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General Reserves Talk

  • Thread starter M+D
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MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Except it's the club letting him go?
Seems like it. I've read it's a discipline issue but nothings been confirmed. All quite weird but somewhat disappointing. Seemingly our wing options look a bit weaker now with the promotions as well as Amaechi leaving. Ebiowei going is intriguing. I'm guessing there will be either some recruitment done to replace him in the next intake.

Or.......

Omari Hutchinson simply takes his spot.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Seems like it. I've read it's a discipline issue but nothings been confirmed. All quite weird but somewhat disappointing. Seemingly our wing options look a bit weaker now with the promotions as well as Amaechi leaving. Ebiowei going is intriguing. I'm guessing there will be either some recruitment done to replace him in the next intake.

Or.......

Omari Hutchinson simply takes his spot.

Speaking of Hutchinson, scored again for u16s. He turns 16 this month apparently. Close to u18 ready. Also, seems like we have ANOTHER CF on the way up in Khayon Edwards. Seems to have scored a lot of goals so far this season.

Also the schoolboy we brought in Marcelo Flores has excelled, setting up all 5 goals here.
 

Symbia

Active Member

Speaking of Hutchinson, scored again for u16s. He turns 16 this month apparently. Close to u18 ready. Also, seems like we have ANOTHER CF on the way up in Khayon Edwards. Seems to have scored a lot of goals so far this season.

Also the schoolboy we brought in Marcelo Flores has excelled, setting up all 5 goals here.
Nice.
How has Omari's developement been? Read About his talent at about 3 years a go.

Is he still at the left back or moved up to the wing?
 

Sniper Mik

Not a Closet Sp**s Fan
Seems like it. I've read it's a discipline issue but nothings been confirmed. All quite weird but somewhat disappointing. Seemingly our wing options look a bit weaker now with the promotions as well as Amaechi leaving. Ebiowei going is intriguing. I'm guessing there will be either some recruitment done to replace him in the next intake.

Or.......

Omari Hutchinson simply takes his spot.
Would be pretty ironic if it is considering how in the Adidas advert they showed him and his parents talking about being focused, working really hard and "tunnel visioned" and all that.
 

Country: Iceland
Seems like it. I've read it's a discipline issue but nothings been confirmed.

Must have been really bad that there is no going back or else you expect the club to step in and help the kid getting on the right track again because he is just a kid. A task for Mertesacker I would have thought.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Think ship may have sailed with Malen. I can see him coming back to the PL though - most probably Man United actually, even though they have Greenwood.

Arsenal on the other hand now have a surplus of talented strikers at varying levels, they're practically falling out of our pockets. I would even look to focus most of our wide recruitment squarely upon the scholarship side as that area is where we need replenishment now - in the first team I'm actually pretty happy with our wide options. What we do need however is another CB and defensive reinforcements of some kind. Possibly a DM/CM in place of Xhaka/Torreira. I want to see how Azeez and Smith develop in that time. Azeez is a perfect CM for us to try and develop.
 

Country: Iceland
Think ship may have sailed with Malen. I can see him coming back to the PL though - most probably Man United actually, even though they have Greenwood.

Arsenal on the other hand now have a surplus of talented strikers at varying levels, they're practically falling out of our pockets. I would even look to focus most of our wide recruitment squarely upon the scholarship side as that area is where we need replenishment now - in the first team I'm actually pretty happy with our wide options. What we do need however is another CB and defensive reinforcements of some kind. Possibly a DM/CM in place of Xhaka/Torreira. I want to see how Azeez and Smith develop in that time. Azeez is a perfect CM for us to try and develop.

You never know with Auba and Laca contract situations. Its understandable if the club is looking at striker targets already and although we have wealth of talent in that position if you lose both Laca and Auba in next 2-3 years you will still want to be looking around you too I think!
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
You never know with Auba and Laca contract situations. Its understandable if the club is looking at striker targets already and although we have wealth of talent in that position if you lose both Laca and Auba in next 2-3 years you will still want to be looking around you too I think!
Agreed. Always top talents we cant refuse. Will be interesting along with what were developing in house.

Martinelli, Nketiah, John-Jules, Balogun, Sam Greenwood, Plange, Matthews, Edwards..........

