Well I went. Bloody cold (had been foggy all day).

Aneke had a mare. In his defence the pitch had a frozen strip from end to end but his performance could best be described as having a Heskey.

Nico on the other hand was absolutely superb. Playing left side of two in 4-2-3-1 he was playing alongside the captain. Played deep for much of the first half but the longer the game went on the more he took control of the midfield and by half time he was the stand out player. Assured, calm and extremely tidy he really came into his own in the second half when he seemed to have sussed the game out and played with a bit more freedom going forward - but he chose the times to go superbly.

Very impressed with Nico.

That's great to hear. I really think Yennaris has a future here. Whenever I've seen him he's been exactly like you describe. Always looks a level above his teammates in terms of maturity and technical ability.

Klaus wrote:

That's great to hear. I really think Yennaris has a future here. Whenever I've seen him he's been exactly like you describe. Always looks a level above his teammates in terms of maturity and technical ability.

He's a really good kid as well. Nice family, well brought up. Always respectful and attentive to his coaches at Hale End, and very modest as well.

How has Yennaris been growing size-wise? I don't think I've seen a picture of his full body in at least a year, but I remember him having a relatively small structure. Has he been growing anymore now that he's at that age?

dave_rwr wrote:

How has Yennaris been growing size-wise? I don't think I've seen a picture of his full body in at least a year, but I remember him having a relatively small structure. Has he been growing anymore now that he's at that age?

He didn't look big but he didn't look small. Was chatting with him after the u18s match at the new place last term and he was rather little. Then again I'm rather tall so...

In terms of strength though he had no problems at all. Seemed very strong in the tackle and came through a couple of scrambles with the ball. Can't remember him getting knocked of the ball either.

I think he's one of those players that quietly works his way through the system without appearing to make waves or getting too much attention. Think he's a long term keeper, difficult as it is to judge at this age.

6 days later

Ramsey currently playing for the reserves against Wolves, as is Almunia.

I have been reading the live text on ATVO, hope he comes out unscathed. I can't wait for him to be back, Ramsey that is.

he's only scheduled to play 45 minutes.. he came off after half

looks like he came through pretty unscathed and from what i could read, didnt look all that out of place, which is good

Could he be on the bench against Wigan in the Cup?

I think he will need more time but the next reserves game is on the 7th of December.

personally i dont think we will see him in the first team (barring injuries) until after the new year... he needs more than 1 or 2 reserve games runouts before he could even be considered for the bench (IMO)

Last day of transfer window for the lower leagues and Wenger said JET may go out on loan because he needs games.

Ramsey gone to forest for a month apparently.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/nottm_forest/9227061.stm

Nottingham Forest have signed Arsenal's Wales international midfielder Aaron Ramsey on loan until 3 January 2011.

Ramsey suffered fractures to the tibia and fibula of his right leg against Stoke in February but made his comeback for Arsenal reserves this week.

The 19-year-old joined the Gunners from Championship side Cardiff City for £5m in June 2008.

Ramsay, who has scored twice in 11 caps for Wales, has made 27 league appearances for Arsene Wenger's side.

Bad news. Means I'll have to start watching the Football league show and put up with Steve Claridge.

Potential games that he could feature in.

Mon 29 Leicester City FLC

December
Sat 4 Bristol City FLC
Sat 11 Scunthorpe FLC
Sat 18 Crystal Palace FLC
Sun 26 Middlesbrough FLC
Wed 29 Derby County FLC

January
Sat 1 Barnsley FLC
Mon 3 Ipswich Town FLC

That schedule isn't too bad barring the xmas fixtures.

I just hope he is used judiciously. I don't follow the lower leagues apart from the standings every week but i assume he will be the best player in the Forest team?

It will be a big temptation for the Forest manager to play him a lot.

I would imagine that there is some sort of verbal agreement in place already. Just had a look at the reserves and they only have 2 fixtures in this period of time so the decision seems easy as long as the necessary precautions are taken.

1 fixture Captain, the other is a youth cup game.

I am impressed, although he still seems a tad physically weak but that will improve when he is here training.

Hopefully he turns out to be as good, so many brilliant asian players nowadays.

With the tag 'New Cristiano Ronaldo', you just know he's going to be shit.

Isn't he the kid who broke his leg while on trial with us?

Seems pretty skilful and quick player. Guess he'd fit well into one of the wide positions.

That's him.

He's also supposed to be fairly big too, which is nice...

The leg break was supposed to have happened at Ajax where he went on trial next. It turned out that it was just a minor injury though.

We're dying for a player similar to him in the side right now.

Afobe with another goal and assist today. Considering he's only 17 he's doing really well.

What impresses me most about Afobe is how well his overall game is developing. Assists and link-up play wasn't something he was particularly renowned for only a year ago. To do what he's currently doing at Huddersfield at he age of seventeen is pretty remarkable. I hope we loan him back to them in January.

Good mate of mine is a Maccelesfield fan. Said he was very impressed with Afobe yesterday, caused them problems all game.

This Ryo guy. Does he score. His short highlight reel shows one goal. Usually highlight reels of attacking midfielders make them appear to be goal machines. I know little about this guy, but I'm wary of seeing more Rosicky-types who just dribble around without threatening the opposition goals. Anyone in our front 3 needs to be able to punch the ole onion bag

who knows. as far as i'm concerned, it's not really worth putting someone on your radar until they're dominating the reserves. then you see how they look when integrated with the first team. look at barazite, people were creaming over him cos of a youtube clip where he juggles for a bit, but you see him in real life and he's not a footballer. where is he now? young prospects are dime a dozen, it's not like they're special just because they play for us.

People creamed over Barazite because he was one of the most technically gifted youth players we've had, not because of a youtube clip. But like Merida he doesn't really have the mental attributes. Your general point still applies though.

Merida would have played games if he'd stayed. Especially this season when we've been without Cesc, Diaby and Ramsey for long spells. His mistake was the same one as Bendtner is on the brink of making.

As for Barazite, a few difficult injuries have robbed him of his chance here. I'm not saying he would have made it but he would have featured more frequently in the first team than the likes of Eastmond and Lansbury at least.

It seems to me that the change in formation in the last 18 months or so, has seen us scout different types of players than we have done previously - especially in the wide positions. Miyachi and Wellington are players I don't think we would have previously signed, now Wenger seems to want genuine, direct forwards in the wide positions, as opposed to playmaker types who are more comfortable centrally, and don't really have the pace or goal threat to threaten from wide positions consistently, but contribute more to passing the ball and working teams around.

Barazite's problem was that he was mind-numbingly slow. He still has great technique.

Huddersfield extend Afobe loan until january

Good news! It seems that Arsenal are contemplating whether or not to let him stay there for the rest of the season too. He's been impressing everyone with how quickly he's adapted to league football.

Incredible stats, considering it's his first loan move.