England Under 17’s are all but through to the knock out stages of the UEFA Under 17 European Championship Finals after beating Greece 1-0 this evening. Benik Afobe started on the left of a 4-3-3, with Connor Wickham and Will Keane making up an exciting striker force. He completed 51 minutes before being replaced.
John Peacock’s boys began tentatively against the less than fancied Greeks. Eventually they got going and some slick link up play between Afobe and Wickham created space, but the killer ball was lacking. Wickham almost gave the Young Lions a lead from Joshua McEachran’s delivery from the left, yet the key goal was alluding them.
Finally, and after some sustained pressure, Luke Garbutt’s cross was headed home by Ross Barkley. The half came to a close with Afobe heading over from Garbutt’s drilled ball from the left, before again flicking over, this time from a corner he won after skillfully beating his man on the right.
Boasting a lead, England began the second period well. Afobe and Keane both won free-kicks in dangerous areas after tricking their way beyond the full backs, but neither came to anything. Following a sustained period without the ball, West Ham’s Robert Hall replaced Benik with 29 minutes left on the clock.
A passive finish to the game was enough to garentee another three points, putting England a step closer to grabbing the crown they’re favourites for.
Fucking shit, John don’t even start.
In the absence of John, i must just say that i’m still not convinced by Afobe, all he seems to do is score goals… ;)
Guys before you start saying is Afobe good or not good let the boy go out on loan and prove himself
A lot of player look great in the youth and reserves but never make it into the first team
Once again you dont have to see them onloan before judge them. You just have to know what to look for and not be distracted by quantity over quality. I said Sanzhez Watt wasnt Arsenal class before he went on loan. I said Mark Randall wasnt Arsenal class for a couple year now. In my opinion to play at a big club in any of the big leagues, you need something special about you. Average or good players simply don’t make it at this level. Also even though I am an Arsenal fan,you unbias when it comes to judging talent or your judgement will often be wrong in the long run.
I don’t think Afobe is a god, but I deffinately think he’ll make the first team. For goodness sake, Wenger said he and Aneke are technically perfect. While that might be a bit of an overstatement, I’m not going to argue with that. Who knows how good they can become in the next 2-3 years?? I don’t know hahaha. What I do know is that they are head and shoulders above the rest in their age group, and that is a pretty solid starting point. Cesc was, Wilshere is and so are these two. I just hope Aneke recovers from his injury.
I don’t think these two are head and shoulders above the rest of their age group. Although I do think Aneke is the most talented around. I wouldn’t say A+A stood out from the rest as much as Wilshere did but there’s no doubting they’re 2 of our biggest stars.
It’s always hard to predict who’s going to make it. Of last year’s team who would’ve thought Eastmond would be the one to get the most first team opportunities?
Just want to mention this as I think people tend to not give the rest of our youth team enough credit, who are exceptionally talented themselves.
Hahaha I know you were joking Jane
51 & 29 is 80 minutes
not being a smart ass but do they play 80minute games or is that just a mistake??
Yup, Tony they do play 80 minute matches. I was surprised at first but now that I’ve watched a few matches, they do in fact play 80 minutes only.
Come on guys. Benik Afobe is not going to to get the golden boot or be on the list of top players for the under 17s.
Rhys Murphy played better than afobe in the euro under 17s and has looked much better.
Afobe has played against teams like greece and czech and failed to shine. Hes a decent player who could be a fantastic goal scorer but sorry hes not a top top player
John,
Are you still stinging ‘cuz Ayling wasn’t good enough for the club so now your taking your frustrations out on poor Benik Afobe.
And what do you mean he failed to shine, he scored against the Czechs. Just cuz your licking your wounds about losing one of the guys on your team [Ayling] doesn’t mean you have to attack the Arsenal players who are not on your team!
…just admit it John…!
well im pretty sure hes a better player than u…idiot
i was reffering to john by the way
No KC look afobe is a decent player hes not this wonderkid people think he is.
Bendtner, lupoli, Murphy, Aliadiere for me were better players than Benik afobe.
Sory but Benik afobe isnt technically great and Sorry JS but i have heard others say the two wenger was talking about were CHuks aneke and Nico yennaris.
