A look at Wenger’s
Arsenal career shows he has never been great.
When people talk of Arsene Wenger he is widely regarded as one of the world's best managers. He has been dubbed a "miracle worker" by former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein and we are told he has “revolutionised” the Premier
League. It is true he improved standards at Arsenal yet his methods were not
new; he brought methods and science that had been prevalent on the continent
for years before. As always, we lag behind on new ideas and are so surprised
when they are introduced to us.
His record at Arsenal cannot be questioned, he was successful;
league titles , cups and a champions league final is impressive. He certainly matched
Ferguson for a long time. Yet, in the last six years there has been a shortage
of trophies, poorer performances and a gradual decline of Arsenal and their
manager.
The Wenger philosophy
A change in Wenger’s philosophy after the invincible season
set in motion where we are now. One cannot doubt that the absence of David Dein
at Arsenal has had a great effect on the fortunes of Arsenal. Excuses are made
in regards to the stadium, about how costs have had to be reduced, yet look
past the excuses, questions must still be asked about the signings being made
by Wenger.
Ferguson is very fond of saying there is no value in the
market and Wenger has the same views. It cries of men who have made mistakes
with their decisions and the cost has literally weighed heavily on them. It is a
fallacy that Arsenal have not spent money, especially in the last 5 years. Why
people think this is because the signings have been average at best. Except for
Ramsay, Sagna, Nasri and Vermalean the signings made have been disastrous. From
a manager who has some of the best scouts around the world and who we are
told is very patient to make the right decision to ensure the correct players
comes in, the results are clear, the signings made by Wenger are not good enough, or put another way, fail to perform at Arsenal.
Even those mentioned have not been as great as hoped; Ramsay
appears a shadow of himself, perhaps the passing of Speed has had a longing influence
on him; it should be noted that he played his best for Wales not Arsenal since recovering from
a horrible leg break. Vermalean has struggled to keep fit and the injury curse
at Arsenal appears to have claimed another victim. More questions need to be
asked as to why Arsenal appear to be suffer more muscle tissue injuries than most
teams. Nasri had one good half of a season and then deemed himself too good for
the Emirates, the bright lights and dollar signs adding to his desire.
Wenger is often prasied yet should be slaughtered for his painful persistence with players who continually
underperform, or have long since proven themselves substandard; Almunia, Eboue, Rosicky, Hleb, Arshavin, Squillaci, Diaby, Denilson, and Walcott has led to fans believing that perhaps Wenger isn't all that great. Many excuses have kept him the role but when one looks at his record, especially at developing players, he falls short of the mark.
Continually wasting
talent
The trend of promising talent coming to Arsenal and failing
is the norm more than the exception. This is the unfortunate truth of Wenger's legacy.Buy cheap and young and sell on to make profit is the philosophy they have. Well if it wasn't for Man City pumping millions into that idea then it would have looked rather foolish. Who has really become a great player in his time at Arsenal? You can name a handful. Arsenal either destroys careers or is a platform to move on and become better. There is a serious problem in the way Wenger develops players.
The players who arrived at Arsenal who came with a great reputation and yet failed is quite shocking. Most notably was Jose Antonio Reyes who arrived from Sevilla; touted as one of the best talents to come from Spain, his potential was ruined at Arsenal. Arsenal’s highest transfer at that time left after fulfilling none of his promise. He recaptured some of his form when returning to Spain yet didn’t hit the heights expected of him.
The players who arrived at Arsenal who came with a great reputation and yet failed is quite shocking. Most notably was Jose Antonio Reyes who arrived from Sevilla; touted as one of the best talents to come from Spain, his potential was ruined at Arsenal. Arsenal’s highest transfer at that time left after fulfilling none of his promise. He recaptured some of his form when returning to Spain yet didn’t hit the heights expected of him.
Tomas Rosicky arrived from Dortmund with an excellent
reputation and was regarded as one of the best creative playmakers in Europe.
Arriving for £7 million he has looked a shadow of his former self and one must
wonder why this has happened.
Where am I playing? |
Arsenal’s biggest transfer involved Andrei Asharvin, coming
over for £15 million during the January transfer window. It was seen as a show
of intent that Arsenal were now able to bring in the best talent again. It
seemed a great signing yet has become another showing of a signing failing at
Arsenal. His position must be questioned in the team, for Russia in his “coming
out” tournament he played a free role behind Pavlyuchenko after serving his two
match ban and took Russia to the semi’s with goals against Sweden and Holland.
