Max – Can Wenger really change the habit of a lifetime?
Arsenal Flashback- A Sentence Wenger Probably Regrets by Max Baker
It’s the off-season so it’s safe to say there isn’t a lot to do in our free time here at the justarsenal.com corporate headquarters, other than watch Sky Sports News, Google transfer rumors, and look out the windows of our massive 35 storey office building (great place to work by the way).
So while I was mindlessly flipping through every single news story Arsenal.com has ever published I found one article that I had forgotten about and one Arsene Wenger probably wishes he could forget about. It was the infamous story in which he said that there are only ten players on the planet that the club couldn’t afford to sign.
“There are only a few players who have a price which we cannot reach – maybe 10 in the world but, for the rest, we have access to the market,” Wenger said. Now this story is from two summers ago so the prices of players have gone up so I am just going to assume that number has probably risen to somewhere between 20 and 25 but still if we have all this money readily available why isn’t it used and more importantly why did Wenger tell us this? He is often criticized for not spending enough so why in the world would he tell us how much he has available to spend? If I were in his position I would have just lied and said “we have no money to spend that is why I’m not spending, leave me alone.” The whole interview is a moment of absolute madness and sheer stubbornness from the manager and one I simply cannot understand.
So I guess the point of this article is to say that Arsene Wenger has revealed to the world that he has money to spend but time after time has chosen not to spend it. I can only hope that this off-season, one of the most pivotal in Arsenal’s history, he changes his mind and uses some of those available funds.
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I dont think he can.
In arsene we rust.
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thing will change just wait n see
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without a doubt he made a mistake saying that. arsenal will always be a selling club, they make star footballers, they dont buy them!
i also think wenger is somewhat afraid to buy ‘big’. he has failed when doing it in reyes and arshavin, two poor buys in my opinion.
i think we will see another summer of signing ‘unknowns’ and just hope for the best.
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it was published on arsenals official web site that they had £40,000,000 to spend on players this season
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He is so stubborn by the time he realises he has completely screwed up nasri will be at MU cesc at barca and the entire squad will want away. then he might spend some cash and if hese really lucky extend the contracts of bendtner, denilson & spaghetti.
If nasri goes to MU wenger must go.
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i think thats very harsh on wenger. ok so things have come to a crossroads and we need a rethink, but what are manager was tryin to do was admirable and well motivated.
ok so it hasnt worked in terms of bringing trophies to the club, but does that mean wenger should never of tried to build sucsess rather than buy it?
its never been about the money with wenger and it never will be . he tried to achieve great things through commitment and ideals, ethics and principles, and not conform to the money drivern world around him.
everybody needs to take a step back and reflect, from the groundsman to the highest paid player rite through to every fan. theres allot more rite with this club than wrong with it, and a few failings does not erase all the good that comes with it. ok the last few months of the season where really poor, but does that mean we all imagined the first six months of the season when we was the best team in england and second in europe to barca. we was in contention on all four fronts long after everybody else and this didnt happen by luck or chance!
let fab go, keep nasri by meeting him half way on the wages, letting him have fabs central role and bringing in a few big names. unleash walcott through the middle to support and cover for vp, bring in another provern goalscorer to take the pressure of all the strikers. Bring in a samba like rock at the back to partner tv5 and bang some heads, also a parker type midfielder to add experience, grit and ofcourse knowledge of the game especially the prem. dispose of underperforming fringe players and promote promising youngsters that have earned a crack like landsbury, also trim wages of players that have not broke the first team or bench reguarly. finally ensteal a sense of responsibility and and accountability through the squad. do this by dicsipline and reward in the rite measures. wenger needs to stop being daddy to these players and start being thier boss again.
And finaly we need to back of this team and give them space. this team is always under so much pressure i think they just need room to figure this one out for themselves. i think the youngsters like ramsey wilshere, shezeny and landsbury are the future, and when the fabs and nasris of the team finally piss off, a solid and quality young team with the rite attitude will emerge from the ashes.
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@TOBY Thank god to know there are still fans like you my friend, WELL SAID!!
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Wenger out!!!!!!!! You stupid arsenal fans!!! Are u still gonna want him in another 6 years still not won nothing! And a half empty emirates… Cos that’s want gonna happen… Arsenal season ticket holder for 11 years but not anymore!!!!!!! Money making c-mrs!!!! Can’t even hold on to our plater let alone sign one!!!!!
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He ain’t buying nobody!!!!!!! Are u thick mate!!!!!!!!! Wake up!! He will buy one central defender and that’s it!!!!! Lol and loose cest, and prob nasri! And will replace only one of then with an average player!!!!!!!!!!! ‘ where has our arsenal gone’.Com
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@Johnny I didn’t say he would mate I just said I hope he does
@Toby Excelent point
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Yes bring back our Arsenal. No more European football thankyou very much and i don’t want to be entertained, i want to see games decided by a single goal. Also give away that Emirates stadium or at least remove half of the seats. I want a cosy little stadium with a small restrictive pitch bringing in a handfull of revenue every year so we can barely afford to pay off the running costs let alone buy any players. Bring back those days when there was almost no chance of seeing an Arsenal youth player ever stay at the club past his 21st birthday and when he would probably end up playing in the third tier of English football or below. Oh for those days again. Some of you really haven’t got a clue have you.
