“Martin Odegaard Shares Three Things He Loves About Hale Enders on Arsenal’s Pre-Season Tour”
“Martin Odegaard Shares Three Things He Loves About Hale Enders on Arsenal’s Pre-Season Tour”
Several Hale End academy prospects travelled with the Arsenal first team on their recent pre-season tour of the US.
Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the US ended with a 2-1 defeat against Liverpool in Philadelphia last night.
Mikel Arteta named a strong starting XI full of first team figures for this match, having previously given starts to youth team prospects in other fixtures.
On this occasion, though, the likes of Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Joshua Nichols, and Ayden Heaven had to content themselves with outings from the bench. Meanwhile, Tommy Setford, Jimi Gower, Lucas Nygaard, Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand, Omar Rekik, Alexei Rojas, Michael Rosiak, and Charles Sagoe Jr didn’t make it onto the pitch at all.
Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly have enjoyed plenty of game time in America, and are two of the most exciting prospects in the club’s academy system. There is a plan for Nwaneri to be given a bigger role at Arsenal this season.
Club captain Martin Odegaard was impressed by what he saw from the youngsters overall.
Martin Odegaard heaps praise on Arsenal youngsters after US pre-season tour
The Norwegian playmaker has worked closely with the Hale End youngsters himself in the past. Odegaard has mentored Nwaneri, and in his role as captain will have made himself more generally available to provide advice and guidance.
The former Real Madrid man has now assessed how the crop of Hale End talents chosen to travel with the senior side fared on the pre-season tour. He also named three qualities possessed by the group that really stood out to him.
Speaking to HaytersTV on YouTube, Odegaard said: “Very good. I think all of them have been absolutely brilliant on tour. The quality they bring, the energy they bring, and I really like the confidence they all play with. They’re here to show themselves, and they are part of the team, and they’ve really done well. I think they can all be proud of themselves.”
What Mikel Arteta learned on pre-season tour
Arteta will have been keeping a close eye on the youngsters throughout their time in the States. One thing that is clear is that Nwaneri is now ready to play a bigger part for the senior side throughout the upcoming campaign.
With Emile Smith Rowe set to leave Arsenal, an ideal pathway to more first time action could be about to open up in front of the 17-year-old.
On top of that, Arteta has admitted Arsenal need to improve as an attacking force. The Gunners were wasteful in front goal against Liverpool. Arsenal are pushing to sign Viktor Gyokeres in order to address this issue.
