Bielik debuts as Arsenal U18s lose yet again
U18 Premier League
Arsenal 1 (Da Silva) Norwich City 3
Krystian Bielik made his Arsenal debut, but the inclusion of the Polish youngster wasn’t enough to prevent Arsenal U18s from slipping to yet another defeat as they were beaten 3-1 by Norwich City at London Colney this morning.
Bielik, a high-profile arrival from Legia Warsaw last month, has had to be patient whilst FIFA ratified his transfer, but he was included from the offset against Norwich along with several members of Arsenal’s FA Youth Cup side.
Ryan Huddart, Renny Smith, Aaron Eyoma, Chris Willock and Tyrell Robinson, who all started in the defeat to Crewe Alexandra last Monday, were involved today but Arsenal still found themselves two goals down at the interval.
A well-taken goal from schoolboy Josh Da Silva, his second of the season at this level, gave Arsenal hope of staging a comeback, but they failed to find the net again and their misery was compounded when Norwich, the only side in this section to have endured a worse campaign than the Gunners, scored another goal late on.
Arsenal’s final game of this section comes away to Leicester City on Wednesday.
via AFCFixtureNews
Huddart
O. Moore-Smith-T. Bola-Chatzitheodoridis
Bielik-Donovan
Eyoma-C. Willock-Robinson
Da Silva
Hat-trick hero Toral hoping for Arsenal chance
It is almost exactly four years since Arsenal’s interest in signing Jon Toral from Barcelona was first reported.
Since then the youngster has spent much of the ensuing period recovering from a succession of injuries, but, now 20, he appears to be enjoying his football again, as evidenced by his impressive hat-trick for his loan side Brentford against Blackpool last night.
Toral has had to be patient for opportunities this season and has primarily been used as a substitute for Brentford. His performance last night showed what he is capable of producing when involved from the offset, however, and could see him receive further starts for the Championship side over the next few weeks.
What will happen to Toral next season is still a matter of some debate. His Arsenal contract expires at the end of June but, based on his development this campaign and his obvious potential, it seems likely that the club will offer him an extension, possibly for one or two seasons.
The midfielder, who has already represented the first-team in friendlies, could make his competitive debut in the Capital One Cup next season with a loan spell, possibly at a struggling Premier League side, another possibility.
Toral is keen to emulate his compatriot and close friend Hector Bellerin by progressing to the Arsenal first-team squad, but, whilst an opening for Bellerin was created by the departure of Bacary Sagna, circumstance is unlikely to be quite so kind to Toral.
Arsenal possess several first-team players capable of operating in Toral’s preferred central-midfield positions, whilst Dan Crowley and Gedion Zelalem will both be hopeful of edging closer to senior action next season.
Toral undoubtedly possesses much ability but, at present, it is difficult to envisage him not suffering the same fate as Kristoffer Olsson, who left Arsenal permanently last month in search of greater first-team opportunities elsewhere.
Arsenal U18s’ woeful form continues with defeat to Tottenham
U18 Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur 4 Arsenal 1 (Mourgos)
Arsenal U18s continued their wretched season with a 4-1 defeat away to arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur this morning.
Coach Frans De Kat was without the entire starting line-up from Monday’s FA Youth Cup loss to Crewe Alexandra, whilst Tafari Moore, Julio Pleguezuelo, Kaylen Hinds, Chiori Johnson and Jonatas Centeno were all missing through injury.
Nonetheless, it was another hugely disappointing outcome for Arsenal, who slipped to their tenth defeat in 20 league games so far this season. The youngsters have won just five league games this campaign, with this latest aberration seeing their goal difference fall to -9.
De Kat named a similar side to the one that lost out to West Bromwich Albion last weekend, with the only change seeing Marc Bola, who impressed as a substitute against Crewe, come into the side in place of Owen Moore.
Huddart
Wright-Da Graca-M. Bola-Chatzitheodoridis
Sheaf-Donovan
Tella-Mourgos-Nketiah
Da Silva
subs: Huddart, O. Moore, Gilmour, Nelson.
Shayon Harrison was the hat-trick hero for the hosts as he got the better of Hugo Keto on three occasions before the fifty minute mark.
The opening goal came when the dangerous Ismail Azzaoui was fouled in the area by Keto, with Harrison confidently converting the subsequent spot-kick.
Harrison doubled his tally, and that of his club, just eleven minutes later when he latched onto Joe Muscatt’s throw and finished adroitly.
The damage could have been far greater before the break had Zenon Stylianides not shot over and Keto not redeemed himself somewhat with a good save from Luke Amos.
It was 3-0 shortly after the interval, however, after Harrison completed his hat-trick with a fine finish following yet more good work from Azzaoui.
