Hello everyone and welcome to Inside Arsenal.
In today’s show I look ahead to Sunday’s game against Liverpool and look at the latest team news for both sides. I discuss Thomas Partey’s future after his latest injury setback and respond to your comments on what Mikel Arteta had to say about Arsenal’s youth players.
0:00 – Intro
1:10 – Team news latest
5:07 – Arteta’s comments
9:43 – Trusting the youth
13:15 – Partey’s future
38 Comments
Hi Charles
Thanks for the great content any chance you could do a live two part stream Inside Arsenal Extra with James so we can ask you guys questions live?
Keep up the great content
This is the dangers of Gender Reveal parties.
Hey CHARLES WATTS , I’d really love to know something, I’m Nahashon all the way from Kenya 🇰🇪. Great content . Wish I’d get your book . Does Ethan Nwaneri train with the first team always ?
Terminate partey contract now 😡😡😡😡😡😡
Maybe Arteta isn’t handing out a lot of debuts, but he handed 3 academy products #7, #10 , and #14 shirts and there’s a 4th academy player in the squad who looks a different player under Arteta. He also clearly made the right decision on Balogun. Hard to really understand the criticism when it comes to the academy players.
I honestly don't agree with you Charles when it comes to Arteta and academy players. There isn't a single player who has come up from the academy into the Arsenal first team in Arteta's four years as a manager. The players you're mentioning (Saka, Nketia and Smith Rowe) were brought through by Wenger (Nketia) and Unai (Saka and Smith Rowe).
So, I can confidently say that even the debut given to Nwaneri was a public stunt (like someone put it) by Arteta. He is so inflexible with his squad rotation and that's why you can have a player like Smith Rowe available in match day squad 39 times but has started only 2 games in the past two years of EPL.
Conner Bradley is 20.
He was on loan last season at Bolton and played over 40 games for them
He played over 10 intl games for Ireland.
And he only came on after Trent Tsimikas were unavailable
When someone like patino comes back from Swansea I want to see him have a chance in the first team next season. There will be space with several senior midfielders potentially leaving
Get rid of Partey, Lokonga, and Elneny. Extend Jorginho for the extra year & sign 2 new midfielders – in mu opinion it should be Zubimendi & Douglas Luiz and try to reintegrate Patino
We bought Rice surely to replace Partey and would have sold the latter last summer if the chance had come up. So I am not sure why there is all that much interest in when he is going to be fit again, especially since the answer to that is always going to be no time soon.
I am much more concerned that our other serial injury-ist Tomyiasu gets over it ,comes back fit from Asia and can put in a shift at left back until the end of the season. I think that that would strengthen us much more, reducing Zinchenko either to an impact sub or even an option in the "left-8" role. The Havertz experiment in that role should be abandoned as the failure it has been – let ESR show he can perform there (assuming he stays fit of course), with other back up options such as Zinchenko or Trossard. Havertz I would use only as a substitute striker option if we need to bring someone on to give Jesus a rest or change the pattern of the game.
The argument of “not enough quality to change Arsenal” is played out. You don’t need to produce a world beater everytime. The difference between selling a youth prospect for £2m and £40m is that the prospect gets minutes on the pitch. In an era where Arsenal have struggled to sell players…we’ve sold academy players like willock and Balogun that were in no way world beaters for multiple millions because the managers thought to give them a chance. If Arteta was manager when Saka was on the rise, he’d have been sent on loan to the Scottish league then sold for £2m to someone in the Dutch league!
Most of these people moaning about the youth players have probably never seen a youth team game. Why can’t they trust artetas judgement, the manager that sees them day in day out
I dont give a mars bar ….We need to turn up and mean buisness come on Arsenal dont slip on a mars bar
Hi Charles. I know arsenal fans will be dismissive of this but i have to agree with what Paul scholes said about full backs. This whole Zinchenko thing i find really annoying. Surely if u have quality midfielders u don’t need him. Would xavi and intiesta need him ? I’d much rather have a quality left Bach who offers more in other ways defensively and overlapping. Really hope we move away from him but can’t see it
Charles the real problem is, the cup games where the academy players can showcase their talents, we have not been doing well in them in the past couple of seasons.
We are lucky to have the amount of academy players in the first team squad.
All I know is all I can do is get down to the north bank and sing my heart out tomorrow win lose or draw get behind the boys
Charles, what is the point of having Mohammed Elneny in the squad? This guy is simply not good enough to play for the Arsenal. It is a miracle that he is still in the Arsenal squad till this date.
Hi Charles, I could be wrong but I sure do get the feeling that partey is not really interested in playing for arsenal anymore. Do you get that impression?
Hi Charles , as Japan is out of the Asia cup do you think Tomi will be back in time for West Ham and the Champions League? Might make us a bit more secure at the back!
