Carabao Cup
Carrick urges caution as Gabriel row grows around United future
Carrick says Gabriel’s welfare comes first as United weigh a 15-year-old’s uncertain future.
Michael Carrick has stressed that the priority in the JJ Gabriel situation must be the teenager’s welfare, wellbeing and exposure, as the debate around the 15-year-old intensifies.
The latest twist is believed to stem from Gabriel’s frustration over limited first-team involvement. He made an unofficial appearance from the bench in preseason, but that remains his only senior involvement so far. The forward is regarded as a major talent, while attention has also turned to his father, Joe O’Cearuill, after allegations of difficult behaviour resurfaced this week. One claim is that Gabriel’s name was changed to make him more marketable.
When it emerged that Gabriel wanted to leave Manchester United, it was suggested Carrick had intended to give him a record-breaking debut against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup. That did not materialise, and it would have been difficult for the manager to do so anyway after United let a 2-0 lead slip and were forced into a frantic search for an equaliser.
Carrick had already spoken to the media before the game, so his post-match comments at Old Trafford were the first chance to address the sudden attention around Gabriel. He avoided discussing the player’s quality or whether his future may lie elsewhere, instead focusing on the fact that the boy’s image has now spread widely.
“I think we’ve got to be really careful of the whole situation,” Carrick, whose own son, Jacey, is in the United academy and a year older than Gabriel.
“He’s a young boy, and the biggest thing for me, and for the club, is his welfare, wellbeing and exposure. I think all of us have to be really conscious of that in this situation.”
The safeguarding concerns are real. Gabriel requires separate changing facilities from senior players, and his age places him among only three players to have featured in 34 Premier League seasons at 15.
United can still delay matters by refusing to cancel his registration, though his academy deal runs until the end of the season. From next season, the usual route would be a first-year scholar place, with professional terms available when he turns 17 in the second year. A move abroad could come sooner, however, because Irish and Cypriot heritage may allow him access to EU passports. That gives Real Madrid a notable advantage, should he head to Spain when he turns 16 next month.
Arsenal
Arsenal face major selection doubts before Liverpool trip
Arsenal’s injury list is growing before Liverpool, with Rice, Saka, Saliba and others in doubt.
Mikel Arteta has been left juggling a growing list of fitness worries ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Liverpool, with Declan Rice among those under an injury cloud. The midfielder was forced off against Everton last weekend after, in Arteta’s words, he finished with “a problem”, leaving his availability for Sunday’s clash at Anfield uncertain.
Rice is not the only concern. Arteta admitted after Arsenal’s Carabao Cup exit that “Riccardo was out, Noni was out with an ankle and Declan Rice finished with a problem the other day,” underscoring the scale of the issue facing his side.
Some absences, though, are already clearer. Bukayo Saka has joined William Saliba on the list of long-term injuries after damaging his left quad in the Champions League draw with Bayern Munich. Saka is expected to miss at least six weeks and will not be back before the start of December at the earliest.
Saliba’s situation remains less defined. The defender has not played this season since surgery on a persistent back problem that became too much for him at this summer’s World Cup. Arteta has described the signs in his recovery as “very, very positive”, but he has not offered a return date, with the end of November mentioned only as a loose target.
There is also uncertainty around Christos Tzolis. The summer signing picked up a thigh problem while on international duty with Greece in the fall and was ruled out for around three weeks. He may yet have a role on Sunday, but his status remains unresolved.
Elsewhere, Max Dowman will not be able to win Arteta over through the FA, although Arsenal could still try to secure the teenager’s availability by appealing his red card against Fleetwood. The 16-year-old was dismissed for kicking out at Harrison Neal, with the force described as minimal but still enough for a straight red. With no VAR at this stage of the Carabao Cup, Michael Salisbury’s on-field call stood at the time. Dowman was found guilty of violent conduct, which the FA Handbook describes as “when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball.”
Arsenal
Arteta’s anger explained after Dowman’s dismissal against Fleetwood
Arteta’s response to Dowman reflected his wider demand for emotional control under pressure.
Mikel Arteta made no attempt to cushion Max Dowman after the youngster’s first red card in senior football during Arsenal’s disappointing Carabao Cup exit to Fleetwood Town on Tuesday.
It was a difficult night throughout for Arsenal. After falling behind 1-0 in the first half to a goal cheaply surrendered by fellow teenager Marli Salmon, the visitors spent the remainder of the match forcing the issue. They produced 26 shots in all, with seven ending up on target, but the pressure never translated into the result they needed.
Dowman was central to some of the missed opportunities. He first scuffed a clear opening across goal before setting up Kai Havertz for a fine chance that the German failed to convert. Beyond the missed chances, the winger also spent much of the evening coping with a physical challenge from Fleetwood.
Referee Michael Salisbury only awarded one foul against Dowman, and that came in the 85th minute with the score at 1-1. Harrison Neal then launched into a full-blooded challenge near the touchline, scissoring the teenager’s standing leg. Dowman responded by kicking out at the midfielder in the middle of a large confrontation, and Salisbury soon produced a red card.
As Dowman headed down the tunnel, Arteta was heard shouting, with the manager later saying: “We know when we prepare the context of the match, we’re very clear on what to expect,” he added. “Emotionally, we have to dominate, but we’re very clear.”
That reaction fitted a theme that has run through Arteta’s work this season. Emotional control has become one of his repeated messages, alongside the idea that Arsenal must handle the moment rather than be carried away by it.
“Emotional dominance” has been a regular phrase in recent weeks, and Arteta has been clear about what he wants from his side. “We have to be emotionally dominant regardless of what the context is. It’s easy to say, very difficult actually to do,” he said earlier this month.
This was Dowman’s first red card for Arsenal, but his second dismissal of the month. The England U-19 international had already been sent off in a behind-closed-doors friendly against the U.S.
Carabao Cup
Chelsea await scan results after Martínez is stretchered off against Everton
Chelsea are waiting on scan results after Emiliano Martínez was stretchered off with a head injury against Everton.
Chelsea are facing an anxious wait over Emiliano Martínez after the goalkeeper was forced off against Everton with a head injury.
The incident prompted immediate concern. Branthwaite was sat up shortly after, but medical staff rushed on to attend to Chelsea’s stopper, who was visibly in distress on the pitch. After a prolonged spell of treatment, Martínez was taken away on a stretcher and went straight to hospital for scans. As he was leaving the field, he appeared to be moving his arms.
Mike Penders replaced him and became the youngest goalkeeper in Chelsea’s Premier League history. The 21-year-old’s introduction is expected to be the first of many over the coming years, with club officials viewing him as a long-term option.
Chelsea will not be able to set any proper return timeline until the formal diagnosis is known, although it would be a major surprise to see Martínez back before the end of the month at the very least. If the injury proves more serious, his absence could easily stretch beyond that.
The club are now waiting on the scan results to understand the full picture. That uncertainty could also affect Xabi Alonso’s plans for a busy run of fixtures. Tottenham Hotspur visit next weekend, followed by a Carabao Cup tie with Liverpool, a game for which Martínez may have been rested anyway. The month then closes with a meeting with Manchester United before Chelsea travel to Sunderland ahead of the November international break.
Any extended lay-off would hand Penders a significant run in the side. The towering 21-year-old impressed while on loan with Strasbourg last season, and Chelsea opted to keep him at the club this year rather than send him out again. He has already started both of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup matches, and after his debut, a 2–0 win over Luton Town in the second round, Alonso said the Belgian will soon have a major role to play.
