Max Dowman: Arsenal prodigy delivers latest statement performance as Mikel Arteta urges caution over 16-year-old | Football News

Max Dowman has waited patiently for opportunities in Arsenal’s first team, but when he gets them, he delivers.

Mikel Arteta has managed the prodigy carefully since his big moment last season, when he became the Premier League’s youngest scorer in a vital 2-0 home win over Everton on their title charge.

Dowman has played six times since then, mostly in cameos, and has been an unused substitute on four occasions this season. Last Saturday, he played an hour for the U21s in their 4-1 defeat to Chelsea while the first team won at Sunderland. Arteta warned Dowman afterwards that he must earn his minutes this season.

But Dowman did not have to wait long for his chance. While £63.5m striker Viktor Gyokeres failed to take his opportunity during Arsenal’s 4-2 win over Ipswich in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, Dowman excelled, and the ease with which he scored twice was frightening.

His first, in just the seventh minute, came after he stole possession in midfield, burst onto the ball before Gyokeres, shimmyed past Cedric Kipre to leave the defender on the ground, before sending goalkeeper Christian Walton the wrong way with his weaker right foot.

“That’s something very natural for him,” said Arteta. “He can deliver those actions effortlessly. I would say that’s his biggest quality.”

Dowman had to be more precise for his second. Martin Zubimendi’s pass deflected off Jacob Greaves’s left arm, and Dowman, with little space inside the penalty area, adjusted to the ricochet with two quick touches to set up an accurate, composed shot on his left foot that almost trickled over the line, such was the perfectly measured weight of the effort.

Dowman’s performance will only increase the hype around him. How will Arteta manage that?

“Well, it depends. If he does what he does on the pitch, it’s not easy, I understand,” said Arteta. “But what we have to do is look after him. He’s 16 years old. You don’t see that in this league. In other leagues in Europe, that’s a totally different context.

“But in this league, with the demands that the league [has], the players and everything put on you, we really need to make sure every time we throw him in, he’s in the right context with the right preparation. That’s what we are trying to do.”

It wasn’t all about the goals at Portman Road. Dowman, who only completed his GCSEs in August, also showed his work rate off the ball, pressing Ipswich into a mistake for Noni Madueke’s goal.

“Defensively, his application, his capacity as well to sustain the actions, is not easy,” added Arteta.

“He’s 16 years old, and he can create moments, but to consistently go through the game, every phase, with the demands that we put on them, to be able to do that is extremely difficult. And he’s coping better and better and better.

“He did the action where he regained the ball and won it. In the first goal, he loses his man. And that’s the thing that we need to continue to reiterate with him because he’s an unbelievable player because of the character that he has and how much he loves to play at the biggest stage and still handle the situation with such naturality.”

The evening wasn’t even all about Dowman. Marli Salmon, 17, made only his second start for the first team and impressed at centre-back with an assured performance.

“Just having two 16-year-olds playing for Arsenal at this level against a Premier League team is so fulfilling,” said Arteta. “Because I’ve been there and just to be able to contribute in somebody’s career and dream, to be able to experience a game like tonight is just phenomenal.

“Medium and long term, we know that if they continue to develop in the way that they are, we’re going to have two tremendous footballers for the future.”

Dowman has benefited from Arsenal’s stability under Arteta. The club has been able to nurture and develop him, without the distraction of cycling through managers. On the same day 15-year-old JJ Gabriel asked to leave Manchester United, Dowman made his latest statement on the pitch.

Arsenal fans will be desperate to see more of him. Arteta has warned it’s not so easy to play him regularly.

“Everything is possible. The probability [of playing regularly] is probably extremely low because you don’t see the players with the capacity to handle just the physicality of the game,” he said.

“Not only that, but the demands that you have to put your body through in the week to be able to be in good condition to compete, the amount of information, the challenges that you have to face. But he’s doing it and he’s doing it really well every time there’s a chance.”

Merson: Dowman is a generational talent but he needs to be patient

Sky Sports’ Paul Merson on Dowman’s future:

“I don’t know what words you can use. The lad is just unbelievable. You’ve got to consider his age. He’s going past players like they’re not there, like he’s playing in his own age group.

“The first goal on Tuesday, the way he throws the dummy, leaves the defender on his backside and scores. It’s just unbelievable.

“He’s at an unbelievable Rolls Royce of a football club. He’s got 15 years at least at the top. He’s just got to be patient and it’s hard because he’ll think that he should be playing in the team now.

“It’s unbelievable what Arsenal have done and everyone involved there should be very proud of what they have produced and made him the player he is. I cannot talk highly enough about him.

“You’ve got to look after him. He’s quite a big lad. I wouldn’t worry about him getting bullied and kicked all over the place in the Premier League. There’s VAR and that just doesn’t happen any more in this day and age.

“I was disappointed at the Community Shield when Arsenal were 3-0 up. I was thinking, put him on now up against the creme de la creme and they didn’t put him on and I just found that a bit strange.

“He’ll be playing in the cup games, and hopefully it keeps on continuing because, as I say, these talented generational players come along once in a blue moon with Gazza [Paul Gascoigne], [Wayne] Rooney and now we’re looking at Dowman.”