Because unless Arteta is forced to, he will not give any youngster a chance proactively.
Nwaneri debut was pure PR and contract play
1 Like
Need to be realistic, the kid is 16. Sure, he could have gotten a bit of game time here and there but outside of that weâd be being pretty hopeful to expect any kind of meaningful contributions.
1 Like
The guy is 16. He wonât do shit and we might end up ruining him if we introduce him now expecting miracles.
1 Like
Btw, the kids havenât our U21s and U18s been awful this season?
These dudes canât even beat the shitters their age, what are they gonna do against proper pros?
1 Like
âPlay the kidsâ part of football fandom when weâre on a losing streak is such a snooze.
1 Like
He shouldâve gotten minutes in the dead rubber vs psv and thatâs it.
A sub app in the PL given Trossard, martinelli and co are playing shit? Yeah maybe but not a big deal he hasnât.
It is because if he did and they did something stupid, people would be shitting all over them.
See how much hate Nketiah gets.
I will never forget people crying for Balogun to get a chance, he started that game against Brentford 3 years ago when they slapped us and after the match there were fail comps online and everyone was shitting on him.
Fans like to call for the kids to play until those kids play and naturally make mistakes, then they turn on them.
(Itâs not Arsenal exclusive mind you)
2 Likes
Itâs not just this game. I said it in the Arteta thread, but giving the young players no minutes in those dead rubber Champions League game felt cold.
Juxtapose that against the fact Liverpool brought two of their young players off the bench at 0-0. Arsenal has been a club have always been about building a pathway to the first team.
So although weâre talking about Nwaneri in this case, weâre also talking about other young players down the line.
If Saka was a youngster now would he emerge?
5 Likes
The problem is there are zero youngsters(talking about 20-21-year-olds) in queue to take over when a regular stumbles.
Seeing Liverpool bring teenagers on today hurt. Nwaneri and Walters shouldnât be coming on before Cedric or ESR, but Liverpool made us look stupid.
The right back did great against Martinelli.
This guy is absolutely fuck all right now. Heâs 16. Maybe in a year or two he might get some game time and maybe heâll be in that very, very, very small percentage of players that make a breakthrough before the age of 18.
Playing him now and expecting him to be transformative is grossly wrong and unfair to him.
1 Like
Their kids sucks
Really? Maybe football is not for you then.
1 Like
2+2= 17?
Seeing Liverpool give youth a chance of the bench abd beating us at home didnât bother you?
Maybe football isnât for you?
Im bothered we lost and are out of the FA Cup. I couldnt give a flying shit who Liverpool decide to sub on though. Im not " hurt " that Doyle and Adams or whatever their names are got on the field no.
2 Likes
Each to their own.
Klopp experimenting with youth at a crunch time in the game and still keeping a clean sheet and putting two past us bothers me.
Guess weâre just different. Each to their own.
1 Like
If you wait till they reach that age, theyâll likely leave by then. Truthfully, is there ever a right moment to sub a young player in?
It would not surprise me if my same simplistic reading of the situation is being made by agents associated with these players.
But does bringing on players for the odd 10minutes build a pathway? Sakaâs pathway started with him becoming a first teamer (When we were bad). Playing as a left back then slotting in either side of the wing when needed. He played actual minutes. This was when we finished 8th back to back and the fans were losing their minds at how bad we were.
1 Like
Youâve got to start somewhere and Sakaâs journey started with a 20 minute substitute appearance in a Europa League game. Zach Medley and Charlie Gilmour also made appearances that day.
Low pressure situation with the game already in the bag. Thatâs why I was a little bummed out that neither Lewis-Skelly or Nwaneri saw game time in the demolishing of Lens.
When Arsenal are trying to renew their contracts in a year or two, that flimsy window dressing would have come in handy.
Indeed it was. If 18 year old Saka was emerging now, you reckon heâd see minutes, or would we be justifying him being snubbed with statements such as âheâs not ready.â
3 Likes
I agree you got to start somewhere but I donât think the odd sub is particularly meaningful or enough of a taster to see if they have enough about them.
Would Saka see minutes now if he was coming through? I would agree he probably wouldnât (Maybe a bench option ala Nelson?) but I would also say in this hypothetical we would have another wide player out there just as good. (I hope lol).
1 Like