{"id":10123,"date":"2024-09-26T12:39:53","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T11:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10123"},"modified":"2024-09-27T19:15:59","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T18:15:59","slug":"the-kids-are-all-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10123","title":{"rendered":"The Kids Are All Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<a id=\"r7tfpBU-QhdQ6wt3N9kPmg\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2174482731\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'r7tfpBU-QhdQ6wt3N9kPmg',sig:'KKDBIPkaW4eq_xllMyPrT_VR5j2gXPtmCgUb98ijjkk=',w:'594px',h:'393px',items:'2174482731',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\" async=\"\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>Several Hale Enders put on a show as Arsenal thrashed League one Bolton in the League Cup. It was a line up reminiscent of many of Wenger\u2019s sides in this competition from yesteryear partially due to injuries as well as a few players knocking on Arteta\u2019s door following good showings in our preseason tour of the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As expected, Myles Lewis- Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri both started after both being given Premier League minutes in the past week. There were also first team debuts for Josh Nichols and 16-year-old goalkeeper, Jack Porter. More on him later.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was also a full debut for Raheem Sterling whilst both Rice and Saka started, perhaps surprisingly. Bolton did start the game confidently and perhaps should have gone ahead in the first few minutes as former Burnley man Scott Arfield fired over from close range. But Arsenal showed their topflight quality by scoring with their first real attack. Josh Nichol\u2019s cross wasn\u2019t dealt with as the ball found its way to Rice on the edge of the box. Dec took a touch to set himself before firing into the bottom corner. 1-0 on 15 mins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shortly before the break Arsenal found a stylish second. The build-up was superb as Myles Lewis- Skelly played an Ozil\/Bergkamp-esque through ball to Sterling on the left and the seasoned international played a perfect first-time ball to Nwaneri to tap home for his first ever senior goal at 17 years of age. In doing so, he became the first player born after the club moved to The Emirates to score for Arsenal. Even I feel old just typing that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nwaneri\u2019s night got even better just after the break as Rice stole the ball in the final third and played in Nwaneri who slammed home to make it three and double his personal tally. I could be being pedantic here, but I felt as though despite his goal, Nwaneri should\u2019ve played in Rice who was in a better position. A Premier League goalkeeper may well have saved that. But Nwaneri is now the youngest Arsenal player to score a brace on his full competitive debut so what do I know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bolton managed a surprise goal shortly after. We lost possession in the final third and Collins found himself in acres of space before rounding young Porter as he rolled in a consolation. Was it poor goalkeeping? Yes, but 16 is outrageously young for a goalkeeper. At 16 years and 2 months he is remarkably the youngest ever player to start for Arsenal. He is younger than Fabregas was when he scored that famous screamer at the San Siro, and younger than the first series of The Inbetweeners. To put things into perspective, Porter was 11 when Arteta took over. In truth, the real question is why Porter\u2019s goal wasn\u2019t better protected by his more senior teammates. The sole blot on an otherwise perfect evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ten minutes later we restored our three-goal cushion after successfully taking the sting out of Bolton\u2019s short-lived resurgence. Saka turned two Bolton defenders inside out and back to front before drilling a low shot that was spilled by the \u2018keeper allowing Raheem Sterling to prod home from two yards out. A goal and assist on his full debut, you can\u2019t have any complaints about that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, Myles Lewis Skelly had to go off with what looked like a muscular problem so hopefully that\u2019s nothing serious as he looked very assured and comfortable despite being out of his natural position. Kai Havertz came on and prodded home the fifth, as we also saw first team debuts for centre back Maldini Kaccuri (now that is a proper name) and forward, Ismael Kabia, who scored the winner for the U21s at Leyton Orient a few weeks ago. Overall, six academy youngsters were given their full debuts. So much for Arteta not giving a chance to the yoof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both CER and I were surprised at the quality of football on display given the number of youngsters on the pitch. Some may have expected a more disjointed performance, but it was anything but. Hale End is clearly no teenage wasteland\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Preston North End away awaits us in the next round. The Invincibles Derby if you will. PNE are a division above Bolton so we may not see quite as many youngsters in that game but I\u2019m sure we can make way for one or two. I would not be surprised if Nwaneri starts on Saturday or at least gets 20-25 mins. He was unsurprisingly the standout youngster, but it was more than just his goals which stood out. Physically he looked ready, his passing was crisp, his movement excellent. Leicester may be the ideal game to bring him into the Premier League fold proper. Let\u2019s wait and see.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COYG!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Several Hale Enders put on a show as Arsenal thrashed League one Bolton in the League Cup. It was a line up reminiscent of many of Wenger\u2019s sides in this competition from yesteryear partially due to injuries as well as a few players knocking on Arteta\u2019s door following good showings in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10123"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10126,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10123\/revisions\/10126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}