Arsenal manager,Arsene Wenger, has admitted that he will take much greater care this season in handling a number of his younger players. Wenger has been criticised in recent times for subjecting young players to too much pressure at an early stage in their careers.

One such player is Jack Wilshere, a highly rated teenager that is being tipped for club and international success in future seasons. Wilshere has performed in the Arsenal first team when many said he would not be able to handle the intensity and pressure of the massive situation that Wenger had dropped him into.

The Arsenal boss said: “I believe last year he paid a price physically for a very demanding start. This year he is strong, more mature, and I’m sure that he will show that tomorrow.”

“It’s difficult to treat players completely the same because you want to speed up a little bit their progress, but physically I will still treat them like anybody else. Most people once they get to 19 years of age without injuries are over-used. A big injury can always happen because you get over-use of the players.”

“We have four centre backs and he is one of the four because [Johan] Djourou is out for nearly the season. We know how good he is, but it is a new start, let’s say. He is still very young for a centre back. He’s 24 and he has the future in front of him. The best ten years are now coming for him. Philippe is an intelligent boy with a very good attitude and you don’t ever question that.”

Wilshere is still a very young man and his body is developing on a weekly basis. It is impossible for Wenger to think that he should be thrown in at the deep end against a lot of players who are physically big and strong.

On the one hand you do have to respect and admire Wenger’s football philosophy because it is a clever and smart one that is based on investing for the future. This is the way that he has developed every Arsenal side so far throughout his managerial career at the club.

On the other hand he needs to listen when people start telling him that certain players are too small or not maturely developed enough to be able to cope with the pace and pressure. The old age argument is that if you’re good enough you’re old enough but this does not detract from the obvious facts.