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General Reserves Talk

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Andrew Cole Linighan

Active Member

Country: England

Player:Saka
Starting line-up:

--------------------- Szczesny --------------------

Nordtveit ---- Bartley ------- Miquel ------ Cruise

--------- Randall ----- Aneke ---- Ozyakup ---------

Murphy --------------- Afobe -------------- Miyaichi
Sorry for bringing up this Reserve side from the start of this Thread.
Can remember when Arsenal had Thomas Cruise, he had one First Team appearance away in the Champions League?
Was surprised when Arsenal released him. Thought he would have been the Arsenal Merchandise Department dream. Tom Cruise, 'Top Gun'. Could have been Theo Walcotts wingman. 🛫✈️ When Thomas Cruise met up with the rest of the Arsenal players, did he turn up wearing sunglasses? 🕶️
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Sorry for bringing up this Reserve side from the start of this Thread.
Can remember when Arsenal had Thomas Cruise, he had one First Team appearance away in the Champions League?
Was surprised when Arsenal released him. Thought he would have been the Arsenal Merchandise Department dream. Tom Cruise, 'Top Gun'. Could have been Theo Walcotts wingman. 🛫✈️ When Thomas Cruise met up with the rest of the Arsenal players, did he turn up wearing sunglasses? 🕶️
I heard he's an accountant now.

Interesting. I was expecting us to promote from within but this is more intriguing.
 

Andrew Cole Linighan

Active Member

Country: England

Player:Saka
Yes, I heard that Thomas Cruise was Training to become an Accountant. I think he last played at Torquay United.
I wonder if he rides about on a motorcycle wearing a leather jacket and shades. 🏍️🕶️
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Mutable got a new son, Nelson in shambles!
:lol: Yeah maybe!

I think there's something really interesting about Richards. He's got very good acceleration over the first few yards, impressive dribbling and the kind of direct, hardworking style that's served Balogun well so far. It looks like we have essentially found a similar player. I need to see more of his shooting but given how promising he looks already, he could be a really strong talent going forward. I don't want to forecast anything yet, but I'm really high on him. The next intake might be a little bit stronger than we anticipated, especially given how much we rated the last intake in comparison. Admittedly this is coloured by the Villa game the other day, as well as the fact that they'll be managed by Micciche who I rate a lot as a coach.
 

Ibadan

Thread Bump Police
Some observations. We have the largest PL2 squad. By quite some distance too. Arsenal U23 currently have 35 players, 6 more than Chelsea, Man City, Leicester, Brighton & Fulham who on joint second respectively have 29.

It's interesting that City and Chelsea who have a reputation for hoarding youth talent, have 6 less U23 players than Arsenal. The average squad size in the PL2 is 25, we have 10 more players. We are not operating in the norm.

A 20 year old CB - Zech Medley - recently left us to join a Belgian side. It was interesting to see reports saying Arteta "was keen on keeping Medley".

Detouring to our first team, It's also interesting we're linked with CB's like White and forwards like Isak & Andre Silva. (I'm not disputing the quality of these players).

One conclusion from these observation are thus; Edu & Arteta are hoarders incapable of making decisions on squad planning.

Next season (as things stand), we have Auba, Martinelli, Balogun, Saka, Pepe & Reiss for our forward positions. (Assuming Laca is sold.) What's the point of working so hard to tie Balogun down if you buy players 2-4 years older than him in his position?

The CB situation has been covered to death. With White coming in, what does this mean for Saliba? 5 CB's - 3 competitions.

What's the point of trying to keep Medley when we have CB's better than him on loan - Ballard & Mcguiness - and CB's better then him coming up - Kirk & Monlouis. There is no pathway for Medley, the best possible outcome for Arsenal is a sale.

It's going to be very difficult to rotate enough game time for the players that we have. Edu and Arteta seem intent on buying a plethora of players in positions we are stocked in. They seem intent on convincing every u23 player to stick around until their late 20's hoping for imaginary pathways to open up.

Eventually, decisions must be made.
 

Football Manager

Copy & Paste Merchant
Some observations. We have the largest PL2 squad. By quite some distance too. Arsenal U23 currently have 35 players, 6 more than Chelsea, Man City, Leicester, Brighton & Fulham who on joint second respectively have 29.

It's interesting that City and Chelsea who have a reputation for hoarding youth talent, have 6 less U23 players than Arsenal. The average squad size in the PL2 is 25, we have 10 more players. We are not operating in the norm.

A 20 year old CB - Zech Medley - recently left us to join a Belgian side. It was interesting to see reports saying Arteta "was keen on keeping Medley".

Detouring to our first team, It's also interesting we're linked with CB's like White and forwards like Isak & Andre Silva. (I'm not disputing the quality of these players).

