Arsenal’s summer overhaul vindicated as youngsters show Unai Emery’s squad has lost none of its depth
Eleven senior players out, five senior players in. The primary concern with Arsenal’s major overhaul this summer was always going to be one of depth: will the club’s desperation to reduce their wage bill have damaged Unai Emery’s chances of competing on all fronts?
With the fixtures now beginning to stack up for Arsenal, it feels like an increasingly pressing question. In terms of senior, seasoned players, Emery has a more shallow squad than he did last season, when his rotation of the team in key moments proved costly in the league.
The point was underlined against Watford on Sunday. Arsenal’s attacking options on the bench that day were as follows: Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka. The average age of those four players is 19. Their average number of Premier League appearances between them was four. Exciting talents? Of course. Ready to enter the fray and change the course of an intensive top-flight match? That’s a different matter altogether.
With this in mind, Thursday’s 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt was surely the most encouraging result of Arsenal’s season so far. Not just because of the scoreline, which was a little flattering, but also because of the individual performances of both the fringe players and Emery’s youngsters.
Emery would have been justified in worrying about the depth of his squad this season. The victory in Germany, though, provided compelling evidence to suggest that Arsenal’s second string players are more than capable of filling the void left by the seasoned internationals who departed the club this season.
When did Henrikh Mkhitaryan, for example, ever produce a performance as dynamic as Bukayo Saka’s in Frankfurt? When did Elneny ever charge through midfield like Joe Willock did to score Arsenal’s opener? When did Stephan Lichtsteiner ever provide the same resilience that Calum Chambers showed against a series of German attacks?
Arsenal’s outsiders took their chance (even the unwanted Shkodran Mustafi performed well) and on this evidence the overall squad is no weaker than it was last season, despite the departures of all those high-profile players, from Petr Cech in goal to Danny Welbeck in attack.
Naturally, and rightly, the focus in the immediate aftermath of the match was on the youngsters. Saka and Willock, two of the three goalscorers, received most of the attention, but Emile Smith Rowe was also singled out for special praise by Emery. All three showed themselves capable of performing at a high level against strong opponents in an intimidating venue. Frankfurt had never been beaten in their 15 previous home games in the Europa League, yet here their defence was largely taken apart by a bunch of kids (with a little help, as ever, from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang).
At Arsenal they have long seen this generation of academy graduates as exceptionally talented. The club is now doing all it can to create a pathway for the best youngsters to break into the senior side, including the promotion of academy coach Freddie Ljungberg to a first-team role.
Those 90 minutes in Germany have perhaps shifted the debate, even if these are the earliest of early days in the season. Should the question still focus on whether Emery has the required squad depth, or should we instead be asking whether Emery is now willing to throw these so-called fringe players into action in the Premier League?
Calum Chambers, for one, must surely be in contention for a return to the league side. He was excellent in the opening game of the season, when Arsenal kept a clean sheet against Newcastle United, but was subsequently dropped following the arrival of David Luiz from Chelsea. Arsenal have not conceded a goal with Chambers on the pitch this season, yet they have conceded eight in four games with Luiz and Sokratis as a central defensive pairing.
Willock was also unlucky to lose his place in the league side after strong performances against Newcastle, Burnley and Liverpool. And further forward, the injury to Alexandre Lacazette has left a gap in Emery’s attack. More than a few supporters would like to see Nelson, or indeed Saka, starting against Aston Villa this weekend.
There is even an argument, on the evidence of the win in Germany, that Emiliano Martinez is ready to challenge Bernd Leno for the goalkeeping position. Martinez, now 27, had an excellent loan spell with Reading last season and impressed with his distribution and his shot-stopping in the Europa League opener.
“We spoke before the game and we know we're the youngest team in the Premier League,” said Martinez. “We were very young going forward today. Auba was up front and then we had Emile and Bukayo on the wings. They're so talented those two guys, and with [Gabriel] Martinelli as well, Willock, Nelson... if we help them settle in the team, they will probably be the best wingers in the league.”
In all, it was a night that left Emery with plenty to ponder. It was also vindication for the club’s summer business as the kids showed that, despite the summer overhaul and the departures of so many senior faces, the Arsenal squad has lost none of its depth.
