With the England side full of old boys these days, Gerrard, Terry, Lampard, Ferdinand, Barry etc, our young players are not only waiting to make the breakthrough for their club but soon they will be pushing a few old boys out of the England set up too. Already we have Walcott as a regular but Wilshere and Gibbs are firming banging on the door – behind them is Afobe, Chuks, Frimpong and Lansbury, give them a few years and England will be full of Arsenal players.
Across the border, well the ocean the same thing is happening for France. Sagna has made the right back position his own, Clichy and Diaby have their big toes in the squad and now Laurent Koscielny is knocking on the door. Then of course there are a few more Arsenal players who could yet soon be wearing the blue shirt of France – Coquelin, Traore and maybe Sunu..
Like at their club, time will tell just how far these younger players will go but it all looks pretty darn good.
Back to Koscielny, referred to by some as a ‘s**t defender from a Ligue 1 side’ prior to the start of the season. He’s taken very little time to adapt to the Premier League, in fact he has settled nearly as quickly and effectively as Thomas Vermaelen did.
So much so French Manager Laurent Blanc has had his head turned. Blanc has recently said that Wenger sees Koscielny as the cornerstone or our defence and will very soon be France’s first choice defender too.
He’s a player we’ve been keeping an eye on since the start of the season and his transfer to Arsenal, he’s at one of the biggest clubs in Europe now and having seen his performances there we felt it was time to bring him into the team and let him get a feel of things.
He’s still young, and it was only three seasons ago that he was playing for Tours in the Championnat National (the third tier in France). He’s come through so quickly, and according to Arsene Wenger he’s got the potential to get even better. He’s definitely one for the future and the more I see him play, the more I’m impressed by his intelligence, vision and ability to bring the ball out of defence.
Koscielny says that his partnership at the back gets better and better every game, they understand each other and read each others game.
The 30-year-old’s one-match suspension – along with Thomas Vermaelen’s extended absence – has left Wenger with only two frontline centre backs to choose from but Koscielny thinks he and Djourou can continue to thrive.
Everything is going well. We have been playing together in the centre for a while now, Johan speaks French so it’s a big help for me. The communication is very good between us and we complement each other very well. We understand each other almost without talking which is the most important thing.
When one of us comes out, the other one covers and it’s working really well. I am enjoying playing with him. However, if the team defends very well it’s because everybody works hard when we don’t have the ball.
All the clean sheets that we have been getting at the moment are very good for the confidence. We are getting better and better defensively and it’s a very good thing.”
Life off the pitch is Koscielny is also very good:
Everything is going very well,” “Off the pitch, my wife and I are delighted with our life here and the arrival of our baby. We are preparing everything and we are looking forward to it.
On the pitch, in the last two months, I have been feeling very good. I am playing at my best. I am more confident and I have realised that I have the ability to become a regular player here and do well for this club.
Before that, I had to adapt to a different style of football, with more duels, more rhythm. It was not easy but I got a lot of games under my belt, learnt from them, took a lot of experience and now I am feeling really good.
I am also very grateful to the fans too who have always supported me since joining the Club. Their support was a big help for me.
Well done Koscielny, pre-season many fans didn’t want you, now though they are singing your praises. It just goes to show that if you have it in you, you’ll play to the highest level, all it takes it’s to be at the right club and to be happy…….
Thankfully, Laurent Koscielny is both…….
Finally, we have all talked about the dreadful decisions that are so often made by referees today, Untold Arsenal have written an article on it. If you haven’t read it, do, it’s good, in fact so good the BBC have picked up on the post and run the story. Links to both are below…..
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9379989.stm
I’m sure we will hear a lot more about this over the next few months….
Thats it from me, have a good day all and if you want to join a party on CC Final Day, read on…….
Carling Cup Final day is upon us very soon and – If anyone is looking for a good pub in the Wembley area. Regular Highbury House Blogger Rocastle is celebrating his birthday in the C2k club right next to the Arsenal end. Open from 10am with huge screens with live PA’s from the away boys and Riders of the night.
