Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs believes incoming Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta should move towards playing more of the club’s youth players.
Arsenal are said to be confident of hiring Arteta this week, according to the Metro, so he may very soon have to start thinking about his plans for the team.
It’s been a pretty dire season so far at the Emirates Stadium, with Unai Emery recently sacked after some poor results and performances, and with current caretaker boss Freddie Ljungberg not faring much better either in his five games in charge.
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Whatever Arteta does, it looks like it’s going to be a very difficult job for the Spaniard, as indeed it would be for almost any manager in world football right now.
The Gunners have been in decline for some time and don’t have the resources of their rivals to invest in the kind of players needed to catch up.
Still, Giggs thinks there could be some sense in blooding a number of the talented young players that seem to be coming through Arsenal’s academy at the moment.
When asked about advice for Arteta, the Welshman told Premier League Productions, as quoted by the Metro, as saying: “It’s very difficult, watching that today I would just play the young players.
“[Emile] Smith Rowe, [Bukayo] Saka, [Joe] Willock… if the big players aren’t doing it just put young players in because they will run, they will win tackles, they will sprint back.
“Because that performance was a joke defensively. Gaps everywhere, no talking, unorganised, not sprinting back – when the ball goes past you you sprint that, that’s the number one thing a fan will look at.
“You can misplace passes, you can have a bad day, but if you don’t work hard enough that’s inexcusable.”