Joel Campbell found the net again with the Costa Rican scoring from the penalty spot as Olympiacos beat Panaitolikos 2-1. The winger completed the whole 90 minutes.
Chuks Aneke scored two impressive first-half goals, taking his tally for the season to seven in all competitions, as Crewe Alexandra trounced Sheffield United 3-0. Aneke, who also picked up a yellow card, opened the scoring with a well-struck effort before making it 2-0 just before the interval with an emphatic volley.
Benik Afobe completed 70 minutes on his debut for Sheffield Wednesday, with the striker providing a lively presence up front before tiring as his temporary side beat Barnsley 1-0. Damian Martinez was an un-used substitute, whilst Emmanuel Frimpong was sent off for the visitors in his first match since leaving Arsenal permanently on Friday.
Chuba Akpom made his fourth appearance for Brentford as the striker played the final 12 minutes of their 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury Town.
Ju-Young Park came off the bench as a 91st minute substitute as Watford beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 in the Championship. Hector Bellerin was an unused substitute for Giuseppe Sannino’s side.
Wellington played the final 31 minutes as Murcia lost 2-0 to Ponferradina, the side with whom he spent the entirety of last season.
Francis Coquelin came on as a substitute at the start of the second-half as Freiburg lost 2-0 away to Mainz, whilst Johan Djourou was not involved as Hamburg beat Hoffenheim 3-0.
Ignasi Miquel was not part of the Leicester City side that lost 1-0 to Bournemouth. Austin Lipman‘s Boreham Wood side are in action against Basingstoke Town tomorrow night.
Daniel Boateng was not in action this weekend after Hibernian’s game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle was postponed. A similar fate befell Josh Vickers, with Canvey Island’s fixture against Bognor Regis also called off.
Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth 
Hopefully, people will start to understand why Frimpong was released.
In France when military service was mandatory, people with low ability were exempt.
For most of them it as a blow as many saw the army as an opportunity to better themselves.
The argument said by sergeant instructor was:
They’re willing, but they are the most likely to shoot you down by accident. So thanks but no thanks.
Frimpong is willing, but until he learn to control his aggression he is just a red card waiting to happen. Arsenal can’t afford his kind.
Also his poor passing means that he was never going to compete with Wilshere, Özil, Cazorla, Arteta, …
The surprise of the transfer window is the fact AFC was looking for a striker and did not think of recalling Campbell.
I had high hope for Miquel, but he cannot even be in the first XI of a mediocre championship side. He has no chance at Arsenal.
Chuck Aneke is unlucky that with the new financial muscle, Arsenal can now afford the best players in the world. A couple of years earlier, he may have been given more a lookin than now. Think about all the chances that were extended to Mark Randall and Fran Merida.
Zelalem is clearly highly thought of. He made the bench today for the game against Crystal Palace. I find that strange, because all Tony Pulis’s team are renown for being tall and on the brutish side. Unless AFC were winning 6-0, he was never going to play.
I think Frimpong got great ability on the ball but he needs to control his temperament on the pitch for sure. He needs to play more calm and collected. Seeing some of the talent we currently got in the U21 team makes me think Frimpong is not a big lost.
Arteta, 32 next season and Flamini, 30. Make us urgent for a DM. Frimpong had his chance to take it and he never did. I hope Song comes back or we bring in a new top quality DM. None of the youngsters can do the job.
I also think Zelalem was only included to boost his confidence. No way in hell would he got the chance in this match. Campbell is on a season long loan and we can’t just recall him I think.
I am very happy we didn’t bought Draxler. Yeah he is good but not 35+M good. That is just stupid spending. Song is available for like 25M, which would actually make our team better. A top class striker can be found with 20-25M too. If Morata is available in the summer then lets go for him. Hopefully Afobe or Sanogo show how good they really are. I have high hopes for Yaya Sanogo who look just like Giroud but a bit better vision.
Chuks Aneke is an immense talent, if he is able to continue his good form while on loan then it is fair to say that he should be at least given a shot to compete for a first team slot. If given the chance and he doesnt perform then we can accept that he cant make it at Arsenal but what we can’t accept is people saying he is not good enough for Arsenal without even been given the chance to prove that he is while playing with the first team. Surely a gifted player that has come through the youth ranks deserves that, if not then why should a youth player sign for Arsenal. Maybe they sign for “the girls” as Frimpong so poetically lamented the other day.