One conclusion from these observation are thus; Edu & Arteta are hoarders incapable of making decisions on squad planning.

Next season (as things stand), we have Auba, Martinelli, Balogun, Saka, Pepe & Reiss for our forward positions. (Assuming Laca is sold.) What's the point of working so hard to tie Balogun down if you buy players 2-4 years older than him in his position?

The CB situation has been covered to death. With White coming in, what does this mean for Saliba? 5 CB's - 3 competitions.

What's the point of trying to keep Medley when we have CB's better than him on loan - Ballard & Mcguiness - and CB's better then him coming up - Kirk & Monlouis. There is no pathway for Medley, the best possible outcome for Arsenal is a sale.

It's going to be very difficult to rotate enough game time for the players that we have. Edu and Arteta seem intent on buying a plethora of players in positions we are stocked in. They seem intent on convincing every u23 player to stick around until their late 20's hoping for imaginary pathways to open up.

Eventually, decisions must be made.
I would loan most of them out.

Willock is a good example, a good loan increases their market value. Keeping these young players does not mean we should guarantee them a future here. We could sell them with a good profit.
 

scytheavatar

Established Member
I would loan most of them out.

Willock is a good example, a good loan increases their market value. Keeping these young players does not mean we should guarantee them a future here. We could sell them with a good profit.

We already loaned Medley out and he didn't impress.......... loans don't always work out and bad loans can decrease the value of your players. Look at what that is happening with AMN.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Seems we have sold Mark McGuinness, that surprises me a bit.

I honestly thought he'd go on another loan before they made a decision but he might have jumped at the chance to go permanently so he can play regularly. Bold move from the kid, gotta respect it. I'd be pressed if we didn't have a zillion promising young CBs already, but it's definitely a "what if" situation now.
 

oh to be a goon

Active Member
McGuiness, Medley and Coyle all gone permanently today.

Good luck to them.

I wonder if anyone else is going. I am especially curious who goes on loan and where. I wish we could loan one of our promising CMs (Azzez, oe Patino) to a quietly good league for development like Dutch or Belgian
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Trae going is a bit sad but that was coming. He'd had a tough time with injuries ever since he became a scholar and it stunted his development. The hope is that he can rebuild his career and fulfill his potential.

McGuiness, Medley and Coyle all gone permanently today.

Good luck to them.

I wonder if anyone else is going. I am especially curious who goes on loan and where. I wish we could loan one of our promising CMs (Azzez, oe Patino) to a quietly good league for development like Dutch or Belgian
Matt Smith will probably go next. He's already 20 going on 21, and only has a league 1 season of football under his belt. He's got a lot of talent so I think if he goes permanently he could end up in the prem in a few seasons. I'd imagine there'll be a few faces heading out. Still no word on Taylor-Hart so I'd imagine he's outta here soon.

I'm hopeful on Azeez, I think he doesn't necessarily need to go on loan but he specifically needs to be challenged and I think a loan can do that for him. Patino it's probably too early for that for him. I'd let him cook for a while at U23s and maybe the rare cameo.
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
Trae going is a bit sad but that was coming. He'd had a tough time with injuries ever since he became a scholar and it stunted his development. The hope is that he can rebuild his career and fulfill his potential.


Matt Smith will probably go next. He's already 20 going on 21, and only has a league 1 season of football under his belt. He's got a lot of talent so I think if he goes permanently he could end up in the prem in a few seasons. I'd imagine there'll be a few faces heading out. Still no word on Taylor-Hart so I'd imagine he's outta here soon.

I'm hopeful on Azeez, I think he doesn't necessarily need to go on loan but he specifically needs to be challenged and I think a loan can do that for him. Patino it's probably too early for that for him. I'd let him cook for a while at U23s and maybe the rare cameo.

Coyle already looked like a grown man at 15. Loved his style of play. He was one of the few prospects that looked like a legit 10 to me. Never saw him as a winger or forward. Physically strong, quick and probably had the best first touch of any of the recent prospects, maybe except Nelson.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member

Shocking news this, I really liked him as a talent. Looks like all the eggs are firmly in the Brooke Norton-Cuffy basket. This is a very disappointing loss and doesn't bode well at a time where we may lose Kido Taylor-Hart aswell!
Sad news indeed but I'm not surprised . He stalled on his contract for a year and then suffered from injuries first half of the season which delayed any fast tracking to the first team. It doesn't help having Alebiosu and Swanson lurking around which meant he's played a lot as a CB.Furthermore, Finley Stevens, a player who was released in favour of him will be in the PL next season with Brentford. I wish him all the best and I won't be surprised seeing him in the PL soon. Hopefully BNC makes us not regret this departure
 
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