Premier League - Wenger's ageism costly

Eurosport - Thu, 07 May 13:44:00 2009

In his 12-and-a-half years at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger has seen almost everything.

Arsene Wenger - 0

Along the way to completely rejuvenating the North London club from top to bottom, Wenger has captured two league and cup doubles, reached the club's first European Cup final and completed an entire league campaign unbeaten.

One thing he had not experienced until recently, however, was the handful of fans calling for him to leave the Emirates Stadium.

Such deluded demands are well wide of the mark; disgruntled Gooners might like to ponder the 21-game unbeaten run in the Premier League. But Tuesday's humiliating home defeat to Manchester United in the Champions League has condemned Arsenal to at least five trophyless years, something the fans are not used to.

The French coach now faces the realisation that he must reinvent himself as much as he reinvented the club he has come to define if he is to drag them back to the top.

For years he has justified his heavy reliance on young players by insisting that - with the Emirates being built and Highbury yet to be sold - he does not have the transfer budget to compete with the other big clubs, despite club chief Peter Hill-Wood repeatedly declaring that the money is there to spend if he so wished.

However honorable Wenger's intentions in refusing to commit the club to the kind of 'financial doping' that has left Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea saddled with huge debts, the simple fact is that the Gunners have more often than not been left struggling to keep up rather than setting the pace.

A lot has been made of Arsene's Junior Gunners' weakness, but Wenger's insistence on marginalising players once they turn 30 is just as significant.

While Arsenal have five players born in the 1990s on their books, of the first-team squad only goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and defenders William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre - both unwanted by their rivals - can look back on their 20s.

Compare that with Chelsea who, with more than twice as many over-30s in their squad, are third in the league with one major final confirmed and another pending. Even his supposed nemesis, Alex Ferguson, still feels comfortable enough to field senior players like Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, to the point where this season the former passed the 600-match mark and the latter notched up 800 and was named PFA Player of the Year.

Robert Pires was forced to leave to find for job security than the one-year rolling contract on offer in North London, and he and Thierry Henry continue to perform at the highest level in Spain, while the midfield struggles of Denilson and Alex Song show that Patrick Vieira, sold to Juventus in 2005, is still missed.

If nothing else, the presence of Pires at London Colney would hugely benefit the likes of Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, while Henry's haul of goals in La Liga this season is equal the combined total of Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor.

That is not to say that Wenger's youth policy has not reaped its rewards. Cesc Fabregas is one of the most highly-coveted midfielders in the game, and a great deal of the future of the England team rests on Walcott's shoulders, but the balance is all too often skewed towards emerging rather than established talent.

The jackpots that the club have hit with the big-money sales of Nicolas Anelka (£23 million), Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit (a combined £30m) and most recently Alexandr Hleb (a mind-boggling £11.8m) have not nearly been matched in the opposite direction.

Even the signing of Andrei Arshavin would not have happened had the Russian not flown himself in to complete the deal.

The Premier League, and football in general, has much to thank Wenger for, but unless he makes his peace with the financial realities of the game as it is now, he may never lift any silverware at his team's shiny new home.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ARSENAL = @#$%

    From craigcowan69, on Thu 7 May 5:12PM

  2. Great to read how arsenal fans like their club! To be­ specific, Arsenal urgently need to buy 2 good strikers­ like that of Torres calibre to partner Van and Arsh ,­ and get rid of Ade & Bent at a small fee. The mid­ fielders will be at their best next season.
    At the back­ we need 2 over 25 years big guys like the built of­ Ferdi and Vigic to beef up the central and left flanks­ in addition to the existing boys. Generally get rid of­ injury prone players - arsenal club shud not be for ill­ players like a hospital - compassate and lay them off!­ we need trophies now............

    From mlchitwaka, on Thu 7 May 4:20PM

  3. Lay off Arsene Wenger pls!One of the best managers­ ever.I think this group of lads will do even better­ next season.Young lads like to go a step further to­ improve on their achievements,old players have nothing­ to loose.They've seen it all and are virtually­ playing for fun.Confidence was the only factor that­ cost us the final in Rome.Anxiety killed it all,they­ wanted to slow the game and detect to the unmerciful­ Alex Ferguson's veterans.All i ask from them is to­ finish 3rd pls,beat Chelsea,and Man Utd and I will be­ satisfied with this trophy less season.

