Arsenal: Unai Emery is here because of the kids

When Unai Emery was unveiled as Arsenal head coach, a key element of his management was going to be his work with young talent. That started on Thursday night, with a 3-0 win over Vorskla Poltava.

When Unai Emery first arrived at the Emirates and Ivan Gazidis, then the Chief Executive of the club, unveiled the reasons for his hiring, the process of the decision-making, and the hopes for the future, a particular and pointed question was asked of Arsenal the club: How much money will Emery be given to spend?

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Gazidis, in his quintessential and comfortable business-like manner, brushed off the question with relative ease, stating that the club would continue to run in a self-sustaining way. That meant, pragmatically speaking, that there was some money to spend, but not as much as the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City.

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Competing at the sharp end of the Premier League, therefore, would be a difficult target for Emery to achieve. Money talks in football and he would be trying to make a lot of noise with little capital behind him. Gazidis understood this as soon as he answered the question. He quickly added that he believes — and that Emery and the coaching staff at Arsenal agree — that there is great homegrown talent to be developed already at the club, negating the need to spend silly to keep pace with City and the like.

That homegrown talent came to the fore on Thursday night. On a bitterly cold night, in Kiev, in the middle of Ukraine, a country that had just invoked martial law in ten of its regions, playing in a semi-meaningless Europa League match, Emery decided to trot out the kids. Boy, was he rewarded for his decision.

Emile Smith Rowe scored the first, Joe Willock notched the last, Eddie Nketiah led the line for the full 90 minutes, three debuts were handed to players from off the bench, Ainsley Maitland-Niles continued his graduation from youth prospect to first-team regular. This was a night for the young players to be celebrated.

It was also a night that confirmed that same argument that Gazidis made all those months ago: Emery is here because of these talented kids. It is his work with young players, his nigh-on obsessive coaching, his detailed investment in the technical and tactical elements of these young players’ games, his intelligence and awareness to understand what each player needs to improve upon and what position and role best suits each player, that attracted Gazidis and Arsenal to the Spaniard in the first place.

They saw this crop of vastly gifted players and specifically targetted a manager and coach that can improve them as players and aid them through the process of moving from young talent to fully fledged star. Gazidis believed that Arsenal don’t need to spend as much as their rivals if they have a coaching staff that can develop the natural talent that is already at the club. And Emery is the man who he chose to lead that coaching staff.

Thursday night was a celebration for the youth. This was a night when the kids came to play. And it was wonderful to watch. But it was also a confirmation of why Emery is here. It is now his job to turn them into more than just talents. It is his job to turn them into stars.