It was a moment that will go down in Arsenal legend. Mikel Arteta said: “For many years to come we will remember being at the Emirates that night when that 16-year-old boy scored a goal in an important game in which we were winning the title.”
The moment Max Daumann burst onto the pitch and scored during Arsenal’s win over Everton, aged 16, has been seen many times. He had the touch of his head to control the ball, the touch of his left foot and the physicality to get past Vitali Mykolenko.
Then there was a touch with his right foot, sending Keenan Dewsbury-Hall into the shop. He seemed to have been doing so for years – and those who have worked with Dauman before are well aware of that.
“It’s the fear he gives to opponents, the fear of the people in front of him trying to mark him,” Des Ryan, head of sports medicine and athletic development at Arsenal’s academy and coached Dauman with Arsenal’s Under-11s, told Sky Sports.
“I don’t know if a lot of people can mark him, but that creates opportunities. He used to be just excited about his pace, his change of direction, attacking players at game speed.
“When you’re comfortable with the ball and have the game speed to change direction, accelerate, decelerate, opponents are second-guessing him. They’re worried, they’re hesitant.
Dauman controlled the ball with his head and blasted it past Everton’s Vitaly Mykolenko.
Dauman swung the ball past the defender and smashed it home.
“I saw it in the Everton defender too. There was a fear in his eyes that I saw many times with Max.”
Dauman’s stunning cameo alone was a special moment in the Premier League. The 16-year-old came off the bench and changed the course of the game, causing scenes of jubilation as he became the youngest goalscorer in the tournament’s history.
This is a young boy who will be sitting his GCSEs this spring and cannot even replace his Arsenal team-mates because he is under 18 and would be in breach of safeguarding rules.
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Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher look back at Max Dauman’s magical moments at Arsenal.
But throw it into the context of this outstanding moment that happens that night. It was a game in which Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League, inching closer to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years. It will be a Hall of Fame moment.
Gary Neville said: “It felt like a defining moment in Arsenal’s modern history.” “It was a magical moment for Max Dauman, a magical moment for Arsenal and I definitely felt it stopped me in my tracks.
“That’s exactly what the picture is going to be, the showcase moment, and the video that will play when we go back to the Monday Night Football studio at the end of the season and look back at the big moments of the season.”
It was a moment in time, but it was a year in the making. This wasn’t a flash in the pan, much like Wayne Rooney’s stunning goal against Everton and Arsenal in 2002. Same as David Beckham’s half-line goal for Manchester United at Wimbledon.
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After Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Everton in the Premier League, in which Max Domann became the competition’s youngest scorer, Mikel Arteta suggested his team is creating memories and moments that fans will remember forever.
“This kid looks different,” Neville said, recalling that magical moment. “He scored with extraordinary technique. He was sliding forward, moving with the ball, touching every part of his body to score. It was a really beautiful goal.”
The star of English football is coming.
Why Dauman has the right people around him
However, no matter what skill you acquire, you need the right temperament to perform on that stage and at that age. And what’s clear is that Dauman has the right people around him.
He was discovered at the age of four by Johnny Knight, Arsenal’s part-time academy scout. Johnny Knight was still by Dauman’s side when he signed a professional contract with the club.
And last summer, when there was speculation that Dauman was being approached by Chelsea, his father said on social media: “Arsenal is our club.” Arsenal have a strong foothold around the player.
“He seems calm and has the right temperament,” Neville said. “He doesn’t seem like he’s going to get carried away with things.
“Now it’s about doing the same thing that got him to where he is now: good people around him, good accountants, good lawyers, good advice from his parents.”
Dauman’s manager agrees. “He doesn’t seem fazed by the moment, the situation, the opponent,” Arteta said after the Everton game. “He’s playing very naturally.”
Again, that was seen during Dauman’s academy days. Daumann is the latest in the “strong young gunner” philosophy led by outgoing academy director Per Mertesacker.
Per Mertesacker has trained many of Arsenal’s young players through his academy.
The “Strong Young Gunners” program consists of four key skills that young players must follow. It’s the mentality of a champion, a lifelong learner, an effective team player, and an effective mover.
Anyone connected to Arsenal’s academy knows that Dowman has all four of these attributes by the bucketload.
“He would have interacted with all the team members,” Ryan says of how Dauman has integrated into Arsenal. “He was courteous, courteous, courteous and regularly arrived early.
“He’s thoughtful and curious and always asks questions: What are we doing? And in some cases, why are we doing it? But he’s not too loud and he doesn’t talk too much.”
And that temperament has only gone up since then. It is no secret that Declan Rice has been appointed as Dorman’s mentor at Arsenal’s training ground. The England international is a great source of advice for the young midfielder.
“He FaceTimed me the other day and he was wearing his school uniform,” Rice said of Dauman earlier in the season.
“I was like, ‘Hey, you just played in the Premier League a week ago and you’re coming back through the school gates.’ I’ve never seen a 15-year-old so comfortable in the first team.”
Will Dauman be able to follow in his famous footsteps?
If you look at the list of the Premier League’s top 10 youngest goalscorers of all time, you’ll see a wide variety of players.
We have players like Rooney, Cesc Fabregas, Michael Owen and James Milner who have had extraordinary careers for club and country.
However, some players have fallen through the trap door of promise. James Vaughan and Andy Turner failed to reach the same heights, while Federico Macheda scored a similar title-winning goal for Manchester United against Aston Villa in 2008, but has rarely been seen since.
“I’ve seen this before, I’ve seen it go well, I’ve seen it go wrong, I’ve seen it not develop into something really great,” said Neville, who was part of the United team.
And it will be key for Arsenal to monitor Dauman for years to come. Jack Wilshere joined Arsenal at the age of 16 and played so well that injury forced him to retire at the age of 30, and he even coached Dowman in the Gunners’ Under-18s a few years ago.
Other examples such as Barcelona’s Gabi and Pedri show that playing these players too much can lead to long-term injuries.
Ethan Nwaneri is another good recent example. Twelve months ago, the talk was that the 17-year-old was Arsenal’s future, but a year on and Nwaneri was struggling for minutes. He was loaned to Marseille, but his results there were not very good.
Dauman has now replaced Nwaneri as the darling of Arsenal’s academy. Could such a decline occur in the next few years? Somehow, it feels unlikely at Dauman.
“He’ll be 18 in two years,” Ryan says. “The young man still has room to grow and he still has it.
“And it’s scary to think how good he is from a physical sense. He will be looked after properly and he will progress further.”
“And athletes have reached their peak in their mid-20s to late 20s. There’s a lot going on from here and it’s exciting to watch. There’s so much potential going forward.”
