‘Dowman sells Martinelli to get Eze’
An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective
Most of the time preseason games are instantly forgettable.
This one might be remembered forever.
It’s crazy to say that. Sounds like a horrific over-exaggeration. What my eyes saw however, was the potential birth of a superstar.
Max Dowman has much to do to make this happen but never in my lifetime have I seen a player of 15 years old play against a top Premier League club and look like the best player on the field.
I remember when Ethan came on against Brentford and when Cesc broke the record. You could tell that they were both very talented, but neither of them dominated the game.
There are lots of players who have elite potential at this age, but very few who are trusted to play, let alone for one of the best five teams in world football. We might be tempted to say that it was just a preseason game and lots of players get to play, which is true, but there is something different here. The other youngsters get a few token minutes. This has more to do with resting the first team players than the youngster himself. Again, this is different.
The main point that I want to get to is that what separates good players and superstars is fear.
Not only are most of them submissive in the way that they play with adults around them, but their coach advises them to play this way. To keep it simple and play your way into professional football.
Then, every once in a while, a player shows up who has a completely different mentality. The personality to do one of the most difficult parts of the sport, in dribbling, and attempting to beat a player who might have kids as old as you.
Not only this, but to do it repeatedly. Not only this, but to do it after being clobbered by one of the most clobbery clobberers in Joelinton in your first action on the field.
They have also been many, very young, potentially elite footballers who attempted to do what Dowman just did today. Perhaps not so much because they should’ve done it but because they were trying to show off and catch the coach’s eye.
A good coach is only going to release you to play this way if he knows that you are mentally tough enough to accept if you fail and technically good enough to do it against grown men.
Honestly, as impressed as I was by his attacking play, I was equally impressed at his defensive effort and positional awareness. He’s had less than a year to learn a whole lot in training under Arteta and you can clearly see that he’s not satisfied when people tell him to ease his way into the game.
So, what do Arsenal do now?
Perhaps they had a plan to ease him in through the Carabao Cup and possibly the FA Cup, but surely that has to be revisited.
My suggestion is to have him on the bench. He doesn’t need to start any games. That’s not necessarily needed. Arsenal should have plenty enough. The main point in bringing on a substitute is to change the game and it would honestly be foolish not to have Dowman as an option on every bench. Why foolish? Because by the time an attacking substitute comes on many teams, have exhausted the team strategy to score and need some individual brilliance. How many teams have individual brilliance ready to come off the bench and win a Premier League game without necessarily needing the team to help them?
There is likely going to be a knock on effect to this. One less senior player on the bench, likely upset that a 15-year-old is in front of their big fat contract.
What might happen now is that the club might have to sell a winger. Especially if Eze comes in.
This isn’t what I would want to do because we could be about to embark on the strongest squad in the history of the club, but the money situation may dictate this. If Calafiori is out for a while, then the club will likely have to hold onto Zinchenko. That might have been money that they were relying on to get Eze.
Martinelli is the player that hasn’t improved and could bring at least 60M.
Imagine if Max Dowman had just been signed for that price and that was his first game
What would you think?
POSITIVES:
- Zubimendi was very good in the first half. He seems to have the wonderful habit of making the game look easy because he makes it easy for himself. It’s all in the preparation. He’s constantly scanning and very particular about standing directly between two opponents. He seems to have a gift for the timing of his tackling, also.
- Such a lovely reminder in the first half that currently Merino is the best finisher at the club. I talked about this a lot last season. Not wanting to get confused between stating this and knowing that this does not make him top scorer, but it’s becoming obvious. It’s all in the composure. Very few players are ice cold in and around the box. They actually heat up. He is so measured, accurate and intentional with his finishing. You could use Mikel Merino as an example in a textbook on finishing. For the same reasons as Max Dowman, Merino has to always at least be on the bench.
- I was wanting for Dowman to take the penalty kick itself, but it was probably smart to boost Odegaard’s goal scoring confidence. He seemed to be more focused on verticality in his passing, which is much needed. He is most certainly gifted with the vision to be one of the best in the world at threading the needle, but needs to do it far more often.
- Did you notice how we were frequently releasing Saka one on one with direct balls? I love it. Alongside strengthening the left side so as to split the focus, the other option is to hit these longer balls so that defensive cover cannot help their left back.
