Good morning, and getting straight in, I see that Arsenal have promoted Freddie Ljungberg to assistant coach. It’s an interesting move.
Ljungberg has risen rather quickly up through the ranks at Arsenal. He’s only been in the youth set up since 2016 and he’s been promoted pretty much every year. Along with this most recent appointment, it speaks volumes about how highly he’s regarded within the club.
Speculating here* but putting Ljungberg in as second in command is an interesting move for the club. They haven’t renewed Emery’s deal and by placing Ljungberg on the doorstep so to speak it feels like the club hierarchy are signalling that Freddie could be next to take over from Emery – whenever that might happen.
I totally get your shock and revulsion at what I just said and even agree: that would be a crazy move to appoint Ljungberg to head coach at Arsenal. But if you think of him as a backup plan, interim, or even stopgap manager then I think you can see why this makes some sense.
I also think it makes sense given the direction that the club are openly taking toward a more youth-orientated approach.
The official statement from the club (as reported by the Press Association) is “Arsenal said the changes, which come into effect from 1 July, are designed to help “create a ‘transition team’ which will collectively manage a player’s development through some of the hardest and most challenging periods of their professional lives”. And Bould isn’t leaving the club quite yet, his job will be to work with Per Mertesacker in the academy set up.
One thing that I think is pretty clear is that the Arsenal are going to pursue an “academy” or “youth team two” approach. I don’t have a problem with this idea at all.
Arsenal are never going to get money from Stan Kroenke and with the transfer market inflated the way that it is, it makes far more sense to buy, develop, and eventually sell younger players. Look at the latest transfer spend from this summer:
Real Madrid – 300m Euros
Bayern Munich – 115m Euros
Borussia Dortmund – 90m Euros
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s “warchest” is… £40m (that’s how much Wolves just spent to retain Jimenez) and at last count fans would like Arsenal to buy about 4 players. There aren’t too many top quality players lying around waiting to be snaffled up at £10m each! And even selling off players (to buy different players) means that we have squad positions that will need to be filled.
The problem is that building around youth requires two major components: time and luck. Time in that we (fans) can’t expect them to make a push for the Champions League any time soon. And the club is going to need time to develop young players and a playing style that suits them. There are a number of promising youngsters at Arsenal and I have almost no problem if the club wants to start playing them instead of guys like Mustafi/Xhaka. I would much rather watch young players make mistakes than sit through another season of the Mustafi/Xhaka trainwreck.
But the second problem is that you need luck to successfully run a youth team. The luck is that I think you still need a superstar player in order to make this work. Contrary to the motto of the club in 2009 (“we don’t buy superstars, we make them”) you don’t actually make superstars, you find them. Those players who have the talent to step into a top level team are extremely rare. Spurs got their version of that with Kane, Arsenal had Fabregas. Spurs without Kane and Arsenal without Fabregas would have been very different teams. I’m not an expert on the youth set up at Arsenal so I wonder who can be our next Fabregas (not the snake version)?
I see that Arsenal have been linked with a promising 18 year old center back from St. Etienne. The rumor from the Sun is that we are paying them £25-30m and then loaning him back to the French side. This is wild, if true. I’ll have more to say when there’s a real link printed in a newspaper that isn’t worse than bog roll. But I do think that Arsenal have their eye on young players more than ever and are looking for ways to maximize spend, with an eye to the future.
*You enjoy your transfer speculations, which are usually about 99% false, I’ll enjoy my own personal speculations which come in at about 50-50.
As I said in the last post, it’s significant that Freddie even referred to his role as ‘working with Unai and his coaching team’. If nothing else, this is the club reacting to the anger against Emery. It also seems that they have determined that Unai failed at one of the most important parts of his job. Promoting the youth.
Not only does it save them money on purchases, you also have some young players looking to leave. There was some dispute with Amaechi in the EL final. Bielik is saying he’s not sure what’s happening but won’t stick around if it’s not first team football. Nketiah’s loan was blocked but he wasn’t used. The whole U23 squad expected Osei-Tutu to be called up last season.
On the other hand you have the examples of Serge Gnabry and Jadon Sancho making a name for themselves in Germany. So our youth policy has to be use em or lose em.
This is a plan I could get behind. Especially if the football is more Arsenal. Just because there are budget cutbacks doesn’t mean I want that as our playing style.
I too am behind project youth. But I won’t have high expectations until we unearth a superstar.
I also failed to mention that youth teams need a blend of youth and experience. So, in a funny way, we are kind of set up for this. I’d love to see Lacazette given a leadership role with Nketiah, etc.
