Gunners youth in England
surprise
Arsenal youngster Matthew Connolly, 19, made a surprise appearance
at England's training session on Monday afternoon, where a somewhat
depleted squad were put through their paces at London Colney.
The former England Under-19 international joined in with the 16
senior players who were not in action for their clubs on Sunday -
with the exception of Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson and
striker Jermain Defoe, who had started on the bench at
Reading.
Steve McClaren's original 28-man strong party for the friendly with
Holland in Amsterdam had been whittled down by a spate of
withdrawals, winger Aaron Lennon the latest to pull out earlier on
Monday afternoon.
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was, as usual, the first
player on to the training pitch at Arsenal's Hertfordshire complex
- and wasted little time in starting shooting practice before
taking his now customary turn in goal.
Following a group jog for a warm-up, Robinson and Watford's on-loan
United keeper Ben Foster broke off to start their specialist
practice session.
The remainder - now including Connolly, who clearly knew Micah
Richards from their time in the England youth set-up - began a
light-hearted game of one-touch, which head coach McClaren also
took an active part in.
McClaren must now decide how best to deal with the absence of Spurs
winger Lennon in Holland, who had been earmarked for his first
start in Amsterdam but was forced out this morning with a knee
injury.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who like Peter Crouch and Jamie
Carragher were in action at Arsenal yesterday, could be asked to
play wide on the right, as he did in the 3-0 defeat at the Emirates
Stadium.
Earlier on Monday, Jermaine Jenas also withdrew from the squad, the
Spurs midfielder sent back to his club for treatment on a calf
problem.
So far only Manchester United's Kieran Richardson has been called
up to the squad as a replacement by McClaren.
Call Up Richardson and this youth for what ?
