Author Archives: keenosafc

Youth need to earn their chance in Arteta’s team

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In my blog earlier this week about Amario Cozier-Duberry, the usual comments about “Arteta does not develop youth” were bought up again.

To start with, those making these comments are clearly doing so because they have a dislike of Arteta, and never wanted him as manager. They can no longer criticise his on pitch performances, nor our dealings in the transfer market, so instead they focus on him not developing youth.

They are the same sort of fans that if Arteta did stick Cozier-Duberry, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly on at 3-0 and we ended up winning 3-2, would moan that the manager weakened the team by sticking on youth.

Another point to make is these fans have probably never watched any of these youngsters play.

Premier League 2 games are not on TV, and only occassionaly are they streamed online (usually by the opposing club). The only chance they would get to have seen them play properly is if they went to Borehamwood. And lets be honest, these fellas moaning do not even go to senior games, let alone kids games.

They have built their opinion on what they have seen on blogs, on social media and the odd highlight. Mikel Arteta and his team sees these guys in training day in day out. They are much better positioned to establish whether a kid is ready or not in comparison to someone who watches senior games on a dodgy laptop stream thousands of miles away.

It is also forgotten by many that having these kids on the bench means that they do not get game time in the PL2 or the UEFA Youth League.

I have seen plenty saying “these guys should have been given a run in the last 10 minutes of the Lens game” or “they should have been on the bench for the PSV dead rubber”.

If you did not know (and these guys probably do not), the UEFA Youth League is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

On December, 4 hours before the senior team kicked off against PSV, Lewis-Skelly, Cozier-Duberry et al were playing against the Dutch outfits youth team (we won 3-1). And it was the same when the seniors played Lens. The youngsters were playing the French teams youngsters.

One of the benefits of “taking youngsters to a Champions League game” was so that they could get used to the travelling abroad and being in and around the squad. That now happens with the UEFA Youth League as our youngsters would have travelled to Holland with the senior team, trained with them, and so on.

It is surely better for their development to play a competitive 90 minutes against some of the best young footballers in Europe rather than play 10 senior minutes when the team is 6-0 up, and the game is being played at half pace.

I think there is also an over estimation just how many top players other sides in the “Big 6” bring through their academy. How many opportunities are given by their manager.

In all his time at Manchester City, Phil Foden is the only academy product to go on to become a week in week out regular for his club and England. Rico Lewis is a talent, but he has not yet solidified his break through.

Jurgen Klopp has given a lot of debuts and “5 minutes” to youngsters, but Trent Alexander-Arnold remains the only academy product to become a regular for Liverpool under his management.

None of Liverpool’s 2018/19 FA Youth Cup winning teams are at the club this season (by my math, two are out on loan).

This is not to abuse Klopp or Guardiola, or to claim that they do not care about youth. It is to highlight just how hard the step up is from talented youngster to senior regular, especially if that senior team is a top club challenging for honours.

To break through as regular for the Manchester City’s, Liverpool’s and Arsenal’s of this world, you not only have to be one of the best youth footballers in the world, but also one of the best footballers in the world. The likes of Saka, Foden and Trent are special talents that would have got their opportunity regardless of who they played for.

And this argument about “givign youth a chance” is not a new thing.

Arsene Wenger was heavily criticised over the years for not bringing through (English) academy lads. For over a decade, Ashley Cole was the only Arsenal Academy graduate who went on to be a regular for Wenger’s first team.

After his Class of 92, Sir Alex Ferguson’s next best youth academy products were Wes Brown, Danny Welbeck, John O’Shea and Jonny Evans. Not exactly superstars! And they have not really bought anyone else through since Marcus Rashford (9 years since his debut).

And during his first spell at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho did not develop a single Chelsea youngster who went on to become a first team regular.

Chelsea have been dominating the FA Youth Cup since 2010. In that time, Reece James, Mason Mount and Connor Gallagher are the only ones to go on to play regularly for Chelsea (plenty of others have built a career elsewhere).

And I always wonder whether the likes of James and Mount would have broken through if it were not for the transfer ban.

Since Harry Kane, Tottenham have not bought through a single home grown player that has gone on to be a regular for themselves or England (their next best players being Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp).

All these clubs have given opportunities to plenty of young players, and fans have got excited over countless youngsters who have been labelled “the next big thing”. But you can count the youngsters that have left these clubs over the last decade and gone on to huge success elsewhere (basically Jadon Sancho).

What this highlights is that top teams rarely develop youngsters They can not afford to give them the game time that they need. It is similar when recruiting from abroad – Brighton are praised for finding these unknown players, but they can afford to give them game time and let them make mistakes that cost points. Title challenging teams can not play 6 or 7 unknowns in the hope it works.

