promising 20 year old there will come another one somewhere every 3 months. New talents is spotted all the time.
dude,really u ar not a true football fan for sayin coq is average wtf!he was man of the match against spurs n am sure he is a way better than dm than arteta
dude,really u ar not a true football fan for sayin coq is average wtf!he was man of the match against spurs n am sure he is a way better than dm than arteta,n for sayin perez is better mitchew no way he only played less than 45mins n u say he is better lmfao
Great post Jeorge. Any news on Afobe?
Skill wise and technically I think coquelin is actually really good. What lets him down is intelligence and tactical dicipline wherein he may actually be the worse in the squad. He played rw on a couple of occasions in lorient though i don’t think it’s his best position. Played well at rb when called upon for arsenal (especially impressive against fulham) but didn’t get enough minutes there to gauge over the long term.
i thought Coquelin looked really good at right back too for Arsenal and even a short stint at left back he was credible. At right back the touchline simplified the game for him and allowed him to use his speed and touch on the ball.
But judging by the comments he made around that time, it seems he really didnt want to play there at all and must have made a stink to Wenger or the other coaches about it.
Shame, that could have been his express lane to the first team starting jersey right there.
Think we should all focus on the players that will be wearing the shirt this season. Hopefully those on loan will come good and either return to the club in a better situation or depart the club for a decent fee. For now its all about wether frimpong yennaris toral olsson zelalem or hayden can build their development to such a level that it is one of them or may be perez that forces their way in this season.