Arsenal haven’t won the FA Youth Cup since 2009 but there is a growing sense of belief at London Colney that this could be the year in which the Gunners finally get their hands on the prestigious trophy.
Ken Gillard’s side are through to the fifth round having already got the better of Rotherham United and Blackburn Rovers.
An away game against West Ham United is next up, with the winners of that tie to subsequently travel to face Leicester City, Manchester United or Liverpool. It’s clear that if Arsenal are to make it to the latter stages of the tournament then it will be via a considerably difficult route.
Yet there is much to be optimistic about. Arsenal can call upon exciting talents such as winger Omari Hutchinson, forward Khayon Edwards and right-back Brooke Norton-Cuffy.
In addition it appears that Arsenal are taking the Youth Cup very seriously this year, with the likes of Miguel Azeez, Catalin Cirjan and Kido Taylor-Hart having featured against Blackburn despite being established in the U23 setup.
Arsenal also have the likes of Marcelo Flores, Charlie Patino and Salah-Eddine coming back from injury, which will give Gillard a selection headache when everybody is fit.
For all the quality in the team, however, there are some concerns defensively, particularly at centre-back, with several of Arsenal’s options in that department being rather error prone.
Despite that, though, Arsenal still have a good chance of ending their lengthy wait for success in this competition.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Haha! Classic April fools. Almost had me there blogs. Better luck next year!
Azeez and Patino are apparently the most talented of the group. But the sheer size of the remaining crop of promising talent is notable. Taylor-Hart, Norton-Cuffy, Hutchinson, Cirjan, and Lopez are all worth tracking closely over the next 18mos.
Aren’t all young center backs error prone? Or maybe that’s a polite way of saying “not very good?”
If Man City and Chelsea are still in it then we’ve got a job on our hands getting past them…