Arsenal Youth 4-1 Manchester City Youth, FA Youth Cup semi-final, Wednesday 22 April 2009

After a 2-1 away victory at Eastlands, Arsenal's youth team appeared to be in the driving seat going into the second leg of the FA Youth Cup semi-final at the Emirates on Wednesday night.

Over 9,000 fans turned up to see the young gunners play, a somewhat disappointing number given the record attendance at the same stage of last year's competition against Liverpool.

Those that did turn up however were treated to another Arsenal masterclass as Steve Bould's men made a very good City side look very ordinary.

The tie was effectively over after half an hour. In their first attack of the game, captain Jay Emmanuel-Thomas floated a sumptuous ball over the top for Sanchez Watt to chase in the first minute, some hesitation from the City defence meant the young Englishman was through one on one with Joe Clegg in the City goal. Watt calmly sent the 'keeper the wrong way and celebrated in true Arsenal style with a touchline dance.

Arsenal's players were quick to every ball with Emmanuel Frimpong putting in challenges at every opportunity and the diminutive Jack Wilshere was starting to find space in the midfield. The most well-known man in the Arsenal side then doubled the home teams advantage from the penalty spot in the twentieth minute.

Watt was brought down by the city goalkeeper after a misunderstanding between him and defender Reece Wabara. Wilshere stepped up to drill it in the bottom corner, although Clegg managed to get a hand on it low down to his left.

Wilshere was to have a say in Arsenal's third. His corner from the Arsenal right was met firmly at the back post by Kyle Bartley, the young Englishman added to the goal he scored against Tottenham in the previous round. It was 3-0 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate after only 29 minutes of play.

It was all too easy for Arsenal, and they didn't need any extra help from the City defence, but it duly arrived. Two minutes after Bartley's goal, Watt capitalised on some horrific defending to slide in his second and Arsenal's fourth on the night. Clegg passed to Wabara on the edge of the City box, the defender seemed to get it stuck under his feet and Watt took easily dispossessed him to put the ball under the despairing Clegg.

Arsenal looked like they could score at every opportunity. Emmanuel-Thomas had too much pace and power for City to handle, Wilshere was orchestrating play from the middle of the park and Francis Coquelin and Frimpong were controlling midfield.

Frimpong was maybe a bit too eager at times though and earned a yellow card for a succession of fouls.

City's players did not give up however and they almost pulled one back when the lively Alex Nimely-Tchuimeni seemed certain to score, only for Craig Eastmond to get there ahead of the Liberian striker.

Nimely-Tchuimeni and Slovakian Robbie Mak were starting to cause problems in the Arsenal defence but James Shea thwarted city on a number of occasions.

Ironically it was an injury to Nimely-Tchuimeni which led to City's goal. The Liberian's replacement, Jack Redshaw burst into the penalty area in first half stoppage time, he pulled the ball across to Ahmad Benali who fired past Shea.

With Arsenal in emphatic form, the crowd surely expected ore in the second half, but in all truth it was 45 minutes to miss. City put more pressure on the Arsenal backline, but Shea saved Arsenal's blushes by saving a number of attempts. Redshaw should have scored ten minutes after the restart but he shot well-over when it seemed easier to score.

Wilshere who was on the end of some petulance by City right-back Kieran Tripper earlier in the half, found space outside the area and curled an effort towards goal but it was always rising, and sailed just over the bar. It was to be his last contribution of the game as Luke Freeman replaced him with 10 minutes left.

Bould had also replaced Frenchman Gilles Sunu, who had a quiet night by his standards, with the prolific Benik Afobe and also took left-back Thomas Cruise off and replaced him with Cedric Evina in a like-for-like swap.

Arsenal saw the game out and can look forward to a meeting with either Liverpool or Birmingham in the final, which will give fans another opportunity to see this impressive group of youngsters in action, as one leg will be played at the Emirates.

Arsenal Youth 3-1 Wolves Youth, Tuesday 13 January 2009

Gilles Sunu continued his good form with a neatly-taken hat-trick at Underhill on Tuesday night to put the young gunners into the next round of the FA Youth Cup.

With the youth team on top of the league, there was much optimism surrounding the fourth round tie.

Arsenal started brightly and could have gone into the lead on a number of occasions, Henri Lansbury, Emmanuel Frimpong and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas all could have put Arsenal infont in the first half.

Wolves were being over-run in midfield, presumably as they often had two markers on Jack Wilshere. Frimpong and Coquelin provided the cover for Wilshere, Lansbury and Emmanuel-Thomas to attack.

Rhys Murphy had been in top form coming into the game and could have scored early on, but then disaster struck; a committed challenge on Murphy left the England youth international in agony. It took almost 10 minutes before he was stretchered off the field of play.

Soon after his introduction, Sunu reminded us of his instinctive finishing. Lansbury floated in a corner and Sunu applied the finish to make it one nil.

Wolves' front-two looked dangerous but they were being looked after well by Luke Ayling and Kyle Bartley in the heart of the defence. Thomas Cruise and Craig Eastmond also looked comfortable in the full-back positions surgung forward in support of the midfield when needed.

Lansbury then supplied Sunu for his second, Jack Wilshere relaeased Lansbury and crossed to Sunu who controlled the ball with his right-foot, and turned onto his left, to dispatch a neat finish in the bottom-left corner.

