There are plenty of people out there on the blog-o-sphere who repeatedly accuse Arsene Wenger of lying to them. The latest point in hand is his defence of the indefensible defence of Arsenal FC.
Supporters shout and scream at Wenger because they see him as being disloyal to them by not revealing every single detail. It made me think, why does Wenger often say the opposite to what he means?
I personally think there are two reasons why Wenger tells us porkies.
The first and most obvious is to protect the team. His now legendary ‘I did not see it’ comment is, by his own admission, a device that he employs to protect his players from criticism. When he says this now infamous line, he is doing so because he doesn’t want to condemn a studs-up tackle by Jack Wilshere or a blatant dive by Emmanuel Eboue.
When Wenger says that Arsenal’s defence isn’t the weakest link, when it clearly is, it is because he doesn’t want to destroy the confidence of his players. He knows the shortcomings of his team; he knows we suck at clearing corners and long-throws, but what’s the point in confirming this to the players out in public – surely better for team morale just to devote more time to rectifying the problems in training.
The second reason why Wenger tells lies is to protect the financial future of the club. Unlike some managers, for example Mancini (who today declared to the world his intent on signing a player under contract at another club – Samir Nasri), Wenger is nearly always quiet in the media when approaching other teams about their players. He hardly ever speculates on transfer specifics and when he does, it tends to be the transfer market in general and not on individual players.
What we fans often forget are the vast sums of money that football clubs exchange when swapping their players contracts. It is now a billion pound industry. I doubt there are any other walks of life where responsible businessmen (and women) talk about potential multi-million pound deals before they happen just to satisfy the rumour mill.
Talking up these footballing deals, it often leads to increased prices, or even the collapse of the whole deal. How many times have we seen Arsenal ‘reportedly’ interested in a player only for the Spuds or Chelski to move in on them? By remaining quiet on deals, Wenger is protecting the clubs finances and the hard work undertaken by our scouting network.
There are fans out there who forget the duality of English football. Yes it is a sport, but the incredible amount of money changing hands makes it just as much a business. Perhaps some fans need to bear this in mind before attacking Wenger for being less than transparent when it comes to disclosing transfer related information. He’s not doing it to annoy you (although that is an unfortunate side-effect), but rather to protect the club and its long-term interests.
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It is good to read one sensible article in the midst of a lot of trash. Wenger is expected to seek the approval of the fans before signing anyone. They have forgotten how other teams a waiting to pounce on any player that Wenger manifests any interest in. Let fans give Wenger time to do what he wants to do during this window. Secondly, Wenger deserves much more than the insults he gets by trailer loads from Arsenal’s own ploggosphere.
Fellow Gooners,
Whilst i understand that AFC have to be stealth in the market because of CFC,MCFC etc.Wenger should not repeatidly contreadict themselves to the point of being a hypocrite to season ticket holders AST etc.The same for the last 3 summers,wenger recognises the defence is a weakness then when the latter of the transfer market,wenger states” we know the errors in set pieces to work on in training”,hello squallici,djourou do not learn.Bring in samba(prescence like mertsacker)!
Then the same in transfer,Romanlu Anderlecht the hottest 18yr old,bame 18mill straight away job done beat cfc,mcfc, just certain players are worth it!catch cfc dithering!!!!!
We get annoyed because he sais he is going to buy, that he is going to be busy early, then … It is going to be at the end of the window… Then we miss out on getting anyone… Then we hear he believes the team are good enough… Then we collapse again… Then he promises to buy…. Then we dont…. Etc. Etc. That is why we are annoyed with wenger, he lies and is only bothered by financial results i.e qualifying for the CL, and blame everybody else for our failings – the ref, the fuxtures, the pitch, the opponents tactics, the time we play, the day we play… Oh and they played with great spirit but looked tired! this is a young team etc etc
This is why we are fed up with wenger!
Of course wenger is concerned by financial matters Mr T, but you’re a fool if you think he’s only interested in money. Sadly, because of chelski and city we have to make every penny count. Spending money to win with no real care will end us up like spurs and Liverpool.
I appreciate the financial constraints you muppet, but read what i am saying you prick
if you think that Wenger is satisfied with finishing 4th then i’m sorry, you are a fool. 4th is the minimum, the target is winning the league. always. the rest is just Wenger defending his team because they’re mental wellbeing is, frankly, more important than yours.
now go have a glass of milk and we’ll wake you up when we start winning trophies again.
does seem that other clubs jump in after we show interest
Then stop asking us to pay so much money to the club if the level of investment back is not adequate!
Surely what wenger is doing, according to your article, is lying to the fan base in order to temporarily satisfy us only to knowingly disappoint us.
Its dishonest and when we are paying as much as we are, quite frankly it could be construed as fraud …. to over the top? Well look at it like a business…. if your paying for something which is promised to you … like wenger promising trophies or promising experienced world class players, and going by that lie you invest money into the club —- why should you not expect a deliverance on that promise?
maybe a little over the top : ) but you have a point.
we all know why it costs so much to be a gooner; the Emirates. sadly that ain’t going to change. whilst competing for honours they are still obliged to pay the mortgage. it feel frustrating to pay so much for tickets and not see the best players possible on the pitch, i agree with you, but eventually that mortgage is going to be paid and those finances can be put into the team.
i don’t think Wenger is lying to the fan base as such, but more defending his team from criticism. a side effect of this is public declarations at odds with our common perception of the team. but what do you want him to do? condemn our contracted players, disenchant them and have their transfer fee’s reduced when they leave. he’s got to be 100% behind the team, anything less and his job would untenable and his team would fall apart.
as for promises, i think we have to be realistic about this. it’s a tough league and he’s doing his best, but not even the billions of chelsea and city promise winning titles. and we all know Wenger is never going to buy ‘experience world class players’ and i doubt he has ever promised to (though if you can find me quotes suggesting otherwise i am happy to change my tune on this). all we can do is rely on Wenger and his scouts to unearth promising players and watch him mould them into world beaters.
of course wenger wants to win the league and sign the best players, but our debt from the stadium stops us from doing this. in a couple of years when the debt is settled, if things don’t change; i will join the detractors. until then i am 100% percent behind the team and all their decisions, even if i don’t agree with them all.
Good article. So many times you read comments on Arsenal blogs saying “Wenger out” like they or anyone else can do a better job than the man himself. Chelski is the the right club for these so called fans, they’ll get to see a new manager every season.
Until wen arsenal is no more in top four that u wil no that wenger is causing more harm to arsenal than his good.