    From nino4ever_2000, on Thu 7 May 3:42PM

  4. these comments are very sentimental.why patronise­ wenger?
    He has failed to land a trophy for five­ years.
    the accolades for his efficiency should be on­ the first 7 years.
    Frank Rijkard failed to land­ trophies in the last 2 years after lifting both­ domestic and continental trophies for the club in the­ first 2 years, still The Management asked him­ "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY" The club­ went ahead and replaced him and today they are in­ cruise control for both domestic and europe challenge.­ so ARsenal management take a cue.....FIRE THIS­ MAN...start talking to......no not morinho,the perfect­ man is frankly, FRANK RIJKARD

    From james, on Thu 7 May 3:18PM

  5. unfortunately it is not just age he doesn't like.­ ain't almost all arsenal players light-weight­ compared to their competition? this man does not like­ big players. no wonder he chose nasri (ofcourse he is­ good) over benzema. and however good arshavin is he is­ still a small player.

    From Sylvester, on Thu 7 May 2:25PM

  6. one question i ill like to ask is this.what happens if­ rvp and adebayor leave this season?asernal ill start­ building again ryt?what happens when fab leaves too­ they start building again .while this building is­ taking place we are without trophy.wenger just buy­ experienced players times has changed.

    From efozia, on Thu 7 May 1:33PM

  7. Get real now people! Im an Arsenal fan but even I admit­ that our glory days are long gone we might aswell sell­ up and settle 4 a top 6 finish year on year.Building­ that Stadium was prob not the best idea if this is the­ effect it is having.Maybe it would have been better to­ win things 1st them build an unaffordable Stadium, at­ least then we would have had the money 2 pay 4 it.­ Wenger & the Board Out,Frank rijkaard in Oh &­ some1 take Eboue & that Danish @#$% stick that is­ Nicolas Bentner away with them

    From masambasarr, on Thu 7 May 12:35PM

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  9. It Is not Arsene’s fault, it is the Directors fault who­ pay more importance to the bottom line figures. The­ could allow the Osmanov to invest and probably get the­ money they need to buy the quality players. But they­ are being Scrooge. After all they are there to make­ money for themselves not to please the fans.­ Unfortunately it is Arsene who receives all the blame­ for their attitude. Arsene is the best manager in the­ world. It is a mirical what he achieved with what was­ given to him. He definately should stay if wi don't­ want to drop to the first divission.

    From midas, on Thu 7 May 12:10PM

  10. Something is definitely not working for Arsenal. Was­ Mourinho right when he said, "Kids can win­ matches.But they dont win trophies"? Arsenal needs­ to rethink its policies on age, and buying new players.­ Its 'buy one get one free' mentality has just­ cost a life through suicide in Kenya!

    From Kola, on Thu 7 May 11:51AM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Arsene has to go , he hasnt won us anything with his­ squad,, The last time we won a trophy we still had­ players like adams, from george grahams squad, when­ they all retired and it became all of arsenes squad, we­ stopped winning, so he has won us nothing with his­ sqaud. He turns all strikers into walk in the box,­ robots. How long before he get arshavin to stop ­ striking and walk it in the box too. He has the french­ arrogance to not admit his wrong. We are the only team­ who dont have a prolifik striker. Our strikers very­ rarely score, we rely on set pieces and tap ins by­ others.
    Arsene has to go

    From me h, on Thu 7 May 11:18AM

  12. Collinjpat, I ageree with your assessment. Wenger must­ do the following. 1. Get a few more Andrei Arshavins­ (in all departments of the squad); 2. Encourage the­ players to shoot, even from outside the box; 3. Deepen­ the squad (so that one or two injuries don't leave­ us bare); and 4. Do a review of tactics during matches.­ I remain a gunner in every respect.
    Gunner Kaybee,­ Nigeria

    From Kaybee, on Thu 7 May 11:16AM

  13. I been a gooner 4 almost 50 years. A few of the players­ should take a good hard look at themselves. IE: Adi,­ Rvp, etc. Some of the blame wenger should also take. We­ let Flamini, & Hleb go far to easy & have def­ not replaced them in any way shape or form.
    RVP, when­ he 1st came to the arsenal was being touted as the next­ berkamp. It plane to see that he`s not fit 2 lace his­ boots. Adi,I believe,must be carrying an injury because­ although a good strike rate, does not put any effort or­ passion in his game.
    Cesc must be geeting so p***** off­ this season, having no 1 2 cover him since Flamini.
    I­ know we`ve had injuries, but plz unload diaby &­ DENILSON ARSENE, there S***E. Get some xperince in­ & stop touting our YOUNGUNS as world beaters, cos­ thr not....yet!!!!
    I know your the best!! You know­ players are not over the top once they reach 30. Dont­ build 4 the future, cos the players dont honour their­ contracts anyway!!! And lastly, when we are roundabout­ the box we could occassionally try n shoot, instead of­ tryin 2 pass it in 4 the perfect goal. Ask RONALDO!!!!­ IT SOMETIMES HAS BEEN KNOWN 2 WORK!!
    Goona 4 life, but­ give us some silverware plz!!!

