Interviu cu Jeorge Bird, jurnalistul care urmărește tineretul lui Arsenal de peste 20 de ani: Cîrjan, Nwaneri și pasiunea sa pentru Arsenal Youth
„The stars of tomorrow, today” e motto-ul de pe site-ul lui Jeorge Bird.
Cred că sunt mai bine de 15 ani de când în fiecare amiază de marți și miercuri așteptam cu nerăbdare să apară pe arsenal.com rezumatele partidelor jucate de Arsenal U-18 și Arsenal U-23. Abia așteptam să văd dacă a mai progresat Nacer Barazite sau ce nebunii a mai făcut în teren Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, puștiul despre care credeam că are tot ce-i trebuie pentru a ajunge mare.
În aceeași vreme, în fiecare zi de meci a Tunarilor mici, Jeorge Bird se urca în tren și mergea până în Boreham Wood, orășelul de 30 000 de locuitori situat la nord de Londra unde joacă meciurile de acasă cei de la U-18 și U-21. E un obicei care i-a rămas până în prezent, Jeorge fiind în tribune la fiecare meci al Tunarilor mici de pe stadionul Meadow Park.
Tot atunci, Jeorge a pornit și blogul său, Arsenal Youth, care până în prezent, cu excepția site-ului oficial al clubului, e singura sursă de informații cu privire la jucătorii din academia lui Arsenal.
Jeorge Bird e o prezență discretă în online. A lucrat în trecut pentru Islington Gazette, Arseblog, Squawka, iar acum lucrează pentru DailyMail și continuă să ne aducă informații despre tineretul lui Arsenal pe site-ul său. Seriozitatea și constanța cu care lucrează îl fac pe Jeorge unul din cei mai apreciați jurnaliști de fanii lui Arsenal.
Mereu m-am întrebat cine e omul din spatele Arsenal Youth și m-am bucurat să am șansa de a sta de vorbă cu el și de a afla că și el era fascinat de ce arăta Jay Emmanuel-Thomas pe teren.
Can you remember your first memories as an Arsenal fan? Tell us a bit more about how you became an Arsenal supporter?
My Dad supports Arsenal and my Grandad supported them. I used to like watching League Cup games because youth players would always get opportunities and that’s what developed my interest in youth football. I then became interested in the whole process of how players are signed and how they try to get into the first team.
You started the Arsenal Youth blog in 2007 and over the years you've seen so many talented players in our Academy. We all know the ones who made it to the top and became excellent players, but can you tell us some players that you saw in the Academy thinking they will become top players but they didn't make it to the top level? Why do you think some of them can't make it to the top?
I thought Jay Emmanuel-Thomas would be successful as he was excellent at youth level. Maybe it helped that he was taller than a lot of the other players at the time. Sometimes it’s just down to luck and not getting opportunities.
Sanchez Watt is another player who I thought had a good chance of making it.
I also think because Arsenal have a certain way of playing it can be difficult for players to fit in at other clubs when they leave.
From the current youth teams, who do you think are the ones to watch and why?
There are some excellent prospects but I think Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri are definitely the ones to watch as they are so talented for their age. Amario Cozier-Duberry is also a very good player- he is fearless and skilful.
Last year at the start of the season, Ethan Nwaneri's name was on everyone's lips following his debut in the senior squad. How do you see his development since then?
He has progressed very well. He has now established himself as an important player for the U21s and has got stronger physically. Everything seems to be going well for him.
Obviously, I have to ask this one. We had a Romanian in player in the Academy recently, Cătălin Cîrjan, now on loan to Rapid Bucharest. What is your opinion on him and do you think he can ever play for Arsenal or for another Premier League club?
Cîrjan is a very good player but unfortunately he has been so unlucky with injuries. Hopefully this loan spell will go well for him and it seems like that could lead to a permanent move to Rapid Bucharest. He certainly seems like a player that could return and play in the Premier League one day. I would like to see him get a chance at Arsenal as he’s very talented but I’m not sure if it will happen.
Finally, what are your predictions for the current season? Do you think we can win the title?
I think we have an exciting team and we can challenge for the title but I’m not sure if we can win it.
Deși mi-e greu să cred că nu îl urmăriți deja, pe Jeorge Bird îl găsiți aici sau aici.
Noi ne regăsim în inbox-uri luni dimineață, cu preview-ul epilogului etapei a doua din Premier League, Crystal Palace - Arsenal.
