Wilkins isn’t a fan of Arsenal youngsters
Ray Wilkins isn’t afraid to voice his opinion it seems. Last week he angered Blackburn manager Paul Ince by saying they would adopt ‘aggressive’ tactics, now it is Arsenal’s Carling Cup policy on the Chelsea number two’s mind.
Arsene Wenger, as we all know, likes to field a team of youngsters for the competition that is traditionally viewed as the least important for the big clubs of the Premier League. This has done him well so far this year with his young team defeating Wigan 3-0 last night to follow a 6-0 victory over Sheffield United in the previous round.
This isn’t enough to impress Wilkins though who believes Wenger ‘undermines the value of the competition’ by using the Carling Cup to blood youngsters. He then went on to point out that Chelsea have won the competition twice in four years, while Arsenal haven’t won it once in this time and that ‘justifies our policy’.
Overall, this is a decent point from Scolari’s right hand man. As a big club, it is all about winning trophies and this is something Arsenal haven’t done since 2005. Surely they should see the Carling Cup as an excellent opportunity to end this rather barren run? Yes, they may well get through the opening rounds with relative ease – but will they go onto win the competition with a team of 17-18 year olds? The football odds probably wouldn’t favour it.
Wilkins wasn’t quite done with his views on this either. His final point was that ‘you enter a competition to win the competition’ and that under no circumstances would Chelsea be fielding a weakened team in this year’s Carling Cup.
Emphasising this, Didier Drogba and Joe Cole are expected to return to the side to face Burnley tonight as the Blues look to progress to the next round. In terms of my opinion on the whole ‘undermining the competition’ theory, well I don’t quite buy into it. If you are still winning games, how can you be undermining it? If you put in a team of unorganised, unfit reserves – that would be a problem though.
I guess that’s why Chelsea are so keen to keep their strongest eleven on the pitch for this year’s Carling Cup. Field a weakened team and it could affect morale or confidence should they come unstuck. With an important run of games coming up, this is something Scolari, Wilkins and co can barely afford.
As for why Wilkins has come out with these comments, well it is probably no coincidence that Chelsea host Arsenal in the Premier League in a couple of weeks time. Perhaps he wanted to add a bit of fuel to the fire ahead of this contest. This, admittedly, is normally something a manager would do. Alex Ferguson, Rafa Benitez and Wenger have all played their part in mind-games, after all.
So, what’s different at Chelsea? Well, it’s my opinion that Wilkins is being used by Scolari to throw things out there a bit. Scolari isn’t the type of character to criticise future opponents, so maybe he is happy with Wilkins doing his dirty work.
It’s just a theory though – thoughts?
Here’s to a comfortable victory tonight.
By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting
Filed under: Rants
What are you chavscum going on about?
Wilkins is a dinosaur and some one who represents everything that is wrong with the game. Roman has handed chelsea an unlimited budget to buy players, the club will NEVER break even!!! Where else should Wenger play these ‘kids’???
We will beat Chelsea at the end of the month, and to top it off, it will be good to see our kids get revenge on the chavscum for the cc final. Ray Wilkins is a complete and utter cunt
I think you may be right about Wilkins doing the ‘dirty work’ as you describe it for Scolari, who seems on the whole too nice a bloke for that sort of thing.
Secondly, as an Arsenal fan, I think Ray “Uncle Fester” Wilkins is talking utter rubbish. If anything, Arsenal’s young players stir up more interest in the Micky Mouse Cup as the Arsenal fans love to see how they do, and I think a few others are interested to see how they perform against Premier League opposition.
No-one really considers the Carling Cup a big trophy (Spurs fans aside) and I can’t see this changing. Rather than ruining a lower league side with your £300m team, would it not be more exciting to see lads like Sinclair, di Santo amongst others giving you a taste of the future, and giving them valuable experience?
Uncle nesta has it wrong. Arsenal have added to the competiton by fielding the young team.
I only wish we had that quality coming through and we could do the same.
At the end of the day if we win this cup then who cares? It will not be seen as a succesful season unless we win the league or the champions league.
Arsenal have reached semi final or more in last few years beating good full strengh teams along way….therefore team selection is justified!
spot on sumdger - is it festa or nesta?
