General Reserves Talk

[Maxim]

Yeah, was a harsh sending off definitely. By all accounts, this Blackburn team were very physical for most of the match, but they apparently have a pretty good academy so going down to 10 men would have made it very difficult for us, not least losing arguably the best and most consistent attacker in the entire squad.

Now that he has turned 17, I'm wondering if Wenger might think he's already ready for a loan. We are out of both the FA Youth Cup and the Uefa Youth League, so all that's left is the PL2 and we are not in immediate danger of going down again. Nelson, along with Willock, Mavididi and Zelalem, is looking superior to the current level he's playing at in the PL2. No problem with him staying - and I'm not even a big fan of our loaning academy grads out, given how poor some of those loans have turned out to be - but I want to see him and the aforementioned tested a bit more. Doesn't help that our youth coverage is terrible.

Yeah, it makes those early exits so disappointing (you can add the cap one cup too).

I just don't trust the lower leagues in England to have any positive impact on a youth players development. Especially a creative one like Nelson who's likely to just get shoved wide and told to try and beat his man without getting crunched.

If there's a championship team that'll take him then I'd be OK with that. Willock and Zelalem should certainly be able to get championship loans.

I know how much you like him but I just don't rate Mavididi... I think he just has a touch of the JET's about him in the sense that he's just bigger and stronger than most other youth players and when he makes the step up to senior football he'll struggle. I could be completely wrong of course.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Yeah, was a harsh sending off definitely. By all accounts, this Blackburn team were very physical for most of the match, but they apparently have a pretty good academy so going down to 10 men would have made it very difficult for us, not least losing arguably the best and most consistent attacker in the entire squad.

Now that he has turned 17, I'm wondering if Wenger might think he's already ready for a loan. We are out of both the FA Youth Cup and the Uefa Youth League, so all that's left is the PL2 and we are not in immediate danger of going down again. Nelson, along with Willock, Mavididi and Zelalem, is looking superior to the current level he's playing at in the PL2. No problem with him staying - and I'm not even a big fan of our loaning academy grads out, given how poor some of those loans have turned out to be - but I want to see him and the aforementioned tested a bit more. Doesn't help that our youth coverage is terrible.

Where can he go on loan at 17? 2nd division maybe? Is that all good for his development? He is a big talent and I'm not sure if playing in such weak division will do him any favor.

 

[MutableEarth]

Yeah, it makes those early exits so disappointing (you can add the cap one cup too).

I just don't trust the lower leagues in England to have any positive impact on a youth players development. Especially a creative one like Nelson who's likely to just get shoved wide and told to try and beat his man without getting crunched.

If there's a championship team that'll take him then I'd be OK with that. Willock and Zelalem should certainly be able to get championship loans.

I know how much you like him but I just don't rate Mavididi... I think he just has a touch of the JET's about him in the sense that he's just bigger and stronger than most other youth players and when he makes the step up to senior football he'll struggle. I could be completely wrong of course.

Yeah, I could see them doing that with Nelson, even though he is probably creative enough to play number 10 for a lot of those teams. I can see Wenger wanting to keep him here and not loan him aswell much in the same way that Iwobi was never on loan. I think it's more the competition, with ones teammates and playing first team football in a proper league.

With Willock, I think a Championship loan will be a massive challenge for him but if he plays with greater intensity he can succeed. Similar with Zelalem, although I think he could probably do well in a PL side aswell.

RE Mavididi - I was not convinced by him either, and to an extent I still have doubts. But he has not only performed consistently well in the last year, he's outperformed arguably more touted competition in Donyell Malen. There's a selflessness and resilience in the way he plays that I find endearing, and that could stand him in good stead. He's also not just a strong guy, he's pretty well-rounded and quicker than people think. If he continues to finish strongly, he'll be a dangerous player.

Where can he go on loan at 17? 2nd division maybe? Is that all good for his development? He is a big talent and I'm not sure if playing in such weak division will do him any favor.

