Arsenal-land

I don't deny his pace, power or crossing, I just one think a one footed winger who can't dribble will be gobbled up by a decent rightback

With Gibbs expected to be out for (guessing here) about 6 weeks at best with a suspected broken metatarsal last night in England under 21's and with Clichy still a long way off from coming back with his back injury, it's Traore as the obvious candidate to fill in at left back.

Certainly I'd rather him there then Silvestre, especially in the big games we have coming up. I don't think he has had a fair look in since his return from Pompey, as I thought he would have been pushing either a wing or midfield left role for Arsenal this season, so I think it could be make or break for him at the club after this run of games he is likely to get. Interesting to see how he takes his oportunity, provided it is given to him. Even doing well is no gaurantee he will have a long term future at the club - look at Larrsson and Gilbert for evidence of that in recent seasons.

If Traore can't get a game as third choice he may have to consider moving on. He's not ideal for left attacker. I'd like to see him get the nod ahead of Silvestre, although I could see Wenger opting for the latter in the bigger games. Personally I would rather have Traore's pace and to invest in his future. Traore stikres me as a determined powerful guy and his pace and technician quality could really rip teams to pieces.

Traore over Silvestre please boss!

I think you are right... if I were him and still did not get the nod then i'd be off in January. What's he got to do to prove his worth. He had a good spell at Pompey and came back to be ousted by the emerging talent Gibbs. He was once thought off by all of us as the understudy to Clichy but now he's way down the pecking order.

I too hope he plays. He will undoubtedly make mistakes, probably mistakes that Sylvestre would not make BUT his pace will get him out of trouble more times than his rival to the position

I'm still quite surprised that Traore is still here at Arsenal given that there are several players who can play every role that he can, and probably to a better standard although in fairness I don't think Arsenal fans have seen enough of the player to make any proper judgements (Or atleast I haven't anyway). Given Armands' age I fully expected him to leave for a more regular game in the summer and I had little doubt that there would have been takers for him too. Not that I'm complaining mind given the current short-term LB situation....

It's a shame that Traore hasn't had more of an opportunity at Arsenal but perhaps it's simply been a case of being at the club at the wrong time. A number of players who can play LB, a change in formation which makes the wide left position much more of an attacking one, and when there was an opportunity last season for someone to play on the left in a 4-4-2 he was out on loan. It just seems like the circumstances have conspired against him somewhat.

Still, atleast now he may get a game or two to show us all that he can merit a place afterall....If he's lucky.

Traore would get my vote over Silvestre as cover while Clichy and Gibbs are out, mainly due to his athleticism. He posseses pace and power along with his height and strength in my book outweighs the experience advantage that Silvestre has.

With Jones not featuring for Sunderland it means Bent is going to be quite isolated (hopefully) and I believe we can cope with Gallas and Vermaelan our rocks at the back and Traore would be more likely to overlap and cause a problem for the Sunderland defence to think about.