Wilkins is right gobby at the moment. Arsenal dont have the luxury of spending hundreds of millions on maintaining 2 teams of world class players. Wenger deals with the real world but Chelsea dont live in that world. The fact that this policy agot us to the final 2 years ago and we missed out narrowly to chelsea proves that its not such a bad approach. Wigan played their full strength team last night but were beaten comprehensively, so I dont really see Wilkins point about devaluing the competition.
This isn’t enough to impress Wilkins though who believes Wenger ‘undermines the value of the competition’ by using the Carling Cup to blood youngsters. He then went on to point out that Chelsea have won the competition twice in four years, while Arsenal haven’t won it once in this time and that ‘justifies our policy’ lollollol
who brings more fans to cc..your going bang no money long live the economic downturn ..everything u won was bought …..old team and in debt bang bang bang bang
Can’t make Wilkins happy - he was recently moaning about Arsenal not fielding English players. Yesterday half the Arsenal team was English but now he wants the foreigners back lol was a pillock
WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH!!!!!!!
RAY WILKINS IS A DUMB ASS!!!!
During his time as a pundit for skysports I have never someone so biased towards Chelsea and slag Arsenal off in a sly way.
What is it to him if Wenger wants to play youngsters. We can play 15 yr olds if we want so he can piss off. I think this is just a bit of jealousy from Ray and Chelsea simply because they don’t have any young talent coming through the youth system at Chelsea. The future of your club can’t always be bought. One day Abramovich will get bored sell the club on and once your current crop of players retire who else do you have??
Chelsea scum.
COME ON YOU GUNNERSSS!!!!!!!!
Well, your policies are different from Arsenal’s. You can use your 145k a week players to play in the carling cup and win it. that’s Chelsea. Arsenal will continue to use the cup competition to blood in its young players. Get used to that and pray that Abramovich continues to live for you.
No cups since 2005 is strange to you? What about 50 years of not winning the title till Abramovich’s stolen Russian money arrived?
Wrong . . . It isn’t all about winning trophies.
The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy and Denilson all started their Arsenal careers in the League Cup and now they are first team regulars. Giving youngsters these kinds of opportunities allows them to develop quicket and makes us more attractive to young players than other clubs as evidenced by Walcott and Ramsey joining Arsenal ahead of other top 4 sides.
And this is where our philosophy is at, our team is built around youth and we use the Cup accordingly.
If anything Arsenal’s policy has enhanced the tournament rather than detracted with some outstanding results over the last few years.
I don’t know why Ray Wilkins felt the need the have a pop but it comes across as pretty bitter, jealous of the positive press we gain in the competition.
The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy and Denilson all started their Arsenal careers in the League Cup and now they are first team regulars. Giving youngsters these kinds of opportunities allows them to develop quicket and makes us more attractive to young players than other clubs as evidenced by Walcott and Ramsey joining Arsenal ahead of other top 4 sides.
And this is where our philosophy is at, our team is built around youth and we use the Cup accordingly.
If anything Arsenal’s policy has enhanced the tournament rather than detracted with some outstanding results over the last few years.
I don’t know why Ray Wilkins felt the need the have a pop but it comes across as pretty bitter, jealous of the positive press we gain in the competition.
well maybe ‘ just angry, cos his scummy club need to play their best players in order to beat poor opposition, or maybe he’s jealous, that youngsters are choosing arsenal over chelsea ( a la walcott). why not rest some of our players, and still win. honestly this man is an idiot.
DAMNED IF YOU DO, DAMNED IF YOU DON´T! Till now, we had to endure the frubbish talk of “Arsenal not giving the chance to young English players”. Now when so many young english talents are given the chance, then Arsenal are disrespecting the game! CHELSEA FIELDED THEIR FIRST TEAM AGAINST ARSENAL KIDS 2 YEARS AGO, AND ONLY HAD TO RESORT TO THE USUAL CHEATING AND THE REFEREE HELPING HAND TO WIN IT!
The comments of Willkins are simply embaracing!
I think Wilkins will find that it is obligatory for EPL teams to enter the Mickey. He might have been a bit more convincing in his argument if he had got his facts right before sounding off. Smudger has made a good point in suggesting that Chelsea fans might actually enjoy watching some of their youngsters who, given Chelsea’s approach of buying success, would othewrwise have very little chance of breaking into the first team squad.
what a load of bollox wilkins is talking! how can you say a team that has been to 2 semi finals and a final in the last three years is not taking the cup seriously ?Wenger can’t win! one minute he’s accused of not producing young English talent, and when he does play them he’s told by people like wilkins,(scolari’s arse-wipe), that he’s undermining the competition ! The last time chavski won the cup was when they scraped past Arsenal kids after being 1-0 down and had to bring on multi million pound players of the bench (i.e robben). what exactly is chelseas youth policy wilkins ?
