Is Armand Traore good enough to make it at Arsenal?

There was a bit of an Armand Traore love fest going on at Arsenal yesterday.

Firstly the man himself revealed on Arsenal.com that although Arsene Wenger had assured him last season that he was Gael Clichy’s understudy, no such commitment has been made by the boss this year.

But Traore is being used more as a winger in the reserves team than a left back and it may well be that this is where Le Gaffer thinks he should be using the 18-year-old.

Quizzed on the subject, Traore told Arsenal TV, “Wherever [Wenger] puts me I just love to play for the Arsenal first team.”

And on the possibility of being loaned out for the season he added, “I leave that decision up to the boss. If he thinks it will improve me I’m more than happy to go on loan.”

And then there was the praise heaped on him by Clichy - the very player who is preventing Traore from breaking into the starting 11.

Clichy stated that that teenager is an “amazing” talent, backing up similar comments made by skipper William Gallas last season.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not doubting that Traore has lightning speed and is impressive in training, but he’s yet to prove it to me in a competitive game for the Gunners’ first team.

“He is a really powerful player,” Clichy said. “He is really fast and a type of player that we need. I hope he can help push me further as a player and that I can drag him up too.”

I hope so too Gael as the only headline he’s had written about him so far is when he was caught taking a knuckle duster into White Hart Lane with him last season.

“He is a really amazing player and I hope he will be focused this season because I can see a role for him. I really hope that he will make it,” added Clichy.

At the moment, the only way I can Traore getting into Arsenal’s first team is if Clichy suffers an injury, or if something really drastic goes wrong and Gael submits a transfer request.

So is it just me, or  does anyone else think that the hype surrounding Traore doesn’t quite live up to the reality? Am I missing something, or am I being a bit too hard on Armand? Share your thoughts here

Comments

[Dan]

I love Armand Traoré and I believe that he could be an Arsenal great, he's only 18 and has amazing potential. He's been playing at left-wing for pre-season and I think this is a good thing for him as he'll get more games and more experience. We shouldn't send him out on loan because of the lack of squad depth at left-back.

[John]

personally I think the best thing for his development would be to send him out on a two year loan deal to a premiership club. This means we will hang onto a player of real quality who in my opinion will definately be as good as Clichy. Once he has then got 2 whole years under his belt and is 20 years old he can come back a better player and really challange Clichy for his place as who knows what the situation will be in 2 years time? Even if we still have Clichy in 5 years time we must do everything we can to keep hold of Traore as players like him do not come around every day. He is a fabulous player and I have never seen someone aged 17 play in a final like he did against Chelsea, he was simply sensational in the carling cup final. It must just be so frustrating for him because I'm sure he knows that at most other clubs he would be playing week in week out by now at left back and all he probably needs is a run of 5 or 6 games to cement his place; its a shame for him really that Clichy is so good and refuses to play a bad game!

[Danny]

im not an expert on traore but wenger knows talent when he see's it so its obvious to me hes going to be a great player.
i didnt think geal was that good untill cole left maybe to see him at his best geal has to go or loan himn out so he get 1st team football

[JOE.nigeria]

YEAH..i love the comments of JOHN.

But i don't think CLICHY can have a bad game , preferably i feel Le Boss shud play TRAORE in front of CLICHY so that CLICHY wud direct an Co-ordinate his style of play AND he can also play behind CLICHY to see how the MASTER does his own playing style / technique.

For any player to play for ARSENAL he must have these qualities >>>>>>
speed.technique.intelligence.idealistic.creative.

Please all goooooooner fans shud pray for our TEAM.

If you want to be my pal connect me on FACEBOOK.COM
and my Facebook ID is (jozeph twale).

All the best supporters.

[John]

I can see where your coming from Joe but the other thing about that is is that would we really see the best of Traore at left wing? Another problem about that could simply be that he is not as good as people like rosicky or nasri.

[Steve]

i dont think he had the best season last year but i remember watching him in the carling cupcin 06/07 and he was fantastic. i think he has great potential + he is still VERY young. i think people forget how young he is because his name has been floating around for couple of years now. if he was a player like jay simpson who people are just finding out about then everyone would be really excited about his potential

[John]

something else i'd like to put forward slightly related to this I guess is that I would like to see Clichy made skipper. If anyone can make a case against him then be my guest cos I cant think of anything that isnt right about him to be captain of Arsenal. It would also give the other youngsters an example of what one can achieve at Arsenal and that they should remain patient. Clichy waited for 5 years behind Cole and if he was made skipper it would make a lot of them see wat is possible and they should follow his example. This of course isnt the only reason y I think he shuld be captain as I think he has all the other qualities to be skipper to; its just another point which may not have crossed many peoples minds. PLEASE CAN U GUYS REPLY ON THIS AS I'M INTERESTED TO SEE WAT U GUYS THINK ABOUT THIS IDEA. cheers

[stupidassarticlewriterhater]

i havent read this article but the title is stupid... if he wasnt good enough he wouldnt be at arsenal. we only see the games and news we dont see players train etc day in day out. wenger wouldnt have him if he wasnt good enough and if he wasnt weneger just wouldnt play him at all and wouldnt let him play first team football as he does ocasionally.

[jj]

Hopeless!! why would wenger play him?? He is good enough to play for us..........the only problem is that he has some one top class ahead of him...
The heading is crap

[mg]

I don't see why it's a stupid headline or article. jeremie aliadiere had plenty of games but wasn't good enough, as did pennant and bentley and a number of Arsenal kids who have gone on to have decent careers elsewhere. I can't see Traore being better than Clichy and I don't think he's good enough to keep any of the current midfield crop out of the team, so I predict he'll be sold either next season or the year after