Should Arsenal start with a youth project this season to get us back up the top?

Is youth the way forward? by Sean O’Hara

As we all know Arsenal have alot of work to do on & off the pitch to recover from the transition that is taking place within the Club, though as we all now want to see what are we doing in the transfer market to improve the squad. We have not signed anyone yet but loads of gossip is floating about the net but what is the smartest way to go in an already inflated market?

Youth could be a way to build us up again. Young players, who though will improve at Arsenal, are showing signs of a talented player already. We have a few of our own already in our ranks which will save us money & spending our budget on youth will make us money in the future if all goes to plan in their developments. As we have always said we make stars, buy unknowns & make them ballers for a future profit if needed as all players like to change clubs these days, lets be real loyalty is very rare in football these days!

I get we need experience but the younger guys could be groomed into the elites if done properly at Arsenal & given a chance. Keeping youth has to be the biggest part of our plans in the market and should be added with one or two experienced heads. Per/Mustafi (£20m) out, Sokratis/Lichsteiner In.

We have loads of young talent at our disposal and if we invest in youth also, we could have a very good young squad heading into our new future at the Emirates.

Defensively;
Mavraponas – Could become excellent, has all the traits a certain Varane had when signed for Madrid. We have seen what he can do in 3 games, consistently playing he may thrive at the Emirates.

Holding – he has that old school feel about him, remember him with Costa? He handled him well. Under new guidance could be brilliant for him as i rate this guy’s potential more than Chambers! Beilik is there too but injuries are ruining his chances.

Bellerin – He has had loads of chances but never under a new manager or having competition. Is still young, has bags full of talent & could well improve under Emery.

Soyuncu – May be worth a sum of £35m, already-made CBs cost £70m+ these days, we could make him worth that if not more in a few years. two-footed ball playing & winning CB with an eye for a great pass whilst being very quick off the ground. Still needs work on his positioning but we have had a lot worse.

Maitland Niles is going to be back up CDM & CM, who in my opinion is near ready to challenge Xhaka, Ramsey & Elneny, what a future he has. He’s strong, can battle with the best of them & isn’t fazed by any if it. Id love to say he could become a Vieira for us but maybe that’s jumping the gun a little.

We have no CDM yet but if we want great young potential, the options have to be;

Rabiot or Torreria, both 22, young agressive hungry players who could thrive. Would rather have both come in to replace Wilshere & Santi instead of Seri. Could maybe sell Elneny & Niles could do his job in utility man? To raise more funds.

In Attack;
Ramsey, Ozil, Mhiki & Iwobi (still young, can improve we all know it) are all the attacking midfielders and we are okay here. We are good for CF also in Aubameyang & Lacazette but wingers we are starved of at the moment, this is a big if but a huge possibility in Demebele from Barcelona on Loan with Option to buy (for, i’m sure, a lot of money). Very young, baller already & Auba could be key in this along with Sven.

Eddie Nketiah & Reiss Nelson are both young with loads of potential & should be moved up from the reserves as they could do more damage than Welbeck or Campbell could if we are honest out on the wings. Welbeck is on his last year of contract, i’d get rid of him and use the money for Dembele loan fee. Have to start sometime with the big boys & learn how to rotate with Dembele if it could happen.

Best spend there is £25m each on Rabiot & Torreira, £35 on Soyuncu & Loan fee for Dembele. Wages can all be used from departing players. If you include Sokratis/Lichsteiner, aMustafi sale would cover the deals, then all is left is a good Ssrong young Goalkeeper to take the No1 spot, get guidance & challenges from Cech.

NEW & Cech
Bellerin – Leichsteiner
Monreal – Kolasnic
Mavraponas – Soyuncu – Boss
(Holding & Chambers)
Rabiot – Torreira- Niles – Xhaka
Ramsey – Ozil – Mhiki
Dembele – Nketiah – Iwobi
Aubameyang – Lacazette

Thats 23 players there. On average 100m spent & would set us up for our targets which realistically are;

Top4
Europa League Win
One of either FA or league Cup Win

Its up to Emery to then do his job & motivate this team. Very young though they are, these players could all combine to make a very good squad for this season, and a couple of realistic transfer targets as NO UCL means lesser players arrivingI im sorry to inform as Champions League is the Holy Grail of Football.

