Tomorrow sees Arsenal U18s play their final game of the season and you certainly couldn’t have picked a better fixture to conclude the campaign with, as Tottenham Hotspur’s youngsters visit London Colney for what is sure to be an entertaining encounter.
The two sides have already been involved in two high-scoring games this season, with Arsenal having won 5-3 at home before later being trounced 4-0 away.
Tomorrow, as the teams meet in the second section of the U18 Academy League, Arsenal will have the opportunity to exact revenge for the latter result, and there will be an extra sense of occasion given that it will be coach Frans De Kat’s final game in charge before he takes up a position with the Dutch FA.
Arsenal’s results under De Kat over the past couple of seasons haven’t exactly been spectacular, but he has helped the development of many players, some of whom have proceeded to establish themselves as important members of the U21 squad.
It is expected that De Kat will be replaced by former Arsenal player Kwame Ampadu, who was already working within the youth set-up, with the legendary Thierry Henry to work alongside him.
As far as tomorrow’s game is concerned, Arsenal will be looking to build on their 4-1 victory over Sunderland last time out and forward Edward Nketiah will be hopeful of adding to his tally of 21 goals for the season.
Nketiah is currently top of the U18 Premier League scoring charts and has undoubtedly been the major success of the season at this level. Others have developed well, however, with Josh DaSilva adjusting to his new position in midfield, while Joe Willock has been impressive in recent weeks.
Arsenal are still extremely vulnerable defensively at this level, which is something that Ampadu and Henry, if indeed they do take charge, will be seeking to address.
Meanwhile, Arsenal U21s face a rather dramatic conclusion to the campaign as they take on Blackburn Rovers at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night in their semi-final play-off fixture, with the winners to take on Aston Villa in the final.
Promotion to the second tier would be of great benefit to Arsenal’s youngsters, and some members of the senior squad may well feature against Blackburn.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
I do wonder if Henry would be interested in being an assistant at U18 level, and how this would impact on his TV pundit job, even if he could keep that job he could no longer comment negatively on Arsenal as no club would put up with an employee slagging them off. I’d say there is as much chance of Arteta or even Pires getting a role with the U18 team as there is of Henry getting it
It’d be great to see Arteta play a management type role.
If the younger levels of the Arsenal set-up are prone to defensive fragility, just like the first team, doesn’t that suggest that there’s a problem with the way our team is organized? We know that Arsene wants the lower level teams to play similarly to the first team so that anyone who makes the step up is familiar with the system. seems like that entire system might be a big part of the problem.
Henry is on course to complete his UEFA badges/license, and would seem like a natural fit for the under 18s but I’m unsure he will be any more of a success than the current set up. Whether he is the right person tactically and man management wise, I’m not so sure. I look back when Steve Bould nurtured the likes of Wilshire, Lansbury, Jet, the Coq and Frimpong to get the best out of them. His team, tactics and motivation won that team the FA youth trophy (emphatic over Liverpool) and two under 21 premier league titles… he seems shackled… Read more »
bloody ridiculous that our youth team is in the second division with blackburn etc.
more evidence that the club is rotten from top to bottom, wengers way of playing doesn’t work at any level.