    From colinjpatt, on Thu 7 May 10:39AM

  14. The time has come to 'sell out' if we wont to­ compete with the other big clubs - we must change our­ policies and get rid of the stuffy old minded board of­ directors they are simply out dated. Our seasons will­ continue like this until we change - its the same old­ story ' you keep doing the same things, you get the­ same results'. TIME FOR CHANGE - do it now or next­ season will be the same as the last 5.

    From michelle.lieberman23, on Thu 7 May 9:49AM

  15. One man from Kenya hang after Arsenal lose to man­ utd........he's dead......omg

    From SaMiR NaSRi, on Thu 7 May 9:18AM

  16. Wenger has indeed brought the club into a new phase.­ Looking back 4 seasons ago, Arsenal has a team of old­ man playing football. but within 4 years, he transform­ an average age of 35 to 22 years old. This is simply­ fantastic. However, Wenger should not be obsessed with­ breeding players. Imagine if players like Arshavin was­ playing for Arsenal 2 seasons ago, Arsenal would be as­ good as MU now.

    In top flight foot, players impact­ must be immediate, not giving excuse that players need­ time to adapt. robbie Keane was out after failing to­ settle in within 6 months. Wenger has not adressed his­ 'Viera replacement' problem ever since he left.­ He mention Fabragas, Diaby and Song as the new Viera­ but thats not true. Viera breaks opponents play and­ counter attack with Pires, Ljunberg, Henry and­ Bergkamp. Another problem is their Center back. When­ will he admit Gallas and Toure cant work together?! We­ need a more complete center back. mathew upton will­ be good.

    For the past 4 years, i've been telling­ MU supporter: Next season Arsenal will play better. As­ we enter the 5th year without trophy, it has been­ frustrating for us all. However, just hope that Arsenal­ will learn from it. We need to have direct players like­ Arshavin who doesnt care about passing. Just shooting­ the ball when there's an opportunity.

    Gunners for­ life!!

    From daniel88why, on Thu 7 May 9:12AM

  17. How long does it take for a team to mature???
    we have­ not won the league for 7 years
    The last trophy was the­ FA cup won on penalties after the most one sided final­ you will ever see.
    well i have sat through some dire­ performances and can recall preying that Wright did not­ score at the clock end as there would be sod all to­ watch in the second half but now i am getting a little­ frustrated and cant understand why hleb ,flamini etc­ were sold and why has this money not been reinvested in­ the team?
    How much did they get for Henry? why was no­ experienced striker purchased?
    All this talk of a 30­ million kitty? yet not a player bought last summer I am­ getting the distinct feeling we have not got the money­ fine ok but I say this to the board be honest and come­ straight out and tell us the fans we have a nice­ stadium but this has left us with a large debt so we­ shall have to rely on our youth to see us through­ Honesty that is all the vast majority of the fans want

    From LEX, on Thu 7 May 9:05AM

  18. No one can say Wenger is not a great manager.. hes one­ of the best managers in the world. About this season i­ think he did a big mistake when he sold Helb and­ Flamini!! Arsenal have no midfielders u can rely on­ them 100%..young players who have no experience cant do­ nothing in Euorpe with big names in football!!also some­ key players seem like they their heart is not with­ Arsenal any more.. sont forget Arsenal have been­ unlucky with the injuries but it does hurt when u see­ them finish 4th and getting beat 1-4 on Agg in­ champions league!.. well! another season emty handed!!!

    From osama k, on Thu 7 May 8:44AM

  19. I actually tend to concur with the rest,Arsene Wenger­ has truly done the world of football a great deal by­ nurturing great talent but also a lot needs to be done­ in the confidence of the young players and could be by­ bringing in mote of experienced players who will blend­ with young players bringing out a formidable­ team.Gooner for life.

    From nyabwaril, on Thu 7 May 8:37AM

  20. Without doubt Arsene's got to spend some money but­ not "splash" the cash stupidly. Bring in a­ couple of experienced players to spice up the young­ lads and indeed the gunners will be unstoppable.

    From devairus, on Thu 7 May 8:01AM
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