Re: Arsenal U23s & U18s Thread

[RealGunner]

AKPOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

1-0

[Jay29]

Goal Chuba Akpom. Nicks the ball off the Villa defender, rounds the keeper then slots it into the corner. Sign of the form he's in.

Decent game so far. Villa seeing a bit more of the ball but not creating. Martinez, Bellerin and Hayden very solid at the back. Akpom looks dangerous. Not seen an awful lot of Crowley and even less of Zelalem.

Diaby is Diaby. Ridiculously strong and difficult to tackle.

[RealGunner]

Diaby went for a 10 yard sprint

[El Gunner]

Chuba is a beast

[Jay29]

I hope the rumours of Akpom going to Feyenoord or Twente on loan are true. Looks far too good for this level.

[RealGunner]

Abou is ridiculous man. Please get fit

[RealGunner]

Impressed with Hayden

[Jay29]

Really impressed by this second half performance. Team looks very solid at the back. They're working hard and look quick and strong. Ball retention has been excellent, also. Should be looking to kill the game off now.

[El Gunner]

Yeah. Good work rate by the team.

[Jay29]

Another goal for Chuba Akpom. Zelalem splits the Villa backline and Akpom pokes it past the keeper into the far corner.

Top performance from him and the team tonight.

[Jay29]

And more good news is that Diaby has gotten through 90 minutes. Controlled the game from midfield and played a number of penetrative passes from deep.

Might not be unrealistic to see him feature in the Capital One Cup.

[RealGunner]

Hopefully they continue to air these matches.

Akpom is really good. but he has a problem with decision making when through on goal. He is a great finisher so once he improves that, he will score even more. And the only way to improve that is a loan move.

Diaby

[MJ]

Happy we're bringing Diaby back step by step. Had a decent game, few bright moments shaking defenders off like they were wet tissues and playing Akpom in with a brilliant splitting pass. When was the last time he was overpowered by anyone?

Akpom is a big fish in a small pond. Needs a loan to grow. Or send Sanogo out on loan and give Akpom a run. But that's definitely not happening as Wenger has his heart set on Yaya.

Intelligent display from Hayden. Bellerin always dangerous.

[Jay29]

I like how direct Akpom is and don't mind it if he's shooting or taking someone on when there's a player open because he's clearly got the ability to do something in those situations.

The thing to be weary about is that, at this level, the majority of players aren't fully developed physically, and players ahead of the curve in that respect usually stand out. Akpom's good technically and is very intelligent with his movement, but his pace and power were too much for Villa's defenders ultimately.

This is why a loan is so important for him. All well and good dominating players his own age, but playing in the Championship would put him up against defenders who are more aggressive and stronger than what he's used to.

[DuringTheWar]

Obviously i'm impressed with akpoms goals, and his strength and pace, but damn it, how selfish? shooting when teammates were in better positions, a lot, trying to dribble past everyone all the time, and when hes not got the ball yelling at his teammates to give him the ball. I know hes eager to impress, but this is not good, and hes not going to do anything in the first team playing like that.

Bellerin was not at his best, constantly miscontrolled and gave the ball away.

Crowley started nervously but after 15 minutes got much better, probably the main protagonist in controlling possession, great first touch and weight of pass, did a couple of nice dribbles, and always able to keep the ball in tight areas with that twisting and turning. What really impressed me was his movement, really good at finding pockets of space to give his teammates a forward pass option. Decision making in the final third was off on this occasion though.

Zelalem great assist, we know he has that vision, but he just let the game drift by him which he usually seems to do. I don't remember much apart from the assist.

Diaby dominated the midfield which is what we expect at this level.

[EL Patron]

https://arsenalyouth.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/magnificent-mavididi-scores-hat-trick-as-arsenal-u18s-beat-norwich/

Under 18's are in great form this season not that it matters really because its all about development of course, anyway this Mavididi lad seems to have something about him

[RealGunner]

Mavididi the next Akpom

[Jay29]

Arsenal U19 team to play Dortmund in the Youth Champions League:

Huddart; Johnson, Wright, O'Connor, Moore; Zelalem, Willock; Maitland-Niles, Crowley, Iwobi; Hinds

Subs: House, Smith, Bola, Robinson, Dobson, Sheaf, Mavididi

Looks a very offensive line-up for us.

[Jay29]

Arsenal leading 2-0 at half-time. with both goals coming from Kaylen Hinds. First goal assisted by Crowley.

[Jay29]

The game ended 2-0. Chris Willock got the 2nd assist, apparently.

All English eleven bar Zelalem, as well. Stark contrast to last year's team that had Illiev (Macedonian), Bellerin (Spanish), Pleguezeulo (Spanish), Olsson (Swedish), Zelalem (German/American), Toral (Spanish) and Gnabry (German).

[Jay29]

Arsenal play Galatasaray in the UEFA Youth League tomorrow at 2pm. Arsenal Player will be streaming the game live.

Shame that my uni lecture starts at the exact same time

[RealGunner]

lmao i have a day off

[RealGunner]

Arsenal 4-0 atm

[Jay29]

Hayden and Akpom both called up to England's U20 squad for a mini-tournament against Germany, Netherlands and Turkey.

[Jay29]

Team to play Blackburn:

Huddart; Moore, Ajayi, O'Connor, Ormonde-Ottewill; Diaby, Crowley; Walcott, Gnabry, Maitland-Niles; Akpom

dat pace

Shame this isn't being shown live.

[RealGunner]

ffs

lol a wild Diaby appears

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