theHotHead wrote:swipe right wrote:theHotHead wrote: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 !
HH - times have changed drastically. The role of the academy has also changed. The likelihood of an academy player making it to a long term first team spot is about 1%. At the top end, it’s just too competitive to give kids a chance. Wenger recently said something interesting. He said you can’t afford to play a talented young defender because you know he has one or two mistakes in him that is going to cost you points. That means bringing through young players is always going to be a challenge. The academy of today for a club like Arsenal is a chance to make some money because these kids graduate with the Arsenal brand. It’s like having an Ivy League degree. It doesn’t mean you’ll succeed but companies will give you more of a look than others.
Fair point, I take that onboard that the Academy is now there to sell on players.
Regarding Wenger's comment about taking a risk playing a young defender in case they make mistakes, can anyone explain why we had calamity defenfders and keepers for so long if thats the case, every single one of them were established and adults.
The one criticism I have of Wenger is that he liked to indulge himself without care for the consequences. He put a lot of stock in his ability to pick a diamond among the rough. He succeeded at times with the likes of Koscielny but when it came to defenders he often missed the mark. He was far better at picking the undervalued midfielder or striker than defenders. And with out budgets being what they were, a mistake was something we could not get out of quickly or easily.