After Saturday’s defeat in the opening game against Aston Villa, there was an increased frustration among the Arsenal fans with the way their club is being run and their lack of activity in the transfer market. On Monday apparently Arsenal did indeed make a bid for a player of another club who was due to play that evening and in fact had to be pulled by his manager at the last minute because ’his head wasn’t right’ after the bid.
Courtesy: BBC
Arsene Wenger, at the press conference before last nights Champions League qualification match, got frustrated with questioning as to the way the club approached the Newcastle player, Cabeye. Not denying it he just said ’There is nothing to explain’ before continuing with, ’First of all, you don’t know what we have done, you don’t know if we did bid and you come to a conclusion without knowing everything that has happened’.
This is true but we do know what hasn’t happened over the past few seasons and that is the fact that Arsenal have spent no real money whatsoever. In the last five seasons they have sold Adebayor, Sanderos, Nasri, Clichy, Eboue, Fabragas, Traore, Gervinho and Robin Van Persie. In the same time they have bought in Vermaelen, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Arteta, Podolski, Ox-Chamberlain and Cazorla and since then not finished higher than third. Now you will notice most of the big sales were attacking minded and most of the buys were defense minded, not ideal for a Premiership Title challenge.
Now I understand that there are numerous teams in the English League structure who would love to finish third or fourth consistently but for the Arsenal fan base, the highest priced season tickets in the Premier League, there is a desire to challenge the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea for the title. However this season, like a few before, it has started with the mentality of trying to finish fourth and get Champions League qualification, something Wenger has said himself is better than winning a trophy. However that finishing fourth means extra games because of a qualification round. Now, as it was, the first leg was won comfortably but the last thing you need is extra games.
They had invested in a brand new Stadium but since moving to the Emirates for the 2006/07 Arsenal have spent almost $300m on players, which sounds and is a lot, but consider the money received from players sold. In the same time that figure stands at $380m and is actually probably more than that due to potential prize money lost from not winning anything in that time either.
In the ten years of Arsene Wenger’s tenure before moving to the Emirates money spent stood at a similar figure of $300m compared to just under $200m of fees brought in by players sold. Before the move to the Emirates Arsenal, under Wenger, won the Premiership Title three times, the FA Cup four times and the Community Shield four times as a bonus. Since the move, zippo! With rivals Tottenham now becoming a contender once more and the progression of other teams it makes it essential that the Arsenal side competes in the transfer market too.
There was talk all summer of a move for Liverpool’s Suarez but for various reasons was never completed. In fact there seems to be a little bit of arrogance in Arsenal’s approach with the 40m ‘plus a pound’ bid which was meant to activate the players release clause. According to Liverpool and the PFA there was never such a clause in the contract and Arsenal had wasted time. What will make Arsenal fans even angrier is the reports early Wednesday stating that they also missed out on Spanish striker David Villa, and for crazy low money too. The 31 year old ended up going to Atletico Madrid but didn’t follow up on their initial January enquiry. That comes on the heels of Bernard, Jovetic, Higuain, Fellaini, Rooney and Bender who were all linked to Arsenal and all went elsewhere.
Saturdays game though showed that the supposed $110m Arsene Wenger is said to have at his disposal should not just go on an attacker, but maybe a central defender also. The display against Villa was shocking with two experienced central defenders just diving into tackles, giving away free kicks, and getting a second yellow card. Is it time for a change at the Emirates? I am not sure, but I think it will be a long tough and frustrating season for Arsenal fans, hopefully next season they will rethink the season ticket prices if investing in players is something they are not willing to do.
