View From The Sphere

A ‘sad but true’ claim from this former Gunner?

|
Image for A ‘sad but true’ claim from this former Gunner?

‘Once the club used to let players go when they had reached the end of their careers, the likes of Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira, Pires or myself.’

‘Now they’re losing Fabregas and Nasri when they’re at the top of their game. If you continue to sell your best players, the club is dead.’

These are the words and views of former Gunner Emmanuel Petit on Arsenal’s current transfer policy, claiming the club would die if they continue to sell their best players.

It’s a bit of a bold statement from the former France international, who under Wenger won a domestic double with the north London club, but is he right or is he over exaggerating it just a little?

Let us know what you think on the matter


Like what you read? Then follow me on Twitterhttp://twitter.com/Gunnersphere

Visit and Join our Facebook page, click HERE to do so.

Gunnersphere is currently looking for new writers to join the squad. Contact via twitter or at Gunnersphere@snack-media.com for further details.

Share this article

13 comments

  • Francis Angrey says:

    Emmanuel Petit is just right. It’s a huge mistake to sell your stars especially when you still need them.

  • flavour says:

    You need them but they don’t need you. Get this straight, these players were not sold because the club wants to but because they insisted they don’t want the club. Emmanuel Petit just miss this because the facts are there and it is the reason they were sold late in the transfer window. We tried to convince them but there heart is somewhere and that somewhere is where their treasure is. They would have mess up the team if allowed to remain

    • Arsenal Fan says:

      True but look at players like Luka Modric, he wants to go elsewhere but Harry Rednap needed him in the team more. He is still playing ok and contributing to the team.

  • the font says:

    ONE ARSENE WENGER THERES ONLY ONE ARSENE WENGER
    THATS WHAT WE WANT TO HEAR AGAINST SUNDERLAND WE ARE ARSENAL WIN OR LOSE DO NOT LET THE MEDIA FUELLED CANCER IN TO THE CLUB

    • Aaron says:

      Yeah! He promoted a wining habit which was there when he came and now he is on a free fall from grace. He is managing a decline.

  • MXGooner says:

    When Petit was leaving he said that Arsenal was not a big enough club for him. Reading the nonsense he’s talking about Na$ri and Fab it’s clear that stupid cunt still doesn’t understand the truth about “greener grass” after his “successful” post-Arsenal “career”. So his opinion is irrelevant. Fuck off, Many.

  • saintann says:

    emmanuel petit missed it well becuse Arsenal suffered last season do to cesc not wanting to play..nasri dont play football for it fun but money

  • diamond dave says:

    some of you arsenal supporters are IDIOTS!! petite is spot on with what he said, the reason why nasri, fab, clichy did not want to play was because this club did not want to buy players who would compliment their standing in world football, instead we get cheap budget buys off the bottom shelf that is why they wanted to leave, WENGER, GAZIDIS, KROENKE SHOULD LEAVE this club has been taking backwards with a philosphy that is so outdated it has proven it does not work, barcelona work with the same philosphy but notice they will always buy better players if they improve the squad, wenegr approach is to buy the likes of chamakah, dennilson, bendtner, and the list goes on world class players need quality with them not kids but players who can play, so there is NOT only arsena wenger HE SHOULD GO

    • Tom says:

      Yes, Diamond Dave is spot on!!! Cesc & Nasri wanna leave in the first place bcos NO ONE wanna waste their limited soccer career in a football club who got NO ambition & no chance to win even the FA cup!!!

      We seems to have quite a large number of fans who are either blind to the FACT or simply idiot!!!

    • Dan AKA The Truth says:

      Diamond Dave, you’re an absolute legend! I see your comments on other blogs and you save me from having to write lots because you say it already.

      WENGER OUT (I cannot wait for the anti-Wenger protests today by the way)

  • Bonjour says:

    Dave is jst ryt wenger and the board stick to the old philosophy which does not work this days. Wenger is still d ryt man though he jst has to and urge board to change their philosophy and things will change for good

  • Victor Okeke says:

    It would not be very difficult to remember that Wenger actually took a lot of stick about some of these boys when he was accused of sticking with babies. Remember the saying “you never win anything with babies”.

    Wenger actually stuck with them when no body else could give them a chance and nurtured their development into whatever class they think they are present. He was ready to move Vieira, Cole or Henry on if only to move Diaby, Clichy and Walcott up and give them an opportunity.

    How would you describe Fabregas before he joined arsenal? Yes, he passed through the Barcelona Academy but they never saw the gem in him. They had patience to investment time on him and certainly were never prepared to “waste” their time in his development.

