Arsenal head to Bloomfield Road to face Blackpool with a winter wind likely to be whipping off the Irish Sea. While the conditions for this FA Cup third-round tie will be a new experience for Unai Emery, the match will also provide continuity as the manager looks to maintain the development of the youngsters in his squad.
Throughout their campaigns in the Carabao Cup and Europa League, Emery has fielded sides that mix senior squad players with raw talent from the youth teams. The Spaniard intends to do the same on Saturday.
Eight academy prospects have featured for Arsenal this season, one more than in the entirety of Arsène Wenger’s final campaign. The latest, the 17-year-old winger Bukayo Saka, made an impressive Premier League debut when he came on as a substitute against Fulham on New Year’s Day.
“The priority is to take the big performance against each team we are playing,” Emery said of his approach to squad rotation, “but also to develop young players, for example Saka. He made his debut last match and he was playing because at the moment we don’t have many options in winger right or left. He is in the academy, he is growing up and this is the beginning of, I hope, a long career in Arsenal.
“It is the same with Emile [Smith Rowe], with [Joe] Willock, with [Eddie] Nketiah. We need to give them chances but in good combination with other things. On Saturday I am going to do that.”
Emery went on to explain his thinking more broadly regarding those who have come through the Hale End academy. “I usually work with young players and give them the opportunity to work with us,” he said. “I then give them chances to play but only if we can get the victory. My responsibility is to work with them and here I want to do that. But each player is going to earn in his way more or less chances with his performances and his everyday work.
“When they are playing with Freddie [Ljungberg] in the under-23s we are looking at their performances and their attitude, if it’s OK or not … and at the moment we are going to continue in this way. We know they can train with us and start playing matches. It is very difficult but we need to help them.”
Alongside Saka, another teenager likely to feature in the Arsenal lineup against Blackpool is Smith Rowe, who scored when the teams met earlier this season in the Carabao Cup. Emery revealed the 18-year-old will be part of his plans for the rest of the season, with the club likely to refuse offers to take him on loan. “In the summer there was interest,” he said, “but now it is not our interest.”