Prior to this pre-season Mark McGuinness didn’t have any experience of senior football, but he has progressed very well in recent months.
Having featured, and scored, for Arsenal against MK Dons in pre-season, he was sent out on loan to Ipswich Town, and, after having to wait to break into the team, he has now established himself as an important player for his temporary side.
McGuinness’ height is a useful asset and means that he towers over many of his opponents, even at senior level. His reading of the game is impressive, too, and, at the age of 19, the centre-back has time on his side to improve even further.
It is anticipated that McGuinness will spend the entire campaign at Ipswich, which should enable him to gain plenty of experience.
The youngster has also been making progress on the international front, breaking into the Republic of Ireland U21 squad. If he continues to develop at his current rate, it is certainly feasible that McGuinness could be called up by Ireland at senior level in the not too distant future.
There remains a considerable amount of uncertainty regarding his long-term future at Arsenal given that there are many centre-backs at the club but the situation can change quickly and for now McGuinness is making the most of the opportunities he has been afforded at Ipswich.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
McGuinness. Strong body with a refreshingly cool head.
My brand
I forgot about that header he scored against. MK Dons in pre season, he’s massive!
Vermeleen bullet headers
Always great to hear our youngsters doing well when out on loan. 🙂 Good to hear he is developing well, and I hope that continues.
Anyone know what his passing game is like?
Good news, let’s hope he continues to improve. The problem is, as the article mentions, the abnormal number of players in his position that we have currently in the first team squad. Several of these are “passengers” as most of us realise and, hopefully, they will leave over the next season or so. It’s unlikely we’ll be able to sell many (any?) of them though so we’ll have to be patient until their contracts run down. There’s probably a good book to be written about how our club managed over the space of, say, five or six seasons to be… Read more »
A cursory glance at the list of players and loanees is enough to show how much of a problem Arsenal will have in the coming seasons, and we have to be prepared for yet another Bennacer/Gnabry situation. Over the coming season, the likes of Luiz, Mustafi, Papastathopoulous will most assuredly leave. That leaves Saliba, Chambers, and probably Mari as his immediate competitors should he progress that well, while not forgetting Dan Ballard at Blackpool (where he is been having quite the season). Then there are Harry Clarke and Zech Medley. Most of the loanees are doing well, and while there… Read more »
And Mavropanos. Forgot all about him.
We may have plenty of centre backs, but too few of sufficient quality. Mustafi and Socratis are on their way out one way or another. Mari has been injured since we got him. Chambers is on the way back from a long term injury, and may never get back to Arsenal Standard. That leaves us 3, and even then Luiz is winding down his career and increasingly unreliable. Holding is still young and the Jury still out on him, though he may well make it. Lastly Gabriel has made a great start to his Arsenal career, but that’s maybe 20-15… Read more »
He will always get a place on the Arsenal back if he develops at this rate. We have only Gabriel, Holding and Saliba (not yet established in the League). Others will leave aoon.
A bit crazy to read about the club pursuing additional CBs and we have youngsters earning very good ratings while on loan or international duty.
Is it about the players not being good enough or the coaches not doing their jobs?
The town fans highly rate him. Fingers crossed it all goes well.
Would love to see him break through at Arsenal, as a totally biased Irish gooner