FA Premier Reserve League (South)Mon 26 February 2001Arsenal 3 (1) Derby County 2 (1)Arsenal: Stack; Svard (Canoville 88), Oates, Chilvers, Chorley; Sidwell, Noble, Demel (Brown 70); Kuffour (Itonga 80), Aliadiere Scorers: Thomas 4, Kuffour 54, Sidwell 70 Derby: Grant; Martin; Boertien; Evatt; Hunt; Elliott; Bolder; Murray; Tudgay; Twigg; McArdle (O'Halloran 65) Scorers: Twigg 40, O'Halloran 66 On a disgustingly foul, wind-swept, rain-lashed and bitterly-cold night, I abandoned any sense of mental stability and a comfortable evening in front of the missus, and made my way to Borehamwood to watch the Reserves against Derby. To my astonishment I was not alone with several hundered other loons/fans (delete as appropriate) in the stands. The pitch was either a glue pot or flooded or a sodden wet bog depending on what part of it you looked at, and it was going to make good football very tough indeed. Despite all of that it was an entertaining game... The evening started with a spotter guide of who was present (AW, Primorac, Don Howe, Pat Rice running the Reserves) from the club, who was visiting (shopping?) including Graham Taylor (Watford in case you have forgotten), and a great many other scouts and coaches from the lower leagues. And, who was missing - Eddie Niedzweski (sp???), Matty Upson (with U21's), John Halls, Ro Ricketts, Jermaine Pennant (is there an U18's gathering at the moment? [Yes, friendly international v the Netherlands at Stevenage on Thurs, 1 March - Ed]), Silvinho, Kanu, Tomas[On international duty with Lithuania - Ed], Malz and any other currently peripheral first team squad members you can think of. So who played? Arsenal GK - Graham Stack RB - Sebastian Svard (Lee Canoville 88 mins) LB - Greg Oates CB - Ben Chorley CB - Liam Chilvers (Capt) RM - Guy Demel (Jermaine Brown - 70 mins) CM - David Noble CM - Steven Sidwell LM - Jerome Thomas CF - Jeremie Aladiere CF - Joe Osei-Kuffour (Carlin Itonga - 80 mins)Subs not used - Volz and Israel Derby - Grant, Martin, Boertien, Evatt, Hunt, Elliott, Bolder, Murray, Tudgay, Twigg, McArdle Arsenal controlled the game from start to finish and Derby were an unattractive version of their first team - except for a few flashes when they played some really good football. I don't mean to disrespect any Derby fans that may end up reading this, but what is wrong with your management? When the reserves tried they could play some lovely football - but most of the time it was kick and rush, and they were ragged. We managed to adapt to the conditions quite well - passes were longer and in the air, and the midfield kept trying to play longer forward balls to get the Derby defence turning on a wet surface. There were a few shaky moments, namely the two Derby goals - the second of which seemed offside but was well finished by O'Halloran (or so I have noted) - much to Ben Chorley's absolute fury! The first goal I will comment on in the player by player report, and so to the three Arsenal goals - so, if you haven't worked it out - we won 3-2! Before I do the player comments, I would like to comment on the referee - who managed to book 4 players (2-2), although Sidwell was guilty of being kicked, and Thomas was hit by a ball from a free kick in which the ref interpreted he hadn't retreated 10 yards (he hadn't - but it might have been nice to have given him a chance). But for me the most astonishing thing, was when, in the first half he gave a free kick against Derby midfielder for a foul, the player got up, and standing no more than three feet from the ref, screamed (and I do mean screamed) - "I GOT THE F****** BALL REF!!!" no reaction at all - not a dicky bird. So what is dissent, or foul and abusive language???? Got me... Anyways, 1. Stack - GS had little to do in the game, the first goal was incredible unfortunate. Twigg broke through and hammered the ball at the advancing Stack who made a superb stop. The ball ricocheted off GS back off Twigg and into the net. I will give Twigg the benefit of the doubt and say that he deliberately guided the rebound in... In the second half, the only thing of note (other than Stack's excellent distribution) was an awful fumble by GS when he should have held, and then an unbelievable save from the follow up from the Derby CF (older readers may remember Jim Montgomery of Sunderland v Peter Lorimer in the FAC in 73 - very reminiscent). Other than that GS had little to do. 2. Svard - an interesting selection at RB. Looking at the team sheet, all of the following can/have played at RB - Svard, Canoville, Chilvers, Volz, Israel, and Oates - so we were not short of RB's. Svard looked OK - played some intelligent passes - some of which worked, didn't see him have to do too much defensive work, except for one smart use of physical strength to claim the ball. I have seen better RB performances, but i did get the feeling that SS was not yet on the same wavelength as his team-mates. 