Arsenal Reserve players that you think will make it at Arsenal

[Dicks and chicks]

Reckon Eisfeld and Miquel have a good chance of making it seeing as they are currently better than what we have but other than that our current prospects don't look that promising, what do people think of Yennaris?

[Grebbo]

I hope none of them make it as it'll mean our first team is just as shit as it is now.

[GP]

How do you figure?

[Grebbo]

Because our reserves look crap.

[Özim]

Reserves :lol:

Awful 1st team

[Dicks and chicks]

Because our reserves look crap.

tbh Im not excited by most of them as i used to be, mainly because they have made little impact in the league cup this season

[Özim]

Do you remember AW's 10 year plan for the youth policy/teams.

That went well :lol:

We use to produce better youngsters in the Graham days.

[Gervinho's Forehead]

I used to be excited about our youth and reserve teams but not anymore, they look pretty crap as has already been said.

[GP]

Because our reserves look crap.

Eisfeld looks exceptional.

[Özim]

Enough about his looks.

[Grebbo]

Eisfeld looks exceptional.

Yup, he's so good he can't even get into our exceptional first team squad.

[GP]

Best to write him off immediately then.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Do you remember AW's 10 year plan for the youth policy/teams.

That went well :lol:

We use to produce better youngsters in the Graham days.

:haha: oh dear

[GP]

:haha: oh dear

Don't forget the homegrown superstars like Mark Flatts

[Kano]

Yup, he's so good he can't even get into our exceptional first team squad.
given our managers judge of character, that doesn't really mean much.

[Grebbo]

Best to write him off immediately then.

Not writing him off but it's a fact that he can't get into the shitiest first team squad we've had for 15 years. It's not as if he's a kid.

Our reserves look absolute junk. At least with Wilshere there was a bit of hope but none of the current lot look any good.

Wasn't Afobe meant to be the next Wright? Can't even get into a shite Bolton team.

Wasn't Ryo supposed to be challenging Walcott? Can't even get into a shite Wigan team.

Our youngsters are shite. Now is the time to spend big on proven quality. Before there was always the backup of "oh but the youth look really exciting, the future is bright blahhhhhhh". Not anymore!

[Dicks and chicks]

Not writing him off but it's a fact that he can't get into the shitiest first team squad we've had for 15 years. It's not as if he's a kid.

Our reserves look absolute junk. At least with Wilshere there was a bit of hope but none of the current lot look any good.

Wasn't Afobe meant to be the next Wright? Can't even get into a shite Bolton team.

Wasn't Ryo supposed to be challenging Walcott? Can't even get into a shite Wigan team.

Our youngsters are shite. Now is the time to spend big on proven quality. Before there was always the backup of "oh but the youth look really exciting, the future is bright blahhhhhhh". Not anymore!
Ryo's been injured lay off him, he was one of Feyenoord' best players when he was on loan at that them, give him time he's only 20. Reason Tom E isn't making our team is because wenger doesn't want to kill Ramsey .I agree with you though in terms of our reserve team in general, its certainly the least exciting reserve team in terms of youth prospects in decades.

[Özim]

:haha: oh dear
Paul Merson, Tony Adams, David Rocastle, Ray Parlour, Andy Cole, to name but a few, a couple start off just before Graham joined but you should get the point. I'd take any of those and replace the sh*te in our team in a flash.

So yes oh dear, Wenger is a total failure on that score the youths are sh*t....the only ones that were any good were the ones he poached from other clubs.

[Özim]

Not writing him off but it's a fact that he can't get into the shitiest first team squad we've had for 15 years. It's not as if he's a kid.

Our reserves look absolute junk. At least with Wilshere there was a bit of hope but none of the current lot look any good.

Wasn't Afobe meant to be the next Wright? Can't even get into a shite Bolton team.

Wasn't Ryo supposed to be challenging Walcott? Can't even get into a shite Wigan team.

Our youngsters are shite. Now is the time to spend big on proven quality. Before there was always the backup of "oh but the youth look really exciting, the future is bright blahhhhhhh". Not anymore!
I remember people milking themselves over JET :lol:

[Xhaka Can’t]

Paul Merson, Tony Adams, David Rocastle, Ray Parlour, Andy Cole, to name but a few, a couple start off just before Graham joined but you should get the point. I'd take any of those and replace the sh*te in our team in a flash.

