Arsenal wrapped up their Premier Academy League season with a 2-0 win over the MK Dons on Saturday. The result meant Steve Bould’s boys finished on a positive note, after a season which has seen them give back the title they’d won for the last two campaigns.
The poor showing at Under 18 level this term has raised questions over the quality of players the club are producing, but whats the real story, and what should fans expect for next season?
Season Review:
The season began in August, with a tricky double header against Manchester City and Sunderland. A crushing 5-2 defeat to City made it the worst possible start, but they recovered well, to beat Sunderland 2-1 in their first home game.
If August was a hard month, September was even harder. A 2-2 draw against Reading meant Arsenal had scored six goals in their opening three games, and all had come from different sources. A 1-0 defeat to Bristol City was then tempered with an impressive 3-1 win over Aston Villa. Philip Roberts continued his good form with a brace, and the bad form appeared to be behind them. They finished the month with a 0-0 draw with Fulham, which was no shame.
October began well, as Emi Martínez saved a penalty in a 3-2 win over Norwich City, while Alban Bunjaku ran the show and scored as the Gunners followed that up with a 3-0 thrashing of Chelsea at Cobham. However, they then shipped three goals in games against Charlton and Southampton, losing their final two fixtures of the month.
Bunjaku and Roberts carried the side to a 3-0 win at home to Portsmouth in November, but further defeats to Ipswich and West Ham meant control of the group was slipping away. December defeats against Crystal Palace and then Charlton meant they had it all to do after the turn of the year.
January began with a draw against Southampton, but despite injuries to front men Roberts and Ansah, Bould’s boys dug in and beat Portsmouth and Ipswich in quick succession. February seemed like the month when Arsenal would really kick on, but despite a simple win over Crystal Palace, they lost to West Ham, Fulham and Norwich to put huge dents in their points tally.
Ansah returned to fitness in March, and he scored twice in a 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea, before further defeats to Leicester City, Watford and then Tottenham meant it was mathematically impossible for them to win their group, so would be forced to hand back their Premier Academy League title for the first time in two years. With nothing to play for, Arsenal finished the season with two April wins over Cardiff and MK Dons.
The Verdict:
The season will no doubt go down as a poor one, but Bould will take comfort from the fact he was forced to do without a striker for much of the campaign. Ultimately, that’s where the title was lost. Arsenal created many chances, notably away from home, but lacked the relevant fire power to finish teams off. That, coupled with the fact many of his squad were playing Academy football for the first time, meant this finish inevitable.
Star Players:
This years stars have been difficult to come by, but the emergence of goalkeeper Emi Martínez has been significant. He won a work permit last summer, and has been in superb form all season. A couple of penalty saves coupled with a handful of genuinely superb stops have put him right up there in Arsène Wenger’s thinking. The other main man has been play-maker Alban Bunjaku, who has risen from relative obscurity to score, assist and dominate many a midfield battle. More of that will be expected next season.
Other mentions go to defender Martin Angha for his brace and committed displays, and the versatile Samir Bihmoutine who has impressed in defence and on the wing. Forwards Roberts and Ansah have also shown very good signs, in the rare occasions they’ve been fit.
Next Season:
The planning for next season has already begun. Arsenal have moved to add height and power to the team, with Jon Toral, a powerful defensive midfielder, joining from Barcelona, while the tall and strong centre back Leander Siemann has arrived from Hertha Berlin. They’ve also added a speedy winger, in the form of German Under 16 international Serge Gnabry, while Swedish play-maker Kristoffer Olsson should also feature at some point. That, plus the addition of new scholars and the exciting Under 16’s such as Austin Lipman, Chuba Akpom and Jack Jebb, mean competition for places will be huge.
The new signings, the newly promoted Under 16’s, plus the experience this years crop will have, mean Arsenal will have one of their most exciting Under 18 teams for a long time next term. The only question that remains, is if Steve Bould will still be their to coach them.
How many of the players we have on loan would have been eligible to play in this league? Do you think that would have made a difference?
Which begs the question ; where is Steve Bould going? Will he be Wengers number 2 or is he leaving the club?
Why wouldn’t Bould be their next year? Because of this years failure or something else?
beat me to it overmars.
More exciting than the double winning side ?
There is the news that he’s being considered to replace Pat Rice, if he decides to retire, and he’s also been linked with a number of other assistant manager roles at other clubs. So his future isn’t clear, as yet.
What more exciting than the side with Wilshere ,Lansbury Jet Etc. ?
with four new signings and the kids stepping up from the under-16′ it is time for a clear-out of the deadwood….so far only GBH pink slipped but others to follow?
