General Hale End Talk

[lomekian]

 

[MutableEarth]

Very well deserved.

 

[BBF]

Been linked for the last 6 months, kid is part of our recruitment drive in Ireland, N.I and Scotland. He's already played Europa League football for Shamrock and is a first team regular for them.

From what I've seen of his style of play, he's an attacking midfielder who's comfortable out wide, has good close control dribbling and uses the ball well. Past that, don't really know that much about him but he's super highly rated and this is a nice move by Arsenal (for once). I have to give them credit when they do good moves for the academy, as much as I chastise them for their usual poor recruitment which usually ends up empty handed.

We still need to sign a striker at youth level, although I have a feeling that we will wait for Jaden Maghoma to reach u18 level.

Interesting, and also very nice to see we're seriously recruiting outside the south. Liverpool and United have had successful programmes across the British Isles and Ireland for a while now.

I'm always conscious about a player's ball-playing ability first. From what I've seen of Victor, though, I'm more impressed by his intelligence. His decision-making and spatial awareness look very, very good. He is, of course, excellent technically too.

 

[MutableEarth]

 

[MutableEarth]

 

[SeamansSaka]

Really like the look of this lad, be very interesting to see how he develops. Seems to have decent feet, lovely body movement and a seems to have excellent vision from these clips?

Also, always appreciate your updates and knowledge on the youth setups!

 

[MutableEarth]

Really like the look of this lad, be very interesting to see how he develops. Seems to have decent feet, lovely body movement and a seems to have excellent vision from these clips?

Also, always appreciate your updates and knowledge on the youth setups!

His passing is arguably one of his biggest strengths. For me, it's the choice of pass that makes me think he has a brighter future than perhaps we all realise. His use of the ball is top notch.

 

[MutableEarth]

This is my favourite prospect right now and he's so far under the radar at the moment.

 

[SeamansSaka]

This is my favourite prospect right now and he's so far under the radar at the moment.

Thanks for sharing! He does look like a handful! Looks like he can play off either flank? Also, interestingly, looks to be predominantly right footed?? Would be nice to get a right footer through playing off the left definitely be keeping an eye on him

 

[Geofranco]

I don't think he has enough to make it. Looks pretty quick and technical, but I don't think he has more talent than Sagoe, Xavier Amaechi or Taylor Hart and none of them were ability to establish themselves here, unfortunately.

 

[Geofranco]

I really like his profile, I'd be more hyped if he was a bit more agile and powerful. His vision is very impressive for his age, good technique too. Maybe he can develop into the black Carrick if he doesn't become more powerful, with better balance and agility.

 

[MutableEarth]

Thanks for sharing! He does look like a handful! Looks like he can play off either flank? Also, interestingly, looks to be predominantly right footed?? Would be nice to get a right footer through playing off the left definitely be keeping an eye on him

Yeah he's right footed but he seems to be equally effective off either flank which is a bonus. I do like that regardless of the side he's happy to go outside aswell as cut in. Encouragingly, when he's in the middle he is still pretty creative. He's a player that just gets better on every watch.

I don't think he has enough to make it. Looks pretty quick and technical, but I don't think he has more talent than Sagoe, Xavier Amaechi or Taylor Hart and none of them were ability to establish themselves here, unfortunately.

On the contrary, I think the impact he's had since a schoolboy with such little fanfare suggests he's probably a bigger prospect than we realise. At least in terms of dribbling he's arguably as good if not better than all and his ball-striking is already improving to a significant level. I think the biggest difference is that Bailey-Joseph doesn't seemed overawed regardless of who he plays. I watched him damn near drag an already decent Arsenal u17 squad (that had arguably bigger prospects than him in Salmon, Hamill, Thompson etc) to victory in a Flamengo Cup tournament that had both the Quintero twins and Ryan Roberto in it - scoring the crucial goal in both games against those teams in the process. The likelihood is probably that he just misses out but if I had to put money on a punt, I'd put it on Bailey-Joseph.

I really like his profile, I'd be more hyped if he was a bit more agile and powerful. His vision is very impressive for his age, good technique too. Maybe he can develop into the black Carrick if he doesn't become more powerful, with better balance and agility.

I don't think power or agility is an issue. He's had a recent growth spurt and is already a strong ball-winner. Once he gets further used to his new frame I think we'll see him use his physicality much more. He already has the ability to receive on the half-turn. The only question mark for me - as with all the prospects right now - is can he/they sustain their style of play at a higher level, and if not, can they adjust to something else.

