With eight games to play, Arsenal really don’t have much to aim for in the Premier League, so it’s a great opportunity to give young players opportunities and experience.
Arsenal are currently 13 points off the top four, with only 24 points left to play for. Given their progression to the Europa League quarter-final, it makes much more sense to save key players for the competition, since that’s clearly the only realistic way they can qualify for the Champions League next season.
At the same time, it gives Arsene Wenger a chance to experiment in those last eight domestic matches. He can try out new systems, partnerships and players to prepare for next season. If any work particularly well he can also use them in Europe.
So which Arsenal academy stars have earned a chance in the first team?
Reiss Nelson
- Age: 18
- Position: Forward
- Senior game-time 2017/18: 606 minutes
Reiss Nelson has already had more first-team chances at Arsenal than anybody else currently in his age group. As well as nine substitute appearances, he also has five starts this campaign.
In fact, he’s one of few players to play in every single competition in 2017/18, including the Community Shield.
On the other hand, his chances have dried up lately as Arsenal reach the business end of the season. He’s only played seven minutes of senior football since his last start on January 7th.
Clearly that’s starting to get to him, as we saw from his reaction to Wenger choosing not to bring him on against Watford.
Perhaps Nelson needs to be a little more patient, but his academy performances have earned him the right to start asking questions of the manager. In the last couple of months he’s scored in each of his academy starts, so he couldn’t do much more.
Premier League 2 stats 2017/18
- Appearances: 10
- Goals: 8
- Assists: 2
Matt Macey
- Age: 23
- Position: Goalkeeper
- Senior game-time 2017/18: 210 minutes
- Senior clean sheets: 1
Macey appeared for the first-team twice back in late October/early November. First he helped Arsenal to a 2-1 victory over Norwich City, then he kept a clean sheet against Red Star Belgrade.
Unfortunately, David Ospina or Petr Čech have played every single game since then, including in the FA Cup and League Cup. That’s obviously the side effect of having two goalkeepers who both believe they should be first choice.
Neither Ospina nor Čech have really nailed down the position though. They’ve both frequently made mistakes, although in the last few weeks they’ve shown some improvement.
Either way, the Premier League doesn’t matter much anymore, why not give Macey some game time?
He’s stepped up to the task on every occasion so far, and the only way to know if he’s ready for more responsibility is to give him some. I expect Arsenal will sign a new goalkeeper this summer, so there may not be many more chances next season.
Premier League 2 stats 2017/18
- Appearances: 6
- Clean sheets: 3
- Goals conceded: 9
Eddie Nketiah
- Age: 18
- Position: Striker
- Senior game-time 2017/18: 117 minutes
- Senior goals: 2
In my opinion, Nketiah is the player who is most deserving of more opportunities. He has been fantastic up front for the academy for years, and had a home debut that lived up to his wildest dreams.
Despite that, he’s still only just managed senior minutes equivalent to just over one match. Wenger has named him on the bench and left him there 12 times this season, compared to the eight times he has entered the fray.
Whenever Nketiah drops down to the youth teams for a game, he delivers. He has seven goals in six matches since that Norwich debut in October. The fact those are the only matches he’s started is the problem.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang isn’t an easy man to displace in the starting eleven. Plus, Danny Welbeck and Alexandre Lacazette are both back and fit. Even if it’s from the bench though, Nketiah needs to get some games in the final part of the season.
Premier League 2 stats 2017/18
- Appearances: 12
- Goals: 10
- Assists: 2
Joe Willock
- Age: 18
- Position: Central-midfielder
- Senior game-time 2017/18: 434 minutes
Joe Willock is another player who got a couple of opportunities earlier in the season, and has gone from strength to strength with the academy since then. In fact he has four assists in his last two matches with the u23s. He also captained the side against Everton in February.
With Ramsey’s fitness concerns and Santi Cazorla out, there seems little point risking the other remaining midfielders in every league game. Willock could easily fill in.
If Arsenal don’t start giving the 18-year-old opportunities, he may go the same way as his brother Chris and end up at a club like Benfica this summer.
Premier League 2 stats 2017/18
- Appearances: 11
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 5
Josh Dasilva
- Age: 19
- Position: Defensive-midfielder/Left-back
- Senior game-time 2017/18: 59 minutes
Josh Dasilva started the season playing at left-back, and honestly it’s difficult to see a route into the first-team for him there right now. Nacho Monreal is having a great season, Sead Kolašinac is improving and Ainsley Maitland-Niles usually fills all the remaining openings when those two aren’t in the team.
Fortunately for him, he’s now playing a defensive midfield role, and excelling at it. He captained the side in their last four matches, and earned a PL2 Player of the Month nomination in November.
Dasilva also recently scored an 87th minute winner to put Arsenal into the semi-finals of the PL International Cup.
Perhaps Wenger could find a solution to his long-running defensive midfield problem internally.
Premier League 2 stats 2017/18
- Appearances: 14
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 5
Vlad Dragomir
- Age: 18
- Position: Attacking-midfielder
- Senior game-time 2017/18: 0 minutes
Nketiah might be the most deserving of more opportunities, but Dragomir is certainly the player who deserves his first.
The Romanian youngster has started all over the place with Arsenal, filling in for his teammates during their respective first-team call ups. Just this campaign he’s played left-midfield, right-midfield, attacking-midfield, central-midfield, right-wing and centre-forward, starting every match since 25th September.
With him in the team, Arsenal have pushed all the way up to second in the PL2 table. They’re just one point behind leaders Leicester City, with a game in hand.
At this stage though, Dragomir’s only call up to the senior side came in September. He travelled with the squad to Borisov, but didn’t get off the bench. It would be nice if he could get his senior debut this season.
Premier League 2 stats 2017/18
- Appearances: 17
- Goals: 6
- Assists: 1