Arsenal should have nothing to do with “toxic” former players wonderkid son

9 Replies

Joe O’Cearuill is a name that no Arsenal fan would likely have remembered.

Released by Leyton Orient in 2005, and by Watford in 2006, O’Cearuill somehow found his way onto Arsenal’s books, signing professional terms with the club in July 2006.

Part of the squad for Dennis Bergkamp’s testimonial, which opened the Emirates Stadium O’Cearuill’s was an unused substitute for the Arsenal first team for a was an unused substitute for the Arsenal first team for a League Cup third round match against West Bromwich Albion in October 2006. That would be the closest he ever got to the Arsenal first team.

A loan spell at Brighton followed, and in 2007 he joined Barnet. A move to Ireland followed a year later, before he did the rounds of non-league clubs in and around London. Starting at Orient at 17, O’Cearuill would move 17 times throughout his career, never really settling at a single club. He did manage to make 2 appearances for Republic of Ireland.

O’Cearuill’s career is stereotypical of many a player. Talented enough to get into an academy, but fails to make it and ends up bouncing around non-league as a frustrated footballer who tells people he “could have made it”. Whether it is lack of talent, work ethic or a poor mentality, there is always a reason why many academy prospects end up with the careers they do. I imagine his story will come out in the next few weeks.

Whilst you might not have known the name O’Cearuill, you would probably have heard about his son – JJ Gabriel. And this is where the story really begins.

JJ Gabriel is not actually the name of the 15-year-old Manchester United “wonderkid” nicknamed “Kid Messi. His full name is Joseph Junior Andreou O’Cearuill – born to a Cypriot mum, and English dad with Irish and Trinidadian grandparents. So where did the name Gabriel come from?

Reports are that JJ Gabriel’s dad changed his sons name to “make his son more marketable”. Imagine disregarding your families heritage, that of your grandparents, your wife, just because you want to make your teenage son sound Brazilian so that he can be more marketable. All a little odd.

Yesterday, it was reported that the youngster was on the brink of leaving Manchester United. His grievance apparently that fellow youth products Shea Lacey and Harry Amass got game time in the Champions League and he did not. When I say “his grievance”, it is likely not his but his father’s.

Whilst 19-year-old’s Lacey and Amass made their Champions League debuts against Sabah, Gabriel was scoring a hattrick in the youth version of the competition against the same opponents. The UEFA Youth League is for under 19s, so a 15-year-old playing up 4 age groups should be seen as an incredible achievement. But not to the O’Cearuill’s.

JJ Gabriel was slated to make his Manchester United debut tonight against Brighton in the League Cup. He would have become Manchester United’s youngest ever senior player. Instead, less than 48 hours before the game, the news leaked that Gabriel had sent formal notice to Manchester United that he wanted to cancel his registration with immediate effect. Following the news, social media was flooded with stories about the family.

Previously on the books at Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham, the family left the capital after they “burnt bridges with pretty much every academy in London“, with his dad labelled “an absolute nightmare”.

The stories from those who have previously been involved in the young mans career continued…

And the digger fans dug, the more was found out about his dad.

Reported “burner accounts” on X were found, which are apparently Joe O’Cearuill questioning the age of JJ Gabriel’s Manchester United academy teammates. A clear attempt to put down a pair of teammates, get them out of the picture at Manchester United, and create an easier pathway for his son.

And it was not just one alleged burner account…

All this paints a picture of a father who see’s his son as his cash cow, and is attempted to live through his talented son – a common trait in many failed footballers whose kids show a bit of talent.

Instead of letting their children flourish at their own pace, father’s pace the touchline of youth pitches up and down the country, barking orders and making demands. All because they failed as footballers and think, just because they were once in an academy, they know best.

Whilst JJ Gabriel has ruined his chance of becoming Manchester United’s youngest player tonight (or more his dad has ruined the chance), Arsenal’s youngest ever player grabbed himself a brace last night against Ipswich.

If everything coming out of Manchester about O’Cearuill is bad, everything that comes out of Brentwood about Max Dowman’s family is good. Supportive parents who keep their sons feet on the ground, ensured he did his GCSE’s, and trust the club will make the best decisions for the club. You only ever hear from Dowman’s dad, Rob, when he is shooting down rumours about his son on social media.

Last night, Arsenal finished the game with 5 teenagers on the pitch:

Myles Lewis-Skelly (19) – At Arsenal since 8 years old
Max Dowman (16) – Since 8 years old
Marli Salmon (17) – 10 years old
Theo Julienne (18) – 13 years old
Ife Ibrahim (18) – 7 years old

This summer, there have been a lot of academy movements between clubs. It is interesting that many of those players to have moved had not been with their club since pre-teen. Most had been signed between 13 and 16 from another clubs academy. And then at 16 or 17 they were being moved again by their “handlers”.