Just a thought for today. Have a good weekend Gooners.

Sean

34 Comments

  1. I expect all our players to improve under Emery.
    Champions league is not the holy grail of football, money is!

    1. That rather depends for which people you are speaking, surely? Money certainly is to Kroenke and other filthy rich lowlifes. But to honest and overcharged fans success on the field is always first. I say that football IS ALL ABOUT FANS. WITHOUT FANS YOU HAVE NO SPORT. ANY PLAYER, MANAGER. ADMINISTRATOR IS REPLACEABLE. BUT FANS NEVER ARE! There is the real answer!

  2. I’d say youth with a mix of experience.This shouldn’t really be question because our philosophy involves giving youth loads of chances while also having experience in the squad.This is likely to continue with the addition of Sven and even Emery.
    One funny thing which interest me is how people criticize Mourinho for his style of play yet wanted Allegri who’s just a Mourinho with more class.
    Would’ve been interesting to see people here complain about negative football or don’t tell me you expected Allegri to come in and play the beautiful way which is not part of his plan.Dont also tell me we don’t have a lot of managers put there who play beautiful and can win.
    Everyone has their own way and tactic hence you cannot force someone to play how he doesn’t.

  3. Yup, just take a look at Tottenham with Kane, Alli and Winks. Previously they have Rose and Walker as their talented English youngsters

    Or Liverpool with Trent Alexander-Reynold, Solanke and Joe Gomez

    Arsenal need to prioritize their young English prospects, because usually these young men would put extra efforts to cement their places as starters and some really love the club

    1. I’m all for nurturing and prioritising our young players but couldn’t give a flying Feckir if they are English or not

      1. Well said! Nationality is merely an accident of birth and of parentage. It is irrelevant to any players skills, which they either have or have not. Just imagine crossing the Channel Ferry to France or England and suddenly feeling more talented halfway across! This highlights the absurdity of nationalist thinking about players ability.

    2. Kane is the only Englishman that is top class though out of all these English youth prospects. Don’t think nationality has much to do with it. But English youth has been performing well in youth tournaments recently at last. if the talent is there, which it should be with this coming generation, the standouts will be Englishmen. (most of them play for City and Chelsea though actually)

  4. I can remember when George Graham first took over at the beginning of the 1986-87 season and he immediately started introducing the young players over the more established stars.He won the League Cup in that first season and then slowly moved on the older players the next season.By the end of his third season we were Champions with the core of the team being the young players he had brought through with some older heads to give the balance.Tony Adams Paul Davies David Rocastle Micky Thomas Paul Merson Martin Hayes.It worked because the talent was there.The question now is of course is are the younger players now coming through as talented as those from the George Graham era?Football has changed since those days of 30 years ago.To be considered a top club you must be in the Champions League every year.Will those players now coming through be capable of getting us there next season?I don’t think so.Its not realistic to believe they could perform week in week out in the Premiere League with the pace and intensity every game provides.
    Emery must bring them through slowly and take stock at the end of the season.We need established performers to come in NOW to tighten up the midfield and defence otherwise we will be in the same SIXTH PLACE OR WORSE come this time next year

    1. Good shout Phil… i get what you mean but with the way we spend our money & out of UCL what established players are going to come to Arsenal? Thats why i went for youth who have the potential to be superstars, why not go for them now, have them develop together then as you said its the George Graham method, Fergie also with Class of 92 etc…. building a team together is best option for Arsenal to move forwrd, then add established players in one or two positions each summer for next 3-4years if we are moving up the table to top 4. Once we are back in the UCL then the shackles could be released for money to spend big then push on for honours!!

      1. Yeah Sean it’s a difficult issue.We all want to encourage the youth players but if Eme4y gets it wrong then his head is on the block.He won’t want to be seen failing in his first season but he needs to at least bring AMN and Reissue Nelson through a bit more than just Carabao and Europa Cups.It will be interesting to see what he does

        1. The thing is we only need to add 2 good players this window and that would be a solid base for the season .one midfielder,one defender ,but both quality players .then move on from there if they don’t want to add more ,without them position s filled we got no chance next season . Regarding AMN I would put him straight in the team ahead of Ramsey and xhaka ,the kid looks a real player and with the quality player next to him he could be the star of next season

          1. Phil,
            Your list of G.G.youngsters brought back great memories.
            I also had a rye chuckle when you remarked about being only seen as a top club if you appeared in the Champions League…quedos for our ex manager at last!!!!!
            The only team who ever won anything with youngsters was United under Ferguson and I don’t believe we have that amount of youngsters with that amount of talent at the moment.
            What I do think, however, is that we do have the experience of some world class players (Ozil, Myk, Lac, Ramsey) who would bring the blend of youth and experience into a very strong team of able performers.
            The only weak area is at the back and that is where we should be looking to bring in a seasoned top international player to orchestrate the art of defending such as G.G. installed all those years ago.