When top clubs do have a kid break through, these players tend to become amongst the best in the world in their position. Foden, Kane, Rashford, Trent, Saka are global superstars!

My final point on this is take a look at the England national team. You would expect most of the starting XI to have come through a Big 6 academy. But the top clubs are simply do not have a conveyor belt of young talent breaking through:

Pickford – Sunderland
Walker – Sheffield United
Stones – Barnsley
Maguire – Sheffield United
Shaw – Southampton
Rice – West Ham
Bellingham – Birmingham
Foden – Man City
Saka – Arsenal
Kane – Tottenham
Rashford – Manchester United

Just 4 of the 11 I would play for England came from a top 6 academy.

When it comes to the last squad, it does look a little better with 11 of the 21 selected by Gareth Southgate coming through a top 6 academy. But 4 of those (Johnstone, Guehi, Tomori, Palmer) had to move away from their boyhood team to get first team football.

All this highlights that it is not just Arsenal who see very few players go through the academy and go on to be a superstar for club and country.

In my footballing lifetime (first game 1995), there are just 3 players who have come through our academy and gone on to have a huge impact on the club – Ashley Cole, Jack Wilshere and Bukayo Saka.

Many of the other youngsters who some of you might name (Cesc, Clichy, Martinelli, etc) were not true graduates. They were signed from other academies in their mid-teens.

I love it when a local kid breaks through and makes an impact. But I also understand that not every kid makes it, and you are doing well if you create 1 global superstar a decade.

Ultimately, if you are good enough you will get your chance. And you prove that you are good enough by working hard and showing your worth at London Colney, by going out on loan and impressing. Just being at the club for 7 or 8 years does not mean you “deserve a chance”.

Enjoy your Friday.

Keenos

Raya proving Arteta right in battle for Arsenal number 1

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The recruitment of David Raya by Arsenal has been one of the most talked about transfers in decades.

Popular Aaron Ramsdale was cast aside in mid-August as Raya joined from Brentford on-loan. The result was a never ending stream of criticism from journalists, pundits and many Arsenal fans.

6 months on and Raya now looks very settled in an Arsenal jersey, and any negative comments surrounding why we signed him should be gone – although every now and again a lazy pundit likes to mention him again.

We conceded a shocker of a goal against Liverpool and this lead to those lazy pundits to repeat their misguided rhetoric.

Karen Carney, one of a new breed of pundits who are just not fit for purpose, said “the goalkeeper needs to communicate better, he can see it all, he’s under no pressure, and that’s where we question is he the right goalkeeper because he doesn’t have that commanding presence.”

Firstly, the goal was clearly not his fault.

William Saliba failed to take control of the situation and expected his keeper to come out for the ball. In leaving it for Raya, the Frenchman did not work hard enough to keep Luis Diaz behind him. The result was the calamity of an own goal for Gabriel.

I have watched the goal numerous times and fail to see how any blame goes on Raya. As a central defender, you should always be thinking “if in doubt, kick it out”.

It is clear that Raya did not call for the ball – you can see in his body language and way he did not fly out for the ball. It was Saliba’s decision that it would be “keepers” rather than Raya’s. A defender should not be making that decision for the keeper.

One thing that has impressed me with Raya is his command of the area.

When we signed him, I spoke to a Brentford fan and he informed me that Raya’s aerial prowess was one of his best attributes. He would come out in a crowded box and catch the ball under extreme pressure. Handling in the air was exceptional.

Early in his career, Raya had a couple of bloopers (Chelsea) where he was arguably in the wrong position for a cross. At the time I questioned whether this was his issue, or an issue with coaching. Since that day he has looked imperious in the air.

Only 3 players have caught the ball from more crosses this season than Raya. In comparison, he has punched the ball clea just 4 times (16th in the Premier League). So I am not really sure what Carney is going on about when she says Raya does not have a “commanding presence.”

A lot of the love for Ramsdale was over his character. He is a decent keeper who is good enough for a top 6 team. Raya has that little bit extra that could lead him to being a title winning keeper.

Take the quick throw outs as an example.

Over the years we have seen Ederson and Alisson turn defence into attack with their quick and accurate distribution (whether by feet or throwing). It is a great asset to have for a keeper in a top team as you can launch an attack with opponents having players up the field and before defenders have got back into their low block.

Raya was involved in a lot of goals for Brentford with his distribution, and I am sure this is one reason we signed him.

Having settled in the team, we are now seeing the impact of Raya. Everytime he gets the ball Gabriel Martinelli is sprinting into that space left by a full back. We have already scored once this season and against Liverpool we were unlucky not to score another.

What is interesting when watching Raya is he does not just pump it forward every time. He looks for that quick throw out and if it is not on he is happy taking a few steps back. For me this is the difference between him and Ramsdale.

