Tag Archives: reiss nelson

3 Arsenal youngsters impress

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It has been a solid pre-season for Arsenal so far.

Unbeaten after draws against Atletico Madrid and Chelsea, with a nice 5-1 victory over PSG the meat in the sandwich – I am not counting penalties in a glorified pre-season game as defining the winners and loses.

Arsenal players are slowly adapting to Unai Emery’s way of playing. Things do not change over night so we can not expect us to press high and man mark without making mistakes.

Remember it took 12 months and £300m+ for Pep Guardiola to build a title winning team; and Jurgen Klopp is still getting the benefit of the doubt with fans and the press saying he is still growing Liverpool in is vision.

But Arsenal are different, we seem to have a higher level of scrutiny, and even during the game against Chelsea fans were moaning. Rome was not built in a day.

I try not to read too much into pre-season. I remember a few years back. Tottenham won every single game. They ended up finishing 5th.

There are 3 things, or 3 people really, that we can get a little excited about from pre-season. Three teenagers who have looked very comfortable in the Arsenal first team.

Mattéo Guendouzi

Frenchman Mattéo Guendouzi was a £7million signing this summer.

Just 19-years old, he has been the man of pre-season, looking very comfortable in the middle of the park. He is the type of player that “Diamond Eye” Sven Mislintat was bought in to find.

Whilst I do not expect him to be parachuted into the first team, his composure and ability will put pressure on Granit Xhaka if the Swiss man struggles.

Thos in the know from France rate him highly and you have to keep reminding yourself when he plays that he is still just 19.

Emile Smith Rowe

When it was announced that Arsenal were selling Jeff Reine-Adelaide, a lot of fans kicked up a bit of fuss, feeling that the young Frenchman was never really given a chance in an Arsenal shirt.

Whilst he never did quite break through, a huge reason for his departure was the form of Emile Smith Rowe.

The Englishman is 2 and a half years younger than his former team mate and has shown in pre-season why the club is backing him over the senior man.

Smith Rowe scored an excellent goal against Atletico Madrid, showing why some fans who know their stuff have labelled him as the best home grown talent since Jack Wilshere.

Not only did Smith Rowe move ahead of Reine-Adelaide, but he also moved ahead of fellow teenager Joe Willock.

Willock is perhaps the man in pre-season to have missed out on a chance.

Whilst Smith Rowe will now move forward to training regularly with the first team, getting League Cup and Europa League starts, and getting opportunities on the bench, Willock will return to the U23 team.

That is not to write Willock off, he turns just 19 in a week or so, but he has seen both Guendouzi and Smith Rowe move ahead of him in midfield.

Smith Rowe can be very please with his last months work.

Reiss Nelson

With all the hype surrounding Smith Rowe and Guendouzi, Reiss Nelson risked joining Willock as a forgotten man. But he reminded us in the closing moments against Chelsea he showed his ability.

Nelson feels like he has been around for a while now, but he is still just 18. With Arsenal lacking natural width and pace this season, Nelson could be a game changer off the bench.

He showed against Chelsea how important it is to have someone who can get round a full back, hit the by-line and put in a quality ball.

If Arsenal end up not signing Ousmane Dembele or Leon Bailey, it will be up to Nelson to be the man who provides the width and pace.

On his pre-season showing, he might not yet be as good as the aforementioned players, but he is ready to step up.

Like last season, the Europa League could be the place to go to watch some of our talented younger players.

Guendouzi, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Ainsley Maitlan-Niles and Konstantinos Mavropanos will make up the spin of a talented young team.

Keenos

 

What does the future hold for 6 Arsenal youngsters

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Konstantinos Mavropanos

I have seen a lot of people put the 20-year-old Greek centre back into their starting XI’s for next season. This is premature.

Let’s look at it logically. He played 3 Premier League games last season. Was excellent in one (defeat to United), little to do in the second (5-0 win over Burnley) and was sent off after 15 minutes in the 3rd (Leicester).

He looks a strong, talented boy, but there is zero justification to to call for him to start alongside Sokratis against Manchester City.

I saw one fan tweet that “Mavropanos should start to help Sokratis get used to the pace of the Premie League”. But who will then help Mavropanos?

I do expect the Greek man to be involved next year; with Laurent Koscielny out until 2019 he will be battling it out with Rob Holding as 4th choice centre back.

He will get plenty of game time in the first half of the season, with Europa League and League Cup games. Either he or Rob Holding will go out on loan in the second half depending on Koscielny’s return to fitness and the form and fitness of others.

Reiss Nelson

A bit like Mavropanos now, Reiss Nelson suffered from overhyping last season, and did not progress as some fans would have hoped. But this is more due to their high expectations rather than his performances.

It is easy to forget he is still just 18.

I expect Nelson to be evolved more this season.

With our transfer business seemingly over for the summer, it is unlikely we will sign the player to fill the skill gap between Iwobi and Mkhitaryan that I desire. Instead it seems Lucas Perez will be that player, for a season at least.

Like Mavropanos, I expect him to play a big part in the Europa League and League Cup, where he will play alongside Iwobi.

He has a fairly simple to explain task. Over the next 6 months he needs to outperform both Iwobi and Perez in those Europa League games.

That is not to say if he doesn’t he will be written off. This time next year he will still be 19. Just the performances could dictate what happens to him in the second half of the season and what happens to Iwobi and Perez next season.

If Nelson out performs the pair in those early “b-team” games; he might find himself ahead of them in the pecking order for the second half of the season.

If he does not move ahead of them, it would be worthwhile sending him out on loan to a play-off chasing Championship side in the second half of the season. One where he would get 20 or so games.

If he has a solid season, at Arsenal or on loan, Iwobi and Perez should be worried about their futures.

