Mikel Arteta Explains Why Arsenal Must Be Careful With Max Dowman After Ipswich Brace

Mikel Arteta has warned against rushing Max Dowman despite the teenager scoring twice in Arsenal’s 4-2 Carabao Cup victory over Ipswich Town.

Dowman produced another eye-catching performance at Portman Road as Arsenal progressed to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, but Arteta’s assessment afterwards went beyond the two goals, with the Arsenal manager was particularly pleased with the teenager’s work without the ball and his ability to deal with the physical demands of senior football.

Those demands are also why the Gunners are not prepared to simply keep increasing Dowman’s minutes on the back of performances such as this one.

“You don’t see that in this league,” Arteta said when discussing a 16-year-old playing at this level. “In other leagues in Europe, that’s a totally different context.

“But in this league, with the demands that the league, the players and everything puts on you, we really need to make sure every time we throw him in is in the right context, with the right preparation.”

Dowman has already given Arteta plenty to think about. It’s not the first time the Hale End product has shown the ease in which he can beat opponents and create moments on the ball has been apparent throughout his first-team involvement, but the Arsenal manager repeatedly returned to the less glamorous parts of his game that were on display against Ipswich.

Arteta pointed to Dowman winning the ball back during the build-up to Arsenal’s first goal and believes the teenager is becoming better at sustaining that work throughout matches.

“That’s his biggest quality,” Arteta said of how naturally Dowman can produce attacking actions. “And defensively, his application, his capacity as well to sustain the actions, which is not easy.

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

Dowman’s two goals also put him alongside some familiar Arsenal names in League Cup history. At 16 years and 258 days, he became the second-youngest player to score in the competition for a Premier League side.

The three youngest have all done so for Arsenal. Cesc Fàbregas was 16 years and 212 days old when he scored against Wolves in 2003, while Jack Wilshere was 16 years and 266 days old when he found the net against Sheffield United in 2008.

The continued question for the Gunners is whether he has the opportunity to grow within the first team environment. Dowman’s two goals will only increase the noise from fans for more first-team football, particularly when the Gunners have already trusted him against Premier League opposition. Arteta did not rule out the teenager forcing his way into more regular involvement, but made it clear that scoring goals is only one part of the decision.

“We’re going to make sure that when we just throw him in there, he’s ready to handle that at every level,” he said.

“It’s not just that he can run past somebody. It’s a lot more things that we need to look after him, but he will dictate that in terms of how he behaves every single day and how many reasons he gives us to play, because he is part of our squad like anybody else.”

Arteta was similarly cautious when asked whether a player of Dowman’s age could realistically play regularly in the Premier League.

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

That is the balance Arsenal are trying to strike. Dowman is no longer being treated simply as an academy player invited into the senior environment, but neither does one outstanding cup night remove the need to manage a player who is still only 16.

His performances are giving Arteta more reasons to use him. Arsenal’s job now is deciding when those opportunities are right rather than allowing the excitement around him to make that decision for them.