LONDON STALLING
Macey and Kamara found path to first team blocked by superstars of Arsenal. But now old team-mates are scrapping for top spot in Premiership
FOR MATT MACEY and Glen Kamara, an elite football education at Arsenal’s youth academy came at a price. For all the finely-tuned coaching sessions and abundance of international-class role models on the premises, the path to first-team football was congested and ultimately impassable.
In Macey’s way stood first Petr Cech, then Bernd Leno. Kamara couldn’t make an impression on a midfield stocked with talents like Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka, and left for Dundee in 2017.
Goalkeeper Macey took his time before cutting the cord but, like Kamara before him, his Arsenal grounding has provided the solid foundation for a career that is starting to take off in Scotland.
This afternoon, the two will face each other for the first time since their shared experience in north London.
Unbeaten in seven league games, Hibs go to Ibrox with a chance to go top. However, Macey is well versed in the kind of clever possession play with which Kamara helped Rangers win last season’s Premiership title.
He said: ‘I played with Glen for a couple of years in the reserves and it’s really good to see him being the player a lot of us knew he could be.
‘He didn’t really get a chance at
Arsenal, which happens for many young players.
‘He’s a central midfielder and that’s probably the hardest place to break into the Arsenal first team.
‘I’d recently joined the club when I was playing with Glen, so I didn’t really have any reference point as to how good a player he was.
‘I just remember that I could give him the ball anywhere on the pitch and he would keep it. I think he shows that still when he plays for Rangers, he has that ability to get out of tight spaces.’
Macey was an unused substitute on the night of Kamara’s sole appearance for Arsenal, a cup defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
And, by the time he made his own two first-team starts for the
Gunners against Norwich City and Red Star Belgrade, Kamara had headed for Dens Park.
Eighteen months later and Kamara (right) had signed a pre-contract deal with Steven Gerrard’s Rangers and the transfer was expedited with the payment of a nominal £50,000 fee in January 2019.
Now tied to a long-term contract and valued at up to 200 times that sum, it’s not hard to envisage Kamara, 25, returning south to play in the Premier League.
‘Arsenal produce a lot of good young players but I think with a little bit of luck and more opportunity, Glen probably could have played a few more games there,’ continued Macey. ‘It’s really good to see that even if you don’t make it at Arsenal, you can still go on and have a really good career.’
For Macey, the process of establishing his own path is not quite so advanced, but he has learned at the feet of two top-class keepers.
‘I think the biggest things I learned at Arsenal came from the players I trained with as opposed to the coaches,’ he says. ‘I was lucky enough to work quite closely with world-class keepers — Petr Cech was a bit of a master in staying cool under pressure, Bernd Leno too.
‘I learned by watching how they approached the week, just seeing how they worked around big games. This season, I have tried to use that and not just for the big games. It’s also the way they approach a smaller game, if you want to call it that.
‘That’s why they play at the top level — because they produce week-in, week-out. They give great consistency and that’s what
I’m trying to do here now.’
Macey was on the bench for Arsenal as recently as last season but knew his long-term prospects would be better served by a fresh start.
Loan spells at Plymouth Argyle, Luton Town and Accrington Stanley had given him a taste of first-team football and he jumped at the chance to make a permanent move to Edinburgh in January.
Already resigned to losing
Ofir Marciano at the end of the season, Hibs boss Jack Ross had an eye on the future as he recruited Macey and let him bed in behind the Israeli internationalist in the second half of last season. Come the summer, he was ready for action and has been an impressive performer, not least in the recent Edinburgh derby when he and Craig Gordon vied for the man-of-thematch award with a series of saves in an entertaining 0–0 draw at Tynecastle. ‘This opportunity at Hibs wouldn’t have come up for me earlier because the timing was just so right in January,’ says Macey. ‘Fortunately, all the pieces came together for me at that moment.
‘With regards to whether I could have left Arsenal earlier, that’s a question I get asked a lot.
‘It’s not always as easy as that at a big club. There are responsibilities for the manager, in terms of players picking up injuries at the top level.
‘One thing I’d say is that every summer, I always looked to go and play football, whether it was on loan or to leave Arsenal.
‘And, for whatever reason, it didn’t happen. It took a long time. I’m just lucky that when I did decide to make the jump, it’s worked out really well for me at Hibs.’
While at 27 Macey remains young in goalkeeping terms, he acknowledges that his decision to wait things out at Arsenal has left him short of match experience.
‘I feel like I haven’t played as much as I’d like for my age,’ he continues. ‘It’s good to know I’m bringing the number of games up now. Playing regularly again is key for me, so I think it’s working out very well for me at the moment.’
Macey made his first Hibs appearance in Glasgow last season, the occasion being a 1-1 draw at an empty Celtic Park.
He expects something altogether rowdier today. And, against the reigning champions, he knows his concentration will need to be at optimum level.
He adds: ‘I’m ready for it. I play football for the big games. It is why I came to Hibernian, to get that test of the high-pressure games, and the big atmospheres.
‘For me, I go in looking forward to it and being excited by it.’
‘I’M READY FOR IT. I PLAY FOR THE BIG GAMES. IT IS WHY I CAME TO HIBERNIAN, TO GET THAT TEST’