Wenger rules out summer spending spree

Tue, 12 May 13:32:11 2009

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is adamant he will resist the temptation to go on a summer spending spree to challenge for the Barclays Premier League title.

The Gunners will finish fourth this season and their last trophy remains the 2005 FA Cup. Now, former players like Emmanuel Petit are calling for Wenger to spend big.

"We have a team which is 22 years old (on average), why should we look for revolution?" Wenger said.

"That would be stupid and not responsible.

"I still believe that when you have responsibilities, you have to make decisions and stand up for that. Until now we have not done too badly."

Wenger told L'Equipe he does not know how much money he will have in the summer.

"I do not think that the team need major investments," Wenger said in the French newspaper.

Wenger's project and the way he has nurtured talent gives the club something to be proud of, according to forward Robin van Persie.

The Dutchman said: "If you look at our squad and different teams, for example Chelsea, Manchester United or Liverpool, what they cost and what we have cost, that has something to do with it. We can be proud of ourselves."

 

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  1. Its just stupid to think that if you buy a few­ experienced players then the young will not mature.We­ need two experienced centrebacks coz our defense is­ awful,maybe another midfielder and a clinical striker­ bt d centrebacks are d most important.Wenger just keeps­ making excuses and he should know that if he­ doesn't do something about it we'll be having­ the same conversation next season.Fans are tired of­ your formular without trophies

    From Toluwanimi, on Thu 14 May 4:42PM
  2. his hands are tied

    From Paul K, on Wed 13 May 9:17PM
  3. ure all glory short term glory hunting useless­ 'fans'. Management is more than just spending­ to solve problems.... its from balancing the books to­ the field as well. How many big clubs can say­ they're not in debt?

    Where the club is and how the­ accounts are sound is itself a 'trophy' won­ season after season.

    What do you guys want? for the­ club to be in debt? Owned by a russian or an american­ or some fella you all have to depend on?

    Be a right­ sort of fan.... Arsenal is in good hands, it has always­ been.... it is till today not soley owned by some­ billionaire with a personal agenda to entertain himself­ and making himself biggger than the club. Arsenal is a­ club, a team made up of players and the management­ staff. The challenge is not just on the field but in­ the business side of things.

    From Gooberjelly, on Wed 13 May 4:18PM
  4. All you older fans 60yrs + talk about lack of debt what­ cup do you get for that??
    I cannot afford an Arsenal­ season ticket!!
    A couple of friends happen to be­ Manchester united fans born in Manchester and season­ ticket holders god how do you afford them I said over a­ drink one lunchtime they only cost £675 I would have­ fell over if we had been stood by the bar, ours are­ almost 3 times as much!!!!
    I also recall them being­ very very angry about the amount of DEBT the Glazier­ family caused the club when they bought it yesterday­ we had a HQ meeting which we were all three at so took­ the opertunity to have a drink afterwards.
    Dont suppose­ you fancy swoping your debt for Arsenals well kept­ books do you ???
    A resounding NO was the reply, they­ both admire the way wenger has worked miricles in the­ past but said it looked to them as though the dimonds­ hidden in dirt that he used to find have dried up but­ they feel he has banked enough funds just through the­ Anelka buy and subequent sale to have a bit of a spend­ up.
    They cannot understand IF the funds are their as­ the board say why he is not spending them In their­ opinion we need a GK 2 CH 1 holding midfielder and 2­ decent strikers
    they are of the opinion that van persie­ might go as from what we all read he seems reluctant to­ sign a contract extention.
    They also reinforced my veiw­ that fabregas is not that great since he came back from­ his substitute appearances for Spain.
    So if we have to­ sell before we buy Cese, Ade and Robin should bring a­ pretty penny

    From Alex F, on Wed 13 May 2:31PM
  5. I just cant stomach Asen wenger continue saying­ "he will not break bank this summer" I just­ dont understand this man then how is he going to move­ foward to win trophy?I dont know. The top four are­ moving forward and we are moving backwards in the name­ of youth. Yes, is ok to buy youth player but must be­ quality match winner player,not average. The situation­ in the team now is that most of the so youth under 25­ are not good apart from Frabagas, to guarantee that in­ the next two to three there going to win some thing for­ the club. They just very average.

