Arsenal Youngsters Bring Fresh Hope
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
It is almost like finding a needle in a hay stack isn’t it? You sit down at the computer, click on your favourite news aggregator, and try to find an article that is not about the Cesc saga. The needle I saw today, was a piece from a Spurs blog. A refreshing article on the future of youth football which got me thinking.
As all Gooners know, when Arsenal decided that the club had grown too big for Highbury, we were about to go through a few years, at least, of financial frugality. Despite what the board and Arsene were saying, we knew that Wenger could and perhaps would not compete financially with Manchester United. And the injection of riches at Chelsea, and more recently Man City didn’t make things any easier. Arsene set about his youth project, purchasing young players whose price tags would not fall instantly like experienced professionals, and nurturing talents in our youth system instead of making other clubs richer by buying theirs. It’s been 5 years since the youth project started, with the sale of Patrick Vieira. But besides the paying off the debts, we haven’t achieved much out of project. Arsene would have probably seen a trophy as a bonus, but the youngsters we ‘imported’ came and went, and our much publicised youth academy seemed to be a breeding ground for players good enough for the championship, not championship winning players.
5 years later, it seems that the youth project has come to an end (or maybe that’s just what some of us Gooners choose to believe). Ironically, this season looks genuinely like the season where our youngsters look like making the step up. Jack Wilshere’s rise to the first team seems all set to be complete. He looks just as capable as any of those players on the pitch. Kieran Gibbs looked impressive at the Emirates Cup despite only just returning from a serious injury. His better crossing and some would say better defending than Clichy means that the Frenchman has a battle on his hands for the coveted left back place. Many people have said that Jay Emmanuel-Thomas’ versatility has worked against him but when you’re a youngster fighting for a place on the subs bench for one of England’s best clubs, perhaps being versatile isn’t a bad thing. I have a strong feeling that there will be a place for JET on the subs bench quite often this season. He is far from the finished article as pre-season has proven, but this kid has bags of potential and looks worthy of the red and white shirt.
To be honest, I wrote this article with one particular youngster in mind, Emmanuel Frimpong (Arsene really likes ‘em Emmanuels, doesn’t he?). After the Emirates Cup, Arsene revealed that he considered dipping into the transfer market but had changed his mind after watching Frimpong (and Wilshere) impress in midfield. Frimpong looked excellent and perhaps the fact that he came through the academy will mean that he will not go through the growing pains Alex Song went through as he matured in the first team.
Whether it is this season or the next, it may just been the optimism of this average Gooner, but I sincerely think we are on the cusp of our own Golden Generation here. A Gooner can dream, and my dream is that 5 years from now, I see Vermaelen leading to glory an army of red and white with the likes of Wilshere, Gibbs, and a keeper whose name I’ll never be able to pronounce.
And as Thomas lifts the Premiership trophy over his head in front of 60,000 screaming Gooners, I’ll turn to the guy next to me and say, “Arsene really does know best.”