That's a big group with a lot of talent as CFs or WFs.
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
Think ship may have sailed with Malen. I can see him coming back to the PL though - most probably Man United actually, even though they have Greenwood.

Arsenal on the other hand now have a surplus of talented strikers at varying levels, they're practically falling out of our pockets. I would even look to focus most of our wide recruitment squarely upon the scholarship side as that area is where we need replenishment now - in the first team I'm actually pretty happy with our wide options. What we do need however is another CB and defensive reinforcements of some kind. Possibly a DM/CM in place of Xhaka/Torreira. I want to see how Azeez and Smith develop in that time. Azeez is a perfect CM for us to try and develop.

Azeez looks like a Xhaka with more athleticism and dribbling ability.

Don't know if he has Xhaka's long range passing though, haven't seen too much of that in his game.

I really want to see him start dominating the youth games.

That's probably the one thing Musah has over him.

Cause I think Azeez is a little better technically than Musah. But Musah can just shift to another gear and dominate games.

Even when he plays for England, he just sits back and let's the game come to him.

Which is not always a bad thing, but when the team is struggling, you need to so called big talents to step it up.

I won't be surprised if he ends up being one of those players that don't dominate youth football, but end up fitting perfectly at senior level.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Azeez looks like a Xhaka with more athleticism and dribbling ability.

Don't know if he has Xhaka's long range passing though, haven't seen too much of that in his game.

I really want to see him start dominating the youth games.

That's probably the one thing Musah has over him.

Cause I think Azeez is a little better technically than Musah. But Musah can just shift to another gear and dominate games.

Even when he plays for England, he just sits back and let's the game come to him.

Which is not always a bad thing, but when the team is struggling, you need to so called big talents to step it up.

I won't be surprised if he ends up being one of those players that don't dominate youth football, but end up fitting perfectly at senior level.
His long range is pretty good but he doesn't use it as much.

I suspect the same as you tbh, he has some very good moments but having seen him over 90 mins you already get the impression that hes much better than even his performance level suggests, which is why I say his development with the club is of high interest because once he unlocks that element of his game he is unstoppable. Maybe part of the issue is that he often plays above his level. With aclimatization we should see him become more dominant. Particularly if hes used as a #6.

I think Matt Smith is arguably more dominant, if only because he often takes the responsibility to control matches despite not being as physical as Azeez or Musah for that matter.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐

Predictably, this years Guardian Nextgen pick is Miguel Azeez. Everyone is understandably excited about him.

Theres still much talent bubbling under the surface. Slightly different from when we were producing a lot of wingers and wide forwards, theres a lot of good technical players in midfield coming up. Some know Burton, but Smith, Azeez, Cottrell and now Cirjan look very good in possession - dribbling and passing. Maybe not much physicality but good technical quality.

We may have some decent CBs aswell. Ogungbo is well thought of, Clarke is improving very well and Zane Monlouis has become a regular as a schoolboy. I'm keeping an eye on the wingers aswell. Nathan Butler-Odoye has a real early-AMN-like quality to his wing play, penetrative and direct. While Taylor-Hart is a really clever player and dribbler. Not even mentioning strikers.

It will be very interesting to see how they all develop going into next season.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐

Azeez plays whole 90 of this game. Bit of a 7/10 game and kinda encompasses everything me and @Geofranco talked about with him.

Played some lovely passes and dribbles, also made some really timely interceptions but generally doesn't seem to control matches even though he has the ability. He also has issues with his positioning which is minor at this stage of his career but I think some of that comes from playing as neither an #8 nor a #6, seemingly caught between 2 roles.

I would also not use the Xhaka comparison with him too much now, as much as he hits his passes sweetly. Hes honestly a lot more like Guendouzi with slight elements of RLC from Chelsea.

Other element of this game - I really like the 10 Cole Palmer. Hes good.
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka

Azeez plays whole 90 of this game. Bit of a 7/10 game and kinda encompasses everything me and @Geofranco talked about with him.

Played some lovely passes and dribbles, also made some really timely interceptions but generally doesn't seem to control matches even though he has the ability. He also has issues with his positioning which is minor at this stage of his career but I think some of that comes from playing as neither an #8 nor a #6, seemingly caught between 2 roles.

