The myth of Arsene Wenger and his genius. Part 1 - players.

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.

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.

Post 2003/04

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.

Part 2 - Tactics is here 

You can follow The Whitehouse Address on Twitter @The_W_Address