So yes oh dear, Wenger is a total failure on that score the youths are sh*t....the only ones that were any good were the ones he poached from other clubs.

Is there any chance you can let a thread stay on topic without turning it into another Manager bashing thread?

[Özim]

Is there any chance you can let a thread stay on topic without turning it into another Manager bashing thread?
We were talking about the reserves, so it's perfectly relevant.

Our youth policy is sh*t despite a plan we had, consequently our youths are sh*t. It's really produced next to nothing, the players that made it were poached from other clubs, I don't think any of our reserves will make it...we've had better teams where none have.

[Kano]

Not writing him off but it's a fact that he can't get into the shitiest first team squad we've had for 15 years. It's not as if he's a kid.

Our reserves look absolute junk. At least with Wilshere there was a bit of hope but none of the current lot look any good.

Wasn't Afobe meant to be the next Wright? Can't even get into a shite Bolton team.

Wasn't Ryo supposed to be challenging Walcott? Can't even get into a shite Wigan team.

Our youngsters are shite. Now is the time to spend big on proven quality. Before there was always the backup of "oh but the youth look really exciting, the future is bright blahhhhhhh". Not anymore!
they qualified in that next gen series thing (kiddie champs league) so they can't be that piss poor.

[Özim]

they qualified in that next gen series thing (kiddie champs league) so they can't be that piss poor.
We had a team that won 2 youth cups, none of them ever came through and made it.

[Kano]

Paul Merson, Tony Adams, David Rocastle, Ray Parlour, Andy Cole, to name but a few, a couple start off just before Graham joined but you should get the point. I'd take any of those and replace the sh*te in our team in a flash.
true but they'll be saying that in another ten years at old trafford. look at liverpool since their lot fell away.

[Kano]

We had a team that won 2 youth cups, none of them ever came through and made it.
as i said earlier in this thread - given our managers judge of character in recent years, what do people expect. from there it isn't as easy as leaving and making it somewhere else - breaking through into a full on excellent professional entails a myriad of things to go 'right' for the player. which is why most youngsters never make that level.

[Boss]

The reason why we don't have any youth prospects in the reserves (imo) is because we've put most of them to the first team due to the constant selling off of age appropriate first teamers. In the past the likes of Ramsey, Gibbs, Chamberlain probably wouldn't be starting for us and we'd rate them as highly if not higher than Aliadiere, Vela, Bendtner etc. Nowadays our reserves come from our U20 team, none of which which are that exciting, although to be fair we haven't really seen the likes of Miyaichi, Eisfield etc in action too much.

[Grebbo]

Ryo's been injured lay off him, he was one of Feyenoord' best players when he was on loan at that them, give him time he's only 20. Reason Tom E isn't making our team is because wenger doesn't want to kill Ramsey .I agree with you though in terms of our reserve team in general, its certainly the least exciting reserve team in terms of youth prospects in decades.

He's 20?! Damn that's even worse. He's got no chance.

FYI he's been injured for the past couple of weeks but he's been benched from day one at Wigan.

[Grebbo]

they qualified in that next gen series thing (kiddie champs league) so they can't be that piss poor.

I think every English team qualified. It's no great achievement.

[Grebbo]

Wish Frimpmong would fuck off as well.

[Alpha]

Miguel , Esfield , Yennaris , Serge Gnabry got exceptional talent and will make it to the first team . I also think Joel Campbell on loan at Real Betis has A good chance to play for Arsenal next season

[Grebbo]

I remember people milking themselves over JET :lol:

:lol:

Remember Tom Cruise? Such a shame he didn't make it with a name like that!!

[Gervinho's Forehead]

There was so much hype surrounding all of these players named :lol:

They all were shit really! :haha:

[Grebbo]

Miguel , Esfield , Yennaris , Serge Gnabry got exceptional talent and will make it to the first team . I also think Joel Campbell on loan at Real Betis has A good chance to play for Arsenal next season

I watched Joel Campbell the other week. He got subbed at half time. Looks like an Arsenal player.

