If you walked into Chelsea's training ground in Cobham, changed the predominating blue around the place to red and switched the lion on the mounted insignia for the cannon, you could easily believe you were at Arsenal's training facility at London Colney. Although one lies in Surrey, the other in Hertfordshire on the far side of London, they are practically mirror-images of each other; the leafy, out-of-town locations, the sleek building design, the manicured pitches, the general aura of prestige and excellence about the place.

Yet beneath the superficial, they are different places entirely, facilities driven by different philosophies, beliefs that are as diametrically opposed as Karl Marx and Adam Smith. Chelsea want to buy success, Arsenal want to build it. But if the history of political ideas has taught us anything, it's that the extremities of principles is where the danger lies and that success is often in their dilution.

At Arsenal at the moment, there seems little chance of Arsene Wenger softening his stance and that, in many ways, is where the current uncertainly surrounding the club stems from. The Frenchman appears driven, obsessed even, by the idea of creating a side from a handful of seedlings and nurturing them, over the course of a few seasons, into full bloom. Yet the past year and a half has shown that his boys need more of a helping hand than he is providing them with.

The William Gallas affair proved that Wenger's boys don't take criticism well. It forced the manager to rush in and protect his players rather than allow the now former captain's words to hang in the air and force some kind of self-analysis amongst the squad. Last week's drama only reinforced the belief that Arsenal desperately need a helping or two of experience in and around the squad but Wenger appears stubbornly determined not to water down his ideology.

His position is not without irony. Up until the point that Arsenal decided to throw their finances behind the building of the Emirates, Wenger had little problem in spending millions on the likes of Denis Bergkamp, Sylvian Wiltord, Gilberto, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Thierry Henry and half a dozen other major signings. His policy even forced Jay Bothroyd, a product of the Arsenal youth system to comment when leaving the club for Coventry in 2001 that: "Arsenal just want to buy success. If a few young players come through it's a bonus but they are not really interested." Steve Sidwell, David Bentley and Matthew Upson might well agree but ever since Wenger was advised that he might have to take it handy with the cheque book, he seemingly abhors the thought of buying big name players, as exemplified by his response to a question posed by Danny Fiszman, Arsenal's major shareholder, at a dinner towards the end of the 2006/07 season. "What would you do if I gave you £100million to spend?" Fiszman asked. "I'd give it back," was Wenger's immediate response.

In Arsènal – The Making of a Modern Superclub, Alex Fynn and Kevin Whitcher's revealing insight into the Wenger era, the Frenchman's methods are explained. Contrary to popular belief, Arsenal do not have a terrific youth system in the true sense of the term. The vast majority of the club's most successful young players – Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Denilson, Carlos Vela, Nicolas Bendtner, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey – are signed from other clubs at the age of 16 or 17. On arrival, they generally don't play or train with the youth team but are instead taken under Wenger's influence in the first team squad.

The Frenchman possesses significant developmental skills as a coach but perhaps the real success of the system is the level of detail he demands from his scouts. "The scouts and myself have regular discussions on how we assess players," Wenger says in the book. "We also arrange an annual get-together so that the scouts can see how the first team train. We then make sure that they go and see any prospect we are interested in at training so there can be a direct comparison. Great importance is attached to what can be learned by observing a potential prospect's preparation."

Over in Cobham, such patient assessment is replaced by quick-fit, and expensive, solutions. Wenger has termed Chelsea's purchasing power as "financial doping" but it has certainly worked. Roman Abramovich's millions have helped Chelsea to two Premier League titles in a period when Arsenal have won not a bean. The Russian has been ruthless in his pursuit of silverware, often paying over the odds to capture players. There has certainly been an arrogance in Chelsea's approach over the past five years but there are now signs that their aggressive ideology is about to alter.

Abramovich, if the whispers emanating from inside the Chelsea hierarchy are to be believed, wants a little of what Arsenal have, not just to save a few pound in the current climate, but also to prove to his critics – the Arsenal manager, for one – that he has more noble desires than simply buying a Premier League title every few years. Such is the oligarch's desire to mimic Arsenal's conveyor belt of talent that he's apparently ready to dismantle Chelsea's flawed current youth structure. Last month, 15 Chelsea scouts – some reported to be on six-figure salaries – were sacked around the globe and Frank Arnesen, the club's sporting director, who cost Chelsea £5million in compensation from Tottenham, is expected to follow. But with all this waste, has Abramovich learned his lesson?

Arsenal's scouting system, as we've already mentioned, is not only a model of patience, it also seems to have a passion about it, a desire to nurture young footballers and give them a genuine opportunity to make the first team. "You must make a place available for a young player and it is often the most delicate of tasks," says Wenger, "one in which many clubs fail. At some stage I have to make a decision… if you don't do it at a certain time there is a chance the player will completely sink."

That is the problem for Abramovich as he attempts to mix his ideologies. Money will continue to be spent on new signings – with one big name apparently set to arrive in the January– but in doing that, the Russian needs to make sure that there are opportunities for the club's young players of the future to establish themselves in the first team. That might mean changing Luiz Felipe Scolari's job description slightly. At present, the likeable Brazilian doesn't have room to experiment because he is expected to win trophies. If a little less pressure is exerted from above, he just might have room to look after the club's future.

But while Abramovich's club seem willing to change, poised even, Wenger looks like he's going to stick to his principles. At Stamford Bridge this afternoon, despite their poor run of late, Arsenal have a chance. Scolari's Chelsea are a pretty ensemble, nowhere near as physical as Jose Mourinho's sides and they're therefore unlikely to bully Arsenal into submission. It will be an open, entertaining encounter with a few goals and plenty of goalmouth action. But game's like this, the big ones where all the attention are focused, aren't a test of Wenger's philosophy. Ideas are, more often than not, defined by their limitations rather than their successes and Arsenal's inadequacies are plain for all to see.

Except to Wenger. "One of the joys of team sports in the development of a group who have been together for some time," he said recently but as Arsenal face into a fourth trophy-less season, his words are beginning to look increasingly shallow. Which all points to one thing.

As Chelsea prepare to adapt and change direction in attempt to move their club forward, Arsenal seem content to stand still.

FA Premier League

Chelsea v Arsenal

Stamford Bridge, 4.00

Live, Sky Sports 1