The only position we lack veteran presence and guidance is in midfield. If we could sell Mustafi, Elneny, or even Auba and Xhaka/Torreira, I’d hope we go out and get someone who could provide that.
What? Sell Torreira already?
Only if he wants to leave.
I think Freddie’s appointment vindicates what most people have said. Emery failed on all fronts except finishing closer to the top 3. He gambled on experience and he failed.
I understand letting Wilshere leave, but what justification was there for releasing Jeff Adelaide? Jeff was an Arsenal scholar, schooled in the Arsenal way, why was Guendouzi more celebrated? After a full season who was looking more sensational of the 2?
We really need a technical director before the season starts
We’re officially a selling club. Cool, cool.
Let’s just play with some sensible flair, please. Maybe, I’ll become motivated to watch games again (instead of, you know, like, just DVRing them and letting the results dictate whether I actually watch).
I don’t think this is unrelated to Lampard going back to Chelsea and bringing Jody Morris with him, the former youth coach. Chelsea’s hand is being forced by a transfer ban, but they also need to focus on finally making good on the youths they have in their system.
I am curious though what his footballing instincts lean towards. What’s missing from everything is an “Arsenal way” that would dictate development and recruitment. Right now, it’s workman like pragmatism better suited for Serie A.
“The rumor from the Sun…”
Whew. Come to this.
I think this is the direction we should be going. And in keeping with it, I think we should sell Auba. I absolutely love him, he’s the heart and soul of the team, he’s the Golden Boot winner, we would be lost without him. All true. But his value has peaked. A downturn is inevitable – this year, next – it doesn’t matter. It’s probably our last chance to get good money for him. If he gets injured, has an off year, or becomes disenchanted with Arsenal, his transfer value will drop. We need to invest in the future. It might mean an awful 19-20 campaign, but it’s the reality of where we are.
When are season ticket renewals due? They will wait until after that’s done to sell Auba and Laca.
Ha Ha!
Now you’re using the old bean…
Right?
I hope it’s just Auba, and not Laca too. He can be a role model to the young dudes and also might be a bit more patient than Auba for CL.
“…the Mustafi/Xhaka trainwreck.”
You are too kind sir.
“I won’t have high expectations nintil we unearth a superstar”…
Any ideas who might deserve that mantle and be the Next Guy?
Here in Toronto, home of the the NBA champion Raptors (!), we are rebuildling our MLB team around our rookie, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He’s briefly sidelined because of a hand injury but this kid, wanted by every major league team, is very much the Real Deal.
Do we have anyone like that?
Loved watching his father play. Big Daddy Vladdy was amazing.
Hey LA, he (Senior) is around town a lot now that junior’s here. Man is a legend in Canada as he played several years for the Montreal Expos before heading down your way.
Was watching that game (Astros fan)– sorry to have seen that HBP. Houston’s HOFer Jeff Bagwell was pitched inside often and HBP on the left hand– putting him out for much of two seasons. Finally– someone thought to glue a rectangular section of lightweight foam to the back of his batting glove. Did work. Didn’t miss any further games after that from HBPs on that hand.
Keep an eye on our (just promoted) rookie Yordan Alvarez 4 HRs in his first 5 MLB games. Reminds of Big Papi.
Thanks for the post Tim
The idea that we can build a team which can compete for the top of the table in England and have a chance to make a deep run in the CL based on youth players from our academy is a pipe dream that has almost zero chance to succeed. Its hard for me to believe the current crop of youth players is any better then Bendtner, Denilson, Frimpong, Merida, Bartley, Miguel , Aneke, Walcott, Wilshere, Wojo, Akpom, Ox, Iwobe etc etc etc etc etc etc. You can’t build teams which can compete at the level we are hoping for with players like that. None of the worlds other big teams are building with their academy youth in this decade. Barcelona who supposedly have the best academy in the world have had none of their academy players become important first team regulars since Busquets. The worlds other big teams scout the entire world to find the players they need and how can any teams academy possibly compete with the entire world?
Seems like financially we are no longer a big team. Mix of wasting a shit ton of transfer potential(Ramsey, Welbeck, Alexis, Perez), wage bill and lack of UCL. Might have to look at Ajax, Dortmund rather than Barca, Bayern. I think we will probably do a Real next season.
“The idea that we can build a team which can compete for the top of the table in England and have a chance to make a deep run in the CL based on youth players from our academy is a pipe dream that has almost zero chance to succeed“
Even if you omit the “youth players from the academy” part, this sentence still rings true unfortunately.
The sooner we all face the fact Arsenal are destined to sputter along between fourth and sixth place or thereabouts, the healthier we all are gonna be.
