Burnwinter this is exactly what we did and which is why I’ve been way more relaxed about Arsenal than I was pre Covid. It became apparent very quickly they were building systems for a title challenge, not chasing immediate glory. You need to start with a young team for 3 simple reasons
1) it takes a while to gel, so you need 2-3 years to get the team optimised
2) taking that into account, a young team then gives you a core that can run 4-5 years before disintegrating
3) you can get younger players for cheaper than the proven 24-26 year olds.
We bought young players with attributes that made them good together. We know some of the how’s as well: the emphasis on work ethic and strong personalities, the room for debate in the transfer process, and the meticulous prep in everything. Sometimes success take a while, and I remember a few debates in previous years with Quincy, Sicario and others where I said I wasn’t worried about finishing 2nd because I could see we were doing the right things. And I’m comfortable going into this next season because we continue to do so.
