Gunners groom for greatness
The young Arsenal XI who could win the Carling Cup...
Sunday May 2, 2004
The Observer
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Ashburton Grove for the first game of the new season 2008-2009." The PA announcer cranks up the volume for his favourite part of the day.
"We've just had the team news in and here is today's line-up: in goal, Ireland's No 1, Graham Stack. Helping him out in defence are England right-back Justin Hoyte, Switzerland skipper Philippe Senderos, from the Ivory Coast Kolo Touré, and at left-back it's Ashley Cole. In midfield we have Robin van Persie, Spain's Cesc Fabregas, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry on the left. Up front for the Arsenal it's England maestro David Bentley and José Antonio Reyes."
哈哈哈,好玩吧。到那时,森徳罗斯已经当了队长了(和我的直觉一样啊),亨利因为年纪大些、速度慢了,撤回中场做支援了。
下面的英文比较长,就不翻了。作者主要分析了,咱们每位年轻人的特点和发展趋势。并认为,在下赛季的杯赛,尤其是慈善盾杯的比赛中,温格会让这些球员上场锻炼,大家拭目以待每位球员的表现!
It may be fanciful to imagine that all the European starlets that Arsène Wenger has been reeling in will form the nucleus of his team in five years' time, but there is a compelling reason why Arsenal are so purposefully assembling a team-behind-the-team. There is solid logic behind the decision to buy Van Persie and Reyes while they are 20 and full of promise and to import Senderos and Fabregas, two teenagers acclaimed as the best of their age group in recent international youth tournaments. How else can they possibly compete with Chelksi's unlimited millions, or the licence to print money that is the Manchester United brand?
如果说温哥已经网罗了欧洲的希望之星以组建五年后的银河舰队,大家可能会感到不可思议,但是我们有足够的理由相信阿森纳是多么希望组建一个阶梯式的队伍啊。购入20多岁的范佩西与雷耶斯、把十几岁的森德罗斯与法比加斯提到一线更是对上边猜测的肯定。除了这样,他们没有别的办法与财大气粗的切尔斯基跟满脸之流竞争。
The policy of signing players still in development appeals to Wenger for two reasons: the alchemist gets a kick from seeing potential turned into gold, but, more importantly, the pragmatist knows that this is the only conceivable way that Arsenal can chase honours at the highest level while their new stadium is still being paid for. It's a serious business. Their team of international scouts includes full-time employees in France, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Scandinavia, plus the numerous stringers and contacts Wenger has worldwide.
对于温哥来说,签下未来之星的政策是出于两方面的考虑:他自信能够把这些希望之星变成金矿,但是最主要的原因还是财政问题,在他们的体育场正在消耗大量的资金的时候,这是唯一能够使他们在高水平联赛里面获得荣誉的办法。他们的队伍包括法国、意大利(谁啊,我不知道)、西班牙、爱尔兰与斯坎迪纳维亚半岛的球员,温哥也因为他的指教艺术而闻名世界。
He is clearly taking the long view, as these recent comments on a club website show. "We have young players coming through and I will keep some spaces open for some other players next season. David Bentley is the closest to the first team now, but is losing his timing in the reserves and will go on loan to play. Ryan Smith has had surgery on a knee injury and could lose six to eight months. Then we have Fabregas in the midfield, Senderos could make some appearances and Justin Hoyte, too. We have young players coming through and I will keep some spaces open for some other players next season."
在俱乐部官方网站的声明中,我们很清晰的看到了温哥的长远计划。声明说:“俱乐部已经引进了年轻球员,下个赛季还会继续引进。本特例将来最有希望提到一线去,但是他要先被租借出去锻炼锻炼。史密斯膝盖受伤,将缺席六到八个月。法比加斯将出现在中场,森德罗斯与Justin Hoyte也会有出场机会。我们有许多年轻球员正在茁壮成长,但是依然会在下个赛季引进其他球员”
Liam Brady and his staff in youth development cover every major international youth tournament, including qualifiers. He voices concerns about shrinking numbers of high-calibre young players.