Afobe sorry he isnt good enough technically
If he was white i bet you would like him, you imbecile
true gooner you are the imbecile, john obviously has his own opinions on what he thinks of afobe and you have yours. I bet you john doesn’t critisise aneke, he’s not white, so i’m sure its not a racist thing. idiot
And what do you know about technical ability ur probably just a school kid blogging at lunchtime. The fact that your doubting somebody with such a brilliant scoring record at this level shows you nothing about football. Yes you can say just becuase does good at youth level it does not mean he’ll make it at the top level but if your going to say say that you might aswell say that for the rest of the players. Your not a top level coach so stop speaking like you know what you are talking becuase i can bet that youve never played a game of football in your life
yes and therefore barca wanted him? Come on and admit it you have no clue about real talent!!
Yup Wenger did say that Afobe and Chucks are technically perfect. In any case KC you should probably ignore him ’cause the kid doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. I totally agree with what Milo said about A+A. They were dominating in both u16 and u18. If they are on Jack’s level, better or worse I can’t tell but seeing them play this year they looked to good for u18 league. Who knows maybe we will see both of them next season in CC team.
Veske,
Well said…
Don’t know why I bother…the masochist in me I suppose. Think I’ll just leave it from here on….
Thanks!
Stupid JHON is not talking anymore about WICKHAM bulliying the MIDGETS and scoring lot of goals at this level !!! Despite playing out of position Benik Afobe did very well. Anonymously You can carry on with your bad propaganda about Benik afobe but remember most people in this blog and the other one don’t take any notice on your shit comments. Just leave the boy alone and continue praising LANSBURY,AYLING,FREEMAN, CRUISE,HENDERSON, MURPHY. aren’t you a BNP member? Don’t commit suiside yet…
watch out for this kid
Francisco Alcacer – “Paco”
he’s the top scorer and plays for Valencia and is probably the best striker in the tournament looks like they found their next VIlla
The captain as well.. too bad we cant get him :s
Spain will be favourites to win this tournament, watched them yesterday look very good, Paco, their captain and that Barca kid Deulofeu look good prospects.
Btw Barazite played for Holland u21s yesterday
J can you post some info on this kid
he’s an arsenal player and I dont even know him
Yılmaz Aksoy
Jonás Ramalho is the solution to our long term RB problem
he’s 16 and has already featured in la liga 10 times for his club Athletico Bilbao if Brady is really looking for a RB then he should really take a closer look at this kid.
he technically perfect and stands at an impresive 6 feet for a 16 year old kid
From the limited footage I’ve seen of the current crop, I think Aneke looks like a better prospect than Afobe. Afobe is quick and strong, but a lot of his goals seem to come from simply muscling his way past players. That’s fine at youth team level, but becomes significantly less effective as you get to a higher level and start playing against grown men. Unless you’re Didier Drogba, that is.
Has he scored for the reserves yet? I know he doesn’t play much for them, but I don’t think I’ve seen him hit the net yet above youth level. I’m sure he’ll do well, just maybe not as well as everyone on this forum seems to believe. But hey, I guess the proof will be in the pudding. I hope he becomes ‘the new Ian Wright’!
However, I’m a big fan of Aneke. He seems to have size and skill, as well as a wicked long-range shot. He looks an outstanding prospect.
True gunner
You should change your name to true wanker, or complete cunt.
Don’t respond to me you bias idiot
afobe is a class player at is age and how do you think he will feel about some of what you lot own arsenal fans are saying about him if he was not good he would not be playing for arsenal and wenger would not say he is technically perfect leave him alone and make him carry on developing and playing is football scoring goals and being the most prolific is age you criticizing could affect is progress and development from is own arsenal fans
does arsenal have any upcomming worl class def. i wish we had a few
Miguel is the best defender to come out of our youth system in a decade (my view) then theirs Angha and Harjovic but we havent seen much of either to really say how good they are
what we are missing is a RB and wingers I can think of any good one in our youth system
to andrew even better than clichy?
in my view yeah
@Holohoax I said my view you dont have to agree
All I have to say on the matter is for a player to be top goalscorer for debatably the best youth team in the country, and to start every game up front for England; who have one of the best u17 teams in Europe; judging strictly by the favourites tag for this tournament he must have a lot about him. Different players have different attributes remember that when judging a player, to judge a player you should them by the requirements of their position. And with regards to that he is a goalscorer who scores goals, whose pace and power cause a lot of problems. So I’m very excited about this afobe kid, although I think you give this john too much of a hard time, I haven’t heard everything he has said but if he doesn’t rate him so what.
