Inside Arsenal's talent factory: Emmanuel Frimpong's case study

18 December 2009 22:24
Emmanuel Frimpong was born in Ghana but moved to north London at a young age and was living in Tottenham when Arsenal discovered him when he was nine. [LNB]A powerful midfielder with poise on the ball, he has played for England at youth level and has been identified as one with a genuine chance of making the grade at Arsenal. Eighteen next month, he played in last season's FA Youth Cup final and has been on the bench in the Carling Cup. Here he tells his story...[LNB]When I started playing for Arsenal at nine, it was more about going out and enjoying the game, but now you can't just go out and do what you want. It's about doing what's right for the team and what's going to make you win on a Saturday.[LNB]You come here to the Academy at Shenley at 16 and you see things so professionally done. You have to tune in because you're playing for points. It feels like home now but, prior to becoming a scholar, I'd never been here before I came in for my first day, so it was really exciting to see how big the training ground is. You walk in and see players like David Seaman, who is so humble, and Ray Parlour and Tony Adams. They've all been great players for Arsenal and you want to be one of them in the future. That's something you have to work for, it doesn't just happen. You can only do that by working hard and playing games.[LNB] Picture perfect: Frimpong can take inspirationfrom Kieran Gibbs and Nicklas Bendtner, alumni of Arsenal's academy[LNB]Last season, even before the Youth Cup started, we knew we were a strong team. We had players like Sanchez Watt, who couldn't even get in. Now he's played for the first team. It was a special team from the keeper to attack and we'd been together for quite a few years. It is a different team this season. Most of the players are smaller and stockier.Our manager, Steve Bould, takes everything seriously and if you muck about he shouts. Most of the time he shouts at me. I remember Thierry Henry flicking a ball over his head and scoring. I told him about that, but he wasn't too happy. So I've stopped doing it now![LNB]I was injured for the first three months of this season, but now I'm trying to push into the reserves. When I came back from injury, I trained for two days and then had a game for 60 minutes. The next day I was in with the first team and involved in the Carling Cup games. I'm African, so I've got a friendship with the African lads, like Song and Eboue.It was a great experience. It shows the manager had confidence in me. That's the way it is at Arsenal: young players are given a chance to play and that's important. [LNB] Breeding confidence: Frimpong enjoys the trust shown in him after his Carling Cup experience[LNB] [LNB]If you work hard enough, the manager will put you in the team. So every day when you go out on the training pitch you try to improve your game because you know when your time is ready you'll get a chance in the first team.[LNB] Kids in the fast lane: How Arsenal mould the latest batch from Arsene Wenger's talent factoryArsene Wenger: Can the new breed of Arsenal youngsters fight, suffer, make sacrifices to become real winners?Inside Arsenal's amazing talent factory: Cedric Evina's case studyEXCLUSIVE: Arsenal's talent factory is laid bare for the first time everSteve Bould: From 'famous four' to the production of world class playersGALLERY: Arsenal's talent factory - Graham Chadwick's exclusive shots Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1237044/Arsene-Wenger-Can-new-breed-Arsenal-youngsters-fight-suffer-make-sacrifices-real-winners.html#ixzz0a4nTJ8dmARSENAL FC

Source: Daily_Mail