What did you do at 15? Ethan NwaneriWhen he turns 20 years old, he will be able look back and recall when he was the youngest person to ever become president. Premier League player.
Mikel Arteta isn’t the first to name extremely young benches. The reasons are twofold. ArsenalA talented group of young people have come through their academy sides, but they have also had to deal with injuries to first team players.
Nwaneri, who was 15 years old and 181 days, was sitting at the bench. Brentford — with Arteta handing him the final few minutes as his side cruised to a 3-0 win.
“It was a pure gut feeling. I had the pleasure of meeting the boy and was enthralled by what I saw. Per Mertesacker (academy manger) and the academy staff give me great information, Edu [technical director] as well.” the Arsenal manager said.
“He’s trained a couple of times with us. Yesterday he had to come because we have injuries, especially the injury of Martin (Odegaard), and then I had that feeling that if the opportunity could come I was going to do it.”
Arsenal has seen a lot of players under 21s on their bench since January. But the manager is reluctant to let them in.
Charlie Patino, Mika Biereth, Salah Oulad M’Hand and Omari Hutchinson were all regulars on the bench last season but all made loan and permanent moves away in the summer to play more football.
Nwaneri, a middlefielder, was introduced against Brentford in the final minutes (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images).
The absence of Odegaard Emile Smith Rowe, Mohamed Elneny, Reiss Nelson, Oleksandr Zinchenko Cedric SoaresArteta made an instinctive decision to not play a part in the outcome, which would have been a positive.
Sunday was not the first time the schoolboy’s inclusion in a squad shocked the masses this season, though. Two weeks ago, he made his under-21s debut playing for an hour in a win over Blackburn Rovers, and had a key role in the side’s second goal that day.
The EnglandUnder-17 international received under pressure the ball just outside the box. He chipped it into Charles Sagoe Jr., making a run from left which allowed Nathan Butler-Oyedeji the win.
After turning 14 in April 2021, he made his debut as an under-18 player. ReadingThis goal is the final touch.
Imagine creating your own #AFCU18 debut…
At just 14 years of age…
It’s amazing to score such a goal! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/b3lVYdkMCs
— Arsenal Academy (@ArsenalAcademy) May 5, 2021
Since his introduction with his younger brother, Nwaneri has been recognized as an Arsenal star.
Even though he made his under-18s debut back-end of 2020-21’s campaign, he only played five games for them in the following year. He impressed again, scoring twice and helping twice. However, he was transferred between the under-16s and that squad.
Factors that determine whether Arsenal will allow a player above their age group to play include their tactical, physical and technical ability. Sometimes players can be played below their age bracketBecause that’s what suits them at the moment. Nwaneri’s goalscoring is encouraging, but it is his ability to see a pass and stay on the ball under pressure that has stood out.
He was not moving between age groups for the sake. The general consensus is that players will always be available for their opportunities. However, it’s about whether the coach/club is willing to give them that opportunity.
For example, Aaron Ramsdale was a third-choice goalkeeper in England under-21s’ Toulon Tournament-winning squad in 2018. In the four years that followed, he gained first-team experience while on loan at AFC WimbledonThen, permanently at Bournemouth Sheffield United before moving to Arsenal for £24million, usurping Bernd Leno in goal.
Arteta spoke of the need to stretch players as needed across age groups. “It conveys a strong message about our club.
“That we want to give opportunities when there is talent, when there is personality and when there are players who love what they do so much and when they have no fear. They have the freedom to go where they want.
“It’s another step, another experience. You can’t go forward with all your career steps. Maybe he has to take three steps backwards before he can go forward. However, he was right.
“I told him yesterday that he was going to be with us and that I want him to experience how it is to be in the hotel, to prepare for the game, to be around the boys and that he had to be ready. If you’re going to be on that bench you have to be ready. The boy just looks in your eyes and he’s ready.”
Nwaneri’s future and any discussions regarding it will require a heavy dose of reality.
There were many jokes on social media about his birth in 2007, a year after the Emirates Stadium was constructed. “He’s got school in the morning”. THe was still a minor when he had to make the necessary changes before the match, which shows how young England’s youth international is at this stage in his career.
Arsenal doesn’t want to restrict him in any way position-wise. While he might be described as an attacking midfielder he is actually viewed as an offensive player who has attributes that could enable him to play in a variety positions.
Unlike much of what has happened under Arteta since he took charge, there was a sense of freestyle with Nwaneri’s debut. Similarly, it seems staying open and not confining Nwaneri’s future will be the way forward.
“(In the dressing room) it is better not to tell them (too much). Just throw him there and see what happens,” Arteta said.
“All the decisions that we take and that I take are for the club. It’s not for me, it’s not for the player, it’s because we believe that he has a talent that has to be developed incredibly in the next two or three years. The boy will decide how we do it. We’ll see. Normally it’s not us, normally the players tell you and demand of you how far you can go.”
(Top image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