His performances made the world stand up and wonder who this talent was. Granted
there is a common trend for Russians not to succeed in England, however the
Arshavin situation is similar to many players who not succeeded at Arsenal.
Wenger is also a poor judge of English talent; his apparent reluctance
to buy English players probably comes from his decisions to sign Richard Wright
and Francis Jeffers who both failed miserably at Highbury and were shipped out
quickly, yet does no-one ask why they failed? They were regarded as the future of England and after spending time at Highbury they lost all confidence and were deemed poor players. Since then only Sol Campbell has been a successful English signing. Ashley
Cole proved to be a good product of the Academy yet apart from them Walcott has
not improved since moving, Gibbs seems average when not injured and Wilshere
showed so much promise yet consistent injuries seem to restrict his potential.
I wonder how Wilshere will develop at Arsenal, without Cesc and Nasri with him the picture is different to last season. And now with Chamberlain showing so much promise am I the only one worried that it is Wenger
who is in control of future.
This leads me on to Theo Walcott, who was once regarded as one of the best young players
to come out of England, his move to Arsenal appeared perfect and one which
would excel his development and give Arsenal a new Thierry Henry. However, buying young
appears to be Wenger’s way of moulding players, believing that at a young age
he can shape them into the Wenger way. Yet we must ask if Wenger's way is a good method to be teaching a player?! Walcott is a player who has been duped
into believing that keeping the ball is more important than trying to attack,
that losing possession is the worst thing you can do. His game has gone from exciting
attacking play involving speed, agility and guile to becoming one dimensional, offering
no creativity and only occasional bursts of speed to get behind defences. Most
often Walcott receives with his back to goal, refusing to turn and passes back.
He is afraid and lacks confidence. Is this what we want Chamberlain to become?
These examples reflect a fallacy about Wenger; that he
develops world class talent. He more often than not destroys it than
improves it. Only Fabregas and Van Persie have become world class in their time
at Arsenal, and it will require Van Perise to move on in order to fulfil his
promise. What are Arsenal doing with these players that restricts their
performances?
I believe it is solely down to Wenger. Firstly, these
players are of similar styles and like to play centrally, in a 10 role. Yet he
has played them in wide positions more than their preferred positions. Whereas
Barcelona are able to accommodate players of similar styles through their fluid
formations, Arsenal are too rigid and fixed. Why is Arshavin playing left wing?
He is a creative, number 10. What a waste. Walcott was a forward, he has been
playing right wing for 6 years. How is this helping his development? He is not
a winger, his end product is not good enough and his confidence has been
knocked through Wenger’s insistence of him playing wide. He doesn’t even play
him on the left to allow him to naturally drift inside. It is madness.
Defensive struggles
A good defence is the key to being successful, no one can
argue that. Wenger has shown that he failed when it comes to this key
ingredient of a team.
Questions must be asked of Wenger’s awful record at
recruiting top quality defenders. He was very fortunate to inherit one of the
best defences in world football at that, comparable with the great Italian
teams. He built his success on this platform, yet as they started to leave his inadequacies
in defensive coaching and management were and still are evident. Replacing that
defence with players like Cygan, Stepanovs, Djourou and the recent signings of Koscienlny
who cost £10 million and Squillachi at £4 million is incomprehensible. Vermalen
has been plagued by injury and at times look good, yet I still think too much
was placed on his attacking credentials than his defensive game.
Wenger's or Graham's trophy? |
In my opinion Chris Samba would have been ideal for Arsenal,
in a similar mould to Campbell he would have been available for the price of
the two average players bought. Thiago Silva was bought for £8 million from
Fluminense by Milan and it would appear that Wenger’s scouting umbrella focused
too much in his native France.
Ever again? Doubtful |
Perhaps Sagna and Szcecny have been the only “good” signing
made since 03/04 when Cesc and Van Persie were brought in. It is no surprise either
that those two are the two best players to come out of Arsenal the past 8
years. They were fortunate as they had quality around to guide them. Losing
players of the talent and experience of Keown, Parlour, Kanu, Wiltord and in
the summer of 2004 and then to lose Pires and Vieria the following year,
followed by Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole and Henry the next, was effectively taking out everything that was
great about this Arsenal team. The experience and expertise that aided young stars was removed and replaced by more youth players, they had no-one to learn from and importantly no-one to lead the team during the tough times. Arsenal since 2004 have been one of weakest mental teams in Europe.
