Morning all..
Ok, I’m struggling finding things to write about but as the fixtures soon return to coming thick and fast, things should get easier. Feel sorry for me? Well if you do, scratch your head, write down a few thoughts of you own and send them to me and I’ll post it. I’m sure many of you could come up with a topic or two which could kick off a good discussion on here…
Mine for today is the Under 21’s league and that’s after reading an article in one of the newspapers yesterday.
If the Under 21 league was that good, why do many Premier League clubs send so many players out on loan?
Here are just a few examples:
Chelsea: 27 (20 aged 21 or below) – picks include Patrick Bamford at Derby, Romelu Lukaku at Everton and Nathaniel Chalobah at Middlesbrough.
Man United: 15 (12 aged 21 below) – picks include Nick Powell at Wigan, Wilfried Zaha at Cardiff and Jack Barmby at Hartlepool.
Liverpool: 14 (11 aged 21 or below) – picks include Andre Wisdom at Derby and Tiago Ilori at Granada.
Arsenal: 14 (12 aged 21 or below) – Picks include Benik Afobe at Sheffield Wednesday, Chuba Akpom at Brentford and Hector Bellerin at Watford
Manchester City: 7 (5 aged 21 or below) – Picks include Karim Rekik at PSV and John Guidetti at Stoke
Southampton: 4 (0 aged 21 or below) – Loanees are first-team understudies or cast-offs, such as Lee Barnard, 29, at Southend and Dani Osvaldo, 28, at Juventus.
Chelsea’s tally of loanees is staggering at 27, that’s not far short of THREE teams!
I’m not a fan of loan deals, more so since the rule of players not being able to face their own club when on loan elsewhere which to me is daft as if they aren’t deemed good enough to start for the club which pays them, then why not let play against them?
I guess the ruling is in place so players can’t influence the result of a game against his parent club but I can’t see a professional footballer doing that…
Anyway, back to the topic of loans. David Moyes has recently said:
You find the jump between the reserves and first team is so big nowadays. Maybe, in time, if there was a different sort of games programme, we wouldn’t need to put players out on loan.
Clearly Moyes is not alone with his thoughts on the reserve/under 21 set up as otherwise the players would be staying and playing rather than heading off out on loan and not always do they get much playing time then, so should the FA be sorting out and introducing a ‘B Team’ league which would run alongside the PL fixtures?
After all, by the time players get to their twenties, playing against opposition which could field a side much younger and in turn, often weaker, won’t make them better players. They need to be up against players of a similar age, build and ability to progress.
Not only would English football clubs benefit but so would the players respective countries including England because players will be playing at a higher level earlier in their careers and the cream of the crop will rise to the top a lot quicker….
It works in Spain and other countries, isn’t it time for the FA to realise that it could work here too?
Finally, you just have to love The Daily Mail, they reckon Diego Costa, Edin Dzeko, Mario Mandzukic, Jackson Martinez and Lukasz Piszczek are all on Arsene Wenger’s summer wishlist as he intends to add three top class players. And that’s not including Julian Draxler who the same paper say’s we will be going for too…..
If only eh…..
That’s your lot for another day……
Morning All………… and Scott….!
Hello all fans off GG…..you too, Wath hahaha.
Great post….great topic.
Morning all.
What about an article on what trophies should be prioritised. We have a real chance of winning the fa cup, our chances of winning the champs league are less likely. Would we keep giroud fresh? Or play bendtner in the fa cup?
good morning
time for starting thinking in next match
Any one had a look at Man city’s bench on Monday night? I don’t think they have much depth than we first thought. How many of their players are injured?
*I don’t think they have much squad depth like we first thought
So write the Article Mike and send it through to Rico….! Think it’s the basis for lots of debate…!
XR, if they get one or two injuries to key players then their squad is still strong BUT not brilliant and I have always said they average at the back if you gt at them…!
Citeh are nowhere near as good as plenty think.
Morning all,
Nice one Rico, not a lot to write about, you always find something and we thank you for that.
