The Under-18s Thread

[MutableEarth]

PL2 is utter ****. A prospect like Dowman will waste his time there.

Such a dead league currently. Some of our better recent prospects have spent way too much time down there and stagnated. A talent like Michal Rosiak should have been on loan by now.

I hope we don't keep Annous, Casey and Ibrahim down there too long.

 

[MutableEarth]

Underrated CF prospect IMO.

 

[Geofranco]

Underrated CF prospect IMO.

Don't know if he can make it with that name

 

[Sulosky]

Underrated CF prospect IMO.

I don't know.. that guy Announs me.

 

[viktor]

 

[MutableEarth]

U18s highlights: Norwich City 1-2 Arsenal

Watch at: https://link.arsenal.com/Q2fcGz0BUVb

First game of the season ends with a win

Maalik Hashi with another winning goal. He's one to watch this season, stepping up in the absence of Dowman and now Casey. Another left footer though!

Kyran Thompson also looks good and King and Bailey-Joseph both had good moments.

 

[Let's play Aubamawang]

Maalik Hashi with another winning goal. He's one to watch this season, stepping up in the absence of Dowman and now Casey. Another left footer though!

Makes up for all the years of Arsène being obsessed with right footers!

 

[MutableEarth]

 

[MutableEarth]

3 wins out of 3 for the U18s.

Some of the more known performers really stepping up but the new scholars are also really making a strong impact. Josiah King has been excellent as the attacking full-back, very neat dribbler 1v1 and attacks space really well. Tahou came on and looked strong aswell, won't be long before we see more of him. Kyran Thompson is still a schoolboy but already looks like one of our best players at this level, really strong technical talent with a good frame aswell.

Ceadach O'Neill moving to striker is this season's Annous-to-CF move. Slight growth spurt but also coinciding with O'Neill's already impressive finishing qualities and his clever movement on and off the ball. He's got 5 goals in 3 games now, hopefully it continues.

For me though, the biggest talking point is Brando Bailey-Joseph. At a time where LW has become a bit of a tricky position in the 1st team (even with Eze signing) as well as in the U21s to an extent with Sagoe Jr clearly primed for an EFL move (either permanently or temporarily), Arsenal do need a prospect to emerge on that side of the pitch and for me, I can't think of a stronger recent prospect than Bailey-Joseph - not since Reiss Nelson anyway. His ability to just wriggle away from any tight space he is in, and then just motor away with no chance of being caught is one of the more impressive things I've seen in a prospect lately. What he does with the ball in those circumstances is really impressive aswell, in terms of his crossing, shooting and his through balls aswell. I think he's one of the best attacking prospects at the club along with Andre Harriman-Annous. Those two and Ife Ibrahim are gold standard to me.

 

[MutableEarth]

Tough game ahead.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Tough game ahead.

This is gonna be a big game. Interesting that Eboue's son is lined up against us....

 

[MutableEarth]

As tough as expected, and our defensive lineup/approach kinda invited more pressure. 1-1 so far but I think we can exploit them if we bring on Bailey-Joseph. Chelsea really good but our defense has largely been strong, especially Callan Hamill (what a player).

 

[db10_therza]

@MutableEarth talk to me about Emerson Nwaneri please - saw he scored a hattrick for the U16s.

What kind of player is he? Is he left footed like big bro? Etc

 

[MutableEarth]

@MutableEarth talk to me about Emerson Nwaneri please - saw he scored a hattrick for the U16s.

What kind of player is he? Is he left footed like big bro? Etc

Can't really tell you guys much, haven't seen him much as he plays mostly for U16s. He's apparently a deeper-lying player than his brother though, and right-footed too. A CM/DM who can also play RB. So a hattrick is a new development, and may mean he's being played in a more advanced position lately.

Interestingly, Joshua Sesay scored and assisted in the same game. We signed him from Millwall as an u15 last year and he looks a very good prospect himself. Seems to be based on the LW largely, but can play both wings from what I understand.

Tough game ahead.

Had time to watch some of this back and boy did we cede a lot of the game to Chelsea. The game plan was clearly to stifle Chelsea and hit them on the counter but we just didn't have enough threats on the pitch to make that work. As a positive, I'll say we really made a potential star in Kavuma-McQueen quiet. Callan Hamill is an absolute stud, another defensive prospect on the rise. This is the first time in a while I've been really excited about our defenders at Hale End. Teshaun Murisa was good defensively aswell, although some of his passing into the final 3rd was very poor.

