Written by Mean Lean on Tuesday, 21 December 2010 15:57

Good afternoon Gooners,

Still floating around this mini winter break, looking for bits and pieces to talk about before the very important game against Chelsea turns up on our doorstep. I will come back to that in a moment though.

Before that, Wenger is being questioned about his spending policy again in the press. Arsene was speaking on Aljazeera (thank you to @MoHoops from twitter for sending the link my way a few days ago)

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It sounds very much like an interview given by a disgruntled Arsenal supporter. Why are we not spending big money on experienced players? Why are Arsenal not joining the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea for the expensive players?

Those are all familiar questions continuously asked on almost a daily basis around the blog world.

Firstly I believe that the Premier League, Premiership or whatever it was known as had clearly spiraled out of control, the financial rewards for being at the top made too many people greedy and act irresponsibly.

As viewers of Premier League football, we have become accustomed to watching clubs pay £25 million for a single player then pay that player £110,000 over four years.

Being accustomed to this way of spending has never made it correct and it is only now that we are understanding that it was never feasible to act this way.

Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth, West Ham etc are all in a financial mess and it is because clubs have spent recklessly. They have borrowed money so they can reach the promise land, the trouble is everyone wants to reach the promise land and it is a land only big enough for one and not everyone who decides to pay over the odds on player x who is destined to move the club to the next level.

Players such as Andriy Shevchenko (£30.8m), Juan Sebastian Veron (£28.1m), Robinho (£32m), James Milner (£24m) to name a few.

This isn't to say that all big money buys end up as flops because that is clearly not the case. It does however mean that you cannot be guaranteed to be a success just because you pay over the odds. The player you have is what is important and not the price on his head.

I totally agree with Arsene Wenger who says that he is surprised that people are surprised that he does not want to spend over the odds on players.

People are so used to clubs spending beyond their means that spending appropriately is incorrect. Not borrowing money to spend on players shows that you lack ambition. Not buying a player for big money with no resale value means that you are content to finish in the top four.

This is actually reality, it is why we are in a strong financial position and not loaded with a whole host of unmanageable debt.

The idea that Arsenal do not buy players and only bring in young players is slightly strange. Wenger has always bought players to play in our first team squad. Arshavin, Squillaci, Nasri, Koscielny, Sagna, etc are just a few names I can think of. All players who went straight into the first team squad over the last few years.

I believe that the new rules that have come in to prevent financial doping will even up the playing field and that will give Arsenal a big advantage.

Players such as Henri Lansbury are being groomed to take part in the future squads. Wenger has praised the midfielder currently plying his trade on loan at Norwich and he thinks that he will become an important player in the years to come.

Lansbury has some massive competition as many of our talented midfielders are still young so I am not exactly sure where he would fit but youth is on his side and I am sure he has plenty of room for improvement. One of those midfielders is Jack Wilshere who has been speaking to the official Arsenal magazine about his improved tackling and his role as a defensive midfielder alongside Alex Song.

Worth a read to those who feel that Alex Song abandons his role as a sitting midfielder. I think it tells you a lot about how much Wenger rates Wilshere (who apparently does not play English players) by his appearances against both Chelsea and Manchester United away from home.

Two of the biggest games of the season away from home, he trusted an 18 year old in possibly the most important area of the pitch when it comes to controlling a game.

Perhaps Mario Balotelli does not know who he is but there is an inevitable feeling that the whole world will soon recognise Wilshere as one of the best in the game.

I would talk about both Denilson and Bendtner and their futures but I do not see the point. Both players will be at Arsenal after January and I expect Denilson to remain at the club for the longer term. All the rest we will see in the summer. However, I suspect that we have seen the last of Manuel Almunia. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him depart during the next few weeks.

I just checked our injury situation on the old .com and touch wood, if we get through the Chelsea game on the 27th then we could be heading into the new year without any injuries to our first team squad minus Emmanuel Frimpong. That is quite ridiculous considering we are actually Arsenal.

Vermaelen is back next month we hope, Diaby is back in training. Cesc and Van Persie are getting up to full fitness. What on earth is going on around here?

Even if we pick up a few injuries after the Chelsea game we are surely likely to be in good shape. I do not remember the last time I have been able to say that about our squad.

Incidentally, I feel very confident about the game against Chelsea. I think we will break our current bad run and I hope that it could be the start of a good run. We certainly need a good run of results.

And with that, I am off. Off to brave the snow.

Hopefully, back tomorrow.

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Comments (10)

• 21-Dec-2010 17:28 | | Anonymous
  

  

• 21-Dec-2010 18:45 | | drogba's sister
  

  who asked him to spend 150m pounds?? wonder what he will say if arsenal miss out on the champions league next season.this is not time for rookies and complacency. one false step and we are out. as usual chelsea is next and a bottle of water pays for tactical naivety

• 21-Dec-2010 19:03 | | MeanLean
  

  It's no wonder that being Drogba's sister, you expect to finish out the top four. I would say that we (2nd place) are in a good position to challenge for the title.
  
