Mikel Arteta now fires back at criticism and explains ‘reality’ over one Arsenal problem

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been criticised this season for failing to give opportunities to some of the rising stars within the Hale End academy.

A late flurry of exits in the final days of the transfer window saw promising talents in Bradley Ibrahim and Lino Sousa among others depart on permanent deals.

Earlier this season, the likes of Reuell Walters and Ethan Nwaneri were included in matchday squads in the Carabao Cup and in a dead-rubber Champions League tie against PSV Eindhoven, but all failed to reach the pitch ahead of fringe players such as Cedric Soares and Mohamed Elneny.

Arteta has now hit back at his critics, and explained why it is not a simple task to include promising talents in the first-team.

Mikel Arteta explains Arsenal youth problem

Speaking in a press conference ahead of Arsenal’s huge clash with Liverpool on Sunday, Arteta claimed that he is keen on giving young players chances, but these opportunities cannot be handed out too easily.

“We certainly want to do that (giving youth players chances). First of all we need to produce those talents and they have to earn it and secondly they have to be in the positions that we need fulfilling,” he stated.

“Everything has to come together and we are working on that. We have a few prospects which are not far away, but the reality is we want more.

“Today, to give the opportunities to play in the first team at the level required, we are a bit short.”

Could Arteta have given more opportunities to youth players?

Whilst there is a lot to be gained from playing academy stars in the first team, they have to be handled with care.

When the likes of Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah broke into the first-team, they were part of a squad which was desperately lacking quality, and languishing further down the table.

Right now, Arsenal are in a fiercely tight title race, and they cannot afford any slip-ups. Arteta has a fairly big squad at his disposal, and even senior players such as Emile Smith Rowe are struggling for regular minutes.

Arteta could have perhaps used defender Walters against PSV to prepare him for further opportunities, given the lack of defensive depth in the squad, but the reality is that even if he had played then, there will still be little opportunity to play again for the rest of this campaign, given the lack of domestic cup fixtures.