Reserve teams seem a bit of a waste of time and money in my eyes, as not many youngsters find their way into the fist team. Supporters today, when transfer windows come up are only interested in Marquee signings and the price of those are so much that most teams can only afford one. We have been short of strikers but not once have we gone down to our reserve players in fact we ship them off and usually sell them on. I believe that our reserve team program has been a bit of a waste of time. Yes many will pick out Aaron and Jack but in my eyes it would have been far cheaper to have brought players as we did with Oxlaid Chamberlain. After all we have a squad of first team players perhaps 25 once registered they are our playing squad the reserves are almost forgotten and as we know they are not good enough. Joel Campbell was a good example, brought to give us options up front looked a good prospect but never played a game for us in 3 years and now been offloaded complete waste of time. We know what we need when it comes to players and when it suits the Manager he goes out and buys. Our reserve Midfielders will hardly get a chance as we would rather enlist the help of an unfit 31 year old who may never pull a shirt on. We enlisted another old Italian goalkeeper who has yet to pull a shirt on so that tells you what kind of talent we have in reserve. Save money and get rid of the reserves and buy players ready to do the job in hand.
Steve, has Campbell been sold??
After watching the horrible Madrid derby last night I am glad I don’t need to watch that utter pile of shite on a weekly basis. If there is a slimmer, more underhand scumbag than Arbeloa playing then I haven’t seen him. What a pig.
Morning all…
Thanks Wath…
How’s your neck Adam?
Worse than Suarez, Adam?
Damn……
Morning Rico. A little better thanks but still not right.
Scott. Different class of a’hole completely to Suarez. Absolutely despicable.
I meant to say slimier rather than slimmer in my 11.05.
Morning Adam, that’s not so good 🙁
Didn’t see the Madrid derby but read the headlines, nasty…
He must be a decent old piece of shit then, Adam.
Rico. It was truly ghastly. How both sides weren’t down to about 8 men is a mystery. What a totally crap league.
Morning Scott, from what i understand Campbell has been loaned with a proviso of a sale so i assume by that yes he has been sold.
Glad I didn’t watch it then Adam…
Thanks re your earlier Sp…
I didn’t realise Campbell had been sold, thought he was just on loan..
No worries, Steve.
Maybe Wenger does have someone in mind then.
Stop thinking….buy the bastard 🙂
Night all.
Catch you tomorrow.
afc.com still have him down as out on loan…
Night Scott…
Looking at the Arsenal squad, makes me feel that we have a good chance this year, The results that we have won and the ones we have lost is more or less what we would have thought. except the Villa game. Man City was an obvious loss as they have been playing very well with so many options up front you would expect a landslide of goals so i did expect the loss but i have to say that we made plenty of chances and we didn’t get the decisions we deserved and that game although high scoring should have resulted in a draw. United i also expected a loss, and i would also expect a loss in the replay. Chelsea i also expected a loss but we held them whether we can in the replay will soon be made clear. Arsenal have lost games i thought we would lose but where i think we are much better is with the lower sides we have played these games with caution but we have done well. Looking at the top 4 or 5 clubs they have lost games you wouldn’t have expected and that is why we hold our position at the top. Now i believe that those teams are now in the run in and they all know how important top 4 is. Players realise that their wages may take a turn for the worse and Managers realise that not being in champions league only keeps their names out of the spotlight. Of course the current top four or five are nearly all new Managers and they will have a point to prove where our manager has been there and done all that but he has his eye on record books as well, Wenger would hate to lose out on champions league as it would leave a dirty mark. The way things are going at Arsenal makes me think that because of changes in other club managers, is why we see ourselves at the top of the league, where other clubs have or are going through changes we have been merrily going about our business in fact nothing seems to have changed at all. Frugal spending One top midfielder in, and loanee’s who may make a season, so i don’t think much has changed. Where i think we may have trouble is the run in, where the new managers have had six months of settling they have steadied their ships and are now steaming ahead can our captain steer us in to the end of the journey i sure hope so.
