Posted on Thursday, 26th January 2012 by Iain Culverhouse
Ex-Gunner Alan Smith firmly believes that Arsenal’s transfer policy is wrong and they are paying the price for it.
Speaking to the Hawksbee and Jacobs Show on talkSPORT, Smith spoke about Arsenal’s pursuit of Gary Cahill and how their failure to meet the asking price cost them the Englishman’s services:
‘We don’t know exactly how it happened but we do know Arsenal made a bid which Bolton rejected, so why not go a bit higher, pay the asking price and get the player?
‘Now he’s gone to Chelsea and he’s a good signing for them, and he would have been a good one for Arsenal, and better than Per Mertesacker, in my opinion.’
Now this annoyed me. I do agree that Arsenal should have signed Cahill for the money that Bolton were asking for because he would have been a great acquisition, However, there is nothing to say that the England international will be a success at Chelsea.
We are all familiar with people getting big money moves to other clubs in the Premier League, you only need to look at Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll who are prime examples of players who went for much more than they’re worth and have done nothing.
Smith went on to say:
‘Once it became clear Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri were both going, that’s when you’re looking for the manager to make adequate replacements, to get some quality in and not have to do something at the last minute as he ended up doing.
‘They did seem like panic buys at the 11th hour. Arteta is 29 with an injury record, something Wenger looks at; Benayoun is 31 and won’t make a huge difference to the first XI at the Emirates; Mertesacker has 80 caps for his country but doesn’t look a player who has that. Ask him to run and he looks slow and it’s worrying. He’s a good solid character, but that’s not always enough.’
Now for me, Mikel Arteta has been our best signing this season. I am already a huge fan of his, so for Alan Smith to come out and knocked on about three players, one being Arteta, and complained at Arsenal for not getting Gary Cahill, is extremely disappointing. It seems me he is seeking attention, as his comments are not supportive of the club in anyway shape or form.
However, I do agree that Arsenal need to change their transfer policy so that we can compete with the big guns in signing the best talent, not just selling them. I just think that there are better ways for ex-Arsenal players to voice their opinions and I think Smith’s comments are more of a dig at the club than constructive criticism.
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Tags: Alan Smith, Andy Carroll, Arsene Wenger, Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, Gary Cahill, Mikel Arteta, Samir Nasri
Posted in View From The Sphere | Comments (14)
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January 26th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
You can rely on ex Arsenal players to stick the knife in, Graham, Merson, McKlintock to name three prime examples. Smith always seems reluctant to give any praise to his former club when he is commentating on Sky. I think Wenger must have done something to upset him in the past. You would have thought a bit of support and encouragement would be more appropriate from our ex players rather than this constant sniping.
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January 26th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
Totally agree with Smudger, especially missing out on Cahill and going for Merteseker. Benayoun
hardly ever got into the Chelsea side, what does that say.!
It will be harder to recruit new players, no one will want to come to Arsenal because the club smacks of no ambition. You cant live on past glories forever.
Its time Mr Wenger moved upstairs and joined the rest of the board counting the money!! Let a new young ambitious manager with new ideas take over.
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January 26th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Ah, but would that new, ambitious manager get the necessary funds to implement his ideas? I suspect he wouldn’t.
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January 26th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
Look at how cheap Enrique went to Liverpoo for. He’s been arguably the best left back in the league this season. He was begging for a move away from Newcastle but Arsene thuoght 7M was too much. Really? Now he has no left backs available. Even Baines at 10-12M would be as good but instead 3M Santos and a Kieran Gibbs who spends more time in physio than on the field.
We all knew we needed a back up for Sagna, one who could come in and make us not miss Sagna too much when he needed rotation of was injured. Instead we got a teenager playing the Championship for a ferw hundred thousand quid who got his ass handed to him quite a few times Yennaris looks like a real competitor for RB but he’ll still have the inconsistency that comes with youth.
Do I even need to bring up the striker crisis and the need to have replaced Nasri and/or Cesc’s ability into this?
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January 26th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Smudger is absolutely right & Mr Culverhouse’s annoyance is unwarranted. Britain may be a CCTV, DNA database Orwellian nightmare of a sh*t hole but we can still call a spade a spade. Wenger is undoubtedly awful in the market place. His bias, antipathy to most things English & his stinginess are a blight to Arsenals continued success. Hence we have Squid & DJ & not Phil Jones & Parker. I have never known, in 40 years as an Arsenal fan, so many of the 1st team & squad I do not rate. I know the mind can get hazy & forget the nadirs of yesteryear but bloody hell .. there are too many stinkers at the club. & Wenger has bought them all.
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January 26th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Its not so much a reluctance to spend which is costing us… it is a reluctance to either hod on to star players or replace those players once they leave with adequate replacements.
That is what is killing the club… you cannot lose your best players and then not replace them, and expect to continue as if nothing has changed.
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January 26th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
You might tend to pick Cahill over Martesacker because he’s English, but whatever you say, the big German is way above and better than him. martesacker has been getting stick eversince he came to Arsenal, and i doubt he will ever be totally accepted, but with time, you will come to realise that Cahill wouldn’t have done much better than him. And besides, pace is overrated in football, ask Theo.
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January 26th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
@WC,
Surprised at your hidden reference to Jenkinson who, until his injury, was becoming a real threat to Sagna in the rb position. IMO he was one of Wenger’s signings of the season so far.
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January 26th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
I supported the idea that arsene should change his transfer policy, we are tired of him signing under age players. He should sign players who can immediately be in the starting line up, and he should sign players in time not at the eleventh hour. He must my players this january, because his present team have no character and immature to make any impact.
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January 27th, 2012 at 7:47 am
I respect Wenger and I thank him for the far he has taken Arsenal, but hey this season He has bought many problems than good players he bought to arsenal….he has done that thro indecision, He spots a good player with the likes of Gary Cahil, Phil Jones, Hazard…He takes long to decide on then and a taken by our bitter rival…Wenger A.k.A baba, Shame on you, n style up!!!
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January 27th, 2012 at 8:54 am
Every transfer has its drawbacks. Signing Arteta was a risk because he was to play a different role at Arsenal than he did at Everton. Mertesacker is still not 100% ready to play, and we could expect as much, him being used to the Bundesliga game, which is lightyears behind in terms of dynamics. Santos, coming from an even more off-key league, was bound to take time to grow into the squad.
But the thing is, Cahill has really far less going for him than Mertesacker. The German is a staple of their national team, a complete pro; Cahill isn’t foolproof and he’s still an apprentice in the national squad, which is not a good sign at his age. Enrique is a capable left-back, but he was only one of a number of options, and I think that, were it not for the injury (which is, as we all know, more a matter of fate than of design), Santos could well better him. He can be fast, tenacious in defense, technically capable.
Wenger took huge risks this last transfer window, and if they don’t pay off now, well, tough luck, but they definitely look like they WILL pay off in time.
Plus, what most people overlook, Wenger isn’t dealing with his personal funds but with transfer money assigned by the management. If he doesn’t raise his offer, this could be because he doesn’t have enough cash, now, couldn’t it? The “panic buys” were evidently brought in by a change in strategy, but the change was not Wenger’s, it was the club’s.
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January 27th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
IF THIS CARRY ON WILL SOON START THE BLACKBURN FANS BEHAVIOUR 2WARDS DEAN!!!
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January 27th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
WENGER IS BECOMING A BIT OF A DICTATOR HE DOESN’T WANT TO LISTEN TO THE FANS CRIES!!!
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January 27th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
come on mr wenger we’v sufferd ennuff…
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