General Reserves Talk

[MutableEarth]

U19 are currently 2-0 down to Olympicacos at half time. Can't comment on the match as i've only just started watching. Looks like Arsenal are 1 goal better off on goal difference if that is how it works.

Watched the whole game so far on the lappy - been very poor from us.

Dan Crowley had an utter nightmare today, gave the ball away a lot and messed up our attacks. Hinds playing at CM today which hasn't worked out too great defensively, although Agyei-Tabi is somewhat encouraging. Malen also not great today, but he's playing wide right with Mavididi upfront, who's also not had a great game. Willock again was our best player, and his replacement Reiss Nelson probably our 2nd best. Bielik also has had a decent game despite the goals.

 

[Bananacoffee]

Watched the whole game so far on the lappy - been very poor from us.

Dan Crowley had an utter nightmare today, gave the ball away a lot and messed up our attacks. Hinds playing at CM today which hasn't worked out too great defensively, although Agyei-Tabi is somewhat encouraging. Malen also not great today, but he's playing wide right with Mavididi upfront, who's also not had a great game. Willock again was our best player, and his replacement Reiss Nelson probably our 2nd best. Bielik also has had a decent game despite the goals.

Can you comment on Bielik's progression? Is he good enough to make it here?

 

[MutableEarth]

Can you comment on Bielik's progression? Is he good enough to make it here?

Remains to be seen. He has done well though, he's playing at CB a lot rather than his preferred DM position. Very composed on the ball, neat and tidy passing and a decent dribbler. Seems to play the game in slow motion at times though - but he is a good reader of the game though. They're taking their time with him at the moment and using him at CB perhaps to get him used to the game here.

TL;DR - he's progressing pretty well although not quite close to 1st team level yet.

 

[tim08]

The highlights of the U21 game against West Ham are up on the Arsenal player now in which we drew 1-1 - http://player.arsenal.com/matches/g817599/video/7141/under-21s-v-west-ham-a

Positives - At times we played some good attacking football with some neat moves in and around their box, and quite frankly we should of won this game with the chances we created. Malen was also very good again and on another day could of had a hatrick. He looks very exciting indeed.

Negatives - Defending. We gift-wrapped West-Hams goal, Bielek made the error and if it wasn't for a great save from Macey he would have been directly responsible for another goal after he carelessly lost possession in front of our goal. Pleguezuelo made a similar individual error and was also bailed out by Macey.

I'm a fan of Bielek and think he has potential, but I'm wondering if this concept of playing him at CB could actually be doing more harm than good. I know its designed to toughen him up and improve his defensive game, but after his 2 errors he just had his head in his hands and you couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Wouldn't it be better for him to play a few games in his natural position so he can actually gain some confidence and belief back, surely this would be better for his development at this stage?

Similarly I worry a similar thing could happen with Iwobi, his trickery and pace is suited to the wings and this is where he has achieved most of his success, yet the club are insistent on playing him in the deeper midfield role. I know the club are keen on playing the younger guys in different positions to aid their development, but I worry for certain players it could do more harm than good.

 

[MutableEarth]

The highlights of the U21 game against West Ham are up on the Arsenal player now in which we drew 1-1 - http://player.arsenal.com/matches/g817599/video/7141/under-21s-v-west-ham-a

Positives - At times we played some good attacking football with some neat moves in and around their box, and quite frankly we should of won this game with the chances we created. Malen was also very good again and on another day could of had a hatrick. He looks very exciting indeed.

Negatives - Defending. We gift-wrapped West-Hams goal, Bielek made the error and if it wasn't for a great save from Macey he would have been directly responsible for another goal after he carelessly lost possession in front of our goal. Pleguezuelo made a similar individual error and was also bailed out by Macey.

I'm a fan of Bielek and think he has potential, but I'm wondering if this concept of playing him at CB could actually be doing more harm than good. I know its designed to toughen him up and improve his defensive game, but after his 2 errors he just had his head in his hands and you couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Wouldn't it be better for him to play a few games in his natural position so he can actually gain some confidence and belief back, surely this would be better for his development at this stage?

