One of the most challenging situations for a youth player at Arsenal occurs when they have to go back to playing for the U23s having represented the first-team.
Suddenly, having featured alongside renowned players in front of a large crowd, you are back to normality, playing with youngsters in sparsely populated stadiums.
That is exactly the situation that Jordi Osei-Tutu found himself in this week as, just days after featuring for the first-team against Atletico Madrid in Singapore, the right-back was back in the second-string squad for the friendly away to AFC Hornchurch.
It is to Osei-Tutu’s credit, however, that he was perhaps Arsenal’s standout performer against Hornchurch in the 3-0 victory as he demonstrated his composure in possession and his tendency to make precisely-timed interceptions.
Osei-Tutu did his best when called upon for the first-team in pre-season, whether at right-back or left-back, but, with Stephan Lichtsteiner now in training, it is difficult to envisage the youngster getting much of a look in apart from perhaps in the League Cup.
A loan spell, then, could well be the best move for Osei-Tutu, but he could stay with Arsenal for the first half of the campaign to feature in the Checkatrade Trophy and perhaps train with the senior squad on some occasions.
Osei-Tutu progressed extremely well last season and there was a feeling, before Lichtsteiner joined, that he was of the standard to be Arsenal’s second-choice right-back this season.
That situation may ultimately have not come to fruition but Osei-Tutu is still a player who has a good chance of succeeding at Arsenal in the longterm if he is provided with sufficient opportunities.
Most modern defenders are impressive going forwards and, while Osei-Tutu, who was previously a winger, is certainly effective in an attacking sense, he is also dependable defensively, although at first-team level he will certainly be faced with much tougher tests.
Before last season Osei-Tutu hadn’t even made his competitive debut for the U23s, but he is now one of the standout performers at that level for Arsenal.
The next step, and one that could well take some time to make, will be to force his way into the first-team.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Only 19, hopefully will be pushing for the first team in the next few years (eg once Lichsteiner has gone) but still young and lots of time. Good luck to him.
Wonder if they view him as back-up for both RB and LB. Could still get a few games over the course of the season- look at how many AMN got, admittedly playing out of his favourite position, but still
I wouldn’t loan him out this side of January, there’s plenty of opportunities for him to play with a the cups we’ve got and the Checkatrade, no point in him bench warming at a Div2 club.
Kolasinac has tweaked his knee, so maybe another reason to retain him?
He’s impressed me this pre-season. Always harder for defenders to impress fans in these games than attacking midfielders (who grab a lot of the attention), especially when out of position. I think it would be more beneficial for him to stay until Jan and then look for a loan move. I can see him being a first choice in the League Cup and will clearly start in the Autowindscreen, plus we have an experienced right back in Lichtsteiner who I’m sure there’s much to learn from. Full back is an real we’re short on in the long term, there’s definitely… Read more »
He looks a real unit for his age. Maybe Monreal and Osei-Tutu can alternate for the Lazio game. Should be a sterner test. And as much as I like his aggression and direct running, Kola really seems a defensive liability :/