Birthday boy Kieran Gibbs is a crucial figure in the recent history of Arsenal Football Club. He may not seem it, currently stuck behind Nacho Monreal in the pecking order. But the defender’s 2007 debut – coincidentally, coming eleven years after Arsene Wenger ascended to the Arsenal throne and nine years ahead of present day – divides between two eras of the Frenchman's reign so perfectly, in quantitative, qualitative and chronological terms, that its sheer symbolism verges upon poetry. Wenger is world renowned as one of the game’s greatest developers of young talent. On the surface, that’s impossible to dispute. Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Robin...
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