I would also not use the Xhaka comparison with him too much now, as much as he hits his passes sweetly. Hes honestly a lot more like Guendouzi with slight elements of RLC from Chelsea.

Other element of this game - I really like the 10 Cole Palmer. Hes good.

Good summary on his performance. I wasn't as bothered with him not asserting himself as much in this particular game as England controlled and dominated majority of play.

I like the fact that he is always looking to make the first pass.

He didn't dwell on the ball at all. He made 1 or 2 shaky passes trying to link defense and midfield.

Those sort of passes that usually gets Xhaka in trouble lol.

But for majority of the game, he looked very composed.

He is just a typical Arsenal midfielder, I'm sure Wenger would have loved him.

Palmer looks a bit awkward, but very skillful. Musah looked like a grown man when he came on.

So strong for his age, he will be a monster in the future.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
The u16s played the Istria Youth Cup in Croatia the past three days where they finished 3rd. Two of their matches were streamed on YouTube. Just some few observations .
Goalkeeper Pedro Virginia looked confident and assured in both matches I watched. The defenders really caught my eye. Zane Monlouis and Zach Awe looked very assured on the ball . Both are England youth internationals. Zach Awe particularly is very tall like Zech Medley but very mobile and impressive close control with the ball. He played in defense and midfield. His passing looked really good. He really impressed as I had never seen him play before unlike Monlouis.
The games weren't of high quality understandably at that level . It was very end to end with little fluidity from all sides especially in midfield.
Omari Hutchinson who was the captain played well but is still quite tiny hence he struggled a bit with some physical duels.
Marcelo Flores really stood out. He scored twice and I think had two assists in the tournament. He reminded me of Coutinho watching him .Its sad we lost Musah but this guy looks like he'll become a real baller. Very good dribbling and close control and can turn quickly with the ball like Nelson.
There was also a tiny player called Charles Sagoe who though very tiny, the ball was glued to his feet.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐

Next Generation 2019: 60 of the best young talents in world football

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...0-of-the-best-young-talents-in-world-football

The 2002 boys: Yunus Musah and Catalin Cirjan in this lot. I don't now this Catalin boy. Can anyobody tell me something about him?

I guess Camavinga and Fati the two who already stand out.
Cirjan is a Romanian scholar we took on at the beginning of the season but I believe he signed at the start of the year. He looks very good, comfortable on the ball and technically assured. Seems used to playing against decent competition due to playing against adults already. I like him so far. Will be very interesting to see his development towards the end of the season.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
The U23s lost 3-1 to Chelsea tonight . Chelsea were mostly the better team simply because their defence made less mistakes . Their goals came from crosses . Mavropanos didn't play well and it's worrying . Clarke had an off day too. Don't know why the first sub came at the 86th minute but to be fair only greenwood could change the game from the bench the other sub were Omole and Medley.
On the other hand, Balogun was the best player on both sides. He was pressing and running at the Chelsea defenders and creating chances for himself . His shot led to the goal by Cottrell but the attack is clearly struggling without Saka Amaechi Willock Nketiah TJJ . Balogun was a lone ranger out there . Cottrell had a better game than Smith and Burton and really offered Balogun a lot of support .
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
The U23s lost 3-1 to Chelsea tonight . Chelsea were mostly the better team simply because their defence made less mistakes . Their goals came from crosses . Mavropanos didn't play well and it's worrying . Clarke had an off day too. Don't know why the first sub came at the 86th minute but to be fair only greenwood could change the game from the bench the other sub were Omole and Medley.
On the other hand, Balogun was the best player on both sides. He was pressing and running at the Chelsea defenders and creating chances for himself . His shot led to the goal by Cottrell but the attack is clearly struggling without Saka Amaechi Willock Nketiah TJJ . Balogun was a lone ranger out there . Cottrell had a better game than Smith and Burton and really offered Balogun a lot of support .
Yeah watched it aswell, it wasnt a great game. This isn't the strongest set of u23s we've had for sure, particularly the midfield which was good technically but one paced otherwise.

Smith was OK but can't be in there with both Cottrell and Burton. Not a good combo. Mavropanos had a shocker. Balogun and Cottrell were both good and I thought Coyle had his best game in a while. Of this group, I can see Balogun, Cottrell and Smith doing really well.
 
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