Much has been written regarding the evolution of the current Arsenal squad. It is generally accepted by pundits and supporters alike that they are not at the same level as ‘The Invincibles’ squad of 2004. But how far can this current crop of players go? Can they emulate the success of their illustrious forebears? How much more can they develop? Is Arsene Wenger’s team building exercise the future of football, or an experiment that needs locking away in the cupboard and forgetting about?
The current team are, in my opinion anyway, not as direct as previous Wenger teams. Whilst they might have a few more tricks up their individual sleeves, collectively they are not at the same level as the teams of old. They play with more cohesion and the collective pressure that they put on opposing teams are more concentrated than it ever has been before, but there isn’t the same kind of incisive team movement as there was in yesteryear. But why? What has changed? Well, there are several factors to consider, but I shall focus on, what are for me, the big two.
Finance
Wenger is becoming more and more lambasted by supporters as each season comes and goes without a trophy. I don’t think it’s fair. As far as I’m concerned, he has taken this club to the next level. True, we haven’t won anything of note for a while now, but let’s look at the bigger picture. We now have the Emirates Stadium and the increased revenue that comes from the extra 20,000 seats, as well as the increased club level facilities. We play in the richest, most competitive league on the planet. So, we haven’t won the title in a while, but we’ve remained competitive whilst teams above and below us have spent vast, vast sums of money.
Supporters question some of Wenger’s transfer dealings, but it can’t be denied that he has kept us firmly in the mix and on a fairly strict budget. I would argue that moving into the new stadium and giving ourselves a solid foundation on which to build for the future is more important than a couple of potential league titles and cup final days out. In thirty years time will supporters look back and say that this period of austerity was a waste of time, and that Wenger should’ve compromised on his long-term vision for short-term returns? I think not.
Whao! What an article! This is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise polluted atmosphere. Wenger has been lambasted to the point that I wonder how he manages to keep breathing. Many supporter do not see the value of securing the future of the club. Many would not mind us being in debt like Barca as a price for winning one or two trophies. They fail to realize that a time will come when the owners of the money will come for their money any way possible. They may have to sell whatever can be sold to get their money. Some clubs will go into extinction as a result.
Is it not better to adopt a financial policy that would stand the test of time? I would love to still be supporting my Arsenal in twenty years’ time when some big clubs would have gone into oblivion.
The thing is though, these days people only really sign for arsenal because they want to work under wenger. If we don’t start winning trophies soon, it will be VERY hard to attract talent once wenger is gone.
This article is a breath of fresh air, thank you! There is too much knocking of Wenger going on these days and not enough thought into the fact we have got to where we are and have achieved the things we have with Wenger doing things his way. Throwing money at something doesn’t solve the problem, in fact if you consider when Wenger has spent money and what we got for it, you wouldn’t want to spend. (i’m thinking Reyes….)