Arsenal: Does Arsene Wenger Actually Develop Players?

The Arsenal squad has been fairly consistent for many seasons without seeing any improvement, both collectively and individually. Does Arsene Wenger actually develop players?

Arsene Wenger has garnered a reputation for being a great developer and nurturer of young players. Throughout his time at Arsenal, he has acquired unknown talents, honed them, coached them, allowed them to blossom, such that the first team is then built on the contributions of players entrenched in Wenger’s approaches.

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But is that as true as we all think? Does Wenger actually develop players or do they come to the club, touted as potential stars, only to suffer crippling injuries, stagnating under the stale management of Wenger and the debilitating depth of the squad?

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Here is a list of the players in the current squad (or out on loan) that have been with the club for at least a season and could be considered as decaying. Brace yourselves. It’s worryingly long:

David Ospina, Wojciech Szczesny, Hector Bellerin, Carl Jenkinson, Calum Chambers, Gabriel Paulista, Nacho Monreal, Kieran Gibbs, Mohamed Elneny, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin, Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Olivier Giroud.

Of those players, how many would you say have improved in the past 18 months? It is difficult to recommend any. Hector Bellerin, perhaps, though his displays over the past six months have been far from the expected standard. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has shown glimpses of his quality since being shifted into a central role more recently, and Theo Walcott is enjoying the best season of his career. But neither, you would say, are yet to deliver on the vast potential with which they came to the club.

There are certain members of that group who are especially underwhelming in their development. Aaron Ramsey has suffered his worst season since finding his form in 2013/14, Danny Welbeck, thanks in large part to injury, is still yet to establish himself as a consistent goalscorer, while Kieran Gibbs can’t even earn a starting role.

After the 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace only added to what is likely the run of Wenger’s tenure in North London, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to defend his management. He has never been considered a master tactician, an astute investor in the transfer market or a rousing man manager. Rather, he has been considered as a developer of players, something that may not be true.

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This Arsenal squad is rotting, decaying at its core, and Wenger has been the cause for much of that. He is unable to coach up his players and it is harming the club, from the inside.