Benik Afobe could, and probably should, have been tucked up in the warm this afternoon, as Arsenal’s Under 18’s saw their clash with Watford postponed due to bad weather.
The fixture was seen as perfect preparation ahead of the FA Youth Cup campaign, but Afobe is in the big time. He took the brave decision to join Huddersfield Town last month, and as the loan inches closer to its expiry date, it looks to have been a fantastic choice.
Afobe started this afternoon against Macclesfield Town in the second round of the FA Cup. He had been rested in recent games, with Arsenal fearing burn out. The break did Benik the world of good. Having spent the opening 30 minutes being kicked and fouled by on loan Everton defender Aristote Nslala, the forward came to life and helped send Huddersfield into the money spinning third round.
In the 35th minute, Benik got in around the back and squared for Anthony Pilkington to make it 2-0, then with just seconds left of the first half, he pounced to seal the win. Lee Peltier’s right wing cross found the 17-year-old in the box. He took a touch and coolly finished in the bottom corner.
The pacy front-man had further chances to add to his fruitful afternoon; including one dangerous header in the box, but with the score at 6-0, the job was comfortably done.
Benik’s three goals and two assists in Yorkshire will certainly make Arsène Wenger take note.
Nice! :-)
our future 9!!! Afo9e!! keep developing son, your jersey is on ice!!
Yes – but it would be great if he could stay here until later or the end of the season = thanks !
He’s starting to look comfortable at League One level, if he keeps it up a Championship side might look to borrow him next season. Fingers crossed.
John’s favourite player has scored again. :)
Afobe has to carry on working hard and he might make it, i think he is much better than freeman
john must seriously hate this. LOL.
He could have scored 4 today. He should be more greedy for himself instead of passing for others to score.
He is a fine young man and a Future Arsenal Star. Thanks for lending him to us
way to go afobe.hoping to see you in the 1st team in a few years!come on our future no.9!
where is john now who thinks afobe is sh…??? haha
John, is in his mother’s basement cursing and spitting.
It’s a ritual he has to repeat a lot these days because his arch enemies Benik Afobe and JET are emerging into top-notch footballers.
This fact is salt on the poor pathetic snail that is the John dude! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
I am happy for benik adobe he’s actually a really good lad not one of these ghetto gangsters. He’s done well
Yeah. Because all black people are predestined to be criminals, and only a select few can become like good white people.
He’s a great player. It will be interesting to see how the striker position pans out in the years to come. It seems like now that Vela and Bendtner are on their way out and RVP will take a backseat to Chamakh and JET.
He was probably referring to jet, who does seem to think hes a gangsta tbh.
Rvp will take a backseat only if his injuries force him to, if hes fit he plays, second if not first name on the teamsheet. People are starting to forget how good he is. Chamakhs done well and jet has scored a few reserve goals, but neither of them are anywhere near rvp
Leave John alone guys. He is entitled to his own opinion and he has put just as many comments praising black players as he has criticizing them. I am pretty sure he is basing his comments on the players attitudes, attributes, and overall talent and not on the colour of their skin.
Norwich v Ipswich on BBC1 at 1pm today, Lansbury could be making his debut for the Canaries!
We’ve now got 15 players on loan, that’s an entire team and bench.
Mannone
Hoyte, Bartley, Cruise, Traore
Ramsey, Coqelin, Lansbury
Watt, Afobe, Botelho
Plus Evina, Galindo, Randall and Barazite.
And we’re still top of the Reserve League with 2 games in hand. Scary.
wrenny, i like this
N52 needs 2 go 2 create room for our “gangsta2 JET and the rest of these ridiculously talented youths. given the chance JET an big Chucks will be over top class. jus hope they get the chance
Bendtner is just as talented if not more talented than any of our young attackers. He just needs to stop thinking he is Ibrahimovic and play hard all the time.
oh wow shane. all u gotta do is look at the facts.. OR watch the games.. has N52 won ANY headers in the last 4 seasons.. apart from his one against the yids 3 seasons ago.. he is a hold up player. and does NOT do his job.. dont accept that at our club plz. its gettin beyond ridiculous
Haha, are you for real?
If you haven’t seen Bendtner score with his head in the last three years you mustn’t have been watching the games yourself.
lol. Contraview…you proved your self wrong in that very first sentence. Also you just argued for what I said. I said he needs to stop acting like he is Ibrahimovic (aka stand around and not perform but just expect to get one chance to be the game winner), and play hard the whole game. To say he is not talented though is silly.
so far this season Chamakh has 10 goals 6 assists and has won 5 penalties. thats in 21 games. hes averaging a goal contribution a game. which is what should be expected of an Arsenal striker. N52 has played 126 games for arsenal, scored 38 goals and made 15 assists in the last 5 years. and plz dont give me the “age” excuse. he is in the same age bracket as super Nas, Cesc, Vermaelen and many other world beaters. plz explain to me why you believe he is good enough for arsenal…
Vermaelen is not in the same age bracket.
