Future is looking good!!!

[DC_Boy]

yep that afc game still rankles with me - it's the only full 90 mins I've seen from our youth team and AFC ran us off the pitch

they were too strong, too fast and passed in a typical wenger manner that we couldn't deal with

of course one game doesn't make a season - but it was worrying

the key thing of course is geting 2,3 or more players into the first team '18' on a regular basis

if we do that then it's a great result

 

[BringBack_leGin]

the arsenal team that day were bigger and stronger and older than our boys. wilshire is an immense talent but he is older and has had first team exposure whereas mason hasn't. mason had a poor game, but judging him off that when it's the only game you've seen is a bit short sighted. like i said, having seen him tear apart defences about ten times at least, live, in front of my very own eyes, it really is just a case of if he can put on the required muscle.

and the other day he was outstanding against the arsenal reserves, in which they had many of their youth players including frimpong, their most highly rated young midfielder, and mark randall, who is also a big talent.

 

[Shanks]

You only need to take a look at the spanish midfield to see that the smaller, more technical footballer can be very succesful even against the big more brutal boys.
They tore us a new one, in that friendly.

 

[danielneeds]

the arsenal team that day were bigger and stronger and older than our boys. wilshire is an immense talent but he is older and has had first team exposure whereas mason hasn't. mason had a poor game, but judging him off that when it's the only game you've seen is a bit short sighted. like i said, having seen him tear apart defences about ten times at least, live, in front of my very own eyes, it really is just a case of if he can put on the required muscle.

and the other day he was outstanding against the arsenal reserves, in which they had many of their youth players including frimpong, their most highly rated young midfielder, and mark randall, who is also a big talent.

Sorry to be a pedant but Mason was born on 13th June 1991, Wilshere on 1st January 1992. As I said before I have only seen Mason twice (plus the brief cameo in the Uefa Cup) and haven't been impressed, hope to be proved wrong though.

Its not his size that was was the problem for me too, it was his lack of speed, and wanting too much time on the ball.

 

[lishiyo]

True, it's hard to tell unless you watch these kids regularly and even then it's still up in the air. I remember Sunderland fans saying Macheda was shite against their reserves; of course there's no guarantee he'll turn out to be something good, but he's had a great - or at least fortunate - start to his first team career so far, and he's been highly rated at the youth level. There's a gooner blog that tracks each of their kids in every game, and you can tell that Wilshere has had his fair share of off days, though imo his good days point to a very promising career ahead.

Even Fraizer had some amazing games in the Championship and for England, and that's a much higher level than the reserves and youth level. Man Utd fans were very excited about him at the beginning of this season - but I think we can safely say he'll never make it there. I remember Pekhart was supposed to be the next big thing out of our kids just last year, but he couldn't even cut it in the Championship. Bit sobering to consider the gap between the Prem and the academy and the lower leagues, I'll be wary of predicting anything until I see them in a few premiership games.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Sorry to be a pedant but Mason was born on 13th June 1991, Wilshere on 1st January 1992. As I said before I have only seen Mason twice (plus the brief cameo in the Uefa Cup) and haven't been impressed, hope to be proved wrong though.

Its not his size that was was the problem for me too, it was his lack of speed, and wanting too much time on the ball.

ok he's older, didn't realise, assumed he was younger because wilshire has had some much more first team opportunity.

as for the wanting too much time on the ball and the lack of speed, if those are your big concerns then he seems to even be following Robbie Keane in terms of his flaws.

 

[ohwhenthespurs]

Don't be surprised if Caulker and Mason and/or a few others end up at Yeovil on loan. We're developing a great relationship with them, a number of our lads have been down there for a look around recently and the ones who are there really like it. Could be a semi-formal relationship next season between the two clubs.

 

[AngerManagement]

 

[AdelaideSpur]

Great pic,
The Spanish centre midfield pairing of Iniesta, Xavi or Fabregas would dominate most other midfields,
there are tens of small midfielders doing very well in world football, but they have to have both a good burst of pace and good skill, like our very own Luka

 

[AdelaideSpur]

Ive never seen Mason play, how small is he? is he as small as Giovinco of Juve? now that guys tiny.

 

[lishiyo]

Ive never seen Mason play, how small is he? is he as small as Giovinco of Juve? now that guys tiny.

giovinco is very short, something like 5'5". mason's not short, he's just very, very skinny. i thought he was getting pushed and shoved off the ball fairly easily in the fa youth cup game - though tbf the ref was letting le arse get away with murder - and he wasn't the only one, but hopefully more reserve games plus weights will help him