SAM GREENWOOD may have left Arsenal years ago — but they have never left him.
Preston’s attacking midfielder, on loan from Leeds, came through the Gunners’ academy alongside the likes of Bukayo Saka and AC Milan star Yunus Musah.
And after leaving the North Londoners in 2020, he faced them in the Carabao Cup at the Emirates almost three years ago to the day with Leeds.
Then he made his Premier League debut against his old team soon after.
He gets another chance tonight as Mikel Arteta’s men visit Deepdale, in another Carabao Cup last-16 clash.
Greenwood, 22, said: “I was shocked to get Arsenal again. I didn’t expect that. I’m excited having been there as a kid — it’s going to be nice to play against them, even though it will be a huge challenge.”
The North End ace came through the youth ranks at his home-town club Sunderland — but Arsenal snapped him up, aged 16, for £500,000 in 2018.
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Despite the transfer fee, Greenwood did not get weighed down by the expectations and enjoyed mixing with some of the game’s future stars.
He said: “While at Sunderland, I was always playing up a few years. I was in their Under-18s when I was 14-15 so got scouted by Arsenal as I was scoring goals and getting assists.
“After watching me at a certain game, they told my agent they wanted me. I progressed from there.
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“Sunderland had just dropped down to League One and needed the money — and when a club like Arsenal come in, you cannot say no.
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“And it was a good decision because I loved my time there.
“I always believed in myself so the price tag never worried me. And my dad used to come down every week from Sunderland to watch my games.”
Saka was the standout player in his team and Greenwood says the Arsenal winger was always expected to progress to the top of the game.
Greenwood said: “We had so many players who’ve made it as pros. Ipswich’s Harry Clarke, Mark McGuinness at Luton, Wrexham keeper Arthur Okonkwo and Crawley’s Tyreece John-Jules.
“But the standout player was Saka with his power and pace. It was always expected for him to reach this level.
“He deserves great respect for how he dealt with his penalty miss in the Euros final for England in 2021.
“I knew he’d bounce back from that and become the player he is today.
“Bukayo is a good guy. He’s got a bubbly personality and is very clever, passing all of his GCSEs. He got an A-star in most of them.
“At home, I’ve a framed Arsenal shirt of his from when I faced him at Leeds. Yunus Musah was similar to Bukayo — so bubbly and an all-round good guy.”
Greenwood also trained with the first team under Unai Emery towards the end of his two-year Gunners stint.
And the midfielder remembers how ridiculous the talent was around him.
He said: “I did a few sessions before Covid came and it was an unbelievable experience. These guys were top quality. Players like Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
“The first time I met these guys I was nervous — but I began to get used to seeing them every day.
“The lads who came through the Arsenal academy, like Reiss Nelson, were brilliant and always looked out for me, making me feel welcome and comfortable.”
The standout player was Saka with his power and pace… it was always expected for him to reach this level.
SAM GREENWOOD
Reflecting on his time at Arsenal, he added: “Playing with better players made me better and being there made me a better person, too.
“It was the first time I’d moved away from home, it built up my character and they taught me to be humble. I grew up quicker because of Arsenal.”
Greenwood got snapped up by Leeds in 2020 for a fee of around £3million and he ended up playing against his former club twice in the space of a couple of months in 2021.
He came on for Rodrigo in a 2-0 Carabao Cup loss at the Emirates — and then got his first crack on the Prem stage in a 4-1 defeat at Elland Road as a sub for Mateusz Klich.
Greenwood said: “To play at the Emirates was a wonderful experience but to make my Premier League debut against them is something I’ll never forget.
THE INVINCIBLES… vs ARSENAL
ARSENAL fans love to bring up their Invincibles team of 2003-04 but Preston pulled off the feat more than 100 years earlier.
The legendary North End side of 1888-89 (above) not only went unbeaten in the league but also lifted the FA Cup that season, too!
“I always thank Marcelo Bielsa for giving me that opportunity and Jesse Marsch and the ones that followed.
“Just to get my first goal in the Prem during a 4-3 win against Bournemouth was a nice feeling.
“I’m always grateful for that — and hopefully I’ll still get back there.”
