Hi All,
A most pleasurable night.
My feeling is that Eddie will be on the plane to Russia at the end of the season.
Him and Harry should form a prolific partnership for years to come.
He didn't really get an opportunity last night ie 5 minutes is not an opportunity but he took what he was given and made a name for himself.
For me he's moved ahead of Olivier and Theo in the forward line so the next step is to groom him to take over from Alexis.
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As for the other lads you have to understand and respect that they are playing completely out of position.
Maitland is a swashbuckling right footed combative central midfield warrior. he is not a a left wing back but he is one of Arsene's most trusted pupils so with lack of cover in that department he step forth.
Fair play to the lad but I really hope we get to see him in central midfield. You will be astonished as to how good he is.
I would say as a central midfielder he's currently light years ahead of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain if he ever played there.
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Reiss Nelson is in a similar boat. He's an old fashioned right winger in a 4-4-2 so the wing back slot demands a lot more defending which he's having to learn on the fly.
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I was most proud of Josh Da Silva. A absolute tank for his age. He's going to learn plenty working with Nacho and Kolasinac over the next year or so.
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Matt is the new Joe Hart so he too should come on nicely over the next couple of years.
Kind Regards
Your Best Mate
Mickey Pearce
I've found a programme* from 2011 against Manchester City in my office.
(* you get them free in club level, before someone starts ****ing me off)
Youth Section Players...
Elton Monteiro
Isaac Hayden
Nigel Neita
Jeffrey Monakana
Zak Ansah
Jordan Wynter
Samir Bihmoutine
Anthony Jeffrey
Ben Glasgow
Reice Charles-Cook
Zachari Fagan
Philip Roberts
Alban Bunjaku
James Campbell
Jon Toral
Kristoffer Olsson
Sean McDermott
Hector Bellerin
Serge Gnabry
Callum Webb
Chuba Akpom
Jack Jebb
Josh Rees
Kyle Ebecilio
We converted a lot of them, eh?
Hector, of course. Chuba, nearly.
Serge is doing ok in Germany, I think
Isaac Hayden at Newcastle?
Jon Toral at Hull?
The others may have disappeared up their own arse, Hleb style.
We got beat 0-1 that night, IIRC
“Other clubs never came into my thoughts once I knew Arsenal wanted to sign me.”
Reice Charles Cook was good lad.
His family were absolutely lovely people too.
He had high hopes to be England's 1st Black Goalkeeper but he had too much in front of him at the time to decided to move on.
He joined Coventry and earned the nickname - Black Magic for his brilliant displays in goal.
He's currently at Swindon.
I'll pass on your regards.
kind regards
Your best mate
Mickey Pearce
PS Serge Gnarbry - what a waste. He unfortunately has very bad weight issues and an addiction to fat burning tablets so we cut him.
Perhaps, you had to be there. A wonderful night for the young fella.
Never mind the tournament. Here was a great moment. The whole point of football is basically the moment your team scores a goal. Especially when you know your team is unlikely to win any of the two prestigious tournaments before the stars fall from the sky.
I was busy telling myself how I absolutely didn't give a flying fùck about going out of this cup to a team that were bigger, faster, stronger, better organised and for the most part more technically accomplished than the rabble wearing Arsenal shirts, who are getting paid ten times as much or whatever as the Norwich boys.
We had another corner. "I'm not sure what the point is for us of these corners" I said. "Their blokes are twice the height of ours and win everything." Then Arsene chucked another kid on to give him a run out with a few minutes left, like in Belgrade. He went up and scored with his first touch on his home debut. A wonderful moment.
Extra time. Another corner. The little lad leaped like the proberbial salmon above all these giant blokes and headed home the winner. A joyous moment for anyone there supporting Arsenal whose heart is not made of stone.