Date: April 2002

Henry leads Gunners to the top of the table

Apr 1, 2002 by

“Henry leads Gunners to the top of the table

by Kali Korbis

Thierry Henry’s double led Arsenal to a 3-0 defeat of Charlton Athletic at the Valley on Monday, a win which boosted the Gunners to the top of the Premiership table.

Much had been made of the Addicks’ 12-match unbeaten record in London derbies, and it was nearly the hosts who went up after two minutes. However, Jason Euell’s shot missed the target, and Charlton would be made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal.

Once again, the Gunners had the match won in the first half, with Henry getting the first goal on 16 minutes. Sol Campbell made a decisive interception and immediately turned a defensive moment into an attacking one, sending a long ball through to Henry, who cleanly beat Dean Kiely for the goal.

Freddie Ljungberg doubled the Arsenal lead less than five minutes later, after Dennis Bergkamp sent the ball back across the face of the goal on a beautiful set-up by Henry. The Swedish midfielder trailed the play accurately, however, and tapped the ball into the net for the Gunners’ second of the day.

Again, it took only five minutes for the visitors to strike. Henry notched his second goal on an assist from Sylvain Wiltord, condemning the Addicks to a long second half. Although both teams had excellent opportunities to score after halftime, neither side was able to convert.

It was hardly one of Arsenal’s vintage performances, but with a bitter North London derby against Tottenham looming on the horizon, the Gunners could hardly be blamed for not throwing an all-out attack at Charlton.

The only bleak moment of the match came before the half-hour mark, when Ashley Cole went off with a recurrence of knee ligament injuries. However, the England left-back is expected to make a quick recovery, though he has been ruled out of Saturday’s match against Spurs.

However, Arsene Wenger’s side earned the all-important three points, in addition to narrowing the gap on goal differential, achievements which may prove crucial in May.

Wenger said of his team, “”We were sharp at the start and showed great determination against a Charlton side who were really up for it.

“”I think an average Arsenal team would have had problems, but we were really focused and looked dangerous going forward.

“”We had pace and power and the players were on the same wavelength whenever we had the ball and the movement for the goals was superb.

“”Then in the second-half we did a professional job when Charlton pushed more forward to make sure we kept a clean sheet.”"

Teams:

Charlton:

Kiely, Young, Rufus, Costa, Powell, Stuart, Parker, Kinsella, Robinson (Lisbie 65), Johansson, Euell. Booked: Costa, Robinson.

Subs not used: Ilic, Bart-Williams, Konchesky, Fortune.

Arsenal:

Seaman, Dixon, Cole (Luzhny 28), Keown, Campbell, Vieira, Grimandi, Ljungberg, Wiltord, Henry, Bergkamp (Edu 80).

Booked: Luzhny, Vieira.

Subs not used: Wright, Jeffers, Kanu.

Referee: A. D’Urso (Billericay).

Attendance: 26,339.

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I believe the children are our future…April 1

Apr 1, 2002 by

“Perhaps someone can explain to me why we have a youth system. By all accounts it is a very good youth system, consistently among the top of the table at the U-17 and U-19 levels. They?ve been successful in Cup competitions as well, winning the last two FA Youth Cups.

So, if that is the case why are Ashley Cole, and to some degree Matthew Upson, the only homegrown players to see any sort of time with the first team since, oh Ray Parlour? The prevailing wisdom at Highbury seems to be to purchase players from outside the system. Junichi Inamoto, Francis Jeffers and GVB are some recent examples. Sol Campbell, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg also come to mind. Now I don?t think anybody has a problem with us going out and grabbing players like Sol, Super Bob and Freddie. They are world class, international players. But Inamoto, Jeffers and von Bronckhorst? I actually like all three of those guys, but what?s the point of buying players who aren?t exactly a sure thing AND having a youth system.

I see a lot of our talented youth squad players being sent to other clubs on loan. Some of them will surely seek a permanent move in order to get playing time, especially as we continue to bring in more talent from the outside. So why are we footing the bill for these kids, only to then ship them off to Watford? Why don?t we let Watford pay for the football schooling and then by them from Watford if they pan out?

I?m not saying we should put Graham Barrett, Sebastian Svard, John Halls, Liam Chilvers, Jermaine Pennant, Jeremie Aliadiere, Rohan Ricketts and Carlin Itonga on the pitch against Liverpool, Deportivo La Coruna or an FA Cup semi-final, but they should be getting more than just a look during one early season Worthington Cup match. I?m not just wildly picking names out of a hat here. These are guys with legitimate potential. These aren?t 15-year old prodigies, most are in the 19-21 year range.

We were ahead 3-0 at halftime against Sunderland on Saturday. We made three substituions ? Kanu, Grimandi and Jeffers. Ok, Jeffers I understand, but does playing Gilles Grimandi as much as we do really do anything for us long term? And Kanu, who I?ve always been a big supporter of, well, I think it might be time to close the book on him. Surely there is room for one of our younger players to get a look in there. Twenty minutes at the end of a clear victory seems reasonable.

Earlier today against Charlton we brought in two subs. Luzhny had to come in for Cole. Fair enough, but to bring on Edu for Bergkamp in the 80 minute? To not use the other sub at all? Couldn’t we have give 15-20 minutes to Pennant?

If we?re going to continue to buy players such as Inamoto who are more prospect than sure thing, let?s just close down the youth academy and save the money. That way, rather than buying an Inamoto we could by stronger foreign players.

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