Ramsdale was neither accurate enough in his distribution, or calm enough to realise the opportunity had gone. He would often just launch the ball forward, needlessly losing us possesion.

As Raya has settled, his distribution is much improved.

It was always going to take a while for him to get used to passing out to Gabriel, William Saliba, Declan Rice, etc. Understanding where they would be positioned and how they wanted the ball delivered makes all the difference when trying to draw the opponent out close to our goal ahead of launching an attack to get throug the press.

When he first joined, Raya was having to get his head up and look where he was playign the ball. This would lose vital split-seconds. Now he is playing those passes on instinct, knowing his teammate will arrive into the space he is passing into.

For me it is now a no-brainer. Raya is available for £27million in the summer and it is a move we have to make. Meanwhile, we should be looking to cash in on Ramsdale for £40million or more. Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Brighton and Newcastle look the likely destinations.

A £13million (or more) difference between the two fees will add extra to our transfer kitty this summer. Although that would likely be eaten up as we buy a new number two (someone who is happy to sit on the bench and whose dad won’t go on every podcast going).

Have a good Thursdsay.

Keenos

Omari Hutchinson warning for Amario Cozier-Duberry

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Morning! Anyone still buzzing from Sunday?

Whenever we lose a game such as West Ham or at Fulham, I always think you need to take the rough with the smooth. Football is a game of incredible highs and lows and you can not have one without the other.

Mid-week with no football so there is very little happening!

Arsenal are in negotiations with Amario Cozier-Duberry. He is also reprotedly garnering plenty of interest from elsewhere.

Cozier-Duberry’s contract expires in the summer, and we have got ourselves in this position a few times recently with youngsters in contract dispute.

The issue stems from their lack of game time, which I do not see as a problem. If they were good enough, they would be getting games.

We have moved on from 2018 where, with Europa League football, we could give yougnsters game time. 10-minutes here or there when we are beating Sheffield United will do nothing for their development. And playing them longer will put our title chances at risk.

Fans demand us to be the best of the best. To secure those players who can win us the title. Then at the same complain that we are not giving youngsters a chance. You can not really have both and only those youngster who are truly special will break through.

Likewise, players seem to be more impatient than ever. They are looking for a move away if they do not get game time when they are not ready. And why would a club give them game time if they are refusing to sign a new deal?

At 18, they should be signing that new 3-year deal and then heading out on loan. After a year of playing in the Championship, both them and the club will have a clearer view of where their future lies.

Liverpool’s Conor Bradley is a perfect example of this.

Bradley singed his new deal with his boyhood club at 18. He was then loaned out to Bolton Wanderers for a year, playing more than 50 games in a single season. This season he has become part of Liverpool’s first team squad, and has established himself as their second choice right back behind Trent Alexander-Arnold. He turns 21 in July.

Omari Hutchinson should be a warning to those players within our academy that are looking to leave due to not getting their chance.

In 2022. Hutchinson decided he had a better chance of first team football at Chelsea. Arsenal were looking to loan him out for the 2022/23 season.

Hutchinson’s first year at Chelsea saw him play just 2 games, playing just 49 minutes. For 2023/24 he was loaned out to Ipswich Town. So by leaving Arsenal, he lost a year of his development as Arsenal had that loan deal lined up for a year earlier.

Whilst on loan, Hutchinson has not exactly ripped things up in Suffolk. He has started just 7 Championship game and played 37% of Ipswich’s total minutes across all games.

Lino Sousa also recently left after deciding he had better first team opportunities at Aston Villa. He is now on loan at Plymouth Argyle.

I have no issue players leaving for first team football. It is after-all their career. But there has yet been a youngster who has left our academy at 18 or 19 and gone on to prove us wrong. We have not had a Jadon Sancho or Paul Pogba.

Cozier-Duberry, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri and others are all good youth players. But none of them are ready for Arsenal’s first team – or any other Premier League first team. If they decide to leave us due to not getting their first team opportunity, then “goodbye and good luck” lads. They will soon find out the grass is not greener.

Arteta needs to make personel decisions based on the players who will give us the best chance to win the league this season. If that means we lose youngsters who are not currently good enough to make an impact, then fair enough.

My final thought on this is for those who will say Arteta does not give youngsters a chance whilst other managers do. I always look at the top level of English football as the comparison – playing for the English national team.

Bukayo Saka is England’s 5th youngest player to pull on the shirt in the last 12 months. The 4 younger have been Jude Bellingham (27 caps), Cole Palmer (2 caps), Levi Colwill (1 cap) and Rico Lewis (1 cap).

So the only team to have developed a regular England international since Bukayo Saka is Birmingham City.

Not much else happening except for the usual BS transfer speculation. Enjoy your Wednesday.

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Keenos