Arsenal’s second, third and fourth squad: a quick review. « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does

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By Tony Attwood

This season Arsenal are running four squads of players, rather than the five that have been used in the past…

• The first team squad (quaintly known as “the 25″)
• The loan squad
• The reserve squad
• The youth squad

What is quite obviously missing when compared with previous years is the League Cup squad.  This season the league cup team is being picked from the 25, as is the Champs League team (at least away in the Ukraine).   There is of course still the option to pick youth players who are registered but not in the “25″, but so it is looking as if this would be a one-off, if it ever occurred.

The benefit of this new approach is twofold. First it means that squad members of the 25 do stand a chance of more games, and second it means that the loans can get moving early, rather than waiting for the league cup run to come to an end.

And of course this change in approach has come about as a result of the “25″ rule, which prohibits the easy movement of older players around.  While we are not particularly challenged by this rule this year, we will be next year when several of our younger players reach 21.

However I believe the development into four rather than five teams is also the result of something else: the completion of the production line and the maturity of the squad.   We were able away to Shakhtar to put out a team that was missing four of the first choice back five, two of the first choice midfield, and two from the forward line.  OK we didn’t win, but we still put up a good show.

That shows just how far this side has come, and just how close we are to getting a “25″ that is going to be truly interchangeable.  The time could well come when there is no first choice starting XI – just an ever rotating 25.

But moving away from the 25,  Arsenal currently have 14 players out on loan.

• Benik Afobe – Huddersfield Town
• Nacer Barazite – Vitesse Arnhem
• Kyle Bartley – Sheffield United
• Pedro Botelho – Cartagena
• Francis Coquelin – Lorient
• Thomas Cruise – Carlisle United
• Cedric Evina – Oldham Athletic
• Luke Freeman – Yeovil Town
• Samuel Galindo – Salamanca
• Gavin Hoyte – Lincoln City
• Vito Mannone – Hull City
• Mark Randall – Rotherham United
• Armand Traore – Juventus
• Sanchez Watt – Leeds United

Not all are making progress, and not all will come through to play for Arsenal. There’s a run down on Arsenal.com and Young Guns does an excellent job in keeping us up to date of course, but here’s a few snippets, and maybe you can help me out with some other news beyond the bare facts and figures of the Arsenal site…

Kyle Bartley’s got a broken jaw.

Pedro Bothelo is playing and scoring, but has had passport problems.  However I would imagine he’ll get a Spanish passport this year, and that will allow him to join us.

Francis Coquelin has hardly been playing for Lorient, which surprises me, but then I don’t see the French League, so I don’t really know what’s going on (no change there).  But he did play in the last game and apparently did well.

Gavin Hoyte was on loan at Brighton last year I believe and seems to be slipping down the pecking order.

Vito Mannone has not yet played for Hull, but is learning how to spit.

Mark Randall got injured almost as soon as he arrived at Rotherham, and is out for six weeks.

Similar thing happened to Armand Traore, and he hasn’t played for Juve.

Sanchez Watts is playing regularly in a very ordinary Leeds team who are struggling to do anything in the Championship.

Of course as players go out on loan, or (as in the case of JET, Lansbury and Eastmond, move up to the higher levels) the reserves have to pull in new, inexperienced players, and that has affected the team – who in their last match suffered their first defeat, against Villa.

The team was

• James Shea
• Havard Nordtveit
• Thomas Cruise
• Nico Yennaris
• Sead Hajrovic
• Iganasi Miquel
• Gilles Sunu
• Oguzhan Ozyakup
• Rhys Murphy
• Chuks Aneke
• Conor Henderson

The result leaves us second, four points behind the leaders Villa, with two games in hand.

If it is getting tougher in the reserves, it is doubly so in the youth team, who sit in fourth in their league, and have lost their last two matches.

Overall I guess the trick now would be to try and identify the players who might step up in each case.

From the loan players I might go for over time would be…

• Benik Afobe – Huddersfield Town
• Kyle Bartley – Sheffield United
• Pedro Botelho – Cartagena
• Francis Coquelin – Lorient
• Thomas Cruise – Carlisle United
• Luke Freeman – Yeovil Town
• Samuel Galindo – Salamanca

although that’s a fairly wide choice I admit.

From the reserves, how about

• James Shea
• Thomas Cruise
• Iganasi Miquel
• Gilles Sunu
• Oguzhan Ozyakup
• Rhys Murphy
• Chuks Aneke
• Conor Henderson

which is hardly any reduction at all.  (You can tell I’m an old softy at heart – I want them all to do well).

And there is Wellington Silva from January of course.

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