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. Whereas at Liverpool,Manchester United and Chelsea the­ owners funded the teams but at arsenal the shareholders­ shared all the money they could have used to buy world­ class players.

    From bode a, on Thu 7 May 6:09AM

  2. SPURS ARE @#$%

    From Stewart, on Thu 7 May 6:02AM

  3. This is a fundamental Man U supporter and there is­ only the one team , having said that i must take issue­ with the " Gooners" many of you can hardly­ claim to be supporters. When the team and the manager­ needed you where were you? When the team needed­ support the so called supporters just left , empty­ seats what a view for the TV audiences ; you dont­ support Arsenal nor football just winning ugh.
    I dont­ like Wenger's way of complaining and never seeing­ incidents but he has kept his team at or near the top­ for 12 years and turned the team into footballers not­ kickers and brawlers. I and my football supported­ friends may not be happy with Wenger but he's a­ good manager.
    Look at Chelsea the richest club in­ terms of purchasing power, three managers this season­ plus endless sums of cash what will they win , what­ did they win last season ,nothing.
    United have a magic­ " Charisma" the majority want them to win ,­ want to see them and that you cant buy, when Arsenal­ and Chelsea had their unbeaten runs who stopped both ­ United , when United went in to the 2nd division did­ the fans desert them no even more turned up , they had­ higher gates in terms of numbers of supporters than the­ league and European champions L'pool about which­ the pool complained . If your a supporter be like us ­ and Support

    From CIARAN, on Thu 7 May 5:59AM

  4. to nicandmart1 i agree with you in everything apart­ from David Beckham. the day he comes to Arsenal is the­ day the club loses it's integrity!

    From Kate, on Thu 7 May 5:59AM

  5. I discovered a hot place

    ------Wealth y F inder C o­ M------ where many sexy singles- who like dating and--­ chatting there. I'm an open- minded girl from US,­ I-- am Waiting 4 u

    From sexyghj24, on Thu 7 May 5:59AM

  6. it's swings and roundabouts I've been­ supporting arsenal for my whole 22 years of life and in­ that time we won lots of trophes and gone a season­ undefeated, we've also gone years with out winning­ a thing. I trust Arsene Wenger and I am disgusted with­ any fan that would ever want to get rid of him he is as­ much a part of Arsenal as any of us. We will start­ winning again it may just take time to build up a squad­ like we had before in the mean time all us fans can do­ is get behind our club and our manager. Arsen­ Wenger's Red Army!

    From Kate, on Thu 7 May 5:57AM

  7. leave wenger alone... you fans are so ungrateful after­ all we have been through with so many injuries and all­ c'mon rally round the coach at least we are not in­ debt. if arsene go as much as i am a die hard til death­ do us part type of gunner i would be very very very­ very disappointed. the thing is most of you who are­ being critics have never even bought a scarf with­ arsenal logo on it. every season i buy something new.­ be a supporter and not just a fan support the cause.

    From dercute, on Thu 7 May 5:56AM

  8. Why the moans and groans for goodness sake. At the­ beginning of the season the so called pundits reckoned­ we would finish outside the top four. Yes, we struggled­ and lost to teams we should have beaten, but we have­ come back as has been proven by our position in the­ league. Add to this and we have a long standing record­ of never having been relegated since being elected into­ the top league way back in the 1900's. That will­ take some beating. Not even the Mancs or Chelsea or­ Liverpool have been at the top for so long. OK, we are­ finishing trophy less, but please, back the team and­ don't castigate them. Every team has failures. Look­ at the Scousers, they have not won the Premier League­ since it started. Arsene Wenger is the THE BEST manager­ Arsenal have had since Bertie Mee in the 1970's.­ George Graham was useless, Rioch couldn't last and­ neither could Howe. Arsene has brought class to the­ team and the moaners and whingers should recognize­ that. Its easy to sing when your winning everything. So­ let us hear it for Arsene's boys and let us as­ supporters sing with all our heart and none of this­ Wenger out rubbish.

    From gerry, on Thu 7 May 5:55AM

  9. i'm a united fan and i agree with most of these­ comments, arsene needs to use the funds available to­ get some top players. if he tried to sign ...say...­ kaka or messi or riberi i'm certain that players of­ that calibre would love to come to london, not just for­ the money or the city but because arsenal is a club of­ integraty and loyal fans who deserve to be rewarded by­ supporting a team who is a definate contender for top­ trophys. there are a quality team but do need that bit­ of experience to just guide them through at difficult­ times like last night. i mean even beckham would be a­ massive influence in the squad look how valuble his­ guidance has been for walcot in the england camp, and­ he'd love to stick one on fergie i'm sure

    From N, on Thu 7 May 5:54AM

  10. Condemmed to be the perpetual bridesmaids. A fantastic­ nursery of talent for others to come and pilfer. Sadly­ until your board wake up to the reality that this game­ is about winning at any price rather than financial­ prudence you will remain at best also rans

    From CHRIS, on Thu 7 May 5:51AM

  11. One major example is the purchase of Arshavin .. look­ at the difference he brought to the team since joining­ .. our beloved ARSENAL will always be in our HEARTS ..­ but dear WENGER winning and trophies are SWEET .. allow­ me to say that you need to change because what happened­ at the EMIRATES while you are setting helpless against­ MAN U broke our HEARTS. ARSENAL FOR­ LIFE.................

    From anabta67ehab, on Thu 7 May 5:49AM

  12. Pires? Not really. Henry? Probably.However I believe­ that Arsenal should have kept Hleb and Flamini in the­ team this year. That might have changed the outcome of­ yesterday's game. None of them are first choices at­ their current teams and that's a shame for them and­ for Arsenal. Flamini is better than Anderson and Hleb­ is at least as good as Park.

