It said something about the sheer depth of attacking talent that Arsenal possess at youth level that the side that faced Olympiacos in the club’s final UEFA Youth League group stage fixture this week contained an abundance of players who excel going forwards.
Stephy Mavididi, the top scorer for the Gunners at U21 level this season, started up front, with Donyell Malen and Chris Willock occupying the wide positions, whilst Dan Crowley was deployed as an attacking midfielder.
Further back Kaylen Hinds, a player with natural attacking tendencies, operated as a deep-lying midfielder, but, despite all of these talented players being on show, Arsenal didn’t register a shot on target until the 54th minute and ended up losing 2-0 against the Greek side.
The result mattered little, with the young Gunners still progressing to the Play-off round of the competition, but it will be a challenge for academy manager Andries Jonker to get the aforementioned players to work cohesively in the latter stages of the tournament.
When it is taken into consideration that Alex Iwobi and Jeff Reine-Adelaide didn’t feature in that game, whilst Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Gedion Zelalem, who are also eligible for that age group, are both out on loan, it seems safe to say that the vast majority of Arsenal’s best talents are either attacking midfielders, wingers or strikers.
Krystian Bielik and Julio Pleguezuelo, who have forged an impressive partnership at the heart of the defence this season, are two excellent talents, but beyond them there isn’t much to get excited about with regards to Arsenal’s young defenders, especially if you focus specifically on those players that progressed through the club’s Hale End academy.
If you watch clips of Arsenal’s U18 side playing this season then, as has been the case for many years, you will witness a catalogue of defensive errors, usually from the same players, which doesn’t inspire much confidence for the future.
Hector Bellerin, of course, is now an important player for the first-team, but many of the club’s best youth prospects at present are attack minded.
There is an argument that the majority of youngsters want to be attacking players and that not many prospects grow up with the intention of being a defender. For instance, Ashley Cole, the most prominent example of a defender to come through since the academy’s reformation, was initially a striker.
Arsenal do need to put more work into both developing and scouting defensive-minded talents, however. Marcus Agyei-Tabi, a young defensive-midfielder, seems promising and is one of the most highly regarded members of this season’s scholarship intake.
He is a rare example, however, and it seems as if this trend of focusing primarily on attacking talents is set to continue. During the significant recruitment drive in the summer, Arsenal brought in many players at youth level, but the vast majority of those in question are attack-minded players, whilst only one, Kostas Pileas, is a defender.
Making the grade at Arsenal is difficult enough for any player, but it seems as if the main focus with the academy at present is on developing attackers.
—
Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Nice article Jorge. Nice to hc ear other aspect of the club.
Jorge Pajaro, the Spanish man who writes about Arsenal’s youth.
Jorge, I’d be interested to read your take on the possible reason(s) for this inbalance. Is it because defenders with top-level experience and quality are much cheaper to buy (compared with midfielders and attackers of equivalent vintage) ? Is it because promising young defensive players from our youth set-up command smaller transfer fees (and potential sell-on percentages down the line) than their offensive counterparts? Is developing loads of attacking players a business strategy as much as, if not more than, a football strategy? Or is it down to a weakness in our scouting and identifying of talented defensive youth? Or… Read more »
I think it’s a combination of the first and last points. A lot of the defenders who have been scouted at youth level have turned out to be quite disappointing, but I also think think that Arsenal prefer to buy defensive players who have some experience of a high level.
Thanks.
I actually agree with the policy’s that you describe. Defenders don’t often become special talents until way past the youth stages. Tony Adams comes along once in a blue moon. Bellerin, cashley and gibbs were converted from attacking players (immense credit to the coaches). Yet you can pick up a kos or nacho for pennies compared to attackers (mert and Gabriel were cheap too and kompany is another example). The first team is of a level that only the best youngsters can swim and this goes for all positions. Why concentrate extra on a position on that is likely to… Read more »
i think arsenal buy players based on technique esp the youngsters. Players with really good technique at that age are normally attackers. Also I believe it is easier to learn how to defend to high level than it is to learn how to attack if you have not got the technique. Defenders also need experience that is difficult to get at a young age and for me the more intensive the football the better – but the stakes are higher the more football gets intensive so few managers want to take risk.
reply meant for ron
thinking about it football has changed so much. Nearly everyone on the pitch bar the DM and CB’s are required to get forward and get assists (some managers want the CB’s to bring out the ball from the back) contrast that to the days of AV IT!!!! where you kick the man, ball and a bit of the pitch as hard as you can in any direction usually straight up a mile in the air (Shawcross style).
yeah, i agree. talented midfielders and attacker can usually start playing straight away from the academy. fabregas started at the age of 16-17. oxelade-chamberlain and wilshere too. they can’t be trusted to perform consistently, but can still have great impactful moments. In defence, however, one needs consistent quality over the 90 mintues. one mistake and almost surely a goal.So, to play at these levels defenders need good experience and consistent opportunities to play and make mistakes and learn from them. Arsenal can’t afford to give those opportunities anyway. Loans are an option, but they don’t always work out. We have… Read more »
I think he hinted at the answer to that question – its a case of most players wanting to play in the glory positions i.e. attacking players not defensive!!! Shame really, I loved playing in defense, but hey ho!!!
Would be interesting to hear a bit more about Bielek’s progress at some stage.
It is not an Arsenal problem alone. Many clubs find it easier to develop attacking talents than defensive ones. The Germans, and the Italians for a while, seem to be the exception.
Nevertheless, it can be done. I hope that the bias on attack-minded youngsters is a short-term one. It would be prudent to strengthen defensive midfield options at the very least. This is what, I believe, makes Barca consistent and thus lethal. Their midfield options are very dynamic right from the youth level.
Great article as always Jorge, thank you.
One thing that struck me the other day while looking up the Academy league tables is that both U21 and U18 are behind on all other teams with regard to total matches played. Would this be down to the simple fact that the youth teams have got European matches to contend with which other clubs don’t participate in, or are there other / more reasons? Especially for the U21’s it seems pretty daft that they have played 4/5 matches less than the other teams.
Really want bielik and pleguez to make the first team grade
Tafari Moore is surely a potential first team player for Arsenal. Jorge don’t understand how you can leave him out concerning our future prospects. He is currently rated the best English u19 full back and that’s both rb and lb
Wish them all success with the Arsenal!
Players generally move backwards as they move through the age groups. The reason for this is basically the pyramid of talent that sees players funneled more and more as they age and move through the ranks up from a very wide base (almost every kid plays footie in school) to the pro level, which has room for maybe 1 in 1000 kids to make it. If you look at pro defenders, many – maybe even most – started as strikers or at least more attacking minded players. By contrast, hardly anyone starts as a CB and ends up as a… Read more »