 

[viktor]

@MutableEarth

what do you think our future dm ??

 

[MutableEarth]

@MutableEarth

what do you think our future dm ??

Could be. It's tough to see it happening when you know how good you have to be now to play for us. Even the players we as fans chastise in our team are actually very good players. That said, when you have the skillset that Ife Ibrahim currently does, you have to consider what the possibilities could be.

To play the role that he would be potentially playing, you need very good rhythm and timing. Zubimendi for example has really good movement and use of the ball in the little I/we've seen of him in an Arsenal shirt. For me, Ibrahim has shown he has the potential for such with not just the variety of passes he can play, but the passes he chooses to play at different moments of the game. For a player of his age and current experience level, I think that's a very positive trait - and one that could see Arteta taking a look at him and deciding to develop him.

That he also has some desirable physical qualities for the role - his new height, his growing strength on the ball, and despite not being quick he's quite a powerful runner - only gives him more tools to use in his bid to become an Arsenal first team midfielder. Crucially he has the ability to play on the half-turn pretty well.

 

[MutableEarth]

 

[MutableEarth]

Dot com confirmed!



Signed it 2 weeks ago on his birthday. Interesting to note that he's been at the club since he was 6. That's a proper Hale Ender right there. Also that his early inspo was Alexis - can kinda see it as Bailey-Joseph is a bit of a maverick in some respects. The big thing with Bailey-Joseph for me is that he has the gamebreaker gene, brave enough that he will do what it takes to win. Has the dribbling, the final pass and now the shooting - scoring off of both feet in the last year or so! I'm very impressed by him and would like to see how he develops over the course of the season.

 

[viktor]

 

[Sulosky]

I used to be so excited about Wenger’s youth project back in the day. The football romantic in me wanted the core of the team to be made up of homegrown players. Now, years later, I realize that the so-called youth project back then actually consisted of young players who had been brought in from elsewhere. This current Arsenal academy is completely different. It produces top talents like a conveyor belt, and its importance for the future is enormous.

I don’t dare put too much hope into this new “youth project,” because I don’t want to be disappointed, but at least it provides a solid foundation to build the team on. It also sends a message to Arsenal’s academy players and to the youngsters and kids who haven’t yet joined Hale End that it really is possible to rise from Arsenal’s youth ranks to the first team.

 

[MutableEarth]

Doesn't even include some of his most impressive moments before his deal tbh. Top prospect and very far under the radar. Can't wait to see his ascension and see where it takes him.

I used to be so excited about Wenger’s youth project back in the day. The football romantic in me wanted the core of the team to be made up of homegrown players. Now, years later, I realize that the so-called youth project back then actually consisted of young players who had been brought in from elsewhere. This current Arsenal academy is completely different. It produces top talents like a conveyor belt, and its importance for the future is enormous.

I don’t dare put too much hope into this new “youth project,” because I don’t want to be disappointed, but at least it provides a solid foundation to build the team on. It also sends a message to Arsenal’s academy players and to the youngsters and kids who haven’t yet joined Hale End that it really is possible to rise from Arsenal’s youth ranks to the first team.

Wenger's idea did have Hale End in mind largely but we did a ton of recruitment back then as we had good knowledge of certain markets ahead of the curve. Those advantages we had are gone now. We still had Hale End guys back in those days that Wenger liked. The one that springs to mind the most was Mark Randall. Not my favourite prospect but he was very strong technically back then. David Bentley was probably one of the better ones we produced in the earlier days aswell. Hale End really started to pick up steam in the later days of Wenger's tenure.

Right now, we are definitely producing some strong talents but our post-Hale End development needs a bit more work IMO.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Dot com confirmed!



Signed it 2 weeks ago on his birthday. Interesting to note that he's been at the club since he was 6. That's a proper Hale Ender right there. Also that his early inspo was Alexis - can kinda see it as Bailey-Joseph is a bit of a maverick in some respects. The big thing with Bailey-Joseph for me is that he has the gamebreaker gene, brave enough that he will do what it takes to win. Has the dribbling, the final pass and now the shooting - scoring off of both feet in the last year or so! I'm very impressed by him and would like to see how he develops over the course of the season.

I can't believe he's 17 already. Feels like he's still 15 and that Flamengo Cup now seems a long time ago. He's kicked on really well and hopefully gets a stint in the U21 when they decide what to do with Sagoe Jr.