This will be looked back upon as a season in which Arsenal U23s won the Premier League 2 title in impressive style, but the young Gunners missed out on the opportunity to finish the campaign with further silverware intact.
Last night Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Porto at Emirates Stadium in the final of the Premier League International Cup, and, in truth, the Portuguese side were deserved winners as they created the majority of the game’s best openings and caused numerous problems for goalkeeper Joao Virginia.
Arsenal were without Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah, three players whose contributions to the Premier League 2 title success were significant to say the least.
Had that trio been available then Arsenal may well have managed to prevail against Porto, but as it transpired a rather cobbled together side containing Ben Sheaf (pictured), whose loan spell with Stevenage only finished last weekend, and out of favour players such as Aaron Eyoma and Yassin Fortune, was unable to make of an impact.
This has, though, been a very impressive campaign overall for the academy both in terms of results and incorporating youngsters into the first-team setup.
The hope is that the process will continue in positive fashion next season, although there is likely to be much upheaval, both in terms of players and coaching staff.
Kwame Amapdu, who usually coaches the U18s, was in the dugout for the U23s last night, suggesting that he could be set to take over from Steve Gatting and Carl Laraman in coaching the older age group.
Per Mertesacker will also start his position as academy manager and it will inevitably take some time for the German to fully impose his philosophy on the youth setup.
It will also be intriguing to see what the next steps are for the likes of Nelson, Willock and Nketiah, who find themselves in the difficult situation of being too good for U23 football yet perhaps not quite ready to fully establish themselves in the first-team.
All three are likely to represent England at the U19 European Championship this summer, which would mean that their involvement in Arsenal’s pre-season would be heavily disrupted, complicating their situations even further.
It promises to be a very interesting summer at youth level, with many changes afoot, but it was rather frustrating that this campaign didn’t end on a high.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
There was no logical reason why Nketiak, Nelson and Willock didn’t play last night. While there was an international trophy to be won, the club would rather have them warming the bench for the first team. I was really disappointed with the club for that, but well done to those who did play last night for giving it a real go and not giving up. There is some real talent in our academy at the moment, and I wish all our U23s especially all the luck with the next step in their careers.
To keep them fresh for tonight’s PL match?
It is a shame that the u23s were without Nketiah, Nelson, and Willock but that must mean the three are angling for 1st-team minutes as the season ends. I get that, because why not go ahead and see what they can contribute at the PL level? We have absolutely nothing to lose in the league, and we need to see how ready these young guys actually are. Plus, for Nelson, securing these minutes might ensure that he signs a new deal *fingers crossed*