The Under-18s Thread

[MutableEarth]

Just seen Chido Obi has a goal today aswell, set up by Theo Julienne. We all know about Obi by now but Julienne is interesting to me because he's been very solid and nobody's really talking about him despite the fact that he himself is also a schoolboy. Since Rosiak's move to midfield, Julienne is playing RB even though he himself is a midfielder and seems to have taken to the role well. From the little I've seen, he's extremely comfortable in possession similarly to Rosiak, with maybe a bit more carrying while Rosiak's more of a passer. Probably another inverted style RB to offset Josh Nichols who can also invert but is more orthodox.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Rev up the hype machine everybody!

Arteta needs to cave in his own ego and make the debut for Dowman and have a league record for the ages.

 

[MutableEarth]

Arteta needs to cave in his own ego and make the debut for Dowman and have a league record for the ages.

Doesn't need to per se but I think if he keeps this up at u21 level, it's inevitable.

Reminder though - he's 14. That we're even talking about first team with him is utterly absurd. That's how good he seems to be.

 

[MutableEarth]

Slapped it top bins with his weak foot. Gravy!

Watched the rest of the highlights - this lad Julienne looks good and Obi is a funny one. Every highlight I've seen this season he could have scored a hattrick every game. That suggests his finishing could improve a lot more. His goal was extra clinical though.

 

[Geofranco]

Slapped it top bins with his weak foot. Gravy!

Watched the rest of the highlights - this lad Julienne looks good and Obi is a funny one. Every highlight I've seen this season he could have scored a hattrick every game. That suggests his finishing could improve a lot more. His goal was extra clinical though.

It means Obi always gets into dangerous areas. Which is good for a CF. Good instincts and technique. That last chance was a difficult angle though. And Max looks like another technically perfect prospect like Nwaneri. Crazy to be that well rounded that young. Dribbling, passing, vision, shooting with either foot etc

 

[MutableEarth]

It means Obi always gets into dangerous areas. Which is good for a CF. Good instincts and technique. That last chance was a difficult angle though. And Max looks like another technically perfect prospect like Nwaneri. Crazy to be that well rounded that young. Dribbling, passing, vision, shooting with either foot etc

Yeah agree I mean it in a good way re Obi. I don't think he's flash in the pan - in fact I actually think he could turn out better than we think he will based on what I've seen. His work outside the box is as good as his ability to generate chances.

Yeah I don't even have much to say on Max Dowman tbh. He's got everything, now all we need to see is how he develops. From I've seen the weak foot finish, the backheel, the 4 assists last week, I don't have more conclusions to draw!

 

[Rasmi]

If max was Brazilian he would be 30 million player right now

 

[MutableEarth]

If max was Brazilian he would be 30 million player right now

Try £50m!

I imagine the clubs are already circling.

 

[Rasmi]

Try £50m!

I imagine the clubs are already circling.

Yeah it depends on his family because they will be offered a lot of money by other clubs. Unless his family are gooner see could lose him

 

[Afro Mugo]

I just don't think the academy really produces tricky wingers. Those types usually grow up playing football on the streets and have that dawg in them lol. That extra bit of magic and creativity is not something you will find in academy football. Honestly even though Skelly is a midfielder he is one of the only academy products that seems like he has that extra grit or edge with the way he plays. Not afraid to try things even though it might not come off. The last winger we had like that in the first team was Alexis Sanchez and on his day, he was a joy to watch.

I agree with you on this especially because Saka aside, who spent most of his academy years as a fullback , our biggest winger prospect is Cozier Duverry who joined academy football aged 14, which is quite late. Anyway as I know you were a big fan of Sagoe Jr.I hope you get to see Brando Bailey- Joseph at his best. Very fast skillfull direct winger . He's probably the best player in his age group aside from Rio Ngumoha (Chelsea) and Finley Gorman (ex Leeds now Man City) who technically are an age group above as they were born before September 08.

