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General Hale End Talk

  • Thread starter M+D
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MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
This kid looks better footballer than Chido. Obviously Chido physical advantage at youth level was huge
Chido had good footwork tbf, he was a good footballer in his own right, being big and fast just made him more of a cheat code. Annous' recent growth spurt has definitely aided him in his development, and I did wonder how he would be used given that when he was on the wings we still had Zecevic-John and Bailey-Joseph in there as well as O'Neill coming in. Wilshere using Annous as a striker is a bit of a masterstroke in hindsight. Obviously picking up where Chido left off at the moment.
 

Rasmi

Calls It Like It Isn't

Country: England
Chido had good footwork tbf, he was a good footballer in his own right, being big and fast just made him more of a cheat code. Annous' recent growth spurt has definitely aided him in his development, and I did wonder how he would be used given that when he was on the wings we still had Zecevic-John and Bailey-Joseph in there as well as O'Neill coming in. Wilshere using Annous as a striker is a bit of a masterstroke in hindsight. Obviously picking up where Chido left off at the moment.
Do you think Kabia has a chance. He didn’t see the ball bs Bolton in his 10 mins
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Do you think Kabia has a chance. He didn’t see the ball bs Bolton in his 10 mins
Seems unlikely. He's very fast and direct, so there's something of a gap for that profile outside of Martinelli but it's a longshot for him given who is ahead of him. I don't think he's better than Cozier-Duberry either. I will say though that his skillset is a great equaliser despite the difficulty he might have in making it at Arsenal. We'll have to see how his season develops.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad

UYL game going on right now with U19s.

Scrappy so far. Josh Nichols very involved, best player so far.
Shakhtar score from their first decent attack.

Dowman a big miss at the moment as he's on international duty. Team misses his thrust and ingenuity in the attack. Annous barely had a touch upfront.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Passing the ball around nicely but don't look threatening. Midfield of Rosiak Dudziak and Copley seems a little samey IMO. Ferdinand and Kabia have struggled to connect with the midfield and with Annous. The defenders are actually playing well despite conceding.
 

Rasmi

Calls It Like It Isn't

Country: England
Was tempted to bet on Shakhtar and chickened out. Outside of 1-2 players the level of our academy is poor. I watched the psg win and we were super lucky
 

Rasmi

Calls It Like It Isn't

Country: England
Passing the ball around nicely but don't look threatening. Midfield of Rosiak Dudziak and Copley seems a little samey IMO. Ferdinand and Kabia have struggled to connect with the midfield and with Annous. The defenders are actually playing well despite conceding.
Isn’t Casey more creative than those 3?
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Kabia and Ferdinand been poor so far. Kabia looking very 1 dimensional while Ferdinand been busy but ineffective. Heaven and Nichols been good.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Half time

Quite an even game with us edging it in terms of possession and nothing more. Shakhtar look good on the counter but we've mostly defended well.

The attack has been poor today, the wingers are being dealt with easily and the midfield is just a little flat in terms of forward movement. Annous has barely had a kick.

Rosiak, Nichols and Heaven have been quite impressive. Kacurri aswell been decent.
 

Rasmi

Calls It Like It Isn't

Country: England
There’s lack of talent in our youth teams. I’m starting to think it’s better players get involved in academy football later so they develop natural creativity playing outside of structured academy football
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
As expected, Adam Birchall is the new U18s manager. Seems the most obvious choice, been pretty successful as u16 manager and has worked with the current U18 team already.
Mentioned in Wilshere's thread. Birchall should - in theory - be a pretty seamless appointment. Possible this may change in the Summer but I think he's earned his spot and has been at the club for a long time having been a Hale Ender himself as a youngster.