            1. Totally agree Ken (with the obvious exception of giving our ex manager quests for anything).We have talent at our club.We have been leaking like a sieve at the back which I firmly believe would be sorted with a top quality CDM and CB.Apply some coaching and discipline to the defensive set up and we could actually surprise some people this’ coming season.The younger players will get their chances in the Carabao and Europa cups to show what they can do and by adding quality where we need it (a GK and pacy Winger) And it could all look promising
              Enjoy Canada Ken

    2. We are not the only club who will always find it difficult to attract top players by paying massive wages and by always being in top four. Apart from both Mancs clubs, all other clubs have only limited money . What the others in the top five have had over us, til recently, is a well run set up, a top manager and a club with direction and focus. We binned all these negative qualities when we , the clubs true guardians, successfully forced Wenger out. We now start on an even field with Spuds, Chelsea and Liverpool, in all apart from current squad talent. But that can quickly change when the other , now regained , assets I list above, are in evidence. Which they are!

  5. We need to start with a project that doesn’t include Iwobi. After that in can only be uphill.

    1. If after watching iwobi today, you still having the same thoughts. Then you are deluded

      1. I have seen Iwobi for many games. If you think one game makes up for that dross and you are going to be sarcastic and think it’s funny then good luck to you.

        No one game doesn’t make him a good player. Even Gervinho had a good game once upon a time. Shall we build a statue for him too?

        I swear some of these fans with their low standards and steeped in the mediocrity of Arsene Wenger really annoy me. Woopty doo the guy had a good game. Want me to book a bus to parade through Islington for him now?

        1. While we’re at it let’s build a statue for the best striker in the world, Nicklas Bendtner!! I doubt Iwobi will be 1st choice under Emery, he’s too erratic and consistently makes the wrong choice and loses the ball too easily.

    2. Did watch his performance against England today. He is the best of both team today. He even scored a goal.

      1. Wow he scored a goal for the losing team. I see you are keeping the spirit of Arsene Wenger alive. What an achievement from Iwobi – scoring for the losing team makes him a winner!!!!!!

          1. Iwobi Is the best player on the pitch. Bossing the midfield. England are missing wilshere

        1. Yes Nigeria lost but how does it discredits his performance. It a joy to see a player so beating up with criticism making all those over hyped English players look like mediocre.

          1. Novella,
            It’s because fans like Robin can’t let the Wenger era go.
            Haven’t seen the game, but knew the same old retirique regarding Iwobi and our ex manager and his favourites would be regurgitated yet again.

          2. More the point is how does one average performance make Iwobi a good player? Short memories it seems or may be people genuinely enjoy the mediocrity that is Iwobi

            1. Iwobi did have a good game ,but that doesn’t excuse his last 50 games for arsenal does it ? I think what robin is getting at is the fact with players like Iwobi in our team we are going to be just like last season

            2. I will forgive you for ignorance. It is not just one average performance and i know that because I’m a Nigerian. Iwobi is one of the best if not the best player that qualified us for world cup. He had a stellar performance against Argentina in a friendly which we won. So his performance in his national colour can not be rubbished because he didn’t do well with arsenal as that was the case for many of our players.

              1. He’s payed to do the business for arsenal not Nigeria,I already said he played well against an average England team , now remind me of 1 game where you have thought WOW for arsenal …

              2. Based on your warped logic, I , as an Englishman, must surely know all there is to know about every English player. What arrant nonsense you write!

  6. We defo need to build a young players up into top players and sell them at premium in the future to fund our transfers! It’s the only way to compete these days and iwobi is a good player but is not fit enough to last a full 90mins his conditioning is poor and he lasts about 65mins b4 he slows right down.

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