Tickets are advance only and cost £7 If anyone is interested in attending, please email me and I will pass on your details….
morning
Morning rico good read,
I must admit its nice to see the England team have started to use some of our players, now i don’t mind that, as long as the ones who play in the freindlys also play in the important games. As it seems that the regular players are always injured for the freindlys, and return for the important games. Freindlys always seem a waste of time, because the team that plays for freindlys, is usually changed for the full international. Other than that well done those involved
moring steve –
good point made there, i wonder if jack would have played had gerrard been fit?? Capello had suggested after the diabolical showing at the WC he was ready to make the changes but i can’t see him standing by that – i suspect if lennon was on form he’d play instead of theo and he and jack would just be subs… also, no way will gibbs push out cole just yet…
Morning guys.
Great entry and I hope more is made of the bias we all see week in week out that started with the the myth that Arsenal don’t like it up em.
I hate reading that if you want to beat Arsenal, you have to “get in their faces”, “get stuck in” and other such euphemisms that in reality mean, kick and foul Arsenal.
As for Kos, he really has grown into the role as JD has. I still think we are one top class CB from a season winning squad.
Nice read Rico even though I hate friendlies seeing Arsenal players involved is always great
Morning Will
And that one top class defender is soon back, we def need no more injuries to any one of the three good ones…
Djourou trained yesterday and should feaure tomorrow. Roy Appointed wes brom coach where does that leave Vela??
Will rumour is that Sakho of PSG is heading to the Arsenal and Hazard could be hijacked by Chavs
Morning Erick, i don’t think Wenger will risk JD tomorrow with Barca on wednesday, i would though…..
Sakho, good news if it’s true but not so good re Hazard 🙁 Vela will be ok, Hodgson will play him ….
Howdy Rico Song or JD won’t feature tomorrow just a feeling. Nasir is already training Rico I hope he will be available for Barca
Morning.
Thanks for the plug Rico, should be a splendid day out.
I thought we’d sold Traore, I guess he’s on loan, funny one that as I know a few peeps who frequent the reserves games at underhill, and yet were always raving about Traore. AW always spoke very highly of him too. I guess Gibbs must have pushed him out?
Hi Rocastle, my pleasure 😉
Traore is on loan, i thought wenger may have tried him as a winger at some stage but now i’m not sure where he fits in, if he sured up his defensive work i think he could give gibbs a run for his money…
is he at juve? wonder if hes being played…
If you get 30 seconds spare, check this out. It’s Grimandi’s ‘tackle’ on Edgar Davids at gods testimonial.
It’s the cheeky smile to seaman at the end that does it for me.
Hehehe
just checked, he’s down as a defender but only played five games, juve are having a poor season….
Oops…
Hi! Rocastle last time I heard about Traore he was hobbled off injured
That tackle is etched in my brain, i loved grimandi, good man to come off the bench, not afraid to get stuck in either… his tally of red cards showed that 😆
Erick, i want us to win the league above the CL – if JD is fit i hope he plays against wolves, we can’t let the mancs get any further ahead of us – get a win tomorrow, get the confidence back and take that to the barca game… 😆
Hey there rico and co,
A good read if i may say so. I’m not a fan of these friendlys too especially when our boys are involved but glad there were no injuries and the boys played well for England.
to be honest, i felt Kozzer had a shaky start to the season but he has vastly improved and glad to hear that he’s happy. That builds confidence and the team spirit is also boosted so I hope he keeps improving. I still feel he needs to bulk-up a wee bit as he still reminds me of Mckenzie Crook(from the Office)!
Have a looksie at this
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1355747/Barcelona-selfish-calling-Arsenals-Cesc-Fabregas-says-Xavi.html?ITO=1490
Yep, if you wanted to keep a one goal lead and bring on a ‘spoiler’ GG18 was the man.
I remember him treading on fingers, trips, pushes the lot. And the punch on Diego Simeone.
LEGEND
Rico am sure the lads know how a win is vital as Manure play Citeh we have to be up for it
What do you guys make of Diaby’s comment he would like to play for Barca?
Erick my friend, nothing would please me more if Diaby moved to Barca, hey I’ll even help pack his bag and drive him to the airport fer free!
