I’ve been thinking about this for some time. Since Arteta came in and the stakes have been raised every year, has it become too risky to let Academy players. I see us linked with so many young stars from other clubs. I always think to Hale End and wonder why none of the budding talents can’t get a chance to be in our depth. We have one of the best Academies in Europe and I feel like potential stars are being wasted in the academy or being put on strings of loans. Is that the new modern game or are our young talents not good enough?
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We currently have four youth products in the senior team, with one being arguably our best player and another getting frequent minutes. Looking around the top half of the table (and even the rest of the league), that’s an incredibly high hit rate. I’d say we currently have 3-4 additional youth products with a decent chance of breaking into the first team over the next two years in Ethan, MLS, Patino and Walters. At this level the chances for youth players are very few and far between, so there is a massive onus on them to impress both on loan and when they get occasional chances with the senior team. It’s really up to them to seize that opportunity, and I think we are well ahead of the mean across England for providing a pathway for those players to even have a chance at breaking through.
Point is they are in the squad and they’ve all gotten chances. That’s all the club can do. From there it’s up to them to prove they belong. Look at how many promising starlets at Chelsea over the last 5 years haven’t even gotten that much (and Chelsea are actually relatively good about giving opportunities to young players, though a lot of that is down to the way they poach talent from all over Europe and especially England in the 15-18yo category).