    From watsun77, on Wed 13 May 2:10PM
  6. I just cant stomach Asen wenger continue saying­ "he will not break bank this summer" I just­ dont understand this man then how is he going to move­ foward to win trophy?I dont know. The top four are­ moving forward and we are moving backwards in the name­ of youth. Yes, is ok to buy youth player but must be­ quality match winner player,not average. The situation­ in the team now is that most of the so youth under 25­ are not good apart from Frabagas, to guarantee that in­ the next two to three there going to win some thing for­ the club. They just very average.

    From watsun77, on Wed 13 May 2:05PM
  7. smiecelle neville bruce pallister irwin keane ince butt­ beckham giggs cantona cole sheringham
    this is the kids­ team that utd won the league with 4 KIDS IN IT the rest­ experinced players
    Mr Wenger dont be fooled into­ believing utd won the league with kids because they­ didnt.
    so splash the cash and get a defender 2x­ midfielder and a striker in out with­ adeybuyor,eboue,song,denilson.
    put foot up walcott to­ wake him up(at fualt for utd`s first not gibbs) and­ tell RVP to sign or go.
    get tough with them if they­ dont want to play for ARSENAL get them OUT

    From Mark, on Wed 13 May 1:54PM
  8. mr wenger has got tied up in the fantasy that utd won­ the league with kids and is trying to better them by­ bringing the adverage age down below there`s at that­ time.
    UNFORTUNANTLY HE DOESNT RELISE IS THAT when they­ won the league they had only beckham,scholes,gary­ neville,Butt as the kids in there. TEAM.THE OTHERS ­ were;; ­ smiecelle (forgive spelling)­ ,irwin,pallister,bruce,keane,giggs,cole,york,sheringham­ ,solkskar,cantona these were all first team players­ with a few wise heads in the back ground.
    W

    From Mark, on Wed 13 May 1:42PM
  9. It's a real shame, but the big 4 are now the big 3.

    From scottlangfield, on Wed 13 May 12:44PM
  10. If I build my first castle with limestone, why would i­ build the next with bricks? what quality or­ simmilarities do wenger see in the team of 03/04 and­ the latter 07/08?... Can any reasonable, well educated­ and rational man possibly think Adebayor can replace­ henry, Diaby for Vieira, Denilson for Gilberto and­ Bendtner for Bergkamp... All i can say is that I feel­ sorry for those who buy season ticket because it cost a­ fortune.... Wenger won't buy players, but you guys­ buy tickets.. if this is all down to economics... then­ are the fans really getting what they paid for?

    From laizebhone2, on Wed 13 May 12:18PM
  11. all you guys who say wenger most go get a grip who do u­ want 2 replace him !!! Look at it this way in the last­ 10 years we've seen arsenal wins loada stuff take a­ poor old newcastle fan wot have they won sod all in how­ many years and how much millions spent !!! so my­ friends think again b4 chatting @#$% stand by mr­ wenger!!!

    afc till i die

    From sl25rh, on Wed 13 May 12:03PM
  12. Same old story - Wenger not spending, Board has no­ money, keep doing the same old things, get the same old­ results - how sad for the Arsenal not to have any major­ investments. We need to sell out and sack the board who­ are draining all the profits. The top 3 teams have all­ sold out and have done MUCH better then The Arsenal. We­ need to let the Yank or the Russian buy the Arsenal and­ make her great again with major investments - we are­ always gonna be 4,5,6,7 in the table while we keep­ doing the same old things - Please bring back DAVID­ DEIN we need him soooo much.

    From michelle.lieberman23, on Wed 13 May 10:22AM
  13. I READ ALL THE COMMENTS ON HERE AND SOME ARE VERY­ STUPID AND IGNORANT. I HAVE BEEN A GOONER FOR 60 YEARS­ AND HAVE SEEN MOST THINGS. DO ANY OF YOU THINK THAT OUR­ MANAGER LIKES THE POSITION THAT WE ARE IN? OF COURSE HE­ DOES NOT. MON.WENGER DOES NOT HAVE THE FUNDS TO SPEND­ THAT THE BIG 3 HAVE - YES THATS RIGHT - THE BIG 3. WE­ CANNOT COMPETE FINANCIALLY. AT THE SAME TIME HE CANNOT­ JUST RIP THE SQUAD TO PIECES. HOWEVER IF HE CAN OBTAIN­ MANY MILLIONS FOR
    ADE-SO-POOR AND MAYBE ONE OR TWO­ OTHERS HE WILL BE ABLE TO BUY WHO HE WANTS. WE REALLY­ NEED A BIG CENTRE BACK AND AT LEAST ONE BIG MIDFIELDER­ AS WELL AS A TOP STRIKER. MOST IMPORTANTLY WE NEED A­ LEADER, A CAPTAIN WHO IS ARSENAL THROUGH AND THROUGH.­ THEN WE WILL SEE. OVER TO YOU MON.WENGER.

