Arsenal Addict

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