As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
highburyJD wrote:and they are a list of players not good enough
a completely different point - if they are good enough and wenger getting his hands on them is the prob they would subsequently succeed elsewhere
He signs supposedly good youngsters and they invariably end up going nowhere. Whos fault is that the coaching techniques? The scouts for not seeing the players properly? Not Wengers, hey!!! Lets face it even a massive prospect like Theo hasnt exactly delivered yet and we signed him for a fortune!!!
For someone who has the rep like Wenger for producing youngsters, where are they!!!!!! You havent answered the question
Yes, isn't it amazing that a little provincial club that was on the verge of bankruptcy before Marcus Evans involvement has somehow managed to produce a striker from its youth set-up that surpasses anything we can muster up in that department. Strange also that Southampton, in much the same bracket as Ipswich, are able to produce players like Bale, Walcott and now seemingly Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Developing top level talent doesn't take tens of millions and a pampered, state of the art training facility. It involves decent scouting at all levels (as opposed to giving ex-players nice little earners overseas for a year or so)
As I've said times many - Arsenal's world class youth set-up is another Wenger myth. He needs to cling to it desperately too because its all that earns him recognition these days (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary)
In terms of any genuine top drawer talent to come through it I would say that only Wilshere looks likely to make it at the top and prior to that I think you need to go back to Ashley Cole before we had a top notch player that came through the grass roots of the club.
I havent seen enough of Wickham to pass valid judgement but that certainly doesnt stop others on here!
Every club at every level both sign and release players every season, how else will they find out if they're good enough?!
Many players are signed then released without even making the fringes of the first team, but occassionally one will come through.
In the olden days in would be homegrown British talent but nowadays tends to be homegrown foreign talent.
Clubs have and will always sign players who dont make it, especially top clubs where it is more difficult to break through - whys it such an issue all of a sudden?
I Hate Hleb wrote:That will most likely be his destination because, unlike us, Spurs aren't afraid of buying English talent.
Darren Bent for 16 millions... David Bentley for 15 millions...
Didn't say they were necessarily good English buys!!! And the key words were 'aren't afraid'.
Still, I'd take Dawson over Squillachi and Kos; Huddlestone or Jenas over Denilson; Lennon over Walcott; Crouch or Defoe over Bendtner, the right back they brought from Sheff United over Eboue. In fact I'd take anyone over Eboue!!!
