Written by Ahmed El Hawary on Monday, 13 February 2012 12:14

It's been frustrating to say the least. Watching us fail to win any trophies for the past few seasons has been hard. Why it's so frustrating is because I feel that we have brought this onto ourselves, by "we" I mean the board and Wenger. This is not an anti Wenger article, I truly believe he's the best coach we could have at the moment. But its still makes me so angry how things might have been if either the board or the coach were stronger or firmer when handling some situations.

We're a big club, one of the biggest infact. We are the fifth richest club in money generated, we have one of the highest prices for tickets in all of europe ( Tickets for Milan-Arsenal in the san siro are around £35!!!! thats the price of the emirates cup ticket) yet wenger and the board act as if we're a small club. One thing I read on the arsenal website that really bugged me was when asked what was the highlight of the 2011 calender year, Arsene Wenger answered "the win over Barcelona"!!!! That's a small club mentality if I ever saw one, yes it was a great night but we ended up losing the tie anyway. Yes it was the highlight of last season but thats because it wasn't a good season. I would have rathered they didn't ask such a stupid question at all.

Anyway the main point of this article is that I'm comparing our current starting 11, our sub + reserve 11, 11 players that we sold that we didnt want to and players that we sold because we wanted to sell or loan out. Before anyone tells me if said players wanted to leave what could we do about it, well we could act as a big club and let them stay anyway where they should buck up and do the job they're payed to do or rot in the reserves where no one would want to buy them. Wayne Rooney wanted to leave Man United but they made him stay, Luka modric was made to stay, Henry would rather extend his loan but the red bulls are making him go back, heck even bolton managed to keep Cahill for 6 more months. These are just some examples that came to me but I'm sure there's more.

So lets get on with the comparison then, we all know  our starters well : Szczęsny, Santos, Vermaelin, Kos, Sagna, Song, Arteta, Wilshere, Walcott, Gervinho, Van Persie.A very good team no doubt, maybe I would change Gerviho for the Ox just because I really don't feel he's a top player. He's direct and has pace but he just lacks composure if Arsenal only get one chance in a very tight important game, I wouldn't want it to be him on the end of that chance.

Our subs: Fabianski, Gibbs, Per, Djourou, Jenkinson, Frimpong, Ramsey, Benayoun, Ox, Chamakh, Arshavin. An adequate team but obviously not good enough, with the exception of ramsey a very weak midfield and in attack no goals whatsoever.

Players we didn't want (shouldn't) to sell : Clichy, Toure, Lassana Diarra, Fabregas, Seb Larsson, Merida, Flamini, Nasri, Adebayour, Hleb. Obviously besides the fact that this team lacks a goalkeeper ( we haven't really sold any...I wonder why) This team is quite strong especially the midfield, which might be even stronger than the one we currently have. Adebayour has a rubbish personality but i would have him over Chamakh and Park any day of the week. Maybe if he was our striker at the camp nou instead of bendtner he might have scored that last chance.

Finally lets look at the players we bought that are useless plus those we willingly sold or loaned out and where they are now and at what level they are playing at: Amaury Bischoff currently playing for aves, a division 2 side in portugal, since leaving arsenal he played 23 competitive matches!!! Eduardo a very good striker but not Arsenal good, was better before his injury but really not even close to van persie. Now playing for shakhtar where he scored 11 goals in 2 seasons. Denilson was never good, should have never played for Arsenal, we couldn't sell him or loan him to a club in europe. Now playing for Santos with 14 appearances and 0 goals. Squilacci need I say more. Diaby great talent but always injured, to put things into perspective a little, what Arsenal pay for Diaby's wage and treatment is equal to or even more than Van Der Vaart's price when tottenham bought him!!!! Nicklas Bendtner if he had half the talent he thinks he has, he would be immense. 15 appearances and only 3 goals for sunderland.

So to conclude the players we willingly sold or loaned out, should have never played for Arsenal in the first place, none of them is playing for a top european team, actually none of them is doing well for their average teams, how they were starters for Arsenal is beyond me. While the players that were unwillingly sold could have made a huge difference for us in the past few seasons, what if we had lassana diarra when flamini left, or if we had made fabregas stay for one more season until we got an adequate replacement. Football is a job to these players, The board and Wenger should have acted as a big club and prevented at least some of these departures no matters how the players sulk at the end of the day they have a job they should perform, having a sulking fabregas is much better than a bed ridden Diaby, an unhappy Diarra is better than a Denilson.

When you look at the players we had start for us and those we sold over the past few seasons it's not shocking at all that we won nothing, thats why its so frustrating, if we had just been firmer and better at tackling player situations I think we might have fared better on the trophy front.