    From ONZE, on Wed 13 May 9:49AM
  14. What a terrible thing to hear, this man is napolean get­ him out he is awful and the only consistent thing about­ him is that he keeps on losing! out wenger out! i­ detest you!

    From Joseph, on Wed 13 May 9:04AM
  15. why is wenger so obsessed with age? is there a trophy­ for the youngest team? he can't see a reason for­ rejuvinating the team? it is simply because the current­ team is a flop. period. that is why, mr. wenger. this­ team in its current form is not going to win anything.­ last season's arsenal if you held it together was­ going to go places. but this one is a loser. only you­ see where you are taking it. the rest of the world­ don't have an idea what you are working on. even­ your fellow managers think you are very wrong.

    From Sylvester, on Wed 13 May 8:28AM
  16. mr.venger.no.trophy,crushed.by.chelsea.crushed.by.man.u­ td.only.got.fourth.because.villa.form.drooped.get.rid.o­ f.bentner..get.rid.of.addebuyor.nenielson.nasrieboue.pu­ t.torre.defensive.mid.feild.buy.two.big.centre,halfs,bu­ y.jason.scotland.from.swansea.buy.perter.crouch.as.a.fr­ ont.man.buy.two.good.mid,feilders.no.he.wont.spend.we.w­ ill.struggel.worse.next,season.due.to.other.teams.impro­ ving.ther.squads.we.will.not.win.anything.next.year.and­ .wont.qualify.for.europe.

    From holton211, on Wed 13 May 3:28AM
  17. So nothing yet again, just what will Arsenal win then?­ I for one will not renew my season ticket!!

    From Martin C, on Wed 13 May 2:28AM
  18. I'm very surprised that arsene wenger said he­ wasn't going to buy some more experienced players.­ i think if he doesn't, he might be seeing the end­ of arsenal football club as a force in london and­ europe. he needs to listen to other peoples views­ aswell in regards to the club and stop acting as a­ messiah of the club. he's been fortunate to have­ won some titles, but should try not to spoil the little­ name he's made in england and europe as whole. i­ hope he reads all that the fans have said and not turn­ deaf hears to them. i wish Arsenal football club and­ fans a very good next season with trophies and shield.

    From olufemi, on Wed 13 May 1:58AM
  19. The world today is based on instant gratification, it­ takes time to build a business, a family and of course­ a team.............

    True Arsenal fans don't bay­ like wolves because of a perceived under performance of­ a very youn team.

    Keep them together and we will have­ much pleasure in the next few years.............

    From mike_nethercott, on Wed 13 May 1:49AM
  20. If you’ve been an Arsenal fan for over 65years you’re­ probably very old & very out of touch with the­ current times kind of like Mr Wenger. WE HAVE YOUTH­ TEAMS FOR A REASON so they can gain experience! WTF is­ the point of paying kids like Walcott 60 grand a week?­ What motivation does he have to improve now? A lot of ­ Wenger’s buys have been average at best,Ljungberg­ Vieira,Fabregas & Henry aside the rest have had non­ or little impact, would Eboue,Song,Denilson or Bentner­ get into the Chelsea, Liverpool or Man utd team? If­ Walcott didn’t have such pace would he be any good? He­ certainly can’t finish & if it wasn’t for­ Arshavin’s own determination to join would he even be a­ gooner right now?
    Can every1 please stop sucking on­ Wenger’s kok! Arsenal were around b4 him & will­ continue to be so after him! If he doesn’t want to­ spend money give the cheque book 2 some1 who will!­ Frank Rijkaard or even the Special one Fancy a job in­ North London this summer?

    From masambasarr, on Wed 13 May 1:01AM
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