The Soccer Blog: Midseason Review, Part II: Loanee Review and Rankings

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

Midseason Review, Part II: Loanee Review and Rankings

By: Martin | December 20th, 2010

I don’t do much in the way of coverage of Arsenal’s youth and reserves. If you want regular coverage of those types of things, I highly recommend both Young Guns Blog and Jeorge Bird’s Arsenal Youth. But I do like to check in from time to time and see how some of the youngsters are faring. So let’s dive right in and see how well our young players out on loan have fared this season.

We’ve got a pretty astounding 15 players out on loan, more than any other Premiership side. Here they are, in alphabetical order.

Benik Afobe, 17, striker, Huddersfield Town (League One) 9 appearances (5 starts), 3 goals, 2 assists. Continues his rapid ascent as one of the brightest young talents in all of English football. The London native and academy product (whom I recently profiled in a “Who’s Next?” piece here) spent most of the early part of the season with the youth and reserve sides, scoring 2 goals in 4 starts with the Reserves. Since joining Huddersfield, he’s really lit it up, scoring 3 goals and 2 assists in 5 starts (+4 substitution appearances). His loan was originally scheduled to expire in December, but was extended to January, and there has been talk of extending it for the rest of the season. If he is getting regular playing time there, I think it could be good preparation, and because it’s a youth loan deal, he will still be eligible to compete in the FA Youth Cup with Arsenal’s youth squad.

Nacer Barazite, 20, attacking midfielder/striker, Vitesse (Eredivisie) 10 appearances (6 starts), 1 goal, 0 assists. The young Dutch playmaker was once tabbed for big things at Arsenal, but fell out of favor with Arsenal and the coaching staff, and saw himself passed on the depth chart by younger players. He’s spent the season back in his native Holland playing for Vitesse on a season-long loan after Rangers took a look at him and passed in preseason, and word is that Arsenal would be happy to unload him for very cheap. Chances are high that he’ll never play in an Arsenal shirt again and will very possibly make a permanent move to a Dutch side over the summer. No future at Arsenal.

Kyle Bartley, 19, center back, Sheffield United (Championship) 17 appearances (16 starts), 0 goals, 0 assists A Bolton academy product, the 6′3 Englishman is the kind of imposing presence we haven’t had at center back for a while. Strong and good in the air, he’s definitely a good prospect for the future. After spending part of last season on loan with Sheffield United, they really wanted him back again this season, which speaks of well of the impression he made there. And it’s an ideal loan spell because he’s getting to start pretty much every game when he’s healthy. He suffered a broken cheekbone that kept him out for several weeks in October, but returned to action and is once again first-choice with the Blades. To play well at that level at that age means that it’s a very good bet that he’ll be a Premiership-quality defender, but the question remains whether he’ll be good enough to play for Arsenal. But he’s moving in the right direction. His loan is a season-long loan, so he’s with Sheffield United until May, and playing game-in, game-out for an entire season will be great preparation for him. He may make a real push for a place in the first-team at Arsenal in 2011-2012.

Pedro Botelho, 20, left back, Cartagena (Spanish Segunda Division) 17 appearances (17 starts), 2 goals, 1 assist The talented but troubled left-back has been an Arsenal player since he was 17, but was denied a work permit and has yet to obtain his Spanish passport. I sometimes wonder what might have happened had he gotten his work permit and gone straight into the Reserves. But as it is, he spent several years on loan with a number of different Spanish sides, several of which were cut short due to “difficulties” with the coaching staffs at various teams. Despite getting a lot of time in his previous loan spells with Celta Vigo and Salamanca, he has still not progressed out of the Spanish second division. But he’s played very, very well there this season, and according to recent reports, is being actively courted by both Spanish and Brazilian federations to get into their international set-ups (to play for their U21 sides at the moment), which is quite a compliment. It’s hard for me to see where he fits into a squad with Clichy and Gibbs, which deemed Traore to be surplus to requirements, and has several other youngsters coming up through the ranks. But if he’s good enough, Wenger will make room, and if nothing else, Arsenal have a valuable asset that can raise several million pounds through transfer proceeds.

Francis Coquelin, 19, holding midfielder, Lorient (Ligue 1) 11 appearances, 5 starts, 0 goals, 1 assist. Of all of Arsenal’s really promising young players, Coquelin seems to be the one who gets the least amount of attention. He’s played at every youth level up to Under-20s for France. He played for the Reserves and made several Carling Cup bows in the years leading up to his current year-long loan spell at Lorient. His spell there seemed to be part of the deal for Laurent Koscielny, and he has played pretty regularly in the holding midfield role. There were some rumors that Lorient have an option to make the loan deal permanent at the end of the season, but nothing along those lines has been confirmed. If he comes back to the club next year, I suspect he will be an integral part of the Reserves and Carling Cup squad, and may be in the mix with Frimpong and Eastmond for the occasional first-team bench spot. Very promising young player.

