Wilshere: Arsenal youths will prosper
Arsenal's Jack Wilshere says that the young midfield players at the North London club will shine over the course of the season.
Arsenal are well known for having one of the best youth systems in England and Europe as the club constantly produce gifted young players who make the move into first team Premier League football.
Wilshere says he hopes that Arsene Wenger will give himself and the likes of Emmanuel Frimpong a chance to play during the current Premier League season. However, they may have to wait just a little bit longer.
There are many benefits for Wenger blooding some of his younger players this year. However, many have said in recent times that this is Arsenal's main problem because they need big players in the team with more experience.
Flourishing youths
The one thing that you are always guaranteed with young players is that they will have large amounts of ambition and determination. Youths do not get thrown into the deep end of Premier League football too often and this means they have to make the most of their chances when they arrive.
Playing young players together at a very early stage provides them with a chance to bond and learn each other's games. It is too early to say that Wilshere and Frimpong will be the main men at Arsenal in two or three years but playing them in a couple of games won't do them any harm at all.
Young players learn all of the time and they will want to iron out any technical problems they have early on. Arsenal playing youngsters allows Wenger to focus on any problems his key players have. They can then be improved before they cost the side.
Wilshere said: "I am used to playing with him, I have been doing that since I was 11 or 12. We have grown up together and we have shown on the pitch that we get on well. The boss sees me as a few options, but he thinks I will end up in the middle, so he is trying me out there in pre-season."
This is the problem
In essence having too many young players in a side can be the main problem. The sole reason many have said Arsenal have not won anything for three years is because they don't have enough leadership and quality in the team.
Younger players are also less physically developed, which makes them easy to brush off the ball. They are also less likely to win headers against bigger players and this drastically cuts down the amount of influence they can have in a Premier League match.
Wilshere added: "A couple of seasons ago I broke into the team, then went out on loan last season – this year, I really want to push on and get some games for Arsenal. People say it is a hard start, but it is a good start in that we can put our foundations down for the season, to show what we can do."
Betting advice
Arsenal will be somewhere inside or near the top four of the Premier League table by next May. Hold off from backing them to win the league because the balance between youth and experience is still heavily stacked in favour of the younger players.
Don't be afraid to have a punt on Wilshere scoring in a few games this season. However, only back him to do so against weaker teams because the better sides in the Premier League will bully him off the ball before he can blink or pass it to someone else.
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