I don’t think Song is the answer.
For me, he is far too skittish and erratic. Arteta does get overran by the better teams somewhat but is a great shield against teams outside of the top 6. If we could find somebody who is more physical but has that calming effect this summer (if only Gilberto was 10 years younger) then I think it is worth exploring this Summer.
Football has changed since the day of Gilbert “The Invisible Wall” Silva. The increase in intensity means that defensive midfielder must tackle and mop up any mistake, but also be able to run and charge toward goal. Yaya Touré is the best example of that new type of midfielder.
Hopefully, in a couple of years, the Ox would be able to do it week in week out.
IMHO, Chuck lacks the dynamism and explosivity over 10 yards.
Zelalem needs to add physicality and put on a stone of muscles, but I can see a midfield three of Zelalem, The Ox and Ramsey.
Gilberto was a superp passer, better passing efficiency AND penetratio n than Arteta, had enough speed that Wenger used him at right midfield in emergencies and could tackle and intercept as well as Koscielny does today.
If football has “moved on” since Gilberto’s time, it surely has moved backwards, as any midfield prospect today with his tool set and size and speed would get huge attention. If Hayden becomes 3/4 the player Gilberto was he will be amonster. You cant even find that kind of midfielder today. Look at how much a half baked Kondogbia can command.
Most top clubs expect their destructor to be able to have excellent technique, can shoot, have vision so they can make 40 yards pass and have physicality so they can can make surge forward in tight game.
Gilberto was a marvellous player, but he was mostly a destructor. Maybe he could be more, but we will never know. One thing is sure is that he rarely surged forward. His number of goal is very low. Not only for Arsenal, but for Brazil and every clubs he played. Song who replaced him had a lot more assists.
Yaya Touré, Busquet, Arturo Vidal, Nemanja Matic, Moussa Dembelé and Paul Pogba are the new archetype of central midfield player.
Kondogbia is a pure destructor. Monaco have more money than sense. Claudio Ranieri is now realising that Kondogbia needs a lot of work to be at the level required. Same thing with Joshua Guilavogui who was bought by Athletico Madrid from Saint Etienne this summer and is now back in loan there. Very good defensive midfield player, but not good enough on the final third.
Stephane M’Villa had all the attributes, but he lost his way. At Rennes, he played the destructor, but he could also start attack. He was dynamic and could pass the ball forward quickly.
Frimpong was never gonna make it at Arsenal (and even in a decent EPL team) he is an one dimensional player , he can tackle and win the ball back (sometimes) but he has got mediocre technical abilities and can’t pass . Now is career is in his hand , I am curious to see if he’s gonna blow all up…like many did before him , Bentley , Randall , Gilbert , Rohan Ricketts , Ryan Smith ( Pennant , Bothroyd and Aliadiere partially) just to name a few…or he’s gonna finally grow up (on and off field !) .
Aneke can still have a chance at the highest level , with Arsenal or another club , he has the potential to do it , if I was him I’d modelled my game to Yaya Toure’s …he reminds me a lot the ivorian .
A lot of players try to model their game on Yaya Touré, but very few succeed.
Because they lack some skills or physical attributes: lack of technique, lack of tactical awareness, lack of power, lack of dynamism and explosivity over 10 yards.
I think Chuck Aneke can learn most things and luckily for him he has natural raw power.
Also contrarily to JET, he seems to have really worked on his stamina. He can still make some runs even in the 90th minute.
But because he has never played as a defensive midfielder, his tactical awareness is not up to the level required.
It took Ramsey 24 months for reaching that level, training and playing in the premiership.
Unfortunately league 1 and its fast and furious pace is not the best place to get that experience.
The good news is that if he trains with the Arsenal first team he should be able to pick the relevant skills.
The bad news is that he lacks dynamism and explosivity over 10 yards and it is not something that can be taught.
Look at how Yaya glides with the ball at his feet toward goal.
