Max Dowman scored for England’s under-19s against Wales under-19s in yet another impressive performance ahead of Arsenal’s upcoming matches, following injuries to Martin Odegaard and Noni Madueke
Max Dowman continued his fantastic start to the season by scoring his first goal for England under-19s in a massive 7-0 win over Wales. Facing his Arsenal teammate Brayden Clarke, the 15-year-old announced himself at a new level on the international stage.
Dowman has made his Premier League debut this season for the Gunners, winning a penalty against Leeds United, which Viktor Gyokeres dispatched. As a result of his performances, he was promoted to the under-19s level from the under-17s.
Like against Leeds, he would win a penalty on his first start for the side. Playing against Spain U19s last month, he gave Getafe’s Davinchi a torrid time and would claim a penalty.
Mikel Arteta joked after one of the earlier press conferences in the season that the left-back should have been sent off after just 35 minutes with how much he was forced to foul Dowman. Arteta has been very conscious of the player’s development but asked by football.london how his senior players have reacted to training with and even getting nutmegged by a player so young, Arteta was honest in his response.
“At the beginning, they responded immediately, kick him!” he laughed. “That was the first one.
“And Max, to be fair, he was excellent. He stood up and got into the next one. You can really take an impression of someone who was 14 last year at some point when he was doing certain things to players.
“And now, yeah, everybody loves him. You just want to hug him, help him. He’s such a nice boy as well, and he’s very much liked by everybody here. And just looking after us.
“It brings responsibility to look after somebody with that talent and make sure we just do what we have to do to make sure we’re giving him the best chance to exploit his talent. That’s all.”
With Noni Madueke and Martin Odegaard out for at least another month at the minimum, Dowman could again feature at the senior level in the games to come. His last outing came in the League Cup against Port Vale as the Gunners won 2-0.
The fourth-round match comes at the end of October at home to Brighton. It could be here that the Emirates is treated to more of the youngster’s flair. But his outing on Tuesday afternoon for the under-19s has sent a clear message of his readiness yet again.