P.S. I didn't even include allowing the likes of Henry, Pires, Edu, Reyes and maybe even Viera leaving, when at least a few of them could have stayed a little longer, especially Pires.

Mean Lean's Response

Thank you for the article and you bring up some very interesting points.

I am going to give another side to your arguments though. Firstly going back to your annoyance with the manager saying that the highlight of the season last year was the victory over Barcelona at home.

I bet you would struggle to find many an Arsenal fan around the world that wouldn't agree that a victory in the Champions League against the best team in the world, in that manner was not the highlight, even more so given the fact that we were the only team to have beaten them in the Champions League.

What you are essentially saying is that you cannot have a highlight of the season unless you win a trophy. If this is the case then I strongly disagree with you.

Football is about a series of moments over 90 minutes, days, weeks, months and years. The feeling that I had at full time was just sheer joy even if it was only the first leg of two. Thierry Henry's goal against a lower league club in his first game back will be the highlight for many, does this mean that we have a small club mentality?

In terms of the Arsenal squad, it is very easy to speak about the players in hindsight. Pointing the finger at the likes of Bischoff as an example seems a little pointless. It was a punt that cost relatively little and we may have even made profit on that transfer, it is difficult to know because the fees were undisclosed.

I have read many Gooners point the finger at Arsene for signing the likes of Squillaci, Park, Chamakh etc etc as if football managers should get every transfer right. So much goes into a player transfer, whether they can adjust to the league, the country and the team. It doesn't always end up perfect and often ends up wrong for every single team in world football.

I remember a number of bloggers, posters etc stating that Squillaci was the better player over Koscielny. That Squillaci had the experience to help this team but then a season later this is wiped away and the manager gets the blame for buying a poor player. Who is to say that Squillaci (a former French international) wouldn't have settled down in Italy for example and become a big player for another team who play a different system, with different players around him who bring the best out of him.

In hindsight I believe that Arsene Wenger would not have bought Sebastien Squillaci, given the number of games he has played so far, I believe this is the case but then I believe that in hindsight Alex Ferguson would not have spent £30.7m on Berbatov, £7m on Bebe, 17m on Hargreaves. How about Kenny Daglish spending £35m on Andy Carroll, £20m on Stewart Downing, £16m on Jordan Henderson. All managers have a history of bringing in players that haven't lived up to expectations.

The way I see it, is that we should judge managers on the balance between good signings and bad signings. When a manager consistently pulls out rabbits out of the hat with players like Cesc Fabregas for £500k, Robin van Persie for £2.75m, Koscielny £10m, Vermaelen £10m, Sagna for £6m then it is safe to say that he doesn't just waste money on players who do not make the grade. His quality vs spend record is probably one of the best in world football.

As for quality players who wanted to move on. Yes, I agree that we could have done with many of those players today. We have lost a lot of quality, so much so that if it was our decision to keep those players then we would have won titles and cups on a few occasions since our FA Cup victory over Manchester United.

That said, I think it is far too simplistic to say we should have just kept them regardless or indeed let them 'rot in the reserves'

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever from a business perspective. While we see the game through the eyes of a fan, Arsenal football club and indeed every other club is a business.

Manchester City are a prime example. The richest club in the world were desperate to get rid of what was their best player last season. He was a disruptive influence and managers do not want to have that in their squad. I could give countless examples of other managers letting go of good players because of this reason.

Lassana Diarra was a player who refused to play in a cup game so he could move. Do you suggest that we build a squad full of these players just because they are good players? What will banishing all these players to the reserves so they can just run down their contacts and leave for free, do for the club? How does the manager then reinvest into the team while we have let a Diarra rot?

It is nothing to do with being a big or small club, it is about having business sense. It is about keeping a good atmosphere between the players. Arsenal are a self sustained business and have always been this way. Before Wenger, before Kroneke even before the likes of Peter Hill-Wood. We sell before we buy, that is what we do and keeping hold of players who do not want to be there is a recipe for disaster.

Last note on Gervinho. While I agree that I wouldn't want an important chance falling to him, I would want him on the ball skipping past a diving in full back to create that important chance for someone else.

I give you Udinese away to put us into the Champions League. Pretty important I'd say. At least more important than double the transfer fee Stewart Downing.

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Comments (22)

• 14-Feb-2012 13:46 | | Gooner80
  

  Wow.. talk about getting blown out of the water

• 14-Feb-2012 13:57 | | Gunnerforlife
  

  Denilson is at São Paulo no?

• 14-Feb-2012 14:13 | | pedantic george
  

  Well LM that would have been my response.
  Of course I may not have been quite so polite.
  If a player wants to leave he should be shown the door .
  And if coming from behind and beating Barca was not the highlight of the season I would like to be told what was.