Charles this academy argument is a typical social contagion people don’t look or for that matter want the facts they just want to be part of the “cool” mob and negativity sells. Hold the line of facts and truth
The “fans” need to sing more Saka and ESR and Eddie and yes Saliba and all those who have made up our top team after being signed groomed and advanced out of the youth ranks.
genuinely think half the comments are just using this youth academy hysteria as an excuse to bash Arteta for the sake of it, its madness.
Arteta can do no wrong in this guy's eye's. Rediculous
Right Charles I have listened to you for years now without having a YouTube account, but I have setup an account today because I just can’t believe these guys continue to complain about Arteta not giving youth a chance or the academy being bad! I know you have made all of these points endlessly buy you need some support on this ridiculous agenda!
My message to these people: calm down! Why do you care? I have followed Arsenal for about 25 years now and post 2005 this is the best team we have had and the best time to be an Arsenal fan by miles. We have world class players, a manager on his way to being world class and are genuinely fighting for top prizes. Who cares if two 16 year olds don’t play 5 minutes?
My second message to these people: Wenger was at the club for 22 years. Who came through the academy during that time and actually made an impact? Wilshere, AMN, Cole, Gibbs, Iwobi, Bellerin & Fabregas (though even the last two were pinched form Barca). It is so rare that players actually come through and have an impact. I remember being convinced that Bendter, Quincy, JET, Lupoli, Akpom, Nordveit, Larsson, Aneke, Afobe, Toral were going to go down as club legends… they didn’t, because youth football is worlds apart from playing for Arsenal’s first team. Progress and success is not linear and youth football success is virtually never replicated at senior level.
My third message: we have a team full of academy players! Saka, ESR, Nelson, Nketiah all regularly play for us!
So all of you sit back, enjoy the fact that we have Saka, Rice, Odegaard, Saliba and Martinelli and young manger that is desperate to win and calm down about Nwaneri, Walters or MLS not getting meaningless minutes or an 18 year old left back leaving for Aston Villa … despite their talent the reality is that they are probably all more likely to be PE teachers than play 50 games for Arsenal’s first team.
Fabian (apologies for the weird handle – I need to sort that!)
Everyone everywhere just wants to find something to bitch about.
I come here because it is 1000 x more reasonable content and 100 x better comments while still being able to be critical.
That said, can we just not even talk about Party until he is actually o the field.
Totally forgot we had a player name Fabio Veira…just hasn’t had any effect on our team….just a place holder.
Eddie is key arsenal academy competing for top honours at arsenal ? Okay lol.
Start Trossard he is the one who hasn't lost us a game when he started, and also when we are chasing the game or when they are chasing the game Martinelli will have enough space
Let's get TOMI back ASAP Japan are out… private Mikel 🙏 ✈️
I don’t agree with Arteta throwing shade on the entire youth set up. He’s been here long enough to have bedded at least one youth player in the first team even if only in a regular sub role.
Found the comments by Arteta about the academy a strange one. Making a public statement about his own club's academy like that was ill advised at best unless there is something brewing internally we are not aware of. Don't think the academy is as bad as was alluded to
Typical PR from the club in announcing Parteys "injury" 1 day after the transfer window closes…
People crying about academy players are same people who were crying for Pepe and Ozil to play when they were on bench…its always someone better who does not play for them, Arteta knows better.
Fair enough about the Academy, but it's obvious that Arteta does not know how to breed confidence in his bench when he brings players on with five minutes to go.
Charles you give too much ‘company man’ energy sometimes. The way you defend Arsenals nonsense is ridiculous. There are young players at Arsenal who are no worse than the likes of a of Havertz, Elneny and Nketiah they atleast deserve minutes.
I've been following Arsenal since we moved back from Alaska 26 years ago to the NW of the USA. Saw the glory years. Saw the post-Wenger years where it all got kinda toxic, with fan frustration and anger replacing positive passions. A generation of fans were weaned from that tait and I see a lingering negativity and an all too easy tendency to jump on this or that. Personally, I'm extremely happy with how things are now, and encourage fans and journalists to look on the bright side. Not in a mindless pollyanna way, but let's enjoy being a team in ascent!
Partey really injured ?? or is it the ""Alleged XXXX case "" Hope Partey is not in a house with many doors ? I just hope he is really injured ?
Worth pointing out that MA didn't say our young players are not good enough to play for us, he said some are nearly ready but need more, so it's not about their quality it's about their development paths. Next year and the year after I think we could see a couple of young players playing in the PL and given the minutes.
I got goose bumps when you mentioned Reyes! That thunder bolt against Chelsea (in the cup?) will stay with me forever – wow!
I had the immense pleasure of meeting him .. such a humble and shy man -RIP ❤