[Kano]

I think every English team qualified. It's no great achievement.
i wasn't look at a great achievement, more so that they aren't incredibly shit

city didn't make it :lol: building for the future

[fakeyank]

All players with Barca DNA are going to be good.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

i remember when we used to send out the kids in the carling cup against premiership teams. we'd win 6-0.

now we put the first team out and lose to bradford :haha:

[-Xs-]

Probably better than losing 5-1 to spuds though... :coffee:

[Cripps_orig]

Reckon Eisfeld and Miquel have a good chance of making it seeing as they are currently better than what we have but other than that our current prospects don't look that promising, what do people think of Yennaris?

Eisfeld :lol:

Hope Miquel makes it.

Can't really think of anyone else

[LDG]

When will people ever understand that a very low percentage of footballers ever make it into the first team of a premiership club.

We have brought on a fair few decent young players over the years, comparatively more than many of the big sides. The only difference being the Utd side of the early nineties, which was soley based on the cradle robbing they carried out before anyone else thought about it (a bit like we did with unknown French players when AW arrived).

For every "crop" I think it's right to expect one or two players make it to the first team, a few will be sold to sides further down the league, a few to the championship and a few to lower leagues. Other careers will just end. That's the way it is.

There are a few half decent youngsters knocking at the door, but playing reserve footy is not anywhere near playing first team. Eisfeld, Olsson, Toral and Gnabry have all impressed, and Miquel looks a player, but he still looks a little lightweight just now. Be great to see a couple of them come through....my money is on Eisfeld.

The blinkered, spoiled and idiotic thoughts of some fans are quite astonishing, though. We sometimes expect too much.

[Gervinho's Forehead]

i remember when we used to send out the kids in the carling cup against premiership teams. we'd win 6-0.

now we put the first team out and lose to bradford :haha:

Those were the days!! Real talent there, but just lacked that little something, that confidence when it came to later rounds.

[Kano]

When will people ever understand that a very low percentage of footballers ever make it into the first team of a premiership club.

We have brought on a fair few decent young players over the years, comparatively more than many of the big sides. The only difference being the Utd side of the early nineties, which was soley based on the cradle robbing they carried out before anyone else thought about it (a bit like we did with unknown French players when AW arrived).

For every "crop" I think it's right to expect one or two players make it to the first team, a few will be sold to sides further down the league, a few to the championship and a few to lower leagues. Other careers will just end. That's the way it is.

There are a few half decent youngsters knocking at the door, but playing reserve footy is not anywhere near playing first team. Eisfeld, Olsson, Toral and Gnabry have all impressed, and Miquel looks a player, but he still looks a little lightweight just now. Be great to see a couple of them come through....my money is on Eisfeld.

The blinkered, spoiled and idiotic thoughts of some fans are quite astonishing, though. We sometimes expect too much.

well exactly. it takes so many moments that are out of their hands to make it through to the first team squad, let alone to any sort of consistent level in the starting eleven. there is a book called 'outliers' by malcolm gladwell that takes it back to birth dates and how being born in the 'wrong' month can affect a kids sports progression because they can be placed in a group that is not as physically developed as those born a month or so ahead of them and from that point they miss draft picks etc.

man utd will look back in ten years and remember their golden youth period, as liverpool now do, ajax have and as barcelona also will in another 10-15 because quite simply no team is able to produce a constant supply of kids decade after decade. we had ours in the late 80s/90s and with the changes in the modern game it means the pressure for success forces the hands of managers to fill their teams with 'sure fire' players that can guarantee that, rather than chancing their arm with untried youngsters.

i think, tbf, more could have been made of the kids we had under our wings in the past 5-6 years but for whatever reason that didn't take place and i don't think we are the only team culpable of doing so either.

[Özim]

When will people ever understand that a very low percentage of footballers ever make it into the first team of a premiership club.

We have brought on a fair few decent young players over the years, comparatively more than many of the big sides. The only difference being the Utd side of the early nineties, which was soley based on the cradle robbing they carried out before anyone else thought about it (a bit like we did with unknown French players when AW arrived).

For every "crop" I think it's right to expect one or two players make it to the first team, a few will be sold to sides further down the league, a few to the championship and a few to lower leagues. Other careers will just end. That's the way it is.

There are a few half decent youngsters knocking at the door, but playing reserve footy is not anywhere near playing first team. Eisfeld, Olsson, Toral and Gnabry have all impressed, and Miquel looks a player, but he still looks a little lightweight just now. Be great to see a couple of them come through....my money is on Eisfeld.