 

[MutableEarth]

Yeah it depends on his family because they will be offered a lot of money by other clubs. Unless his family are gooner see could lose him

From what I've read and seen from people close to the academy set-up, it's same with Nwaneri. Much noise but the player and family themselves are huge Gooners. I don't think the club are gonna mess around with this one either, it's practically the same situation again.

I agree with you on this especially because Saka aside, who spent most of his academy years as a fullback , our biggest winger prospect is Cozier Duverry who joined academy football aged 14, which is quite late. Anyway as I know you were a big fan of Sagoe Jr.I hope you get to see Brando Bailey- Joseph at his best. Very fast skillfull direct winger . He's probably the best player in his age group aside from Rio Ngumoha (Chelsea) and Finley Gorman (ex Leeds now Man City) who technically are an age group above as they were born before September 08.

I really, really wanna see more of Bailey-Joseph. He's in the year just above Dowman so that's still incredibly young yet he's also become a fixture in the U18 squad. I haven't seen any clips of him really, seen bits of Zecevic-John.

 

[Afro Mugo]

Dowman's family are proper gooners .. I think he's Islington born so not too afraid. Plus the club has done as best as it can to show him how highly they rate him. I'm calmer about him than I was with Nwaneri

Yeah it depends on his family because they will be offered a lot of money by other clubs. Unless his family are gooner see could lose him

 

[Afro Mugo]

From what I've read and seen from people close to the academy set-up, it's same with Nwaneri. Much noise but the player and family themselves are huge Gooners. I don't think the club are gonna mess around with this one either, it's practically the same situation again.


I really, really wanna see more of Bailey-Joseph. He's in the year just above Dowman so that's still incredibly young yet he's also become a fixture in the U18 squad. I haven't seen any clips of him really, seen bits of Zecevic-John.

He has been injured for a while hence why he hasn't featured yet but I'm certain he'll be playing u18s football the next year
I've seen he's been called up to latest England u16 and regular England youth football fans have compared this talent pool to the 03 and 00 group so being called up says alot. Just so you know, he often plays above his age group but every tournament we've played in his age group he's being the player of the tournament.

 

[Rasmi]

I don’t know how accurate transfermarket stats are. But it says Obi has 15 goals in 13 U 18 games and 10 in 14 for Denmark U17. These are great numbers

 

[MutableEarth]

I don’t know how accurate transfermarket stats are. But it says Obi has 15 goals in 13 U 18 games and 10 in 14 for Denmark U17. These are great numbers

Yeah, pretty accurate. He scored 2 today against Brighton U18s. We won 5-3. Another schoolboy scored today, Andre Annous (set up by Zecevic-John). The other scorers were Copley and Casey.

 

[MutableEarth]

@Afro Mugo What can you tell me about Jayden Oba? Someone put me onto him recently (to do with an U15 tournament in America).

 

[Afro Mugo]

@Afro Mugo What can you tell me about Jayden Oba? Someone put me onto him recently (to do with an U15 tournament in America).

He's the striker for the u15s. Was top scorer and probably our best player in the generation Adidas cup recently. Haven't seen enough to describe him but he's Part a very talented u15s side who were national champions last year. The Meron twins will probably be the first name you'll here from that age group because of social media. One plays as a LW/LCM the other plays LB. Then there's Bowen Phillips CAM who we signed from West Ham recently, Saurap Sampang CM , and CB Marli Salmon- who's always caught my eye when I watch him.

 

[Afro Mugo]

I don’t know how accurate transfermarket stats are. But it says Obi has 15 goals in 13 U 18 games and 10 in 14 for Denmark U17. These are great numbers

People talk a lot about his size but we forget he's still only 16 playing with u18s who have also potentially already experienced similar growth spurts.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Who this Obi Martin? NPC name but he got 4 goals this half

 

[TH14shahriar]

Who this Obi Martin? NPC name but he got 4 goals this half

This guy is crazy

Edit: The question is how much of his success can be attributed to his physique compared to those of his age or talent?