A player who will move under the radar is Joshua Robinson. He's a very aggresive defender almost Ballard like and he likes driving forward with the ball. His recent call up to the national u18s despite only starting a few games shows Garry and the national set up rate something about him. There was a pre season game where the opposing coach waxed lyrical about him and singled him out as someone with a very bright future. I would definitely add him to this list and of course Brooke Norton-Cuffy .
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The Under-23s Thread
- Thread starter Aevi
- Start date
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Tomb Bombadil
Active Member
Sat 3 games on the bench and they lost 1-4, 0-4 and then a 2-2 and he didn't get one minute.
I just saw they won one game in their last 10. I hope he can turn their form around.
Salah has been called up today. I understand most people's reservations concerning him but I like him a lot. He plays Abit like Maxence Caqueret. He is very scrappy and wins a lot of duels. Against Newport I think he won 8/9. He also plays with a lot of intelligence and very good technical ability. Personally, I think he stands a very good chance .
Robinson seems to be one of the jewels of Micciche's team this season. Has good chemistry with Foran and Awe and despite the setback this weekend, I suspect they aren't going to let many goals past them. Our defence is arguably a strength at this point!
+1 on Flores. There's a reason he isn't further along than he is and it's mainly because he's far more selfish than someone like Hutchinson for example, who does play a more individualistic style but plays off of others more. All the talent is there, but I think he needs to be a bit more cute, especially as he doesn't have the physicality to be as greedy as he is. I'd like to see him use his agility to create openings for others rather than himself, will take his game to a next level.
Sweet is very good though. His work at RWB has been stellar, and his diligence on the ball will take him very far.
His decision making to me is not that good. Even in U23 he doesn't look like he is thinking a step or two ahead of the rest. You could see just before Nelson broke through when he was 17, he was just too quick thinking, his touch was too tight and his footwork was ridiculous. Everything looked easy. It doesn't look that way when I watch Salah. He is clearly technical, but still feels like something is missing in his game. Patino is technically the most ready for first team, but he still has the body of a 14 year old.
I understand the reservations concerning him, he isn't someone that gets you off your seat when you watch him but coaches seem to like him and it's because he is very effective . Takes good positions , presses well etc. I don't like using Reiss as the yardstick for judging players because for all his performances at u23s he has never translated it to first team level whereas others who showed less have transitioned to first team PL football.
NieThePiet
Loves Overhyping Our Rivals
4:2 for Arsenal away vs. Leeds.
2 Goals from Balogun and 1 Assist for him in the second half.
2 Goals from Balogun and 1 Assist for him in the second half.
NieThePiet
Loves Overhyping Our Rivals
Okay, Flashscore said Balogun but Arsenal is saying Norton-Cuffy.
I watched the game. It was actually Biereth who scored from about 1 yard out after Norton-Cuffys shot was spilled by the keeper
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Henry boi
Well-Known Member
How did we play overall and who were the standouts?I watched the game. It was actually Biereth who scored from about 1 yard out after Norton-Cuffys shot was spilled by the keeper
We were OK, weren't at our best but fought hard and did the job. We were much more organized in the 2nd half and Leeds eventually ran out of steam despite a good showing from them.
I was really impressed with Biereth, seems to be a good all-round #9. Should have scored way more - had 2 great chances and skied both of them.
Akinola had a poor 1st half but he was excellent in the 2nd. Did a great job of driving forward with the ball and some excellent passes. Henry-Francis came on in the 2nd half and was also excellent, wrestled control of the game away from Leeds' midfield.
Norton-Cuffy grew into the game but looked like a player that hasn't played in 2 months. Lopez did well.
Rasmi
Negative Nancy
Country: England
Just promote Salah. @MutableEarth uou said Patino is bigger talent than Salah. I just don’t see it. For me he is the biggest talent in that team
Henry boi
Well-Known Member
It should be compulsory that a kid is promoted to the first team every year tbh.
Salah prob won't even be here 2 years from now. Joe Willock completely dominated U23 football and ended up not being good enough. We see how Nketiah has struggled to make his mark in the first team and he was also way more dominant for U23 than Salah. He is in good goal scoring form, but that guy is not it. Him and Flores are not going to make it here longterm. Players like Patino, Sweet, Awe, Monlouis, Hutchinson and maybe Duberry, but need to see more of him are the only ones with legit shots of doing something here longterm.
@MutableEarth and everone else who loves our academy, this might be worth a look!
ScoutedFootball has made a feature of their magazine with the 2nd Arsenal player (Saka being the first a year ago I think) and it features "A 10-page feature detailing Arsenal's famous Hale End academy".
Never bought any of their magazines before, but have been considering doing it the past year and think I'll pull the trigger on it now and get a few in.
ScoutedFootball has made a feature of their magazine with the 2nd Arsenal player (Saka being the first a year ago I think) and it features "A 10-page feature detailing Arsenal's famous Hale End academy".
Never bought any of their magazines before, but have been considering doing it the past year and think I'll pull the trigger on it now and get a few in.
Rasmi
Negative Nancy
Country: England
yes because they are english.....thats why we will give them a chance. Arsenal has become little englander club it seems
I said that Patino is the technical leader of the team - something that was clearly evident in the last game as we struggled without him a little bit until Leeds began to tire. He is a more intelligent player who uses the ball extremely well in addition to his technical ability. Salah-Eddine has the technical quality and he's scoring a lot of goals, which is further enhancing his stature to go along with his good form - however, there's no guarantee that he will translate that at a higher level for Arsenal. Neither is there for Patino for that matter but Patino's in-game intelligence is an advantage. Salah-Eddine's challenge is not only to maintain his form but to sustain his dominance on matches - he's on his way to doing so, but neither Salah-Eddine or Patino are ready for any serious rigours of first team football right now. I think a good chunk of the U23s are exactly where they need to be at this point.
The competition really is fierce at the moment, and I predict a lot of sleepers including the names you mentioned like Sweet and Cozier-Duberry. I honestly wouldn't like to predict at this point - Hale End is arguably the strongest it's ever been at the moment so while I have some ideas about who'll eventually make an impact for Arsenal, there's so much talent that I can't call it.
Nah just more talented. We've seen many players like Salah over the years. Nothing special about his game. Good technique, but not really thinking the game. Xavier Amaechi had more raw talent than him. At least he was an explosive athlete with very good close control. Dragomir and even Cirjan, although I would say Cirjan is more talented than Salah. Saka and Patino are the two players out of the academy in the last couple of years with legit world class potential in their position.
Maybe
You're wrong, no?
Salah's problem won't be talent or anything that you wrote there, it's gonna be the fact that the first team doesn't need players like him, or something more recent, the first team doesn't want to work with the academy at all. We've invested in Ødegaard, which will close the door for a couple of them.
Saka didn't get his chance because he was so great, we were desperate for an LB with no other option than playing him there. The boy did well and is now enjoying the success, but things could've gone differently if Arteta was our manager at the time or if there was no need for an academy LB.
I am not very high on Ødegaard, but Salah is not really the same type of player. Saka got his chance cause he was versatile, intelligent and physically could handle being ragdolled by grown men. Salah has no stand out qualities. He is not that athletic, not the best technically of this current bunch ( I am taking Patino, Henry-Francis, Hutchinson over him) and he also does not always make quick decisions even at U23 level. Even Iwobi, before he broke into the first team made U23 look like childs play. He was bigger, stronger and more athletic than Salah and made much quicker decisions on the ball. I don't believe in Arteta, but we just have to wait and see how this season plays out.
