Tag Archives: Arsenal

Wenger’s new contract justified by Manchester United?

23 Replies

Reports in this mornings papers indicate that the board are ready to give Arsene Wenger a new contract. This does not come as a surprise. Two months ago, he was reported to of agreed an extension, however the contract talks were put on the back burner as fans attitude to the manager was on a downward spiral.

Imagine the out roar had he, back in August, signed a new 3 year deal on his £7.5m a season wages, whilst not having yet signed a single player. It would have been the straw that broke the camels back for most fans.

“Wenger more interested in lining his own pockets then buying top players” would have been the cry. The noises of ‘Wenger Out’ would have grown. The boycotts would of increase. The protest marches would have been at every game.

However, with the signing of Mesut Ozil and a North London derby win, the world of Arsenal is a bit more positive, so were they to announce a contract extension it would be taken a bit better then were it done 2 months ago. In the world of politics, there is often good days to bury bad news. They will often release news about controversial legislation, or a scandal, when either public sentiment is high, or more likely, when there is a world disaster. I will always remember when 9/11 happened and a Labour aide Emailed:

“It is now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury. Councillors expenses?”

Crass, yes, but he was right. Hiding bad news on a bad news day means that bad news will get less attention. Likewise, announcing bad news when public sentiment is high leads to less criticism. And that is what the board look like they are going to do. Using the positive vibes throughout Arsenal to announce Arsene Wenger’s new contract.

The issue here is Arsene Wenger has underperformed over the last few years. No trophies in 8 years. And even with the signing of Mesut Ozil, he has had a poor transfer window, and at times, made the club look foolish (along with his partners in crime Gazidas & Law). For me, at the moment, he does not deserve a new contract.

There is, however, a key factor we now have to take into account. Manchester United. There transfer dealing’s this summer have been worse than ours. Only securing Marouane Fellaini in the closing stages of the transfer window, after bidding millions for every other top central midfielder in Europe.

Why do I say it is a key factor? Well it is very easy to get rid of a manager. What is not as easy is replacing him.

There are reports that Moyes has already lost the dressing room. That his training methods are draconian. He does not command the respect of the players as Alex Ferguson did. And he does not have the reputation around Europe that is key to attract players.

You have to wonder, had Fergie been in charge of Manchester United, Would Cesc Fabregas have been so quick to turn them down? Would Bale of become a realistic option? Would they of come in late and snatched Mesut Ozil out of our hands? Not only do players want to play for top clubs. Earn top money. They also want to play for top managers. Be developed by top coaches.

Parents do not send their kids to top fee paying school’s such as Eton or Harrow because they have a big reputation, they send them there because they have the best teachers. If Eton sacked all their teachers and replaced them with a bunch of recently qualified, their admissions would drop dramatically. Manchester United are suffering from that. They have lost one of the best managers in the world, and replaced him with someone who is under qualified for the job.

When you hear that a key factor in the signing of Mesut Ozil was a phone call from Arsene Wenger, it shows the Frenchman is still very well respected on the continent. Players from Europe would still want to come to Arsenal to play for him. There are very few managers who command the sort of world wide respect Wenger does.

Guardiola, Ancelotti, Mourinho. That is probably it. Whilst Jurgen Klopp’s stock is very high, he is still on his way up. He garners respect throughout Germany, and would be able to attract a lot of German players. But would he be a key factor if he wanted Benzema? Or Di Maria? Or any non-German player. Probably not.

And that is where Moyes is struggling. He is a fairly unknown quantity throughout Europe. Yes, players will naturally be attracted by Manchester United. But if you were a player from Europe and had 2 identical deals on the table, one from Manchester United and David Moyes, the other from Arsenal and Arsene Wenger, you would probably pick the later.

And that is what is important, and why Arsene Wenger may well get his new contract. If Manchester United struggle this season, if the moans from the dressing room continue to increase, if he can still not attract top stars, it will make the board think ‘Better the devil you know.’

Another example of this is the fiasco Liverpool have been in since sacking Rafa Benitez – another manager who players seem to want to play for. In came Hodgson. Then Dalglish. Now Brendan Rodgers.