Arsenal were provided with a glimmer of hope of mounting a comeback when Savvas Mourgos scored his second goal in as many games after he weaved his way past several defenders before finding the net.
Tottenham would make it 4-1, though, after Harry Donovan was adjudged to have fouled Ryan Loft in the area. Loft took the penalty himself and dispatched it past Keto to confirm the victory.
Arsenal’s remaining two fixtures in this section are at home to Norwich City and away to Leicester. De Kat may well be able to call upon a slightly stronger line-up for those games but, as long as the bad results continue, questions will continue to be asked regarding the capabilities of the club’s youth set-up.
Report- Disappointing Arsenal crash out of the Youth Cup against Crewe
FA Youth Cup
Arsenal 2 (Mavididi 66, M. Bola 83) Crewe Alexandra 3 (O’Neill 7, O’Connor (o.g.) 48, Brown 67)
By Jeorge Bird @The Hive
Arsenal’s hopes of winning the FA Youth Cup are over for another year after they were beaten by a determined Crewe Alexandra at The Hive this evening.
Arsenal’s performance was deeply disappointing, with the young Gunners struggling to muster much rhythm in an attacking sense, whilst the defensive side of their game was underpinned by some alarming individual errors, some of which led to Crewe’s goals.
Renny Smith, admittedly a player who prefers to be used further forwards, struggled at right-back, Stefan O’Connor scored an own goal after he failed to get out of the way of Ryan Huddart’s attempt to parry the ball and a loss of concentration from George Dobson enabled Crewe to score their third goal.
Somewhat remarkably, despite the feeble nature of their overall performance, Arsenal still had a fighting chance of at least forcing extra-time following goals from Stephy Mavididi and substitute Marc Bola, but Crewe held on for a deserved victory and will face Manchester City in the next round.
Krystian Bielik was unable to make his debut for the club because of a registration issue, whilst Kaylen Hinds, Chiori Johnson, Tafari Moore and Julio Pleguezuelo were all absent through injury. Coach Frans De Kat was short of attacking options on the bench.
Dan Crowley, somewhat bizarrely, spent most of the evening operating in a deeper-lying position that usual, with Gedion Zelalem deployed further forwards.
Huddart
Smith-O’Connor-Dobson-Robinson
Maitland Niles-Crowley
Eyoma-Zelalem-C. Willock
Mavididi
subs: M. Bola (for Eyoma). Not used: Keto, Donovan, Sheaf, Wright.
This fixture had been postponed on two occasions and from the offset it was clear that Crewe, whose successful academy is renowned throughout football, were determined to seal their progression to the Quarter-Finals.
The visitors, backed by a small contingent of travelling supporters, immediately set about making life difficult for Arsenal and came close to finding the net early on before George Cooper did well to find Liam O’Neill, who directed his effort past Ryan Huddart to open the scoring.
Huddart had to make a good save shortly afterwards to prevent Crewe from doubling their advantage as the young Gunners were quickly made aware that they would have to be at their very best to avoid elimination this evening.
Arsenal struggled to keep hold of the ball in the early stages, with Crewe coming close again after the Arsenal defence failed to clear properly.
Smith was booked for a shameful dive in the penalty area, before Arsenal nearly created their first chance of note but Crowley’s through ball was just beyond the reach of Mavididi.
Crewe quickly established that the most effective way to breach the Arsenal defence was to play balls in behind Smith, who struggled to cope with the threat that the opposition provided.
Arsenal certainly weren’t helping themselves, with Zelalem playing a careless pass straight to an opposition player, whose effort was wayward.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles gradually grew into the game and the 17-year-old did well to win possession before sending a fierce effort just over the crossbar.
Crowley sent a first-time effort straight at the goalkeeper as Arsenal began to play with a little more intensity.
Aaron Eyoma then delivered a dangerous cross from the right flank that just eluded both Mavididi and Chris Willock as Arsenal ended the first half well.
They were shot back down to earth soon after the interval, however, when Crewe went two goals up. Huddart attempted to deal with a dangerous cross, but the goalkeeper succeeded only in palming the ball against O’Connor, who couldn’t prevent himself from scoring an own goal.
That incident rather summed up Arsenal’s ineptitude and, at that point, it seemed as if any chance of a comeback was fanciful.
To their credit, though, Arsenal did respond, with Maitland-Niles sending an intelligent pass into the path of Mavididi, who shot over.
Dobson had to make a crucial intervention at the other end, however, to prevent Crewe from scoring another goal.
Arsenal gave themselves a glimmer of hope of salvaging the tie when Mavididi finished well after Zelalem latched onto Eyoma’s cross.
The momentum was very short-lived indeed, however, as just moments later a careless mistake by Dobson enabled Andre Brown to score.
