There are only two outcomes of a gamble. It either pays off or it doesn’t! Arsene Wenger, the connoisseur of modern day beautiful football, ‘had to’ take a chance seven years back, based on circumstances at the club. There was a proposal of a new stadium, one with more seats and facilities, one that will generate more revenues, to summarize, one that will sustain the financial health of the club. This meant Arsenal Football Club had to take care of the existing expenditures very carefully, from an idyllic point of view, quite ‘miserly’ if possible. To take care of such an undertaking, the club had a manager, who happened to have had a PhD in Economics. From a financial perspective – He strategized, he executed, he delivered.
Unfortunately, a coin has two sides; the other side was flipped and showcased to the supporters. With time, they felt the anxiety of not ‘winning things’ as the club gained financial stability. There lied the problem; the need to keep everybody happy at a club – the owners, the stake-holders, the support staff, the players and most-importantly, the fans. Who was held responsibility for such an onerous task? Well, the manager, of course!
In case of Arsene Wenger, the situation was a little more complex due to the aforementioned reasons –
- Delivered too much too early – Read – League Wins, League and Cup Double.
- Delivered Perfection in the World of Football – Read – The Invincible Season.
- Delivered ‘Production’ of Fantastic Footballers – Read – Henry, Vieira, Pires, Ljungberg, Fabregas and the likes.
- Delivered Consistent European Success – Read – Consecutive 15 seasons of European Football, Finalist in Paris.
- Delivered with tremendous success in the Transfer Market – Read – Ridiculously Profitable Transfers.
Because of the above, the owners and the fans had developed huge levels of expectation from the manager, if he has done it before, why can’t he do it again? The situation at the club right now is a result of a chance that Arsene had to take as the transition happened from Highbury to The Emirates. There were two options – Arsene could have continued business as usual – i.e. keep star players at the club and paid them huge wages and risked the chance of Arsenal ‘not winning’ things and put the club in further debts. Or, he could sell the star players, develop a youth system inside the club which will produce talents who will survive with ‘lesser’ wages but the risk lied in the fact that ‘winning things’ will be sacrificed to stabilizing the club financially. He went for the latter – in agreement with the Board – in line with his belief and his ability of producing ‘the goods’.
Present Day – as we look at the current scenario at the club, well, that youth policy didn’t exactly work out the way it was meant to be! Arsene Wenger, under tremendous pressure from every nook and corner of the Red and White planet, forced himself to buy experienced heads – gulping down his ego with a huge bottle of cold carbonated drink. Though he sacrificed few ‘exceptional talents’ at the club, he did manage to do some extraordinary business yet again. These ‘experienced heads’ won’t hamper the development of young players in the club – they will, in fact, enhance their abilities, help in their growth, channelize their efforts in the right direction, guide them to success and bring about optimal maturity in them. End result – The Owners are happy, the players are happy, and to complete the circle of wholesome happiness – the fans are happy too.
Now, the most pertinent question that arises – Why didn’t Arsene do this much before in time? Before you get into criticizing the manager’s belief and his ability of setting the benchmark in Football (as per UEFA), one needs to look at the things that clearly hampered his “Master Plan”.
Incredible Number of Long-term Injuries to Important Players
After Thierry Henry had played his part in Arsenal’s ‘Fancy Football’ period, the club needed a player to take up Thierry’s role and it was the temperamental Dutchman from Feyenoord who was to be Thierry’s successor. Robin, being the exceptionally gifted footballer that he is, has never completed a full season with Arsenal due to his luck (or the lack of it) with injuries. Arsenal ‘dearly’ missed the striker with 20-goals per season, who was also capable of providing decent number of assists. Trouble-maker Adebayor provided one season of absolute brain-wreckage – 30 goals in all competitions, but failed to hold on to his form and ego, leaving for supposedly greener pastures. Arsenal was left behind every season without the strong supply of goals that Thierry used to provide.
Inability to Retain the Incredible Team of 2007-08
The team of 2007-08 was a challenger to the Invincibles in all-round ability – Experience and Youth amalgamated together in delicious symphony! The midfield was anchored by a young Cesc Fabregas, who had reached his peak powers and contributed in vision and goal-scoring. He was partnered by Mat Flamini – A war-tank that was filled with unlimited fuel – a player capable of running all day and realizing his defensive duties, letting Cesc ‘do his work’. The wings were patrolled by highly skillful and industrious stalwarts in Alexander Hleb and Thomas Rosicky. Both were capable of running past men and providing the assists with comparative ease and efficiency. Eduardo and Adebayor kept the opponent defenders on their toes at the head of the green. Clichy (the one who could defend as well), Sagna, Toure and Gallas completed the extremely strong defensive line-up. Apart from Sagna and Rosicky, that team doesn’t exist anymore and it has been only four years since that incredible assembly of sorted potential.
Inability to Hold on to ‘Greedy’ (or Ambitious?) Players
There are two types of players in football: One – who play for money, Two – Paolo Maldini.
The latter category is in extreme scarcity nowadays with certain clubs capable of ‘spoiling’ their players with outlandish salary packages. To compete with such clubs in a market where players continually look for increase in their salary, is a very difficult task. Arsene and the Board tried their best to exactly that – it is safe to say now, they failed! Players who left cited ‘lack of ambition’ as an excuse which is not entirely incorrect but that was the ‘plan’ – not lack of ambition but spending less and bringing out the ‘maximum’ from a player. The ‘gamble’ didn’t pay off – players became frustrated and left, some settled while some became mercenaries.
Ridiculous Amount of Refereeing Decisions going against ‘Feeble’ Arsenal!
Arsenal fans 8-2 talk about referees and the ludicrous amount of decisions that have gone against them in the last few seasons. A few in the Champions League complimented with many in the league has seen Arsenal lose crucial points and even games in recent seasons. Many will argue about the lack of quality of the referees in the league, in general, but arguably, Arsenal has suffered more than their esteemed rivals.
It all leaves us to the stage where many will think that Arsene’s legendary ‘Youth Policy’ was finally killed on 31st August, 2011. But, the truth is far from that – yes, young players were sacrificed but the ones who are currently relishing their roles in Arsenal colors are the players who were ‘chosen’ to take Arsenal forward. Arsene just provided these budding plants with ‘walking sticks’ in the name of Mertesacker, Yossi and Arteta – who will help them in every aspect of the game in years to come. A new face of Arsenal is to be unleashed next – for starters – it will be Swansea City facing the wrath of the ravishing new-born!