Jon McleodWenger's younsters not exempt from fear
October 23rd 2008 09:07
Arsene Wenger insists his young gunners have “no fear”. The Arsenal side that took the field against Fenerbache in the Champions League on Tuesday had an average age of 22 and they trashed the Turkish side 5-2 with unbridled confidence.
But that is the point of youth, particularly when highly talent - dare we say precocious. Very often they have no fear because they have no experience of failure. In the sanitised world of youth team football they score a hatful of goals each game, and reach the top having never endured criticism, the jeers of fans or 4-0 drubbings - never tasting self doubt or confidence lapses. But it is a temporary state.
Defeat, humiliation and criticism is an inevitablity. The exhilarating promise of Walcott, Vela, Ramsey, et all will sooner or later encounter disappointment and be forced to face the demons that emerge with failure. If defeat against Hull and a draw with Sunderland have not already derailed Arsenal’s title bid, relying on the callow beliefs of youth will come back to haunt them again at some stage in the race.
It is there, at the sharp end of title races, that experienced players prove themselves. They may not ride as high from a searing performance as their younger countrerparts, but crucially they know how to deal with failure when it materialises, and ovrecome it with greater mental reserves.
For this reason Arsenal will not win the Premiership or the Champions League this season.
They say exceptions prove rules and in that vein Alan Hansen’s preoclamation that ‘you can’t win anything with kids’ has rung true over the past decade after Man U’s younsters won the title in 1996 - it is a far tougher Premiership more than ten years on.
But that is the point of youth, particularly when highly talent - dare we say precocious. Very often they have no fear because they have no experience of failure. In the sanitised world of youth team football they score a hatful of goals each game, and reach the top having never endured criticism, the jeers of fans or 4-0 drubbings - never tasting self doubt or confidence lapses. But it is a temporary state.
Defeat, humiliation and criticism is an inevitablity. The exhilarating promise of Walcott, Vela, Ramsey, et all will sooner or later encounter disappointment and be forced to face the demons that emerge with failure. If defeat against Hull and a draw with Sunderland have not already derailed Arsenal’s title bid, relying on the callow beliefs of youth will come back to haunt them again at some stage in the race.
It is there, at the sharp end of title races, that experienced players prove themselves. They may not ride as high from a searing performance as their younger countrerparts, but crucially they know how to deal with failure when it materialises, and ovrecome it with greater mental reserves.
For this reason Arsenal will not win the Premiership or the Champions League this season.
They say exceptions prove rules and in that vein Alan Hansen’s preoclamation that ‘you can’t win anything with kids’ has rung true over the past decade after Man U’s younsters won the title in 1996 - it is a far tougher Premiership more than ten years on.
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