T -Buzz agree mate after last weekend showing (not that I blame him) its foolish from him and he must know how we feel about Barca after their tapping up of Cesc I might fuel your Car Tbuzz then you can drive lol
lol Erick!! Dont worry about the fuel, I’ve got that covered. Just pay for a one-way ticket via EasyJet for him and I’m sure Rico will be happy to but him a sombrero to get him prepared for life in sunny Spain 🙂
Hey T-buzz 🙂
I sure hope they do Erick, this title is ours for the taking if the team play their best each week…
Off to the shops to get me a sombrero, one with ‘Diaby’ etched on the front 😆
I’d rather Diaby stayed than Denilson if i’m honest, IF we had to lose only one – i know he said he wanted to be like Paddy but no need to go the whole hog and get the red cards, play Paddy’s football first 😉
Tbuzz lol Rico he has never been consistent enough never won us a game but lost us two Nufc and the Manc one yet you want to play for Barca. Be consistent first
Enjoy Rico no GG please lol. I am sure Aw won’t go for a DM am praying Frimpong comes back firing on all cylinders
I’m not going really Ercik, was just jesting re the hat 😉
Diaby is silly to say such things, like you say Erick, firstly he needs to get fit, then he needs to get into the side and finally he needs to start playing good football week in week out….
I cannot se him getting passed the first stage 😉
GG = Giles Grimandi 🙂
Carlos puyol a major doubt for Wednesday night.
Get in there Robin.
I’m so lonely
The problem with Diaby is he has a few tricks with his lanky legs but after he a few dribbles he gets disorientated, forgets where he is and then passes to the opposition or doesnt know what to do with the ball. Fair enough, he won one or two games for us (against Liverpooh with a header last season I think) but he is consistently inconsistent…if you get my drift. 🙂
Sorry guys, that was my FUNNY cousin.
I’m not lonely.
If you closely analyze the last 4 defensive signings of arsene,two of them have been great hits(Vermaelen and Koscielny) and the other two have been complete flops(Squilaci and silvestre)..it is not just a coincidence that the two failures have been old and experienced players….If not for the pressure from the fans and experts,arsene wouldnt have bought the so called experienced,instead he would have unearthed two more gems from somewhere…Arsene should stick to his policy and get us more young and energetic defenders rather than useless old players…In Arsene we trust..
What about Frimpong?
Tbuzz how can Diaby think about Barca when he has never done anything to show he can hack it….Diaby is the lonely one Rocastle ha ha ha
T-buzz, you don’t think he’s good then 😉
Frimpong Erick, hope his injury mends well, he’ll be one for next season, thats for sure….
Erick, don’t know if you saw yesterdays post about Coquelin, he is playing in the holding/defensive (whatever its known as these days) on loan and getting rave reviews, both he and Pingpong will oust Denilson next season i think….
Rocastle, i feel for your cousin 🙂
Hi sudar, would you thrown in Bartley and Miquel next season at some point then?
We will have TV, Kos, JD, Miquel, Bartley – would that be enough?? Actually, when you look at it like that, maybe it will be enough….
Rico, thanks…
What result do we hope for between the two mancs then??
Got to pop off for a bit, back later 🙂
press today says Inter interesting in Rolando (Porto).
Like I said yesterday, in my opinion, nowadays, is much better choose Rolando and not Pepe. Moreover, put this central back in your mind.
morning all…another big game tomorrow. we cannot afford to take wolves lightly, in either attitude or effort. we have rotated extensively during the past month, and i think it is time to go with our full strength sides as often as we can. i can understand not taking a risk with jd tomorrow, and that song and samir may still be short, but i think we should name the strongest starting eleven we can out of those available for selection…
Well said Oliver. at this point in time, each game gets bigger than the previous irrespective of who we play
Howdy all…
Boo, afternoon all….
Hi oliver, JD is the only one i wouldn’t risk, Song was only a dead leg so not much of a risk to play him…
we need three points tomorrow, one day at a time and one game at a time and we have to play a side that can get us three points …
i don’t care about the barca game right now, all i care about is wolves….
Hi guys, changing internet providers so I am in between at the moment and had to by a dongle.
I will tell you now, if Diaby could concentrate for 90+ minutes, he would be a top class player. Also, he needs to simplify his game.
I think the same about Diaby Will, trouble is he cannot concentrate and he cannot get his head and feet working together at the same time…..
another cracker
keep em comin me dear 😉
hey guys..
kozzers the biz..yes i was one of those who thought ‘stepanovs’ when we signed him but hes come good..
