How is the Arsenal starlet compared to Ronaldinho getting on?

Ryo Miyaichi was barely eighteen when he joined Arsenal, and since then, the star has been fading with each passing season for the once highly-rated hot prospect.

With four loan spells in the three years, Ryo is fast becoming a forgotten name despite his promising stature as a teenager. Still, I think the kid should be given a greater chance.

Why?

No sooner had he landed in North London, than he was sent out on loan. His first spell at the Eredivisie side Feyenoord was quite a successful one, drawing comparisons to Ronaldinho. Who would not want a Ronaldinho (Of course without the off pitch antics) at their club? He tore defences with his runs and occasionally found the net. Feyenoord even wanted him on an extended loan.  Later on he had spells at Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic, which were limited to less than fifteen appearances, but he still made a promising account of himself.

That said, let us focus on this young kid’s talent. I am tempted to refer to the case of the now trusted Francis Coquelin and his struggles, but I will not. Still, it all goes to show that when a player is scouted, brought in for trials and shows talent, then there is talent. For a player at 22, only exceptional cases, very few players that is, show it all at that age. For Miyaichi, he showed enough promise with Feyenoord to be dubbed the next Ronaldinho.

It is not easy handling young players, Arsene Wenger has been bashed for signing the starlets rather than the stars, but take a good look across Europe where Arsenal former starlets went… tt is never a bad story.

Similarly, the same applies for Ryo; young as he is, somewhere in him he will have the belief in his football and will no doubt to really get his career kick-started.

In a recent interview at FC Twente, where he is now on loan, Ryo admitted that he should be doing better. It frustrates a player when they cannot deliver, but it never means they will never deliver.

There must be something in the fact why Wenger has never trusted him to play for the first-team but yet kept him within the ranks.