“If you want to win Championships then you would never get involved “ is a hard , if not impossible bell to unring. Even if Kroenke believes he is one of the good owners because he’s here to stay while all those pesky, free spending oil magnates “might eventually lose interest and that’s when the fans get hurt”.
So you see it’s all for Arsenal fans ‘ benefit and I for one am very appreciative.
I could get behind this if we have a plan. Its not like this current crop set the world alight this season. Freddie and the young guns playing football with purpose would get me back to watching religiously regardless of if we have a couple of dry years. 5-6 kids with Leno, Bellerin, Holding,Kos, Sokratis, Ozil, Lacazette, Auba honestly doesnt sound like all that much worse…sell Torreira and Xhaka and get in a midfield leader type and a decent left back….I’m already excited
Like many (most?) here I can get behind a Project Youth.
[btw I’m saying Project Youth rather than Project Academy as we’ll be buying kids too, as we did with Guen and a coupla names we’re linked with).
What I think will be interesting will be what the target(s) for this season will be for Emery.
How will he be rewarded both financially (bonuses) and in terms of kudos from the club.
Last season the key priority was to get into the CL (via top 4 or EL).
That being the case, I can understand Emery not wanting to rely on untested youth (I’m sure someone far wiser than I once mentioned they cost you points). I think its a shame his young options didn’t extend beyond Guen (is Holding ‘youth’?) but whatever.
So – what will Emery’s priorities be in order and how will they be defined?
I’ve tried to do this on-the-back-of-a-fag-packet but I know people here will be better at this than I so just treat this as a starting point as I’m curious what people think.
1) Integrate Youth into a discernible setup
– KPI Playing minutes
– KPI Starting setups and subjective analysis (not a great KPI !)
2) Increase value of x number of Youth players
– KPI Player Value across team including x numbers of ‘youth’ team membrs (ie you can’t just give mins to kids at expense of killing Laca’s value).
3) Get into EL
4) Get into CL (via top 4 or winning EL)
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts on what is implied above, that its more important to integrate youth and increase their value (to be sold if necessary) than to even get into the EL next season?
1) Play ‘on-brand’ football.
2) Utilise the squad depth properly. If the first team players don’t suit your ‘system’ or are injured, play the youth.
3) Develop and play the youth in the cups.
4) Qualify for the CL. (It’s going to be harder this year anyway, even with Chelsea’s transfer ban)
Doubt he’s going to get an extension. My guess is he’ll try to go along initially, then force things his way, lose player and fan support, and be sacked before the January window. The Arsenal old boys will take over.
I just saw a comment on twitter from Alexis Claude Maurice stating that he preferred Borrusia Monchengladbach as his preferred destination.
Perhaps we weren’t after him as mentioned but the premier league doesn’t seem to be the best place to nurture young players and the players know that. KDB and Salah are good examples, flirted with England they were thought to be underperforming and they went elsewhere and blossomed before they were brought back to England.
Chelsea being the culprit with Mourinho the superintendent over both cases.
Can Arsenal break the trend and achieve something distinctly different? A hybrid of youth and experienced players playing a discernible style for starters is where we should be.
I can get behind the idea of playing the kids in the cups. It makes a lot of sense.
On the other hand, something like the fa cup is probably one of our only realistic chances of silverwear for the next 5 or 10 years.
How likely are we to beat ManCity or Liverpool in the cup anyway? We went out to Spurs and ManU last season.
We have the most Forever Arsene Cups in history. I’m ok with using the FA cup and the fake cup for player development even if it means no trophies for a while.
i don’t fault emery for not playing the young guys. it’s extremely difficult to do. the premier league is full of seasoned internationals (even relegation candidates) who know how to beat young guys a dozen different ways. just look at how they treat xhaka and mustafi and imagine what they’d do to a young guy.
bottom line, arsenal’s best players are in the first team. if the youngsters aren’t in the first team, it’s because they’re simply not good enough. the manager has a duty to get results on the field but he also has to protect the young prospects from being completely destroyed, psychologically. this could easily happen if you play a player too early in the premier league.
for my money, i’m not giving a young player a chance. if they want to play, they have to knock the head off of the guy who’s keeping him out of the team with good performances in training. that’s what anelaka did to ian wright, vieira did to merson, cole did to sylvinho, etc. their inclusion to the first team made the team better. if the players can’t make the team better, they don’t need to play.
Playing young players was not his first target. Basically the last. Implicit in the complaint is that he failed EVEN at that.
