To use your words; "Well said." I agree with that summary of the situation. When a club is there to win, maybe sentiment as to the players you employ is redundant. I have said before that Walsh would be a great capture and would solve some of the midfield issues the club may be about to face. but not all.
Not all clubs in the WSL can afford to maintain an U23 team and some, for all I know, do not care to afford it but it is a start.
Clearly we'd hope that players are respected and valued as people. If difficult decisions and conversations do need to happen hopefully these are done professionally and with humanity (just like any workplace).
Given that elite professional sport is a highly competitive environment, where consistent high levels of performance and results are required, the balance between the two must be very difficult to achieve.
I have wondered if say a situation similar to Jordan's last year will ever happen again, when it probably benefitted her more than the club to let her go at that time (increased her chances of being picked for England, vs a growing injury situation at Arsenal). The sense was of rewarding her for great and loyal service. Will his happen in future, or would it be more 'hard nosed' even for players who've been at the club a long time?
Possibly one of the down-sides of the growth of the game, maybe compensated for increased career earnings?
Excuse my ignorance, incase it is already a thing, but is there a future in having an U23 women's team at Arsenal that could keep the players 'within' rather than sending them out on loan. They could play in the second tier, so not play against the first team? They could then 'step up' if required due to long term injuries in the first team. It is something that is done in lower steps of mens football.
There is an U21 team and league but growth of the game hasn’t quite reached that level yet, it’s coming but it’s not there yet. It’s a stretch for most clubs to afford very competitive U23 teams.
Tim and others will be better placed to properly answer this. I think there would be an issue with other clubs not having the resources to make having an U23 league feasible.
Interestingly I've heard some thoughts recently that the men's U23 competition might not be the right model for developing first-team-ready talent for clubs at the highest level.
This is an excellent article which I think neatly summarise the dilemma of developing (as opposed to buying), the next generation of talent when winning leagues and European competition is the realistic aim.
First, it is important to state that Gio is not primarily a winger, although she can play in that position. Second, Jonas preferred to stick with a former Swedish winger who came from Italy, having played 18 games and scored 4 goals in a whole season. Gio scored 9 goals in her natural position in half a season. Despite playing fewer games, she was able to score more goals than Aitana and Alexia. I don't have to say that Barcelona is a team far superior to Madrid CFF. The problem at Arsenal is that there is an incompetent manager in charge who cannot develop talent. For instance, Vicky, 17, at Barcelona played the whole season and scored 9 goals. If Jonas were Barcelona's manager, she would have had her career derailed because of this useless manager. One day, Tim, you will regret supporting Jonas for so long.
Firstly, I don’t ‘support’ Jonas. I ask him questions and report his answers. That’s all. On your point about Barca developing young talent, they are certainly very good at it but given they win 98% of their games by a sizeable margin and play in a league with a lot of (essentially) amateur teams, it’s a far easier environment to blood young talent.
A bit harsh on Tim. Just because he’s realistic in that the club is not going to sack the manager no matter how many pitchforks and torches fans bring to bear, doesn’t make him some sort of Jonas apologist. I can’t speak for Tim, but I think we all agree that Jonas has a very short runway to turn this squad’s fortunes around. If results don’t come quickly next season, he’s likely toast. So many people want to yeet Jonas, but who are you installing to take his place? It’s important to have both pieces of the solution if Jonas is getting the boot.
To use your words; "Well said." I agree with that summary of the situation. When a club is there to win, maybe sentiment as to the players you employ is redundant. I have said before that Walsh would be a great capture and would solve some of the midfield issues the club may be about to face. but not all.
Not all clubs in the WSL can afford to maintain an U23 team and some, for all I know, do not care to afford it but it is a start.
That's an interesting point.
Clearly we'd hope that players are respected and valued as people. If difficult decisions and conversations do need to happen hopefully these are done professionally and with humanity (just like any workplace).
Given that elite professional sport is a highly competitive environment, where consistent high levels of performance and results are required, the balance between the two must be very difficult to achieve.
I have wondered if say a situation similar to Jordan's last year will ever happen again, when it probably benefitted her more than the club to let her go at that time (increased her chances of being picked for England, vs a growing injury situation at Arsenal). The sense was of rewarding her for great and loyal service. Will his happen in future, or would it be more 'hard nosed' even for players who've been at the club a long time?
Possibly one of the down-sides of the growth of the game, maybe compensated for increased career earnings?
Excuse my ignorance, incase it is already a thing, but is there a future in having an U23 women's team at Arsenal that could keep the players 'within' rather than sending them out on loan. They could play in the second tier, so not play against the first team? They could then 'step up' if required due to long term injuries in the first team. It is something that is done in lower steps of mens football.
There is an U21 team and league but growth of the game hasn’t quite reached that level yet, it’s coming but it’s not there yet. It’s a stretch for most clubs to afford very competitive U23 teams.
Tim and others will be better placed to properly answer this. I think there would be an issue with other clubs not having the resources to make having an U23 league feasible.
Interestingly I've heard some thoughts recently that the men's U23 competition might not be the right model for developing first-team-ready talent for clubs at the highest level.
This is an excellent article which I think neatly summarise the dilemma of developing (as opposed to buying), the next generation of talent when winning leagues and European competition is the realistic aim.
Yeah, I agree with other teams not having the resources, that's a good point.
First, it is important to state that Gio is not primarily a winger, although she can play in that position. Second, Jonas preferred to stick with a former Swedish winger who came from Italy, having played 18 games and scored 4 goals in a whole season. Gio scored 9 goals in her natural position in half a season. Despite playing fewer games, she was able to score more goals than Aitana and Alexia. I don't have to say that Barcelona is a team far superior to Madrid CFF. The problem at Arsenal is that there is an incompetent manager in charge who cannot develop talent. For instance, Vicky, 17, at Barcelona played the whole season and scored 9 goals. If Jonas were Barcelona's manager, she would have had her career derailed because of this useless manager. One day, Tim, you will regret supporting Jonas for so long.
Firstly, I don’t ‘support’ Jonas. I ask him questions and report his answers. That’s all. On your point about Barca developing young talent, they are certainly very good at it but given they win 98% of their games by a sizeable margin and play in a league with a lot of (essentially) amateur teams, it’s a far easier environment to blood young talent.
A bit harsh on Tim. Just because he’s realistic in that the club is not going to sack the manager no matter how many pitchforks and torches fans bring to bear, doesn’t make him some sort of Jonas apologist. I can’t speak for Tim, but I think we all agree that Jonas has a very short runway to turn this squad’s fortunes around. If results don’t come quickly next season, he’s likely toast. So many people want to yeet Jonas, but who are you installing to take his place? It’s important to have both pieces of the solution if Jonas is getting the boot.
If all roads lead to Rome, does every thread (eventually) lead to someone saying how much they dislike/don't rate Jonas?
And as Tim's surname isn't Kroenke, I'm not sure his thoughts on the matter really make any difference to Arsenal's managerial appointments.