Arsenal
Debunking 10 myths about Wenger 4-7 Cash Strapped Visionary?
Over here
By Celine Dion
September 24 2011
This article continues from myths 1-3 which can be linked back to at bottom of the page. The first 3 myths considered were: Arsene best Arsenal Manager ever; Wengerball is beautiful; Arsene created an European Super Club. Now Celine goes on to consider myths 4-7.
4. Wenger is cash strapped
Of course, the financial side of football is where Wengers’ adoring fan club believes they have the strongest case. Despite our astronomical seat prices and leeching marketing schemes, our administrative add-on ticket surcharges and hollow fan offers, many people clearly still see Arsenals plight as a heroic David and Goliath struggle against the debt-ridden financial monoliths of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea. It is an attractive position to take; it means that when you and your favourite football manager lose yet another game, you can just blame lack of money.
Never mind whether the game was against West Bromwich Albion or Blackburn, rather than Manchester City or Chelsea themselves. ‘Transfer profit’ is the reason given most often by the Wenger lobby for his place amongst the elite. Now personally I can’t understand what the earthly use a transfer profit is a to a football fan. Given that we aren’t allowed to pay the stadium loan off quicker than the original terms of repayment, its very existence suggests that any spare money is being hovered up in share dividends or being left pointlessly in the bank.
5. Wenger’s brilliant transfer record
Nevertheless, a measure of any manager in any field is that they do not waste money. So let’s examine the much quoted belief that Wenger never wastes any money. Well, a cursory glance at his transfer record shows that he has actually wasted rather a lot of it. Francis Jeffers and Richard Wright cost a combined fee of £14 million. You may have forgotten he ever played for us, but Gio Van Bronkhorst cost a cool £8.5. Reyes, who spent a couple of years knocking about at Arsenal trying to engineer a move to Real Madrid, cost £13 million. Hleb, whom so many of you are quick to dismiss as a sideways running non entity, cost £11.5. The - then club record Wiltord, not a bad player on his day, cost £13 million, but hardly stuck around long did he. Nasri cost a cool 16 millionNow I know that none of these signings are in the 25 million bracket.
But look at how long Chelsea have had out of Drogba and Essien? More than twice the use we had out of Reyes and Nasri. What stands out as remarkable amongst Wengers’ most expensive signings, is how short a time many of them actually stayed with us. Wenger certainly HAS delivered a transfer profit, for what it is worth, but if we take two extraordinary pieces of business out of the equation, the sales of Anelka and Adebayor, then the figures look a lot more ordinary. And let us not forget that both sales were forced upon us, and hardly benefitted our football, because Wenger, not for the only time, had signed a player of highly defective character.
6. Wenger is a Football Visionary
Which brings me to my next point. I am told, time and time again, that Wenger is a meticulous professor, a football visionary. So how come our team nowadays resembles a revolving door of personnel. Every football team in history, certainly Arsenals’, has a hoary old professional or two, to guide the new players and maintain the themes of discipline and tradition at the club. A Carragher, a Ledley King, a Giggs. Except us.
I know literally nothing of Arsenals character, or the personalities of the players, because as soon as we are getting used to someone, they’re off again. Every player who leaves Arsenal speaks highly of Wenger, but they certainly don’t hang around long nowadays, His latest piece of meticulous planning involved spending £50 million in two days, by the way, after spending the entire summer trying to buy different players to the ones he ended up with. So I for one won’t be too surprised if the latest additions to our squad turn out to be ships in the dark night of Arsenal rather than long term Arsenal stalwarts.
7. Developed Amazing Youth Policy
Ah, but none of this matters of course, because of Wengers’ amazing youth policy. Wenger develops some of the best European talent you see, a fact we have practically screamed in our faces every time his name is mentioned. Well, I don’t want to keep harping on about George Graham (actually I do), but the 1989 league winning team featured Merson, Rocastle, Thomas and Adams, all products of the youth team. Wengers invincible team, on the other hand, featured Ashley Cole. In fact, all Wengers’ trophy winning Arsenal sides comprised almost uniquely purchased players, most for quite large sums of money.
Yes, the team now can boast Schzesney, Gibbs, and Wilshere. But it is also the worst Arsenal team for fifteen years. Where are all Wengers’ other fine youth products? Well, they are rattling around the lower divisions, mainly. This summer represented a hugely embarrassing climb down for AW, where long term projects like Denilson, JET, Eboue, Bendnter and Traore were suddenly cut loose, following in the footsteps of Senderos, Merida, Barazite, and Nordveit. You can’t’ argue that Wenger doesn’t give greater EXPOSURE to his youth project, largely through his pioneering approach to the Carling Cup. But does our first team profit from a spellbinding array of youth team products. Any more than Liverpool with Gerard and Carragher or United with Fletcher, Welbeck, Giggs? No, it clearly doesn’t. Do his cut price buys at age 16-20, with the exception of Fabregas, turn into club legends? No, they don’t.