Liam Brady(可能是俱乐部的青年队主帅)的青年队员参加过每个重要的国际青年锦标赛,从而提高了青年队员的质量。俱乐部主席非常关心那些有发展潜力的年轻球员。
"Kids are switching off from football and switching on their computer or DVD," he says. "Having spoken to people at some of the biggest clubs in Europe at youth conferences organised by Uefa, we all feel the pool is shrinking. I'm talking about countries like Germany, Spain, Italy. We seem to have fewer numbers to choose from, so to bring a boy over from France or Scandinavia has become quite normal." He estimates the number of full-time scholars who come to the club from outside Britain at 20 per cent.
“年轻的孩子们正在离开球场而接近电脑跟dvd。”温哥说,“跟其他大俱乐部交流后,我们都感觉到,在德国、西班牙、意大利这些国家选择年轻球员的余地已经很小了。所以,从法国跟斯坎迪纳维亚半岛选择年轻球员也就不值得奇怪了。”他训练营中的年轻有百分之二十来自不列颠半岛之外。
How do they persuade players to uproot at a young age? The sales pitch reflects the vision persuasive enough to keep Thierry Henry happy at Highbury: top-class facilities, a friendly and aspirational atmosphere and ever-improving status on the world stage. Targets are invited to come to grow with the club. As Van Persie said on signing, these ideals were more important than money.
他们又是怎样说服那些年轻的孩子们离家出走呢?亨利在海布里的幸福经历、先进的训练器材、友好而又相互尊重的气氛与日益提高的世界地位是吸引这些年轻球员背井离乡的理由。这些年轻球员就这样被邀请来伴着俱乐部共同成长。从范佩西签约后的讲话来看,上边我们说的因素比钱更重要。
In signing Van Persie and Reyes, Wenger has shrewdly refreshed an area of the team who have - Henry and Dennis Bergkamp apart - grown stale. The Highbury end is nigh for Sylvain Wiltord and Kanu, who have contributed little to the goalscoring statistics this season. But how quickly will the new attackers develop? Reyes will end the campaign with a championship medal but knows he is not yet integrated with the interplay practised so fluently by Henry, Pires, Vieira et al . As for Van Persie, he has been told his first season is for adapting and that his big chance to impress is likely to come in the domestic cups.
签下雷耶斯跟范佩西之后,温哥的球队有了一个全新的思路。亨利跟博格坎普这些老将留下。维尔托德与卡努这个赛季对球队的贡献很少,即将离队。但是,新签入的球员发展的如何呢?雷耶斯刚加入球队就获得一枚金牌,他融入球队并不是很顺利,反之,当年维埃拉、亨利、皮雷斯都是很顺利的融入球队的。再说范佩西,他已经被告知他的第一个赛季将会作为替补登场、这样看来,他的锻炼机会只能在杯赛里面实现了。
But buying for the future doesn't always work out; step forward Francis Jeffers, who arrived with an exciting reputation at 20 years old. Just goes to show that temperament and adjusting to a new club are the biggest gambles of all and that Reyes and Van Persie have it all to do on that front.
但是,购入的新星并不是都能够发光的,比如说杰弗斯,当年20岁的杰弗斯加入阿森纳时已经名声在外了。杰弗斯的失败提醒我们融入并适应一个球队需要冒很大的风险,希望雷耶斯跟范佩西不会遭遇他们前辈的覆辙。
And the most promising forward available to Arsenal is set to go on loan because Wenger wants Bentley to benefit from regular games in the Premiership now (evidently more feasible elsewhere). One man who will keep a keen eye on him is Bentley's idol, Bergkamp.
阿森纳的年轻前锋将被租借出去,因为温哥希望本特例能够从足够的上场时间里面得到锻炼。本特例的偶像博格坎普将会特别的关注本特例。
"I enjoy watching him," says the mercurial Dutchman. "There are things he does in training sometimes where you can see David Beckham in him and at other times I recognise myself. I just hope he will get the time to develop because I think he is a very special talent. His vision, together with his pass, is quite exceptional. If he takes his time, he will have a very good future."
荷兰人毫不掩饰他的喜悦之情:“我很喜欢看他踢球。他在训练中表现出来的一些东西让你看到了博格坎普的身影,有时候我从他身上认识了我自己。我希望它能够有上场机会得到发展,在我看来,他是一个十足的天才。他的观察力跟他的过人一样出色。如果他一直努力的话,他一定会有一个美好的未来的。
Bentley must first follow the route taken by Jermaine Pennant and Moritz Volz, who established their Premiership credentials this season during loan spells to Leeds and Fulham respectively. In those testing early years, when a young player feels capable of playing in the first team yesterday, he really needs to show his character. It's about seizing the opportunity, just as Touré did last summer. The Ivorian arrived for pre-season on the periphery of the squad and performed so heroically that Wenger chose him as Sol Campbell's partner for the first day of the season. Van Persie, Senderos, Fabregas and company will be looking to make a similar statement come July.