This last summer there were many issues, poorly handled too
by Wenger concerning Fabregas and Nasri. I am sure Ferguson would not have
allowed such a protracted affair, and it led Wenger to panic on the final day, spending
£25 million on average players in Santos, Arteta and Mertescacker. He had
already purchased Gervinho for £10 million earlier on. All of these players
have been poor this season. With the money spent on these players could Arsenal
not have bought Samba or even a Hummels from Dortmund? Could M’Vila not have
been bought for £20 million instead? Or how about Hazard or Gotze who are
natural wingers who can come inside? All Wenger’s signings scream of
desperation and panic. Why wasn’t Jose Enrique bought, who was available all
summer, yet Andre Santos was deemed the better choice; a player whose positioning
and concentration levels are embarrassing.
The Wenger deception
The French Connection |
In Wenger’s career at Arsenal the only players to really
perform were those from the France team who won the World Cup and Euro’s;
Vieria, Petit and Pires followed by Anelka, Wiltord and Henry and a defence put together
by George Graham. There have been others obviously, Overmars and Bergkamp who were
great for the team and Cole and Campbell added a lot. Yet since the team has
been completely Wenger’s, without the aid of Dein particularly, it has appeared
average, the team has lacked strength in mind and body, has lacked leadership; on the pitch and in the
dressing room and relies on excuses and hope than belief and genuine quality.
Player’s performances I believe are the result of the
manager, those who say that when the player steps out on the pitch that the
manager has no influence are wrong. A managers role is to have prepared,
planned, motivated and inspired their players. You know a team who believes in
their manager when you see them working as hard as they can; look at Barca
under Pep, United under Ferguson, Mourinho’s teams and even Redknapp at Spurs.
They inspire their players to perform, to work harder than the opposition, they
motivate teams to win. Can this be said of Wenger? The media says he is like a
guide to the players, giving them more choices and responsibilities, like an
Uncle more than a stern Dad. The result
is evident, without discipline and true guidance this Arsenal team looks lost.
Wenger is not a great, too often he has been left asking
questions of his players and himself. Tactically Wenger is poor; his decisions in
the market have been poor and when they are good they are ruined by his tactics
and philosophy. He has stayed at Arsenal too long relying on a reputation which
was heavily dependent on a strong foundation laid down by George Graham. His
team are a reflection of himself; weak, frail and average. Without the quality
he possessed he has shown his inadequacies.
Aside from Arshavin that I agree with, the rest of the examples used are massively unconvincing.
ReplyDeleteReyes' talent was in no way "ruined" at Arsenal. If anything, he was excellent upon arrival but it was his continuous sulking about the weather and his constant stalking of Madrid that contributed to his downfall. To blame Wenger for this is very short-sighted and shows little research into the matter.
Then you talk about Richard Wright - It was only the media that made a big deal of him but in reality, he was nowhere near the quality that Arsenal had in Seaman.
In regards to Jeffers he was a meant to be the fox in the box that people always complained Arsenal never had. Unfortunately, he was not up to the level to match the likes of Henry and Bergkamp. Again, its just a poor excuse to blame the manager when in reality, his early development was to blame.
Regarding Rosicky, his injuries was not unknown of from his days in Dortmund. Why else would they sell him for so cheap? And you can go on blaming the manager for his decline but you missed the key fact that many well known specialists had missed the ligament damage he suffered so ofcourse that will affect his career. Hardly the managers fault. And no he wasnt overplayed at the time either.
And all too often people love going on the "he relied on Graham's defence" and seems you've bought into that too.
NONE of the invincibles first choice defence were from Graham's era. Are you going to give credit to Graham for turning Kolo Toure into an excellent defender or Lauren?
Its not Arsenal that killed certain player's careers, it was the players themselves who were responsible. Such a miracle that Hleb, Flamini, Nasri all went on to big clubs yet produced little of note. Why were they so good under Wenger but a failure elsewhere?
Its time to think more clearly