Arsenal's Carling Cup kids emphasise club's lack of strength in depth

03 December 2009 12:31
On Wednesday night Arsenal went out of a competition in its 50th year after losing to a side who were considering changing their name to Manchester City 1-1. [LNB]At the eighth attempt City won a game, after seven draws, and it came at the expense of an Arsenal side with an average age of 22. [LNB] Related ArticlesWenger blows golden chance of ending Arsenal's trophy droughtMark Hughes and Arsene Wenger in new war of wordsManchester City 3 Arsenal 0Arsene Wenger stands by his young GunnersWenger's Arsenal no great shakesFollowing the one-sided League defeat by Chelsea, one that put to bed any slim hopes of winning the Premier League, Arsenal - and their 5,000 travelling fans - needed a boost. Instead, their chances of claiming silverware for the first time since 2005 have been reduced further. [LNB]Blaming the youthfulness in red shirts is easy; why not accept instead that Arsenal's overall squad is deficient and when denied the services of Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner, the rest are not good enough as a whole? [LNB]Arsenal's record in the Carling Cup is not bad. Since it took the name of the latest sponsors, Arsenal have reached at least the quarter finals, in seven successive seasons, using the youth policy. [LNB]I can remember watching Arsenal against Rotherham in Oct 2003 when a certain Francesc Fabregas made his debut, becoming at 16 years and 177 days, the club's youngest ever first-team player. [LNB]He then became the youngest goalscorer in Arsenal's history in a later round of the competition, scoring in a 51 victory against Wolves. The rest, as they say, is history. [LNB]That season Arsenal reached the semi-finals, an achievement they matched in three of the next four seasons using the youth system. Such a system has seen teams fielded with almost 11 teenagers come out on top, in front of full houses at the Emirates. [LNB]Not all the youngsters, though, have been as successful as Fabregas. The team that beat Rotherham - 9-8 on penalties as it happens - also included Gael Clichy, another success. [LNB]But what of goalkeeper Graham Stack? Now at Hibs. And Justin Hoyte? Middlesbrough, as is Jeremie Aliadiere. Jerome Thomas, given a free by Portsmouth, is now at West Brom while a substitute that night, John Spicer went to Bournemouth and then Burnley before arriving at Doncaster. [LNB]The facts are the policy WORKS. Maybe not totally for Arsenal, but it gives kids a chance they would probably not get elsewhere. [LNB]Another harsh fact is that Arsenal's squad is not good enough to challenge for top honours, and Arsene Wenger MUST use the money available to add to the squad in January - even at a cost of halting his youth project. [LNB]

Source: Telegraph