‘We must stick with them and give them chances’

Unai Emery sat down for a pre-match chat with Arsenal Media shortly after completing Tuesday’s training session at London Colney.

Our head coach could make a handful of changes for the visit of Blackpool in the Carabao Cup, and he discussed the lessons that young players can learn from these opportunities.

Here’s what Unai said:

 

on young players starting their careers in this competition…

The most important thing for the young players is to be alert every day in the training sessions. They need to use the experienced players’ example, how they progress, and learn from them. For us, it’s about sticking with them and giving them responsibility in each training session, the confidence from working for us. Then, when they deserve it, it’s up to us to give them chances in the matches. Progressively, they can take confidence from being able to find their performance with their quality and with confidence.

 

on his thoughts on team selection…

For us, each match is our focus. We’re looking for a good performance from the team, and also to give the players the chances to help us with their performances. We respect Blackpool, and we will take the responsibility to have the best performance in each competition so that we’re able to win the match.

on how much the Blackpool game will help the young players…

We will choose 18 players for the Blackpool match, the young players also. We are going to have a mix in order to get the best performance against Blackpool, to respect them. For us, the Carabao Cup is very important. It’s an opportunity to win a trophy and for tomorrow, a chance to play in front of our supporters at Emirates Stadium in this competition.

 

on how well the youngsters in the squad are developing…

Each training session for them is very important and also when the matches come around, we can give them chances to take responsibility. I think this season we will need every player, including the young players.