I attended Arsenal training session in Malaysia today, It was held at the Bukit Jalil Staduim, and I have to say it was a very interesting experience.
The session training session was as follows:
1.A short jog, I don’t think it was not more than 10 laps inside the field.
2.Then the players played pass for about 10-15 minutes,
3.Then they match where ¾ of the field, where by strikers and midfielders cant go back to help defenders and they need to stay in the opposition half.
4.Then they played an attacking drill where by the defender would make a long pass to one of the three strikers who is on the win, and that striker would cross the ball over to the two strikers waiting, with no defenders around, only the goal keeper. Some players really sucked in his! But Vela and Jack gave the fans a nice show on this!
5.Finally there were some penalty shoot out mainly taken by Theo, Denilson and Sagna, Denilson was bad! Maybe it’s a confidence issue? Theo was immense really! The rest of the players were shooting into an empty net, but from a distance.
The session started with the anchor announcing in the players & staff, he started with AW. The stadium shacked from fans sheers, this is the second time I see AW, he came few years back for Castrol promotional campaign in Kuala Lumpur where he conducted a coaching clinic session, and he looks as tall & thin as ever.
Then the coaching staff continued, most of the fans did not recognize them, except Pat rice, who received a worm welcome as well. Here is what I thought about each player and how they did today, sorry for the lengthy post!
1. Wojciech Szczesny:
He was the first to come on the field; he received a worm welcome from the fans. During training drills he was really sharp, players found it difficult to score on him, IMO he is our No.1 for next season.
2. Aaron Ramsey
He was second to come on the field. During drills he played upfront in a three man attacking force. The drill was quite interested, four defenders are in front of the goal keepers and they are facing a three man attack force in front of two players makers, and they are suppose to defend, while the other team is attacking on the other side of the goal, the same thing, four defenders in front of a goal keeper and the same attacking numbers. The defenders are suppose to stay in their half, same as the strikers and the play makers, so if the play is taken away from Ramsey and passed to the opposite midfield or strikers he can track back until his own half, but he cant cross into his own half. Its fun for the fans because it’s a constant attacking game. Overall Ramsy did good, but to me the star of the yellow team was Ryo Miyaichi.
3. Kieran Gibbs
He played as left back for the Blue team while Traore played from the Yellow team. Kieren was overrun by RVP more than one time, I felt sorry for him honestly, I can’t see him being our number, Traore was way better, and more composed and seemed mature. There was a drill were players who are waiting to shoot the penalties were asked to shoot the ball into an empty net, and he kept on missing.
4. Sebastien Squillaci
He was in the back four of the blue team, he formed a partnership with Djourou, he had some nice long passes, other than that, and he was average, nothing special really.
5. Vito Mannone
Only today I found Vito is short for Victor LOL. He was good, made some nice saves, but was not as good as Szczesny. RVP scored some nice goals on him; he did more than on dummy on him.
6. Johan Djourou
He was average, nothing much to say really.
7. Carl Jenkinson
He look good, he is very quick and I am sure he will provide some good competition to Bacary, it was obvious he was new in the team, because few times he wanted to cross into the other team side but AW asked him to go back, he defended well tho, I like him.
8. Laurent Koscielny
He formed a partnership with Vermaelen, they were decent and strong, Chamakh manage to sneak a goal on them tho (the only goal), but I kinda through the linesman who is one of the coaching staff ruled it as offside (deja vu?). I think Koscielny and TV formed a stronger partnership comparing to JD & Squillaci.
9. Andrey Arshavin
He received a worm welcome from the fans, he was running tirelessly, he made a lot of good runs, I hope he stays with us because I think he still has a lot more to offer.
10. Marouane Chamakh
He was average, nothing much to add really, but I feel he is just too low-key on the field for a striker in Arsenal, if he was playing in a lower league team, maybe, but in the BPL and in a team like Arsenal, he really needs to show more personality on the field, I mean, he needs to be more authoritative on the ball and off the ball.