Fair play to Wilkins, it must be hard trying to get some publicity around the Chavs today after a masterclass last night…4 Semis and a final in 5 years…not bad with kids and certainly not undermining the comp. Of the two that Chavski won, one was against the kids and they ran rings around these established stars. However, I do feel that their age cost them the game that day after the Terry/Diaby incident which really seemed to shake our boys a lot more
Jealousy, pure and simple.
Chelsea COULDN’T field a team of under 19’s and win a game in the Carling cup because they just don’t produce quality youth players, their emphasis is spending big when they need a player, not ‘bring one through’. Why would any youngster go to Chelsea for anything other than money? You only have to look at the likes of Wright-Phillips even, to see that all that matters at Chelsea is money…..if they are short, they will spend. They are a disease in the game and the sooner Abramovich goes and they go bust the better for the English game.
Winning anything is nice. But being a big club is all about winning big trophies and competing in the Champions League. The Carling Cup is not a big trophy. Do you honestly think winning the Carling Cup would have any bearing at all on whether a season is successful or not for a big club? Of course not.
Winning the Carling Cup (and the Carling Cup alone) could only be considered a success for a club with no reasonable prospect of doing better (such as Spurs). In light of that, using it to give experience to younger players makes perfect sense.
I find it hard to understand why Chelsea don’t do it. Financially, if only financially, they are a big club. And with such a long line of mercenaries lining up to see themselves through to retirement at the Bridge, when will young players ever get a chance otherwise?
I remember Wilkins when he played for England he was called the crab because he always went sideways, he was an average player, an average pundit whose opinion would send you asleep, why he is a coach at he Chavs is a mystery, the bloke hasn’t got an ounce of skill or tactics in his head or body, it seems he is an embarrassment, he is a football version of a ‘dolly trolley’ not much intelligence.
How on earth he can come out with such a crass statement, the tickets last night were a tenner and the crowd were given a fantastic display of total football, it doesn’t matter what happens next, what we saw last night was pure total football.
If Wilkins believes in “respect” then why would he take money that was raised on the empty bellies of Russian babies ?
arsenal have reached the finals once and the semi-finals 3 times in the last five years. so when wilkins a.k.a. uncle fester says chelsea have a better record well arsenal haven’t done too badly with their reserves/under 21s have they ?
when u have 20-25 internationals in ur squad i guess giving youth a chance may not be a priority .
and the kids played by arsenal have a good chance of winning the carling cup because they have already come close in the last 2-3 seasons .
wilkins can worry about his own team’s future.
Uncle fester what a joker…Chelski undermine ALL competitions week in week out based on the fact that every player they have didnt join the club out of love for the club but are hirelings working for the robbed russian rouble..Wilkins you were a promising youngster given a chance at Chelsea many years ago then proceeded to mercanery yourself from the chavs to Man U then to AC milan then ermmmmmm…..your career has sunk to new lows culminating in this pathetic attempt at mind games before the game at the cowshed at the end of november …sad man
The fact that Arsenal pull in 55,000+ for these Carling Cup games tells you all you need to know.
Will Chelsea sell out tonight against Burnley? I’d wager there will be a lot of blue seats in the crowd tonight.
I actually quite like Ray Wilkins but he should really think before he opens his mouth.
fester is a wanker full stop. although I go with the dirty work theory cos he is trying to undermine the achievements of the Young Gunns so they dont become an irresistible force…….
truth is they already are…… : )
Chelsea should be silent on subject of respecting the game. This from a club that Europe’s governing body recognized as the “enemies of footbal.”
You are owned by a gangster andobey no fundamentals of good club governance.
Good god man, because of the outrage caused by your disgraceful left back’s disrepect for the game, the FA actually started a respect campaign.
Ray wilkins can shut his bumba hole, we sell out our 60,000 seater stadium with our kids and everyone bloody loves it. What the hells it got to do with that ugly little cunt?
