Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour (Picture: talkSPORT)
Ray Parlour doesn’t want to see Max Dowman in Arsenal’s starting lineup against Sporting CP despite the teenager’s impressive showing in the FA Cup at the weekend.
Dowman’s performance was perhaps the only positive for the Gunners on Saturday evening as Mike Arteta’s side were knocked out of the FA Cup by Southampton.
The teenager pressed his case for more starts with a lively display in his first appearance since scoring his first Premier League goal against Everton last month.
Arteta has been careful to manage the 16-year-old’s minutes, especially with Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke ahead of him in the pecking order on the right wing.
And even with Saka set to miss Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg with Sporting, ex-Arsenal midfielder Parlour believes Dowman isn’t quite ready to be starting regularly just yet.
Asked if Dowman should be starting over Saka, Parlour told talkSPORT: ‘No, because you don’t want to give him too much responsibility at 16 years old.
‘We’ve all been there. It’s amazing. I think the only thing we could be celebrating is his GCSE results.
Southampton v Arsenal - Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final
Max Dowman was impressive against Southampton on the weekend (Picture: Getty)
‘He’s got them coming up, which is amazing, really, isn’t it? And you don’t want to be putting too much pressure on him as a youngster.
‘At the moment, he comes on, he’s been playing the FA Cup, he’s brilliant the other night. I mean, his balance he’s got when he goes past players, both feet, and he’s only 16. He’s just turned 16 in December.
‘So, what a career he’s going to have, but you’ve still got to have Saka in his team. I know he’s going through that indifferent form at the moment; he hasn’t been playing the way he can.
Arsenal v Manchester City - Carabao Cup Final
Bukayo Saka will miss Tuesday’s clash with Sporting CP (Picture: Getty)
‘He’s not been up to his standards. We know that. He’s set the bar high, hasn’t he, with the performances, but every footballer that goes through it, he’s just got to try and work out how to get back to his best.
‘A little bit like Phil Foden, really. Phil Foden’s going through that spell at the moment as well, in his career. But at the moment, Dowman is such an important player going forward, but you can’t put too much pressure on him.
‘So, at this present time, I wouldn’t be doing that, but I’d be bringing him off the bench for 20, 25 minutes when people start just dropping their levels, dropping them. With his pace and his energy to go past players, he’d definitely be in use.’
Elsewhere, Rio Ferdinand urged Arteta to continue deploying Dowman in wide areas to protect him in the early stages of his journey into senior football.
‘Max Dowman could be the biggest factor in Arsenal winning the league from now on. But I want to see him protected from now on, and this is how I want to see Mikel Arteta do that,’ Ferdinand said.
‘Lamine Yamal, Neymar, Cristiano, Henry, all played out wide early in their career. Why? To protect them.
‘Play them out wide where there’s a bit less contact and you can see the game a bit more, the game’s a bit slower out there as well. Allow him the freedom to drift in but starting in there can be a big hindrance for a young player. I don’t want to see him become a Wilshere.
‘Wilshere coached him and spoke greatly about him but I don’t want to see him become that and be involved in far too many collisions in the middle of the park early in his career.’
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