U18s Preview-Bould looking to arrest slump against struggling Charlton
Arsenal under-18s will be looking to end a sequence of three matches without a win when they welcome perennial strugglers Charlton Athletic to London Colney tomorrow morning.
The Gunners have taken just one point from a possible nine, with coach Steve Bould left ruing his side’s inability to hang on to a lead in recent weeks. The slump started away to Ipswich when, having gone ahead via a Conor Henderson free-kick, Arsenal then succumbed to a Conor Wickham inspired side before eventually losing 3-2. That was followed by a 2-2 draw with Norwich at London Colney, in which Arsenal surrendered a two goal lead to drop two points. Then, last week, a decent first-half performance away to West Ham at Little Heath was overridden by a disconsolate second period which saw a one goal lead turn into a 3-1 defeat.
Tomorrow presents the perfect opportunity for Arsenal to return to winning ways. Charlton may sit bottom of Premier Academy League Group A with just seven points, but they are on a high having progressed to the second round of the FA Youth Cup this week by beating Gillingham 3-0 at the Valley. That was preceded by an impressive 3-2 win over Portsmouth, whom the Gunners take on next week.
Arsenal, despite their recent decline, still sit top of Premier Academy League Group A, but they are only ahead of their closest challengers Norwich by means of goal difference. Bould’s side have scored in every game this season but it is in defence where the problem lies. Daniel Boateng is available again following suspension and he appears to have learnt his lesson following his dismissal at Ipswich a month ago. He admits to letting the team down and has taken steps to curb his temperament, doing jigsaw puzzles to help build his concentration. Boateng, who has trained with Ghana U20s, could return to the starting line-up at centre-back tomorrow to partner Rhema Obed.
In goal, James Dunn is likely to continue with both James Shea and Sean McDermott still struggling for fitness. Ignasi Miquel and Emmanuel Frimpong may be rested with the Reserves in action against West Ham on Tuesday, whilst Oguzhan Ozyakup will return to the side having represented Netherlands at the FIFA U17 World Cup. Defender Sead Hajrovic is still away with Switzerland at that competition, whilst Jamie Edge (knee) is doubtful after picking up a knock upon his return against the Hammers last week.
Victory would be a welcome boost for Bould’s side as we approach the midway point in the season, but it is the under-16s who will be the most determined to get the better of the Addicks tomorrow after their capitulation against West Ham. Zak Ansah and Joe Jones should be available having featured in the Victory Shield and coach Steve Gatting will be demanding more from his players.
Predicted U18 team:
Dunn
Byles-Obed-Boateng-Evina
Ozyakup-Henderson
Deacon-Aneke-Freeman
Afobe
subs: Brislen-Hall, Meade, Miquel, Yennaris.
Predicted U16 team:
Aksoy
Glasgow-Jones-Sesay-Campbell
Monakana-Webb-Rees-Wynter
Ansah-Neita
subs: Fagan, Iffiel, Chambers.
Cafc coach paid very good respect to our academy “as the best around”
http://www.cafc.co.uk/newsview.ink?nid=35073&newstype=y
Are the 16’s at home tomorrow then or at Charlton? Hopefully we can get a better performance and result after last weeks poor showing against West Ham! Looking forward to seeing them welcome back certain players tomorrow though and I think both the 18s and the 16s will be too much for Charlton to handle personally.
Jigsaw puzzles?! That’s a little embarrassing, innit? (I think I might try it myself, but behind closed doors mind you.)
Yes, I laughed when I first read that. But at least he’s trying to rectify the problem.
It’s actually a very good idea. It really does help build concentration. They should give him Sudoku puzzles too. The mind can be trained to do almost anything.
What about the winger Alban Bunjaku? I heard people mentioning him a while ago as some great talent, but I don’t see his name there. Is he injured? And is he as good as people say?
I think he’s still only 13 or 14 years old so they’re not really rushing him which is the right thing to do i feel.
Surely he’s not that young, he played u16s last season…
the 2 last games were not that bad. both first half against ipswich and west ham were actually very good. They played very good football at times.
the problem is the back 4, or maybe the ability to defend as a team.
if they can fix this problem, I can see Arsenal winning the youth team again.
by the way, I was impressed by Meade against West Ham
Yes Meade played very well. I think him and Deacon offer us something different with their pace and ability to take on defenders.
very true
Jeorge is it true that afobe started with us at 9 then went to tottenham for a year or two and then came back to arsenal?!?!?!?
And now he may be off to Barcelona?.
You read wrong, I think. It says he went there for a while after spending two years with us, but was back again very soon.
I’m quite sure it isn’t
Is this rubbish then??
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2009/06/Arsène-wengers-magical-embryo-farm-benik-afobe/
I wanted to write “winning the youth cup again” and not “winning the youth team” sorry
Hopefully I’m allowed into the training ground tomorrow..
Gooner said
November 6, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Surely he’s not that young, he played u16s last season…
I’m not entirely sure he’s that young but i believe he is. Maybe JB or someone might know better than me. Also, it doesn’t matter how old he is. Jay Simpson played for the under 18’s at the age of 13 i believe.
Correct, he was 13 when he made his debut for the U18s.
The midfield and attack of the U18team looks really strong
Afobe
Aneke
Freeman
Ozzy
Deacon
Henderson
Its just the defence is quite poor and if this team wants to progress far this season this needs to be sorted.
hey how come you havent mentioned anything about Barcelona’s interest in Benik Afobe? i figure he’s one of, if not the most promising prospect at Arsenal’s Academy and he’s departure would be a pretty big deal.
Hopefully someone will get an answer off Afobe tomorrow.
What you know about this Zak Fagan kid? Highly rated?
That question was for you, Jorge Bird.
He is still an u-15, but is quite pacy and has good movement.
What was the score in the academy games
I don’t know because I wasn’t allowed into the training ground because the security there are absolute idiots. Last time they asked me to leave and acknowledged that I did nothing, so I returned this week to find out I am still banned. They don’t allow you to take pictures of players because they are u18, yet they produce a picture of me when I am u18. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
I guess the security is all about protecting our players from other clubs and agents.
But people are allowed in. I’ve seen lots of agents at the training ground and none of them have been banned.
If you haven’t done anything wrong besides being the owner of this site, then it must be becouse of this site. It sucks being successfull sometimes.
Arsenal u18 – Charlton u18 6-0!
If you cool the Under 16 stuff they’ll be more lenient. Child protection stuff is a major concern these days.