As several members of Arsenal’s U23 squad made the trip to Serbia with the first-team this week for the Europa League game against Red Star Belgrade, Jeff Reine-Adelaide was left in England lamenting his misfortune after suffering yet another injury.
The 19-year-old is part of Arsenal’s first-team squad but has yet to play a senior game this season and he will now have to wait a little longer for an opportunity to fully establish himself in Arsene Wenger’s plans.
Reine-Adelaide’s pre-season preparations were heavily disrupted by an injury he suffered towards the end of last campaign and then, after an encouraging start for the U23s, the Frenchman saw his progress halted by another problem.
Having finally regained fitness, Reine-Adelaide returned to action for Arsenal U23s against Sunderland this week and, interestingly, was deployed as a left wing-back, despite only having very limited experience of playing in that position, indicating that he could well have been earmarked as a potential back-up option there for the first-team.
Although he struggled a little defensively Reine-Adelaide was very impressive going forwards in the opening stages of the game, but then, with just 20 minutes gone, he pulled up with another injury and had to be substituted.
If his latest setback hadn’t occurred then there is a good chance that Reine-Adelaide would have been on the plane to Serbia and in contention to play some part in the game.
As it has transpired, the prospect could well miss next week’s Carabao Cup game against Norwich City as his hugely frustrating start to the season continues.
Now in his third season at Arsenal, Reine-Adelaide’s potential has always been clear since his superb displays at the Emirates Cup shortly after his arrival.
Since then, however, his Arsenal career so far has been a tale of injuries and inconsistency. He has played eight times competitively for the first-team but has only really stood out on a couple of occasions – the FA Cup win against Southampton last season and the EFL Cup success against Nottingham Forest.
At youth level Reine-Adelaide’s form has frequently fluctuated. He has shown some tantalising glimpses of the quality he possesses, playing some slick passes and embarking upon some mazy dribbles, but on many occasions he has been unable to influence games – he has two goals and five assists in 26 appearances for the U23s in total.
There is no doubt that the talent is there with Reine-Adelaide and he is still at a rather early stage in his development but at some point he needs to start performing with greater consistency if he is to stand a chance of fulfilling his vast potential.
Injuries have played a part in preventing him from achieving that aim so far but if he can remain fit for a prolonged period then Reine-Adelaide really needs to show what he is capable of if he is given a chance in the first-team.
It seems that a loan move in January, provided he is sent to the right club and plays regularly, would be hugely beneficial for Reine-Adelaide at this point and would give him a fresh challenge, after which he could return to Arsenal fully prepared to compete for a regular place in the squad.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Left wing-back? What the actual hell?
Could be to develop his understanding of the defensive side of the game or versatility?
I’m not even sure.
For one, he seems to be suffering from versatilityitis that plagues many Arsenal players. He’s been used as a striker, no.10, left wing, right wing, and for a while it looked like he would be a great CM, now it’s LWB?
We are ruining him
Exactly why are we ruining him? He has made giant strides since has joined us but has been very unlucky with injuries. The club cannot be blamed.
Jeorge, So much excitement around ‘The Jeff’ when we first arrived but there is a fair amount of luck involved in making it and all too often we’ve seen our most talented players at this level not progress to the heights we originally hoped (and it’s a common theme at other clubs too not just at Arsenal as far as I can tell) It seems the next year or so will be critical for him and presently it looks like he’s not going to make the grade? I don’t have anywhere near the knowledge you do on this but how… Read more »
I think he has a bit of time on his side but at the moment the likelihood is that he won’t make it.
It can only take one good first team performance,though, for a player to really kickstart their career and he definitely has a lot of ability so he can’t be written off and can certainly turn things around.
??
Well the few times I’ve seen him play I’ve been really impressed….I even feel he’s better than Reiss Nelson.. really hope he can make the grade
Can anyone tell me if other clubs have the same amount of injuries?
I fully expect Matt Macey to have a go at left wing back very soon. Arsene is taking this whole “internal solution” thingy to a whole new level!
Wingback seems to be Wenger’s favorite position these days.
Don’t be another Diaby! Talent robbed by injury is the saddest thing in football!
That sounds like racial profiling. He is black, he is french, so we draw a parallel with Diaby. But there is Wilshere. Who joined us as a kid with a load of wondrous prospects, just like Jeff. And who isnt developing to his potential thanks to frequent niggles. But Abou comes to mind. No offense taken though. Just found it interesting.
I don’t want to speak for others here but I’m fairly certain that for most people, Diaby comes to mind because of their similar styles and physique.
I’m not sure you know what racial profiling means. FYI being French (or from any nation) has no influence on race.
Pffffft
Moron
That escalated quickly
Anyone else think that playing Reiss Nelson at RWB forces Maitland Niles out of a position he might excel at… AMN is quick, defensively aware and has played as a right winger, reasonably successfully for Ipswich. Why is the obvious back up RWB being played completely out of position, draining his first team confidence, while we play our most talented youngster in years as a defender forced to try to chip balls down the line to Theo Walcott. Even the idea that AMN and Nelson might form a decent right sided duo who actually know each others games and would… Read more »
I must say this new formation is proving quite harmful to some of our future prospects
Academy players are trained to play a certain way to fit into the formation and style that the first team plays. It does in fact seem our youth players are becoming round pegs asked to fit into square pegs.
Why are we even playing 3 at the back I wonder…. formations must suit the available players, with 433 we could probably get the best out of all these players.
Initially t thought there was a method to the madness….. Now, not so much. How long until laca plays the wing back role. Arsene is obsessed with Arsenal fc and is totally incapable of calling it quits on his own. The board should do what’s right before we go way down!
What is Jeff’s injury anyway?
Say George, where’s gedion Zelalem these days? Is he still with us? And what about his contract situation?
Get well soon, Jeff!