JJ how have you been?i have had a scoreline in my mind even before we drew barca in the CL as i just knew we would get it.problem is my head says its impossible but i don’t know how but i see it happening.time to visit the bookies!
howdy ktr
bookies?? now your speaking my language fella..
what you feeling??
i think we’ll sneak a 2-1 at home..and then a 2-2 or a 3-2 away and go thru on away goals…
or it could be 4-0 to them both ties.. 😉
but im hoping the first happens
hey jj, i had you in mind with my description of him, i wrote it with a huge grin on my face 😉 😉
What about a widget with the ‘guess the barca score’ for both legs??
The winner gets…. ‘drum roll’….
Nothing 🙂
i was right about squidgy though 😉
well..seeing as though the incentive is so huge put me down for a playground kickabout score..
22 all 😉
ktr
i was hoping to catch you..i watched ac milan the other night…
how good a defender is thiago??
what a player..any thoughts??
JJ Thiago silva is one of the best young CBs around with vermy of course.he is a ball playing CB who is very elegant on the ball.he is excellent at freekicks as he has a cannon of a shot.he has also played several times this season in midfield and didn’t look out of place.in fact flamini looked inferior to him.he is quite similar to vermy but our vermy is more aggressive.he’ll be one of the best CBs in the next decade or so if he continues developing at this rate while learning from nesta who i consider as a legendary CB.
jj 😆
Hi rico.the standard of your posts of late has been so high.i wonder if its because of the 14th or what but keep ’em coming…
hes very fast..covers so much ground and looked arially dominant..
great player
spurs have no chance
i think we are going to smash wolves tomorrow..
none of this second half fightback bollox
4-0..
Well thank you KT, but 14th?? you have lost me on that one …..
ok ok, just teasing, i know what the 14th is 😆
valentines day <3 😉
JJ what do you think we’ll do to counter barca’s pressing?…the barca tie is the only thing for some of us to look forward to next week.
theo..
that simple..
barca will press…so lets keep threading those balls into the space for theo to run onto..it’ll tire theo out but it’ll knacker them as well chasing lost causes..
second half back to triangles…leave tired legs chasing shadows
One thing is for sure,we must counter their pressing.pressing not only affects a team physically but psychologically too.we must not let them do it to us as they did in the first 45 minutes at the Emirates.pressing ensures you can’t play your natural game taking you out of your comfort zone.at the end you get rattled and its difficult to reverse the tide especially when barca are causing it.
off for some dinner, back in a bit….
JJ i think we’ll do that too especially now that puyol is out and abidal will play CB and maxwell LB.but the problem is that we won’t have our french machine to back theo.eboue will have to play a blinder of a game.
i think jack and song will cope well..jack will also be a key player..
those litle turns he does that gives him 10 yards before hes even touched the ball will make it hard for them to close him down…
he’ll draw them in, do the jack shuffle and off we go into the space..
I also reckon we avoid man marking except when messi/villa/iniesta come within our area.when they are not there i prefer ‘through marking’ by cutting out passing options for xavi.if you try to follow him around he’ll pull the entire structure apart with his movement.
as long as eboue keeps out of the middle and sticks to the flanks we’ll be ok..
once he starts them pointless diagonal runs it fucks theos game up as well as the rest of the team..
home leg advantage..
if we can take a lead back to barca weve got a chance..
yeah no point man marking
hold your lines and close down..
let them have the ball but get on em quick and make their possession negative..
JJ this could be the making of jack similar to cesc against zidane at the Bernabeu.jack’s skill to turn and let the ball roll without touching it is exactly how iniesta/xavi/messi do it to escape pressure and in the process that move may take out several players.nasri would have been very useful too in that respect but if AA turns up who knows?if rosicky was in form this game was tailor made for him as he is the perfect one touch/triangulation player to escape pressing.
rosickys games gone ktr..
but with jack cesc and rvp we have enough to open them up..
just gotta hope someones got their shooting boots on
dont think we’ll get too many chances so we have to take em
barca will..
Diaby may not be everyone’s cup of tea but i really do believe he can be key in such a game.if he concentrates for 90 minutes and stop day dreaming he can swing the pendulum in our favour.he has the perfect skills to counter pressing:exquisite dribbling/long strides/raw power.he also showed against the chavs at SB that he can press from the trequartista position and as a result the chavs couldn’t build anything from the back.