Bar Luis Suarez – who at the time was not the established star he is now (the next Kezman?) – Liverpool have failed to land a top player. A collection of average and overpriced Englishman, mixed in with some very poor signings from the continent. Whilst not having Champions League football does not help their cause, not having a top manager is surely a key factor. After all, why would anyone want to play for Brendan Rodgers? He would be a non-factor when it comes to a player making their decision.

Pellegrini at Manchester City is another one. He is well respected throughout Spain, but will he struggle to attract top players from elsewhere in Europe? Does he have the same sort of pull as Roberto Mancini did? It is a case of wait and see.

Would a Michael Laudrup be able to attract star names? Would Roberto Martinez? Would Remi Garde? Would Steve Bould? The answer is no. A Mesut Ozil would not come and play for these managers. A Marco Rues would not. A Cesc Fabregas would not return to Arsenal. And even with in the club, get a poor manager in who does not garner respect of the players would see the likes of Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott looking elsewhere.

Another good season with Dortmund would see Jurgen Klopp’s star rise further. Enough to make him a key factor in the signing of players. A manager is key to a players decision (after money) and it is important then when Wenger does go, we do not take a step down in his replacement.

Whilst Arsene Wenger’s time at Arsenal is coming to a natural end. He should still go at the end of the season. But it is important we get his replacement right.

We need to move forward as a club. Buy better players. Get a better manager.

Keenos

The Myth of Dennis Bergkamp

26 Replies

After the signing of Mesut Ozil, the talk in blogs and podcasts throughout the Arsenal world is about how the signing is ‘Arsene Wenger’s Dennis Bergkamp moment.’ The theory being that we have not signed a truly world class player since Dennis Bergkamp, and that as with the signing of Bergkamp, it will see more top signings follow.

This is frankly not true.

Firstly, when we signed Dennis Bergkamp, he was no longer a world class performer. After finishing 2nd and 3rd in the 1992 & 1993 Ballon d’Ors respectively, he had gone backwards. His star had fallen.

A disastrous two year spell at Inter Milan led him to leave them for just £400,000 more than what they signed him for. Whilst he went on to become one of Arsenal’s greatest ever players, when we signed him, he was certainly an underperformer. He was not the world class signing that many make out.

Whilst Mesut Ozil has not had the easiest of times over the last 12 months at Real Madrid, his star as not fallen anywhere near as much as Dennis Bergkamp. Whereas many were begining to doubt Dennis Bergkamp’s talent when we signed him, Ozil’s talent is in not doubt. with even Jose Mourinho labelling him as the best number 10 in world football.

The 2nd Dennis Bergkamp myth is his signing lead to the floodgates opening and many more world class players following him through the door. This was just not true.

Dennis Bergkamp signed nearly a month after David Platt had joined the club. No more transfers were made that year, in times before transfer windows. The next season, Arsene Wenger’s 1st, the transfers were as follows:

Valur Gíslason
John Lukic
Remi Garde
Patrick Vieira
Nicolas Anelka

Not a single world class player amongst them. And in 1997, the year of the double, things were no better:

Matthew Upson
Gilles Grimandi
Luis Boa Morte
Alberto Mendez
Marc Overmars
Emmanuel Petit
Alex Manninger
Christopher Wreh

These types of transfers would be the stock of Wenger’s transfer’s. A mixture of talented youngster, and senior players who had become out of favour / injured / unknowns. What is certainly true is that the signing of Dennis Bergkamp did not attract any world class talent to the club.

Whilst there are many comparisons between the signing of Bergkamp and Ozil. I do think we look back at Bergkamp’s through rose tinted, hindsight glasses. Were we really that excited? Or were we moaning we had signed a washed-up home sick Dutchman who can not fly?

For me, the signing of Mesut Ozil is bigger then that of Bergkamp. He is a truly world class player. And with the finances we now have, his signing should open up the floodgates of further world class players wanting to join Arsenal.

The signing of Mesut Ozil is not Wenger’s Dennis Bergkamp moment. It is bigger then that.