  It also seems as if no matter how many players Wenger buys, it is not enough. We have world class players all over the pitch and plenty on reserve.
  
  I would say we have the deepest squad of all our rivals yet have assembled our squad for far less.
  
  The biggest factor is that our players are not on their last legs. Isn't that something to be proud and excited about?

• 21-Dec-2010 20:29 | | nicoman
  

  if anyone saw everton play last night let that be a lesson to you in what we are missing. They came out in -6 temp in short sleeves no snoods and hardly a pair of gloves between them and fought for every ball as if their lives depended upon it. No friendly hand shakes or banter in the tunnel pure single minded concentration. If we could have t hat attitude a decent holding midfilder to protect our central defenders and two full backs who could defend, throw in a striker who likes to shoot and score and then we would be champions.Until then deluded gooners who get excited about your diabys denilsons songs and the rest of the rubbish dont get excited cos it aint gonna happen ! Wenger could clear out the deadwood and bring in the money to buy the 4 players we need to take on anyone. He could probably do this with a surplus of 25million . Then on top of that allwe need is keown or Adams to come in toughen up some of our light weights and were laughing!!

• 21-Dec-2010 20:50 | | MeanLean
  

  Haha what is all this crazy snood and gloves talk? No doubt you heard that on sky sports news. What the players wear means absolutely nothing and doesn't nothing to change performances on the pitch.
  
  Otherwise the super snood and gloveless Everton wouldn't be struggling at the wrong end of the table or wouldn't have lost to the snood and glove wearing Arsenal team at Goodison park.

• 22-Dec-2010 10:37 | | Adams  - Love this team
  

  Personally this season I find myself the happiest I have been with the squad for years. We have quality all over the park and maintain a style of football that is a joy to behold when it comes together. Win, lose or draw, I love this team and our philosophies, no matter how frustrating it might be when we don't perform to our best. We are challenging for the title (admittedly in a rather strange season), are in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup and now have a Champions League tie against Barcelona to look forward to. Seriously, what is there to be pissed off about? Try gratitude - it's much more enjoyable.

• 22-Dec-2010 10:56 | | MeanLean
  

  Totally agree with you. I love this team, love our players and hope they can win trophies. But win, lose or draw I love this team as long as they wear our shirt.

• 22-Dec-2010 11:50 | | Waterboy
  

  I whole heartedly agree with Wenger and the current board’s policy for the club to spend within their means and focus on developing youth players to promote to the first team.
  
  Wenger has the ability to develop player’s technical skills like no other.
  
  However, the biggest problem with the current squad is balance between attacking flair and steel. Irrespective of the transfer policy Arsenal have adopted over the last 5 years, that’s an issue Wenger hasn’t addressed.
  
  Instead of replacing the likes of Vieira, Petit, Parlour, Gilberto, Campbell, Cole with similarly strong, physical, naturally defensive and mentally tough players and developing their technical ability, Wenger has brought in a range of small, compact players, who are technically gifted and focused on intercepting passes (a highly risky defensive strategy if you ask me) but lacking in physical strength, natural defensive capabilities and mental toughness (Fabregas, Denilson, Rosicky, Kossy, Squillaci, Clichy (who seems to have severely regressed), Ramsey, Eastmond etc.).
  
  Song, Vermaelen and Sanga are really the only exceptions to this rule and in Vermaelen’s case, his effectiveness is largely due to his mental toughness as opposed to anything else.
  
  The fact is that unless this imbalance is addressed (which it won’t given Wenger’s loyalty to his players) Arsenal will struggle to win in the Premier League. Whether Arsenal focus on developing youth players and spend within their means or adopt an open cheque book policy has nothing to do with it.

• 22-Dec-2010 13:34 | | MeanLean
  

  I agree that the balance needs tweaking, it is difficult to put your finger on it when look man for man in our team but something isn't right at times.
  
  The thing is we conceding 6 goals in two home games against the Spuds and West Brom apart from that our defensive record has been pretty decent.
  
  I do think that we need to have a settled center back pairing, we have chopped and changed far too often due to injury, suspension etc
  
  Great news that Tommy V is back next month though (fingers crossed)

• 22-Dec-2010 19:53 | | nicoman
  

  i pointed out the gloves and snoods and single mindedness that everton displayed as an indication of superior and professional attitude geared towards beating a team with better players and it worked. There is a difference between earning your wages whole heartedly and appearing to do so ie fooling the naive inexperienced fan in to thinking you are. We are not far off but unless certain mentality issues are addressed and certain week links are replaced it aint gonna happen. I give wenger 10 out of 10 for his youth policy and in 3 years we will have some serious home grown quality in the side however the balance of the team needs to be addressed.Alot of us fans have defended wenger but he seems to be making the same mistakes and giving the same excuses year in year out at times its cringeworthy. I want wenger to succeed but im running out of patience -11 games against chelsea and manu without a win not good enough. Wake up and smell the humus!!!

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