    Guess what, Wenger saw ahead of his time and gave him the opportunity that he required to bring out the gem in him. Then came Barcelona and their players to unsettle him by employing all sorts of gimmicks. They suddenly discovered he had the Barcelona DNA. The persistence of their open courtship turned his neck and he turned his back on the club and the man who gave the chance of a life time. Putting this in perspective, I am not sure that Petite would say Wenger sold against his will. It is very much on record that Wenger never wanted to let him go and was even forced to entice him to stay long by giving him the captain’s arm band even when RVP was even better deserving.

    The above scenario also apply to both Clichy and Nasri. These were boys actually languishing in middle of the table clubs in France merely content with the play time in France but the genius in Wenger discovered them and developed them into class players.

    They saw the opportunity to develop under the genius of Wenger and they grabbed it. With big spending clubs like Chelsea and Man City, they now see the opportunity to make big bucks. To justify their desire to grab this opportunity, they were willing to deny the man (and the club) who took sticks even when no body gave them the chance.

    Are they big boys now? Of course I believe they are. Some of them have developed well over the years under the tutelage of Wenger. And that is why the argument that Wenger is not buying big name players do not hold when other clubs could find it expedient to plunder Arsenal every year. Barcelona could not have gone for Fabregas if he was not good. Man City could not have gone for Clichy, Toure, Adebayor, Nasri if they were not good. Was it not the bulk of these players that helped Man City carry the championship last season? Why are they not able to do that in Arsenal as big boys? What other big boys do they need to win laurels.

    After so much investment in their development, it is quite simple to say that these boys let the club down rather than to say that the club is selling them. They did not cover themselves in glory when they jumped ship under false pretenses.

    What do you do with a player whose heart is elsewhere? The best way to describe the attitude of those boys who wanted out is simply “ingratitude”. They “big boys” now have literally turned to bite the finger that fed them. They never Wenger a chance.

  • Victor Okeke says:

    It would not be very difficult to remember that Wenger actually took a lot of stick about some of these boys when he was accused of sticking with babies. Remember the saying “you never win anything with babies”.

    Wenger actually stuck with them when no body else could give them a chance and nurtured their development into whatever class they think they are presently. He was ready to move Vieira, Cole or Henry on if only to move Diaby, Clichy and Walcott up and give them an opportunity.

    How would you describe Fabregas before he joined arsenal? Yes, he passed through the Barcelona Academy but they never saw the gem in him. They had no patience to investment time on him and certainly were never prepared to “waste” their time in his development.

    Guess what, Wenger saw ahead of his time and gave him the opportunity that he required to bring out the gem in him. Then came Barcelona and their players to unsettle him by employing all sorts of gimmicks. They suddenly discovered he had the Barcelona DNA. The persistence of their open courtship turned his neck and he finally turned his back on the club and the man who gave him the chance of a life time.

    Putting all this in perspective, I am not sure that Emmanuel Petite would say Wenger sold Fabregas against his will. It is very much on record that Wenger never wanted to let him go and was even forced to entice him to stay long by giving him the captain’s arm band even when RVP was even better deserving.

    The above scenario also apply to both Clichy and Nasri. These were boys actually languishing in middle of the table clubs in France merely content with the play time in France but the genius in Wenger discovered them and developed them into class players.

    They saw the opportunity to develop under the genius of Wenger and they grabbed it. With the coming of big spending clubs like Chelsea and Man City, they now see the opportunity to make big bucks and to justify their desire to grab this opportunity, they became willing to deny the man (and the club) who took sticks even when no body gave them the chance.

    Are they big boys now? Of course I believe they are. Some of them have developed well over the years under the tutelage of Wenger.

    And that is why the argument that Wenger is not buying big name players does not quite gel with me when the other clubs could find it expedient to plunder Arsenal every year. Barcelona could not have gone for Fabregas if he was not good. Man City could not have gone for Clichy, Toure, Adebayor, Nasri if they were not good. Was it not the bulk of these players that helped Man City carry the championship last season? Why are they not able to do that in Arsenal as big boys? What other big boys do they need to win laurels.

    After so much investment in their development, it is quite simple to say that these boys let the club down rather than to say that the club is selling them. They did not cover themselves in glory when they jumped ship under false pretenses.

    What do you do with a player whose heart is elsewhere? The best way to describe the attitude of those boys who wanted out is simply “ingratitude”. They so-called “big boys” have literally turned to bite the finger that fed them. They never gave Wenger a chance.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *