Thierry Henry was full of high praise for Max Dowman in the wake of his impressive showing against Everton on Saturday afternoon but offered a warning for his former club Arsenal over their handling of the talented teenager.
16-year-old Dowman became the second-youngest player in English footballing history to score a top-division goal with the Gunners’ second against Everton at the Emirates.
But even more eye-catching was the manner in which the substitute scored his effort, after providing an earlier assist for his team-mate Viktor Gyokeres to ensure that Arsenal went 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
After picking up the ball deep inside his own half, Dowman slalomed past two defenders to beat Jordan Pickford back to his own goal, and score after running over half the length of the pitch.
The moment, Henry said while appearing on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, had a physical effect on him as a spectator.
‘I get goosebumps, to be honest,’ he said, preparing to re-watch the goal. ‘I get goosebumps – I don’t often get goosebumps, but I remember my first moment, that level of expectation, I could relate.
Thierry Henry was keen not to let emotions get the better of Arsenal fans or the club in their treatment of Max Dowman
The talented teenager became the youngest Premier League goalscorer in history, and the second-youngest in the history of English top-flight football
‘Even if you’re not an Arsenal fan, I think at that particular moment, everyone could relate – and were happy for him. And (even putting) the Arsenal thing on the side… he gave me goosebumps.’
Admitting that he was ‘very’ excited about where Dowman could take his career in the future, Henry also offered a note of caution.
‘I was there when (Wayne) Rooney did it, and when someone told me he was going to have the career that he had, I would have said, “maybe”,’ he continued.
‘But what you need to do is to make sure we can also protect him along the way. Because we have a special talent here, not just for Arsenal, but for English football.
‘But let’s not get over excited. Am I happy he’s at Arsenal? Hell yeah I am.
‘But we also need to protect him, and not go too far too early with what he can achieve.’
Jamie Carragher concurred, adding: ‘I think the great players who start as youngsters – you have to have that moment, make that impact.
‘He’s done that. Thierry’s right there, there’s still a lot of obstacles, lot of pitfalls to overcome. He’s only a young man, but what a start he’s made.’
Arteta did little other than fan the flames of the rising clamour that sparked into life in the wake of his goal in his post-match remarks, dubbing the teenager a ‘game-changer’.
‘I think he changed the game,’ he said. ‘Every time he got the ball, he made things happen.
‘It looked like we were more of a threat. To do that at that age, in this context, with this pressure, it is just not normal.
‘Yesterday he was training in the last few days and I had a gut feeling that it was a moment for him. Probably because he doesn’t seem to be fazed by the occasion or the moment or the context or the opponent.
‘He just plays so naturally. He makes decisions to make things happen and what he delivered was incredible.
‘Some of the things that he does, he does it against these defenders that are some of the best in the world. So he can do it against anybody else.
‘The doubt is always, “Yeah, but he’s 16 and the crowd and the pressure and expectations”, but it doesn’t seem to be fazing him very much and he had an incredible moment to all of us.’
But despite bursting into Premier League consciousness with his history-making turn, Dowman is unlikely to become a permanent fixture during the run-in to the end of the season.
Fellow teen sensation Rooney noted that he believed the club would allow Dowman to focus on his GCSEs, which he will sit at the end of May and in early June.
‘He’s got an aura and a belief about him and it was the same against Everton. (But) if it’s education first, I don’t think we’ll see much of him over the next few weeks,’ the former England icon said.
‘He has got his GCSEs, and his education, I’m sure for him and his family, is important as well.
‘He won’t be in as much as he’d probably like, but then you’ve got many years ahead of you.’