Similarly I worry a similar thing could happen with Iwobi, his trickery and pace is suited to the wings and this is where he has achieved most of his success, yet the club are insistent on playing him in the deeper midfield role. I know the club are keen on playing the younger guys in different positions to aid their development, but I worry for certain players it could do more harm than good.

I think in the case of Iwobi and Bielik, it's simply part of their education - similar to the way Maitland-Niles played as a DM pretty much all of last season (I do think that Wenger sees his future central though to an extent). Having said that, I think Bielik does need to play more games at DM/CM to get a feel for the tempo in real time. I'm not sure what CB does for his development.

I agree on Malen - he looks the real deal so far, and what impressed me was his ability to create space for himself with relative ease. That will be useful as a CF. I'm really impressed with Willock's development - I was worried he would be a player with great dribbling and poor end product, but he looks far more assured in the final 3rd with his decision making and is becoming a much tougher player overall to play against. I'm hoping he continues to develop physically and also gets more goals and assists.

I'd like to see Agyei-Tabi and Nelson get U21 minutes before the end of the season too.

 

[yybecause]

I like how we move players around and educate them to see football from every angle and respond as best as they can. Sometimes it might seam like we are overdoing it, but those kids are young, and its a patient education we are doing with them - with one goal; to make them better, complete players. 3,4 games out of position for a 16/18 year old probably wont change a lot, its a process.
Bielik for example, he'll move to DM spot once he learns stuff they want him to learn while played as cB, not when it seams like he wont make it...

Niles, another example, did his homework there, and was loaned out to play serious football on regular basis cause he got thru all those 'test' here

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

This is also a mentality education.

It is though for Bielik but that is professional football. You cant go running to your mother and get your favorite position when things are not going well. One part of player education is to test his intelligence and the will to find solutions to problems. They will stick him there for longer to see if he can iron out his issues.

 

[jarsenal_man]

I honestly think Bielik is highly rated because the media had nothing else to talk about in that January transfer window. Guy is just another youth player, and I doubt he'll make it.

Malen, on the other hand, looks unbelievable. He's definitely a highlight reel player as he has special moments in every match. I think Sheaf has a great chance of making it too. Reminds me of Wilshere when he was at youth level.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Yeah I agree Bielik was hugely over rated by most on here because he was big defense midfielder.

 

[Bananacoffee]

Pretty poor from Bielik there, but that is probably why we play him at CB in all honesty. Errors like that are exposed more at CB, so he is forced to work on his decision making and concentration.

 

[MutableEarth]

I honestly think Bielik is highly rated because the media had nothing else to talk about in that January transfer window. Guy is just another youth player, and I doubt he'll make it.

Malen, on the other hand, looks unbelievable. He's definitely a highlight reel player as he has special moments in every match. I think Sheaf has a great chance of making it too. Reminds me of Wilshere when he was at youth level.

Sheaf is impressive. I think he could be a very good 6 or 8 because he has a very promising all-round game. Great passing range, good dribbler, engine, good physique, good positioning, set-pieces and shooting. I'd like to see him as a 6, but he is probably more naturally B2B than DM, even though he looks good at DM.

Not jumping the gun on Bielik, he hasn't been bad at all since joining so still early to tell whether he will make it. Malen does look very promising though. It will be interesting to see more of the other strikers though. Fortune is impressing on the left wing, Mavididi is still a good prospect, and Nketiah is probably the most underrated youth prospect at the club and is scoring good goals for fun.

 

[jarsenal_man]

Sheaf is impressive. I think he could be a very good 6 or 8 because he has a very promising all-round game. Great passing range, good dribbler, engine, good physique, good positioning, set-pieces and shooting. I'd like to see him as a 6, but he is probably more naturally B2B than DM, even though he looks good at DM.

Not jumping the gun on Bielik, he hasn't been bad at all since joining so still early to tell whether he will make it. Malen does look very promising though. It will be interesting to see more of the other strikers though. Fortune is impressing on the left wing, Mavididi is still a good prospect, and Nketiah is probably the most underrated youth prospect at the club and is scoring good goals for fun.

I think jumping the gun with Bielik would be to suggest he has a better chance than the other youth players of making his way into the first team. As hydroflauric said above, he's big and he played dm for his previous club (paired with there being next to nothing in Arsenal transfer news that window), thus he was hyped.