Arsenal signed a then 15-year-old Kyran Thompson in 2024 from West Ham. This summer he opted not to sign a professional deal and join Newcastle.

Mishel Nduka joined Arsenal from Charlton as a 15-year-old. Like Thompson, he stayed for 2-years, saw out his academy deal, refused to sign a professional deal and left. He is on the way Manchester City.

Someone has to do research about young player loyalty, and if players are more loyal if they start with a club at a younger age, and are not poached in their teams from elsewhere. By poaching, are we “creating the monster” and making it clear that being disloyal is OK?

It is so hard to progress from talented academy product to senior professional.

Of players who come through English Category 1 academies, roughly 30% eventually receive a professional contract somewhere in the Premier League or EFL, but only about 10% establish anything resembling a sustained professional career in the top four divisions. Only about 3% ever play in the Premier League.

To make it, you need the natural talent. You also need the work ethic, mentality and supportive parents. Many of those that fall by the wayside do so not due to their talent, but due to their own work ethic or mentality, or parents / representatives moving them from club to club and creating problems for them.

You often here “pathway” when a kid moves from one academy to the next. This is just a meaningless word.

Chido Obi-Martin went from Arsenal to Manchester United because they sold him a pathway to the first team. He has yet to really progress beyond the level he was playing at in 2023 for Arsenal and has since been given a chance to prove himself in Holland for Willem II.

When JJ Gabriel does move, it will be because of the “pathway”. But he will move to someone like Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester City. These are clubs with better players than Manchester United. And better young players. It will actually be harder for him to get the game time he (or his dad) thinks he should get.

Ultimately, JJ Gabriel’s dad thinks his son is better off out of Manchester United. All he really cares about is his sons profile, not his career. He wants the Nike deal, to see his kid in the shirt of Barcelona. He does not care if it affects the long term progression of his boy.

Ultimately, if you are good enough, and work hard enough, you will get the playing time, the acolades and the money.

Bukayo Saka had a £73m Nicholas Pepe ahead of him. He forced his way into the first team ahead of Arsenal’s record signing. Phil Foden broke through at Manchester City despite having some of the best attacking talent in the world ahead of him. Marcus Rashford got his chance at Manchester United at 18 based on his talent, attitude and work rate.

If the likes of JJ Gabriel and Chido Obi Martin deserved their chance, they will get it. Top clubs do not just give game time to youngsters to keep parents, or fans, happy.

I always chuckle when I see fans say “X player deserve a chance to show he is good enough”. No, they do not. They need to prove they are good enough on the training ground when training with the first team. That will show to the manager and coaches whether they are ready for first team football – not just chucking them into a run of Premier League games.

JJ Gabriel is still a child. He still has the body of a child. He is not a Wayne Rooney who had hair on his chest and was balding at 15. Manchester United are correct in taking his development slowly. And if his father thinks he knows best, then that is the reason we should stay clear.

A toxic dad overly involved in his sons career will only spell disaster further down the line.

My final thought is JJ Gabriel will sign a 2-year-deal with Barcelona. He will see very little game time. In 2-years he will be on the move again in the quest for first team football. A new 5-year deal, maybe to a French or German team, but not one of the big ones. After 1 good season, his dad will be pushing to move him to Chelsea or Manchester City. We have all seen this story before.

Keenos

Strong second XI set for Arsenal League Cup run out

2 Replies

In the battle of two number twos, I expect Kepa to remain as out League Cup keeper.

The recruitment of Illan Meslier opened the door for an Arsenal keeper to leave – had an offer came in for Kepa, Meslier would have been 2nd choice. Instead, Kepa stayed, Tommy Setford went out on loan and Meslier is 3rd choice.

After getting through 45 minutes on Saturday, I would expect Jurrien Timber to get an hour tonight. A mixture being Ben White hobbling off (again) and Timber rebuilding himself will see the Dutchman start.

Inside Timber will be Ezri Konsa. With William Saliba out, Konsa will likely see a huge world load on the first half of the season. I would not be surprised to see Konsa move to right back after the hour mark to replace Timber, with Marli Salmon getting the last half hour.

Partnering Konsa will be Christian Mosquera.

Mosquera has come in for some criticism since that Champions League final. I think it has been unfair criticism. Part of the issue is that both Gabriel and Mosquera like to be the aggressor, whilst Saliba and Konsa prefer to sit back. That will make Mosquera as Gabriel’s understudy this summer whilst Konsa covers Saliba.

At left back Arteta will continue to rotate throughout the season. Piero Hincapie will come in for Ricardo Calafiori.