Sunu really should have had a hat-trik soon afterwards but the goalkeeper denied him in a one-on-one position, but the Frenchamn soon made up for it, he latched onto a through ball and put the ball past the Wolves 'keeper.

Wolves pulled back a consolation near the end, but the young Gunners are through to the next round where they will face Sunderland.

Do we really need Arshavin at £20 million?

Andrei Arshavin is undoubtedly a class-act, he helped Zenit St.Petersburg in their victorius UEFA Cup campaign and has proved to be a star turn for Russia.

The Russian has been linked from here to Timbuktu with a move to the Gunners during January. So if we do actually sign the Russian would it be a good move?

Firstly with Wenger saying we have little money to spend, the touted figure of £20 million, or even £14 million as some have suggested seems a bit excessive.

Secondly, Arshavin is 27, and is therefore not a typical Wenger signing, £20 million for a 27 year-old is a bit much for a club with the transfer policy of a team of Scrooges.

Thirdly, Wenger has time and again said he doesn't want to stunt the development of the young players growing at Arsenal. Bringing in Arshavin, who at the very least should have 4 or 5 years left in him, would undoubtedly hinder the chances of Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Carlos Vela and Jack Wilshere from getting into the team, as I'm assuming he will be deployed in a wide position.

On the other hand, Arsenal have seemed to be lacking an experienced figure in midfield at times this season, and Arshavin would add this to the side.

There has also been a lack of pace on the wings while Walcott has been out injured. Denilson, Diaby or Ramsey have been deployed on the wings, none of them are natural wingers and none have blistering pace. Eboue has at times filled in well, but is obviuosly lacking in confidence at the moment.

Arshavin would be a good signing for Arsenal, but is he really worth the prices being banded about?

Would it not be better to spend the money on a defensive midfielder or a centre-back?

What do you think?

Cesc's out, so what next for Arsenal's midfield?

With the news that Cesc Fabregas is out for four months, and with Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott still injured, Arsenal's midfield will have an unfamiliar look for the foreseeable future.

Arguably three of Wenger's four first-choice midfielders are now out injured and with the injury to Fabregas in the draw at Liverpool at the weekend, solutions need to be found, and quickly.

Arsene Wenger has brushed off calls that he should buy in the January transfer window claiming that there are "internal solutions". Here are some of the players who could fill the midfield berths:

Samir Nasri is the obvious choice on the left, but could also fill in for Fabregas, his creativity and pace could cause problems for defences. Despite a great start to the season and some neat periods of play since, such as his pass to Robin van Persie against Liverpool, he seems to drift in and out of games too much for my liking but he is gradually adapting to the English game.

Denilson would be one option to take over Fabregas' mantle of creator in the middle of the park. He has at times been lacking in the defensive midfield position so far this season, but has looked a much better player when he has be given a licence to attack, either on the right of midfield or in the centre, although a lack of real pace could limit his chances on the wing.

Alex Song has looked more and more confident in the holding role in midfield. He, along with Denilson, was praised by Van Persie for his performance against Liverpool. He provides the strength and defensive prowess to be successful in the holding role. His passing is generally good, although he still needs to work on this aspect of his game.

Abou Diaby is a vastly improved player since he first came into the team a few years ago, a long-term injury against Sunderland put his progress back but he is starting to look a very good player with cameo appearances from the bench in recent weeks. His tall, powerful, pyhsique is a useful addition to the team, both for attacking and defensive reasons. His deployment on the left-wing has worked to some extent, his pace and wonderfully quick feet can help to create opportunities, but it would also be nice to see him in the middle to see what he can do there.

Aaron Ramsey has surprised many Arsenal fans this season. Coming from the Championship to the Premiership is no easy step and Ramsey has seemed to have taken to playing for Arsenal like a duck to water. He was the heartbeat of the Carling Cup team, and his appearances in the Champions League have been nothing short of outstanding. Scoring on his Champions League debut against Fenerbache led him to be deployed from the start against the Turkish club in the return leg. He did not disgrace himself by any means showing a maturity which I have only seen in two other players of his age, Wayne Rooney and Fabregas himself. Although I would be tempted to go for more experience against Villa, home games against Portsmouth, Plymouth and Bolton could be the perfect opportunity to show that he can take over Fabregas' mantle, for now and the future.

Jack Wilshere has seemingly been the name on everyone's lips as the future star of Arsenal. He is short but strong, quick, creative and can produce the unpredictable. Wilshere is a perfect candidate for one of the wide positions, and despite being predominately left-footed he can play on both flanks, seemingly to prefer the right wing. The only issue is that he is only 16, but why not give him a go. We seem to be too far behind in the title race now, so until Walcott comes back he may provide the extra pace from midfield that we have been lacking recently.

Amaury Bischoff has recently returned from a long-term injury which limited his appearances for Werder Bremen last season. Wenger saw something he liked in the Portuguese Under-21 international and it is starting to show, with a few goals for the reserves. He is an attacking midfielder so could be used to replace Fabregas, although it seems too early to put him in the side at the present time.

Against Aston Villa I would be tempted to go for a solid midfield of Diaby, Song, Denilson and Nasri. For the three matches after that however, I would like to see Ramsey in the Fabregas position with Nasri on the right, Diaby on the left and Song in the holding role, with Wilshere coming off the bench.