Arsenal reveal secrets of training sessions

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
09 Jan	7:45 PM	LC	Liverpool (A)	6	3	Win

Last week I wondered why we were seeing more of Denilson and Jeremie Aliádíère since it usually indicates that Arsène Wenger is either trying something or seeing something in training that we don't.

At Liverpool we got some answers to that and saw a glimpse of what Wenger probably sees in training.

The Liverpool Carling Cup game was strange. There were more experienced first team players on the pitch than was evident.

A game that ended 3-6 says "exciting" but also says "bad defending". But it also told us some things that were not evident before.

First is that shows why Wenger has not put Aliádíère and Alexandre Song on the market despite what seems like previous dismal performances and why Denilson is featuring lately.

Aliádíère, Song and Denilson can clearly be quite productive and what the manager must see in training was visible on the pitch. At certain points in the game, the Arsenal kids looked so exciting it was impossible not to feel quite smug and self satisfied that it was "my team".

One cannot ignore the fact that the Liverpool defence were quite pitiful on the day (and the Arsenal defence sometimes too) but still the dynamism of Aliádíère and the composure of Song was remarkable.

Armand Traore and Denilson also did well. It is strange not to mention Julio Baptista yet since he scored 4 goals but most of the goals were made by Aliádíère.

The second thing we learned from the Liverpool game was that certain "young" Gunners are only young in age. If you look at the Liverpool line up with Gerrard, Garcia, Bellamy, Hyypia and many other first team players of middle age (in football terms) you would think that Arsenal were ridiculously inexperienced from an age perspective.

But what we really saw was that Theo Walcott, Johan Djourou and Francesc Fabregas, though young in years are actually quite experienced now.

Fabregas and Walcott played like seasoned professionals despite their tender age and made light work of the Liverpool opposition.

Wenger's efforts in blooding Djourou, Fabregas and Walcott is clearly visible in the fact that they deal with senior opposition on a peer-to-peer basis. Losing points in the upbringing of these players is clearly paying dividends.

Manuel Almunia looked steady as a reliable number 2 but what was a small disappointment was that other more senior players like Touré need a bit of a breather since his performances are dipping a little.

It is almost unfair to say this about Touré since he always gives so much and thus so much is expected of him. The defence was not that solid and although I feel that Justin Hoyte is more disciplined than Emmanuel Eboue, he does need a few more lessons.

The Arsenal back four contained 3 players who have played very regularly in the first team and therefore should not be conceding 3 goals against any opposition.

Finally, Baptista is a striker. His penalty was badly taken but he betrayed his very obvious striker characteristics throughout the game and should be used as such.

Baptista's touch in crowded areas is poor but he can finish and knows where to run when he believes his team mates are looking for him. I have to repeat that, Baptista is good when he knows the team is looking for him to be there to score.

That's what he had at Seville when he was at his best. He knew the team was looking to find him to score so he put himself in scoring positions with purpose. If Baptista is to succeed at Arsenal, he needs to feel that again.

So the Carling Cup, and the future, looks interesting to say the least!

User Comments

z-momo

Posted on 12 Jan, 2007 at 12:09 PM - Reply

walcott is much better when comes as a super sub

Kash

Posted on 10 Jan, 2007 at 05:40 PM - Reply

Oh, Denilson was playing was he? He was crap. At times it looked like we were playing with a 7 or 8 man team!

Alan

Posted on 10 Jan, 2007 at 05:06 PM - Reply

Can't agree with your comments about Walcott. I thought he was our poorest player last night. Every touch he took was too heavy and on a couple of occasions led to Liverpool mounting a dangerous attack.

Kris

Posted on 10 Jan, 2007 at 12:42 PM - Reply

Very much a vaild article....except for ur mention of Toure....I felt he did his best....even in the FA cup game he was quite steadfast. Djourou and clichy have really come of age....dont know about walcott

fredisdead, bombay

Posted on 10 Jan, 2007 at 11:46 AM - Reply

Great article, makes you feel so damn good to be Arsenal faithful. Aliádíère was indeed magnificent in the quarterfinal; he has stuck it out on the fringes of the first team, now it's time his patience, and loyalty, bore fruit.

KenyanGooner

Posted on 10 Jan, 2007 at 09:48 AM - Reply

True about the defence. 3 regulars shouldn't be conceding 3 goals that easily. But i guess when u are up 4-1 it's not very easy to maintain concentration.

Also, not conceding goals requires that midfield does their bit..

LOL

Posted on 10 Jan, 2007 at 09:35 AM - Reply

''Fabregas and Walcott played like seasoned professionals despite their tender age and made light work of the Liverpool opposition.''

Sorry, I know he's young, but last night Walcott was one of our poorer players - he gave the ball away way too often, you're talking shit Joel, as usual.

Aussie Fan

Posted on 10 Jan, 2007 at 09:33 AM - Reply

Excellent Article, although JC Your articles are almost very similar. I Knew without even reading the Author that you had written this piece. Very well thought out but there are some interesting Points i want to point out.
1. The Beast was rampant, but not deadly. He still has a fair way to go before we see the best of him. I Have said many times before, beast is the best served with VP Or Aliadre as the supply cause they pick the best inch perfect passes for the out and out strikers. He would struggle with Henry as a partner cause the team play to Henry's strengths.
2. Toure is going hard out, at the moment and feel that your criticism of his performance is way of the Mark. First of all, we won the First Half 4-1 effectively killing the tie. In the Second half the score was 2 all. So in essence i feel we still had the killer Instinct to match them when we wanted. It showed the character of this team.
3. Denilson came to Arsenal with Probablly bigger baggage than Walcott. Theo cost a packet due to Media Coverage and the Eng press causing a stir and trying to demoralise all Eng up and coming stars. Denilson came to us with the prestige of being the Capt for the Brazil U/19 Team. He has promise and probablly feels he needs to prove himself

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