Exclusive: Arsenal's Akpom Set For Dutch Move

Akpom making his Arsenal U21 debut against Boreham Wood two years ago

Young Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom is set for a loan move to the Dutch Eredivisie, with FC Twente or Feyenoord his likely destination.

Akpom is highly regarded at Arsenal but has been given limited first team opportunities, with Olivier Giroud, Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell all ahead of him in the pecking order.

He had brief loan spells at League One outfits Brentford and Coventry City last season, where the standard of football was below what he was used to and heavily reliant, particularly at the latter, on physicality and long-ball football.

With the Dutch Eredivisie, which revolves less around the physical side of the game and more on technical and tactical aspect, the 18 year old has a great opportunity to prove himself and develop as a player.

Feyenoord have a world renowned youth set up, 'one of the best in Europe' according to Arsene Wenger, and 5 of their academy graduates were in Louis van Gaal's World Cup Holland side. Clearly, they know how to nurture talent, and it would seem to be a superb place for Akpom to hone his skills.

The fact both Feyenoord and Twente are competing in this season's Europa League should act as further incentive for Akpom to finalise his loan move, and will provide invaluable experience.

Arsenal's new academy chief, Andries Jonker, former manager of the Dutch U21 National side, is highly thought of in Holland and is likely to have played a significant role in setting up this move.

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Arsenal To Take Part In New Premier League U21 Cup

Details of a new U21 cup competition have been announced today, which Arsenal will participate in. Involving 51 academies, it will compliment the U21 Premier League, which proved a great success in its first season.

Arsenal will go straight in to the Round of 32, as will all 19 sides in category A. Qualifiers will take place for category C and B teams. The draw for the first round of these will take place on September 9 and the 13 sides that get through the qualifiers will join the 19 elite teams in the Round of 32.

All fixtures will be one-off, knock-out games, and up until the Round of 16, they will be organised by regions. The final of the competition will be a two-leg affair, with each leg being played at the main stadia of the participating teams. This will be a great opportunity for the fans to watch their youngsters in action, and it will also be a valuable experience for the players, with large crowds expected.

"The introduction of an under-21 cup competition is one way to create an opportunity for players up and down the country to play in a meaningful competition, to enhance the Barclays Under-21 Premier League," Ged Roddy, Premier League's Director of Youth (via www.premierleague.com)

The issues surrounding the lack of academy players making the step up to first-team football are at the heart of this new competition, with the Premier League hoping it will ensure a "smoother transition".

The competition will be especially beneficial to academies of smaller clubs, as they will get the opportunity to face the cream of the crop, so to speak. For example, Arsenal's U21 side could be drawn against AFC Wimbledon. The table below shows every side from each category in the Southern part of the competition. As aforementioned, fixtures are played on a regional basis up until the Round of 16, where the Northern clubs will enter the fray.

via www.premierleague.com

Match dates that concern Arsenal are as followed *Ties will be played within two weeks of proposed dates*:

Round of 32: Week beginning 18th November 2013 

Round of 16: Week beginning 16th December 2013

Quarter Finals: Week beginning 27th January 2014

Semi Finals: Week beginning 22nd February 2014

Final: Week beginning 17th March 2014

(via www.premierleague.com)

With the U21 Premier League, the U19 UEFA Champions League (which has effectively replaced the NextGen Series), the FA Youth Cup, and now this competition, our Young Guns certainly have a busy schedule ahead of them. 

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REPORT: Mixed performance as Arsenal XI draw 4-4 against Leyton Orient

In what was a thrilling encounter, an Arsenal XI side fought from behind to secure a draw in the last minute against League One outfit Leyton Orient.

There are both negatives and positives to be taken from this game. Let's start with the latter. Firstly, 16 year old right back Taf Moore had an excellent game. Playing against men twice his size, the athletic full back showed composure when in possession and proved hard to beat in defensive situations, using his pace and tenacity to great effect. In the first half particularly, Moore was very impressive and in my opinion the best player in red and white.

