Arsenal Youth Players Need A Chance

Arsenal’s squad is at breaking point after Francis Coquelin became the latest Gunner to pick up an injury. Do the youth players need to be given a chance?

Following the embarrassing 2-1 away defeat to West Bromwich Albion, Arsenal’s squad depth is virtually non-existent. Francis Coquelin – without whom Arsenal would be finished – has become the latest on an already long injury list, Arsene Wenger fears that the Frenchman could have picked up something “severe”, per Bleacher Report.

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Coquelin now replaces the first-team right back Hector Bellerin, who spent time on the sidelines prior to the international break and made his return against the Baggies this weekend. Coquelin joins Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Welbeck, Wilshere and Rosicky on the current injury list. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ramsey will likely return first, with Walcott following soon after.

Not only do Arsenal have trouble with injuries and lack in depth at multiple positions, their older rotational players are failing to produce the goods. Mikel Arteta came on for the injured Coquelin and it was clear that the Spaniard was far below Premier League standard. He scored an own goal that proved to be West Brom’s winner and got injured during his 35 minutes on the pitch.

Arsenal FC

Mathieu Flamini, who came on for the injured Arteta, was no better as a defensive midfielder. He spent most of his time in the opposition box, looking for another wonder-volley like the one he hit against Tottenham. Joel Campbell was the third substitute, and he had the opportunity to salvage a point for the Gunners late on in the match. Instead, he missed an easy chance and the match ended 2-1.

While Campbell was substituted on late in the game in an attempt to swing the score back in Arsenal’s favor, young French attacking midfielder Jeff Reine-Adelaide sat idly on the bench, waiting for his name to be called. In a desperate time like this with fixtures coming thick and fast towards the Christmas period, is now the time for Arsene Wenger to turn to his youth ranks?

The Arsenal player pictured at the top of this article is Alex Iwobi, a young Nigerian forward who made his first full appearance against Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup. He did not play exceptionally in that game, but Wenger was visibly using the Capital One Cup as a test for his fringe players. The test did not go well. It can be questioned as to whether the players individually are to blame as making more than five or six changes to your team can result in a lack of communication.

Iwobi is functional as a forward, but can also play on the wings – which is extremely useful to Arsenal right now. Reine-Adelaide is an attacking midfielder who can play all across the midfield line; another player that Arsenal could use during this injury crisis. Those two aren’t the only examples, though.

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Krystian Bielik, Ismael Bennacer, Isaac Hayden and Gedion Zelalem are all highly-rated prospects who have been training with the under-21’s or spending time out on loan at smaller clubs. The emergence of Adnan Januzaj at Manchester United serves as a good reason as to why Wenger should give his youngsters a go in the Premier League.  That is where they want to be playing eventually, and presenting these young players with that opportunity might spark breakout performances.

If the example of Belgian starlet Januzaj is not good enough, one need only look at the best Arsenal XI over the past twelve months and notice Francis Coquelin and Hector Bellerin, two players who trained with the youth teams prior to starting games for the Gunners. IF the injury problems continue to persist (and they will), now would be a great time for Arsenal to have a new young star within their ranks.