I look at afobe and think this is what drogba must of been like as a young lad!!! And for all these “internet scouts” lol, Weren’t Barcalona after him a while ago?? I’m sure there better judged to spot a great young talent!!
Szczesny, Bartley, Coquelin, Eastmond, Aneke, Wilshere, Lansbury, JET, Deacon, Freeman, Afobe!!! Doubt they’ll all make it at aresnal but they all TOP TOP youngsters!!
“I saw him last Sunday, he’s doing really well,” said Gunter, the Wales and Nottingham Forest defender. “He is hoping to start running in a few weeks, then there will be three or four more weeks before he can kick a ball. He’s over the disappointment now, and he is focusing on getting back.”
He added: “It was a terrible thing to go through, but one I am sure that in years to come he will look back and say it made him stronger.”
that means he might be ready to start within three or four months so 2 months of world cup that he will miss and 2 months of the season max that’s not much. Its nothing like Eduardo injury thank god !!
I really hope he comes back stronger and hopefully he wont lose his fighting instict like Eduardo has.
Fabregas transfer rumour refuses to die down and if we do lose him then there is only one midfielder who can truly replace him and that;s Gorcuff. He looks like the exact copy of fabregas and if we do sell Fab then I hope wenger buys Gorcuff instead.
Andrew,
Agreed about Gourcuff, but I think there’s one other young midfielder out there that would be an acceptable replacement for Cesc, that’s Marek Hamsik of Napoli. The kid is brilliant. He would be cheaper and a more likely capture because we have already raided Bordeaux for their 2nd best player Chamakh…doubt they’d also be willing to part with their best player as well, but you never know.
Personally, I would like to have Gourcuff over anyone. He is already on the level of Cesc, Xavi, Lampard, etc. He’s a brilliant midfielder. Hamsik isn’t yet there but also a brilliant player. Both are more than tough enough for the Prem.
Beyond those two I really don’t see anyone out there that can run the show on the field the way Cesc did. Arteta has been buzzing around the boards lately, but I don’t know about him. Very good plaayer, but doubt he could have the impact Cesc does.
Do ppl really think Benik Afobe is technically good?
I can see it with aneke definitely hes techincally brilliant but when you watch afobe his touch isnt the greatetest he always tends to give the ball away under pressure.
Nico Yennaris technically perfect some ppl on Arsenal mania were asying wenger was refering to Yennaris and aneke has two technically perfect players. And you can see it but witha afobe you cant
Gourcuff is a very good player.. but I don’t think he’ll ever be as good as Fabregas or Xavi…and he’s certainly not right now
I actually think Nasri is a bit better than Gourcuff
I have been told that AW was referring to Chuck Aneke and Nico Yennaris as techni8cally perfect and nothing to learn on that basis.
The big question for Benik Afobe is to improve his overall game. He want to be a future Bentdner rather a Aliadiere or Lupoli. In their days Lupoli and Aliadiere were the top striker at Youth level. Everybody expected them to become top players. I think that Benik Afobe will do better than them, but until he goes on loan and prove that he has what it takes, we can only speculate.
On the other hand, it is easier to judge creative midfield player. IMHO Chuck Aneke is the one who if his progression is not hampered by injury, impatience and ego should have a great career at Arsenal. He is technically perfect and has the physical attribute to play at the premiership level. He may just lack stamina, but that should come when he reach 19-20 years old.
Regarding Gourcuff, I am not convinced that his style of play will fit into Arsenal. He is technically rather good, but he kind of loves to hang on the ball without being dribbler. I think we have too many similar type of players Nasri,Rosicky, Lansbury, JET. I would rather have somebody who run with the ball and commit defender like Hatem Ben Harfa or Eden Hazard.