James Olayinka shot to prominence last summer when he caught the eye for the Arsenal first-team in pre-season and he is now starting to perform with greater consistency at youth level.
Olayinka has always been highly regarded by Arsenal’s various youth coaches but there were times when his consistent presence in the starting lineup for the U23s was rather baffling and appeared to be of detriment to the team.
Now, though, Olayinka is full of confidence, and an injury to Trae Coyle has presented him with an opportunity to have a run of games out wide.
Perhaps playing as a winger suits Olayinka more than his usual central midfield berth – he can make good use of his pace and also deliver some dangerous crosses.
Of late Olayinka has also started to score with greater regularity, and it is hoped that he will continue to impress for the remainder of the campaign.
Although he has previously made the bench, Olayinka is still awaiting his competitive debut for the Arsenal first-team, and he may now not be able to fulfil that objective until next season.
In the mean time, he is doing very well for the U23s and is demonstrating exactly why the club have so much faith in him.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Worth a mention here that Tyreece John-Jules scored the winner in a 1-0 win for Lincoln this weekend.
Good for him. Btw I don’t think Auba has good enough footwork to be Mikels main striker and I bet shall remain on the wings till he leaves. And Martinelli is also applied more from the left hand side/false 9. That leaves Eddie as understudy for an underfiring Laca. Low-budget Sergio Aguero Gabriel Jesus yet anyone ?? ??