Re: Pre-Season Friendly Thread: We're off to Asia!

[KMD]

i don't think fabianski is on the trip! I guess he's leaving

[Jay29]

Fabiasnki was left behind because he lacked fitness after his injury.

[KMD]

i was just mocking the papers...

[Kiwigunner]

Fabianski is able to pull out much bigger saves, though i agree Szcz seems a lot more settled in goal. I honestly would rather Fabianski in goal because i think he is a good season away from world class.

[Sri]

Brazilian midfielder Denilson stormed straight down the tunnel after being substituted in Arsenal's 4-0 win over a Malaysia XI.

The midfielder was replaced 20 minutes into the second half after only coming on at half time.

Apparently angered by Arsene Wenger decision, he went straight down the tunnel.

Arsenal won the game easily. But Denilson's actions over shadowed the victory and surely means his Arsenal career is coming to an end. If that be the case, then it was really a shame that we bothered taking him along on the tour.

Which reminds me, where is Diaby? Injured again is he?

[Jay29]

Hangzhou Greentown vs Arsenal: Final Game of Asia Tour

Good start to pre-season
On Wednesday afternoon, Arsenal played a Malaysia XI that was pretty much the proper Malaysia national team. In a competitive match played in front of 60,000 odd fans in the ginormous Bukit Jilal stadium, Arsenal came out comfortable 4-0 winners with goals from Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott, Carlos Vela and Tomas Rosicky. Every member of the squad got a run out and there were no injuries. It was pretty much the perfect start to pre-season.

Next part of the tour in Hangzhou, China
Arsenal continue their tour of Asia in Hangzhou, China. Hangzhou is a large city located in the province of Zhejiang, on the far east of China. It's population is 8,700,400.

Hangzhou is well known for its historic relics and natural beauty and is indentified as one of the most beautiful cities in China. Amongst this is West Lake, it's most popular attraction, and the place that the Arsenal team went to see recently.

A bit about Hangzhou Nabel Greentown
Greentown was only founded thirteen years ago in 1998 and has since risen through the Chinese league system. In 2006, the club were promoted to the Chinese Super League. Since then, they've finished 11th, 9th, 15th and 4th. Currently, they are 8th after 16 games and are having something of an indifferent season.

Hangzhou Nabel Greentown play in the 51,000 seater Zhejiang Huanglong Sports Center (Huanlong meaning Yellow Dragon). It's a multi-purpose stadium.

What to expect
So what can we expect from this game? Well, first of all Chinese clubs aren't particularly the strongest but they are always improving and can cause a couple of surprises for teams. That being said, Arsenal should win fairly comfortably if they play well.

With the game only being three days after the game against Malaysia, the team having to travel in that time and temperatures and humidity being high, we may not see a particular energetic performance from Arsenal. So like with the last game, expect a good showing but also expect mistakes and passages of poor play.

Who to look out for
One would think that the players who only got a bit of playing time in the last game will get more time tomorrow, while those that played the longest will play less. The likes of Carl Jenkinson and Ryo Miyaichi, impressive in the last outing, might play a half, while the likes of Denilson (if not injured), Sagna, Nasri, Arshavin and van Persie will see more time on the pitch.

It'll be worth casting a close eye over the two newcomers: Jenkinson and Miyaichi. After a good showing, it'll be interesting to see if they can do it again.

My personal picks for this game would be Aaron Ramsey and Carlos Vela. The two were probably Arsenal's best players on Wednesday and both will be looking to earn a spot in the first team. Though it's still early days, another impressive performance certainly would not hurt their chances.

[Spider]

I'm looking forward to see jenkinson again

[Raptorgunner]

When is our next game?

[KMD]

Tomorrow at 12.30 pm UK time...

can't wait for Ryo to rip them apart again... what a beast!

[Kiwigunner]

Sweet lets put in another performance then! Miyaichi can impress again, maybe get a permit.

[Ali]

VEEEELLLAAAAA

[djoe26]

hoping to see our frontline like this ryo-vela-theo tomorrow

[Sri]

hoping to see our frontline like this ryo-vela-theo tomorrow

:O :O Only if this came true, I'd jump with joy!!