Keenos

Could Arsenal still be in for Luis Suarez?

26 Replies

Despite the transfer window shutting less than a week ago, there is already speculation as to who we will buy in January. With us still having over £40 million sitting in the ‘available monies for transfers’ piggy bank, a key signing or two in January could be a deal breaker if we are in the title race, or still in with a chance of a cup.

Where we are clearly most short at the minute is upfront. Whilst Lukas Podolski, Theo Walcott and Yaya Sanogo can provide cover, they are not sufficient to cover Olivier Giroud on a long term basis, if the big Frenchman picks up an injury. Also if we are starting with Walcott, it leaves Podolski as the only real game changing striker on the bench.

As for Giroud, he is good enough, but he is not star quality. He has shown this season already that he is a very clinical finisher. The fox in the box we were crying out for in the early 2000’s. And his size and work rate causes a problem. However there is always a feeling watching him that he is the man who should be as cover for the star man. He rarely creates out of nothing. And his attributes would be much better put to the last 30 minutes of a game:

1) If we are winning, he would be a good substitute to bring on to become more defensive. He can hold up the ball and chase down centrebacks. His height also gives us extra safety at corners.

2) If we are losing, he would be ideal to come on enabling us to play longer, sending high balls into the box, with others then getting around him. He would cause havoc.

In summary, we are still a star striker short. And in my opinion, that man could be Luis Suarez.

Earlier in the summer, June in fact, I predicted Arsenal would sign Mesut Ozil. This was not being me in the know, it was me using logic. Real Madrid had already signed Isco and with Bale on the way, it was clear that Ozil would be available. Around Europe, not many of the other top teams required (Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG) needed an attacking midfielder, and others (ie Seria A clubs) could afford it. It was logically that he was coming to Arsenal.

Using the same logic, it would not surprise me if we ended up signing Luis Suarez in either January or next summer. Here is my reasoning.

It was clear that a striker was top of our list this summer, and that Luis Suarez was one of the main targets. He had the well documented clause that lead us to bid £40,000,001 for him. The understanding was that Liverpool would let him leave a bid of anything over £40m. Hence the £1. Why bid £45m, when a bid of £40m + £1 triggers the same clause.

However Liverpool challenged the legitimacy of this clause, claiming it was not a release clause, but merely meant they had to inform Luis Suarez of the bid. With all parties disagreeing over what the clause meant, the result would mean that Luis Suarez or Arsenal would have to take Liverpool to Court of Arbitration for Sport. Now this would have been time consuming, with appeals and long drawn out legal proceedings. It is unlikely it would of been completed by the end of the transfer window. This lead Arsenal to drop their interest fairly quickly once Liverpool established their stance and made it clear they would defend their opinion in a court of law.

Our actions after this show, to me, that we are still interested in Luis Suarez. A lack of a bid for any other top striker (bar the rumoured interest in Benzema) showed that perhaps Luis Suarez was still on our radar. Our only interest was in a short term option of a year long loan for Demba Ba. This perhaps shows that there were irons in the fire for longer term options. After all, why go and spend £20-30 million on someone you are not quite sure about, when your main target is still in your sights?

And for me, that target is Luis Suarez.

I would not be surprised if, in the next couple of weeks, it is announced that Luis Suarez is taking Liverpool to court for clarification of the release clause. This action is likely to be supported by Arsenal. Now if he wins, it would mean they would have to sell him for a bid over £40m. Worse case scenario, they might enter mediation and agree a new, higher legitimate clause. Or Liverpool attempt to avoid the embarasment of there star striker taking them to court byt offering Suarez a new deal on more money, with a legally tight release clause in it. Again, this could still lead to him joining Arsenal.

There would still be plenty of ‘what ifs’ over the deal:

  • What if after the court case, another side puts in a bid?
  • What if Liverpool are still top of the league come January?
  • What if Liverpool win the case?

For me, it is logical to say that via our actions after the Suarez deal went dead, and on the last day of the transfer window, we are certainly still in the market for a long term star striker. For me that man will be Luis Suarez.

Keenos (not ITK)