Nowadays Arsenal fans can be broadly classified into categories, one that wants Arsene Wenger to continue as Arsenal manager and another section that are calling for the end of the Wenger reign. I am one of those who fall into the latter category, but that does not mean that I do not doubt Wenger.
The truth is that, as the season has progressed, there have been several doubts if Wenger is actually the right man to take the Gunners forward especially in light of Arsenal’s pathetic end to the season that is seeing them potentially finish fourth after promising to win the league at one stage.
But after enduring another trophyless season the “Wenger out” call has reached its fever pitch with many starting to believe that the Gunners have started to stagnate under the illustrious Frenchman.
While I still believe that Wenger is the right man to lead the Gunners forward, there is no doubt that he has to get over his strict transfer policy and now is the time for him to go out there and buy some proven talent in order to supplement the talent within the squad. By doing this, Wenger is effectively creating a team that is capable of winning trophies or at least, challenging for these trophies for the entire season instead of fizzling away like they did this season.
It is often said that the Gunners are just two to three signings away from being champions but all that boils down to the signings Wenger decides to make this summer.
Signing players like Laurent Koscielny and Sebastian Squillaci are not going to win you titles. Granted that Koscielny has silenced his critics with some fantastic performances, but at that point Arsenal required a more imposing player, a defensive leader with experience and steel and Koscielny has failed to provide that has he struggled to adapt to the Premier League immediately.
Arsenal needed a player like maybe Brede Hangeland, Giorgio Chiellini or someone like Phil Jagielka. Signing someone like that would have improved the squad tremendously, adding some defensive steel and strength.
Now the onus is on Wenger to sign some top notch players that the fans are expecting, players with proven experience in this level, and not raw talents who will blossom into great stars two years down the line. That is also required and that is what Arsenal have in plenty right now. They are short on grit and experience, two essential ingredients without which a trophy just cannot be won.
Since Arsenal are lacking in these qualities, the only way the Gunners can acquire this is by buying players who possess these traits.
Ever since Wenger began his youth project, the Gunners have spent frugally and have rarely signed proven talents with Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky being the rare exceptions. Wenger has chosen in grooming youngsters and giving experience and playing time to youngsters have taken precedence over winning the trophies.
All this was excusable initially as the Gunners were in transition, having just moved to the brand new Emirates stadium and with cash being minimal, Wenger embarked on this daring project that has produced mixed results.
One hand Wenger has kept Arsenal competitive on a shoe string budget when the rest of the clubs have rich owners to fall back on and it is through this that we have witnessed the rise of teams like Chelsea and Manchester City, who have now become power houses. But at the same time, the final product has been lacking meaning the Gunners always end up just short of the final line.
In other words the Gunners end up going home trophyless. But the time for that is all but over. Now is the time that Wenger has to start delivering trophies that we fans want and for that Wenger has to go out and sign proven players who can make an instant impact and lead the Gunners to glory.
But the question is, is Wenger the right man to make these signings and for that matter will he make the signings that we, the fans are so desperate for him to make. Some fear that he will not do so and might still persist with signings few players who have a bright future ahead of them but are not the finished products right now.
This fear is after all understandable. We have seen for so long, Wenger believing the squad is better than it actually is and this prompts him to not reinforce the squad properly.
This time for a change Wenger has admitted that he will look to reassess the squad in each position and analyze the requirements for reinforcements in each position. His recent comments have resembled that of a man who is frustrated and of a man who looks to make changes at the club. He has seemed likely to make some good transfers and spend the money on proven talent.
But there have been one or two instances that has prompted me to wonder if he will actually make the bold changes that we want him to make. One incident that kindled these thoughts was Wenger’s desire to keep Bendtner at the club.
This season we have learnt that while the Dane has talent he will struggle to break into the team and lacks the quality to be a great hit at Arsenal. But if Wenger does succeed in convincing him to stay then we can bid goodbye to any transfers coming into the club. But right now the Gunners need another proven striker who can guarantee them around 20 goals a season. While van Persie is undoubtedly very good and Marouane Chamakh is not too bad either, the same cannot be said about Bendtner who has scored just twice in the league this season.
Wenger must look to offload Bendtner and must bring in a proven striker like Karim Benzema, Radamel Falcoa or Hulk. All these are not the usual Wenger signings but right now they could be the difference between just falling short and winning the league.
The same applies to every position. Now is the time for Wenger to show his ruthless streak and axe the flops like Denilson, Manuel Almunia, Squillaci just to name a few. Then he has to go out there and replace them with proven talent.
Wenger has to make these decisions but the question mark still remains over his willingness to spend. The thing is that the Gunners had money to spend last summer as well and so did they have the cash this winter. Yet we did not see the transfers we longed to see.
So why should we feel that this year can be any different. The only thing to go by is Wenger’s recent press conferences that have painted a picture that we could be witnessing a busy summer. He has been extremely open about accepting the faults of his side and he seems to have pinpointed where the mistake is. If he can rectify these mistakes, the Gunners can go all the way.
We have to hope that, that does prove to be the case.
Wenger’s unwillingness to sign proven players is infuriating at times because it is obvious that with a few signings the Gunners could have easily won trophies in the past three years but Arsenal fell short each time because of the lack of quality when it truly counted.
While there is no doubt that we can expect changes this summer, the extent of the transfers still remain a mystery but I can say that it will be different from previous seasons.
I am undoubtedly a believer of Wenger but now we have reached the cross roads. The Gunners are in a situation where they effectively have to spend smartly to win and compete and if Wenger can’t do that, then might well have to leave the club. That is why there is so much banking on next season, if Wenger fails to deliver once again, then not even his fans might be on his side.
No comments:
Post a Comment