Thursday, July 07, 2011

Arsenal implosion getting closer and closer

Headline on BBC Sports - Arsenal's Samir Nasri remains Manchester United target - sigh. Are we about to see the implosion of Arsenal? Clichy is already out the door, the heat around Nasri leaving is starting to burn hot and the 800 lb gorilla - Cesc to Barcelona. The revolving door at Arsenal seems to continue.


Barcelona is that way
A great article about the seeming fire sale that is currently under way at Arsenal, click here. I cannot agree more with the author who points out that Wenger has bemoaned the fact his team does things "right" and that Arsenal is the victim. Problem is, as we waste time crying about the free spending of the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Barca or Real Madrid we go another season without any silverware.


I fear that Wenger's time at Arsenal might be coming to an end, his stubbornness when it comes to signing, as the article points out "a 11 year old wonder kid striker from Belgium" cannot continue. He has brought in some wonderful youth, that he must be praised for, but he has not uncovered the next Vieira or Henry that he can build his team around.


Time to go Wenger. Please head to PSG where your methods will be met with success.

2 comments:

Jeff said...

Wow. Calling for the Boss to go is pretty bold. His downfall could be his inability to generate the income of his rivals. Man City are looking at a massive naming rights project. Man United are in the States every summer. It's financial fair play to spend big if you can also earn big. He did look like a genius for signing Vieira, Henry, Pires, and Ljunberg.

His glowing reputation is in steep decline, but I'm still surprised to read a Boston-based French Gooner calling for him to move on. This transfer window, though, has been another chapter of misery, so far.

For me, I still really like Arsene's personality, the style of football, and I really like some of the players in the team, like Wilshere, Ramsey, and Van Persie, so I don't mind having things carry on as they are. As long as Arsenal qualify for the Champions League, then well done, I say. Plus, with a little luck, Arsenal could win something - say the Champions League, and then Arsene will be getting disproportional credit for being a genius again.

GFC said...

Yes, it is difficult for me to say that. One of the reasons, if not the main reason, I became an Arsenal fan was because of Wenger. I remember him at Monaco and was a bit stunned when he went to Japan to manage Grampus. The style and players he was able to bring to Arsenal made me a huge fan. Unfortunately I think he has lost the plot. To me this started with his ridiculous policy of not giving players over 30 multi-year deals. When the likes of Gilberto and Pires were allowed to walk that started to frustrate me. Then his constant insistence on bringing in youth over experience has been maddening. Of course when you poach someone like Anelka from PSG or Cesc from Barcelona you look great, but in the case of Anelka he was brought in to an experienced side similar to Cesc. He was able to bring in strong young players to play along side experienced veterans.

Today I feel as if it is just youth. And the veterans are allowed to walk.

The Arsenal style is great and fun to watch...but without silverware it is an empty exercise. It was not that long ago that Arsenal contended for and won the Premiership on a regular basis. That is not longer the case.

Frustrating.