Vendetta
12 years ago
Arsenal Players:
Hector Bellerin, right back
Bellerin recently turned 18, celebrating his birthday with a fabulous winning goal against Manchester United's U-21s. Bellerin has been a mainstay of the U-21 side and the NextGen team and has been on Arsenal's bench for the 3rd round of the League Cup. Bellerin joined as a right winger from Barcelona in the summer of 2011, but has played right back for the entirety of his time at the club. Like all Barcelona educated players, he's an excellent passer, but his driving runs are what stands out; one of those runs assisted the winning goal against CSKA Moscow. He can sometimes be defensively suspect, but he's a good tackler and has lots of pace. One of the favourites to progress to the full team.
Isaac Hayden, CB/midfielder
Hayden, the U-18 captain, has cemented himself as a prospect this season. Like Bellerin, he just turned 18; he's a physically strong player, with good pace for a centre back. His positioning was exemplary against CSKA Moscow, and he's showed his versatility this season, having played a lot as a holding midfielder and even as a #10 in the recent match with United. He's got a good passing range, and, for an 18 year old, he's got excellent positional intelligence; he's rarely caught out. Versatility is a plus.
Nico Yennaris
Yennaris will captain the side, and propelled the team into the quarter final with his winning long-range strike against defending champions Inter Milan. He's played on multiple occasions for the first team, making his Premier League debut as a right back against Manchester United. Holding midfield is his favoured position, and he's a physical force; he's a strong tackler, good interceptor and a decent passer. He makes good forward runs, as emphasised by his goal against Inter and his play in the 6-0 victory over Coventry City in the League Cup. One of the older players on the team, which makes him a natural choice for captain, but it's unlikely he'll make the grade as a first team player.
Serge Gnabry, winger/playmaker
Gnabry is one of the highest rated youngsters at the club, with first team experience this season. A decent comparison is with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; like Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gnabry is a strong player, but has explosive pace--he could've run long distance track for Germany, but decided on football. He's a wonderfully direct player, who has a bag of tricks. He's usually played in the wide areas, but against CSKA he played behind Chuba Akpom, and scored the winning goal, after receiving the ball in midfield, turned past his marker, played a one-two with Bellerin and then finish calmly. He's just 18, and is a standout at U-21 level; will probably feature more for Arsenal in next season's League Cup.
Thomas Eisfeld, winger/playmaker
One of the more well-known Arsenal youngsters, mainly because of his goal-scoring rate. He's a bit like Andrei Arshavin; he can do absolutely nothing, and then turn up and score, or make a decisive pass. He's got excellent shooting technique, with little backlift, but he does have a worrying tendency to drift out of the game, which might not translate well to first team level. He made his debut in *that* League Cup game with Reading, and was a crucial part of the turn-around. He'll be one to watch, but he could turn out like Sanchez Watt or Jay Emmanuel-Thomas: great at reserve level but lacking for the Premier League.
Chuba Akpom
A powerful striker with great feet. Akpom has dominated the U-21 league despite being 16 and 17 for the majority of the season. He's a good finisher, and very quick, but like some past Arsenal standouts at this level, it's unclear whether it's down to his own ability or to being stronger and quicker than everyone else in the league. He's a prototypical Arsenal striker, though; able to hold play up, link up and play one-twos, and likes to drift to the left and drive in. There's a lot of hope for him at the club; next season will be crucial for him. He's been a key man in the NextGen series, and did an excellent job against Inter on a waterlogged pitch which wasn't conducive to passing, or any, football.
Kickoff: 15:00 CET - March 29th, 2013
Preview
Chelsea has been firing itself recently into the road to Italy for the NextGen cup with their pacy players and young squad. Our most recent match was against Juventus when they beat them 4-1. Before the Juventus match, Chelsea were able to beat the Barcelona youth 2-0 with 10 men down. Arsenal on the other hand have defeated reigning NextGen champions Inter and recently defeated CSKA as well. Both matches ended 1-0 to Arsenal. Now both meet to fight for a place in the finals. This semi-final is one to watch!
Players to watch out for:
Note: I have only started following Chelsea in their NextGen run recently and I don't know much about the players. Same can be said about the Arsenal players. That is why all the credit for the player profiles goes to the Chelsea blog WeAintGotNoHistory and the Arsenal blog The Short Fuse (link for both blogs will be at the bottom of this post). I'll start off with Chelsea.
Jeremie Boga, midfielder
Anyone who watched the Barcelona game is certainly familiar with Boga at this point. The young Frenchman turned 16 years old in January, and actually debuted for the reserve side in 2012 before ever playing for the U18 team. He's been one of the standout players in the U21 league this season, and could easily find himself in the discussion for a first team bench role before the end of the season if we see some meaningless games.
Lewis Baker, midfielder
Baker will be turning 18 years old in about a month, and has been in sensational form for the U21 side this season. He has been with the academy since 2005, and has been an England regular at every appropriate age group. His decision making is excellent, and he's one of the few players at that age that I've seen that is truly equally capable with the ball on either foot. He'll take the majority of the set pieces for the Blues while likely playing a central midfield role. He's also capable of playing on the wings, and has done so occasionally this season.
Andreas Christensen, CB/RB
Christensen joined the club this season, and has been very impressive thus far. The 16-year old has been a regular in the U21 setup, and easily had his best game of the season against Juventus. He's a big, strong kid with good pace, and he's known for excellent passing and composure. He has also moved into a defensive midfield role several times this season, but with Todd Kane on loan at Blackburn, I'd expect 90 minutes at right back from him tomorrow. Ironically, Arsenal were also chasing Christensen very heavily before he decided to join Chelsea.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, midfielder
Loftus-Cheek will likely pair with Lewis Baker to anchor the Chelsea midfield, and has been featuring regularly for the U18 side this year. Ruben just turned 17 and is a bit more raw than Baker, but he's got the sort of size, speed, and strength combination that is awfully hard to find. He was called up for the England U17 game of Thursday, but was not used in the game.
Alex Kiwomya, winger/striker
Kiwomya is one of the more interesting players in the Chelsea system. The 16-year old is raw, but he's an elite level athlete with absolutely limitless upside. He was among the best sprinters in the world at younger age groups (and holds several British age-group records), despite often being very young for the group he was competing against. He played 23 minutes on Thursday for the England U17 side, so there's a very good chance that he will not be involved on Friday.
Islam Feruz, striker
Feruz has caught a lot of eyes this season, as he has been scoring goals in bunches. The 17-year old lacks size, but he is pacy, explosive, and generally a clinical finisher with either foot. He's another that could be in line for a first team bench at some point this season, and will almost certainly be considered for a Scotland callup at some point now that the team cannot qualify for the World Cup. He generally starts up front alone, and will be a real test for the Arsenal center backs.