Daniel Karbassiyoon, Zelalem's scout, making the media rounds

Copied from the Arsenal thread. Figured it was relevant.

Former Arsenal player turned scout Daniel Karbassiyoon was on MLS Extratime podcast (LINK) and Howler's Dummy podcast (LINK) talking about discovering Zelalem. Good stuff.



Also an article on ONE World Sports. LINK

quote:

---

“Awareness and ability to retain possession,” Karbassiyoon said. “Those things go together. He was always able to retain possession in tight areas. His technical ability sticks out, as well. That’s why he was able to slot into Arsenal’s system. If you are aren’t able to keep up technically, you get found out right away.”

---

quote:

---

How good can Zelalem become?

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Karbassiyoon said. “When you’re a 17-year-old kid at Arsenal, the world is your oyster, especially when you’re getting opportunities with the first team and getting a chance to dress and be on the bench and come on. These are remarkable opportunities, but they will only get him so far. Then, it’s up to him how far he wants to go in the game. There’s a lot of pressure with the hype and the social media, when they’re saying you’re the future of American soccer. In that regard, it will be difficult to live up to expectations. But he’s in a great place, because of the management at Arsenal, and Arsene Wenger, who will give young players a chance to play, whether it’s in the Premier, FA Cup, Champions League. He can go on to be a great player but it’s up to him to determine how far he wants to go."

---