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Arsene Wenger Regretting Arsenal’s Massive Loan Moves
By Josh Sippie
![By joshjdss (Arsenal Members' Day 2015) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fc0bac7ac7677d01d84445c4119dddbe9ccc0e36007bad5713409d3a8f586fb74.jpg "By joshjdss (Arsenal Members' Day 2015) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
It is a rare day when Arsene Wenger admits that he is wrong. In fact, I do not think I have ever witnessed it. But against Sheffield United, we saw what could be construed as that. Wenger admitted that he started too many senior players for Arsenal in a competition that was not too high on their priority list. But it’s not like he had options.
Wenger followed up the loss with a clear indication that he at least somewhat regrets sending his mass of youngsters out on loan. His words (via 90min):
“I had many players go [on loan] who would have played on Tuesday night like Chuba (Akpom), Gedion (Zelalem), (Ainsley) Maitland-Niles, Dan Crowley – they would all have played.”
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Wenger went on to say that it is difficult to retain these players just for one match every so often in a lesser competition when their development may call for something different. Maybe Wenger was ignoring the fact that both Gnabry and Crowley have been dubbed inadequate. Crowley has been sent back and Gnabry is wasting away in the West Brom U21s. That is not the ‘something different’ that Arsene Wenger is after for his Arsenal academy.
Loans are kind of a double-edged sword, as we have seen. They can work out, sure, but in the past, there have not been any loan spells that absolutely propelled a guy onto something. Joel Campbell and Ryo Miyaichi spent years on loans and Ryo has left the building while Campbell is still struggling to find his footing.
Wenger held onto Krystian Bielik and he looked the most prepared out of the bunch for Arsenal. The Pole has yet to be sent out on loan.
Chuba Akpom is another strange case. The young Englishman made several first-team appearances last year. Going into the season, Wenger said that he would not loan out the striker. Yet he did. Now, the 20-year is in some days and out some days at Hull City.
When Arsenal’s players are not being played, such as Serge Gnabry, wouldn’t it be best to just keep them at Arsenal? Jon Toral too, has been relegated to substitute duties. Perhaps it teaches them how to fight for a spot or how to deal with internal competition. But it could also have prevented injuries to Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Probably even Aaron Ramsey too.
Academy football may not prepare players for the EPL like it should, but sitting on benches does not either. Training with the first team may be the best resource teams have.