Ireland disappointed by Nicholas’ decision

 

Arsenal U16 player Oliver Nicholas has opted against playing for Ireland after being called up by the England squad for the U16 age group this week, as well as playing a part in England’s Victory Shield campaign late last year.

This is a blow for Ireland as he seems to be highly rated (although I personally have never seen him play before so I can’t back this up) and had played for Ireland prior to the Victory Shield. Nicholas qualified for Ireland’s national team because his grandparents came from Waterford in Ireland, but when England offered him the chance to join their set up instead, Nicholas couldn’t refuse, and Vinny Butler, the Irish U16s coach will not try and convince him that this is the wrong decision.

“I was a bit annoyed about it but sometimes players only get asked to play for England after they have represented Ireland.” He told the Irish Daily Star that “he’s made his decision and I won’t be trying to convince him to change his mind.”

Youth International Round-Up

 

In another indication of the strength of Arsenal’s current crop of youngster, there have again been numerous international call ups for some of Arsenal’s brightest talents.
New signing from Gillingham, Luke Freeman has been called up to the England U16 squad for the very first time, while that same squad features three other Arsenal players, with the U17s including two Gunners and the U19s having a sole representative in their ranks. That is a total of seven English youngsters, a very impressive total for a club that supposedly doesn’t care about English players.

Of course,it is well documented that Arsenal are well-known for their influx of foriegn talent, and these players will also be getting international recognition in the coming weeks. In the Spanish U16s, our latest recruit, Ignaci Miquel has been called up by Spain, while Fran Merida has already played for the U19s this month against Portugal. (You can find details of that match in my round up of the loanees later on today). Unfortunately I have been unable to find details of matches for the likes of Barazite, Sunu, Nordtveit and Rasmussen, who will also presumably be in action for their respective countries and age groups.

Full list of fixtures involving Arsenal players:

Spain U16s

Ignasi Miquel: 10-12 March - Training Camp, Madrid.

England U16s

Sam Byles, Luke Freeman, Emmanuel Frimpong, Oliver Nicholas: Montaigu Tournament, France.

Montaigu Tournament Fixtures:

19 March - England Vs Japan - Le Poire Sur Vie - 5.00pm

20 March - Germany Vs England - Le Poire Sur Vie - 7pm

22 March - England vs USA - Les Brouzils - 3pm

24 March - Playoffs/Final - TBC - TBC

England U17s

Tom Cruise, Jack Wilshere: UEFA U17 Elite Round Tournament, Tel Aviv, Israel

UEFA U17 Elite Round Tournament Fixtures:

25 March - England Vs France - Rishon Le Zion - 3pm

27 March - England Vs Russia - Rishon Le Zion - 3pm

30 March - England Vs Israel - Nes Ziona - 3pm

England U19s

Kieran Gibbs: International U19 Friendly

25 March - England Vs Russia - Stadium:MK - 7pm

Delaney hopeful over Brady decision

The Irish Football Association’s chief executive John Delaney is hoping that current Arsenal Academy Director and former Irish international and Arsenal legend will be able to take up the role with Ireland.

Brady is the perfect candidate for a role in the Irish set up under new coach Trapattoni as he spent some of his career in Italy with Juventus and would provide help with any translation problems that there may be, in the same way Stuart Pearce is currently doing with England. However, it is vital that brady is able to continue the job he has at Arsenal, both in Brady’s mind and in Arsene Wenger’s, and so he will only take the job with the FAI if it will not damage his role at Arsenal. And Delaney has said that Brady is their ideal choice for the role they have in mind:

“The FAI and Giovanni would love him to come but Liam has got to look at whether he can,” Delaney told the Irish Sun. “Liam is a professional and wants to be sure that if he does take it on that he would be able to continue with his job at Arsenal. So he is going to think about that for a little while. I don’t want to talk publicly about what his role with Ireland would be, but certainly it was clarified over the day or two we were out there. But I’d love to have him. He’s the perfect fit for the role we spoke about. He also has a very good relationship on a personal basis with [assistant boss] Marco Tardelli. They are good friends.  And of course, he played under Giovanni, who rang Liam when he first got the approach. So there’s a lot there that would work well. I’m hopeful, but it is Liam’s decision.”

Ignasi Miquel to watch Arsenal V Aston Villa tomorrow

El Mundo Deportivo have today updated news regarding Spanish U16 defender Ignasi Miquel who is set to sign for Arsenal when he turns 16.

It was reported a week ago that Arsenal had reached an agreement with Union Deportiva Cornella for the teenager who started his career with Espanyol, moving to Barcelona for five years before the Spanish giants released him. Arsenal had to battle a number of massive clubs for the starlets signature, including Manchester United, Celtic, FC Barcelona, Osasuna, Atlético, Villarreal and Valencia.

Ignasi Miquel first visited Arsenal when Blackburn played Arsenal at the Emirates, after which Miquel was given Fabregas’ shirt by the midfield star. Miquel was also shown the facilities at the club and ate with the players at the training ground. Cornella’s Sporting Director and President then flew to London and laid the the foundations in “an agreement of collaboration” (the words of El Mundo Deportivo, leading me to think that perhaps there may be a first option agreement for their best players or something of a similar kind) with Arsenal.

And this week Miquel has again spent time at the club, as he traveled to London yesterday, accompanied by his family and also his representative Jose Manuel Gregorio, with the hope of seeing his residence that he will have while at Arsenal initially next season. Ironically enough, this is the same place as both Fran Merida and Cesc Fabregas have lived in previously. He will also visit where he will be studying and talk to the teachers there before watching the Arsenal match tomorrow against Villa at the Emirates.

 Next week, he will be with the Spanish U16 team, in Las Rozas.

For the source of this story, see here:

 http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/web/gen/20080229/noticia_53441194599.html

Jack Wilshere - Debut goal was “brilliant”

Away from the Eduardo injury, there has also been a good deal of other news stories about Arsenal that I could have posted about, although against what happened to Eduardo everything seems irrelevant really. Nevertheless, I will now try and update you on the latest stories around Ashburton Grove.

Firstly, Jack Wilshere has spoken about his goal scoring Reserve League debut against Reading last week. The 16 year old is highly thought of and his goal scoring form in the Under 18s this season has been staggering, with the poor run of results in the Under 18s coinciding with his absence from the team through injury.

“Neil told me a couple of days before the game that I would fit in on the left and I was so pleased,” said the 16-year-old. “I made sure that I prepared for it because it isn’t my usual position. I prefer to play through the middle but the boss wanted me out there so I was just happy to get on the field. I put extra work into my crossing so I was as ready as I could be. I was a bit nervous when he told me, and then I saw the team sheet with Liam Rosenior on it! But I just got on with my game as best as I could. “

“To actually score was brilliant. Nacer [Barazite] and Rui [Fonte] both did really well to create the chance and I just had to put a bit of pace on it and squeeze it past the man on the line. My Mum and Dad came down with some members of my family which was special. It was quite a big crowd, probably the biggest one I have played in front of, which gave me a bit more of a buzz. Hopefully now I can get a few more games at this level and ensure that we win the Academy league, then the play-offs and push on from there.”