It’s hardly fair to Emery to start down the road of project youth and then expect him to get results and play great football next season. If we are going the youth route then we need to give Emery at least a few years to build something because using youth in high leverage minutes and getting immediate results are competing goals and the manager has to be given time to make it work
The purpose of the structure with a Head Coach rather than a manager is that club strategy is not dependent on the guy picking the team. Either Emery is the right coach for the strategic direction of the club or not. Fairness has nothing to do with it. But I think after the way he performed last season, it’s more than fair that he’s getting one more year to prove himself up to the task.
Since the start of the Emirates era Arsenal have had several dozen very heavily hyped and highly ranked youth prospects and during most of that time we also had a manager who was committed to youth development and gave them more minutes in cup teams and the first team then almost any big team manager in the world.. Yet how many of those heavily hyped prospects actually came even close to living up to the potential we thought they had? The correct answer is almost none.
The top of the PL table is much more competitive now then it was in the early part of the Emirates era and I am not sure why anyone would expect the current crop of youth players to be any different then the ones who have struggled to make an impact over the last 15 years.
Arsene once said he was going to build our own superstars. In the Emirates era we have tried harder then any big team in the world but since Fabregas how many superstars have we built? Trying to build a team around youth maturing into impact players or superstars is like building youth families financial strategy around winning millions of dollars in a lottery. It can happen but the odds are certainly not in your favor.
I understand the theory of using youth players in cup games but Arsene was on the forefront of using that strategy stating around 2005 but we have never won the league cup and we didn’t win anything until Arsene was starting to feel more pressure from the long trophy drought and moved away from youth dominated teams in FA cup. Are we really ok with the possibility another long trophy drought?
A long trophy drought looks inevitable anyway given the investment levels being bandied about
Longroadtoruin.
A trophy drought is a real possibility no matter what we do but it seems like it may be a bad idea to do something which makes the trophy drought even more likely especially when the chance of long term success with another youth project is slim at best.
I suppose that may well be true. But last season has lowered the bar for me and all I want is for Arsenal to be fun or interesting to watch again
I have no worries at all. As long as Freddie has his pink hair, everything will be just fine.
about ten years ago, i remember arsenal playing a cup match against west ham. that evening, wenger started two young hot shots in the arsenal midfield, jack wilshere and fran merida. they were competing against valon behrami and scott parker in the west ham midfield. the west ham duo absolutely dominated the young gunners in every way; physically, tactically, and psychologically. it had nothing to do with talent. they were bigger, stronger, smarter, battle-hardened, and more experienced. the rest of the west ham team continually helped set traps for the youngsters. the arsenal kids, despite their best efforts, had no answer.
with 18 minutes remaining and down 1-0, wenger substituted the two kids, bringing on abou diaby and samir nasri. in no time, the frenchmen turned the game on it’s head. not only did they lead arsenal to victory, they made it look super easy compared to what wilshere and merida did.
my point is that there are levels to this game. those two hot shots were the biggest names on the arsenal reserve team and clearly not on the same level as the rest of the first team. as much as i despise emery being arsenal manager, i also respect the challenge of trying to integrate young players into the team. it’s not so easy to just play them. you could destroy a player if he’s exposed to the wrong conditions at the wrong time. in fact, fran merida, “the next fabregas”, quit english football just a few days after that demoralizing west ham game.
not only could you destroy the players, you could destroy the team. arsenal finished 5th this year and could have finished 15th if they had replaced mustafi and xhaka with some prodigious talents. do you really believe that if arsenal replace aubameyang with nketiah, that lacazette would just stick around to be a mentor? heck no! his career’s too short and he wants to win at the highest level. swapping auba for eddie would imply that arsenal aren’t trying to win and he, too, would be out the door. be careful what you wish for.
I really don’t want Arsenal to go through the whole project youth again.
I was reading that there was a long spell where Wenger bought 16 players who were 23 or under, and only two of them got to be first team regulars. And one of those is Xhaka. If Emery thinks a youngster deserves a chance, he will give it to them. If one of them gets really good, we’d probably sell him,anyway.
This project youth 2.0 doesn’t need to be as dramatic and protracted as the previous one. We already have players like Auba, Laca, Ozil, and Miki. We have less need to sell, and more funds. But where we are lacking is a clear style of play that can help us identify and attract more top young players. Meanwhile we risk losing the talented youngsters trained in the Arsenal way. Why not use them rather than acquire more mid-level players?
Youth project is actually slightly misleading. Keep (most) of the talent we have at the club, bring in some potential stars or even a veteran in a key position if you can, and then youth add depth. Just be prepared to use them. (I remember when people refused to consider Bellerin a part of the squad)
If it takes 2-3 years to get back to the CL, so be it. It’s a lot better than the haphazard, desperate approach of last season.
