As the problems mount at Arsenal, the fans seem to either want Arsene Wenger out or for him to spend the necessary money to strengthen his team. The big question for us though is, is he the right man to splash that cash?
Jack Wilshere supported his boss last night.
By John Fraser – @HDTreatmentBlog
It’s a tough old slog for Arsenal just now and particularly tough times for manager Arsene Wenger. As a lot of people will be quick to gleefully point out, the last trophy Arsenal won was the FA Cup back in 2005. Since then we seem to have revisited the following scenario in every season.
Arsenal suffer early exits from all the cup competitions while struggling to maintain a top four place, let alone mount a title challenge. Questions are raised regarding the form of players, underachieving signings, Wenger’s seeming reluctance to splash the cash, absentee foreign owners and unrest develops in the stands. Press conferences become strained. Crisis looms.
Then with only the league to focus on, form picks up. Points start accumulating. Confidence builds. Rivals begin to falter. Sneak into top four and pick up a Champions League spot. General opinion is this warrants a success after the bleak mid-season outlook, things will improve next season if Wenger loosens the purse strings. Many agree. However, while doing business in the transfer market is essential, it doesn’t guarantee success. I would not trust Wenger to invest wisely. Identifying youngsters is one thing but identifying players ready to immediately fit into the first XI and start adding value to the team is totally different. And during the barren years since 2005, the additions to the Arsenal squad have just not been up to the standard required.
In the eight seasons since that FA Cup victory, Arsenal have made money in the transfer market. I appreciate that; a very rare and admirable fact. £33m net to be precise. Transfer fees received £261m compared to an outlay of £228m. I am sure we are all aware of Arsenal’s struggle at retaining their best players; many big names have departed the club for large transfer fees. Cesc Fabregas joined Barcelona for £35m, so for argument’s sake, let’s assume his transfer is the difference. How has Wenger spent the large fees received for Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, Kolo Toure, Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Adebayor, Alex Song, etc.?
Gervinho cost £10.6m, Park Chu-Young £3.0m (remember him?), Andre Santos £6.2m, Per Mertersacker £10.0m, Sebastian Squillaci £4.0m and Marouane Chamakh came in for free (not even worth the wages he has banked).
For me, these guys stand out as a not being value for money. None of them play. I could make good arguments for Andrei Arshavin (£15m; one-and-a-half season wonder) and Mikel Arteta (£10m; temporary stop-gap), but not for the rest. Also, I think the jury is still out on Lukasz Podolski (£11m) and Olivier Giroud (£13m) as either early season form has disappeared or they continue to settle.
Sure, there have been good signings during this period. Alex Song at £1.0m was a bargain, very consistent and a nice big fee at the end. Thomas Vermaelen for £10.0m is another standout. But they are few and far between. The signings also look to be getting worse as the years go on. As the pressure grows for him to spend; he is panicking and being forced to spend; settling for someone rather than taking more flak for keeping the money in the bank.
Arsenal do need to invest in their squad but Wenger is not the man to do it successfully.
Has Arsene Wenger’s past dealings in the transfer market shown he’s not the right man for the job? What do Arsenal do to improve? Tweet us @talkingbaws or comment below.
Mahmoud jalloh
/ 02/20/2013Arsene Wenger is the virus in the team. Please destroy it.
Oguntuase Amos
/ 02/20/2013We would appoint you as the manager to spend the money?
steiner1010
/ 02/20/2013Wenger has under performed for years and has got worse results each year since all of Grahams team retired and moved on, Wenger does not command respect in the team; can you imagine what UTD players would get from Fergie if they played like us (not likely as Fergie knows what he is doing in the transfer market) their ears would be bleeding for weeks!
Moyles at Everton has done very well on a small budget and systematically over performed. Feeling his transfer budget was not sufficient he has refused to sign a new contract until the board allocate more funds for transfers. Just the sort of balls we should have in a manager.
Who would I appoint as manager? Anyone but Wenger, honestly could anyone anyone really have done worse than Wenger over the past 5 years? I don’t think so!
Steve
/ 02/20/2013In my opinion,firstly get rid of Wenger,replace him with a good quality British manager, no more Frogs, Moyes would be ideal look what he’s done at Everton,apart from been a lot younger than Wenger,he certainly knows his football,and footballers look at the quality players he’s got at Everton and he didn’t pay big prices,their scouts must be top quality compared to ours,if he had the facilities Arsenal have got,he would be in his element,Moyes
wouldn’t have half a dozen or more of so called players on about £50 TO £ 60 grand a week sat on a bench every week picking their noses,neither use or ornament. “I SAY OUT WITH WENGER,BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE”.
goldnplatinum
/ 02/20/2013Reblogged this on GoldNPlatinum.
Momoh Abdul-Razaq McSionel
/ 02/20/2013There is no need to allow him the room to buy.For all I know,he might just be making personal gains by buying mediocres and promising el dorado.
In my opinion,Wenger should go or in the alternative,some one else could do the buying while Wenger works with whoever was bought.
Enough is enough.