The Under-23s Thread

[MutableEarth]

Most improved player this season.

Thomas Partey got angry with youngster who impresses Mikel Arteta in training

The youngster has caught the eye with impressive performances for the under-23's this season

www.football.london

Chris Wheatley article today about Akinola.

The Arsenal youngster Thomas Partey got angry with in training who is impressing Mikel Arteta​

The youngster has caught the eye with impressive performances for the under-23's this season

From a results perspective last season was far from a vintage for the Arsenal under-23s.


The young Gunners were only able to secure their Premier League 2 survival on the final day of the campaign, and the poor nature of their performances ultimately led to long serving coach Steve Bould getting sacked.


This time around though, things are very different. Under the tutelage of Kevin Betsy the under-23s now sit top of PL2 having scored 29 goals in the space of just 10 matches.

It's quite the turnaround, and there are few who embody the upturn in fortunes more than Tim Akinola.

The 20-year-old midfielder arrived in north London last season after being released from Huddersfield and didn't exactly have the best of starts.

Asked to play in a deeper lying role the youngster struggled to find his best form and a low point probably came as he was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away in a Papa John's Trophy defeat to AFC Wimbledon.

With the presences of Charlie Patino, Salah Oulad-M'Hand and James Olayinka, concerns were raised over the amount of game time the former Huddersfield youngster was likely to get.
As a result he was touted for a loan elsewhere, but when that didn't come about, the 20-year-old set about focusing on how he could improve his game.

Akinola is now the fastest player in the under-23 side after clocking a speed of 10.4 meters per second, football.london understands. He is also understood to have the lowest body fat percentage in the group as well as the highest muscle mass.
This has seen him rewarded with several call ups to train with Mikel Arteta's first team, although his improved strength there has got him into trouble.

During a session the 20-year-old went in for a 50/50 with Thomas Partey and ended up clattering into the Ghanaian international.
Initially Partey was said to have been furious with his younger counterpart for making such a challenge in what was meant to be nothing more than a training game. After the session was over though it is understood that the 28-year-old took time to praise Akinola, calling him the strongest player he's ever played with.

This kind of story is an example of the respect the 20-year-old is quickly building within the Gunners set up.

After initially looking like he was out the door this season, Akinola deserves immense credit for transforming himself into one of the most important members of Kevin Betsy's under-23 side.

 

[RunTheTrap]

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.

We are out of Europe but hopefully if we do well we can get back into that, meaning more youth players will be given chances. We will be losing Eddie, Lacazette, Elneny, probably Chambers, Kola, Cedric and Holding too. That alone will give chances to players on the cusp of first team action.

That's not completely true though. Saka was in the first team as a winger. Raul and Emery made a clear plan to try and enlist more Hale End players, especially after the sale of Mkhitarayan and Iwobi. Saka showcased his talents after being our 2nd choice winger after Nelson. It wasn't until Ljungberg came in that Saka played LB due to Tierney's injury woes.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Most improved player this season.

Thomas Partey got angry with youngster who impresses Mikel Arteta in training

The youngster has caught the eye with impressive performances for the under-23's this season

www.football.london

Chris Wheatley article today about Akinola.

Ngl, I thought this kid was dogsh!t when we bought him. He looked like a clogger so its good to see him improve. He reminds me of Coquelin but with more ball skills. Personally, I liked Coquelin for what he was and I think there's nothing wrong with having a dedicated ball-winner in your squad. I hope he continues to do well.

The challenge on Partey reminded me of the anecdote Ray Parlour told about Kolo Toure's trial at Arsenal. Apparently a young Kolo Toure was two-footing Henry and Bergkamp for fun at training and he even went hard in a tackle against Wenger!!! The team were obviously wary of the kid but Wenger liked him for his mentality and drive. I guess if you're an up-and-coming youngster hoping to break into the first, kick some of the older guys about and let them know who you are.

 

[Maybe]

Most improved player this season.

Thomas Partey got angry with youngster who impresses Mikel Arteta in training

The youngster has caught the eye with impressive performances for the under-23's this season

www.football.london

Chris Wheatley article today about Akinola.

Can't believe we are seeing youtube videos on Akinola beating the press. He was an absolute waste on the ball so far but didn't check him out this season tbh

 

[MutableEarth]

Ngl, I thought this kid was dogsh!t when we bought him. He looked like a clogger so its good to see him improve. He reminds me of Coquelin but with more ball skills. Personally, I liked Coquelin for what he was and I think there's nothing wrong with having a dedicated ball-winner in your squad. I hope he continues to do well.

The challenge on Partey reminded me of the anecdote Ray Parlour told about Kolo Toure's trial at Arsenal. Apparently a young Kolo Toure was two-footing Henry and Bergkamp for fun at training and he even went hard in a tackle against Wenger!!! The team were obviously wary of the kid but Wenger liked him for his mentality and drive. I guess if you're an up-and-coming youngster hoping to break into the first, kick some of the older guys about and let them know who you are.

I always liked his hustle but I thought he was a gamble that didn't work out aswell. My main issue was how bad his passing was and how often he would get caught in the middle but he outworked everybody consistently (no Christian Cage lol).

So far this season, not only has his passing improved but his already pretty handy dribbling has seen him carry us forward on occasion to good effect (will link his Chelsea U23 highlights below) and he's probably the one player that consistently wins the ball back for us. I'm not surprised they like him now. At the very least, he'll be a nice flip for us if he doesn't break through.

Can't believe we are seeing youtube videos on Akinola beating the press. He was an absolute waste on the ball so far but didn't check him out this season tbh

He's vastly improved this season. Probably the steepest improvement arc I've seen in the U23s since Jordi Osei-Tutu - this one might be better even.