If they can all stay fit Sp… Be glad when the injured are back too…
Has Arbeloa been on the Cambridge diet?
Boring Boring Chelsea
I thought he was some kind of Pulse Kev 😉
Off for a while, catch up later…
Good post Rico,
To me the only difference between a player playing in the lower leagues or a top 4 side is mainly due to luck and like most aspects of life someone/manager taking a shine to you…
How is Adam Lallana playing for the Saints whilst Theo or Ox are playing for AFC…?
How come Barca wanted Aneke/Afobe but tehy can’t even get a preseason game?
How or why did Fergie choose Cleverley over Pogba…
How did CJ25 go from Charlton reserves to Arsenal starting XI over a summer…
How did Jody Morris end up at Hearts when his partner in crime John Terry was winning trophies with the chavs…
Would Messi/Iniesta have made it to this level if Rijkaard had not kept him instead of loaning them to the SPL…
Pep was about to be dumped by Barca until Cruyff converted him to a DM when he could he was considered a light weight for the right wings…
To me it is paramount for England and this league to allow clubs to have B teams…
Afobe was injured Ginge, if I remember correctly…
Aneke is a bit of an enigma…
Has all the tools in his locker, so maybe the problem is between his ears?
As far as Frimpong is concerned, and following his recent Tweets, it seems that his brains are between his legs….
Thanks Ts, I wish Lallana was playing for us, and his sidekick Rodriguez (spelling) 😉
Afternoon ….
Afternoon all,
How much more rain can still be up there, its pouring down here and has been all day, Doesn’t matter what kind of summer we have i would be surprised of a hosepipe ban, the turf should be getting plenty of nutrients so no problem there, i just hope the drainage is working well. Thinking about the Emirates does anybody know if they hold other events there as Arsenal are not short of ideas to earn a few quid,
Steve couldn´t disagree more with your 10 .50 about reserve team football. Whilst I conceed that there has been little value to it recently ,it is the only way for players to develop in their own environment. Players that are on the fringe of first team football need competative games and they won´t get them sitting on a dinosaur´s bench making up numbers for other teams. A proper reserve league would enable firstly the better kids to play against adults and toughen them up for first team and secondly could be played in front of supporters that otherwise can´t get tickets for the first team matches. It could be done on a regional basis with a play off at the end of the season . It´s a win win for the clubs and the national sides . Imagine if some of the players that have left us had benefitted from 25 comptitive games a year ,maybe a Lansbury or a Randall may have saved the club a few nillion buying the ready made player and keeping the money in this country too.
Evening Potter, i understand where your coming from, and looking at the big picture what your suggesting is probably true. But i have to look at what is happening with the first team, i know you and Kev feel that they could help us in the future, but i see that whenever we need recruits they always come from outside. Our reserves have been with us for a century now but i don’t see many breaking through. Wengers love of Midfielders has always surprised me, when ever we need a player he buys a midfielder but surely if that is the case he should have instilled many in the reserves why have we just brought in many from outside and not encouraged our own
JW10 and MA08 both fit to face the dippers..
If i speak the truth all i can see from our reserves is perhaps a tax dodge where we can claim tax relief. I may sound a little sour but when i don’t see the fruits of their labours on the field of the first team i have to ask myself why do we have them. Southanptons Reserve academy speaks for itself, many good players have come from them and seeing how they are a club that don’t seem to be doing that much themselves, seem to be funding themselves by selling their youngsters, Arsenals youngsters seem to move on and thats the last you hear of them
You have a point Sp1, but the thing is when you leave Arsenal (especially as a youth) the only way is down imho…
Sp1, if Theo had started from the academy would Aw have persisted with him?..
How many managers would have persisted with Theo over the last 6 or so years taking into consideration the ‘expert’ views of Robson and Merson…
What made Aw persist with Aaron when fans were calling for him to be dropped…. would he had persisted with him if he came through our academy?
I remember Bale was a week away from leaving the EPL before he was moved to lw by accident and then to a free role the season before last… the rest is history..