I heard that Wenger had picked Grimmadi as his no.2 in case Rice retired. I think whoever decides to come in needs to question wenger more than anything else. Wenger is a great coach but he needs people around him (smart people) to point out if he has done something wrong or their views on the subject and for me Bould will do it better so will love to see Bould appointed as the assistant coach
I think the fact that most of them made the jump from the U16 or different clubs to our U18s this year was the reason why we didnt win or come close to winning th league this year but even then some players have really developed and look real prospects
Martinez in goal
Angha in defense
Rees, Bunjaku, Embecilio in midfield
and Roberts, Ansah, Monakana in attack
but our this years U16s batch look like another special group
Jeffery the winger look like a great prospect and even in 2-3 he has played for U18s has never looked out of place. I would say he has looked the most dangerous when he came on
Jebb is a star and although most haven’t see Lipman or Apkom they are both regarded as extremely talented propsects for the future
plus theirs a LB can’t remeber his name that Jamie is excited about so the future is bright and hopefully both our U18s and Reserve will win their respective leagues
Any Idea wher Toral will play? U18s or Reserves
If he’s close to what people are making him out to be then he should definitely be a starter for reserves next season
I personally like Bould be the #2, but the focus must be on defending especially set pieces the Achilles heal of the club! Also like two see two more super strikers signings for the club! Cheers!
Even in the best youth setups you’ll get a lull from time to time. You can’t produce super teams every year, but clearly our methods are producing some super players, which is the most important thing.
i was just curious about the young man we got from cheltenham, jamie edge, how is progressing? surely shud b in the u18’s by now!
This session the under 18 tried and so they did not reach the final height i aspect team to reach on like other season but with the new players coming in and with some players that have step up from the under 16 to the under 18 next session under 18 team will be great next session i can’t wait to start hearing good news about them.
Great article Jaime.
As an aside, it may be completely private information, but how much are 16-18 year olds earning at Arsenal?
Would someone signed in, like Toral be on more?
£35 per week plus £5 win bonus.
YTS boys get £80 1st 8 months next 8 £120 and for the last 8 months £160 plus £6 win £2 draw and all living bills paid for
That’s a lot less than I expected. So GBH who didn’t make it and has left at 18 earnt pretty much sweet FA from his time at Arsenal?
It should be an exciting season with the foreign lads coming in as well as some of the highly regarded U16s making a step up.
If it can beat the Wilshere, JET, Lansbury, Coquelin, Frimpong, Bartley, Eastmond youth cup from a couple of years back, we’re in for a treat.
I can’t watch the matches now that they aren’t on ArsenalTV, but wonder: What makes the difference at U-18? Do the clubs that play more as a team – organized, lots of water carriers, fighting spirit – do they prevail? Or is it individual moments of brilliance – like JET, or Aneke? Or is it a few top finishers — Afobe, Freeman? Or is it physicality – big and fast and most players being older? Jaime seems to suggest this season it was the lack of a finisher. But we haven’t bought in a finisher, so why would we do so much better next season? Are Ansah and Roberts enough?
Slick
You say we haven’t bought a finisher, so why would we do so much better ?
Jon Toral is a goal machine from midfield. Anthony Jeffrey and Serge Gnabry have always scored tons of goals so far in their careers. Jack Jebb scores a lot of goals from midfield. Bunjaku and Rees will probably play for the Reserves but if they stay in the U-18s, they were our top goalscorers this season and probably improve next season because they are a year older. Chuba Akpom is our most promising striker since Benik Afobe so we expect him to score a lot of goals next season. Austin Lipman is a highly rated second striker who has scored a lot of goals at U-16 level although I do not think he is very good.Overall, things do not look that bad on the attacking front.
Cheers phv, I would give you ten “likes” for that, but they only let me give you one. I wondered about goals from the “wide” men. Thanks for the response.
I think Boro Primorac will be our new assistant because he’s been Wenger’s right hand man in Japan and he’s been friends with him for over 2 decades. If Wenger decides someone more loved at the club would be more suitable then Bouldy will be the assistant.
The U16’s have already started coming through and it can’t be a bad thing. Jebb, Lipman and Akbom have all been involved with England and U18s which means that they’ve obviously got some sort of talent. From what I’ve seen, Lipman seems more of a complete attacker whereas Akbom seems to be a right place, right time kind of striker. Sounds like Lipman just had a good tournament in Italy with the U16’s (via twitter), scored in every game… The future’s bright
Jens for assistant!
It should be mr. Arsenal Tony “Donkey” Adams or Dennis Bergkamp, or both! Keown will do aswell, i think all three should be in Arsenal paylist! Bring them all in and give give usefull jobs each of them!
i read an article right around the time we signed Toral that Wenger’s going to put him on the Fabregas track. He’ll train with the first team during preseason but feature mostly with the reserves and sporadicly for the U18s next season; but he might get in a couple carling cup matches like Fabregas did. Then the season after next, 12-13 season, he’ll be promoted full time to the first team
@g-reg haha where did you read that article? Because frankly, I don’t believe you.