Thomas Cruise, 19, left back, Carlisle United (Championship) 7 appearances, 6 starts, 0 goals, 0 assists. The young academy product made his breakthrough with the reserves last season, and got a start against Olympiakos in the final Champions League group stage match. As of November, he joined Championship side Carlisle United on loan. He’s a promising youn player who probably has a future at the Premiership level, but he still has to demonstrate that he has what it takes to play at Arsenal. With Clichy, Gibbs, Botelho, and Evina in the mix, plus Meade in the youth team, he’ll have plenty of competition to push aside if he wants to be first-team at Arsenal. I suspect he’ll either extend his loan spell with Carlisle until the end of the season, or look for another loan spell.

Cedric Evina, 19, left back, Oldham Athletic (League One) 7 appearances, 1 goal Our other 19 year-old left back. Also an academy product, he joined League One side Oldham Athletic in October, and the loan spell has gone pretty well, with Evina getting plenty of first-team action for the side. I still think he has a lot to prove before he gets a place at Arsenal, but he’ll certainly have a career somewhere. Given that he appears to be first-team at the moment, I imagine Oldham would be interested in extending his loan until the end of the season, and Arsenal will likely oblige.

Samuel Galindo, 18, midfielder, Salamanca (Spanish Segunda Division) 6 appearances, 0 starts, 0 goals, 0 assists. A mixed bag of a season for the tall (6′3) Bolivian midfielder so far this year. For the time being, the central American wonderkid will have to play in Spain (like Vela and Botelho did before him) until he gets his Spanish residency requirement and can get an EU passport. I think the hope had been that given Bolivia’s relatively poor senior national team, that Galindo could become a regular in the NT’s games, and qualify for a UK work permit that way. And he did get his first start with the team in a 5-0 loss to Mexico, playing the entire game. That’s a great start for a player of his age, and hopefully he will play his way onto the team and beocme a regular. But other than that, his first season hasn’t been much to shout about. He’s only made 6 appearances for the Segunda Division side, most of those coming very late on. And matters were made worse when he suffered a broken ankle a few weeks ago, which will keep him out of action for a while. Not the most promising start to his European career, unfortunately, but at his age there is still plenty of time to bounce back. His loan to Salamanca is for the entirety of the season, so he will return to them after his recovery from injury.

Gavin Hoyte, 20, right back, Lincoln City (League Two) 7 appearances, 7 starts, 0 goals, 0 assists. It’s weird to think that just a few seasons ago, Gavin Hoyte was actually starting Premiership games for Arsenal. An academy product, his career has nose-dived faster than Tara Reid’s. After a spell last season with Brighton & Hove Albion where he couldn’t get a game, he was farmed out to League Two Lincoln City this season. And he is at least playing — after being kept out with injury for August and September, he has come back and now plays regularly for Lincoln. His loan is up in January, but I just don’t see him realistically having any future at Arsenal at this point, and I’m sure Arsenal would be happy to extend that loan or loan him out to another side until May.

Henri Lansbury, 20, midfielder, Norwich City (Championship) 4 appearances, 4 starts, 0 goals, 1 assist. Lansbury impressed in preseason, and in the Carling Cup against Spurs. And on Twitter, where we learned he is obsessed with Rihanna and has a fugly dog. He’s probably ready to play in the Premiership, but with our midfield depth, it’s hard for him to get a game at the moment. Went to Norwich on a one-month emergency loan due to a raft of injuries for the Canaries, and just had it extended until January 16. Then the question becomes whether to keep him around for the spring or to send him out on loan. He is certainly capable of being a very good Championship midfielder, and a pretty good Premiership one in the right environment/system. If Wenger decides to loan him out, I do think he’ll be looking for a Premiership side looking for some creativity and willing to play Henri. But he could do worse than a situation like Norwich, a good Championship side who like to attack and will give Henri all the games he can handle. Lansbury will then look to push on for a first-team role in 2011-2012.

