Top marks for Arsenal's Professeur

Never has Arsène Wenger's nickname of 'Le Professeur' seemed as apt as in recent seasons, with the Arsenal FC manager nurturing a crop of young players who would arguably look more natural handing in homework than representing one of Europe's leading clubs.

Change of tack
The Frenchman's early days in north London were marked by efforts to extend the playing careers of the Gunners' veteran rearguard, but he has increasingly focused on footballers at the opposite end of the age spectrum. So much so that the team that lit up this season's English League Cup regularly boasted an average age of 19, while the side that plundered a flamboyant 5-2 UEFA Champions League victory at Fenerbahçe SK in October were barely older at 23.

Financial incentive
The decision to spurn the big-money transfer market and bring through young players was probably necessitated by the financial burden of the move to Arsenal Stadium in 2006, but despite the availability of funds more recently, Wenger has opted to stay faithful to his approach. For the 59-year-old, anything else would be counter-intuitive when the club have one of the most respected academies in the land and potentially the continent's finest network of scouts, unearthing sublime prospects from around the world at bargain prices.

Attractive proposition
"At some stage, people forget that if you want to develop players and bring them out, you have to make room for them [in the team]," said Wenger. "In every player's progression there's a stage where he goes up and up and [eventually] has to play – if you don't play him, you lose him." Arsenal still found it difficult to hold on to their best performers after last season, but nobody left the club for lack of opportunity. Instead, young prodigies associate Wenger with the chance of making an early breakthrough.

British talent
That was certainly the case as the Gunners lured 17-year-old Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey from Cardiff City FC in June, despite the attentions of Manchester United FC whom he had supported as a boy. Now a full Welsh international, Ramsey is one of several British talents close to making a first-team place their own, with 19-year-old Theo Walcott already there and 16-year-old Jack Wilshere apparently destined for great things, being compared to Arsenal legend Liam Brady – now the man overseeing the academy.

Assigning responsibility
Likewise, captain Cesc Fàbregas is only 21 but has already made more than 150 league appearances. There is no better example of how Wenger likes to hand his young charges responsibility, to the extent that he resisted calls to inject experience into his squad before the current campaign. "You cannot have a youth policy and suddenly say we'll buy three players [aged] 27," he explained. "You destroy what you have done and created. I could have put a player in front of Walcott, Denilson and Fàbregas but that would be crazy."

Major worry
Much more preferable for the former AS Monaco FC boss is that the youngsters gain the requisite experience by growing up together. "We have more experience and more quality now, and the players are improving year to year," he said, although Arsenal have not added to their silverware collection since 2005. Indeed, the major worry for the Gunners is that their brightest graduates will continue departing each summer in pursuit of winners' medals, yet even if they do it is tempting to keep believing that teacher knows best.