An in depth look at Arsenal's rising star Héctor Bellerín
Born on the 19th of March 1995 in Calella, Barcelona Hector first played football in the college Jesús María de Badalona, where he was training with coaches July and Sebastian from 2000-2002. In September 2002, his coaches and parents saw an advertisement in the Barcelona sports daily FCB Escola, summoning a test for future youth players, Hector made two test matches with Barça School . Hector was chosen from more than 200 kids also his age for the FCB Escola.
Hector was part of the Barcelona youth system for eight years, their honours include victories in tournament Cologne (Germany), the Mediterranean International Cup
(MIC), Benjamin de Pontevedra tournament, several tournaments in Bilbao, international championship Canillas (Madrid), which Barca won twice, with Hector receiving the MVP trophy for the second time, which was delivered by Zinedine Zidane, in September 2008.
However, the most prestigious tournament, and more importantly on a personal level for Hector was won on the 8th of August 2010 at Old Trafford, defeating the Pachuca of Mexico 1-3 in the international final of the Nike Premier Cup presented by Rio Ferdinand. Hector has been called up by the Catalan selection sub-12, Spanish Under-16, Under-17 and sub-19 participating in the U17 Elite Round in Georgia in March 2012.
After joining Arsenal in the summer of 2011, Hector's made his debut for the U-18s in a friendly ironically against Watford in which he scored his first goal. His U-21 debut came in the spring of 2012 which also came with a goal, this time against Chelsea under 21s. He signed his first professional contract with club on July 2013. Bellerín made his competitive debut against West Bromwich Albion on 25 September 2013, coming on in the 95th minute as a substitute for Mikel Arteta displaying his versatility putting in a good shift in the middle of the park. Arsenal went onto win this game on penalties.
I recall first watching Hector play for the Arsenal U21s in 2012 at Underhill against Everton in a game Arsenal won comfortably 3-0. He first caught my eye with his extremely relaxed approach on the ball combined with great vision but I suppose this is to be expected from a player who spent 8 years at La Masia. In one of Arsenal's attacks Hector started in his own half but combined with Nico Yenaris too put Hector running at full speed at the Everton defence, the one-two with Yenaris killed four Everton midfield players and Hector went onto breeze past now Everton regular and England international Ross Barkley as well as Everton's commanding number 5, a strong centre half. Hector then played a through ball to Sanchez Watt who stuck it inches wide. I remember sitting in the stands thinking Arsenal have a real gem on their hands here considering he just ran through half the Everton side.
In late 2012 Hector was called up by Arsène Wenger to the senior squad for the Capital One cup fixtures against Coventry and Reading, however on these occasions he didn't make his debut. Throughout the 2012/13 campaign Hector nailed down the RB spot and was instrumental as he used his pace and direct
style to cause defenses problems, he participated in most games .With the U19s they also went on a European adventure, they got past the the group stages playing a host of great European sides such as Marseille and Sporting Lisbon to reach the last 16 game against Inter Milan in exceptionally testing conditions (the winners of the competition the previous year) in which a long range winner on the 69th minute from Nico Yenaris secured the gunners place to the Next Gen series quarter finals against CSKA Moscow at the Emirates.
Against CSKA it was a chance for the young gunners to put all the pieces of passion, fight, determination and concentration together. A crowd just shy of 7000 turned out at a freezing Emirates stadium. After just 5 minutes Hector was already proving his worth, putting a great ball into Serge Gnabry, who headed straight at the CSKA keeper. However, that was a sign of things to come as later on in the second half Bellerin was once again combining with Gnabry and put him through on goal and Gnabry slotted home to provide what was to be the winner and only goal of the game and put Arsenal on the plane to Italy to play the semi final of the Next Gen series against Chelsea at Lake Como with team spirit at an all time high.
So as Arsenal headed out to Lake Como with the belief that they can beat any team, this was another chance for me to watch Hector as the game aired on Eurosport. On the 16th minute the pair of Gnabry and Bellerin again combinded as Hector split the Chelsea defence open with an underlap, after an inch perfect ball from Gnabry, Hector put it on a plate for Chuba Akpom to give Terry Burton's gunners the lead. After finding themselves 3-1 down in the 85th minute, a Christensen OG in the 86th minute gave the gunners a glimmer of hope. Although come the 90th minute it was very much roles reversed as Hector slotted in a perfect ball to Gnabry, splitting both the Left back and centre half with Gnabry then cutting inside and curling the ball into the bottom left hand corner to give the gunners extra time after two goals in very quick succession to bring it to 3-3.
Although Lewis Baker killed the young gunners dreams with a 116th minute winner, again this game displayed Hectors attacking capabilities using his pace to underlap, going on solo runs and providing two assists. However, on this occasion it was Hectors composed defensive performance that impressed me most as it has been well documented that Hector was always a winger but with Steve Bould and the coaches help he is able "every day feel more and more comfortable as a right back". With Hector also saying “It gives me a chance to go forward, and I am learning every day about the defensive side - I really enjoy it."
