News on the youngsters, Goetze rumours rumble on and loans in January?

Hello all. It’s a holiday here in the UAE, so I have time to write a blog post for a change!

As we all know, we’re out of the Carling Cup after we lost at home to City for the first time in 28 matches. A bit of a shame, but I’m not that sad. Admittedly had we squeezed through then we would have had a good chance of winning, but a second-string that cost about as much as one of their players put in a top performance, with most players impressing. GOOD playa highlights Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s performance, while Joss at ArsenalReport highlights the effort from the side as a whole, with a bit on the side about Marouane Chamakh. For me, the midfield pairing of Frimpong and Coquelin combined well, with the latter particularly impressive. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the young Frenchman, so I’m glad to see him impressing. You can watch a video of Frimpong and Coquelin in that match here. Also, be sure to check out all the post-match interviews and reaction.

Jeorge Bird has written a piece for Arseblog News on this year’s Carling Cup run and who has benefitted the most. Worth a read if you’re interested in the youngsters on the fringes. Ignasi Miquel is one who impressed this year and he’s spoken about how playing out of position against Adam Johnson was one of his toughest challenges. Miquel has impressed this year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go out on loan in January. Obviously Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain is another who has received a lot of plaudits this season and he’s been speaking as well. Despite calls for the young midfielder to be involved more regularly, he himself admits that he didn’t expect to be involved every week. Personally, I think he needs to improve his all-round game before he can really push for a first-team place, but I would certainly expect him to feature in match-day squads more often come January. He also admits that he can’t think of an England place until he’s made it at Arsenal.

In other news, Emmanuel Frimpong admits that he may be one of those who goes out on loan in January. The likes of Jack Wilshere have benefitted from Premier League experience on loan before, while players like Benik Afobe, Emmanuel Frimpong and maybe even Ryo Miyaichi or Oxlade-Chamberlain may seek a similar type of loan to benefit from the experience. In related news, the Reserves lost 2-0 away to Aston Villa. It doesn’t sound overly impressive, but we lost 10-1 last time we played them and the team was massively reshuffles with a whole bunch of players going out on loan.

A bunch of other things then. The Mirror has linked us with Mario Goetze [shock, horror. Never saw that coming!]. There’s still a whole Usmanov vs. Kroenke battle going on as well. It turns out we’ve spent quite a bit of money on agents fees this year, although considering the amount of business that went on, particularly leading upto deadline day, it’s hardly surprising. The Arsenal Ladies played a charity match in their tour of Japan yesterday that ended in a 1-1 draw. Laura Harvey spoke afterwards about the match and the tour in general.

One last thing, here’s a video of Joel Campbell’s performance vs. Nice. That’s it for now, let’s hope the weekend gets here quickly! As always you can like the blog on facebook and follow me on twitter @SavageGooner. Until next time folks.