The blinkered, spoiled and idiotic thoughts of some fans are quite astonishing, though. We sometimes expect too much.
One thing you've disregarded is the amount of time and money we've invested in the youths, we've spent huge amounts on poaching players from all around the globe and the youth policy was basically our main focus for quite a few years, no other club has been as focussed on this as us, in that respect the returns have been pretty poor....we're not just some other club with a standard youth policy so you can't really compare us to that.


Now I'm not expecting miracles, but when you base your whole club on a youth policy to deliver success it's fair to say you're expecting rather more from it that your average youth policy.

[Grebbo]

Yeah LDG tbf all we've heard for the past ten years is how amazing our youth teams are and how they'll enable us to compete with the best.

Turns out they weren't amazing and we're not competing.

[Gervinho's Forehead]

Yeah LDG tbf all we've heard for the past ten years is how amazing our youth teams are and how they'll enable us to compete with the best.

Turns out they weren't amazing and we're not competing.

:gp:

[Kano]

That’s pretty selective though isn’t it? If the manager is labelled as a complete and utter buffoon by most of you guys above, then surely that would have had a massive impact on their development.

Right?

[Gervinho's Forehead]

When you put so much of your money and resources into a the youth project as much as we have you would expect at least some sort of return the fact we haven't seen one merely compounds wenger's buffoon status.

[Kano]

that's not what i asked. i'm saying that the blame should shift from the players being merely 'shit' to the manager taking the majority of the blame.

[LDG]

One thing you've disregarded is the amount of time and money we've invested in the youths, we've spent huge amounts on poaching players from all around the globe and the youth policy was basically our main focus for quite a few years, no other club has been as focussed on this as us, in that respect the returns have been pretty poor....we're not just some other club with a standard youth policy so you can't really compare us to that.


Now I'm not expecting miracles, but when you base your whole club on a youth policy to deliver success it's fair to say you're expecting rather more from it that your average youth policy.

No Zimm.

We've invested no more or less than other clubs, apart from spending bigger on players like Walcott, Chamberlain and Ramsey....not really project youth, more gambles I would say.

It's only more relevant because we've relied on some of project youth them to make up part of the team, give them more chance (see league cup) and it was a means of getting by for a bit....which trophies aside, has still kept us within the top four teams in the sodding country.

Niether I, nor anybody else has condoned this as a long term solution, nor something which a club should be based upon. I've always said you need experience.

What I said above, still remains correct. Otherwise we wouldn't have Jack, Gibbs or Szczeny as regulars in the first team (like them or loathe them).

And we wouldn't have had Fabregas or Song either....which according to many were too good to lose.

I might add that we have made much more money out of selling our youth projects than what we have spent....so your argument is pretty poor.

What we need to do was add experience to the Fabregas side....then we'd have gone places.

[LDG]

When you put so much of your money and resources into a the youth project as much as we have you would expect at least some sort of return the fact we haven't seen one merely compounds wenger's buffoon status.

Yeah, we only got a few pence from the sale of Fabregas and Song :doh:

[GP]

http://a.yfrog.com/img816/7301/g0pfr.jpg

[SayNoMore]

Yeah, we only got a few pence from the sale of Fabregas and Song :doh:

Return on the pitch ...

[LDG]

Return on the pitch ...

So we didn't get a return on the pitch from Fabregas and Song then?

[Gervinho's Forehead]

Did we win a trophy? I must have missed that.

[Marc Overmars]

The purpose of our youth system is to create a conveyor belt of players we can sell on at a profit. If 1 or 2 become good enough to stick around, that is a by-product.

It's the self-sustaining work the club like to brag about.

[LDG]

The purpose of our youth system is to create a conveyor belt of players we can sell on at a profit. If 1 or 2 become good enough to stick around, that is a by-product.

It's the self-sustaining work the club like to brag about.

Precisely. And it has been a success. Quite obviously.

[LDG]

Did we win a trophy? I must have missed that.

You said we wasted our resources. We haven't as we have more than recouped any outlay.

So it hasn't hit us financially, yes?

I said in my original post that only a few players make it. That are what reserves are for.

Did we do that? Yes.

I said in my reply to Zimm that we failed by not recruiting experience to compliment the youth, AND the younger players we bought in. Hence we didn't win anything, but should have, WITH a young team.

