In addition to bringing in some players who can slot right into the first team’s starting XI, Ornstein predicts we will be putting a lot of focus on recruiting for the older end of the Academy. While there are a handful of phenomenal prospects emerging from our academy, there’s a feeling that they need young players of a similar skill level around them to help them grow and then with provide real competition. And we also need to improve our loan placements, with only Okonkwo and Biereth having excellent loan spells this season. And Okonkwo will be out of contract and moving on soon.
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I hope we can get back to the Wenger/Klopp practice of throwing on 7-8 academy players for the FA Cup and still having a decent showing. In recent seasons we’ve been embarrassed in the competition while playing mostly first-team players.
This is something I’ve wanted for a while, but we’ve dropped out of cups so early and been in league positions where Arteta has erred on the side of caution.