Mate never says never , Chucks is only 21 years old , at his age nobody could imagine Yaya Toure would have been the player he is today…..(don’t forget at 20 y.o Yaya had a trial at Arsenal and was rejected….).
The myth that Yaya was rejected by Arsenal had debunked numerous time.
His club Beveren needed finance and wanted to sell him immediately.
Unlike Kolo Touré, he was not yet an international. He was never going to a working permit. Eboué had stayed in Belgium long enough to acquire the Belgium nationality. It was made easier by the fact he had married a Belgium woman. That is why during the same trial we bought Eboué. Arsene Wenger wanted Yaya to stay an extra 18 months at his club so he could get a Belgium passport. AFC offered to buy him and immediately loan him back.
However Beveren had an offer that was more than Arsenal were willing to pay. It was the beginning of the end of our association with the club. They try to shaft Jean-Marc Guillou, who had relocated his Football school from Abidjan to Belgique. As Jean-Marc Guillou is one of Wenger best friend (I think he gave him his first job as an assistant), things turn sour very quickly with Arsenal.
Marc Guillou has since opened school in Thailand, Vietnam, Egypt, Algeria and very recently was part of a consortium that bought Paris FC.
to be fair to frimpong i think his injuries hampered him a bit…before he got his injuries i remeber being struck how much spring and energy he had in his legs…he was a proper dynamo…and when he added that extra bulk later on he was very exciting to watch…but arsenal’s medical regime scuppered him like it continues to do so many other players…since his injuries his way has been blocked. i hope he can get good playing time and get back to a good level. i think he’s a great character too, i’d love to see him earn a move back to arsenal to partner JW10 again in time.
What went wrong? Barcelona and Ajax are able to field first eleven sides that went through their academy. I remember some years back that we believed that we were heading that way! Well it isn’t happening. Once we thought that Senderos and Djourou would provide a world class central defense. It flopped. Mark Randall and Henri Lansbury were highly spoken of even before we knew of Jack Wilshere. JET was primed as a real star in the making. Aneke and Afobe were to be the next Wilsheres. Even the stupid rich Real Madrid field more players from their conveyor belt than we do. I don’t even want to mention Manutd and Liverpool! Maybe it’s time to go back to the drawing board. But what went wrong? Anybody with answers please?
ok but seriously how many clubs in the premier league and championship have former arsenal players in their squads?
everywhere i look – he was at arsenal, and him, and him…
we’re the league’s no.1 supplier of talent!
The answer is very easy. Something you have never thought of before. Spain got a B team playing every week. Players who are good enough play for those teams. In England they play U21 football….
Barcelona, Ajax and even Real Madrid work in different environments. They have no limits to their catchment area. Teams with no local competition in term of academy have a huge benefit. Southampton, Middlesborough are cases in point.
The limit has just been removed. I expect that it will take time before the effect of the limit’s removal drip to the first team.
However I still think that the academy training is lacking in some departments:
+ tactical positioning (AFC has not produced a premiership defender in the last 10 years)
+ proper tackling. It is quite shocking to see defenders tackling with the wrong foot.
+ fitness level: it is quite incredible the number of young players going on loan and discovering that they are not match fit. Basic stuff: spend time in the gym.
+ work ethic: at least seems to have improve on that front. Maybe it is the influence of young foreigners, but there are less rumours of partying. Some of the youngsters even work extra session to improve on some aspect of their game.
+ personal growth: Frimpong’s tweet in which he complains of the lack of pulling power of Barnsley FC on girls is symptomatic. The academy should instil work ethic instead of pampering them.
I exclude players who have been bought after their 16th birthday and players who not in the first team. The last two academy players who meet these criteria for ManUtd are Cleverley and Wellbeck. For Liverpool it is Gerard and Flanagan. Compare with Arsenal Gibbs and Wilshere. AFC is not doing too badly.
The main reason why so many promising players from the academy fail at the highest level is psychological , as Valentin said , work ethic , immaturity are to blame . I remember Jay Bothroyd said in a interview that his generation (those who won the youth fa cup two times) failed to make it at Arsenal because they were full of themselves , they thought they already made it….Unfortunately the club can do nothing about it , its all depend on the player , how much they want it .