Moreover, Wellington Silva put in his best performance wearing an Arsenal shirt, scoring two goals and at times terrorising the Orient defence with his pace and trickery. What he lacked against Sutton United two weeks ago was an end product, so tonight's performance shows a significant improvement in that regard. Unfortunately the Brazilian is yet to receive a work permit and thus is confined to friendly matches only. Another loan move beckons.

This brings me to Chuks Aneke, whose return to Crewe on loan seems to be edging closer. Although often lethargic in possession, in a way reminiscent to Abou Diaby, he was at the heart of most attacking moves and demonstrated his skill and vision on a number of occasions. Having said that, as disappointing as it is to say, I think he may have found his level playing against League One sides.

Chuba Akpom continued the goalscoring form he showed with the first team in Asia with a well taken goal to grab Arsenal's third of the evening. A clever diagonal run in behind the Orient defence was found expertly by Aneke, whose through ball fell perfectly for Akpom to tuck away underneath the goalkeeper. The striker will be disappointed not to have scored earlier, however, failing to convert two or three excellent chances. He was replaced after 74 minutes by Lipman, after picking up a slight twist in his leg.

Finally, goalkeeper Dejan Iliev made several excellent stops and was responsible for preventing an embarrassing scoreline, with the defensive unit ahead of him failing to offer sufficient protection. He also showed a good reading of the game, acting as a 'sweeper keeper' on a number of times.

Now onto the negatives. While it must be noted Leyton Orient are a much stronger opponent than Sutton and Borehamwood, Arsenal's defence, with Leander Siemann at left back and a centre half pairing of Isaac Hayden and Daniel Boateng, was less than convincing. Orient's almost identical opening two goals both came from unmarked headers from a corner, while a plethora of unforced errors were made throughout the game. It does seem somewhat pointless playing the likes of Boateng, a player whose Arsenal career is clearly at an end, when youngsters such as Stefan O'Connor and Elliot Wright are chomping at the bit to experience some more game time at this level.

Nico Yennaris, Kris Olsson and Thomas Eisfeld were largely average in midfield, although the latter was involved in some good attacking moves and was unlucky to hit the post from a free kick in the second half. It was a shame Danny Crowley wasn't called upon from the bench, although he may well feature in the U18 friendly against Leicester tomorrow. Next up for Arsenal XI is Luton on Saturday, where Steve Gatting will be hoping for a more solid team performance.

Thanks for reading and follow me on twitter. UTA

REPORT: Crowley steals the show as Arsenal XI defeat Sutton United 4-3; plus thoughts from captain Isaac Hayden

Dan Crowley runs at the Sutton defence

First of all, I'm back! Exams and other commitments forced me into a temporary blogging halt, but I can safely say that these are now over. Anyway, onto the game...

After around two months of no Arsenal, football junkies of the red and white variety were eagerly anticipating this fixture, desperate for our Arsenal fix.

The first of our pre-season campaign will be remembered for Daniel Crowley's debut performance at the club. The new acquisition from Aston Villa started the game in the number 10 role, operating behind industrious striker Austin Lipman.

Arsenal took the lead inside ten minutes, after a superb curling pass by skipper Isaac Hayden - unlucky not to be included in the first team's tour of Asia - found Lipman, who outpaced the Sutton defence before driving into the box and finding Anthony Jeffrey to tap in.

It was soon 2-0 after Crowley, having just nut-megged a Sutton player, was brought down. Jebb, who has a penchant for scoring spectacular free kicks, stepped up from 25 yards and nonchalantly curled the ball into the top corner. A superb goal by the young midfielder, who will hope to establish himself as a regular in the U21 set-up after being confined to U18 football last season.

Sutton almost scored when Arsenal centre back Tom Dallison, making his debut for the reserves, sliced a clearance onto his crossbar, before Dejan Iliev spread himself and blocked the rebound. A fine piece of goalkeeping.

It was 3-0 after 20 minutes when the impressive Hayden waltzed into the box, took his time and struck home with a left footed effort, after some abject defending.