11. Ryo Miyaichi
He received a strong welcome from the fans, even a better then the welcome from of the senior players got, on the field, he was the star of the yellow team, he linked really well with Arshavin and Nasri, and he proved to be hand full for Sagna. He did not seem as a new player really, I believe he can be an excellent squad player for us, and he is extremely fast, Theo was not able to run him, they run together from just outside the penalty area of Theo’s team to near the corner area of the other team, and although tho he managed to control the ball all the way, Ryo managed to give him a tough and did not allow him to pass it nor cross it, the fans loved that battle, good stuff really, and eventually, Ryo’s team won the ball back.
12. Armand Traore
He was solid, and strong on the ball, I think he was the only player on the field he slide tackle, IMO he should be our No.1 if we are not going to Sign anyone.
13. Thomas Vermaelen
Solid, good passes, happy to see him back, TV is the real deal!
14. Bacary Sagna
Ryo gave him a run for his money, he was not weak or anything, but maybe because its pre-season and he needs to develop his fitness level back to his best.
15. Theo Walcott
Star of thee show, because he really knew how to work the fans, when he came on he received a strong welcome, and the spent time greeting the fans, and when the drill started he made sure to through a trick or two whenever he got a chance, the run he made with Ryo was fantastic, he scored a chip-in penalty on Szczesny and many other things, and when the session ended, he stayed on the field and the fans were throwing their shirts, hats, posters you name it, and he would sign it and through it back to them, and while all the players were already on the field, he was still on the field working the crowd, I really think highly of him now, as a player and as a person.
16. Jack Wilshere
He received a strong welcome when he came on from the tunnel, on the field he was good and made some nice passes.
17. Tomas Rosicky
He was average, its pre-season I feel, but he was average all season, why he is still with the team again?
18. Denilson
Poor fellow, he came on the field from the tunnel, and the fan booed him, he was the only one who received that kinda of reception, even the kit manager was sheered and welcomed, I felt sorry for him, you travel to meet your fans and they boo you, I hope this would be a wake up call for him, I don’t think he will stay with us, but whether he leaves or stay I hope he think of this moment the next time he produces any of his shity performances. During training, he proved to me why fans booed him, he could not pass, could not score, even when he had an open goal, and he gave some wired passes to Theo, WTF?
19. Emmanuel Frimpong
Frompong is a beast, he looked bigger, better and faster than Song, he will give song a good run for him money next season, even if we don’t buy a central midfield, I would be happy with Frimpong as cover.
20. Samir Nasri
The moment NAsri showed from the tunnel, even before the presenter says who is coming next, the stadium shacked from the big roar, Nasri got the biggest and warmest welcome, and the moment the players started to jog, the fans were chanting “Nasri stay” “Nasri stay” ‘Nasri stay”, and you can see clearly laughing. During training, he was trying to read from his body language if he is staying or leaving, he was focused and attacked the blue team with Archavin and Ryo like if there is no tomorrow, I hope I am not wrong.
21. Carlos Vela
A Fox in the box,that’s all I can say about him, he kept him self in the box and sneaked around for passes and balls, I like him really, cant complaint, I hope he stays with us.
22. Robin van Persie
A true Legend! He received a strong welcome, not as big as Nasri tho, but his sheer lasted longer tho, on the field, he worked Kieren nicely and he scored some nice goals on Vito and made some nice dummies on him. He scored with him right, with his left.
23. Alex Song
Song is crazy! He was the last to come on the field, he came on, after walking few steps, he started to make some moves, he was dancing! The fans went mad! Then the presenter asked to make some more moves, Song ignored him and run to the field. After the training session, he took a football and was making some basketball dribbles on JD, and then he took Szczesny and he dribbled the ball around him with his hands like a real basketball player, and Szczesny could not get the ball, imagine two people playing basketball one on one, it was like that, on the running track, it was brief but really fun to watch. Football wise, he was average on the field, nothing special, maybe it’s the pre-season syndrome!
Не ми е јасно и мене. Ама едно знам, а тоа е дека последниов медиумски напад на самото отварање на трансфер пазарот, како да беше темпиран. Фудбалери, менаџери и скоро цел фудбалски клуб беше на одмор, овие плукаа, плукаа додека не им се исушија устите, т.е додека сите не се вратија назад на работа па не им ги затворија. Кај се сега да 
и да предвидуваат пропаст?
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