 

[Aevi]

It's early, but if I had to put money on anyone I would say Malen. Has the skill and the intelligence to play forward, was already highly rated at Ajax. Glad we got to him first, hope he grows quickly because I am dying to see him in proper games!

More interesting player than Akpom, that's for sure. Feels like more of a natural, kind of reminds me of Martial.

Maitland-Niles is also looking great, though it would be tough for him to break into the team since he looks like he is developing into an CAM.

 

[MutableEarth]

I think jumping the gun with Bielik would be to suggest he has a better chance than the other youth players of making his way into the first team. As hydroflauric said above, he's big and he played dm for his previous club (paired with there being next to nothing in Arsenal transfer news that window), thus he was hyped.

I can't argue with that. My stance is simply not to draw any judgement - however I will say that more talented players have gone onto not make it at Arsenal. So far he hasn't done badly, but I also believe that he's quite a bit away from the 1st team picture contrary to his reputation upon signing.

It's early, but if I had to put money on anyone I would say Malen. Has the skill and the intelligence to play forward, was already highly rated at Ajax. Glad we got to him first, hope he grows quickly because I am dying to see him in proper games!

More interesting player than Akpom, that's for sure. Feels like more of a natural, kind of reminds me of Martial.

Maitland-Niles is also looking great, though it would be tough for him to break into the team since he looks like he is developing into an CAM.

It's funny because Malen and Akpom are quite similar in that Akpom was doing all the things Malen is doing now at U21 level, at pretty much the same sort of age. I'd say there's one small but very significant difference between the two and that difference is in composure.

Akpom literally only ever worries about goals, and it affects his game at the expense of his team play. Even though he scored on the weekend, his interview afterwards - he literally says for like the 10000th time, "I love goals, I love scoring". With Malen, I don't see that same preoccupation with scoring, which doesn't necessarily mean he isn't hungry to score as the game on Monday night showed but he seems far more relaxed about goalscoring just in his poise on the pitch. With Akpom, you get flashes of that same poise, but his goals are more to do with his movement in the box than his composure. It's as if he simply HAS to score otherwise what's the point?

As far as who my money's on to make it? Of the loanees, it's Maitland-Niles. Has the strongest all-round game and is simply more battle-ready than the others despite being younger. I would not be shocked to see him become a first teamer in the future.

Of the scholars and schoolboys? Tougher to predict. We have an array of good young strikers at the moment: Mavididi (17), Malen (16), Fortune (16) and Nketiah (16). All performing very well too. Malen obviously looks the strongest, but keep an eye on Nketiah - very technically skilled and clever. There is also Willock who is a pro now, and Wenger rates him highly.

If I had to put money on any of the U18 players, the most promising of the lot IMO is probably Reiss Nelson. He looks like he is going to be a huge star and is probably the biggest Hale End talent since Wilshere - lots of style as well as substance. As talented a dribbler as Willock while looking more dangerous in the final third. He has that excellent burst of acceleration to take him past defenders aswell. He's the one to watch - just turned 16 a week ago.

 

[Tourbillion]

Thanks mate, again!

 

[Aevi]

When it comes to youngsters, I'm not going to be arguing with you @MutableEarth, Maitland-Niles it is!

 

[MutableEarth]

When it comes to youngsters, I'm not going to be arguing with you @MutableEarth, Maitland-Niles it is!

Feel free! I've been wrong plenty of times, mate. I'm still burned by JET's subsequent departure - I thought he was our next number 9!!!

Maitland-Niles is our most solid youngster though, have thought that for a while. Never looks out of his depth.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Maitland-Niles as CAM?

Hmm... I don't think so.

 

[BobP]

Niles keeps his head down and works hard.

Exactly what a young player looking to establish himself should be doing.

 

[Maxim]

Feel free! I've been wrong plenty of times, mate. I'm still burned by JET's subsequent departure - I thought he was our next number 9!!!

Maitland-Niles is our most solid youngster though, have thought that for a while. Never looks out of his depth.

JET was the fella, gutted he didn't make it here. Chuks Aneke, Ozyakup, Ebecilio I all thought were bound to get into the first team too.

Who was that albanian kid who looked amazing but left really early for some reason?

It just underlines how incredibly difficult it is to go straight from youth to first team at at this level.