I strongly believe that it is easier to be given a chance at the top when you are at the bottom than vice versa…no forgetting you need a decent agent too… 😉
How can Senderos have AC milan, Arsenal, Valencia on his CV?
Don Vito on current form looks like Buffon than Almunia but whilst he was with us he could not do any good imo according to sections of fans…
Evening Ginge, glad to hear a few first teamer’s are getting back, we need our strongest for the next couple of weeks.
True Sp1, re ‘returnees’
442 interview with Mario Balotelli. Will we ever see you in the Premier League again?”; Balo’: “Yes”.
Sp, 5.24, hose pipe ban? I think it very.ikelythere will be one this summer. I don’t think what we are getting now is the right sort of rain!
There will not be enough reserves! And you know, you just can’t buy what you want or need during times of a shortage, if you catch my drift?
What we are getting from the skies is too much continental rain, whilst what we really need is lots of home grown precipitation, that we can catch, tame, filter and release to the paying public as a well refined product. Not this foreign bottled nonsense, sold, as it is at highly inflated prices!
I sometimes wonder that when Wenger spends good moey on any player he does wait a fair old time before he moves them on, i sometimes wonder if he feels that the fans may have forgottrn that he brought them in the first place. Wenger had probably seen some that he brought at their best and he probably feels that given the chance and time their good form will surface, how Bendtner is still here God only knows , but just recently with his 2 goals supporters were saying he played well and we need him till the end of the season, had it been me he would have gone the minute he entered the Piza bar.
Top post Wavy, couldn’t have put it better myself, wrong rain snow sleet and snow, yeh blinding probably killing the Ems Turf 🙂
Precisely Sp1; don’t get me wrong I liked Tgstel during his time at BCFC; he looked like our own answer to Drogba at that time…
Even during his time with Sunderland he looked decent enough for the ‘old lady’ to want him on loan until Conte realised he was a tad overweight…. lol…
What I do like about him is that he is a big game player but like most ‘lucky players’ he is not grasping the chance he has been given…..
I still think he has his use though if he can keep his head down…
Another example is Balotelli.. will he still be talked about if he had decided to play for Ghana instead of Gli Azzurri…
On the surface everything looks green and glorious, but beneath the verdant top lurks a soft underbelly of sloppy foundations, the sand is too thin, the drainage blocked and the money spent, inadequate!
Here’s hoping the playing surface does not become too syrupy, if it does we’ll all be tearing our hair!,
When i was a kid Ginge, we used to play in the streets, we formed teams and put our jumpers down as goalpost, but what i remember most was how the kids worked out themselves where they played , Many of the kids wanted to be the centre forward of the day but the surprising thing was many wanted to defend, it struck me a few years later that positions are bred into us, I never ever wanted to play anywhere but CF clubs i joined along the way tried to put me where they thought i would be best suited but the reality was that i could score goals and no matter where i played the instincts of being in the right place at a given time always served me well. I believe that that gene that is in people is slowly eroded away and they are trained to play elsewhere. If i had anything to do with training youngster’s today i would look for that gene and once i found it i would check on the size of their parents hopefully they would both be the right parents and i could see just how big the youngster could turn out, When looking at youngsters for positions in the future. there is no way you can train a youngster for a CB position if his parents are five foot nothing, so a little forethought should go into it.
Wavy, You will be happy to know that i did some research in the playing surface of the Ems Pitch and i can assure you it was expensive , they never left anything to chance the sand and the underground drainage and underground heating was installed to the highest specifications the turf was picked by how much light it would receive and they have a system of growing lights that cost a fortune that they put over the grass which encourages it to grow, Apparently being surrounded by stands only gives the turf a short time of sunlight and these lights that are used constantly brings the grass through just right. Its not the grass we have to worry about its what plays on it 🙂
Might the ‘studs’ have something to do with it?
Sorry. Playing away, that is!
Players get a 15 minute warm up Wavy, they can run up and down the pitch tight turns and sprints can tell you what studs you need for best grip, but if your getting sponsered for wearing certain coloured boots i would expect that sways somebodies choice.
Night all
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