At the risk of sounding like a dinosaur, I have to admit that I find unsettling the constant transfers of highly touted players from one club to another. I get that it has always happened to some degree and that it is the logical extension of the adult transfer market, but I would prefer we develop our own players with the Arsenal DNA and love of club.
TBF, as I mentioned in the post, he actually started at Arsenal first but nonetheless I understand your misgivings to an extent. Academy football has become extremely competitive nowadays as everyone's trying to get the next star or the next batch of money-attracting talents. We're pretty late to the party and still quite far behind in that regard. Most of our bigger talents are long term Hale Enders anyway (Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly, Nichols, Dowman etc).
True, but it’s driven by economics. Either the club feels like the player can’t make it at the level which the club is at, or the player feels like they will have better chances of making it somewhere else, which earns them more money. Players are comfortable with having a soft spot for one club, and playing for another. Even when we develop our own players they might get poached, so consequently we’re also on the lookout for players we think can make it her in the future.
Game ended 1-0 thanks to that Annous header. Really like him, took his chance well and lead the line manfully. Dowman came on in the first half and did very well aswell, looks like the most experienced one out there despite being the baby of the group. Scary, scary talent, I just hope the hype doesn't get too far out of control.
He kinda reminds me of a more agile and attacking version of Patino. Crazy that he is still only 14. Also it's kind of ridiculous that we keep producing all these left footed technical wizards. It can't be coincidence at this point.
He's a lot more powerful than Patino IMO, seems much more able to withstand physical contact and get away from people. Crazy considering his age. He is quite aggressive aswell, which Patino was aswell. I like when players like him have a bit of an edge, a real augment to their game.
I could see him playing either role to a high standard but I don't want to make aspersions yet, I just want to see how he develops further. Looking like midfield is where he'll make a splash.
Actually kind of unnerving how much better he looks than players a fair whack older than him. Gonna be real hard to keep the hype quiet.
I was just about to say that he actually looks like John Jules lol. His face and even body type.
Imagine if he develops into a more aggressive Özil who doesn't shy away from physicality. Or if he grows a couple more inches and maintains his speed and agility, he can develop into a well rounded CF. It's been too long since Arsenal had a technical and creative CF who was also clinical in front of goal, really miss 11/12 RVP lol.
I'd be surprised if he becomes a striker. He will probably be able to play a false 9 role like Nwaneri but given how dominant he is in earlier phases, I'd imagine they're looking at playing him deeper. It's not the worst idea though.
I think John-Jules is a great comparison for Annous in terms of style - John-Jules was very comfortable getting on the ball deeper and linking with runners outside him as well as running the channels and shifting wide to create space in the middle. Annous being a former CM/winger gives him a good platform to play deeper and link play in a similar fashion, particularly for guys like Zecevic-John, O'Neill and Bailey-Joseph.
