"The Roots Of Education Are Bitter, But The Fruit Is Sweet.
What You Plant Now, You Will Harvest Later."
Arsenal are showing great promise at youth level. In the 2017/18 season the u23s won the Premier League 2 and reached the final of the Premier League International Cup. The under 18s finished runners up to Chelsea in both the league and The FA Cup In recent seasons.
Several players have caught the eye, some have already made impressions at a first team level and have the hunger for more first team action. Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah, Josh Da Silva and Rob Holding are all players that need to be playing regularly at this stage of their development. If Unai Emery decides that first team action at the Emirates will not be happening for these players. They should be sent on loan to clubs out where they will be playing be regularly.
Arsenal currently have several first team players who some might say are coming towards the end of their *peak time as a footballer or are slap bang in the middle of it and will need phasing out sooner rather than later:
All the players listed are key players and it will cost a small fortune to replace these players. Money the club doesn’t have. Two years without Champions League Football does affect the budget and the club’s ability to attract the top players. Now is the time to promote from within. The talent is clearly there, and it would better for them to come into the side with about 50 games under their belts. You only gain experience from playing. A long-term loan deal benefits all parties concerned.
This tactic has benefited us in the past. The loans of Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Hector Bellerin to Bolton, Nottingham Forest and Watford respectively, prepared them for the transition to the first team. These 3 players played regularly during their loan spells and once they got back to the Emirates they didn’t look back.
Chuba Akpom is a good example of a deal that could work out for all parties concerned. Having had loan spells at Brighton and Hull that didn’t work out too well for him. Chuba went on loan to Belgium in January and despite initial struggles where he only returned 1 goal in 6 appearances for Sint Truidense. Chuba went on to score 5 goals in 10 appearances in the playoff stage of the Jupiler League. Unless Unai Emery wants to use him in the first team. Another season in Belgium trying to fire St Triden into Europe could be the making of him. If he is still not right for the first team, his stock hopefully will have increased and he can be sold on for a decent price.
Arsenal have lost a few promising youngsters to clubs abroad and players have gone on loans where they just haven’t played (Cohen Bramall & Krystian Bielik spring to mind). This needs to change. Hopefully the new regime in place recognise this and act upon it. The Kelechi Nwakali loan to Porto is hopefully a wave maker.
When chasing success, one often looks towards those that are and have been successful for inspiration. A plan should then be tailored to suit your cloth with an aim to improve upon or match that success.
Chelsea, since Roman Abramovich took over, have been the most successful English side. For all their successes the one facet of Chelsea’s set up I believe should be followed and improved upon is the South West London Club’s loan system.
A good loan spell can be the making of a player:
There are 8 present and past Chelsea players in that list. 2 have gone onto be first team regulars, Christensen & Courtois. There are reasons to be optimistic for Kenedy & Loftus-Cheek. Batshuayi had a great spell at Dortmund in the second half of the season before injury cut his season short. Salah, De Bruyne and Lukaku were sold on and are now playing at top clubs. Improving on this would be not to sell on a Salah, De Bruyne or Lukaku.
They were just a few examples, but there is one person I left out and that was Serge Gnabry, remember him? He had a terrible loan spell at West Brom whilst still at Arsenal. For some reason they thought it would be a good idea to send him to play under Tony Pulis! That loan spell was the end for him as an Arsenal player and he decided to go back to Germany with Werder Bremen. After a good season there he was picked up by Bayern Munich but given they had Ribery, Robben, James, Muller & Coman, he was sent out on loan again.
Not much difference to what Arsenal were doing no?
Well, one major difference is that he was sent on loan to Hoffenheim to play under Julien Nagglesmann. Gnabry has flourished under his tutelage and many would say he is ready to go back to Munich and be a first team regular.
Here is some food for thought. If Arsenal had sent “The Ox” on a 2-year loan to a club where he would have been played regularly in central midfield. Do you think he would still be at the club now?
When sending players out loan Arsenal should be looking carefully at the manager they are sending the player to work under. Brendan Rodgers at Celtic would be a good place to send players on loan. He is a good coach and Celtic are always looking to use the loan system given their financial situation. Players would get experience of playing in front of 60,000 passionate fans, playing in the Champions League and challenging for cups and league titles. Celtic Park would be a great place for Joe Willock or Josh Da Silva to learn the game.
Given the great football played in the championship last season and the way that Ryan Sessegnon has been nurtured. Fulham under Slavisa Jokanovic would be a good place to learn. Cohen Bramall could benefit from a placement here after the disastrous loan spell at Birmingham.
Sven Mislintat could use his connections in the Bundesliga to get a few players sent there to learn their trade. With players like Leon Bailey, Jadon Sancho and Ademola Lookman doing so well in Germany. Reiss Nelson or Eddie Nketiah could benefit from going to Germany if they are not to be involved with the first team. Rob Holding could also benefit from a spell in the Bundesliga.
Hopefully Arsenal will not let this abundance of talent go to waste. With Jack Wilshire leaving the club there is a need for another academy player to step up and fulfil their promise:
“Character cannot be developed in ease & quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved”