Hello, hello. Just a quick preview of the Sheffield game and a couple of other bits and pieces to get through today before I kick off for a beer with my dad.
Arsene Wenger has said that the team he will be sending out against Sheffield United in the Carling Cup game tonight will be the youngest to ever represent Arsenal. Virtual unknowns like Abu Ogogu and Emmanuel Frimpong – the latter even younger than Jack Wilshere – are likely to feature in the squad, supported by relative ‘old heads’ like Alex Song, Johan Djourou and Lukasz Fabianski.
“You are likely to see Gavin Hoyte, Abu Ogogu, Aaron Ramsey, Mark Randall, Jack Wilshere, Fran Merida and Carlos Vela. Maybe Bendtner will play. Song, Djourou and Lukasz Fabianski will be the experienced players. But you will have players like Emmanuel Frimpong and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas so it will be a very young side.”
At 21, 21 and 23 it is bizarre to hear that the likes of Song, Djourou and Fabianski will be the experienced players in the side. But compared to babies like Wilshere and Frimpong (both 16) as well as the rest of the players named, they very much are. Just as aside, if you read the full article you’ll find out that Frimpong is even younger than Wilshere. Amazing.
It will be interesting to see who Wenger chooses to captain the young group of players. From last year’s evidence you’d have to lean towards Fabianski, but I get the feeling it might just be Djourou, a player who has moved up in the ranks this season and has just been rewarded with a new contract at the club.
I haven’t decided whether I’m going to get up and watch this game tomorrow morning (it starts at 4.45am Brisbane time) but the sheer weight of players that I’ve not yet seen in action for Arsenal might prompt me to take a peek. I didn’t catch much of the pre-season so I’m not very familiar with guys like Hoye, Ogogu, Merida, Frimpong or Emmanuel-Thomas. As such, I’m looking forward to seeing how they get on.
The only other real news of note for today is that Gael Clichy – who bruised his shin in an ugly clash with Kevin Davies on Saturday – is likely to be available for the Premiership clash with Hull this weekend. Whether he starts or not is another matter entirely, and if Wenger chooses to leave him out then he’ll have an interesting decision to make regarding the back four.
Does he keep William Gallas and Kolo Toure together at the back, switch Bacary Sagna to the left and bring Johan Djourou into the side? Does he play Emmanuel Eboue instead? There’s also the option of flicking Toure out to the right and bringing Djourou into the middle, or keeping Sagna on the right and moving Gallas onto the left? We’ll have to wait and see.
Anyway, that’s it for today. Have a lovely Tuesday and get behind the Arsenal babies tonight. Woo!
Have your say on Arsenal v Sheffield or anything else by leaving a comment. Come on, you know you want to…
Its goin 2 b amazin seein those name play 4 arsenal. Its goin 2 b an incredible display i suppose frm these kids. Up gunners.
Hi,
I am in Perth WA
I have foxtel and Setanta sports,but neither are showing the game.
Can you tell me where you can watch the game in Australia?
Regards,
Stan
Im pissed off this game isnt on tv!!! According to the Arsenal website its not being shown live anywhere in the world.
Can you confirm whether its on Star sports in Aus? If so it should be available online!
Im surprised Jay Thomas didnt get mentioned by Wenger, he should play with Vela up front
I haven’t found any streaming sites showing the game… And the local Irish pubs aren’t showing it, as it’s not on Sky , Canal+ or Setanta.
A big shame, as I really wanted to see this game. If anyone comes across any info, please share!!
Yeah – you guys are absolutely right. I just checked my usual streaming site (myp2p.eu) and there’s nothing there.
Oh well, at least I’ll get a decent lie-in tomorrow :).
Will pass on any info if I can find it.
It appears that there simply wont be any live TV coverage of this game – which means there wont be any streams available.
The match can be seen from midnight (UK Time zone) on Arsenal TV and Arsenal TV Online.
With some luck, some streams might therefore show the game at midnight.
If you don’t have a subscription to Arsenal TV Online, you should absolutely consider it! I’m a subscriber, and it’s only 4£ a month. With a subscription you get to see a lot of exclusive pre- and post-match interviews, as well as 10-minute summaries of all the matches, plus much, much more various footage 🙂
hopefully…superb form in this game..
Yeah I subscribe to ATVO, its pretty good for the price, just wish they could have rights to all the matches live.
Im sure the game will be on tv in SA, I dont think I ever missed a single game when i used to live there
Arsenal Tv is a pretty good service – I subscribe and I can watch extended highlights of every game…how bout those gunners tonight..6-0! Vela the legend. Wish I had gone to the Emirates to watch!
Well, I didn’t see that coming. Vela is certainly proving to be a goal machine, isn’t he?