Alex Iwobi backs Arsenal youngsters to shine as Arsene Wenger prepares to shuffle pack against BATE Borisov

Exclusive: Iwobi's tips as young guns are given their chance
James Olley28 September 2017

Alex Iwobi has backed Arsenal’s youngsters to shine on the Europa League stage in Belarus on Thursday.

The Gunners face BATE Borisov in Minsk, with Arsene Wenger set to heavily rotate his side after leaving Alexis Sanchez, Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette at home.

Manager Wenger’s starting line-up will still largely consist of internationals, including Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott, but they are likely to be supplemented by the club’s next generation, led by Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock.

Iwobi, who misses the game due to a thigh problem, told Standard Sport: “What advice do I give them? The same I have been given: just enjoy and express yourself. As long as you do the basics well, your ability will come through. Even in training, we are getting some new faces coming in. There is a lot of young talent.”

Maitland-Niles last week described Iwobi as a “role model”, something which took the 21-year-old back, given the pair are friends and Iwobi just eight months the senior.

“When I hear that I’m a bit surprised because I do see him as a mate but I guess because I am the youngest who has made a lot of appearances,” he said. “When they say I’m a role model, I am bit like, ‘whoah’, but I understand where they are coming from.”

Wenger, however, has warned those who do get a chance that they must seize their opportunity quickly or risk the moment passing them by.

Alex Iwobi was speaking at the launch of EA SPORTS FIFA 18 
Mark Robinson

With Vlad Dragomir, Marcus McGuane and Jose Da Silva also likely to be on the bench, Wenger said: “You do not get 10 opportunities to play for Arsenal. If you only play 20 minutes, you have to show you have the qualities to do it.

“There is always an uncertainty. You see in training that the player has the quality. After, to show it during competition, is something different. And, in my experience, you only discover that during the competition.”

Alex Iwobi was speaking at the launch of EA SPORTS FIFA 18, which is out tomorrow on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and all other platforms. To get your copy, head to easports.com/uk/fifa/buy/united-kingdom

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in