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Arsenal: British core highlights another Arsene Wenger weakness
Arsene Wenger once heralded a young British core as the future of Arsenal. Only a crocked Jack Wilshere and inconsistent Aaron Ramsey remain. Their issues highlight a key weakness in Wenger’s recent management: his inability to develop players.
It wasn’t long ago that the ‘British Core’ at the heart of Arsenal was set to lead the club into a period of great prosperity and success. After years of floundering foreigners who lacked the apparent bite and steel that was seen as necessary to excel in the Premier League, the return to Britain, rightly or wrongly, was seen as a revolutionary move.
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Even Arsene Wenger agreed. Speaking after the five British players signed new long-term contracts to stay at the Emirates in 2012, he was glowing in his anticipation of the future with the quintet at the heart of his side:
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"“I believe when you have a core of British players, it’s always easier to keep them together. We are delighted that these five young players have all signed new long-term contracts. The plan is to build a team around a strong basis of young players in order to get them to develop their talent at the club.”"
The five players that Wenger was referring to were: Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey, Carl Jenkinson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Of those five, only Ramsey and Wilshere remain. Wilshere has just spent an underwhelming season on loan at Bournemouth and is struggling to establish himself as even a depth option upon his return, while Ramsey, the most successful of the five, has been inconsistent, flowing in and out of form, failing to ever play at a high level for any extended period of time.
In addition to these, British players like Danny Welbeck, Calum Chambers and Theo Walcott, among others, have also been major parts of the Arsenal squad. And yet, it would be fair to argue that not one of these players is yet to fulfil their potential.
To put it a little more bluntly, Wenger has not been able to develop any of these players. And that highlights a more troubling issue with his management in recent years: for a manager famed for his coaching, his honing and fine-tuning of talent, Wenger, in actuality, hasn’t done very much of that whatsoever.
Arsenal are a squad littered with stagnating, plateauing players; the ceiling, or at least the ceiling under Wenger’s tutelage, has been reached and cannot be broken through. This is not a collection of improving players.
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Wenger, for all his virtues early in his tenure, is no longer able to replicate that same success. And one of his most influential traits, the development of players, has now deserted him. The rotting of the Gunners’ British core is simply a symptom of that. How sad it is to be an Arsenal fan these days.