 

[NieThePiet]

WHAT JUST HAPPENED

 

[NieThePiet]

they were 0:3 behind vs Leicester and scored 3 goals in extra time to draw the game.

91', 94' and 97'.

 

[MutableEarth]

Who watched the match on the dot com tonight?

We lost 4-1 to West Brom - Khayon Edwards scored our goal. We had a lot of players missing due to internationals and injury - we may also have lost Olayinka to injury in this match too. So there were a lot of U18s out there and they conceded 3 very early goals very similarly to how we conceded against West Ham - getting caught trying to pass out from the back. The defence overall didn't cover themselves in glory tonight, except for maybe Taylor Foran who I thought was relatively sturdy throughout. I also thought Swanson had a pretty solid match at RB and was probably our best overall player on the night - he was our most experienced player so that makes sense. The goalie Mitchell looked overawed for this level mostly but I suspect he'll improve. Monlouis and Lopez struggled, especially Lopez - who looked a lot like he did last season: vulnerable and easy to beat 1v1.

The attack had a tough night. Ideho and Butler-Oyedeji started and while I'm a fan of both of these guys as technical players, they aren't as dangerous as I'd like them to be and it showed whenever they had the ball in the final 3rd. Nice dribblers, no end product. Edwards as a result was very isolated but he worked really hard and did deserve a goal in the end.

Salah-Eddine had a decent 2nd half but went missing in the 1st. He's just back from a minor injury so probably took a while to hit his stride. The biggest plus on the night for me was Amario Cozier-Duberry making his U23 debut in central midfield. He was probably the smallest player on the pitch but put up as big of a fight as anyone on the pitch, showed some excellent dribbling skill on occasion and played some really dangerous passes. Wasn't a perfect match by any means, but a strong enough performance to show that he can easily play at this level already.

Sagoe Jnr and Awe were good when they came off the bench. On this evidence, either of those 2 could also have started aswell. I rate Sagoe Jnr higher than Butler-Oyedeji - similar player but far more cutting edge in the final 3rd for me. Awe could probably have played the role they wanted Olayinka to play and he struggled a lot in the deep role. Awe came on and looked composed.

The team definitely missed it's stars tonight. Likes of Patino, Hutchinson, Taylor-Hart and Biereth all missing, as was Norton-Cuffy. Also, weirdly, Akinola - a man in great form - was on the bench tonight and didn't come on. Saving him for the league? I guess.....

All in all, a hard day at the office for a young team but some of the U18s that came in could be proud of their performance - particularly Cozier-Duberry IMO.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

Likes of Patino, Hutchinson, Taylor-Hart and Biereth all missing

Glad to see Omari finally called up for England duty, though.

 

[MutableEarth]

Not a perfect game of course, especially given the result, but a promising debut IMO. I'd like to see him on the bench vs Ipswich in the Papa Johns.

 

[Henry boi]

What type of midfielder is James Sweet?

 

[Geofranco]

What type of midfielder is James Sweet?

I always thought he was an attacking mid, but it seems he has been playing more as a wingback for the U18 team and has been one of their best players. He has been getting so many assists and creating chances for the team.

 

[Geofranco]

Not a perfect game of course, especially given the result, but a promising debut IMO. I'd like to see him on the bench vs Ipswich in the Papa Johns.

I didn't watch the match. Looks very composed, did he make any bad errors or have too many loose passes and touches? He looks to have a cleaner touch than Saka, so that's a good thing. I always loved Saka, but his touch and link-up were the worries I had about him before he broke into the first team, was sure about everything else. Hopefully he can grow into his body a little more which will make it harder for teams to bully him.

 

[Aussie_gunner123]

Of our current academy players compared to our FIFA 22 squad, what are the players like Cirjan, Akinola, Olayinka, Patino, Ideho & Monlouis like? They have given us about 6-7 from our current academy list & I've never seen any of them play unfortunately. Which ones are the best to keep in the manager mode? Even the guys on current loans, John Jules, Azeez, Ballard, Matt Smith & Osei-Tutu.

 

[MutableEarth]

U23s tonight.

 

[MutableEarth]

HT in the game, it's 2-0 to us and it's a very accomplished game from a strong team so far. Probably our most stacked lineup in a few weeks with Patino and Hutchinson - our 2 best players bar Balogun - coming back into the lineup. All of a sudden, everyone looks good again. Salah-Eddine having his best game for a few weeks now - no coincidence he looks better with Patino back next to him, probably would look even better if Akinola was playing too.

Hutchinson is by far the best player on the pitch. Biereth scored the 1st goal after good work from Hutchinson led to Lopez cutting the ball back for Biereth to hold the ball up and score. Hutchinson then made it 2-0 with a worldie, just runs towards the box and slaps it top corner from 25 yards. He's the best of the bunch and it's crazy to think that he wasn't starting recently.

Balogun and Biereth have been strong. A word to our defenders because Blackburn haven't been bad at all but the defence have been very solid. Norton-Cuffy and Ogungbo have swept everything up while Rekik has effective played a libero-style role and is carrying forward often. Ejeheri is playing and his passing as ever is extremely good.

 

[Big Poppa]

Started 2nd half a bit sloppy. Straight red for Nort-Cuffy and Blackburn have pulled one back.

 

[Big Poppa]

2-2. Blackburn dominated since the red card. Patino came off on the hour and although he was clearly tired, so did any control we had in midfield.

 

[Big Poppa]

Balogunnnn. 2-3.. 89th minute. So sharp in the box!

 

[Tom Mix]

Incredible scenes!!! We are top of the league... say we are top of the league!!!!