[Football] Arsenal

[furball]

Arsene Wenger has warned Arsenal fans not to expect any high-profile arrivals in the summer.

Even a poor run of form in the league - with three defeats in the last four games putting fourth place at risk - has not convinced the Frenchman to waver from his focus on developing young talents.

In recent weeks The Gunners have been linked with players such as Marseille's Franck Ribery and Sevilla's Daniel Alves, as well as the obligatory string of young players across the continent. Now Wenger has insisted he is not planning to break precedent and bring any ready-made superstars to Emirates Stadium when the transfer window opens.

"I'd be happy to go into next season with the same squad because we are in a growing process," said Wenger in The Mirror. "The temptation is always there to spend but I'm more concerned with developing the young players.

"I don't think we need a big investment."

However, Arsenal will have to decide whether to sign Julio Baptista on a permanent deal in the summer after the expiration of his loan move from Real Madrid.

Relevant Sky Sports News link


I'm left feeling practically distraught. He's said this a few times, but he's finally directed the comment towards the fans. For so long I've agreed with his plans for the club - don't spend stupidly, invest in youth, look to the long-term. But we're being challenged for 4th now and we can't really afford to lose the Champions League money. The board has said again and again that the funds are available for Wenger to spend - we're talking £20-30 million here. The stadium has been very carefully financed so that the manager still has money to spend, that was their intention all along.

Should we be challenging for the title every season? I believe so. I know we've had unexpected injury problems this season - losing both Henry and Van Persie for the second half of the campaign has really hurt and you can't always plan for that, but we haven't had much useful squad depth for a while now.

How do I feel about our investment in youth? I ****ing loves it. We have some of the best young players in the world - Fabregas, Denilson, Walcott, Diaby, Bendtner, Carlos Vela. A lot of our team is in its early twenties - Van Persie, Adebayor, Eboue, Clichy, and they can only get better. I really do rate them, even if their inexperience shows at times. Without a doubt the credit must go to Wenger for recruiting them. Our scouting operation is the best in the world.

So why aren't we winning - or at least pushing harder? I thought about this, and then decided to look at our competitors, in particular Man United who had a little slump a couple of seasons back. What have they done?


The answer, I feel, is that they haven't been afraid to spend big when they needed to. Ferdinand - £30m. Ronaldo - £12m. Saha - £13m. Carrick - £14-18m. Vidic - £7m. Rooney - £25m. I don't expect Arsenal to match this level of spending power - far from it. But where United had holes that they needed to fill after players such as Stam, Keane and Van Nistelrooy left, they filled them with players who were ready now. Where they had youth players ready to make the step up - Fletcher, Richardson, Brown they did so, but if there was a gap then it got sorted out. That has been reflected in United's consistency this season - their ability to keep winning even when the strikers lost form.

It can't be disputed that there's a fair few gaps in Arsenal's team at the moment. The defence looks good for the future, and I'm confident that Lehmann, who keeps getting better and better, will stay. However, this season has seen us getting horribly over-complicated and unable to score when teams understandably put eleven men behind the ball, especially if they have the lead. We got round this a few seasons ago with width, getting in behind the lines players and making viable chances. That width was provided by Pires and Ljungberg, and has now gone. Pires left the club, Ljungberg's lost it. I can't complain there - every team loses players. But they haven't really been replaced.

Rosicky is a good player, but he makes things happen from the centre, not out on the left flank. He's a playmaker, not a winger, and we need a winger. Hleb is someone I rate very highly, in particular because of his workrate, so I wouldn't let him go. He's good down the wing as well, even if he likes to wander inside as he runs at defenders. Hleb's also played very well in tandem with Eboue, who will be at this club for a long time - if Hleb can't dribble past a full-back, Eboue will power past them with his electric pace. But Rosicky can't take it past them no matter what, so that often just leaves us up shit creek without a magic paddle. Continuing this theme, an important part of Henry's game has been drifting out to the left-hand side and overloading that side of the defence, creating gaps for others. But if our left winger isn't there to team up with Henry, he's just going to get mass-marked by the nearest defenders. Pires was very good in the left corner, but we haven't seen much of Rosicky there at all. So in summary - good signing, good player, but not suited to the club.

The other hole is up front. We need an out-and-out striker. I was going to rant about we should sign someone, but I took five and changed my mind. We've got a lot of strikers queuing up to play alongside Henry - let's be realistic, he's the first/second name on the team sheet for most games. Van Persie is a great talent, Adebayor is very good although I'm only 90% there with him. Walcott looks very good but obviously needs time to mature - I almost feel that a season out on loan for him at a Premiership club such as Blackburn, or one of the newly-promoted sides (Derby?) would do him wonders. Bendtner has been superb for Birmingham. Carlos Vela has been playing in Spain for two years now - the new Messi, apparantly. He'll probably be staying there for another season, but if he's as good as the Spanish newspapers say he is, I can't wait to see him play. I'll quickly mention Aliadiare - not good enough, however much Wenger loves him.

Next - Julio Baptista. I was delighted when I heard he was coming to Arsenal for a season, but the proof is in the proverbial pudding. He hasn't produced for us. I saw him play for us against Reading at the Emirates, and it was quite clear what the problem is. He has no first touch. This is very strange to see from a Brazilian, but you pass the ball into his feet and it bounces off them to the nearest defender. Just not good enough, especially if Arsenal are going to keep playing one-touch football. It's a great shame but he needs to go. Unfortunately Wenger still seems to really like him, but if he can't score then why are we trying to keep him?



So, what should we be doing? There's a couple of players coming onto the market that we should consider signing - Ribery, Eto'o, TEVEZ. Both of them fit the holes that the team has. If wingers such as Jesus Navas, Schweinsteiger or Robben become available, we shoud get in there and sign them - even if Hleb doesn't really need to be replaced, Rosicky certainly does. This really really isn't a WENGER OUT thread like the many that have been posted by stupid Arsenal 'fans'....I just wish he'd see sense on a few issues.