    From Laur, on Thu 7 May 5:49AM

  13. Premiership isnt for kids.As a life long gunner, i am­ hugely dissapointed.Arsene has to wake up and stop been­ a daddy to these kids, the only players that should be­ in Arsenal are Toure,Galas,Clichey,Fabregas,Van­ Piercy,Arshavin,Sagna.The others should be playing for­ Arsenal ladies!
    We need quality,experienced players,who­ will stand up and be counted and not be like headmaster­ to a bunch of kids,who are lucky to be playing for­ us.We have Stan Kroneke and the Russian Billionaire,so­ its not a case of no money,its not Arsene's­ money,he is apaid employee of the club and he MUST be­ judged from the trophies he brings to the cabinet,he­ has failed so far?does he want to be like Rafa,all talk­ no trophies? No wonder he made peace with Sir Alex,so­ that he wont expose his inadequacies.We the fans want­ trophies next season! if he doesnt deliver,he should go­ to Real Madrid where winning trophies dont even­ guarantee your job.Arsene has reached his Peak with­ Arsenal,he is just going down,may be he should just­ become director of football? we need­ trophies,money/players bring trophies,not the bunch of­ high school kids that we have now. If we dont criticise­ our club,as ticket paying fans,we will never progress.

    From aderemi k, on Thu 7 May 5:45AM

  14. Premiership isnt for kids.As a life long gunner, i am­ hugely dissapointed.Arsene has to wake up and stop been­ a daddy to these kids, the only players that should be­ in Arsenal are Toure,Galas,Clichey,Fabregas,Van­ Piercy,Arshavin,Sagna.The others should be playing for­ Arsenal ladies!
    We need quality,experienced players,who­ will stand up and be counted and not be like headmaster­ to a bunch of kids,who are lucky to be playing for­ us.We have Stan Kroneke and the Russian Billionaire,so­ its not a case of no money,its not Arsene's­ money,he is apaid employee of the club and he MUST be­ judged from the trophies he brings to the cabinet,he­ has failed so far?does he want to be like Rafa,all talk­ no trophies? No wonder he made peace with Sir Alex,so­ that he wont expose his inadequacies.We the fans want­ trophies next season! if he doesnt deliver,he should go­ to Real Madrid where winning trophies dont even­ guarantee your job.Arsene has reached his Peak with­ Arsenal,he is just going down,may be he should just­ become director of football? we need­ trophies,money/players bring trophies,not the bunch of­ high school kids that we have now. If we dont criticise­ our club,as ticket paying fans,we will never progress.

    From aderemi k, on Thu 7 May 5:45AM

  15. Premiership isnt for kids.As a life long gunner, i am­ hugely dissapointed.Arsene has to wake up and stop been­ a daddy to these kids, the only players that should be­ in Arsenal are Toure,Galas,Clichey,Fabregas,Van­ Piercy,Arshavin,Sagna.The others should be playing for­ Arsenal ladies!
    We need quality,experienced players,who­ will stand up and be counted and not be like headmaster­ to a bunch of kids,who are lucky to be playing for­ us.We have Stan Kroneke and the Russian Billionaire,so­ its not a case of no money,its not Arsene's­ money,he is apaid employee of the club and he MUST be­ judged from the trophies he brings to the cabinet,he­ has failed so far?does he want to be like Rafa,all talk­ no trophies? No wonder he made peace with Sir Alex,so­ that he wont expose his inadequacies.We the fans want­ trophies next season! if he doesnt deliver,he should go­ to Real Madrid where winning trophies dont even­ guarantee your job.Arsene has reached his Peak with­ Arsenal,he is just going down,may be he should just­ become director of football? we need­ trophies,money/players bring trophies,not the bunch of­ high school kids that we have now. If we dont criticise­ our club,as ticket paying fans,we will never progress.

    From aderemi k, on Thu 7 May 5:45AM

  16. all we need is two or three experienced players to add­ a bit of steel to the side.The younger players will­ have gained alot of experience from this season and we­ should have rosicky and eduardo fit next season! He­ does need to clear out the average players like­ bendtner eboue and maybe denilson. A good holding­ midfielder and centre back would be the answer i think?

    From Kevin, on Thu 7 May 5:45AM

  17. Champs league semis, fa cup semis and ok only 4th in­ the league. He's getting there by spending F**k all­ so he cant be that bad. Theres no other manager who­ could replace him. Next season we're be there, come­ on Arsene. Arsenal for Life.

    oh yeah bad luck­ Chelsea hahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahah

    From DAN, on Thu 7 May 5:38AM

  18. For Pete's sake, Wenger, SIGN SOME EXPERIENCE!!!

    From Sean M, on Thu 7 May 5:13AM

  19. its true, 5yrs and still nothin and 2 be honest it­ could well be another 5yrs till we c the true colors or­ arsenal flyin high again unless wenger opens up that­ cash book......cant he see that we need experiance not­ youth but were not really even mixin it up....wenger is­ probably still 1 of the best around but shorely he must­ c this now....arsenal 4life!!!!!!!!

    From penn.jane, on Thu 7 May 5:10AM

  20. Failure may well bring its own rewards. Perhaps Wenger­ can now see what many fans have been saying for a­ while. We don't have good enough players to play­ the way Wenger wants us to play. Arshavin, Cesc, Nasri,­ RVP, Toure and Clichy are the only ones up to scratch.­ Maybe Theo and Song can develop, but Adebeyor,­ Bendtner, Denilson, Silvestre, Almunia, Djourou etc are­ way off the radar and theres no way Adebeyor should­ ever ever put on the Arsenal shirt again. Lets hope­ Wenger can magically extract 25 million form Milan for­ him and while he is at it, ensure Senderos stays there­ as well. We must buy a spine for the team.

    From a.foster374, on Thu 7 May 5:10AM
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