KG3 wrote:You don’t know that until they get a run of games though, some of them may hit the ground running like Fabregas and Martinelli or they could turn out to be slow learners like Song and Fabianski or they may turn out bad like Senderos and Bendtner. The fact is we won’t know until we actually play them, I’m not saying they should start in the prem but surely these guys should be getting minutes against Europa league teams and some cup games, if they excel in those games then play them in the league.
We do know, they have had a run of games, its the reason Martinelli and Saka are lauded by fans and why they get the games.
Slow learners ? Neither song or Fabianski had any place playing for the Arsenal first team, they were shit ! Song was appalling, Fabianski improved and finally looks like a decent keeper at West Ham, but look how long that took, are you suggesting we persist with kids for 7-10 years ?? Get real.
Look at Arsenal since Wenger, how many kids did we develop that you would call an absolute asset ? If I am being generous I will say
Cole, Clichy, Ramsey, Walcott, Fabregas, Anelka, RVP, Bellerin, Wilshere. If I am honest and include those players that were developed by Arsenal that list becomes
Cole, Clichy, Ramsey, Walcott, Bellerin, Wilshere. If I remove the generosity I spoke of earlier - by only listing players that were truly Arsenal quality that list becomes
Cole and Wilshere - and Wilshere many would argue shouldn't be on the list because he was inconsistent (due to injuries).
Developing kids that are simply mediocre and we have to sell them on is not a success of the academy, successes are players that come through the system and go on to have an Arsenal career. The list of rejected kids is long, too long. Our last batch of quality home-grown players were Michael Thomas, Paul Davis, David Rocastle, Tony Adams, Paul Merson, et al,over 30 fooking years ago !