Pennant and England U-21's [R]

all i've seen is sky sports highlights too, but from what i hear, he was the only shining light in an otherwise boring game

 

Yep, he was the only one that stood out.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=269502&cc=5739

Let's hope he can bring this form into the start of next season and push for a place in the Arsenal first team.

 

And in typical Pennant style, he stood out as much for what he said as for what he did:
http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/030611/21/e21xn.html

When's he going to learn to shut his mouth and let his playing do the talking for him? So he plays well in a U-21 game against Slovakia - big deal. Then runs his mouth about having to play on the first team or else he'll leave. Is he ever going learn?

 

Is there a player on earth who doesn't want to or doesn't believe he is good enough to play first-team football? Pennant is a splendid prospect, but EVERY club has splendid prospects(at least every bug club) If every player who wanted or felt he deserved first-team football matches got it the matches would resembles battle scenes from "Spartacus" or Braveheart" or "Gladiator". It is ridiculous. This is not a judgment on Pennant as a player or even his views on that. It is simply so frustrating when you have close to 30 players competing for 10 positions and all believing they should be in those positions. Who wants to be a manager now anyway? This is the top flight in English Professional Football, not some youth league, where everyone plays every match. ALL young players need to understand this, Pennant included...

 

If i was pennant, I would feel exactly the same.. whats wrong with the lad wanting some first-team football? I look at it as ambitious and not hurtful at all.. hell, I personally think it is a mistake NOT to include him in the starting XI~~

 

He's just about signed his transfer slip the same way Upson, Stephen Wright and Richard Wright all did.

 

Nothing wrong with feeling that way. Everything wrong with feeling compelled to spill your guts to the Evening Standard whenever a reporter asks you about it.

So you'd start Pennant, huh? Who would you sit - Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg, or French international Robert Pires?

 

wink~~

i would sell pires to valencia.. insert pennant.. use the cash from the transfer for vieira's and henry's contract/help in the fund of a centrehalf, ect... i know pires couldn't provide all that relief, but it helps some concerns... he is 30 afterall (or somewhere in there)~

 

Why should he shut his mouth? A player's career is meteorically short and he's got to make the most of it.

 

You make the most of your career by what you do on the field, not by talking to a local newspaper that Wenger probably doesn't even read.

How does constantly whining to the press translate into making the most of his short career? Pennant needs to let his actions speak louder than his words. He should act like a pro, and professionals don't do their communicating through the press, agents do.

He hasn't done jacksp*rs yet, so why does he act like he's done anything at all that merits anybody giving a Sp*rs what he says?

 

So is Arsenal better or worse after you make that transfer? Have we improved our odds of winning the title by swapping Pennant for Pires? I don't think so.

 

well if pires does leave, as he has been threatening to do at times, i don't see why we shouldn't move ljungberg to the left and play pennant on the right. but that is only if pires leaves on his own. i don't see starting pennant, but i would keep him on as a sub. especially after his display against southampton. given that both teams were holding back, he was still impressive. and after what he showed in the u-21 game last night, it wouldn't kill wenger to sub him into a few games. i just wish pennant would be more patient. pires is starting to get up in age. he can't play forever, and i feel that, even though he played well this season, he isn't the same as he was before his knee injury. ljungberg did play much better on the left anyway, and with pennant on the right, i don't think we'll miss pires as much as some people think

 

I think any talk of Pires leaving is well wide of the mark. I don't think he really wants to leave and I'm certain that Wenger wants to keep him. As for not missing him as much as people might think, I think that is wrong too. He is much more than a wide left player, he roams across the pitch creating attacks wherever he finds himself, which makes him very hard to mark and gives us a creativity we lack when Bergkamp isn't playing or off form. He's deceptively quick and has an eye for goal as well as being an experienced player who has seen it all and done it all. This is the type of player we need to keep in our squad if we want to battle for the league title again and push on in Europe.

While I really rate Pennant, I wouldn't drop Pires or Ljungberg in his favour just yet. I think that he should be a more or less permanent figure on the bench and should aim to make himself the number one replacement for when either Pires or Ljungberg are out of the team ahead of the likes of Wiltord, Parlour or van Bronckhorst. If he can get to that level and then Pires or Ljungberg are unfortunate enough to be out of the side for a spell, then who knows? It will then be up to him to play well enough to make sure that the manager can't drop him.