My Squad:
GK: Leno, Martinez
LB: Kolasinac, Monreal/New signing
CB: Kos, Sok, Holding, New LCB (18-22 y/o), Chambers,
RB: Bellerin, Osei-Tutu
CM: New DM (veteran), Xhaka, Torreira, Guen, Bielik, AMN, Willock
AM/WM: Ozil, Miki, Iwobi, Nelson, ESR/Saka
FW: Auba, Laca, Nketiah
I do find this an interesting point in our (Arsenal’s) life.
It’ll always be cyclical like all teams.
Also I’m laughing at myself for setting a thought in typical Design Manager mode* (my career) : “What is success; how will you measure it?”
;¬)
But the backroom team will have set the targets like this. And for us as fans to want a discernible style/philosophy is absolutely right – but will our backroom people if they can’t measure it?
(we so need a Technical Director/ Person-defining-philosophy)
But I do think someone like Stan or Josh will be looking at player value so that KPI will be on someone’s agenda.
And the worst thing that can happen is that Freddie is measured on integration and Unai is measured on winning.
THAT is the worst scenario as its not aligned or sustainable.
* Obviously many people from all sorts of backgrounds set objectives like this. But if you happen to have a designer who doesn’t, then all they are is drawing stuff and colouring it in.
Shard
That’s a squad built on a lot of hope but not much else.
Okie-Tutu has never played on the first team and Bellerin probably won’t be ready to be a full time player until Jan. Holding probably not ready until Oct/Nov. Our only hope both stay healthy and have no lingering issues after a long term injury which not a slam dunk. Kos was showing signs of aging and is a year older.. Chambers was not even good enough to play CB for Fulham and they moved him to defensive mid. Nacho was not that good last year and is a year older and Kolasinac is just not very good at playing defense.
CM There is no reason to think Xhaka is going to get any better. Guen is OK but he faded as the season progressed., Torriera also faded pretty badly in the second half of last season. AMN has been on the first team for 2 years and mostly underwhelming, Willock and Beilek are unknown u21’s who can’t be counted on.
AM/WM: Ozil has been fading for 3 seasons and is a year older. Miki has never been that good. Iwobe has been with us 4 years and mostly underwhelming. Nelson ESR/Saka are ?, .
With the possible exception of a fully healthy Bellerin which is far from a certainty I doubt that any of the players listed above would be regulars on any of Englands or many the worlds other “big teams” .
Auba and Laca are really good they can’t carry the rest of that squad on their backs and expect to get good results.
Look at it this way.
First XI: Leno, Hector, Sok, Kos, Kola, New CM, Xhaka, Torreira, Ozil, Auba, Laca
Subs: Martinez, Holding, AMN, Guen, Iwobi, Miki, Nketiah
Reserves: Chambers, New young CB, Nacho, Osei-Tutu, Bielik, Willock, Nelson, ESR and Saka.
Fair point about Bellerin being out, and I wouldn’t mind a new signing, depending on how we view Osei-Tutu’s future. But AMN and Chambers can also cover there. Mavro can stay till Holding is back. Bielik can also play/cover at CB. I also wouldn’t mind a signing on the wings.
It’s obviously not ideal. But it’s not as bad a team as you seem to think. The youth players are not mainstays but need to be included in the squad. Hence the club moves and this talk of project youth. You give them a chance or you lose them for peanuts. Them’s the breaks.
Also, Ozil has not been declining for 3 years. Stop it! He had a horrible season last year cos of the coach, and still his Per90 creative numbers are high.
The main thing is to start playing in a set cohesive identity. That will help player performance, and player recruitment.
Just to be clear, my highest priority signing is a good, experienced CM. Doesn’t need to be a world beater. Just someone who can establish a bit of control and has decent technique.
Next, a young CB who can be a mainstay in the near future.
Then, a LB to replace Nacho. Tierney has been mentioned and I guess would be good. But someone like him.
Then a RB, but who? Depends on how we view Osei-Tutu. But anyone coming in will be accepting being backup to Hector so can’t be that great anyway.
Then a winger. Great if you can get Ziyech or something. I’m not hopeful. Probably this Martinelli kid and we’re done.
Sell: Mustafi and Elneny. (Or keep em, I don’t care about the money)
Arsene was as dedicated to youth development as any manager in the world and despite that we have seen dozens and dozens of talented prospects come thru the club and not a single superstar and almost very few who were actually good enough to be regular first 11 players much less difference making players. If we get even one regular first 11 player from the group of Osweiler-Tutu, Beilek AMN Willock, Nelson ESR Saka etc etc we will be lucky. To build a team where you are counting on several of those players to become difference making PL level players is betting heavily against the odds and seems highly unlikely.