3. Oates - GO is not a LB - he is too right-footed. That said he did not embarrass himself and gave a steady and solid performance. Nothing of any note except to say he looks fast. 4. Sidwell - I have so much time for Steve Sidwell, and he did nothing to dissuade me. He is solid - tackles firmly, passes well, uses his brain, has some aggression - is a useful CM. Siddy got the third after a good ball from Noble and a great jinking run from Joe OK left the keeper on his a***, before teeing up Siddy - who, whenever I have seen him, doesn't tend to miss the goal. 5. Chilvers - A quiet and solid performance. The Derby goals came through the centre of the defence - but I don't remember thinking that either CB were troubled. He is composed and a steady performer, not as eye-catching as John Halls - but none of them are. Has a real chance in the professional game IMHO. 6. Chorley - A good game from Ben. He is another solid defender - but no-one should confuse either Chorley or Chilvers with being 'foot through the ball' types - they are not - they play football. Ben is a 'confident' guy who is a captain in the making - he didn't stop talking to players around him once - constantly telling the midfield what is behind them, applauding players (and it didn't matter that they were 70 yards away!). Prospect. 7. Demel - Guy is huge. A brick outhouse. Positionally naive - it was clear that he was being coached and coaxed from minute 1, and, as Marc pointed out - he doesn't have football brain - missed several good opportunities because he just didn't seem to think about what was happening next. That said when he does apply himself he has good control and balance. Not too sure - but I need to see more. 8. Noble - I don't want to repeat earlier reports and I don't want to put too much pressure on Noble - but I just cannot imagine any reason why he won't have a long and successful career at the higher echelons of the game. His control is exemplary, his passing long and short is superb, his dribbling is exemplary, and, now his workrate is fast improving. DN has got some primadonna touches - he gets p*ssed off when a team mate doesn't spot his pass coming - but in truth he shuld be making those passes on a Steve Braddock controlled surface to the likes of Thierry Henry - not a Borehamwood glue-pot. What he has to do to get his break I don't know - I just hope that the club have sorted out their problems with him. 9 Aladiere - when Jeremie is good, he is very very good. When he isn't he is very very average. Didn't score - should have. Has pace and strength - prepared to fight for the ball - has an englishness about his CF play - a bit Shearer-like in his determination - when it suits him. Unfortunately doesn't yet appear to be Shearer like in his striking... 10. Osei-Kuffour - Joe scored one and made one (arrived late to a brilliant cross from Noble after he had beaten 5 - count them - 5 players), but for all that Joe didn't play as well as I have seen before. Frightening pace - intelligent and brave. Can do better. But, can he grow more? 11. Thomas - an enigma - a potentially brilliant winger - Derby had Lillian Martin - who AFAIK has an international cap for France up against him - and when Thomas tried, Martin ate mud. Maybe it was the pitch that didn't help JT - he has the potential to go a long way, and the Reseves with Pennant on the right and Thomas on the left should scare the crap out of most defences. Was credited with the first goal - a big swirling corner which went in directly - although Marc and I both swore it was helped by a Derby player. Thomas is no longer the wispy little winger we saw in the youth cup final - he has filled out and has developed upper body strength. I would like to see him again on a decent surface - and in better conditions, but don't be kidded, he was a constant threat. subs Canoville - had two mins Itonga - bustling, strong, fast, aggressive - this is the lad who scored 7 in a Youth game this year - would have scored except for a disgustingly cynical trip by a Derby defender who was more than lucky he had another defender on his outside. Can't wait to see more of Carlin. Jermaine Brown - I am itching to make a comment about his musical abilities - but I will resist! It was difficult to see JB didn't do anything too mememorable. Gareth Wilson
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