3 reasons why Arsenal FC can’t trust the youngsters

First of all; Arsenal FC almost have an exclusive franchise for fancy football in the English Premiership. I don’t think any football fan wants to discuss that. It’s often a wonderful thing to behold when they’re in their element, passing the ball with the grace of a ballet dancer and the precision of a math teacher. The question on the lips of average ardent football fans, particularly Premiership supporters after Tuesday’s loss to Manchester United and Sunday’s drubbing of London rivals Chelsea, is “where will the Arsenal from here? again, can they make progress with their crop of youngsters? I think not and I give three reasons why.

1. Lack of credible role models: Players like Cesc Fabregas matured while playing alongside midfield generals like Patrick Viera. The result is obvious in the quality of his game today. The same can hardly be said for the other youngsters on the team. There are hardly any world class players at all positions for players to learn. Again compare that to Anderson’s maturity playing alongside Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Owen Hargreaves or even Kiko Macheda alongside Carlos Tevez, Berbatov, Ronaldo and Rooney.

2. Unattractive pay structure: While it’s refreshing to see a club that won’t be bullied into breaking the bank just to pay player salaries, Arsenal take the opposite position at times. They obviously have the least attractive salaries in the top four and this will force players who have started to mature and gel to seek out the proverbial greener pastures, leaving the manager to start grooming someone new. In other words, go back to one.

3. Ambition: It is every footballer’s desire to win trophies and he will gravitate towards the club that will give him the least chance given the right circumstances. Arsenal, despite their stylish and sexy football, have had quite a few ‘trophyless’ seasons recently. This, coupled with their inability or refusal to sign big-name players, has cost them the likes of the talismanic and iconic Thierry Henry, as well as Hleb and Flamini, at Barcelona and AC Milan, respectively (both very ambitious clubs).

I would love to see this set of Arsenal players solidify, gain individual and team experience and then stick together for a while. The results will be amazing. The problem is; they will do it? Time will tell, but obviously Arsenal have to become flexible with some of their player policies or risk losing the best of them. Don’t pin your hopes on young players if you intend to sell them once they mature.