Opinion: Is the Europa League right for the blooding of youngsters?

Arsenal will be playing their next Europa League game against Molde this evening.

The Gunners have already won their opening two group games and they are now well on course to top their group.

As the club looks to make a return to the Champions League, this competition is an important one for them.

They have the chance to get back into Europe’s top club competition either by winning the Europa League or by finishing inside the top four, they will want to keep both options open.

The club customarily doesn’t field their best XI in the early stages of this competition and Mikel Arteta seems to have continued that tradition.

It seems that at the group stage of the competition, the club is only looking to blood youngsters that can play for them in the future.

The likes of Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock have found more luck in their quest for first-team football in this competition.

But is it the best time to give more chances to our academy products?

I have a feeling that it is better to start something exactly how you mean to go on.

In this case, it means fielding the players that you expect to deliver this trophy for you from the start.

It will seem normal for the club to start playing their best players from the knockout stages, but what happens if the players that Arteta is putting out fail to progress Arsenal before the big boys come back into the team?

I think we need to take this competition more seriously with our team selection now.

An article from Ime

Tags Europa League

8 Comments

  1. I dont think it is the right time for our big boys to come in at this stage. The youngsters can handle it and let the big boys rest and be fit and rearing to go for the Pl match on Sunday. Especiallly our defenders Gabriel and Holding need well deserved rest, specially Gabriel. The big boys can come in at the quarter final, semi final and final stages when we meet more tough teams and it is essential to win. My line up would be:
    Runarrson
    Soares Mustafi Louis Kola
    Nyles Ceballos Xhaka/Willock
    Nelson Nketiah Willian/Pepe
    This line up would be enough for a win.

    1. Spot on Jax.The development of youngsters in the early stages of a secondary European competition is entirely sensible.

  2. No disrespect to the opponents, but based on the TransferMarkt squad evaluation these games could be won by Arsenal’s U23 team as well.

    I didn’t find any argument in this post, besides “what happens if the players that Arteta is putting out fail to progress Arsenal before the big boys come back into the team?”

    That is a cost the coach/club/most fans are willing to make for the chance that we improve and continuously develop our entire squad. Since we are not in the position to buy players for 150M every season we need to rely on our most talented and promising youngsters. And playing in the first team against international opponents and training with their senior – often world-class – teammates is better than being loaned out to League 1.

    Talking like
    – I have a feeling that it is better to start something exactly how you mean to go on
    – I think we need to take this competition more seriously with our team selection now
    are not just subjective opinions, but huge clichés.

  3. At these early stages most cup games of any type are ideal for blooding youngsters. It’s when it gets to later knock out rounds that teams tend to rely on more experienced players.
    Pretty obvious really.

  4. I can’t see why not. It’s a perfect place to blood them…..and this is borne out by results. To make a large interchangeable squad there is no other way than to give experience to youngsters in these types of matches.

  5. Let’s start with our Young guys and put some of our first players on bench so that when we get behind we throw the big boys in to save the day.

  6. Looking at the Champions League Group standings, UEL might get a lot tougher. At that time we can bring the “big players”, till then youngsters are more than enough.

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