A little less than three years ago, I wrote a piece titled Mikel Arteta Doesn’t Play Youngsters Much. Should We Care?.
At the time, Arsenal had just finished a Champions League group stage match at PSV without giving a single minute to Reuell Walters, Ethan Nwaneri or Myles Lewis-Skelly. The reaction was, predictably, one of considerable frustration.
Arteta was blocking the pathway. He didn’t trust young players. Arsenal were risking the futures of their best academy prospects by refusing to give them opportunities.
My argument then was pretty simple: An academy exists to serve the first team, not the other way around. And if the young players are good enough, they’ll eventually find their way into the team.
I think we’ve gotten a pretty compelling demonstration of that principle in the years since.
His name is Myles Lewis-Skelly.
