This Ryo guy. Does he score. His short highlight reel shows one goal. Usually highlight reels of attacking midfielders make them appear to be goal machines. I know little about this guy, but I'm wary of seeing more Rosicky-types who just dribble around without threatening the opposition goals. Anyone in our front 3 needs to be able to punch the ole onion bag

who knows. as far as i'm concerned, it's not really worth putting someone on your radar until they're dominating the reserves. then you see how they look when integrated with the first team. look at barazite, people were creaming over him cos of a youtube clip where he juggles for a bit, but you see him in real life and he's not a footballer. where is he now? young prospects are dime a dozen, it's not like they're special just because they play for us.

People creamed over Barazite because he was one of the most technically gifted youth players we've had, not because of a youtube clip. But like Merida he doesn't really have the mental attributes. Your general point still applies though.

Merida would have played games if he'd stayed. Especially this season when we've been without Cesc, Diaby and Ramsey for long spells. His mistake was the same one as Bendtner is on the brink of making.

As for Barazite, a few difficult injuries have robbed him of his chance here. I'm not saying he would have made it but he would have featured more frequently in the first team than the likes of Eastmond and Lansbury at least.

It seems to me that the change in formation in the last 18 months or so, has seen us scout different types of players than we have done previously - especially in the wide positions. Miyachi and Wellington are players I don't think we would have previously signed, now Wenger seems to want genuine, direct forwards in the wide positions, as opposed to playmaker types who are more comfortable centrally, and don't really have the pace or goal threat to threaten from wide positions consistently, but contribute more to passing the ball and working teams around.

Barazite's problem was that he was mind-numbingly slow. He still has great technique.

Huddersfield extend Afobe loan until january

Good news! It seems that Arsenal are contemplating whether or not to let him stay there for the rest of the season too. He's been impressing everyone with how quickly he's adapted to league football.

Incredible stats, considering it's his first loan move.

It says right in that article. Three goals and three assists in seven games. I'd say that for a 17 year old who has just walked into that team, that's pretty near incredible.

those stats are a bit misleading..

he has 3 goals and 2 assists in 8 games.. HOWEVER, he scored all those goals and assists in 2 games (one in the FA Cup against League Two Macclesfield and the other in a 5-2 thrashing of League Two Rotherham in the Johstone's Paint Cup)

he has 0 goals and 0 assists in 4 League One league games and none in the previous 2 FA Cup games against Cambridge...

lets take it all with a grain of salt

He started both of the games in which he scored and assisted though, and he's only made three starts in total. He's generally been one of their better players for the past month according to their fans.

15 days later

Bump.

A hat-trick for Aneke and two for Afobe against Darlington in the FA youth cup. Judging by the highlights the opposition were pub players, even by youth standards. Still, no surprises to see Aneke standing out again. What did surprise me was seeing Afobe playing - I can't recall a player on loan to another club playing youth team matches for his parent club before? It seems a bit odd! Arsenal.com has an article about Afobe loving his loan spell right next to a match report about him scoring for the U18s!

I remember reading about it at the time he extended with Huddersfield. Apparently it's a standard practise backed by the FA to recall loanees for FA Youth Cup games. I guess we just don't send a lot of seventeen-year-olds on loan.

Aneke looked impressive as hell in the highlights. He had two assists too in addition to his hattrick. Can't wait to see what he'll do in the first team in a couple of years.

Extended highlights from the FA Youth Cup performance against Darlington:

Darlingham were as poor as Arsenal were great by the looks of it. We could have scored at least another 4-5 goals if it weren't for their keeper.

If I've counted right Afobe scored a brace and had two assists (both to Aneke) while Aneke scored a hattrick and had two assists (both to Afobe). It just highlights the great understanding they've always had on the field. The combination that preceded the 4-1 goal in particular was a real beauty. I wouldn't be surprised to see them do the same thing in the first team at some point.

There was a point where Aneke played a through ball and there were 3 Arsenal players who were closer to it than any Darlington defender 😆

Afobe should have scored another 2 or 3 really.

What is up with Henderson btw? Guy has only started 3 games this year, can't be good for a 19yr old.

Think Henderson's struggling with injuries again. That's probably what, ultimately, will keep him from becoming a professional footballer. He's a very promising player otherwise in my opinion.

Just watching Pedro for cartegena, he's playing as the left wing forward rather than fullback.

Defensively, he doesn't look capable to me but it could be his tactical instruction. He seems slow to track back and his reaction speed to danger is disappointing. More or less, he defends like Arshavin and you would expect more from a player who plays fullback sometimes.

Going forward he looks class, great first touch, good short passing game, always on the move to test the backline. He's quite slim for six foot two but has good balance so can hold off challenges. He doesn't compete in the air very well for someone of his height. On the plus side he looks agile and comfortable rather than someone like Bendtner for instance who seems to lumber and struggle with his size. He's fast, not lightening like Theo but maybe Clichy sort of pace (it's hard to tell given the opposition).

And most importantly, one Pascal Cygan is his teammate.