The Arsenal story should only be about the present

When Arsenal beat German Champions Borussia Dortmund last night courtesy of red-hot Robin van Persie’s brace before Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa reduced the arrears with a goal deep into stoppage time, it meant the Gunners - still stuck with the tag of England’s crisis club - had qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League - something the lavishly assembled sides of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United are yet to do - in part exorcising the ghosts of those early defeats against Liverpool, United and Tottenham Hotspur. The assists for van Persie’s goals on the night came from Alexandre Song and Thomas Vermaelen: two players who are instrumental for the Club in the long run, and two players who have committed their futures to Arsenal. Song was a trainee picked up from Corsican side FC Bastia, while Vermaelen is a product of the famed Academy of Ajax Amsterdam, which is still the world’s best Football Academy, where the principles of football instilled into players are the blueprints for Arsene Wenger’s system. The best, it would seem, of both worlds. [caption id=“attachment_140138” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Robin Van Persie has been superb for Arsenal. Reuters”]  [/caption] And at the moment - forgive me for sounding super-optimistic - there seems to be a ‘best of both worlds’ air around the Emirates Stadium. Pundits and critics alike criticised Arsene Wenger’s youth policy at the end of last season, after their Carling Cup debacle proceeded to unravel the rest of their season. But Arsene Wenger’s sides now have that blend of youth and experience - something that was a little heavy on the former and light on the latter in the past. Sure, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas have played a combined total of close to 500 games, but that does not make up for the maturity that Mikel Arteta, Yossi Benayoun and Per Mertesacker have, despite the German’s howler against Norwich. The London Colney Youth Academy has produced countless youth players in the past, and the current crop of players are Arsenal through and through. Jack Wilshere has already pledged his future to the club - for life - and he has an equally talented midfield partner in Aaron Ramsey, who seems to be getting better and better with every game. Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin seem to have a workmanlike spirit that Gilberto Silva would be proud of, and waiting in the wings are a raft of youngsters including Henri Lansbury - who is on loan at West Ham, Sanchez Watt, who is fleet footed, over six feet tall and a wizard on the wings. Chuks Aneke is another promising young talent, and he looks up to Abou Diaby, who made his return from injury against Dortmund. Kyle Bartley is also a product of the Academy, and seems likely to feature in Wenger’s future plans for the club, having played the preseason Emirates Cup this season before being shipped out on loan to Scottish side Rangers, where he spent the second half of last season before a stint at Sheffield United. What makes the situation even better is that these youngsters have incentives in the form of Academy players who made it into the first team to look up to. Going with the best of both worlds theory, Kieran Gibbs was a product of Colney, and he is now a regular in the first team roster. Both Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were plucked from Southampton and while Walcott has made the wing berth his own, Chamberlain has started his career explosively, and seems to be slated for great things to come. The fact that a majority of the above players are English means that there is a far less likelihood that they will leave the club as compared to Mathieu Flamini or Emmanuel Adebayor, who both left for money after Arsenal had moulded them into excellent players. Arsene Wenger once said the future of Arsenal was English, and it’s now quite clear as to what he meant, while Academy Coach Steve Bould has said that Arsenal’s production line will continue to produce players of a high calibre. The Emirates stadium was surrounded by the dank mist of confusion in August, but it is finally clearing, and patches of sky are at last visible. It’s not going to be all plain sailing, but it seems to be only a matter of time before Gooners look up and see clear blue sky.