In midfield, I expect Martin Zubimendi to start. The Spaniard is a class player and simply ran out of steam last season. A run out against Ipswich will be good for him.

Declan Rice will get a mid week rest, with either Myles Lewis Skelly or Bruno Guimaraes coming in for it. I expect it to be the Brazilian who, like Timber, will get an hour under his belt following 45 minutes at the weekend.

Noni Madueke will get a start on the right, with Eberechi Eze on the left. Through the middle will be Mikel Merino just behind Viktor Gyokeres. Expect us to get the ball wide and get some balls onto the box.

It is perhaps a sign of our strength that, Bruno aside, it will be our entire 2nd string. And that team has two World Cup winners!

Just need to win now.

Keenos 

“Premeditated” decisions fail to stop The Arsenal

4 Replies

I am not a conspiracy theorist. I call things how see them. And on Saturday I saw a referee making decisions that appeared to be premeditated.

John Brooks made a lot of inconsistent, strange decisions. My only explanation is he was either instructed to keep a special eye on Arsenal “incidents”, or Brooks himself decided to give Arsenal special treatment.

Last season we won the league. Opposing fans and pundits could not cope, so in an attempt to devalue our achievement they harped on about what they saw as “Arsenal getting away with things” that other club were being penalised for. It was all balderdash.

We had pundits on Match of the Day and Sky highlight how long we took over throw ins, despite us being mid table for time taken. The rules were changed over the summer on how long a player can take for a throw in.

The the same pundits also highlighted how long David Raya would keep the ball, even though the stats showed he was amongst the quickest to release it. The authorities again changed the rules to give corners if a goalkeeper held the ball too long.

“Benefiting from foul play” was cried over how we were physical when attacking and defending corners. For the third time, the authorities changed the rules this summer in an attempt to limit contact in the penalty area

Finally we had Mikel Arteta leaving the technical area. Arteta behaves no different to any other manager, and infact the stats show that he is mid table last season for how often he leaves technical area. But it was Arteta who pundits opted to analysis.

Against Sunderland, Brooks was chomping at the bit to make a statement.

Arteta was booked for being about a metre out of his technical area. Now I concede that it is an offence for a manager to leave their area, but this weekend other managers would have left more often, ventured further, and not been booked. I am in no doubt this was a premeditated decision after all the “noise” in the last week.

It took Brooke just 18s before he decided to book Calafiori for taking too long over a throw in. In the same game, Sunderland took 53 seconds to take a throw in. The argument that “it is the ref who decides when to start counting, and they are more lenient for long throws” is nul and void when you realise that the Sunderland throw in take had the ball in his hands after 17s,  and then took more than 30s to take it.

And this was not just a one off…

We then have the penalty decision.

Ashley Williams was spot on in the way he called it. Dan Ballard had hold of Ezri Konsa. The Arsenal man was looking at the ball. Ballard then “judo hip tossed” Konsa, and both men fell to the ground. It was never a penalty, and was a simple case of an attacking player manufacturing a situation that would make him look like he was fouled. This is the sort of thing, I bet, some clubs practise – how to make it look like you’re the one being fouled. The ref fell for Ballard’s actions and VAR agreed with him. Penalty given. Arsenal’s reputation preceded them, and the ref was always going to side against us.

There is also the side story of Arsenal not conceding a penalty last season. I wonder if that came into the refs thinking and he was simply looking for any opportunity to award a penalty against us.

So much has been written about The Arsenal being an overly physical side. Irony is for over 15-years those same pundits criticised us for being “soft” and “naive”.

In a second half flashpoint, Gabriel got in the middle of everyone as peacemaker. He was pulling Arsenal players away from the melee, as well as trying to calm down former teammate Granit Xhaka. Gabriel was booked for doing what the ref was too cowardly to do.

The incident that created the flashpoint was a Sunderland player trying to pick up Bruno Guimaraes, who was rolling about injured. Gary Neville demanding Gabriel Martinelli to be sent off last season for a similar action will all be on our memories. Countless hours dedicated to the incident by Sky. This one won’t be mentioned.

Then we have Kai Havertz. Not really sure why the ref booked him. No one really knows. But he got a yellow card. Only conclusion is either spoke and a bet on Havertz to get a yellow card, or the ref just wanted to book an Arsenal player to show that he was “punishing the champions” and not treating us favourably.

Through a brilliant finish by Bruno and a late Bukayo Saka penalty, we won 2-0. John Brooks didn’t cost us.

Arteta was right to highlight the poor referring decisions and no doubt the league will come down on him hard. All he, and us, ask for us to be reffed fairly. And Saturday the referee was not fair.

Keenos