General Hale End Talk

[MutableEarth]

Annual Borehamwood v Arsenal U21 Pre-Season Friendly highlights:

View attachment 49609

Watched this on the dotcom.

-Not really much to write home in the first half, the positives are that we look FAR more solid with Horseman as the manager. Ife Ibrahim and Andre Harriman-Annous are far beyond this level now at their best, and I think it's time to loan them. Everyone else did OK, special mention to Julienne because I thought he was solid overall.

-The U18s for me were impressive largely, particularly the full-backs Saurap Sampang and Hakeem Abubakar. Our new CB from Northern Ireland, Dan McCarron was pretty sharp, and taller than expected.

-Mikael Bonaventure-Yetna was probably the biggest story out of this game IMO, he replaced Ibrahim at the base of midfield and looked very comfortable against grown men. Moved the ball really quickly and didn't dilly-dally, physically impressive and a nice solid pass on him. Expect to see him start for the U18s alongside Nwaneri Jr and (hopefully) Nduka.

-Bowen Phillips scored a really nice goal and he's someone I expect to have a much better season this time around. Zecevic-John was also really threatening, but perhaps not at his best yet as took a few too many touches around the box but his dribbling was pace troubled the opposition.

-Forgot to add, Khari Ranson's passing is very good for a goalkeeper. Strong distribution.

 

[teamsoutheast]

-The U18s for me were impressive largely, particularly the full-backs Saurap Sampang and Hakeem Abubakar.

Sampang is an interesting player. He caught my eye at the Flamengo Cup. I was impressed with his technical ability.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Is he any good?

He's gone... I wonder what made him want to leave?

 

[Clrnc]

He's gone... I wonder what made him want to leave?

I will be in trouble if I say it but in general at hale end it has been a trend in the past few years. Talking to Dowman and Nwaneri (who both ended up staying btw) personally helped me understand what's happening and sometimes we can't blame the players from their POV

 

[The Ducking Duck]

I will be in trouble if I say it but in general at hale end it has been a trend in the past few years. Talking to Dowman and Nwaneri (who both ended up staying btw) personally helped me understand what's happening and sometimes we can't blame the players from their POV

What? You talked to them?

 

[Clrnc]

What? You talked to them?

Yeah last summer

 

[teamsoutheast]

I will be in trouble if I say it but in general at hale end it has been a trend in the past few years. Talking to Dowman and Nwaneri (who both ended up staying btw) personally helped me understand what's happening and sometimes we can't blame the players from their POV

But are things that bad that a player stays for just 1 season after we actually played him in both the U18 and U21 teams showing there was actual career progression?

 

[Clrnc]

But are things that bad that a player stays for just 1 season after we actually played him in both the U18 and U21 teams showing there was actual career progression?

Constant false promises about pathway, seeing young players not given fair chances etc and then their parents not being convinced by our plans for them vs the promises by other teams.

This was true for a few players etc. Word has been going around hale end for awhile now.

That said, there are some cases where it was the opposite. Was told Obi's head was turn by money and we were okay to let him go as we didn't think he was good enough to ever break into our first team. His advantage was just physical which will quickly disappear when he goes into senior football, but in terms of football intelligence our youth coaches thought he was way below par.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Constant false promises about pathway, seeing young players not given fair chances etc and then their parents not being convinced by our plans for them vs the promises by other teams.

This was true for a few players etc. Word has been going around hale end for awhile now.

That said, there are some cases where it was the opposite. Was told Obi's head was turn by money and we were okay to let him go as we didn't think he was good enough to ever break into our first team. His advantage was just physical which will quickly disappear when he goes into senior football, but in terms of football intelligence our youth coaches thought he was way below par.

MLS involved more than 2/3 of our games last season even with struggled form. Nwaneri also although last seaaon we failed hom. Saka our star player is developed here. Last season we saw Salmon and Dowman get chances. Dixon, Ibrahim, Bailey-Joseph got their debuts.

This all while in highly competive environment where we got to two finals, and won the league.

Maybe we can do more but think we are doing more than many teams at this level for sure.

 

[lomekian]

Constant false promises about pathway, seeing young players not given fair chances etc and then their parents not being convinced by our plans for them vs the promises by other teams.

This was true for a few players etc. Word has been going around hale end for awhile now.

That said, there are some cases where it was the opposite. Was told Obi's head was turn by money and we were okay to let him go as we didn't think he was good enough to ever break into our first team. His advantage was just physical which will quickly disappear when he goes into senior football, but in terms of football intelligence our youth coaches thought he was way below par.

Ultimately, with most of the ones who left that we wanted to keep, it was either stacked numbers ahead of them or ££££. Kyran Thomson probably left for footballing reasons, but the others all went to clubs with more players ahead of them in the pipeline and strangely enough for more money too.

Not pretending all is roses, and the upheaveal this summer probably hasn't helped, but at that age, there is only so much the club can do. Nduka was super platformed for his age, but given he only left Charlton a year ago, he probably didn't feel too many ties to the club.

Of course, lots of it will be players or parents not seeing a clear route to minutes and other clubs sweet talking them (despite having no more pathway to offer)

 

[teamsoutheast]

Ultimately, with most of the ones who left that we wanted to keep, it was either stacked numbers ahead of them or ££££. Kyran Thomson probably left for footballing reasons, but the others all went to clubs with more players ahead of them in the pipeline and strangely enough for more money too.

Not pretending all is roses, and the upheaveal this summer probably hasn't helped, but at that age, there is only so much the club can do. Nduka was super platformed for his age, but given he only left Charlton a year ago, he probably didn't feel too many ties to the club.

Of course, lots of it will be players or parents not seeing a clear route to minutes and other clubs sweet talking them (despite having no more pathway to offer)

Parents can be a major problem in some cases...

 

[teamsoutheast]

Arsenal u16 are playing against a china select 11 in Shanghai live now.

 

[MutableEarth]

Arsenal u16 are playing against a china select 11 in Shanghai live now.

Some interesting talents on display here, particularly Mikael Yetna who I think is gonna be the main schoolboy to pull up trees this year. Munoz obviously will be the one everyone is talking about.

Jayden Oba is probably the more underrated player in this group and he got a nice finish in this game. I'd like to see more of Sesay and McCarron aswell. The player I'm most looking forward to seeing more of is Jaden Maghoma. Potentially complete #9 profile but still a schoolboy so a lot to happen before we know more, eager to see him get a bit of time and to see if he's likely to kick on.

 

[viktor]

 

[StefanB]

Doesn't look quite as polished technically as Ethan did at the same age, but he looks far more "feisty" as a player. Which Ethan sadly lacks

 

[lomekian]