Arsenal’s Hale End Academy has produced a number of top players over the years, and every recent manager has emphasised the importance of it.
Arsene Wenger’s 22-year stint at the club saw countless talents from the academy given chances in the first team, and this was also a theme under Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta.
Wenger’s philosophy of free-flowing, attacking football was passed down to the academy, and the Frenchman’s impact on all aspects of the club meant that his coaching ideals were also emulated by the academy coaches.
Long-serving academy coach Dan Buck has now revealed how much of an impact Wenger and his best sides had on the youth teams.
Arsene Wenger’s huge impact on Arsenal youth sides
Speaking to Hale End Productions, Buck explained how Wenger and his staff would help replicate the styles of his best teams by passing on tips to the youth coaches, and that his top players served as usful inspirations when coaching the young talents in the academy.
“When Arsene was manager, I think what was helpful was the close relationship he had with our staff,” he stated.
“He, Neil Banfield and all those guys, they were always talking, and then they would come back to Hale End, and even have discussions with us.
“The first team had such a unique brand of football in the early 2000s with Bergkamp, Henry, with players like that, and the way they used to play, that just inspired our younger players and the coaches too, to get the players to play like them.”
Arsene Wenger’s sides inspired generations of young footballers
Any young Hale End talent developing during Wenger’s glory years will have idolised the likes of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp.
Henry in particular, had a huge influence on strikers all over the world. Many have since based their own game on him, with his combination of speed, flair and deadly finishing making him arguably the greatest player in Premier League history.
Wenger clearly cared about the academy, and gave countless graduates chances in the first-team, and his lengthy reign at the club also saw success within the youth sides, which have produced some outstanding players over the years who could follow Wenger’s style of play.