Before I get onto the Carling Cup loss overnight I have to issue (yet another) apology for the lack of a blog yesterday. I had started to write a post based on a heap of comments by Arsene Wenger and Robin van Persie among others about our win over Chelsea before my computer decided to get all cranky and stop working. Sorry about that. The show must go on though.
As I already mentioned our young guns lost 2-0 to Burnley in the Carling Cup quarter-final overnight. Unfortunately I only caught the last half an hour and can’t really tell you much about it. Apparently they played quite well but the Burnley keeper had a bit of a blinder, making some good saves from Nicklas Bendtner in particular. If anyone did catch the game then I’d encourage you to let us know how it went. Who played well? Who didn’t? Who wore pink boots? That sort of thing.
Anyone who is game to watch the highlights of Burnley’s goals can find them here.
My general thoughts on the result is that it’s not too big a deal. I’m sure some people will say that we’ve wasted our best chance to win silverware this season – and that might be true – but I’d be much happier to finish 2nd in the Premiership and not win the Carling Cup than to win it and finish 4th. It’s our lowest priority and I think although it’s the poorest result we’ve had in this competition in the past three seasons our young players have done a good job.
I’m sure supporters will look back on the wins over Sheffield and Wigan with great pride. Players like Jack Wilshere and Carlos Vela have used the competition to show the manager that they are well and truly ready for the big-time and they might not have got that chance to show their worth if we approached the competition in any other way. Needless to say, I hope the approach is the same next season and I’m sure it will be.
Apart from that there’s really not a lot going on as I said earlier.
The next Premiership game is against Wigan on Saturday afternoon and that will be followed by the trip to Porto to finalise our Champions League group standing. Given that the first-teamers have had a well-earned break this week they should be ready and raring to go in the next couple of games and anything less than a committed and vibrant performance would be extremely disappointing given the momentum that the win over Chelsea has provided.
There will be more team news and build-up to the weekend game in tomorrow’s blog. Until then, wherever you are in the world, have a lovely Wednesday.
Have your say on the Arsenal babies’ loss to Burnley by leaving a comment.
You cannot believe the delight at winning against you and that arrogant manager that thought he could beat us with kids. Living next to the arrogant ManScum is bad enough but how do the other London teams cope with Wenger he is unbelieveable
eh burnelyboy – no hate against burnely – you played well but since you started the hate war- chill arsenal playin in europe and premierleague- Qualify for either before mouthing off….
the resalt of the first half should have been at least 1-3 TO US.
second half there were two chances no more.one from Merida who i think played very well,and one from Bendner.but i think it was not our day(how many times we will not have our day this seasen i do not know-it seems like we are going to have such a bad days every second game,with first and second team.the main think i wanna say here is this-Bndner-he should go.because he is not for us.ok wenger if u like him please don’t play him as regular strike.i just can not understund why Le Boss played him instead of Jay Simpson?!i really think if Simpson would have played in place of bendner he would have a goal……sory for my english
burnley boy he doesn’t care about the carling cup. he doesn’t necessarily think the kids will win, he gives them a go and they tonk wigan!
so yeh he probably thought they might do alright at turf moor but the guy had no qualms having lost the game. to call wenger arrogant is a little harsh, he has done more for enhancing the style english football than any other manager.
well played.
Bendtner had a really bad game, and so did Vela. Wilshire proved only human. But Henri Lansbury was really good, when he came on in the second half.
I would add my opinion for the game that Arsenal kids had lost in the cup.
the striking and in the midfield `s performence was good just the kids could not finish goal.
the not good thing is that the defend was not srong enough especially when Arsenal kids attached the defend midfield had also went up did not care about the defend ,so they lost as the same to Vila.
Agree with you SF the Burnley keeper was on fire…Bentner had two gilt-edge chances in the first half and one in the second….a striker wanting to be on AW team sheet each week needs to bury those…Ramsey, Vela and Wilshire played fine with the former making some great passes with great vision…Randall was a bit of a week link…Rodgers did well for his first start although the first goal was a bit of a shambles..i reckon hes one for the future though. Merida played very well and it was a shame he didnt put the ball in the back of the net after his mazey run. I felt let down by Fabianski…he booted the ball out of play in panic a couple of times and didnt look in control of his area at all…at blame for their first goal!
Agree that its not Arsenals priority however it is a route into Europe and its always nice to win so feeling a little perplexed this morning….Bit of a rollercoaster already this season…and i know theres a whole lot more to come!!
@ Burnley Boy – You wacko. He plays the kids every time, it’s not going to change and it’s not arrogance. We did it against Tottenham last year in the semis and we did it the year before against Chelsea in the final. It’s how we do it and it’s hardly arrogant.
Arsenal put out not their first time, not the squad members who back up the first team, but their third team – a team made up mostly of players who we only see at Barnet in the reserves. And this morning the main football news is that the team who are 4th in the Championship beat them.
If someone said even five years ago (by which time we were all well aware of where Wenger was going) that a team challenging for promotion to the EPL could beat our third team and it would be headline news, we’d surely have said, “well of course they will beat our third team”.
I know we had a few players who have stepped up. Silvestre was obviously there to try and give experience, and Bendtner was there to try and help him out of the bad run he’s having, but otherwise it was the kiddies. Everyone should have expected Burnley to win – it is a tribute to Arsenal that the defeat was a “shock”.