Gooners behind the goal were singing, "we can't afford Asia, so we've come here instead!"

Despite being substituted at half time, along with 8 teammates, Crowley mesmerised the opposition with his close control and elusive dribbling skills. Within just 5 minutes, the diminutive midfielder wet the mouths of the onlooking Arsenal fans with a magnificent run, where he showed tight control inside the box, turned sharply (leaving the Sutton defender on his arse in the process), before dinking in an inviting cross. Certainly an impressive way for a 15 year old to introduce himself.

Although at times caught in possession, either by being brushed off the ball or by trying to be a little too intricate, Crowley was the star of the show. You can just tell, he has *it*; that something you can't describe, but know when you see.

His part in Jack Jebb's second goal of the game, to make it 4-1 before the break, was particularly impressive. In a seemingly tight area on the far right of midfield, Crowley and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, the highly rated winger who featured in last season's commendable NextGen campaign, eluded the surrounding defenders with a passage of pass and move football that would have greatly pleased the onlooking coaches Terry Burton and Steve Gatting. After taking three defenders out of the game with his shrewd movement, Crowley ran towards the byline, showed his composure and cut it back to Jebb, who coolly slotted the ball away with a first time finish on his weaker foot. 4-1 to The Arsenal in what had been a really fluid attacking performance.

The second half was poor, with Hayden and left back Arinse Uade the only players not to be subbed at half time. This led to a very disjointed performance with no real moments of quality to note. Debutant and recent Swedish acquisition Jamal Raage looked lively on the right wing, and almost scored with a low, hard shot after cutting inside onto his powerful left foot. Wellington Silva was on the left wing and showed his quick feet but lacked an end product. All conceded goals came from crosses into unmarked players in the box. Same old Arsenal, I guess.

I asked Arsenal's U21 captain Isaac Hayden some questions after the game:

Thoughts on today? 

IH: It was a good performance in the first half. All the goals were of high quality. The second half was a little difficult because of the changes (9 substitutions), but a lot of the younger players today showed they can cope!

What are your first impressions of Danny Crowley? 

IH: One word: class.

Some praise from your captain after just 45 minutes game time - shows just how good he was and the impact he's had in training! 

What are your hopes for this season?

IH: Just work hard and perform to the best of my ability consistently and see where it gets me; that's all I can do!

Thanks for reading and follow me on twitter. UTA

U21 report + highlights, Everton 1-2 Arsenal: Wilshere completes another 90 minutes

Terry Burton's U21 side managed to build on their 2-0 home win over Reading a fortnight ago by beating Everton at their Finch Farm Training Complex on Monday afternoon.

There are several positives to be taken from the match, most notably Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna and Emmanuel Frimpong completing another 90 minutes in their road to fitness.

After a lapse of concentration by Ignasi Miquel, which Apostolos Vellios promptly capitalised on, Thomas Eisfeld scored an excellent brace to secure the 2-1 victory for the Gunners.

The young German was inches away from a hatrick when he unleashed a powerful effort on goal from distance, only for it to cannon off the woodwork.

Eisfeld, who contributed with six goals and six assists in 12 games last year for Borussia Dortmund U19s, clearly has a natural ability to create and score goals. He has shown this on a number of occasions already since joining Arsenal, netting twice in the pre-season tour of Asia and grabbing four goals in eight games in the U21 league.

Goalscoring midfielders at Arsenal have been a rarity since the days of Bobby Pires and Freddie Ljungberg, so Eisfeld could prove to be an invaluable asset in the coming years.

Wilshere showed his quality throughout, with some sweeping passes and a clever assist for Eisfeld's second, cutting in from the right and playing in his teammate whose finish was clinical.

Burton will be pleased with the way his side recovered after going a goal down early on, in a match which proved much tougher than the comfortable 3-0 home win in the corresponding fixture earlier this season.

A trip to France now beckons for Arsenal's young guns, where they face Marseille in the Next Gen Series on Thursday - a game they cannot afford to lose. 

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