By the way Wilkins the kids that you are criticising put the cc game highlight on ESPN in the USA. Fabianski save amde the top Ten Highlight on ESPN last night…. so you see Arsene kids are actually bringing interest in your precious competition.
Well Well Wilko lands on chavskis doorstep and talks the way he use to play which was sideways and back anyway when you have billions at your disposal its easy to sprout we will play our strongest team crap. Try doing it on a budget and lets see how good the Chavs really are. they must be missing mouriniho or has wilkins been possessed by his spirit. the Short armed bald plank.
Wilkins is a waste of space and time, nuff said
Oh dear looks like the Chavs didn’t “respect” the C cup as much as they thought they did ?
Wilkins you are a mug. you played your reserves and lost to Burnley
Respect for the Carling Cup bleats Wilkins the winner. He must have been rubbing his hands together when he thought about poor little Burnley coming to town and probably had his next bunch of insults ready for the morning papers. I wonder what spin he’ll put on this one as he’s obviously been hired to boost Chelsea’s poor image with his imaginative diatribe.
Ha!ha! Wilkins u mug, if that’s what putting your best side out in the Carling cup gets u then carry on “disrespecting” it Arsene.
Now u can scuttle off just like the crab u were as a player u muggy little mug.
fill your satdiums first before you talk to us ….ps well done tonignt on the narrow loss to burnely with you chelsea kids
Congratuations Wilkins on massive performance tonight against Burnley. Great desire, great performance proper respect!
Well what has Wilkins to say now, “from Stamford Bridge to the Red Sea ..you can’t take a penalty “…..
Arsenal play the kids with an eye on the future,Chelsea watch the Stock Exchange to keep an eye on theirs…Phil Thompson is another genuis, tonight he said before the game “Arsenal’s reserves not as good as Liverpool, United or Chelsea’s ”
Liverpool may be forced to sell in Janurary because of Financial concerns, their second string players are poor and their owners have no support from their real fans…But apparently they have already secured the Premier League….
I bet he feels like a complete tit now they couldn’t beat a middle table championship team with their ‘2nds’
I wish i can laugh on his face at this moment
Fester,
Gomez here, Will you please come home, Morticia is very worried about your sanity (and I can’t say I blame her considering the crap you’ve been coming out with lately). We’ll find you your favourite straight-jacket and gag and everyone will feel safer.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha
I actually wish that Chelsea had got through, our kids would have killed them.
Surely Chelsea’s ‘big time’ players bottling a penalty shoot-out undermines the value of the competition more. Surely Didier Drogba throwing a coin at the crowd, Carragher style, undermines the value of the competition more. Surely even playing Drogba ahead of a young, eager teenager devalues the competition.
With all the money in the world, you couldn’t beat Burnley. Hilarious.
Humble pie, a huge portion please for Mr Wilkins.
This song is dedicated to Ray Wilkins
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XIHXnDdfOgw
What a joke Wilkins is!! First of all, the CC could be any more “devalued.” Second, how is fielding a team which destroyed a a full strength Premier League side undermining the value of the competition?? Even Bruce said that the kids created more chances against them than any other team they’d played all season. Wilkins is obviously jealous - and with good cause.
Chelsea have won it twice so that “justifies our policy.” What policy is that?? Never giving youngsters a chance to come through. And they say Arsenal are bad for England. Most of their English players are bought not brought through.
And in all honesty, who cares about the “value of the competition”?? What matters to us is our club. These kids are benefiting by getting to play in front of 60,000 fans in a 4th round CC match… meanwhile Chelsea drew 20,000 last year for a Champions League match.
Chelsea lives on the edge in that once Roman gets tired of spending money, they are finished because they haven’t got 1/10th the youth program that Arsenal do. When the kids win real trophies like the PL, CL, and even the FA Cup in the coming years, our policy of playing them in the Carling Cup will be more than “justified”… you idiot.
Well.
Evidently Chelsea don’t value the competition enough to actually be in it anymore.
Keep it up Ray! Classic stuff!!!
“Wilkins you are a mug. you played your reserves and lost to Burnley”
First team, surely??? Or am I missing the sarcasm.
[...] than good enough to compete and any disagreement probably arises from bitterness. I’m sure Ray Wilkins wish he’d kept his gob shut [...]
Nice one there - perhaps if you didn’t buy players and developed them instead you could have some kids of your own./
the chelsea was stolen by the referee with Arsenal
november, just i saw this!?