He'd do well in League 1 right about now. This guy is used to playing above his level, and he's already looking above U23 level at this point. He's been the strongest performer. It's about testing him, giving him some kind of competitive football - something he won't really get for the rest of the season playing in PL2 with no cup games left. It could well turn out that playing in dead rubber PL2 games may elevate him as he dominates at that level, so I could be wrong - and him staying is a likely scenario anyway.

 

[Trilly]

He'd do well in League 1 right about now. This guy is used to playing above his level, and he's already looking above U23 level at this point. He's been the strongest performer. It's about testing him, giving him some kind of competitive football - something he won't really get for the rest of the season playing in PL2 with no cup games left. It could well turn out that playing in dead rubber PL2 games may elevate him as he dominates at that level, so I could be wrong - and him staying is a likely scenario anyway.

Is he really that good?

Arsenal starting XI potential?

 

[MutableEarth]

Is he really that good?

Arsenal starting XI potential?

Reiss Nelson's the best player in the academy right now. Became a starter for the U18s at 15, made his debut for U23s at the same age and became a regular for the U23s a year ago when he just turned 16 - he only turned 17 over a week ago. One particular game saw him score 1 and assist 2 in like his 3rd game at that level. Every account of him from people - including myself - who have watched him all see him as a dead cert to make it at Arsenal. Great international record aswell, averaged a goal a game for England U17s last year during the Euro qualifying and subsequent Euro U17 tournament.

So far, he's been the most consistent performer for the U23s - only Maitland-Niles and Zelalem have matched the consistency of his performances. He plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder. Like Willock, he excels in one-on-one dribbles but he is a tad more explosive in style. Great acceleration to accompany his dribbling, very good passing and a solid finisher aswell. High technical level.

Most teams at the moment have a couple of very big attacking talents in their academy who I'm quite certain will play for their club - City have quite a few, like Diaz, Poveda and Sancho. United have Angel Gomes, and Tatith Chong. For us, Nelson is the most comparable to those talents. I have been shocked before - JET probably being the biggest for me. But I have a very strong feeling. I knew when I first saw Wilshere he would become a starter for us. I feel the same way about Nelson.

 

[Trilly]

Reiss Nelson's the best player in the academy right now. Became a starter for the U18s at 15, made his debut for U23s at the same age and became a regular for the U23s a year ago when he just turned 16 - he only turned 17 over a week ago. One particular game saw him score 1 and assist 2 in like his 3rd game at that level. Every account of him from people - including myself - who have watched him all see him as a dead cert to make it at Arsenal. Great international record aswell, averaged a goal a game for England U17s last year during the Euro qualifying and subsequent Euro U17 tournament.

So far, he's been the most consistent performer for the U23s - only Maitland-Niles and Zelalem have matched the consistency of his performances. He plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder. Like Willock, he excels in one-on-one dribbles but he is a tad more explosive in style. Great acceleration to accompany his dribbling, very good passing and a solid finisher aswell. High technical level.

Most teams at the moment have a couple of very big attacking talents in their academy who I'm quite certain will play for their club - City have quite a few, like Diaz, Poveda and Sancho. United have Angel Gomes, and Tatith Chong. For us, Nelson is the most comparable to those talents. I have been shocked before - JET probably being the biggest for me. But I have a very strong feeling. I knew when I first saw Wilshere he would become a starter for us. I feel the same way about Nelson.

He couldn't come soon enough. Sounds a big, big talent.

That left wing spot is wide open but it's too soon for him to play first team football right?

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

That left wing spot is wide open but it's too soon for him to play first team football right?

Yes. Jeff and Willock are closer to first team in Wenger eyes than Nelson.

Wenger is weird these days. He would rather play El Nenny on the left spot than give youngsters like Willock and Jeff their chances.

 

[Trilly]

Yes. Jeff and Willock are closer to first team in Wenger eyes than Nelson.

