Youngsters Breakthrough....

I know we need to sign some top quality, but ignore that for the time being.

Do we think there will be a breakthrough for any of the youngsters this year, a la Jack a few years back?

We seem to have a couple of lads who could well feature a bit, and to me look very useful players.

Gnabry
Eisfeld
Akpom

It's so difficult to tell if their talent can be transferred into first team football, but every time I've seen Eisfeld (for example) he's looked the nuts.

Everyone always goes on about the failed "project youth"...but realistically, if you look around all of the top teams in the UK, very few players ever make it.

Thoughts?

I've lost interest in the youth development stuff.

I also like the look of those 3 and reports have been very good on them, plus ollsen as well. Bellerin is also very good from the bits i have seen.

I kinda think if we do have a summer of not making major signings then maybe we should go with some youth, not just in the carling but also in the fa cup as well. Do a fergie when he brought through that young crop of beckham, nevilles etc.

Put it this way if we dont sign a striker i would rather give akpom a chance than champax

Aye. And for all the stuff people say about our youth system not working.....

Gibbs, Wilshere, Cesc, Song, Chesney....they've all played major parts in OUR first team, let alone a bunch of others who have not made the level, but still moved onto reasonable clubs.

I would expect at least one of the current crop to make it.

Eisfeld seems to have the most talent, but it's whether he can build himself up physically IMO.

Isn't the one the club are most excited about Zealem? He's looks a talent on this tour

There was a time when I bothered with the youth developments, most of you might remember that Young Guns website quite a while back that blogged on it, and I was genuinely interested into how they'd do.

Now though, I don't care, they'll be touted as being good, and end up at a low level Premiership team, play crap and then end up in the championship.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ollie the optimist

Isn't the one the club are most excited about Zealem? He's looks a talent on this tour

---

Yeah, but he's only 16 isn't he? Should imagine he has a couple of years in the ressies for now?

Unless he's really awlsome....shame I've missed the games so far...

yep zealem is really highly rated but i think he may be a bit behind in terms of readiness for 1st team. eisfeld is the one i think is the closest. seems to have a good eye and seems calm and confident and ready to step up.

None of them have been impressive.

Iirc Gnabry had a couple of games in the first team last season and stunk the place up. Never seen Eisfeld or Akpom.

They might make it, they might not. Don't care anymore. The youth project route has been a failure and I've lost all trust in it.

Buying players is the way to go

Kids looked better than the pubfirst teamers on the tour so far. But they all look physically lightweight fro the PL, except Akpom. Lots of potential but we've evidently been having problems translating that to the first team over the last few years. Would be great to see a couple of genuine talents emerge from within but you are always afraid the board will just sell them.

the problem with eisfield and gnabry is that they're playing a position we already got filled by really good players for the next many years.

That 16 year old kid zelalem or whatever his name is... damn! I hope he'll get some carling cup games this season, his passing is ridiculous good.

well eisfeld certainly is in a filled position but gnabry may get more game time on the wings. essentially we havent really got a proper winger so players like theo or pods are the only ones filling the wider slots.

What happened to the beast that was called JET that people raved about?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

I've lost interest in the youth development stuff.

---

Yeah me too, too many in the door not many made it. Once upon a time the thought of a youngster coming through and getting some games was exciting, not anymore.

Project youth :rose:

Zimm, nothing excites you. We could sign Higuain, fabregas, Suarez and MESSI and you still wouldn't be excited because we would have wenger or some other reason you'd make up

Hard to be excited about youth tbh, a lack of success at present means any star's will be fucking off to the big boys as soon as they have one decent game. More likely they'll have bags of talent but won't cut it in this league and eventually fuck off to spain.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ollie the optimist

Zimm, nothing excites you. We could sign Higuain, fabregas, Suarez and MESSI and you still wouldn't be excited because we would have wenger or some other reason you'd make up

---

Wrong, nothing excites me at Arsenal because everything is very stale.

Same thing happens over and over and over again, nothing ever changes, from our competitiveness, to our transfers, to our style etc etc

Wenger is so boring it has to be said, he claims he wants to entertain and yet has no concept of the meaning of the word excitement.

The kids, well we've seen it all before haven't we, hundreds of kids coming through the door and most of them disappointing with those few that don't moving on when they realise they're never going to win anything here.

Messi :lol:

Doubt he'd excite anyone

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LDG

Yeah, but he's only 16 isn't he? Should imagine he has a couple of years in the ressies for now?

Unless he's really awlsome....shame I've missed the games so far...

---

Watch them on the Arsenal Player, Zelalem and Gnabry look very good.

IMO I think the priority for the Youth development program should be to only integrate "special talents" into the first team. If they are not good enough they shouldn't get in and we certainly shouldn't be investing millions in youth players who are not of the required standard.

I accept that a lot of our youth may not quite make the grade, but I'd rather we have 1 or 2 "special talents" every 3 to 4 years make the breakthrough than stacking the squad with above average "youth" which seems to have been the case over the past 5 or 6 years. We're even buying in a lot of "youth" who don't seem amount to much.

The only "youth" player I have seen who I think could turn into a gem of a player is Gnarby, the rest don't seem to be of the required level IMHO and that includes players such as Miguel who is already in the first team squad and the likes of Joel Campbell and Ryo.

Whatever anyone says we waste a lot of money on these youth players as most of them require us to pay some compensation to the club they are leaving.

the club hasnt got the patience of the fans or quality of players in the first team to accommodate youngsters these days. hence why they either a. turn out shit b. play well for a while before going awol.

when you play with henry, bergkamp, vieira, you will nurture into a star.

when you play with the likes of gervinho, diaby and giroud, you dont.

The kid we just bought from Villa has the potential to be better than anyone currently in our youth teams.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

I've lost interest in the youth development stuff.

---

Yep.

Unfortunately the club are doing a very good job at killing any passion and enthusiasm that most fans once had :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Grebbo

The kid we just bought from Villa has the potential to be better than anyone currently in our youth teams.

---

Most of the topics an conversations on here nowadays have the potential to endlessly repeat themselves from the last 8 years.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arse n Wonga

What happened to the beast that was called JET that people raved about?

---

I think he sells dodgy replica tops outside the emirates now.

Or he was sold somewhere.

Fuck knows tbh. Another 'potential' who turned out to be shit.

Ho hum.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jeebus

Yep.

Unfortunately the club are doing a very good job at killing any passion and enthusiasm that most fans once had :(

---

I'm still pretty upbeat about the youth teams, our Carling Cup team of a few years ago played some fantastic football. Our youth development has been pretty decent (if you get one first teamer every 5 years you're doing well), it's the established players that we've bought that have been very underwhelming at best and piss poor at worst.

It's likely that this kid we bought from Villa will be better than any first teamers we buy this summer - because we wont buy any.