Arsenal Vs Stoke City: It’s time to let them loose

Arsenal host Stoke City on Sunday afternoon in a Premier League game that now has few ramifications for the remainder of the season. As a result, it’s time to let the youth loose.

For many years, Arsene Wenger has used both the EFL Cup and the FA Cup as opportunities to rest his more established stars and bleed the prospective youngsters that he sees as having the potential to develop into future first-team contributors. It is sensible given Arsenal’s commitment to youth.

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However, this year, the tables have turned somewhat. While the Premier League is usually the key priority entering a season, given their current position in the table and what else in offer, for the Gunners, during the remainder of this year, that is no longer the case.

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The top four is, in all reality, out of reach. Slipping down the table has few consequences. There are no more domestic cup games, having already exited the FA Cup and losing the Carabao Cup final in February. The Europa League, the only other competition that Arsenal are still partaking in, offers a path back into the Champions League and a trophy. So why not treat league games like the early rounds of the domestic cups and fully commit to European endeavours?

If so, that would see some of the younger talents in the squad be let loose against Stoke City on Sunday afternoon. Of the possible players that Wenger could thrust into the limelight, there are three that are the most exciting to consider playing in the senior side.

Those are Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. The latter has played 653 minutes in the Premier League this season, so you may not quite consider him a young talent. The reason why I bring him up is because of the position that he has been playing. All of those minutes have come at full back. Maitland-Niles is a natural midfielder. It would be nice to see him get the chance to prove that.

Nelson and Nketiah, similarly, have sat on the bench with a growing regularity as the season has progressed. Collectively, however, they have played only 25 minutes of league football this year, each having made one substitute appearance. Given their youth, that is understandable when the league is important and the pressure to perform and achieve is on. But that is not the case at this current time.

Nelson was visibly frustrated when Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere were brought off the bench in the win against Watford three weeks ago. He was clearly hoping for minutes in the second half but was never afforded the chance to receive them. When Wilshere was introduced, Arsenal were 3-0 up. Surely that is the perfect time to turn to Nelson, or Nketiah, for that matter?

Next: Arsenal Vs Stoke City: Predicted starting XI

I don’t expect any of Nelson, Maitland-Niles (in midfield) or Nketiah to start on Sunday. But it would be nice for Wenger to begin to bleed them into senior football during the remainder of the season. Perhaps a substitute appearance is in order. They need minutes. Now is the time to turn them loose.