Wenger is weird these days. He would rather play El Nenny on the left spot than give youngsters like Willock and Jeff their chances.

But from what @MutableEarth is saying he seems to be outperforming Jeff and Willock?

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

But from what @MutableEarth is saying he seems to be outperforming Jeff and Willock?

Yeah but that is just MutableEarth opinion and nothing else.

Jeff and Willock have both been involved in league cup this year. They are both highly rated by Wenger. They are also older and more matured.

 

[Trilly]

Yeah but that is just MutableEarth opinion and nothing else.

Jeff and Willock have both been involved in league cup this year. They are both highly rated by Wenger. They are also older and more matured.

But it seems like others share that opinion. What if Wenger also does?

We don't know what he's thinking.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

But it seems like others share that opinion. What if Wenger also does?

We don't know what he's thinking.

Well. What we saw in league cup is that he feels Willock and Jeff are more ready for this level of play. They are both very big talents too. My guess is that this season Jeff is the first youngster to come in if there will be injury crisis.

Nelson is special, huge talent and yes probably the biggest talent in the academy. But like I said Wenger is very weird with his youngsters these days. He rarely takes risk anymore and give them minutes here and there.

 

[MutableEarth]

He couldn't come soon enough. Sounds a big, big talent.

That left wing spot is wide open but it's too soon for him to play first team football right?

For us? Yeah, probably too soon to expect to see him in any first team capacity. He is arguably a bigger and more dangerous talent than Jeff and Willock but the latter two are both much more ready for the rigors of first team football. Jeff probably more than Willock, Willock can still be a bit languid on occasion but he is still deceptively powerful and it does not affect his dribbling negatively.

Nelson still has his decision-making to iron out, as do most 17-21 year olds playing near the first team. Once he begins to sustain his impact on games repeatedly and continuously, he'll be ready.

Right now, if I had to pick one of these 3 guys for left wing, it would probably be Willock because he's a player who is developing the ability to score goals from left wing. In what I've seen this season, he's becoming a really interesting goal threat, particularly with his control and skill.

But from what @MutableEarth is saying he seems to be outperforming Jeff and Willock?

To be fair to Jeff, he has not played much U23 football this season. He's hardly played at all other than the odd U23 game and the 3 COC appearances. Willock has been dangerous but Nelson has performed slightly better overall IMO. It is an opinion but it's a shared one. Jeorge Bird has practically raved about him, and he has far more knowledge of their performances than even I do.

I think despite his performances it's a little too early for him. I'd love to see him given the opportunity but it's very fanciful to expect him to be given one at this point in his career, despite how good he's been so far. Jeff earned his stripes by performing to a decent level in the first team whenever played and Willock's already been in Nelson's spot and is on the verge of being ready to play regular first team football. Willock may not have the explosive athleticism of the other two but he is a potentially great technician and pure dribbler. Adding goals to those skills makes you a very threatening prospect to deal with.

He probably could do with a loan. He'll be 19 soon, around the same age Iwobi was when he started his unexpected ascension to first team status and Willock might find it harder to make the same impact here given how many bodies are in the squad presently (Iwobi himself, Ox, Walcott, Lucas and possibly even Ramsey to name but a few). I think theoretically our entire U23 attack should probably be due loans.

 

[MutableEarth]

Speaking of Nelson...


Here's the feature interview from last month:

This season has started really well for me and that has followed on from a really good summer with England when I travelled to Azerbaijan for the European Under-17 Championship.

It was unfortunate that we went out to Spain in the quarter-finals as I think we deserved more, but I was really happy that I scored nine goals in 10 games. I was told by the manager that my job was to concentrate on scoring goals and that the team would be set up to give me the opportunities, and thankfully I managed to put away a lot of the chances my team-mates created. Having enjoyed that tournament I returned to Arsenal after the summer feeling good and I’ve continued to score, but my aim is to add even more goals to my game.

