Arsenal's "kids" - Really?

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Well I was just thinking, as I often do, and the phrase that occasionally springs to mind when defending Arsenal is that the team is still young and inexperienced, or that they are still developing. I believe 'kids' is the word often used to describe this particular squadron of talent, but how old are they really?

Well, after looking into the ages of all of the players which make up both Arsenal and Tottenham's first choice XI's, I conclude the following:

Arsenal's 'Kids'
Almunia (32)
Sagna (27)
Gallas (32)
Vermaelen (24)
Clichy (24)
Nasri (22)
Fabregas (22)
Song (22)
Walcott (21)
Van Persie (26)
Arshavin (28)
Average age = 25.5 years old

Tottenham's Team
Gomes (29)
Corluka (24)
Dawson (26)
Bassong (23)
Bale (20)
Lennon (23)
Palacios (25)
Huddlestone (23)
Modric (24)
Defoe (27)
Pavlyuchenko (28)
Average age = 24.73 years old

As you can see, Tottenham's team is actually younger on average than this supposedly "young and inexperienced" team of "kids", and if you look even more closely, whereas Arsenal have a couple of players who have breached the treacherous 30+ barrier, Spurs do not.

Now I'm not sure what my intention was when creating this thread. It just occurred to me that, although they were "kids" once, they aren't anymore, so perhaps it's time to find a different excuse. (K)

STEAK NII-YYYYYYGHT! 8-|
 
i was saying this to my mate just 2 days ago, when i slagged off arsenal he came back and said yer but their still a young team. to which i replied well not really most off these players have played nearly 150 matches and its the same old story every season.
 
yeah, quite a good entertaining info :D

Btw I don't remember who's signature was it but some Arsenal fan's sig said, there were 4 lines but one of these was :

Why cannot Arsene sign player older than 4 ?

It was quite a funny text there :D
 
Check the reserves, you'll notice they are younger than everyone else.

Check Birmingham's aswell, you'll notice they are older than anyone else's reserve team.

Thats why we call Arsenal 'Kids' and Birmingham 'Oldies'.
 
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yeah arsenal are in front of spurs in the league so your point is ...................
 
ohhhhh right so harry redknapp is the peedo not wenger.:)
 
I believe the term 'kids' comes from the whole squad, rather than just our preferred starting 11 as we rarely get to start all of them together, meaning we have to delve into our reserves to field a side. This is where the kids comes in, the squad simply doesn't have enough depth as our Reserves/Subs are, for the most part, still very young. Like Merida, Vela, Eastmond etc.
 
I think the reason we have challenged for the title is the fact our starting XI is experienced. The reason we have fallen short is that we rarely get a chance to field our starting XI, thus having to field the younger 'kids'.
 
the Arsenal first team are not kids, it annoys the **** out of me when commentators say it. the team they use in the league cup, by all means. not the starting XI.
 
I this is more to do with the league cup, look at one of the 18-man squad they took about a year ago:

12. Carlos Vela (Age 19)
16. Aaron Ramsey (Age 17)
17. Alex SONG (Age 21)
19. Jack Wilshere (Age 16)
20. Johan Djourou (Age 21)
21. Lukasz Fabianski (GK) (Age 23)
24. Vito Mannone (GK) (Age 20)
26. Nicklas Bendtner (Age 20)
35. Francis Coquelin (Age 17)
38. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (Age 17)
40. Kieran Gibbs (Age 18)
41. Gavin Hoyte (Age 18)
42. Henri Lansbury (Age 17)
43. Fran Merida (Age 18)
46. Abu OGOGO (Age 18)
47. Mark Randall (Age 18)
50. Jay Simpson (Age 19)
56. Emmanuel Frimpong (Age 16)

I got this from the Arsenal website I think. That's why they are all kids :)
 
Aannddyy said:
I this is more to do with the league cup, look at one of the 18-man squad they took about a year ago:

12. Carlos Vela (Age 19)
16. Aaron Ramsey (Age 17)
17. Alex SONG (Age 21)
19. Jack Wilshere (Age 16)
20. Johan Djourou (Age 21)
21. Lukasz Fabianski (GK) (Age 23)
24. Vito Mannone (GK) (Age 20)
26. Nicklas Bendtner (Age 20)
35. Francis Coquelin (Age 17)
38. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (Age 17)
40. Kieran Gibbs (Age 18)
41. Gavin Hoyte (Age 18)
42. Henri Lansbury (Age 17)
43. Fran Merida (Age 18)
46. Abu OGOGO (Age 18)
47. Mark Randall (Age 18)
50. Jay Simpson (Age 19)
56. Emmanuel Frimpong (Age 16)

I got this from the Arsenal website I think. That's why they are all kids :)
Click to expand...

Okay then, chelsea could just play all their under 18's in the cup. Would that make chelsea kids?
 
CJ said:
Okay then, chelsea could just play all their under 18's in the cup. Would that make chelsea kids?
Click to expand...

That's not the point.. The point is, Wenger considers players from as young as 16 to be squad players who he will call up if necessary, not many other managers do that. Plus I'm pretty sure these youngsters got to the final of the League Cup once..
 
CJ said:
Okay then, chelsea could just play all their under 18's in the cup. Would that make chelsea kids?
Click to expand...

They don't. They play the a mix.

Beletti, Ferriera, Ballack and Hilario are given their chance.

The same with Sturridge, Kakuta and Stoch are given theirs.
 
FourFourTwo said:
They don't. They play the a mix.

Beletti, Ferriera, Ballack and Hilario are given their chance.

The same with Sturridge, Kakuta and Stoch are given theirs.
Click to expand...

Thats why i said they COULD
 
In all fairness, this thread was intended to be regarding Arsenal's first team, who still receive the same defense about being a developing group of players. My point is that the excuse is tired and worn now, and despite you being able to slap a bunch of young players on this thread, the original point is regarding the premier league title and the excuses used when they fall short.

Either way, I don't really care, I just found it interesting to compare.
 
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