Which young Arsenal forward will start against Chelsea?

I could well be wrong about this and it would not be the first time that Arsene Wenger had sprung a surprise with his Arsenal starting line-up, but I am going out on a limb and suggesting that two of the three forward roles for the Community Shield clash with Chelsea at the weekend have already been taken by Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott.

And as Danny Welbeck is still carrying an injury problem, while Alexis Sanchez has only just come back to north London after a late summer holiday following the Copa America success of his country Chile, neither of those two Arsenal forwards will be fit to face Jose Mourinho´s team.

There is a possibility that the Frenchman could do his usual trick of playing one of our creative midfielders out on the left and that would put Wilshere, Chamberlain, Ramsey and Cazorla in the frame. But with Sunday´s game being the last chance to experiment and give the young players a chance before the real start of the season, I think the boss will go for one of them.

And he has three very good options in Chuba Akpom, Alex Iwobi and Jeff Reine-Adelaide, all of whom have impressed so far in the pre-season games. Maybe you could say that Akpom is actually the closest to the first team and so that would make him the favourite. But the other two have really caught the eye as well and perhaps the fearlessness of youth would be ideal against Chelsea.

What would you do Gooners?

Tags Akpom Iwobi Reine-Adelaide

22 Comments

  1. Start them all, it’s a charity shield and why not test the young against the league holders!
    It’s a marathon not a sprint!

    1. A 6-0 lose could destroy the race before it even starts, and you you damn right that they are able to do such things to us.

      1. Just because we won the Emirates Cup doesn’t give us a mandate to walk around like billy big bollocks thinking we’ve caught up to the league winners, why bring about a test to the youngsters when the senior side haven’t even passed that test?

  2. arsenal could be a super fast team if we played w/o giroud. we would need to re-think our plays and style a bit, but in the long run it’d be better to go without the hold-up style giroud brings.
    there’s a huge speed potential w akpom, iwobi and adelaide. giroud is the odd man out. no disrespect, but we should sell him and use the money to buy a fast striker.

  3. Start Thierr Henry up front and in the second half we can sub him with Reyes. Nevermind Reyes just let Thierry play.

  4. Psychologically it`s very important we beat Chelsea and stay on the winning streak prior to the new season starting. Myself, I think Wenger will start with a conservative line up and introduce one or two younger players in the second half depending on how things are going. I see this match as a 1-1 draw.

  5. That’s right put them young boys they’ll destroy the blues because they really wanna show them self just like they did on the passed pre season games

  6. Iwobi has gone ok
    on the left but is
    he ready to replace
    Sanchez v Westham?
    I reckon Sanchez will be back for Liverpool in game 3.
    Akpom on the bench maybe.
    Good test for Walcott and Ox to show what they
    can do up front versus the blue bus.
    But will the bus be rolled out?
    Will Cech play? Or will Wenger avoid any
    mind games by leaving Cech out?
    Would not be surprised to see both Managers
    mix things up a bit not wanting to show their full hands.
    No doubt Jose and Wenger will say how
    there is great respect between the two.
    It always happens…wait till the regular season though 🙂
    All in all a cagey diplomatic charade
    every one smiling through gritted teeth and
    positive up beat manager speak.
    Just get through it injury free and be ready
    for what really counts the EPL.

  7. I think Alex Iwobi should get a run in that Game. Akpom is too selfish on the ball, he needs to learn to pass. Raine-Adelaide has a natural ability to glide pass players but he also looks to dribble before making a pass.

  8. That shield looked awfully shiny last year. Would like to see it hoisted again! Haven’t seen Cech yet in action,if I remember correctly he had a knack for where a player would shoot. Sometimes favoring near post when full well knowing the shooter would go far post and adjusting right before the shot.

    1. I never forget an
      Arsenal player.
      Abou Nagbree that short
      blond aboriginal guy from Australia
      we released recently coz
      he was injury prone.
      Yup I gotta good memory 🙂
      Oh no wait a minute maybe he was that
      ginger haired Japanese bloke Ryobitussin
      no that was Ed Sheeran or is he that Italian Guy
      Lukassio Portalooski who has gone to Benfica 🙂
      I am a true fan.. knows all about Arsenal I do 🙂

  9. Of the 3 I’d go for iwobi, think hel be given the odd game this year, however I’m sure aw will go with jack.

    Wilshere. Walcott. ox

    . ozil
    .
    . Ramsey coquelin

    Monreal. kos. mert. bellerin

    cech

    2-0 gunners

  10. Don’t care what anyone says. Arsenal vs Chelsea at Wembley is a huge game regardless of what kind of contest it is. Community Shield or not, the result matters to me.

  11. Chelsea will be putting a strong squad, so should Arsenal. Last season we field a strong team, Wenger knows what to do

  12. Stop with that thing that ox is a creative mid…he is a winger, a naural winger that i dont know why wenger want to transform to a cm where we have aldReady enought talent…

    Cech
    Bellerin. Mert. Kos. Monreal
    Le coq. Santi
    The ox. Ozil. Walcott
    Giroud

    I would plz ox in the rw because he can help bellerin in def while walcott is protect with monreal…im not happy with ramsey in the bench, but with cazorlas form right now is impossible to him…if we are winning i would give him the second half…with weaker teams i would play ramsey alongside santi and in difficult games (chelsea maybe) i would play le coq with ramsey

  13. Team selection in the past has been a nightmare for Wenger with a shortage of quality players and injuries. Now we have enough injury free quality he must be enjoying his job without the pressure.
    However, men with money can afford to make mistakes, and do. A poor man is more careful he has no choice. Let`s hope he doesn`t forget the lessons of the past.

  14. I hope adelaide goes to durban with the u19s. My squad would be

    Cech
    Debuchy mertesacker koscielny monreal
    Coquelin cazorla
    Ramsey ozil wilshire
    Walcott

    Ospina or Martinez
    Bellerin or chambers
    Gibbs
    Arteta
    Chamberlain
    Giroud
    Akpom

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