I was really happy with the goal I scored in midweek in Bulgaria in the UEFA Youth League against Ludogorets. Krystian Bielik slipped through a great ball between the full back and central defender that I ran on to and put away into the bottom corner. We should have won that game too and we really piled on the pressure at the end but we only came away with a draw, which was massively disappointing. Still, it was a useful experience as to how to try and breakdown teams who just play to defend.

I think this year I’m really benefitting from the fact that I was full time at the training ground from last year, when I was still a schoolboy. Arsenal and my school worked together so I was able to train full time. My family also moved to Cockfosters so I didn’t need to travel up from south London, where we used to live. I was able to concentrate on football and got used to how things were done at the Arsenal Training Centre. After a relaxing holiday with my family in Cyprus, I came back and did my pre-season with the first team – that was tough but I’m feeling the benefits now.

I trained with the first-team during pre-season, which helped me a lot. I’ve trained a few more times with the first team since then and it’s both harder and easier at the same time. It’s harder because you have to work on concentrating for every second and thinking ahead, because the tempo and speed of play and movement is faster, but it’s easier because when you play with top-class players the accuracy and movement is better, so more of your runs and passes count.

The challenge is to keep your standards high and every one of the younger players training with the first team says the same thing. We all feel that it boosts our development. I’m trying to improve my own game with the help of our coaches, but I really enjoy being a coach too. I’ve helped out at Hale End previously and that was good experience, but I spend a lot of time coaching my six-year-old nephew Bradley.

I can see the satisfaction our coaches get when they manage to improve players and when Bradley picks up what I’ve tried to teach him it’s a real joy to see. I’m not really into computer games or anything like that, but family time and coaching Bradley is a way I like to unwind.

I’d actually been on trial with today’s opponents Tottenham when I was six but was spotted by Arsenal scouts playing for my Sunday team, Moonshot in Catford. As soon as Arsenal showed an interest, I went straight to Hale End and left Sp**s, because Arsenal were the team I supported.


THE LOWDOWN
When did you join the Arsenal academy?
In the under-eights.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
My family, particularly my brother.

What's the best aspect of your game?
Dribbling or one-on-ones.

And what do you still need to work on?
Most stuff!

Which team did you support as a boy?
Arsenal!

Who did you pretend to be in the playground?
Zinedine Zidane.

Which current player would you most like to play against?
Neymar.

If you could score any goal from history, which one would it be?
Zidane's left-foot volley. (against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final)


TEAM-MATES
Who has the best sense of humour?
Joe Willock.

Who is the best at FIFA?
Eddie Nketiah.

Who has the best engine?
Marcus McGuane.

Who has the best turn of pace?
Nathan Tella.

Who is the best with the ladies?
Myself!

Who is the worst dressed?
Tyrell Robinson.

Who is the worst dancer?
Chris Willock.

Who has the worst taste in music?
Jordi Osei-Tutu.


Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/20161107/reiss-nelson#hsVgvtpJLiH6tlqm.99

http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/20161107/reiss-nelson

And a video.

 

[Jack the lad]

Willock and Nelson both are arsenal standard players. They just need to get on the juice and gain some weight and gain it fast. Willock would be starting for us if he was more bulky, he seems like a late developer physically. @MutableEarth when do you think we will see more of them? i havent been so excited about any youngster since Jack.

 

[Sykes]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/arsenal-snap-up-non-league-9562754

- Wenger sees similarities between him and a young Ashley Cole.
- Can play as a LB and LM.
- Wenger doesn't think he's ready for epl football

 

[Garrincha]

- Partial to a Rabona assist.

 

[rich 1990]

Hallelujah we've signed Cohen.

 

[reed]

Charity FC at it's best.

 

[Sanchez11]

Is he a late bloomer?

 

[novarek]

The end of Gibbs at last

I'm sure we can find a RB in the 7th tier better than Jenkinson