Although Lewis Baker killed the young gunners dreams with a 116th minute winner, again this game displayed Hectors attacking capabilities using his pace to underlap, going on solo runs and providing two assists. However, on this occasion it was Hectors composed defensive performance that impressed me most as it has been well documented that Hector was always a winger but with Steve Bould and the coaches help he is able "every day feel more and more comfortable as a right back". With Hector also saying “It gives me a chance to go forward, and I am learning every day about the defensive side - I really enjoy it."
I had also watched Hector at Underhill play against Manchester United in a game which he scored a last minute winner to secure a 2-1 winner on a night where he was again the most dangerous Arsenal player attacking wise, yet capably carrying out his defensive duties. That goal vs Utd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e95NYt8MqbQ
Another occasion where I got to watch Hector was when they were playing over at Borehamwood against Patrick Viera's Manchester City side. On a bitterly cold raining night the players were tested by the conditions and this may have been a reason why the game finished 4-3 to the Arsenal U21s. On the night again Hector again didn't disappoint, he pressed high on the Manchester City left winger to steal the ball from him before sprinting through and being layed off by Kristoffer Ollson who slotted the ball into the City penalty area for Hector to slott the ball into the left hand corner of the net to double the gunners lead to the delight of his family who were sitting to my left who were cheering his name and looked delighted. Again, Hector's ability to create a goal scoring opportunity out of nothing was the reason these individual moments stuck in my head, although I must say Toral's second goal of the night, an individual effort was very special. Highlights from that game can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ltscbvjzR8
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| Photo credit goes to David Price |
The most recent occasion where I watched Hector play was a couple of months ago where the Arsenal U21s played against Chelsea U21s and due to Carl Jenkinson being in the side Hector was given the 7 shirt and played in his natural position at Right Midfield. After some great team play in the first half Jon Toral gave the ball to Isaac Hayden who dinked one over the top to Hector who showed great strength to hold off Chelsea centre half and displayed his pace to latch onto the loose ball. In the second half Hector returned to RB with Jenkinson moving inside to centre back. Overall Hector put in a very solid defensive performance to display the good work he has been doing with Arsenals defence coaches, however Swift headed beyond Macey with 4 minutes left on the clock to double Chelsea's lead after a great flick from captain Lewis Baker brought in all square earlier. Highlights: http://player.arsenal.com/matches/3717056/arsenal-u21-v-chelsea-u21
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| Photo credit to David Price
One of the main reasons I think Hector has every chance of reaching the top level comes from when I was actually on my way home from that game. As I was in the train carriage on the Piccadilly line on the way home I looked to my left and I recognized who I saw. I recognized the people that I had saw at Borehamwood, It was Hectors family as well as Jon Toral's girlfriend who was with them. In total there were about 5/6 people and they were so quiet that I only noticed it was them about half way home. Considering Hector had just played very well and scored at The Emirates and also that Jon had also played well they were all very humble and didn't seem over excited and I suppose that they are even like this with Hector and keep his feet firmly on the ground and don't allow his ego to grow like some players would. Lastly, when I was getting off at Cockfosters this was also where they were also getting off and because I had tracked Hector's progress for a while I did feel like saying to them 'Hey, well done to your son' although they were speaking in Spanish as I'm not sure how well their English was haha!
Next came a loan spell at Watford in the Championship for Hector when it was announced on the 22nd of November 2013, it was announced that he would join Watford on loan on a short-term deal until January 2014. Bellerín made his debut against Yeovil Town on 30 November 2013. Bellerín grabbed headlines in his third appearance for the Hornets after a solid defensive display away at Leeds as well as an and assist after sprinting with the ball from his own half to set up the goal.
It was announced on 3 January 2014 that Bellerín had extended his loan at Watford until the end of the season, although he was recalled by Arsenal on 18 February.
Against the team I support QPR, Hector was up against a tall, physical winger in Matty Phillips when the sides met at Vicarage road. This was an opportunity for me to see Hectors progress on the defensive side of his game and he did brilliantly, he had to cut out a number of diagonal passes and defend against grown men a lot older than the 19 year old.
Onto that assist, everyone on social media and a lot of my Arsenal supporting friends were hyping their 'loan man' but for me I've watched Hector for a while and know this is a part of his game and regularly bursts up the right flank so I'm looking forward to seeing him hopefully doing this one day for Arsenal in the Premier League. Unfortunately last year Hector was busy with the Selección and missed out on the pre season tour and Emirates cup. However, it was great for me to see Hector involved this year against Borehamwood, in the second half I know a lot of Arsenal fans were impressed by his accurate balls into the box. He also featured in America against NY Red Bulls. He then went onto feature against Benfica for the first time in front of a full Emirates stadium and done extremely well against world class international players producing a very mature performance,even lighting up the game with one of his trademark solo runs that had Arsenal fans off their seats. Too round it off he put in another trade mark inch perfect ball for Campbell to slot home. You can watch his individual performances against Benfica and Borehamwood here:
It was disappointing not to see him in the squad for the Community shield at Wembley but there are promising signs ahead for Hector due to his inclusion in the Champions League squad in Turkey a couple days back. I'm sure his family will keep him humble so lets see Hector do it for the first team for Arsenal!
Just 10 minutes down the road from me, I'm sure Hector will keep grafting putting in countless years on the London Colney pitches to keep improving all aspects of his game to stand him in good stead to one day be a world class player and the prospect of a Spanish international, good luck!
Thanks for reading!
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