So in summary, we haven't lost money, we have produed a number of good players, but we haven't supplimented it with experience and quality.

[Xhaka Can’t]

So in summary, we haven't lost money, we have produed a number of good players, but we haven't supplimented it with experience and quality.

Yep, we've done the complete opposite and after years of this strategy we can't even look forward to the prospect of being competitive for the foreseeable future.

[GP]

You used to be cool.

Well, less whiny, at least.

[Xhaka Can’t]

How can a mod on a dying piece of shit forum with 90% of it's posts being made by manic wum depressives be anything other than cool?

[GP]

Fair point, I take that back.

[Dicks and chicks]

How can a mod on a dying piece of shit forum with 90% of it's posts being made by manic wum depressives be anything other than cool?

sums up goonersweb, but its Ivan and Stan's fault anyway

[Özim]

Manic depressives :lol:

Awful WUM's

[LDG]

:lol:

[Power n Glory]

How can a mod on a dying piece of shit forum with 90% of it's posts being made by manic wum depressives be anything other than cool?

:lol:

[Power n Glory]

What's happening with that Campbell kid and Wellington Silva?

[Xhaka Can’t]

sums up goonersweb, but its Ivan and Stan's fault anyway

Damn, did I say that out loud?

[Kano]

So we didn't get a return on the pitch from Fabregas and Song then?
Song, Walcott, Fabregas, Clichy, Wilshere, Oxlade....all the building blocks of a very good team and pretty good return from the youth policy.

the problem being that they were not supplemented with others good enough to help push them on as they did at utd who had keane, schmeichel, bruce, irwin etc.

that's where wenger got it wrong. the idea was right and the young players were there but he doesn't possess the tools to mould together a team that introduced them in the right way.

[LDG]

Song, Walcott, Fabregas, Clichy, Wilshere, Oxlade....all the building blocks of a very good team and pretty good return from the youth policy.

the problem being that they were not supplemented with others good enough to help push them on as they did at utd who had keane, schmeichel, bruce, irwin etc.

that's where wenger got it wrong. the idea was right and the young players were there but he doesn't possess the tools to mould together a team that introduced them in the right way.

Pretty much mate. Per-ritty much.

Strange. For all the bollocks about money and stuff...all Wenger needed to do, was buy two players in the January transfer window, the year Eduardo broke his leg. We would have won the league had he spent decent money on a top draw striker, and a quality CB. The knock on effect of that end to the season fucked the whole thing.

[Kano]

it's a flaw in his character not knowing when and how to build upon success that is already in his hands, which is why we never retained the title under him. fergie knows that you go out and make the most of pole position and bring in even better players to improve weaknesses when you win, and keep the players on their toes and hungry. nothing is ever perfect, things can always be improved.

i don't know if it is arrogance, lack of insight or he just has too much belief in those who do well under him but either way his record sheet would be completely different if he knew when to buy. which is strange given his decent record of knowing when a player is done.

[Özim]

Song, Walcott, Fabregas, Clichy, Wilshere, Oxlade....all the building blocks of a very good team and pretty good return from the youth policy.

the problem being that they were not supplemented with others good enough to help push them on as they did at utd who had keane, schmeichel, bruce, irwin etc.

that's where wenger got it wrong. the idea was right and the young players were there but he doesn't possess the tools to mould together a team that introduced them in the right way.
I guess it depends what you class as a youth policy, some of those hardly came through our youth ranks, they were bought from other clubs very late on into their development.

The 10 year plan for me was about bringing players right through the ranks, like Wilshere, not poaching them from other clubs when they have been brought up by them.

[Grebbo]

Pretty much mate. Per-ritty much.

Strange. For all the bollocks about money and stuff...all Wenger needed to do, was buy two players in the January transfer window, the year Eduardo broke his leg. We would have won the league had he spent decent money on a top draw striker, and a quality CB. The knock on effect of that end to the season fucked the whole thing.

One of life's mysteries. It's criminal really that we had RVP, Cesc, Nasri even AdeWhoreBag and won fuck all. All it needed was a decent GK and central defender and Eduardo replacement.

Massive fuck up by Wenger.

[Kano]

I guess it depends what you class as a youth policy, some of those hardly came through our youth ranks, they were bought from other clubs very late on into their development.