- I was pleased that Kai got two assists. His superpower may not be goal scoring, but in his game impact. He has so many tools in his box and on any given day, he can pull out different ones. He is now a part of one of the funniest goals I’ve seen in the last decade!
- Somebody needs to get a chart together of how many goals we score within 10 minutes of a water break.
- Did you notice that we have a new offensive tactic? Not every time, but often we left two or three players upfield so we could be more direct in transition. This tactic all by itself could be the difference in our season. We are honestly in the bottom half of the table on ability and execution after turnovers in our half. We haven’t been direct enough in many years. I’m very glad that the coaching staff have at least taken a look at this change. It will be game and moment dependent but it is a highly valuable weapon.
NEEDS:
- It is pivotal that the first complaint goes to Jason Tindall‘s new 1990s hairstyle. I remember being quite proud of my centre parting and combing it furiously before the school disco. For those of you who don’t know, I really don’t like Newcastle’s assistant coach.
- Another large factor in our success this upcoming season will be crossing choice. Newcastle to their credit were picking out the seam between the back four and the midfielders. Not only is there almost always a gap, but it is always the least crowded area to cross into. I’ve always been in favour of crossing to the biggest gap rather than to a person. It’s very rare that any person in the box is completely unmarked there is always a gap somewhere.
- David Raya has a very interesting technique when he has the ball at his feet. You see him rolling the ball backwards, which is to gain him extra space from the strikers pressing him. Both he and Kepa need to consider that their passing is only blocked if their pass isn’t ready. Both of them have a tendency to put the ball in between both of their feet rather than keep it on their right side before releasing. Small detail, but the biggest mistakes are always with the goalkeeper.
- Our goalkeepers weren’t perfect, but Nick Poe is simply rubbish with his feet. Always passes the ball behind his teammate, and doesn’t seem to value passing the ball flat. He will be replaced. Of that I have no doubt.
HOPES:
- It’s really not good that Calafiori went down in what looked like an injury. We can only hope it’s precautionary. He is a very unique defender. Such ability and confidence in his passing and ball carrying. One wish for this season is that this player stays fit because he is also capable of being a difference maker. I’ve noticed that he is also a target on corner kicks, which is a compliment to him.
- I have said more than enough about the beautiful Viktor Gyokeres over the last two or three seasons. There is something so ominous about him. Not only do I think he will score bags of goals, but I think that the team may well score more goals than they ever have in the Premier League. He is just such a good distraction, if nothing else. And there is lots of everything else. Both centre backs will be so distracted by him, leaving room for many others. It won’t be long before he is seen as the best striker in the world.
- I’m sitting watching the final of the women’s Euro’s. I found out today that UEFA has lost €25 million on this tournament. Women’s football has become more popular in Europe over the last 10 years. That has been evident. In order for the game to go to the next level I look back directly at Viktor. Silly as this sounds, a big part of the hype around him is his celebration. He has picked a celebration that you could do standing still, which is rather useful when the fans in the stadium would love to run and celebrate, but can’t. I was thinking last night that one of the biggest differences in the men’s and women’s games is passion. The men’s game is faster, more aggressive, etc.… That isn’t going to change but women’s football could take a big leap forward if the ladies bought into celebrating goals. It’s really odd to me that there’s nothing original about their goal celebrations. Look at the arrival of our new striker. He hasn’t played yet and people are already beyond excited.
Football is such a unique sport. The most loved sport in the world. More than ever, the sport has become about moments. Clips. Shorter highlights. Instagram flashes where you only see something for 1.5 seconds. The girls game just cannot keep up in this environment because they have so few ‘names.’ It’s a shame really because the game should be enough. It’s the drama. It’s what elevates the passion and therefore dramatically raises the interest level. Can you name any female player that has a personal celebration? It’s also difficult to find a player that gets the crowd up off their seats. Again, the drama should be unnecessary, but the drama is what makes the English Premier League men’s game the most popular in the world. It’s the most popular league in the country that I live in that has its own league, but prefers the drama and personalities of what’s happening in the men’s game in England.
TWEETS and THOUGHTS:
In case you were wondering
Is it just me or does he look like Robin van Persie?
Some knew years ago
Not AI and not my grandpa
Would cap off a huge summer.
Fingers crossed.
Fingers crossed.
Would add so much that we lack and would free Martin Ødegaard to rest.
