Speaking on the Seaman Says Podcast, Sol Campbell has warned Arsenal about the perils of over-relying on their young talents such as Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
Arsenal are having a half-decent season, and any success they’ve had this term has been centred around the exploits of their young talents.
Indeed, whether it’s been Smith Rowe scoring goals, Saka setting them up or Gabriel Martinelli making an impact off the bench, Arsenal owe a lot of, if not all, of their success to their young talents.
However, Campbell believes that Arsenal are walking something of a tightrope with their reliance on young players, claiming that they need to find a better balance and get more out of their senior stars.
What’s been said about Saka and Smith Rowe?
Campbell gave his view on Arsenal’s young players and the club’s reliance on them.
“With Arsenal, I don’t know where they are right now. You can’t always rely on Saka and Smith Rowe and these young players. There has to be a balance between the older players stepping up. People like Aubameyang, even though he’s having this tough time right now,” Campbell said.
He’s right
As much as we all love Saka and Smith Rowe, Campbell is right, you can’t rely on young players all of the time.
These are footballers who are growing and developing, they can’t be put under this much pressure at this age, because when they inevitably suffer dips in form, it could be soul-destroying if the team is heavily affected.
These youngsters have been put into a position of prominence, and while that can sometimes be a positive, there’s a reason it’s known as being thrown in at the deep end – because there’s a risk of sinking.
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