Been a tough week for the youngsters with losses for the u18s and u19s respectively. Both teams missing key figures with Annous missing for the U18s and then Dowman missing for the u19s. Regardless of the posts above, the u18s have a pretty talented group overall but the u21s have a decent defence while the u18s have the better midfield and attack IMO. Funny one :lol:.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
There’s lack of talent in our youth teams. I’m starting to think it’s better players get involved in academy football later so they develop natural creativity playing outside of structured academy football
Interestingly though in latest academy rankings we are only second to Chelsea in producing top flight professionals. Wr can do better in producing Top 6 level players but I see the likes of Dudziak, Casey Nichols ending up with solid careers and I guess to the academy coaches that's the end goal and to us fans we expect more Nwaneris and Sakas which is not easy in London where there are so many clubs plus Man City chasing all the top talents
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Our Young Gun series returns for 2024/25 as we get to know the academy youngsters kicking off their careers at Sobha Realty Training Centre.
Andre Harriman-Annous spoke to us recently, and here's what he had to say about growing up in Barnet, supporting Arsenal and more.

I grew up in Barnet and I started playing football in the park when I was four. My family background is African. My mum is from Nigeria and my dad is Ghanaian. When I was around five or six, I started to develop and I was playing for a local team called Whetstone Wanderers. At around seven I was scouted for the Tottenham pre-academy and I was there for a year or so, but then Arsenal and I’ve been here ever since, which is a dream come true because I’m an Arsenal fan!

I’ve always been an attacking player, mainly on the wing. Growing up I was told about Thierry Henry and how good he was. I’ve seen lots of footage of him online and the range of goals he’d score was incredible, he’s someone that I wanted to play like. But I’d say players that I loved watching for Arsenal at the time were Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil. They were my idols. The first Arsenal game I went to was an away game at West Ham United for my birthday and that was an amazing experience. My mum convinced me to support Arsenal because my dad is a West Ham fan!

How I got into Arsenal is quite an interesting story because the scout initially came to watch somebody else but then my mum told me that he was looking at me. When I eventually got into Arsenal it was a very proud moment for me and my family. Ife Ibrahim and Sam Chapman also joined at the same time and it’s amazing to see that we’re all still here at Arsenal on our scholarships. My highlights from my Hale End days were winning a futsal tournament by beating Chelsea in the final, and also winning the Liam Brady Cup in our last year at Hale End before moving to the Sobha Realty Training Centre full time. It was a sentimental moment because we left with some silverware. The best tour we had was Dubai – it was a surreal experience.


Before I was offered my scholarship I was pretty nervous because I was one of the last people to get an official decision. When they told me, I was relieved! I always believed I would get it but you just never know in these situations.

I started the season well with three goals and two assists in my first three games. The coaches have helped a lot. The training sessions are very bespoke and are intense, which really allow us to develop into better players. They’ve made the transition from Hale End to Sobha a seamless one and I’ve settled in very well.

Also, it helped that I had already played for the under-18s at the back end of last season so it wasn’t an entirely new environment for me. Plus coaches such as Adam Pilling and Adam Birchall, who I’ve known from my younger days in the Academy, are also here at Sobha.
I’ve trained with the first team four or five times. It’s very intense, for sure – that’s one of the main differences. But they really support you and get to know you after a while. Jorginho is someone who’s very encouraging and, because he’s a bit older, he gives me good advice and tips to improve my game. From a coaching perspective, I’d say that Albert Stuivenberg has also been very encouraging to me too.
I’ve got an older brother named Brandon, who is a couple of years older than me and currently at Hull City, and he has guided me a lot because he was also at Arsenal until the under-14s. So he’d give me insight into what I should expect as I get older. Maro Itoje who plays professional rugby for Saracens and England is my cousin, so I’ve also spoken to him at times about what it takes to make it in pro sport. Also, friends like Myles Lewis-Skelly and Josh Nichols help me too – I’m tight with them and they’ve been with the first team a lot recently.
Before a game I always need to sleep on the coach – it just helps me get prepared! I have to step on the pitch with my right foot and my shinpads are always the last thing I put on before I go on the pitch. My socks have to always be cut. I can’t play without them.
My goals for this season are playing in the UEFA Youth League and then, towards the end of the season, I want to get some appearances for the under-21s side.
 

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