Morning all,
it’s Carling Cup time. In the last few seasons it has provided some really memorable nights as we’re given a glimpse of the potential future of Arsenal. The boss has used the tournament to blood young players and for the most part they have responded admirably.
In the last four seasons we’ve reached the final once and the semi-final on two other occasions so rightly enough there’s a certain level of expectation. In terms of the team tonight it’ll be a platform for Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Kieran Gibbs, Armand Traore and others to put themselves in the manager’s thoughts when it comes to the first team.
It will also see the return of Carlos Vela, who makes his first appearance of the season after suffering an ankle injury with Mexico in the summer. At the back there’ll be plenty of experience as Sylvester gets his first game of the season while Philippe Senderos will make his first Arsenal appearance since May 2008 when he featured in the 1-0 win over Sunderland which completed that season.
It’s a game I don’t think he thought he’d be taking part in, nor the boss to be honest. It looks as if the injury to Johan Djourou scuppered the move he was expected to make this summer. The manager could have let him go but chose to keep him rather than find a replacement and it looks as if he’s going to start again at Arsenal with a clean slate. The manager says:
I don’t believe he is starting his career again because we know how good he is, but it is a new start, let’s say. He is still very young for a centre-back, he’s 24-years-old and he has the future in front of him. The best 10 years are now coming for him.
I’ve always thought he was a good player and the point about his age is a good one. Centre-halves tend to mature later, there’s a lot of learning to do in that position, and if you asked me to choose between him and Sylvester the big Swiss would get the nod every day of the week. Fingers crossed he can take what he learned at Milan and kick on now.
From an attacking point of view all eyes will be on Jack Wilshere. After an outstanding Emirates Cup there are those who might have expected to see more of him than we have so far but the boss is obviously being cautious. He says:
I believe last year he paid a price physically for a very demanding start. This year he is strong, more mature, and I’m sure that he will show that tomorrow.
And on Aaron Ramsey, who believes we can win the tournament, the boss had this to say:
I believe he has improved a lot. He has outstanding physical qualities – he is quick, he has fantastic stamina, he has become much more powerful with his body. I believe he is not far now from the other players and he is pushing everybody.
So there’s plenty to look forward to tonight. These games are fun because there’s no real pressure and I think the players are aware of that too. There’s an element of freedom to how they play their football.
We should be under no illusions about our opponents though. West Brom are a very decent side, they’re currently top of the Championship and hammered Boro 5-0 away from home at the weekend. Their new manager Roberto di Matteo will certainly be more focussed on promotion than a distracting cup run but Arsenal at home would be a nice scalp to take.
It should be fun. Sadly I don’t think it’s being televised live anywhere, which is unusual for our Carling Cup games, but the official site will have live audio commentary for ATVO subscribers and then the full game just after the final whistle. It’s situations like this though that make you think there’s a real niche yet to be filled. If I could pay a couple of quid and watch the game via a stream that wasn’t up and down and freezing and jumping and refreshing I’d happily do it. The same goes for league games.
Maybe the Premier League and all the other officials would be better off thinking about that rather than having their team of online ankle biters trying to take down streams on match days. They’re like record companies who try to stop file sharing, putting more resources into that than actually providing a service people might pay for. Look at the success of the iTunes music store. It works, it’s relatively cheap, it’s easy to use.
While there are always going to be people who want everything for nothing there are more than enough people who will happily pay for quality, be it on an online “season ticket” or a match by match basis. Still, I suspect I’m pissing in the wind with this one.
Right then, that’ll be that. Here’s hoping the youngsters can carry on the grand traditions and set off on another exciting Carling Cup run.
Till tomorrow.
