Arsenal U18s recorded a rare victory this week as they won 5-3 away to Leicester City, but perhaps of more significance than the scoreline was the fact that January signing Krystian Bielik completed another hour as he continued his adaption to English football.
Bielik, a high-profile arrival from Legia Warsaw in the recent transfer window, has trained regularly with the first-team squad since joining the club, but, owing to problems with his paperwork, was unable to represent the club at any level until last weekend.
He played 60 minutes as the U18s lost 3-1 to Norwich City at London Colney under the watchful eye of Arsene Wenger. Bielik struggled to stand out during a disappointing team performance but the defensive-midfielder did provide some glimpses of his potential with a few precise passes, whilst also showcasing his ability to turn away from pressure.
One lapse in concentration from Bielik led to a Norwich goal, but the Polish youth international wasn’t too disheartened and soon found himself lining up for the U18s again against Leicester.
Playing as part of a stronger line-up with containing several players who were full of confidence, Bielik delivered a much more composed performance that he did four days previously.
His ability to remain calm under pressure has stood out on both occasions, although the fact that he was only able to play an hour of both fixtures indicates that he is still adapting to English football and also provides a reminder that he hasn’t featured competitively at any level for quite some time.
Those aforementioned registration hitches mean that Bielik is unlikely to feature for the first-team this season, but, despite his obvious potential, the 17-year-old isn’t quite ready for participation in a challenge to finish in the top four of the Premier League or for a high-profile trip to face Manchester United in the FA Cup.
Arsenal, quite rightly, will bide their time with Bielik, with the youngster set to continue to feature for the youth teams for the remainder of the campaign.
His chance to shine in the first-team is likely to come next season, although he may initially be limited to outings in the Capital One Cup.
Bielik certainly has a part to play in Arsenal’s long-term future. The club’s summer transfer activity could provide an indication, however, of just how long he will have to wait for his chance to make the breakthrough.
Francis Coquelin’s status at the club is secure with the Frenchman having recently signed a new long-term contract, but there are question marks over the respective futures of Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Abou Diaby.
Even if that trio do depart, it seems unlikely that Bielik will be entrusted with the task of being Arsenal’s second-choice defensive-midfielder as early as next season.
He will get his chance eventually, but Bielik will have to be patient for his opportunity.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Far too young, will only come into his own in 3-4 years at least, Unless he is crazily good.
He was strong enough for the Polish Ekstraklasa but he’ll need to bulk up like Coquelin did to become a proper defensive mid in England. He has the technique and height to be successful, but he’ll need time to adapt to the pace and physicality of the PL. So long as he keeps his head straight, we should have a winner for the future.
Coquelin: 163lb
Bielik: 172lbs
The height difference plays a big role in that.
Hope he makes it.. Could be the next Gilberto… Who knows. Good luck to the lad
If he’s half the player Gilberto was then we have a player on our hands.
I like the fact he can turn sharply or send the opposition the wrong way with neat control, it bodes well for transitions and could set us on counter attacks very quickly.
Incidentally, some muppet on football 365 recently stated that Gilberto was overrated and a weak link in the invincibles team. I did laugh.
lmao at the person who said gilberto was the weak link, bold statement from me but i think he was the most important part on that team giving the more shiny players the freedom to do ther thing
another O 4 T Future?
Lol how much time could typing that nonsense actually have saved you
I’m sure he saved less time than I wasted trying to work out what the fuck he was saying.
If arteta flamini and co leave, only a decent signing will do. We want to challenge for EPL next season from the off. No excuses
I just don’t see all of Arteta, Flamini, and Diaby leave since Wenger doesn’t like to shuffle his squads that much. That said, I can hardly imagine poor Abou staying, and it’s not much better with Flamini. Last summer personally I felt there may be some truth behind Khedira rumours, indeed he would probably be a good fit for Arteta’s playmaker role; fully when Arteta leaves in the summer 2016. However, seeing how well Santi is doing there, this might have changed by now. One way or another, there will be one empty spot after DIaby – if the choice… Read more »
Yeah, I guess if we really have to make a signing, the best young midfielder in the world will do. But only if we really have to.
Diaby ? Name rings a bell.
Shame hope he does find a club when released
Flamini is gone. Contract is up end of June. Arteta has signed an extension to June 2016 and I don’t see him leaving until the end of that contract.
Flamini has another season after this one on his contract. He signed for 3 years last season. I think he’ll probably be shown the door in the summer though.
I say we loan him back to Legia Warsaw or to a lower English club to gain useful experience. My personal preference? Charlton the defensive midfield production line
Why so much hype about one player? What about Zelalem, Crowley, etc? It’s a new Bielek article every week, we get it he’s got potential to maybe be can we say a bit special or a top top top top player..
Maybe it’s because he is the latest signing and people are keen to learn about the new addition to the squad.
Also we have a truckload of technically brilliant playmakers with good vision and creativity. But a lack of top defensive prospects. So I definitely want to see Bielek develop, because world class defensive midfielders are very difficult to find.
Think our recent run has really shown how much we missed a proper dm. As soon as Coquelin came in we started winning more games, we needed a midfielder that held his position and shielded the defence after arteta got injured and Francis did that to perfection. I personally think Coquelin is more of natural dm than Arteta who got converted , unfortunately we found a dm but lost our box to box midfielders in Ramsey and wilshere due to our annual injury curse. I really think we would have started to see Wilshere really shine next to the Coq… Read more »
Yes and no. Obviously we have to win at man ure on Monday.
But I am not sure about Jack. Hes had moments of brilliance but is consistently inconsistent and for me a frustrating player to watch. He needs, imo to read the game better and stop trying to dribble/play the ball into the oppo’s defenders for a start.
(tongue in cheek) having played with him on FIFA happy to say he’s the best DM we can field. Only Diaby can compete.
The fact that you can actually use Diaby speaks volumes about the realism there.
Linking players real life ability to ability in a computer game is an instant thumbs down in my book.
If only that headline was about Coquelin.
Coquelin is proof that there is always a chance even if takes injury to find out.
With our injury record lots of players will get opportunities.
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