The 10 year plan for me was about bringing players right through the ranks, like Wilshere, not poaching them from other clubs when they have been brought up by them.
wilshere came from luton originally. giggs was a man city boy too. the youth policy was for young players who could be taught the 'wengerball' way and i don't think it mattered where they came from because they were all young enough to be developed into the way the manager wanted them to play - their formative football years were spent under our guidance and that was the whole point. the idea was by the time they reach the first team, they would be only identifiable as arsenal players and nothing else.

[Özim]

wilshere came from luton originally. giggs was a man city boy too. the youth policy was for young players who could be taught the 'wengerball' way and i don't think it mattered where they came from because they were all young enough to be developed into the way the manager wanted them to play - their formative football years were spent under our guidance and that was the whole point. the idea was by the time they reach the first team, they would be only identifiable as arsenal players and nothing else.
I think those cases are a bit different, they arrived at a very young age and thus learnt most of their trade with the clubs, the likes of Song, Ox, Walcott were 17+ and thus spent a lot of their development years with their first clubs...IMO that's not really coming through the youth ranks....it's not hard for top clubs to take advantage of loopholes and smaller clubs to grab the most promising players who have been taught by other clubs.

How many of our players have actually come through the youth ranks.....not many that I can think of, although it's not always the case it also doesn't encourage loyalty as these players don't have the same affinity for the club as those who come through the youths like Wilshere (someone is bound to bring up Cole but that was not the norm, it was an unusual case).

[-Xs-]

Cole was actually a typical case for Arsenal though. He wanted more money but the club were unwilling to meet demands.

Funny how we will pay out on dross but not go that little bit extra for our better performers.

Cole may be a ****, but 65k a week for arguably one the the best left backs in the league for the past 10 years would have been a steal with all the new money that's come in.

[GP]

Cole was actually a typical case for Arsenal though. He wanted more money but the club were unwilling to meet demands.

Funny how we will pay out on dross but not go that little bit extra for our better performers.

Cole may be a ****, but 65k a week for arguably one the the best left backs in the league for the past 10 years would have been a steal with all the new money that's come in.

Yep, and he would have got it if he hadn't been an utter ****.

[Kano]

I think those cases are a bit different, they arrived at a very young age and thus learnt most of their trade with the clubs, the likes of Song, Ox, Walcott were 17+ and thus spent a lot of their development years with their first clubs...IMO that's not really coming through the youth ranks....it's not hard for top clubs to take advantage of loopholes and smaller clubs to grab the most promising players who have been taught by other clubs.

How many of our players have actually come through the youth ranks.....not many that I can think of, although it's not always the case it also doesn't encourage loyalty as these players don't have the same affinity for the club as those who come through the youths like Wilshere (someone is bound to bring up Cole but that was not the norm, it was an unusual case).
our style of football was unique and different to any of those that these kids had learnt at their clubs. the mid/latter teenage years of development are supposed to be the most crucial which is where all of these players were when they arrived. in many ways they had to re-learn their approach to the game because the possession idea was so different to where they had come from and their raw talent still had to be nurtured. i don't think wenger ever came out to say our youth policy was solely about finding kids from under ten and taking them all the way through.

put it this way - if wenger had got in the right experienced players around them, things would probably have been different and not one of us would be looking back casting doubt on whether this was a 'true' youth policy or not. and let's not think that loyalty is not directly associated with success - only on very rare occasions will a player stick with a team he was raised by through thick and thin until the end of his career.

[Özim]

Cole was actually a typical case for Arsenal though. He wanted more money but the club were unwilling to meet demands.

Funny how we will pay out on dross but not go that little bit extra for our better performers.

Cole may be a ****, but 65k a week for arguably one the the best left backs in the league for the past 10 years would have been a steal with all the new money that's come in.
We took a hard stance and paid the price, we lost one of the best full backs in the game for a few million effectively....sometimes you have to do the necessary to keep players who are a bit special (like RVP etc).

Ironically we could have given him the money and then sold him for a packet if we'd wanted to.