Greenwood is at Preston for the season but harbours ambitions to return to Elland Road and break into the team — not having had much of a chance since German boss Daniel Farke took charge in July 2023 and spending last term at Middlesbrough.
He said: “There were a lot of people there in my position but I still believe if I was there, I could play.
“It’s just having that opportunity the manager will give me. I just wanted to play games and get experience.”
And having played in an epic third-round clash that saw Preston win a record-breaking League Cup shootout 16-15 against Fulham, Greenwood would love penalties tonight.
Grinning, he said: “I’d take that. We know how good they are.
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“That shootout was crazy. The lads were relaxed and that is what helped.
“We picked our spot and didn’t change our mind. It went on forever but what an experience.”
Liverpool impressed at Arsenal, but it was a match Jurgen Klopp probably would’ve won
By Jordan Davies
ON the face of it, Liverpool continue to go from strength to strength with Arne Slot’s tenure still in its infancy.
Away at Arsenal as title contenders — with a formidable record at the Emirates having won four of their last six there — the Reds fought back, not once, but twice to earn an impressive point to remain four clear of the Gunners.
Nine games in, Liverpool have seven wins, 22 points collected and sit in second in what is one of the club’s best ever starts to a Prem campaign.
Nothing to sniff at there, and that is without mentioning three straight wins in the Champions League and a 5-1 Carabao Cup third-round thumping of fellow top-flight side West Ham.
So to even attempt to pick flaws in Slot’s start with a run that solid would come across needlessly pedantic, deliberately nit-picky.
But, and there is a but, given the standards Liverpool have set in these early months, it needs to be said: this draw in North London was a massive missed opportunity.
And to go one step further, maybe this is a game Jurgen Klopp would have found a way to win?
It has been a long time since Arsenal have gone into a game feeling so vulnerable defensively with world-class centre-back William Saliba missing through suspension.
Full-back Riccardo Calafiori was also out injured, usual right-back Ben White began the game at centre-half and midfielder Thomas Partey started on the far right side of the defence.
And then, in a chaotic second half, both Jurrien Timber and Gabriel limped off, forcing Gunners boss Mikel Arteta to swap around his back line THREE times by the 76th minute.
And yet, despite all of that, a Liverpool side boasting attacking talents like Mo Salah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo were hardly making the home fans sweat with a peppering of the Arsenal goal.
It was not until a Klopp-style counter-attack from back to front in the 81st minute did the visitors properly test the home defence.
But even that finish was a tame one — Salah tapping in past David Raya into an almost empty net.
And with nine minutes left plus seven minutes injury time, the expected onslaught for another, to nick all three points — the tally-ho approach — never came.
Not Klopp’s heavy metal style, more pleasant folk music with a ukulele in a country pub.
You get the impression that Slot was delighted with this outcome.
For large parts, Liverpool were defensively sound, gave very little away and snuck away back to Merseyside with a point tucked under their arm and a bloody nose avoided.
Yet it was in these sorts big blockbuster matches that Klopp and Liverpool thrived over their nine-year romance, full of excitement, thrills and last-gasp wins that earned them a Prem trophy in 2019-20 and plenty more down-to-the-wire chases with Manchester City.
And with Arteta’s Arsenal on their knees — quite literally in some cases — and hanging on for dear life, these are the moments in title races that require a bit of crazy, not caution.
A Klopp team of the past would have gone completely and totally Kloppy, throwing men forward at will, blasting their opponents away and forcing the ball into the net through passion and thunder alone, regardless of how open it left them at the back.
Slot is not this sort of coach.
He is measured, considerate, calm. Good qualities, but not always needed in do-or-die matches that ultimately determine where you finish in May.
It is hard to say if this will come back to haunt Slot, who still insists on avoiding any use of the phrase ‘title contenders’ despite clearly being title contenders.
With Aston Villa and Manchester City visiting Anfield over their next five Prem outings, we will see whether the Dutchman can loosen the leash and let his team grab games by the scruff of the neck instead of playing it safe.
Because as we have seen in this league, going for broke often rewards you — just ask the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola.
Fortune favours the brave.
Slot needs to discover his own version of that if he is to truly emulate Klopp and transform this Liverpool side into one capable of seizing moments when they matter most.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