• 14-Feb-2012 14:30 | | Jay  - jay
  

  I swear Koz for 10 million isnt really a bargain he has been ok this season but 10 million isnt cheap the scum got Kaboul for 5million, Liverpool got Agger for 6million and Blackburn got Samba for 600k....they are proper bargains

• 14-Feb-2012 14:53 | | pedantic george
  

  Jay Jay
  are you thinking any of those are in the same class as Kos?
  He is perhaps the best CB in Europe,let alone the Premiership.

• 14-Feb-2012 14:56 | | MeanLean
  

  I think Koscielny at £10m is an absolute steal. 25 years old and will keep improving. I am willing to bet that you change your tune very soon Jay Jay.

• 14-Feb-2012 15:33 | | Paddy  - Wenger's Dross
  

  All managers buy dross but Wenger gives them 150 games before realising. Why lose Cesc for peanuts? Why did we not replace Nasri with Mata?
  
  Players come and go. ManU lost Tevez and Ronaldo and a year later they win the Prem and get into the CL Final. We lose players and can't cope/refuse to replace them. This part is the manager's fault but not entirely - he doesn't get the backing from the board.

• 14-Feb-2012 15:37 | | MeanLean
  

  Paddy,
  
  Two questions for you.
  
  1) We were interested in buying Mata. Do you know why we didn't get him?
  
  2) How many self sustaining clubs that have built a stadium are in the same position as Manchester United to replace players that they have sold with the same quality?

• 14-Feb-2012 16:46 | | South African Gooner  - Future of Arsenal
  

  Hi guys
  
  I am curious to know how you see the next 5 or 6 years of our beloved club panning out. I am really concerned as i believe that should things not improve we will end up being a mid table club that will be stuck in that position for years to come.
  
  Thanks

• 14-Feb-2012 17:02 | | MeanLean
  

  @South African Gooner,
  
  For me it is quite the opposite view. In 5 years time we would have paid off our stadium, negotiated better commercial deals than our previous ones due to the need to build the Emirates.
  
  For a club that only spends what it earns, that is massive amounts of extra cash for both wages and transfer fees.
  
  This along with the fact that we have one of the best youth systems in Europe, it bodes well for the future and gives the next manager a massive advantage for this club. It will be then that those who throw abuse at Arsene Wenger will see the work and foundations that he has laid for this club. Not just he but the likes of Danny Fiszman and company.
  
  The question for me is how we cope before that. I am much more worried about the short term and being left behind by clubs who are handed money or who borrow money to stay ahead of keep up with those above them.
  
  If the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea keep pushing further away with wages and transfer fees then we as a club will not bust a gut to keep up with it because it is just not sustainable.
  
  If this happens forever then it will be very difficult to win major trophies regularly but this is surely not possible. Today is another good example of a club trying to spend beyond it's means. Glasgow Rangers, probably the biggest club in Scotland have gone into administration.
  
  Football will soon catch up to the rest of the world and once it does we will see a club that is far ahead of most.
  
  In the mean time I am happy to watch the likes of Chamberlain, Wilshere, Ramsey, Coquelin and company grow into world class players.

• 14-Feb-2012 19:24 | | Colesy
  

  "it is safe to say that he doesn't just waste money on players who do not make the grade" - what about the OTT wages which Wenger rewards the under performing/injury prone players with- which subsequently promotes a culture of failure being acceptable and highly paid? But it also prevents the club from replacing these players due to FIFA squad rules and the fact that other clubs quite rightly do not see any value in buying the likes of Bendtner or Squillaci or Almunia cos of their wages (oh an we have the cheek to expect a fee!).
  
  As always, a one sided presentation of what is happening with our club.

• 14-Feb-2012 20:19 | | Ahmed El Hawaru
  

  Thanks for your comments ML. Obviously you're counter argument makes me sound a little fickle. But still the reason I wrote that article is that the only reason I see why we haven't been successful is the loss of quality players. Not all listed players would have left if we were more strict with atleasr one of them. The way I see it is players at arsenal see that if they can't win anything for the club then they just jump ship to the highest bidder. If they felt that it's not easy to leave I think they would want success with arsenal more.
  Furthermore what happens if van persie decides to leave or chamberlain in a few seasons. What's the point of getting young potentially great players for them to leave when hitting they're peak. When players like arteta for example will most likely finish at arsenal?

• 14-Feb-2012 23:02 | | MeanLean
  

  Our arguments are not necessarily right or wrong, they are just different views.
  
  I am also concerned about the short term, we have some very big contracts to sort out and if we lose the likes of van Persie then it could well be more transition.
  