FINAL THOUGHT:
As I finish writing that paragraph Chloé Kelly just smashed in the winner! Congratulations England! We went mental
This will undoubtedly help.
A great day for English football, and England as a whole.
What is crazy thought is that today might actually be remembered as much for the birth of a superstar than England winning a major trophy, which, as we all know, are a rare find.
Former Highbury regular. Moved to TN, USA in ’99. Married with 3 kids. Coached in UK and US for 27 years.
Mike McDonald Soccer Academy in Morristown TN, Olympic Development coach, Regional Premier League Champion.
Mike! Mike! Mike!
Never had I thought you would cover “friendly but not too friendly game” as yesterday. The game was amazing, a proper EPL game with physicality and tactical variation. Never had I thought Newcastle will improve that much even under Isak’s departed issue. I thought they just a bunch of physical bullies with Isak-centered counter attack .. I was wrong, Newcastle capable more than that; the EPL game against them later will be interesting.
I like Zubimendi, a lot. Not only he gave me a relieve because we found a proper Partey replacement, Zubimendi is better. At least from creativity aspect, range of passing, wide vision and press resistance. Partey was more right side dependent, while zubi… He spread the ball everywhere. Oh? You are in a better position? Little bit far? No problem.. here comes a ball for you.. He also press resistance (Anthony Gordon is very aggressive with ball stealing from behind; not today, lads. This new signing knows how to release the ball before danger come). I AM HAPPY. We will not regress from where we left, we are going forward instead.
The only limitation Zubimendi has is his aerial and physical presence. This can be seen from the first goal. Usually our CDM stood in front of dual CB to secure the area near penalty kick spot. Somehow Zubi is pulled to the left (maybe this is his habit from sociedad). This was fixed later when he became the man between CB in 2nd half. But it will expose the aerial threat, zubi is not aerial warrior… This can be solved if he plays with Rice, or Norgaard (let them nail the central defense while Zubi move more forward, ready for transition). Merino is too slow to return for defensive cover, I am afraid.
Max dowman!! What a player he is. I don’t care about his individual skills, what really impress me is his totality as a team player; he pressed like a wild beast, defend the right side like a warrior, and roaming the right side unstoppable. He is the winger, wing back, and additional full back for that right hand side. In that cumulative sense, he is even better than Nwaneri (and Saka). He is so fixated toward the goal; I thought a slap from Joelinton would break his mentality, no he was not and never would. He stood up and make Joelinton regret to never know him before..
I watched Liverpool vs Milan and hope we can get something there; as you said above, the counter attack. I don’t care if people said it was because Konate, and Van dijk did not play together… Even if they played together, their weaknesses has been exposed: too far upfront, slow return, and less body committed to back track running. I imagine a counter attack from Martinelli, Victor,and Madueke… That would be tasty.
I have to show respect to the other youngsters; although Max has stolen the spotlight, the other did very well. The awareness, well positioning, maturity .. they are at the level of PL players, just need a bit physicality. Soon, I believe soon, they will also break the wall like MLS, Nwaneri, and Saka..
COYG
That Dowman will still be only 22 when Saka turns 31 is mind-boggling.
On the Goonerholics Forever blog, Countryman100 makes the point that we should avoid the trap of looking at our two midfield generational talents, Nwaneri and Dowman, as either/ors. I am curious to know how you see them playing together in future Arsenal teams (assuming you don’t think that one will eclipse the other).
Nice one Mike, a tough match but maybe we’ll get more out of that kind of game than a stroll against Milan, despite the bruises. I thought Ethan was a bit quiet, but young players have a tendency to have games like that, meanwhile Dowman was amazing.
I saw both Brady and Rocastle come through the youth team, Combination etc but this kid is simply quite beyond belief in how good he could be?
My son James took me on the legends tour last month and I got to meet my hero Charlie George, he and Bergkamp are still the best I’ve seen in a Gunners shirt but I may have to revise that opinion in a couple of years if Max continues on his present upward curve.
Berta has a few important decisions to make over the next month in terms of sales. He need to raise some revenue and balance the books and he’s not going to do that by selling Sambi Lokonga, so a valuable player is probably going to have to be traded without affecting the increasing strength of our squad. I hope it’s not Jesus or Martinelli but I’ve gotta back the man in charge in the sharp Italian suit…