I have a lot of happiness as an Arsenal fan right now.
While the match between Liverpool and Manchester United hasn’t been great, Mikel Arteta has been playing more interesting brands of football this season.
Additionally, the addition of the offensive to the team appears to be adapting well, with Ebebeki Eze getting an assist in his first start, Victor Gyoker already scored three points, and Noni Madueke appears to be a serious threat on the right.
Plus, Hale End appears to have produced another superstar with Max Dowman, but there’s another young man on the team who can have the same ceiling.
The incredible rise of Max Dowman
Anyone with real knowledge of academy football would have known Dowman for a while, but most fans began hearing about him last season.
With just 23 appearances across many youth teams in a total of 1945 minutes, he placed the ball in the back of the net 19 times and provided five assists.
In other words, the Chelmsford-born gem averaged 1.04 goals involved per match, or 1.04 minutes per 81.04 minutes.
Dowman on 24/25 | |
|---|---|
exterior | twenty three |
Min | (1945′ |
the goal | 19 |
assist | 5 |
Involvement of goals for each match | 1.04 |
Per target involvement | 81.04 ‘ |
All statistics through the transfer market | |
The club itself clearly sees him as a future star. He was training with the first team soon, so he couldn’t make an advanced appearance last year due to age rules, but no such barrier existed this season.
He quickly influenced the preseason tour, scoring a penalty in a match against Newcastle United, impressed Tottenham Hotspur and Villarreal.
The strong performance continues now in the season, with him being trusted to score another penalty against Leeds United and then leave the bench to Liverpool.
Overall, I feel that the sky is at the limit of Dowman. This can also be said for another of the club’s new young star.
Arsenal youngsters with just as much potential as Douman
What’s surprising for Arsenal is that at this point, it can be argued that there are many players with high ceilings like Dowman, from Ethan Nwanelli to Miles Lewis Skelly.
However, in this example, the player in question is the Summer Signature: Christian Mosquera.
The young Spaniard spent a club that cost just £13 million in July, and it’s safe to say that he appears to be totally ridiculous of the fee.
Already described as “backline leader” by respected analyst Ben Matinson last October, the towering defender looked pretty good during the preseason, but it was against Liverpool, where people began to notify.
He was forced to replace William Saliba, who was injured in five minutes, and most youngsters had withered under such intense pressure, but he played for the next 85 minutes as if he had been an experienced professional with 10 years of experience, making three clearances, blocking two shots and four tackles.
Mosquera’s Game vs Liverpool | |
|---|---|
clearance | 3 |
Blocked shot | 2 |
Tackle | 4 |
Ground duel (winning) | 5 (4) |
Lost Ownership | 5 |
touch | 62 |
The exact path | 47/51 (92%) |
All statistics via sofa score | |
He was even more impressive for Nottingham Forest. In addition to displaying his defensive Noos, the opposite level allowed him to demonstrate his abilities to the fans in the range of ball and pass.
In a 94-minute action, one analyst dubbed game-breaking “Monster” took 92 touches, completed 75 passes, earned 100% of the ground duel, and completed eight defensive actions.
Again, despite that being his Champions League debut, the former Valencia Gem was completely amazed by the match on Tuesday night and didn’t even sniff the goal for Bilbao.
In the end, just as Douman could potentially become an intergenerational offensive talent, Mosquera appears to have everything he needs to become a world-class defender, and it may not take long.