Yes age does have something to do with it. He is simply not mature. Target strikers do not usely hit their prime by age 22 lol. Look at plenty of other target men that have come along. Hell go look at Chamahk goal scoring record before age 23.
O yah, how many 22 or 23 year olds are as good as Nasri or Fabregas in world football?
Goodbye Bendtner & Vela, welcome to the first team Afobe & Emmanuel-Thomas I think.
Henri Lansbury was excellent today for Norwich, brilliant assist and passing. Also impressed with his crossing delivery.
agree with alex just watched lansbury after first 10 mins was outstanding ..his crossing and touch was excellent and was involved in 3 goals..
Norwich manager, Lambert, mentioned him in his post match pc saying about his quality and that he would be a top player
alex, or anyone else
Could you please illuminate me as to how Lansbury played today. Unfortunately i forget the game was on TV and watched Newcastle vs Chelsea.
How did Lansbury play today and more importantly where did he play (positionally)? Heard he set-up the chance goal with a superb pass!
Finally i heard lil rumours the coaching staff have ear marked Lansbury to play the number 10 role, playing where cesc plays …. wondering if the lad is that good. {Great Site keep up the great work}
wrenny. be serious and respectful to your club. if a 6ft4 striker has scored 5 headers in 126 games its NOT a good thing
excellent header against stoke last yr and the yids the season b4 that.. i kno hes got 1 or 2 more but when ur talkin about ur strikers goals spread out over 4 years its not acceptable and im growing increasingly concerned by arsenal fans contempt with this. I remember e.eboue playing about 5 poor games in a row and recieving a terrible time.. N52 has been doing it for YEARS
Lansbury as the Arsenal number 10…HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! You’ll see Almunia as our starting striker first. HAHAHAHAH!!!!!
Silly jokes aside, the kid set up a goal I think. He does a solid job at that level, but will struggle mightily to do anything at Arsenal. Too many better players in front of him.
That’s 4 goals and 2 assists in 5 matches for Afobe. The kid is pure class.
He scores at every level he plays at. The key is that he does it consistently. He can do his job as a striker (which is to put the ball in the back of the net) at every level he plays at.
He can still improve on his finishing, which is the scary part. If he continues to develop at this rate, he will become a top notch striker. 4 goals and 2 assists in 5 matches is fantastice for a 17 year old plaing in the League 1.
Well done son!
I am not racist lol o just give my opinions based on performances (90 min performances not 10 min highlights from atvo lol)
Paul lambert really was raving about Lansbury like wenger on atvo a month ago
Bendtner was awesome and top class before barcelona match last year. he was good before he got injured too but seeing chamakh play today I realise thats what a striker should play like at this club. He is doing great great job. Strikers who come kind a close to his play is Watt and JET. They have the vision and technique but not the experience. Remember how Watt played in FA youth cup? Thats how he should play like in the first team. JET is getting used to the upfront role now a days and our future will be within the club. I believe the transition from championship experience to premier league will be smooth but it will still take 2 more season before we see the best of Watt and JET.
Lansbury did well. He started at Right wing and drifted inside where he kept picking up the ball and looking for the through pass. To be honest, he had so much time on the ball, most of our players would have looked good. Then when Ipswich went down to 10 men there was almost no pressure in the midfield.
I don’t see why Lansbury can not make it is one of the 2 deep lying midfield spots. He has a good engine, reads the game well and can pick passes from deep positions. Surely if Eastmond is getting game time, then Lansbury has a chance.
Shane,
I’ll give you three really good reasons why Lansbury has little to no chance of making it as our deep lying midfielder (as a regular member of the starting rotation anyway, his role will likely be as a long-term squad player if he makes it at the club)….Ces, Ramsey, Wilshere, Nasri, and Aneke are all better players than him. Additionally, three of those guys are younger players than him than him.
He faces an incredibly steep developmental curve to outclass any player from that group.
Behind him he has Ozyakup, Henderson, and young Josh Rees, who all look to be developing at a rate that could easily see them pass Lansbury by as well.
Watch Rees, he’s a young player with similar style to Lansbury but already seems to have as much if not more vision and as much fight. He will probably develop into a better Lansbury than Lansbury already is. But any of these players could surpass him.
Did I say anything about him becoming the starter? Also in the deep lying midfielder position you only named 2 players that actually play there for us. Wilshere and Ramsey (he will). Naming Henderson over him is a bit of a joke and Ozy seems to not even be a regular reserve player much less pushing Lansbury. Once again, like I keep saying…you don’t only need a starting 11. We play 4 competitions every year. You need squad players. Lansbury has all the tools needed for that deeper role. Also you rate all these young players ahead of Lansbury like Lansbury was not just the leader of the england u19s a year or 2 ago. Now Lansbury is a u21 squad member and that is with out seeing real game time with Arsenal. Do i think he will be a Arsenal starter? I don’t know but I do think he can make it here.
Fair enough. We shall see…