We looked a tad more dangerous when Brando Bailey-Joseph came on and Alex Marciniak was definitely missed. Bailey-Joseph should always be starting at this level for me, he's the unheralded star of the team but my guess is he's probably going to start for the U19s in the week when we start the UEFA Youth League. They probably won't have Dowman either as he'll be on the first team bench so they need their decisive players of which Bailey-Joseph is one of the main ones.

 

[db10_therza]

A CM/DM who can also play RB. So a hattrick is a new development, and may mean he's being played in a more advanced position lately.

I wonder if we’re starting to get youth to play across the pitch Ajax style?

 

[MutableEarth]

I wonder if we’re starting to get youth to play across the pitch Ajax style?

Seems to be a significant part of their development. A lot of our players are very versatile, regardless of position or role. Even Josh Nichols, a traditional-style full-back, has some midfield traits owing to spending time in CM. Every now and then, he'll come inside and play a slide rule pass on his weak foot. As a result, if you need him to, he can play LB quite effectively.

We don't have a fully recognized CF at all in our ranks precisely because they're all winger/AM types who can play all across the front free (Andre Harriman-Annous, Daniel Oyetunde, Ceadach O'Neill, Louis Zecevic-John etc).

 

[MutableEarth]

U18s highlights: Arsenal 4-2 Ipswich Town

Watch at: https://link.arsenal.com/jIpXhfaiQWb

Another win for the u18s who are unbeaten so far this season. Birchall really doing well with the current batch, although I feel some players (Sampang/Frohock/Phillips) are probably unfortunate to miss out.

The eye-catching moment for me is Josiah Kings assist for Kyran Thompson's 2nd goal. A brace for Thompson underlines what a good prospect he is despite being a schoolboy himself.

Josiah King is beginning to establish himself as a real star on this team, playing RB and RW to great effect.

Brando Bailey-Joseph also gets another goal. His 3rd of the season and his 2nd in consecutive games. Hopefully keeps up his great form.

Ceadach O'Neill also gets another goal. 4 in 4 for him at u18 level. Really looks a different player after moving to #9.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Charlton talent confirms exit after Arsenal agree deal Charlton talent confirms exit after Arsenal agree deal

 

[MutableEarth]

U18s highlights: Brighton 2-2 Arsenal

Watch the highlights of our entertaining draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.

www.arsenal.com

Check out Brando Bailey-Joseph's goal yesterday. Super goal. He's the best player in the U18s IMO and should really be in the U21 team now. Hope to see him continue his impressive form in midweek.

 

[MutableEarth]

Watching these highlights, and again the biggest threat seems to be Brando Bailey-Joseph. I think he should be platformed even more in this team than he is.

It was a pretty good start to the season for the U18s, particularly from an attacking POV but I have massive concerns about the defenders being platformed in this team, much as I have the concern about the midfielders in the U21 team. We've struggled with Onyekachukwu and Chapman at the back and I think Joshua Tahou is a better talent than Ogunnaike and has yet to be given a proper opportunity. Abraham Owusu-Gyasi, Patrick Stachow and Joshua Tahou were all players who contributed heavily (along with Salmon and Hamill) to a lot of the U16 academy success last season so it's been a tad disappointing not to see them play, while the slightly more senior defenders and 2nd years have so far not looked solid. The U21 defence also seems a little light at the moment - Salmon and Nichols are the most impressive but think most others are a way behind. Will Sweet has improved a lot though.

Joshua King is probably one of the bigger successes in defence this season and one of the few 1st years that has been correctly platformed, even starting for the England U17s. I'd like to see more of him. For me, the U18 defence should look a bit more like this later on in the season:

King-AOG-Stachow-Tahou
​

I can see them looking a bit more sturdy. I think the midfield could do with a little more physical bolstering. We just signed Mishel Nduka who's been impressive since joining and I think while he's more attacking he certainly has the physical characteristics to give us a bit more steel. Julienne is talented but he's made a lot of errors this season (and last too) and Hashi hasn't quite replicated his form from the earlier games this season. Teshaun Murisa still looks pretty good but I think a more physical and dynamic player would help this side. Maybe Emerson Nwaneri could be the player.