Good morning to all. I had a terrible night’s sleep, so my thoughts this morning are probably a bit scattered.
It happens every once in a while, when I just can’t fall asleep, and part of the reason is that I have a snippet of a song playing over and over in my head. Relentless ear, I call it. Last night, it was a Harry Styles song that I heard on the radio in the kitchen three days ago, but somehow DJ Brain was playing it and now I’m exhausted, and I never want to hear that song again.
There are some interesting things from Granit Xhaka about weekend rookie Ethan Nwaneri. The 15-year-old was given a few minutes late in the 3-0 win over Brentford, and the Swiss international knows the youngster from the time he spent with the Under-16s while doing his coaching badges. He says:
“You can see a big difference between him and the other guys. He is very special. He looks old when I see him. I told a player from Brentford that he was 15 years old and He looked at me and said, ‘Fuck me, we look old!’
“We have to protect him because he is very young. If he continues like this, with this mentality, he has a great, great future.”
We had a few questions for the Arsecast Extra asking if Mikel Arteta had given Nwaneri his debut at such a young age as some sort of payback for Ivan Toney’s Tweet last season. You may have seen the trainer use it in All or Nothing, and Gabriel brought it up again after the game:
Good kick with the boys. ⚽️❤️???? @Arsenal
– Gabriel Magalhaes (@biel_m04) September 18, 2022
First, if we know anything about Mikel Arteta, he is super professional, and I don’t think he does something just for the ‘bantz’. He also made some very kind comments about Toney before the game, and although there were some ghosts to bury in Brentford on Sunday, we did so through the outstanding performance and the result itself.
Second, it would be completely wrong to use a 15 year old to do something like that. Coaches and clubs have a duty of care to their players, young and old, but in particular those who are just making their way through the game. Let us not lose the fact that what happened on Sunday was extraordinary in many ways.
A player few had heard of outside of the Academy’s seasoned observers became the youngest player to make his debut in the top 5 European leagues. You don’t do that just to make a puny point, not least because it wasn’t like Brentford fouled us last season, they just had a great night and deserved to win the game based on their performance. If Arteta had snapped back, he would have said something in his post-match interview about missing Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville dancing live on TV.
I think the main reason is that we want to include it because, as Xhaka said, “it’s very special.”
He’s only 15, so there are still contract issues at play here. He can’t sign professional terms until he turns 17, and he can be sure there are other clubs aware of his talent and willing to sign him before he ties himself to Arsenal. By giving him his debut, he will hopefully cement his connection to the club. Maybe I’m cynical, and I know injuries left us short for this game, so that gap was there on a 9-man bench, but I wonder if his inclusion was strategic in that regard. If so, it shows a focus on our Academy path that is very important.
The scenes after the final whistle, where both Aaron Ramsdale and Gabriel Martinelli brought it to the visiting fans, were great to watch, and can you imagine what that must feel like at the age of 15? I’m not sure how I would process that, and again Xhaka’s point about protecting him is an important one. From obscurity to soccer world fame in the space of 24 hours is something to deal with.
However, it proves again to the young players that in the Premier League at the moment, Arsenal is the place to be. He shows the kids at the Academy that if you’re talented and work hard, you can make the breakthrough. It must be depressing being a young player at some clubs who just go out and buy, buy, buy before they give you loan after loan, and deep down you know you’ll never stand a chance.
I also think it must be something that talented young players across the game are now realizing. If Arsenal called you up in the transfer market, you would be much more open to the idea of going there than to another club where you might not play as much. We have shown that we trust in youth and that opportunities will come. If you take your chance when it comes, you could have a bright future.
It remains to be seen how much more we’ll see of Ethan Nwaneri this season. Maybe a few Europa League minutes, but he’s already tasted the first team, and I’m sure he’ll be desperate for more. October is busy, so he could very well become the youngest player to make his European debut as well. We’ll see.
Finally, regarding Gabriel’s Tweet above, I saw a lot of nonsense about how he was out of order. Honestly, it drives me crazy to see how desperate some people are to make a fuss about anything. I guarantee you Ivan Toney saw it and thought ‘Well, he’s a fair cop.’ If you dole it out, you have to be able to accept it, and I bet you don’t need the protection of the rent-a-gob experts on Twitter either. He is a grown man.
There are a lot of things about the game that you could disagree with these days, but you definitely don’t.
Right. It’s time for a coffee, hopefully that will help.
