It’s not been a great few weeks for Arsenal FC, that’s putting it mildly too, as if the loss of Cesc Fabregas and the imminent departure of Sami Nasri wasn’t bad enough, Arsenal have also failed to score a goal in their first two Premier League games and have the difficult task of qualifying for the Champions League tonight.
It’s not really too much of a surprise that Arsenal’s season has got off to a start like this, all Summer there has been transfer talk surrounding the club, talk that Fabregas and Nasri could leave the club. This talk went on far too long, I can understand that Arsenal will want to hold onto their key players, but if a player wants to leave, it pays off to get them out of the club as soon as possible.
Arsenal’s transfer dealings have brought on mass criticism from a lot of their fans, it appears that most are frustrated that the teams around them appear to be moving forward whilst Arsenal appear to be standing still. This criticism has been thrown in the direction of Arsene Wenger, with many fans frustrated that Arsenal haven’t signed players of a high enough quality, as well as the fact that they haven’t signed them soon enough.
I completely agree that Arsenal have taken far too long to sort out their transfer dealings, Sir Alex Ferguson showed exactly how to deal in the transfer market, getting all of his business out of the way before the start of pre season. I just don’t agree with the fans that are blaming Arsene Wenger for the lack of movement in the transfer market.
After Arsenal found themselves caught up in a bungs scandal back in the 90s, Arsenal’s board made it clear that they would deal in all transfers from then on to help maintain the clubs credibility. The manager would now have the job of telling the board which players he wanted and then the board would do all the negotiating, I believe this is still the case.
In my view Arsene Wenger is doing the best he can for the club, I believe he has limitations that he’s having to work with, which is why he tries so hard to make his own stars. People want Wenger to make ‘big signings’ but what is being forgotten is that Arsenal just can’t compete with the top clubs in the wages department, so it makes it increasingly difficult for Wenger to sign established superstars.
So before any Arsenal fans criticise Arsene Wenger, they should take a moment and think about the good times he’s brought to the club. Wenger won Arsenal three titles within the space of seven seasons, and he gave us the Invincibles in 2004. I hope that this group of fans soon realise it’s the board and not the manager that is the problem.
