Arsenal: 6 Ways Arsene Wenger Can Make Them Winners Again

2. Go Back To The Old Arsene

We all enjoyed ridiculing Wenger€™s myopia whenever a controversy arose in an Arsenal match (when it involved one of his players as the villain), but there is another facet of Wenger the manager that has changed over the last ten years, and that has been his strategy in the transfer market. While no longer enjoying an unrivalled knowledge of French football from which he signed so many of the €˜invincibles€™, an analysis of Arsenal€™s transfer policy in the first half of Wenger€™s reign contrasts markedly from the second half. The exodus of stars is well known to even the most casual football observer. Overmars, Petit, Vieira, Henry, then Adebayor, Clichy, Toure, Nasri, Fabregas, van Persie. Plenty of money came in to the club, and they have the fantastic Emirates stadium as a result, but the greater cost is now being realised. Examine that list again, and you will see a difference between the first four names and the latter six. Wenger used to sell players when they were right at the peak of their careers and at the very peak of their market value. They still had a few more years in them, but their ability was just about to decline and their value would only decrease. Arsenal certainly missed the likes of Petit, Vieria and Henry, but they got the most out of them and it allowed the next generation to come through (the exception in this period was le infant terrible, Nicolas Anelka, but time has shown that was a pretty smart move as well). The latter six had plenty years at the top and arguably had room for improvement. They were not edging towards thirty, they were entering their mid twenties, and none of them are thinking about leaving the highest level. Then consider the signings Wenger has made. Never the greatest spender (arguably his biggest buys have been his worst), the Frenchman mixed unheard of teenagers with hungry, high quality players how were not yet fully appreciated. Vieira was at AC Milan, Petit had shone for a good Monaco side which had included David Trezequet and a certain Thierry Henry before they had made moves to Juventus. Freddie Ljungberg had impressed for Sweden against England, Mark Overmars won the European Cup with Ajax, Sol Campbell was signed on a bosman from bitter rivals Tottenham, add in Davor Suker, Sylvain Wiltord, Robert Pires, all quality players who were winners previous or represented their country on numerous occasions. Include Anelka, Fabregas, Clichy, Kolo Toure and other youngsters and Arsenal had the right mix of experience, youth, hunger, winners mentality, and ability. Over the last five years that policy has changed. Arsenal€™s recent big name signings have been ones either no one else really wanted or youngsters thrown too soon into the deep end. Some, like Nasri, Santi Cazorla, and Thomas Vermaelen, have been good signings. Others, like Chamakh, Gervinho, Mertesacker, Rosicky, Arshavin, and Arteta to a lesser extent, have their moments but are not up to the standard Arsenal require. Olivier Giroud has impressed after an iffy start, but Lukas Podolski has gone the other way, and even Cazrola and Vermaelen have started to struggle with the burden of carrying this Arsenal side on their shoulders. Youngsters like Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gibbs, Jenkinson and even Jack Wilshere have found themselves stretched. Whereas before they were slowly introduced into a settled and accomplished team, now they are expected to solve the problems their teammates have caused. If Arsenal have £70million in the bank, spend it on top players, winners, and not hyped youngsters who can€™t deliver now, and will eventually move elsewhere for medals. Speaking of which...