本特例必须走彭纳特与Moritz Volz的路线,他们在这个赛季分别被租借到了利兹联跟富勒姆。在前几年,当一个球员感觉到有能力在一线队伍踢球时,他就要证明自己。他们要抓住难得的机会,去年夏天,图雷就做到了。图雷在前一个赛季表现的非常勇敢,所以温哥从这个赛季的第一天起就选择他做坎贝尔的搭档。范佩西、森德罗斯、法比加斯将面临着同样的机会。
Arsenal are focused on building teams for the future as well as the present. This morning a select bunch of schoolboys aged eight to 16 will trot out in red and white shirts at Arsenal's Academy headquarters at Hale End. It's a miniature version of the club's main training centre, with facilities that some Premiership first teams would envy.
阿森纳希望能在将来建立一个与现在一样强大的队伍。今天早晨,一群八到十六岁的孩子穿着红白色的阿森纳队服出现在了阿森纳的训练基地接受选拔。这个训练基地先进的训练器材。
"When you go over there and see nine-, 10-, 11-year-olds playing quality football with quality coaching, it augurs well for Arsenal and English football in general," says Brady. The national team are already reaping some dividends; Bentley has been joined in the England under-21s by an accomplished defender in Hoyte, while Ryan Smith and Ryan Garry were regular England youth players until being sidelined by injury.
Brady说:“当你看到一群十一二岁的孩子在一个教练的带领下进行高质量的训练时,这对于阿森纳与英格兰的足球来说都是正常现象。”国家队已经开始从中受益了。本特例已经加入了英格兰二十一岁以下的国家队。史密斯与Ryan Garry也时国青队的成员了。
Looks as if Arsenal will be the team to beat next season in the Carling Cup.
GK Graham Stack, 22 Confident, brassy local lad excelled in the Carling Cup run. Capped by Ireland at under-21 level.
RB Justin Hoyte, 19 An excellent athlete who comes from a family of sprinters, he has represented England at all levels up to under-21.
CB Philippe Senderos, 19 Giant, imposing centre-back who makes Sol Campbell look slight. Captain of Switzerland's under-17 European championship-winning side and mature beyond his years. Plagued by injury since signing last year from Servette.
CB Ryan Garry, 20 Made his Premiership debut last season and is a versatile defender capped for England. A powerful boy with an assured touch who also suffered a long injury lay-off.
LB Gael Clichy, 18 One of the finds of the season. Signed for free from Cannes last summer, this French mini Ashley Cole showed the composure to cover for him with aplomb. Unfazable.
RM Ryan Smith, 17 Lightning-fast dribbler of the ball. Local boy invited to train with the first team last season aged 16. A whizz in the Carling Cup until his season was cut short with a cruciate injury.
CM Cesc Fabregas, 16 Enticed away from Barcelona, the young midfielder has poise and maturity far beyond his years. Arsenal's youngest ever player, youngest ever scorer and Spain's best player in under-17 World Cup winning campaign.
CM David Bentley, 19 Understandably cocky. Super-talented, earmarked as a future Dennis Bergkamp even by the main man himself. Marked a memorable season with splendid goals on both Arsenal and England under-21 debuts.
LM Jose Antonio Reyes, 20 Arsenal's record signing. The Spain player is quick and mobile and is expected to push on next year after a few months of settling in.
CF Robin Van Persie, 20 The latest next big thing in Dutch football, a complex character with refined technique. If he can learn to be a true professional, he has an exciting future.
CF Jeremie Aliadiere, 21 Joined Arsenal at 16 from Clairefontaine. Had his problems this season with injury and an ill-conceived appearance in the FA Cup semi-finals, but the lithe French striker proved he can score goals throughout the Carling Cup.
If you can't make it to reserve matches follow Arsenal in next season's Carling Cup:
3rd round October 27
4th round November 10
5th round December 1
Semi 1st leg January 12
Semi 2nd leg January 26
Final February 27
[此贴子已经被我只喜欢阿森纳于2004-5-3 13:48:39编辑过]