Henrikh Mkhitaryan believes the Arsenal youngsters that played in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday have proved that they have what it takes to cope with top-level football.
Arsene Wenger handed a debut to 20-year-old Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson got starts in midfield and Joe Willock came off the bench in the closing stages.
Mkhitaryan, who scored the Gunners equaliser on his return from injury, was suitably impressed by the trio.
“We coped against a very strong team because we know Manchester is the second [best] team this year and they were not so far from Man City,” he told the Evening Standard.
“But of course I am very happy for our young players. I hope they can improve and keep progressing with the first team.
“Our young players played very good and they have a big future in this club.
“They showed that they deserve to play for Arsenal and I wish them a lot of luck.”
The decision to heavily rotate was taken by Arsene Wenger with one eye on Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second-leg with Atletico Madrid.
After a 1-1 draw at the Emirates last week, Arsenal must score at the Wanda Metropolitano if they are to reach their first European final since 2006.
“The main thing was to be ready for Thursday,” continued Mkhitaryan.
“Of course, we wanted to win this game or at least draw because at the end we were a bit tired. Hopefully on Thursday we are ready to play 90 minutes at such a level.”
They were exceptional and it is promising….but it’s an old message from a new player….who ever comes in next year needs to have the ability to not only manage their development also manage the greed of the board.
Definitely. We’ve given more minutes to academy players this season than any other top six club.
That’s great for developing potential and fits our ethos but over-exposing young players to this level of competition is not always good for them or our position in the table.
Micky T scored late on to take us to a big win vs Liverpool.
Here’s to MkhiT doing the same against Atletico.
Or 120
I’ve seen similar points to the one I’m about to make stated already, but I warrants repeating. Jose is an insufferable, mendacious sniffer of knob cheese.
I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing Mavropanos play alongside Kos on Thursday. I’ll be more optimistic with him playing rather than Mustafi.
Remember when Mustafi joined Arsenal and we didn’t lose a game he played in for like 4 months. How times have changed.
Thought Mkhi was really good at times on Sunday, seemed to fill in the role of ‘technical leader’ without Ozil there.
I’d be really interested to see him play slightly deeper, as part of a 3, similar to Cazorla. He has great passing and the footwork to beat a press.
We see the talent, now we have to actually develop it with a head coach and staff who take a hands-on approach.
Mikhitaryan, taking on the role of team leader? Sounds good to me. A serious, energetic competitor with mad skills who also seems likable.
And his European experience will be continue to be crucial for us Thursday. I’d go so far as to say it’s in his hands, he’ll be the difference maker.
COYFG
Long since we had such a talented group coming through. The team was a little lost for identity the last couple of seasons and I think implementing youngsters from our academy can do a big part in restoring that identity. Missed the famous internal solutions. Really excited about this!
Key word is “future”. The problem with Arsene is he is a builder. He is tied to his philosophy of non interventionism and prefers to blood young players. nothing wrong with that but he tends to rely on them before they proof return on promise. A couple of games here and there do not a summer make. Case in point Nelson who started with verve early in season. Against United, he showed he still has a learning curve and was kept firmly in Valencia’s pocket. Now there is all this hype about Mavropanos over one game. Remember HOlding? All the… Read more »