The drama wasn’t yet over, though. Far from it. Arsenal pushed on in search of a goal, with Willock’s cross just eluding Mavididi before Bola, who had impressed following his introduction as a substitute, saw a header saved.
It was Bola who would then find the net with an emphatic strike- his first goal at this level- but despite some sustained late pressure, which saw O’Connor pushed up front and Mavididi come close with a header, Arsenal were unable to get the third goal and Crewe managed to hang on.
Arsenal decide against Brooklyn Beckham scholarship
Arsenal have decided not to offer Brooklyn Beckham a scholarship deal for next season.
The right-winger, who has featured predominantly for the U16s since signing a short-term contract in November, was informed of the decision yesterday.
Beckham will continue to train at the club’s Hale End Academy until the end of the season for fitness purposes.
He was named on the bench for the recent U18 game against Leicester City, but fellow winger Nathan Tella is considered to have greater potential.
Beckham’s younger brothers Romeo and Cruz are still registered with the academy, with 12-year-old Romeo considered the biggest talent out of the trio.
Loan report- Campbell, Jenkinson and Toral feature
Joel Campbell started and played 69 minutes as Villarreal beat Eibar 1-0. The Costa Rican did well on one occasion to set up a chance for Gerard Moreno, who sent his effort over the crossbar.
Carl Jenkinson played the whole game as West Ham United surrendered a two goal lead to eventually draw 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur.
Wellington was introduced for the final 21 minutes of Almeria’s 3-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid.
Jon Toral was brought on for the last half an hour as Brentford beat Bournemouth 3-1. The Spaniard teed up a chance for Alex Pritchard.
Yaya Sanogo didn’t feature for Crystal Palace against Arsenal under Premier League rules, but the striker would have been absent with a hamstring problem in any case.
Ryo wasn’t involved as FC Twente lost 2-1 to Vitesse.
Lukas Podolski‘s Inter Milan side face Cagliari tomorrow night.
Josh Vickers‘ Concord Rangers weren’t in action this weekend, with their next assignment coming against Hornchurch on Tuesday.
Nelson debuts as Arsenal U18s lose to West Brom/ Youth Cup preview
After making a brief return to winning ways last week, Arsenal U18s experienced the familiar feeling of defeat as they were beaten 2-1 by West Bromwich Albion yesterday.
Coach Frans De Kat rested the vast majority of the players that are set to be involved in the re-arranged FA Youth Cup tie against Crewe Alexandra tomorrow night.
Keto
O. Moore-Da Graca-Wright-Chatzitheodoridis
Sheaf-Donovan
Tella-Mourgos-Nketiah
Da Silva
subs: Huddart, M. Bola, Nelson, Centeno, Gilmour.
He gave starts to four U16 players, one of whom, right-back Owen Moore, was told this week that he isn’t guaranteed a scholarship deal with the club for next season.
Reiss Nelson, the skilful and dangerous England youth international winger, was introduced for his debut at this level in the second-half and almost made an instant impact as his effort rattled the crossbar.
Arsenal had taken an early lead when Nathan Tella did well to find Savvas Mourgos, who created space for himself before directing his effort beyond the reach of Ethan Ross.
However, West Brom dominated thereafter, with Andre Wright prodding home from close range to equalise before Kyle Edwards put the hosts in front before the interval.
West Brom had a chance to seal the win in the second half but they missed a penalty. It mattered little, though, as Arsenal, despite Nelson’s best efforts, were unable to force themselves back into the game.
Arsenal’s defence at this level remains hugely unconvincing, with Kristopher Da Graca not having given the best account of himself since joining the club.
There was some encouragement to be found in the performances of some of the schoolboys, however, with Eddie Nketiah and Josh Da Silva both impressing.
Arsenal remain second bottom of their group as the first phase of U18 fixtures nears its completion. De Kat’s team’s remaining league fixtures are against Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City and Leicester City, after which they will enter another group with the lowest placed teams from the northern division.
De Kat’s priority now, however, is tomorrow’s crucial FA Youth Cup tie against Crewe. The game has already been postponed on two occasions due to concerns over the pitch at Boreham Wood’s Meadow Park stadium and the fixture will instead take place at Barnet’s The Hive ground.
The winners will face Manchester City away in the Quarter-Finals. Midfielder Krystian Bielik could make his much anticipated Arsenal debut tomorrow. However, Tafari Moore is definitely out and will miss the rest of the season, whilst Julio Pleguezuelo is doubtful.
*Update- Kaylen Hinds has been ruled out for three to four weeks and will miss the game.
Possible Arsenal U18s team v Crewe:
Huddart
Smith-O’Connor-Dobson-Robinson
Bielik-Maitland Niles
C. Willock-Zelalem-Crowley
Mavididi
subs: Keto, Donovan, Sheaf, Eyoma, M. Bola.