I also hope the boss le s kos and song press messi and not JD.I have noted JD struggles abit against small pacy forwards.kos on the other hand is almost perfect on the ground and he’ll have to be on top of his game to stop messi.
As strange as it sounds denilson is another perfect for this tie.
no he isnt 😉
he’ll do a job but hes not all round enough..
we need players who can do everything..
maybe bring him on once weve scored a couple but not to start..
8-0 up and bring on denilson i say 😉
Bollards to Barca, i just want three points against Wolves right now, worry about Barca on Wednesday…..
Thats what i meant jj.if we are ahead he can circulate the ball as a defensive tactic,negative tiki taka.
tevez is going to crush utd tomorro
vidic and smalling?? lol
utd losing two on the trot would be great but city are up our arsenal we could do with a draw really..with a couple of reds and a few niggles
yeah..bring him on with 15 to go..
keep it simple
90mins of denilson just asking for trouble
concentration lapses..messi in..
yeah wolves is more important..
hope the players aint doing what me and ktr are doing 😉
Barca-villareal was one of the best games i’ve seen all season.villareal and barca were pressing each other so intensely that the game was conjested in the middle of the park.what impressed me about villareal is that when they had the ball rossi and neymar would stretch barca’s 3 man defense with raw pace and as a result pique and puyol struggled.theo can do that for us.maxwell/abidal/pique will shit their pants at theo’s sight at full throttle.this factor alone may see barca not pressing us so high up.AA doesn’t have theo’s pace but if he has a great game he’ll be devastating.his unpredictability due to dexterity of both feet may cause problems.rvp is a goal machine at the moment scoring a goal from just over 4 shots.
modric, bale and vdv are injured for tomoz and maybe milan 😉
i like rossi
JJ I don’t expect a city win.mancini will play for a draw and as usual the mancs will sneak in a goal.when city try to play they’ll get battered on the counter.hart has also been very shaky.
JJ Imagine this:ibra/robinho/cassano/pato vs Dawson/kaboul/ekotto/hutton…
The wheels are coming off jj.
i know ktr
spurs have had their patch..they about to drop out of top four and go out of cl.. 😉
i’m leaving you two men to it… i have some serious stuff to do …
like watching eastenders 🙂
will be back in a while though….
Theo is having a good season but the media are still baled-GOOD.
nasris gotta win the pfa player ktr
jack for young player
JJ despite bale being invincible in most PL games he is still getting lots of hype.theo has been more productive but it seems to have gone under the radar.modric is their best player but because he can’t run and fizz in crosses to get the pundits all giddy he is barely mentioned.such type of players are rarely appreciated in England and thats why xavi said scholes is more appreciated in spain than in England.
i make your right there mate
scholes was a bloody good player..
he never really was properly recognised until he retired from the national team
I reckon jj fans in England appreciate only adrenaline pumping attributes such as pace/tackles/mazy runs.Carragher will get the kop going when he hoofs the ball to row z but in spain they’d probably say WTF?a player that can control a game through passing and movement isn’t appreciated.xavi/fab/modric/scholes don’t have/need to go on mazy runs as their education taught them to think of the team first.they’ll only perform dribbles/feints to create space to make a pass then move.i really appreciate this attribute and thats why xavi is such a difficult customer to mark.
im sat on the fence with that one
fans in england appreciate everything i think..they admire a team that can play, yet at the same time they admire the basics..
its a different mentality i suppose
for example..
if barca or real won the league by playing like utd have all season, grinding out results and generally being shite they wouldnt be too impressed over in spain..
whereas over here it would be seen as a remarkable achievement..total mental strength..
its a tough debate to cover really, suppose it depends on the mentality of the nation..
england are a nation of high workrate and tough tackling..the odd players come along with the technical skill and they are made heros
whereas abroad we see these players all the time so they are used to it..its not as celebrated…
whereas a player whos sole job was to kick players in the air wouldnt be too admired..
i dunno
nighty night you two…….
see you tomorrow….. be good
seeya rico
Scholes, getting away with assaults since 1995.
morning
morning jj
is it ready?? 🙂
Very nearly, just tittering about with spell check 😉
you working today jj??
nah..seeing the wee one..just pottering until i go get her..will miss the manc derby and probably our game too..
Good and not so good in that then but as long as we get all the points….. I think you’ll be happy 😉
Its going up jj…
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