  I actually believe he will sign a new contract. I think he loves this club and it means more to him than the likes of Nasri and Cesc. We shall see.
  
  Longer term I am very confident that the club will be in great shape. As I mentioned in the above comment, short term it is a case of trying to keep up with the rest.

• 14-Feb-2012 23:10 | | MeanLean
  

  Colesy,
  
  There is that argument again though. Every contract cannot be correct. People could have argued as to why did we pay youngsters like Cesc, van Persie, Wilshere, Coquelin, Chamberlain etc all larger contracts than they could have got elsewhere for that age group when they haven't won anything.
  
  When players like Flamini then leave we have fans moaning that we did not offer them larger contracts when in fact it was those fans who were moaning that he was not good enough.
  
  Whether you like it or not, we work with potential, we have to tie players down so they are not lured elsewhere.
  
  It isn't always easy to know how quick or how much a player will develop. Yes in hindsight we can all point the finger at Denilson, Bendtner and a few others and say 'Why are they on big wages they are not good enough etc etc';
  
  I am sure if many Gooners were running the club when Song was a youngster then he would have been offered peanuts because many didn't see his potential.
  
  I don't actually know why it is such a massive interest of fans anyway. It is not as if these players cost us a whole load of money to buy in the first place. Bendtner came to us as a kid, Denilson was £3.5m, Diaby was close to the same.
  
  Why is it of so much interest to us as to how much they are paid compared to Tottenham players? I don't get it. Why is it fashionable to complain about the wages of a player when really and truly we do not really have a clue how much they are paid. It starts off with one person saying it like Myles Palmer and then becomes fact.
  
  Personally I am not a potential, wages expert. I will leave that to the professionals to get as many of them as right as possible.

• 15-Feb-2012 11:56 | | pika
  

  South African Gooner - Future of Arsenal
  
  lol......
  
  we will get relegated and arsenal will be playing against scunthorp because that idiot wenger and the club;s policy makers have destroyed arsenal with their mismanagement
  
  
  
  am i taking the pi55 ...oh yes i am ....
  
  my god the fear and weakness in arsenal fans is staggering.
  
  and lol at colesy who expects a keeper like almunia to have any re-sale value or a defender like squilacci...hahaha ..looking back on the track for my little black bag

• 15-Feb-2012 11:59 | | pika
  

  Longer term I am very confident that the club will be in great shape. As I mentioned in the above comment, short term it is a case of trying to keep up with the rest.
  
  have you read that orksy ? or not yet? ....lol....
  
  do you realise that the short term objectives of arsenal under current ownership module is to keep up as close as possible to the rest till the restrictions on stadium are released ?
  
  obviously not...... lol.....so get your black bing bag and keep throwing up everytime you watch arsenal win ! like all spuds do....

• 15-Feb-2012 13:07 | | Colesy
  

  Oh Golum - you muppet !
  
  So your dearly beloved Wenger signs players who turn out to be crap, on fantastic wages which puts them out of reach for other clubs- leaving us stuffed. And that's all right then?
  
  Well it maybe for you and other AKB's but it's not what should be happening and it's hurting our club. But then again, as long as you've got your leader in place, nothing else matters. What a joke.

• 15-Feb-2012 13:11 | | MeanLean
  

  Seriously, can both of you debate Arsenal without getting involved in a slanging match.
  
  or just get a room

• 15-Feb-2012 13:50 | | Andy Mack  - Overpaid players
  

  Colesy,
  Can you do us a favour and answer one question.
  On the assumption that the rumoured salaries of premiership players are correct, name one team that's been in the premiership this millenium that hasn't has some overpaid players in their squad.
  Thanks.

• 15-Feb-2012 13:58 | | MeanLean
  

  Interested to hear the response Colsey.

• 15-Feb-2012 16:53 | | Ahmed El Hawary
  

  @MeanLean Well I hope you're right regarding Van persie, though I think if he wanted to sign he would have, the line "only concentrating on playing" is rubbish, since signing would take away one maybe two days with all the negotiations.
  But even if he stays lets hope no one else important leaves. I just have this feeling that wenger will go & buy our main transfer early in the summer as usual, probably an african/french player that is "good technically and can play anywhere across the front three" then spend the remainder of the summer talking about how player prices are inflated due to the Euros , then talking about how great Joel Campbell is and finishing off with how Diaby would be like a new signing ( you just know he's gonna get injured within two games of his return next month).
  Plus the African cup of nations is on again next season as well, & we can't hope of cameroun not reaching the finals again, so I think we should get some backup for song.
  Sorry for being pessemistic.

• 16-Feb-2012 13:23 | | Andy Mack
  

  I think we should get some backup for song.
  
  Wouldn't that be Coq & Dench?

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