Few Arsenal players have the crowd singing their name before they’ve even kicked a ball for the club, but that’s what greeted Charlie Patino as the 18-year-old stripped off on the touchline before replacing Emile Smith Rowe.
The highly-rated Hale End graduate didn’t wait long to give something back. Within 11 minutes, the midfielder stroked home his first goal for the club to complete a 5-1 rout of Sunderland that sees Arsenal secure a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
After months of speculation about when Patino might make his debut, this was a fairytale start to life in the first team.
For Mikel Arteta, who hasn’t had as many opportunities to blood youngsters as he might have liked, it was something to cherish.
“A beautiful moment,” reflected the manager in his post-game press conference.
“He is a kid that is coming through our system, a lovely kid. He is training with us almost every week. It was a dream. As a debut to come here, to score in front of our fans, a really special moment.”
Arteta has known for quite some time that he has a gem on his hands but he’s also been doing his best to ensure the hype around the kid doesn’t get out of hand.
While acknowledging the enthusiasm of tonight’s crowd, he also preached a need for patience.
“I know, I know,” he said of the chanting of Patino’s name before his introduction.
“I think that is very positive. They heard about him and know what he can become and now we have to cook him slowly. Today was a good start, I think.
He added: “That [hype] is what we have to avoid. He still has a lot of competition in front of him. He is really young. And he needs to go step by step.
“Today he was lucky, he got the opportunity and he took it really well.”
As expected, the boffins have been having a field day since.
Our resident youth expert Jeorge Bird reports Charlie is the first Arsenal Academy graduate to score on his debut since Sanchez Watt against West Bromwich Albion in 2009 and Opta’s Tom Ede reveals he’s the youngest player to score on his Arsenal debut since Jon Sammels in 1963.
Arsenal also confirmed that Patino is the 886th player to represent the club’s men’s team.
Honestly can’t get my head around him being born the same fortnight as Cesc scoring his first goal for us. Cesc was the first big player for us who was younger than me. Now I feel ancient.
Funny how the age of a player becomes a way to build a connection to a player. Squillaci was born on the same day (same day, month and year) that I was. Even though my hopes of living a vicarious alter-Arsenal existence through him were short-lived after he quickly found his pace relative to the Premiership to be wanting, I still carried a soft spot for him.
I’m on the gaffer’s birthday myself. Always had a soft spot for legoman.
Same here, though I’m 4 years younger
Ancient? What do I say about myself then. I share my birthday (exact) with Patrick Vieira. It made me feel so special watching him tear up the league as the Arsenal Capt. Now I feel so medieval! 🙆♂️
Didn’t Nketiah score two on his debut?
I thought so against Norwich, maybe he had got on as a substitute before that.
He did indeed.
Two goals as a sub against Norwich in the League Cup, with the second scored in extra time to win the match.
October 24 2017, aged 18 years, 4 months and 24 days.
Truly magical stuff to see another academy graduate score a debut goal. As a sub too😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊.
n 28 September 2017, Nketiah was called up again to the senior side, this time for Arsenal’s Europa League match against BATE Borisov. He came on as an 89th-minute substitute for Joe Willock as Arsenal won 4–2.[7] His next appearance came nearly a month later against Norwich City in the League Cup as an 85th-minute substitute. He scored after 15 seconds with his first touch to tie the match, adding another in extra time to win it for the Gunners
Apparently his debut was a Europa League match against BATE Borisov where he came on in the 89th minute. Then the game against Norwich where he scored 2, the first within 15 seconds of coming on.
FFS that headline 🤣
I think he’s implying that young Charlie is still “raw” like a rare steak and that if you want him “well-done”, you must cook him more slowly.
Stop over cooking steaks
He is still raw hence Arteta’s desire to cook him slow!
Relevant: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patinho_(carne_bovina)
The smart thing to do now is for the club and the fans to keep things low key and let the boy develop at his own pace. I’ve been watching football for the best part of 50 years and have seen many “wonder-kids” who’ve ended up doing nothing. Heaping pressure on Patino’s shoulders before he’s done anything could really hurt his development.
Who knows, he might need a loan move or two before he’s ready for a regular place in the first team.
Can’t agree. The BEST do do it immediately and were on the world stage at 18/19.
Messi
Ronaldo
Mbappe
Haaland
Fabregas
RvP
Rooney
The list just goes on and on without even trying.
That’s why I have fears about Balogun. What he does in training doesn’t count. It’s also why I worry when Arteta talks too much about what someone contributes in training. Pepe walks in with no game time behind him and produces one assist and a goal. That is a 10/10 result if you’re his boss.
RvP wasn’t.
What a ridiculous comment. You named one midfielder in a generation to play regularly at 18. The rest are forwards, where you can make mistakes and the repercussions are likely pretty minimal, since you have 10 teammates behind you to clean up your mess.
Look at any of the world class players from the past generation, none of them played regularly at 18. Pirlo for example, came on as a sub a few times at 18/19 years old in Serie B.
Those are obvs exceptions to the rule, which is why they’re houshold names & so easy to list.
The vast majority of professional players aren’t on the world stage when they’re teenagers & someone could easily come up with a list of late bloomers on the other end of the spectrum.
Think this is the sort of pressure Fatgooner’s talking about that could hurt Patino’s development. Completely unnecesarry. Just be happy the kid’s had a nice moment scoring on his debut instead of insisting he become the next Messi.
I am eager to see him have a minimum two seasons of regular football on loan somewhere. I would love to see him have two seasons of regular football in the Championship before turning 21.
Me too. Arsenal is a massive club and every first-team game is an event that is closely and widely scrutinised. Patino needs to make his mistakes away from the spotlight in order to develop smoothly.
ESR’s time at Huddersfield was ideal for his development. A move like that would probably suit Patino perfectly.
It’s true. One of the keys to developing a good patina is through a careful aging process.
Underrated comment.
He seemed a bit overawed by the occasion, but was there to stick it away when it mattered. Exciting to see what happens from here.
Patino should retire now.
He’ll have the greatest goals per minute record for Arsenal and probably for any team ever.
n 28 September 2017, Nketiah was called up again to the senior side, this time for Arsenal’s Europa League match against BATE Borisov. He came on as an 89th-minute substitute for Joe Willock as Arsenal won 4–2.[7] His next appearance came nearly a month later against Norwich City in the League Cup as an 85th-minute substitute. He scored after 15 seconds with his first touch to tie the match, adding another in extra time to win it for the Gunners
Excellent stats, he should have retired then!
As above – Didn’t Nketiah himself get a brace on his debut Vs Norwich? I’m almost certain that was his debut because I remember thinking, “Wow! What a debut!”
He came on as a sub in the 89th minute of a Europa League match before his Norwich appearance. Easy to miss 🙂
After reading the comment section in the previous article, I read the headline
«We have to cook Patino slowly like a duck»
Love me some slow cooking. He’s going to turn our delicious
I had a feeling he would score once he stripped off, call it a Charlie feeling
Well if you see the “patino sandwich” at the food forecourt at the emirates then you will know exactly what Arteta was referring to in this article…
Good to see he is making the most of his opportunities. Does he have game intelligence to get into the near post area with a well timed late run , or is he simply youthful and willing to get forward fearlessly?
Eddie aerial ability from crosses is good. He has good timing all around.
If he can learn to become an outlet for Ramsdale fizzy passes, then he could be a useful alternative for the second half of the season. Hopefully making a mess of clubs (most of them now) who are heavily reliant on data driven scouting of their next opponent.
This is why players like Auba and Pepe are so easily controlled this season because their patterns are repetitive.