[Jay29]

An Arsenal XI beat Woking this evening. Benik Afobe, Chuks Aneke and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas all scored. Samuel Galindo made his first Arsenal appearance in the second half and did well.

[RealGunner]

if JET can work hard, he can replace Bendtner


and he can play on the wings

[Sri]

I hope we have arsenal player streaming this one free too.. Then I can watch it in HD w/o lag, albeit with pathetic commentary..

[Jay29]

So that's our tour of Asia over. Results and performances have been mixed, but it's not too conerning at the moment so the focus is mostly on fitness.

The fans have been brilliant in their support, especially with some of the slogans they have. "frak Barcelona" and "Pay up or go home and wank". Quality stuff.

I'm sure this tour has done wonders for the morale of the squad, which seemed a bit down at the end of the season.

Next up is the game in Germany, where we'll hopefully be seeing Fabregas and Gervinho, and hopefully a couple of reserves like Bartley and Lansbury. Looking forward to it.

[RealGunner]

man i miss cesc so much

i cant think of the time without him in next few years when he does leave

it will be like henry leaving all over again

[djoe26]

man i hope he can stay with us coz he is one of best playmakers in world and i hope he thinks b4 leaving arsenal that it was arsenal made him who he is now today. he wouldnt be same if he was in barca

[RealGunner]

nasri was trying hard to be like cesc, but couldnt. He couldnt thread a pass like cesc does.

In the end it took arshavins brilliance to get the pass rvp wanted


cesc give them out twice in a minute

[Sri]

The only thing I have in Nasri's defense is that the guy has been playing on the wider roles too much and would take a while to be comfortable at the AM role.. But then again, I think he is too selfish inside the penalty area..

[Sri]

Arsène Wenger says the Club’s pre-season tour of Asia has been a complete success.

Arsenal’s week-long stay in the Far East came to an end on Saturday night with Carlos Vela’s first-half strike earning the Gunners a 1-1 draw with Hangzhou Greentown.

Speaking after the game at the Meihu Stadium and before flying back to London, Wenger also confirmed that everyone came through the game injury-free.

“How much Arsenal are loved here in Asia and how much the Premier League has penetrated Asia [has been positive],” he said.

“In China and Malaysia we are starting to become really popular so that is a positive sign. We have had a good experience as a team together.

“There is a big potential for fans here and that is the main reason why English teams come here.”

[Jay29]

Time to revive this thread with a bit of news:

Benik Afobe has been withdrawn from the Arsenal Reserve squad due to play Hastings United tonight. The 18-year-old is now poised to be included in the first-team for their clash with FC Cologne this weekend.

Afobe has been given the chance to impress after the club pulled him out of the England Under-20 squad last week. The news comes after Costa Rican forward Joel Campbell saw his transfer collapse, with Benik hoping to prove to Arsène Wenger that he doesn’t need the Sparissa youngster.

You can follow full updates of tonight’s game with Hastings United on my Twitter feed.

http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2011/07/afobe-set-for-cologne-run-out/

[ArsenalWenger]

Time to revive this thread with a bit of news:

Benik Afobe has been withdrawn from the Arsenal Reserve squad due to play Hastings United tonight. The 18-year-old is now poised to be included in the first-team for their clash with FC Cologne this weekend.

Afobe has been given the chance to impress after the club pulled him out of the England Under-20 squad last week. The news comes after Costa Rican forward Joel Campbell saw his transfer collapse, with Benik hoping to prove to Arsène Wenger that he doesn’t need the Sparissa youngster.

You can follow full updates of tonight’s game with Hastings United on my Twitter feed.

http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2011/07/afobe-set-for-cologne-run-out/

Great news, hope he gets a few minutes on the pitch to show what he can do and how far he is in his quest to become a starter.

[RealGunner]

Maybe afobe can do as good as anelka did back in 97. He certainly has the talent

arsenal 11 playing hasting atm. we are up 3-0 with JET scoring 2 goals and Ozakyup scoring the other

[RealGunner]

7-0 atm

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