Quote Originally Posted by lukcour View Post
Timmy if we reduced to category3 level (no intention of abolishing) where would we recruit. Obviously you thought that was the clincher. Had it never occurred to you that we would recruit from the 90/95% of the 16-18 year old that have been released from the Premiership Clubs.
There is every reason to believe that they have been better coached and physically stronger than ours. in fact DV said that we could not cope with the physical strength of the Arsenal kids. It would appear that they are better prepared for senior pro football. The dreadful results of our under21s last season would without doubt suggest that there is a problem in the preparation of our young lads. I am merely suggesting that it could be a better way for the future of our club.
You cannot assume that anyone released from Arsenal's academy is going to be of the same standard as the that youth team. That's why they are released. Plus ignoring my post on how PL academies treat a lot of their kids removes a percentage from the equation. Plus any decent cast offs are subject to the same rules of the 'market' that already exist. So, an Alex with a depleted number of graduates, therefore needing more outsiders will still be be low down in the queue for any ex-academy players from other squads. Also the downgrading of the academy would cut back on coaching and would therefore downgrade the appeal of the club.
Also, the performance of the under 21s last season is easy to understand. Due to injuries to the 1st team squad, they ended up playing a very low average age team most weeks. Because the Alex have a low budget and have always relied on graduates and scholars, they cannot afford the luxury of treating the U21s as, effectively, a reserve team with a few youngsters thrown in to comply with the rules.