Randall was really poor for both gals there.. bendtner was not interested.. vela wilshire ramsey were bad … whole team played badly except for merida i think
the attitude of Bendtner was really poor he was not at all interested in the game…
he wasted a lot of chances..
i dont mind losing carling cup but the attitude of these players was so bad.
yes its disappointing to go out of a cup we could have challenged for…but really, it was our 3rd string squad and it would be arrogant of us to expect that we should beat a team who might be in the premier league next year! yes we are a mighty team but its not like those in lower leagues cant kick a ball about on the same pitch as us to a similar level, especially a 3rd sting team.
personally im all for developing the kids… but im sure they would learn more if there was a mix of first team players in there. playing alongside van persie et al would have meant better supply to the kids and as a result a better learning experience.
Wenger got a little carried away, as did we all…but really, we would never have won it with these kids. im disappointed he didnt try harder to win this cup, it would have taken the weight off everyones shoulders to have it (Assuming we won the cup lol).
the way i see it, we are one of best clubs in world so we should DOMINATE ALL COMPETITIONS. play to win and field the strongest side at ALL times. develop the youth in the youth league/early cup rounds.
@ Burnley boy – Every year we play the kids so why would he change it for playing you. In fact we could have won 4-2. It really is not arrogant. Bendtner had a hat-trick of 1-on-1s and Vela had a decent chance. Our best chance in the 1st half fell to Mark Randall after Bendtner majestically flicked the ball to him however his shot was straight at the keeper. Fran Merida swerved and turned 3/4 players in the box in the 2nd half and just put his shot wide. Vela wasn’t his normal self but he was miles better than Niklas. Gibbs impressed me though!
It wasn’t a bad game last night- generally the kids did OK, Burnley aren’t a bad team and it’s no shame to go out to them. Wenger had a point when he said we were unlucky- we did create more than enough chances to win. Unfortunately many of them fell to Niklas Bendtner who, as other have said, was extremely poor (again). He wasn’t up for it and obviously thinks he’s too good to be playing with the kids. He is mistaken in this idea. I’ve been saying he’s shit all season and I now add that he’s an arrogant bastard as well. He will never be good enough for Arsenal and I cannot wait to see the back of him. I am not usually one to slag off our own players, as regular readers of this blog will know, but I make an exception for that flash bastard. It’s fine having a big head when you deliver the goods week in week out, but he doesn’t and never has. I know he’s young, but I’d much rather see Jay Simpson on the teamsheet than that
useless nerk Bendtner.
It was generally a poor performance and i’m not sure they had enough desire.
Yet, we here in Africa completely adore Wenger and his magical kids. Gooner4life.
I accept with you SpanishFry ,to secure 2nd is much happier than carling cup.I don’t accept that bendtner is so bad.Those who have seen adebayor when he joined arsenal might have uttered the same.
Saw some of the match yesterday…lackluster perhaps…I think it’s good to see the Young Gunners in the Carling but I am more concerned about the level of intensity of the entire squad in general.
It looks like from a distance that they get up for the big teams and for teams they should beat they get killed and the losses hurt so much more because those are matches that the club should win easily.
I am impressed by the future of the club. Lot’s of talent in Merida and Vela, Simpson and Wilshire. Eduardo comes back soon…Nasri. Seems to me that the need for Silverware clouds our vision at times. The future of Arsenal looks VERY GOOD.
The kids will have an early bed time, and a lot of time to think about what could it have been. It all bodes well to them as this is their time to start fashioning some dreams. Next season they will be meaner than ever.
Just get it done against Wigan lads and I’ll have no qualms.
I agree with C-Bass – Wigan is a team we should beat but teams like that have troubled us this season. But with the boost of the Chelsea win and Cesc as skipper, we should have a decent shout v them. Also our kids beat them so our 1st team will look rubbish if they fail to do so.
I just can’t get behind Bentner as a player. Ive tried to like him. I’ve tried to see his good qualities but I really think he’s just play lazy!! Maybe I’m wrong but a little passion would do him some good!
@ Jess
Im right there with you. I think Bendtner is one of 5 very bad players i would love to see replaced on this squad, along with Almunia, Denilson, Ade and Gallas. I just cannot like Bendtner, i like him more when he comes off the bench, because i think he does better, but i don’t see any quality or ever potential in him. I hate people who say “hes still young”, yeah well so was Theo Walcott but at least he showed he has potential where as Bendtner is doing the best he can and its RUBBISH! I hope Bendtner and Ade leave.. I’ll take them to the airport, I’ll even carry their bags.. as long as they leave.
But yes, Carling Cup.. our best chance of a trophy, but I’ll be happy if we can beat Wigan and put a run of games together with no losses or draws.
why in hell must we lose and damn spurs n man win and gets n chance for cup.I understand kids must play,but havin neva won a cup in 3 years, I wonder wenger should of use more experience players n brek the duck, so that fans n players can feel more condifent about wenger plans. When more experience I mean players like djourou n nasri.
I watched the game on-line, which was a bit dodgy, but from what I could see the kids played okay. I wouldn’t fault Bendtner. Alright it’s not clever for a forward to fail to put away so many chances but it’s not as if he didn’t want to score. The poor sod’s probably feeling shitty enough right now and I’m sure would have loved to have scored a few goals for Wenger. Maybe he was nervous? Who knows? Forwards go through bad patches as we know. But lazy? I don’t think so.
The whole problem with the result was that Burnley scored early – that was the ONE thing they shouldn’t have let happen. With a crowd from the lower league baying for Premier League blood and a team just wanting the belief they could beat us that early goal was the perfect catalyst. After that it was always going to be a struggle. They didn’t outplay us – it was just that for the rest of the match we were kicking up hill and they were kicking down.
It’s actually of negligible importance. No one gives a f*ck about the Carling Cup except teams like Burnley.
What is important is that Arsenal defeat Wigan on Saturday and do it emphatically.
@ old timer – Spot on.
This really solved my problem, appreciate it!
composed by sbsbsb0416 Very nice post, thanks a lot for sharing. Do you have an RSS feed I can subscribe to?