There seem to be a great deal of contradictions in the current pro-Wenger argument. Those who believe that the club owes almost everything it has to Wenger, that he has been instrumental in the stadium construction, from our ability to finance it right down to the shape of the changing rooms, are also the quickest to claim that the current lack of success is down to his lack of funds, his hands tied by the invisible money men. So which is it? Several of our player releases look ill advised, from the refusal to extend Pires’ contract, to letting Toure, Lehmann, Hleb, Flamini, and more recently Gael Clichy walk away. We were always told that someone else better was round the corner. But it has not proved so.
Myths 8 - 10 and Wenger's Legacy to follow
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:09:26:19:37:23 by Padre Pio.
The worrying thing is that Wenger wants to stay for another 14 years, or so he was quoted as saying. That'll be fourteen more years of no trophies and nonsense. Even this myopic club couldn't let that happen could it?
Quote:hippogunner
A very fine piece.
The worrying thing is that Wenger wants to stay for another 14 years, or so he was quoted as saying. That'll be fourteen more years of no trophies and nonsense. Even this myopic club couldn't let that happen could it?
He will be gone before the start of next season. Nothing indicates a change in fortune for this squad, so I cannot see how things can get better. That leaves the alternative and it is just a case of how bad it will actually get.
If we replace him with someone like Guardiola (who we could certainly attract) I can see us coming back to our best.
I love wenger and want him to turn it around but I just can't see it. He needs time and we won't give him that so..... Game over.
You want to write off "extraordinary" cases like Adebayor and Anelka? Well is it not fair then to write off "extraordinary" cases like Jeffers?
I won't even mention Right, because although you conveniently use the highball price tag of 6 million (I'm assuming, given the total you quote) the fee was in fact undisclosed, and generally thought to be closer to 2 million.
Also, some of the players we brought in had deals sorted a week+ before the end of the transfer deadline. They only waited until then to make it official.
The part about the youth policy is largely spot on.
The unbeaten season is a massive feat in itself. People will be talking about that season for decades.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
We, as a club, have lived long enough under his dark shadow. He who has become a carbuncle on the foot of our once great club. He whose name must never be spoken again, for fear that his shadow will somehow increase to blot out the sun, the sun that shines only on Arsenal.fc.
Go on, brave Celine, and throw the shackles of fear, hate and ticket prices from around the throats of us faithful fans. Help us oh great CD to rid ourselves of this abomination that is called WENGER. oh buggger!!!, I mentioned his name again. Oh there goes another 15 seasons
Since the end of WW1, 1919, when the FA restarted its 4 tier football league, with Arsenal fc in the 1st div, there’s only ever been one club to have never been relegated from Div 1/ EPL.
Arsenal fc
Let’s keep making history
Well C_D, my article "Wenger's Youth Policy is a Mirage" shown just that in contrast to Manchester United, Liverpool and even S*CUMS.
If it's that good, people will read it. Relax.
Just to remind any forummers there are "statistics" available at AT for any new readers.
Just say that I am plugging for more new readers to visit AT.
I intend to continue it with statistics fore very game played. It is my past-time and obsession.
I live in my own world with number crunching ever though no one wanted to read it.
That is the fun of posting at AT for an audience of one....
Quote:celine dion
i think there are a lot of similarities between Clough and Wenger personally, and their relationships with their clubs.
yeah..like CLough wnet bonkers in his last season as a football manager and bragged he bought "the best forward in the world" in Rozario.
The fact that the accounts show that the club has monety in no way shows that those who run the club are ready to spend or back any manager to spend it. Indeed the stubborn maintaince of our clearly flawed if not already failed wgae structure instituted since 2007 cearly suggests they do not want the money spent.
The thing is long as they can fall back on this wage strucre they can con supporters like yourself into believing they are willing to spend more money when they are not. It is irreleant how much the Club says or is actually available to spend on transfers, sl long as the wage structure undermines spending it as it does and may even be designed to do.
1st the dig..
No post from DeTimes and Tom 14's shadow 'Jack the rapper' or even Eduardo? ...hmmm.. Mr. Weeds looks like the long waited days are getting nearer and you are trying to hold an empty fort!
Now the point, well I said many times, in my 39 years of life I've seen many great football players and great football managers whose achievements of an year could equal Wenger's entire achievement of lifetime or easily surpass in most of the cases. But my football background never allow me to worship anyone and let alone a mare 2nd grade football manager called Arsene Wenger..
..so my verdict on Arsene Wenger remains the same what it used to be 3 years ago. A clever and successful manager who wasn't a footballer himself and achieved whatever maximum possible and his time has past 3 years ago and is now an expired item forced sold to the consumers I mean the fans of Arsenal club.
Now the repeating biggie..I don't believe if Wenger leaves anything is going to change anytime soon..but what I could foresee the things will change for good in next couple of years once Wenger is gone. The real problem the blood suckers will still remain even if Wenger is gone but no one and I really mean no one could help the blood suckers to continue with their plan like Wenger could help them to do..so soon an end will come. You can't have a football club with Arsenal's size, stadium and facilities replicating Fulham or Bolton. So good days are bound to follow.
I agree its a quality issue, Wenger allowed the quality of squad to drop with departure of Vieira, the rot began slowly and built up. It wont be put right in one season.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
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