I”m sure I’ve read something similar. In any case, Toral is VERY highly rated at barcelona and their youth teams are always amazing, so I don’t find it shocking to think that toral might be relatively close to 1st team material. 16/17 year olds do get 1st team football if they’re good enough.
Yep, I read that article too. About Toral’s “roadmap” to the first being similar to that of Fabregas (ie, accelerated).
Whoever would want Tony Adams as a manager just isn’t thinking clearly. He was a failure multiple times as a manager in the past and cannot spot talent to save his soul. You gotta think before you just throw out some famous name who you think should be our manager. A great player, yes. A great manager, or good enough to manage the Arsenal, NOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I was talking about replacing Pat Rice, not Wenger, and others could do with reserves or u-18’s, i think we need some new faces to our coaching staff.
G-reg, I read that article as well. In the pre-season(or at least the first 2-3 weeks) he will train with the first team.Then, during the season, he will train with the Reserves but he will play for the U18s in the weekends.In the next 3 years, they will make him a first teamer.Something like that anyway.
What is offered by Arsenal?
A professional contract with a salary between 25 and 35 times higher than what he would have received at Barca plus a substantial bonus tied to his first team debut. In addition he’ll get free accommodation, paid-for tuition fees, fully paid trips to London for the whole family, and more importantly, a well laid-out career roadmap designed specifically for him: In his first few weeks in London, Toral will train with the first team. After that he will play for the club’s under-18s while alternating with their reserve team. This plan calls for his promotion into the first team in the 2012-13 season when he turns 18, to be used in non-crucial games, and this is explained to him in person by Arsene Wenger himself.
Gooners stop being brainwashed.
Our youngsters arent that good.
Most of them are physically good for thier age which puts them at an advantage.
We dont really have those technical players like you get at ajax, barcelona etc.
I dont think anyone is being brainwashed.Without a doubt Arsenal consistently produce young players who play at a high level with the club or elsewhere .Barcelona are ahead by quite a way.They have a huge advantage in that they are able to pick talent from such a massive area and boys who have been coached technically from a young age at a grass roots level years ahead of Britain.Arsenal are progressing and the likes of Wilshere , Gibbs , Lansbury and Afobe prove that we can produce technically gifted English youngsters.
I had been under the impression that jon toral was more of an attacking midfielder? In all of his highlight videos he is scoring goals and making assists or is that just another side of his game?
js – I was just looking at the squad with regards to the 25 man rule. no less than 5 players that were u21 last year will now become Home Grown. This means that unless there are departures in the HG and Foreign department we will now have 27 players not U21, do you think any of these are unlikely to be part of the 25 man squad? Vela, Randall, Traore, Botelho. Obviously i have not included Walcott who now becomes Home Grown. I think the writing is on the wall for Randall and perhaps Traore, Botelho and Vela might be saved because Almunia, Lehmann and Denilson are sure to leave. However, i wonder how many people have considered the 25 man rule when insisting we sign more players? of the current first team squad only Jack and Rambo will be classed as U21 next season, so that alone could really open the door to the likes of Bartley, Frimpong, JET and Lansbury next season. In short if we want tpo bring in new players there has to be some departures.
There is continual talk of several u14, u15’s/u16’s players and yes these boys are doing really well at present but with the exception of Brandon ormonde-ottewel, they are all big for their age. Others more technically gifted in these squads are not getting a mention due to their current size but they will catch the boys up and overtake them in the long run. If they are given the opportunity to develop physically.
Also, if we put as much time and money into youth development as other top European clubs, we wouldn’t need to nick their boys. And would have more British boys coming through too. Club policy appears to be spend on the foreign kids not the academy and our own homegrown prospects.
Can you provide any comparisons ? Where did you get this information?
‘Nicking’ other team’s youngsters? Overlooking homegrown prospects?
I think you have us confused with Chelsea.
There are usually racial undertones in John’s posts, and this time it looks like he’s just repeating what that Blanquart guy in the French FA was reported to have said last week; it’s this BS idea that black kids eclipse whites at lower levels purely because of physical prowess.
I don’t care about all that nonsense, and I’m not interested either. But if we’re a club that focusses too much on physique, what about Wilshere’s meteoric rise? How do you explain the progress of Jernade Meade (awarded an extension despite being 3ft tall), Nico Yennaris and Luke Freeman?
And surely we’re bemoaning the lack of physique in the first team at the moment? Physically big and strong players who make it to the first team would be pretty welcome imo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9IdJhnhq4k