mav_9me
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- Feb 9, 2009
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How many academy players has Arteta integrated to the first team, in terms of giving them genuine opportunities? I think that could be a big part of it.
He looks at Mainoo and Garnacho and even Willy from last year and can see a clear pathway to the first team. Even Forson started in the league at a point so he can see an opportunity to become a first teamer here more so than Arsenal. Nketiah and Smith Rowe haven't been playing as much and most young players will look at this as a red flag. The biggest talent to come through recently in Nwaneri hasn't gotten 10% of Mainoos play time and young Arsenal players will see this. Now I get that it's harder to bed youngsters into title challenging sides and Arteta can point to that but Sir Alex had no issues doing this and in order to avoid continuously losing your talented youngsters, Arteta will have to consider how to integrate more kids or show a clear pathway. Arsene did it to great effect and Arsenal was known for this. Remember the Larsson's and the Qunicy's, Alliadiere, Clichy, Traore etc you have to try and bring them through. Not all will make it but you do it to show the u18s that if they grind they too can play for the first team one day.
Perhaps, but I'm not sure what you say paints a whole story.
Nketiah isn't a kid any more, he's 25 now and had plenty runs in the first team to try and establish himself. Unfortunately he's just not good enough.
Smith-Rowe has been the victim of his injuries and fitness issues and at a time when the club have went from 8th in the table to 2nd.
We've not really got the players good enough from 18-21 in the Academy. Maybe Cozier-Duberry could have had more minutes, Patino has had 2 loans but never established himself at either, but not really sure there's many if any others that you could point to.
Nwaneri as you point out is the big talent, with Lewis-Skelly not far behind him. They haven't had any of Mainoo's game time, but both were 16 going into last season, a year older than Chido is now. Both should get game time this pre season, and hopefully they do well enough to keep in and around the first team.
However, something has convinced him his future lies elsewhere, so yeah, you guys are maybe right. If I were him, id head to the likes of Dortmund with their track record, the attacking naumture of the Bundesliga etc but like I said, if he ends up at Utd fair play and good luck to the lad.
It's always difficult to assess if arteta is being too cautious or if their current title challenging level requires a higher level of talent to break into the first team.
Tbf to arteta, he did integrate Saka (academy) and Martinelli (youngster) into the first team. Not sure you can count Saliba in that as he is just too good. He has given chances to Nketiah who he has kept as 2nd choice striker for 2 yrs. And ESR was key to arsenal 3 yrs ago, but injuries have derailed his progress.
I think this a grey area and comparisons between us and arsenal in this regard is difficult given the different circumstances and quality of squad.