[Özim]

our style of football was unique and different to any of those that these kids had learnt at their clubs. the mid/latter teenage years of development are supposed to be the most crucial which is where all of these players were when they arrived. in many ways they had to re-learn their approach to the game because the possession idea was so different to where they had come from and their raw talent still had to be nurtured. i don't think wenger ever came out to say our youth policy was solely about finding kids from under ten and taking them all the way through.

put it this way - if wenger had got in the right experienced players around them, things would probably have been different and not one of us would be looking back casting doubt on whether this was a 'true' youth policy or not. and let's not think that loyalty is not directly associated with success - only on very rare occasions will a player stick with a team he was raised by through thick and thin until the end of his career.
Rooney was bought by Man U at 17 and he was already some player, I personally think that by the age of 17 you're already well on your way...you can see the real potential....all the top players have shown it, the likes of Messi, Ronaldo etc they may have been inconsistent but the basis of their game was already developed, they just need some games and some, quality experience around them as well.

You could say that in a way our youth policy was flawed as we never provided them with the necessary experienced winners to play alongside (as you already mentioned), which in a sense means we failed them.

[Marc Overmars]

We took a hard stance and paid the price, we lost one of the best full backs in the game for a few million effectively....sometimes you have to do the necessary to keep players who are a bit special (like RVP etc).

Ironically we could have given him the money and then sold him for a packet if we'd wanted to.

I don't think there was much we could have done about Cole, he wanted to be with his England buddies because Arsenal had become too foreign for him.

[Özim]

I don't think there was much we could have done about Cole, he wanted to be with his England buddies because Arsenal had become too foreign for him.
I'm not sure that was the case when we were negotiating the contract to be honest, didn't that come out afterwards when he had some bitter words to say?

[Marc Overmars]

Looking at the type of person he is though, I find it very easy to believe why he's one of Big Man's minions.

[Kano]

Rooney was bought by Man U at 17 and he was already some player, I personally think that by the age of 17 you're already well on your way...you can see the real potential....all the top players have shown it, the likes of Messi, Ronaldo etc they may have been inconsistent but the basis of their game was already developed, they just need some games and some, quality experience around them as well.
you are picking out absolutely exceptional players that are phenomenons in their own right, when in a vast majority of cases, players are not at that level by 17. a title winning team like utd had great players like giggs, scholes etc who were of course very good by the time (but i'd suggest closer to 'the norm') they got to utd but in comparison, your messi's/ronaldo's would have been even further developed.

i agree that getting in a player at 17 means they are well on their way but a ridiculously high percentage never make it past youth teams and end up in the lower leagues somewhere. at a place like arsenal, under someone like wenger, the requirement was to learn a far more technical style (although now it is far more normal in this country) and that required tutelage away from what they had before arriving.

either way, we both agree that it didn't work out as planned and that is because too much was put on their shoulders too soon, whilst those around them were in no position to help.

[Grebbo]

We offered Ashley Cole £75k pw and then went back on our word. He had every right to fuck off.

Cole is a douchebag of the highest order but we fucked with him and he told us where to go. He did the right thing.

[Boss]

Cole, however, was also involved in a transfer saga with Chelsea. He was found guilty of making contact with league rivals Chelsea over a possible move, without informing Arsenal. He was fined £100,000 by the Premier League on 2 June 2005 for a tapping-up meeting at a hotel in January 2005. Cole, his agent Jonathan Barnett, the Chelsea manager José Mourinho and chief executive Peter Kenyon were present at the meeting. An appeal in August 2005 did not reject the guilty verdict, but his fine was reduced to £75,000. Chelsea were also fined £300,000 and Mourinho was fined £200,000, reduced on appeal in August 2005 to £75,000. Barnett's licence was suspended for 18 months and he was also fined £100,000.

On 18 July 2005, Cole signed a one-year extension to his contract with Arsenal, but just a year later departed from the club in acrimonious circumstances. On 15 July 2006, Cole launched a verbal attack on Arsenal; in his autobiography, quoted in The Sun, he claimed that the Arsenal board had treated him as a "scapegoat" and that they had "fed him to the sharks" over the tapping-up affair while Arsenal, from their part, insisted that they were legally obliged to punish Cole for his illegal contact with Chelsea. Cole was deliberately left out of Arsenal's 2006–07 team photograph,[15] fuelling press speculation that he would leave.

Have you guys forgotten all of the above? No way we could have kept that filth after what he did.

[Marc Overmars]

Time for Cashley to come home?

[-Xs-]

Cole is scum, but unlike at the time, I can't absolve our board in the matter, given what we know about them now.