Vito Mannone, 22, goalkeeper, Hull City (Championship) 5 appearances, 5 starts. Once the Godfather got passed by Wojo on the depth chart, the writing was on the wall and I think he saw that his future at the club was very limited, so he made a loan move to Championship side Hull, where he now plays regularly. He has shown that he has the talent to play at the Premiership level, if not right away then soon, and is getting to be an age where he can plausibly expect to be someone’s # 1. Unfortunately for him, I can’t see it coming at Arsenal at this point, because Wenger has been pretty clear in his commitment to the Polish connection. I look for Mannone to make a permanent move elewhere over the summer.

Aaron Ramsey, 19, midfielder, Nottingham Forest (Championship) 2 appearances, 0 starts, 0 goals, 0 assists. Obviously Ramsey is being loaned out for a different reason than most of the other players here — he’s not trying to build up to being a player good enough to play in the Premiership, he’s already shown he is good enough to do that and is just trying to regain fitness and sharpness after his catastrophic injury. His loan ends in January, and though Forest has said that they would like to extend the loan, I think he will return to the club in January and spend the rest of the season with the first-team.

Mark Randall, 21, midfielder, Rotherham United (League 2) 1 appearance, 1 start, 0 goals, 0 assists. Randall was injured and came off after 20 minutes in his only appearance for Rotherham. A player with some talent, Randall has seen his star fall hard due to a series of injuries and an inability to break through to the next level. I think his Arsenal career is effectively over, and at this point the question is which lower division side he will land with.

Armand Traore, 21, left back, Juventus (Serie A) 4 appearances, 2 starts, 0 goals, 0 assists. Traore is a decent player, but has the misfortune of being at a club with two full-backs Wenger really likes in Clichy and Gibbs, and being kind of a wingback in a world that doesn’t use that position very much. I do still think Traore will be a very good player if used correctly in the right system, but that won’t happen at Arsenal. He will move on in the summer, probably to a very good team in one of Europe’s better leagues. Hopefully he won’t improve so much we regret letting him go.

Sanchez Watt, 19, striker, Leeds United (Championship) 12 appearances, 10 starts, 0 goals, 5 assists. Watt is a decent young player, but it is difficult to see how he fits into everything given the immense talent around him at the striker position. He is with Championship side Leeds United on a season-long loan, and playing regularly. I’m still not sure he’s Arsenal-quality, but he’ll have a decent career. He will finish the season with Leeds and try to develop and impress there, with an eye towards trying to earn a place in the Arsenal squad next season.

Rankings: While understanding that some of these loans are under very different circumstances than others, so this is a bit like comparing apples to oranges, I will continue my tradition of “ranking” these players. These rankings represent my estimate of which players will have better overall careers than which others.

1. Afobe
2. Ramsey
3. Coquelin
4. Galindo
5. Botelho
6. Lansbury
7. Traore
8. Bartley
9. Cruise
10. Mannone
11. Barazite
12. Watt
13. Evina
14. Randall
15. Hoyte

We also have several other players who are having very strong seasons in the youth and reserves ranks who may be pushing for a loan spell in the spring. JET is absolutely lighting up the reserves, scoring 10 goals in 8 games at that level. Given his dominance there and Premiership-ready body, I have to think that someone in the Premiership would be ready to take him on for the rest of the season and give him games like Bolton did last season with Wilshere. Havard Nordtveit may be in a similar position; he is now healthy and playing well, but stuck behind others on the depth chart. He’s proven that he can play at a high level with his loan spell in the Bundesliga last season, and a Premiership side looking for a right-back or reserve center half may very well be interested.

He might not be ready for the Premiership just yet, but 18 year-old center half Ignasi Miquel has rapidly become one of Arsenal’s most promising young players. Like Cesc and Fran Merida before him, Miquel came to Arsenal after leaving Barcelona’s academy, and has played well in the reserves this season, captaining the side and being one of the best players at that level. I certainly think he could do a job in the Championship, and will have plenty of suitors if that’s the route Arsenal wants to take with him. Youngster Chucks Aneke has also been lighting up the Reserves, scoring 8 goals already (as a midfielder). One of Arsenal’s best young prospects, he may very well be in line to spend his spring on loan with a Championship side as well.

Japanese striker Ryo Miyaichi could conceivably see a loan spell, but I suspect that Arsenal will want to get him integrated into the set-up at Colney and give the coaches an opportunity to get to know him and his game. Players like Craig Eastmond, Nico Yennaris, and Rhys Murphy could also conceivably see loan spells. It would not actually surprise me when all is said and done if we had 20 players who went out on loan at one point or another this season. We’ll revisit these loans again at the end of the season.

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Category: Arsenal News, Transfer News and Player Movement, Transfers

Tags: Arsenal News, Transfer News and Player Movement, Transfers
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