Jeff Reine-Adelaide

The young Frenchman has not built on a promising early start to his Arsenal career.

He joined the club 3 years ago and you do not feel he has progressed too much in that time.

He suffered an injury in early 2017 which ruled him out for 12 months which has hampered his progress.

Jeff’s big issue is Nelson has moved ahead of him in the pecking order. The young Englishman is 2 years his junior.

Nelson already looks better than his elder team mate, so you have to think Jeff will be sent on loan for the entire season.

Eddie Nketiah

Another to suffer from a lot of hype after two goals against Norwich last season.

Still just 19-years-old, you have to wonder where he will get game time next season.

Arsenal are likely to play one upfront. That will leave Nketiah behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Danny Welbeck.

Some will say he should be ahead of Welbeck, those people are idiots. The England international might not be everyone’s cup of tea but he is better than young-Eddie.

With Welbeck’s contract set to expire next season, I would like to see Nketiah sent on loan to a top end Championship side. His task will be to show that next season, when Welbeck leaves, he is ready to be 3rd choice Arsenal striker.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles

He is going nowhere.

28 games last season, I expect a similar amount of game time this season. Only difference is this season he will be a central midfielder rather than a utility man.

I am excited for his future.

Emile Smith Rowe

17-year-old Emile Smith Rowe looks to be this summer’s break through youth player after he was added to the experienced squad for the game against Boreham Wood.

Smith Rowe was Arsenal’s standout performer in their run to the FA Youth Cup final, although he was part of the side that fell 7-1 on aggregate to Chelsea. The attacking midfielder won the Under-17 World Cup with England last summer.

He has described as a mixture of Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain due to his ability to unlock defences with his passing and ability to drive forward with the ball.

Next season will see him hopefully train full time with the first team. Hew is unlikely to go on loan as Arsenal will wish to continue his development training and learning from the likes of Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

A move out on loan will be pencilled in for 2019/20.

Keenos

Reiss Nelson holds club to ransom to get new deal

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Reports are that Reiss Nelson is set to sign a new contract at Arsenal.

For me, Nelson highlights a lot of what is wrong with football at the minute.

Here we have an 18 year old who only made his first Premier League start last season. He is already idolised by fans. Being labelled as the “Next Big Thing”. Overhyped by fans who live their life on Twitter, watching YouTube clips.

Some advice. Rarely does the “Next Big Thing” become “The Next Big Thing”. Think David Bentley, Jermaine Pennant, Fran Merida, Chucks Aneke, Benik Afobe, Chuba Akpom and Gedion Zelalem.

For every Cesc Fabregas or Wayne Rooney, there are hundreds of players who look like world beaters at 16/17, but fall away.

I remember Everton having a run of the likes of Michael Branch, Danny Cadamarteri, Francis Jeffers and Nick Chadwick being labelled as the next top England striker before Wayne Rooney came through. Following Rooney was James Vaughan. Then in the midfield the likes of Jack Rodwell and ore recently, Ross Barkley.

In this country, we have a habit of overrating players before they have even got up to double figures in games.

We should be letting players develop at their own pace. Not hyping them up at 16, before writing them off at 20.

And hyping them up leads to point two.

Young players think their s**t don’t stink. They are told they are superstars from before they even sign their first deal.

The parents see them as cash cows, the clubs and coaches playing to their ego’s to boast their confidence.

This then leads to them demanding silly money from clubs without ever having played a game.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek was rumoured to have signed a £60,000 a week deal with Chelsea at just 20 and a handful of Premier League appearances. Before joining Liverpool, Dominic Solanke was holding out for similar before deciding to join Liverpool.

Kids these days demand silly money. And clubs are so worried about losing their teenage star, the next big thing, on a free to a rival, that they often end up paying it.

For every Marcus Rashford who deserves a decent pay cheque, there are countless others who never really justify what they earn.

It always frustrated me that Emmanuel Frimpong got a £30,000 a week deal after a couple of good performances. £1.5m a year. And he never did anything bar argue on Twitter.

Coming full circle, Reiss Nelson has been in a contract stand-off with Arsenal.

It might be reported that he wanted assurances about his future, but this is rubbish. It is all about money.

The days of Tony Adams and Ian Wright signing whatever was put in front of them are gone.

Reiss Nelson has been at Arsenal since he was 9. Instead of signing on the dotted line, earning more a month at 18 than most fans labelling him as the “Next Big Thing”, he would have been advised by his agent as to “what he could get elsewhere”. And then Arsenal have a choice. Match what Chelsea or Liverpool would have paid him (look what Liverpool did with Raheem Sterling and Jordan Ibe) or risk losing him.

And the pressure is on the clubs to pay.

Imagine Arsenal had put their foot down. Told Nelson to not hold the club to ransom. And he went and joined Chelsea. There would have been uproar. People would have been complaining that we had let him go.

Even though he has barely played for the club, and the odds are that he will rarely play in the future, people would have abused the club, abused Arsene Wenger, over it.

Giving players “superstar” status when they are just 16 gives them the bargaining chip when it comes to contract negotiations.

Gone are the days players had to earn their salary, earn their contract. The likes of Nelson could end up doing nothing with his Arsenal career. A 5-year-deal, a multi millionaire before he is 20, and he might never kick a top level ball again.

And it is us, the fans, who pay. Through our ticket prices, through our TV subscriptions.

Players becoming millionaires without having achieved anything.

That is why football fans begin to fill alienated. That is why England struggle.

This started off as a mini blog and has ended up as a full one. Just to clarify, I am not having a go at Nelson. He is just an 18-year-old whose agent has got him the best deal possible.

I am blaming society.

Keenos