Max Dowman’s goals: Breaking down the latest additions to the 15-year-old’s showreel

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Week after week, a new highlights package sweeps the Arsenal social media bubble and the Max Dowman showreel gains another few moments that make you question whether this is all too easy for him.

That it looks this way for a 15-year-old playing his first season at under-18 level is exactly why Mikel Arteta is already considering him when it comes to midfield squad planning.

The latest highlights came against Aston Villa, one of the stronger academies in the country, as he scored two superb solo goals which are fast becoming his trademark. He has 19 goals and five assists this season at the level above his own age group, and is already the captain.

Declan Rice said his performances in first-team training have been “unreal” but with the caveat that not all teenage proteges automatically become superstars in senior football. “You can be the best in the country at 15, but it doesn’t necessarily mean at 18 you are going to be,” he said.

Arsenal are wary of fast-tracking him too quickly given how dramatically life can change when young players are propelled into the limelight, but a talent like Dowman can only be paced so gradually when every time they go up a level they remain head and shoulders above the rest.

Dowman playing for England U17s in September (Christof Koepsel/Getty Images for DFB)

He made his debut for the under-21 side in December when he was still 14, becoming the youngest player to play at that level for Arsenal. But he has not been able to feature again at that level as the club were informed that the Premier League age restrictions rules, which stipulate players from a lower age group than under-16 are ineligible, also apply in Premier League 2.

The wider footballing community had a chance to see his potential when Arsenal faced Manchester United at the Emirates in the FA Youth Cup quarter-final. Even though he was guilty of ball hogging at times, the way he repeatedly glided past streams of players was like seeing a man against boys.

The Athletic watched his goal contributions to better understand the finishing and skill that make him exceptional.

Under-18s vs Manchester United

Dowman may as well have been given his own ball in the FA Youth Cup defeat by Manchester United in February.

Seldom does a player dominate a match in the way he did and still lose, but the dribble from his own half in the lead up to him winning the penalty, which he converted to put Arsenal 2-1 up, saw him toy with the opposition defender.

It captured some of the key traits that we see repeated in most of his goals this season: scanning before he receives, taking the ball on the spin, using his arm to ward off the opponent, slowing down the opponent to then speed past them and driving inside onto his left foot.

Under-18s vs Aston Villa

His two goals last week against Villa were similar in the way that he cut onto his left foot and reversed the shot into the near corner rather than curling it to the far post.

The first one saw him press to win the ball back high, but the refreshing thing about Dowman is how positive and direct he is. He is not interested in simply securing safe possession, he wants to go forward quickly.

Here, he slows as he approaches the defender at the edge of the box, dangling his left foot in the air to give him the option of chopping the ball in either direction. Even though the defender is clearly expecting him to go onto his stronger left foot, Dowman possesses a ‘step’ as effective as a winger in rugby union evading pressure.

The second goal was even more impressive because of the proximity of so many players. The first touch is important again. Most players would have received the ball the way they were facing, yet Dowman decides to manipulate his body so he spins inside and is carrying his momentum that way to hold off the defender coming from his right.

The gap is very tight but he rolls his studs over it one way to suck in two defenders then jinks the other way to squeeze through the gap. Many would then rush the shot with such an obscured route to goal but he does what Jermain Defoe always speaks about and takes one small touch to encourage the defender to outstretch a leg so he can reverse it through the gap.

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Under-18s vs Reading

Against Reading, below, his composure when being pressed was clear to see again. Teams are clearly trying to be aggressive in pressing him but he actively seeks that — it’s when he is at his most dangerous.

He starts off pinned to the touchline in his own half, receiving on the back foot, baiting the tackle, which he was then able to skip past with his other foot. Dowman is one of those rare players who appears quicker with the ball than without it and his core strength means he is able to continue running at pace while holding off players coming up on either side.

A poor pass gifted Dowman the ball for his second, but he still had two defenders to beat. Again, it was the rapid shift onto his left foot from a standing start that opened up the space for the shot. The execution when closing his foot on the ball at the last moment to disguise the direction of his attempt is a type of shot he has managed to achieve great consistency with.

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Under-18s vs Tottenham

In the north London derby, Dowman picked up a loose ball in the centre of the pitch and glided forward until he reached the penalty area. Once there, we see the same action that defenders are struggling to stop.

As he moves up the levels and his opponents become more athletic and teams position more players inside to block the middle, he may need to diversify how he creates separation, but so far his favourite trick is proving adequate enough.

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Under-18s vs Leicester City

Dowman scored another two solo goals against Leicester but the second one was the most eye-catching.

It is the way he is able to use his arm to push off opponents and propel himself forward that stands out. Then, as he drives forward and is confronted with defenders, he is able to dribble using the outside of his boot to take more touches and keep the ball close to him.

It allows him to react to the defender’s attempted tackle and skip in either direction.

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The performances of Lamine Yamal, who has played over 100 times for Barcelona at the age of just 17, show that age is just a number in some rare cases.

Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, both 18, have made the step into the first team this season. Dowman is still three years younger than them.

“I think he is in the right pathway and everybody in the academy has done an incredible job to consistently protect him, inspire him, challenge him, keep him always up and the levels that he could produce and he is doing well,” said Arteta earlier this month.

“He is doing the right steps and taking it slowly. He will dictate how fast we go. You need to understand his age and the way you talk and communicate with him but if you look from afar and you don’t know he is 15 and you see certain things that he does, you have to judge him on that, and you wouldn’t think he was different to any other player.”

It could be that Dowman is integrated in the way Nwaneri was over a period of two or three years, but he looks capable of gaining some introductory minutes as the right eight or the right winger, two positions that do not have much depth currently at Arsenal.

Arteta said he will discuss with the club whether Dowman is part of the first-team squad for July’s pre-season tour to Hong Kong. If he is, it will be his first audition as an eligible first-team candidate.

(Top photo: Max Dowman playing for Arsenal U18 against Manchester United U18 in the FA Youth Cup quarter-final in February; by James Fearn via Getty Images)

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