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WENGER SHOULD LEAVE. WHY HAS HE NOT MADE THE KEY SIGNING THE CLUB DESPERATELY NEEDS. WHAT IS HE WAITING FOR. THERE ARE NO BARGAINS FOR SEASONED EPL CAMPAIGNERS THAT THE CLUB NEEDS. HE SHOULD KNOW THAT BY NOW, BUT THEN, HE IS A POOR STUDENT JUDGING BY HIS ABILITY TO REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKES EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS, HENCE SIX TROPHYLESS YEARS. THIS MAN NEVER LEARNS OR MAYBE, BASED ON WHAT TONY ADAMS SAID, IS SIMPLY A BAD COACH WHO SHOULD BE RELIEVED OF HIS DUTIES IMMEDIATELY
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I’m just surprised reading comments about building success from a loyal young team. Isn’t the evidence clear enough beyond any doubt? Nasri wants out, Cesc wants out, Clichy wants out. Even Denilson wants out. Wilshere said it’d be 100% disaster if we don’t win next season. It means he will be out as well.
What loyal team is there if we don’t win anything? The players are professionals. It’s a short career and nothing matters more to them than medals. They simply move on. If you guys still dream about such a team, dream on.
Barca have such a team because they keep winning. Arsenal don’t have, because we don’t win. That’s the fact. Arsene Wenger won’t last more than one season at either Barca or Real Madrid because he doesn’t win. He’ll be sacked. That’s for sure.
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Wenger’s attempt to buy Phil Jones for 16M has confirmed my worst suspicions and leaves me with little hope for Arsenal success in the upcoming season.
How does a 19 year old, 5′ 11″, CB with 1 year EPL experience qualify as being an instant defensive upgrade and adding height to the squad? 16M? Frugal?
Will this be Wenger’s reprisal of ground hog day when he totally lost his team at Monaco and ended up 9th in Lique 1 with a pink slip for his efforts and extra cash to board the plane for his long flight to Grampus.
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@Jim. If he managed Real Madrid he’d deserve to be sacked because he’d have spent 100m of the owners’ money. If he managed Barcelona he’d already have a winning team created before he arrived as Guardiola had. I agree that he should’ve spent more and he obviously won’t this year because all these clever people on this blog have told us that he won’t but just in case these clever people don’t know what they’re talking about i’ll wait until August. As for Tony Adams commenting on how Wenger manages those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Legendary player but abysmal manager so he’s not a person to listen to regarding management.
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Yawwwwn. Idiots making assumptions before the transfer season has hardly begun. You know what assuming does, makes an ASS OUT OF U AND ME. Less me and more you in this case. As for the bloke who said he’d be sacked at Barcelona or Real well of course he would. Real have an annual transfer fund of 100m and Barcelona already had the makings of the best team in the world when Guardiola arrived. He should’ve spent more than he has in the last few years but you can see why he didn’t. For the first half of the season it looked like the team might have a very successful season. He overrated his squad but not by much.
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Wenger is at fault for every damn thing including the weather as well in london isnt it?? He has made mistakes but who hasnt?? So should we have paid say 20 million like pool did to henderson or 16 to jones like manu have??? In the same breath we also are critical of paying so much to an unknown blackburn defender who has had just one good season.Arsenal do not have it in them now to attract big name players, simply because the so called big name players do not want to come to a team where there is no big bucks, no flashy lifestyle etc.So before we blame wenger remember the way our football club has been built and its values. We may have the money but we definitely dont have as much as say a chelsea, barca, madrid, manu or city has. All of us want us to be as competitive as them but you got to remember our circumstances. With limited budget, wenger has managed to keep us in the top 4 throughout his tenure, but for the element of luck, we would have won atleast a couple of trophies in the last 7 years to, so stop blaming him for everything and have a reality check.
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read wengers book written about eight years ago,and see how he’s changed.and not for the better.
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The guy expected more from his team than they were able to produce and now he realises that he has been let down and he is ready to make a shake-up but many fans have run out of patience. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and now i’m sure he realises that he should’ve replaced certain players earlier. He has accepted blame for that and will make big signings this summer. I’m convinced that most people who want him sacked have started supporting the club since 1996 and don’t know the club without Arsene. You say the club is bigger than one man but that mans’ vision is what made you support the club in the first place so that, my friends, is hypocrisy.
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Wenger is a philosopher and as is the case with most philosophies it doesn`t pan out in practice. Theory and facts are worlds apart so you have to mix `em up a bit and that`s where Wenger`s stubborness came in, he didn`t know when to admit to himself the theory was flawed. Let`s face it he nearly pulled it off but the mix was wrong. I`m of the opinion he`s swallowing pride like golf balls and if he doesn`t choke he could well surprise us all.
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I SAY GOOD LOOK TO FABREGAS AND NASRI,I DO HOPE THEY MOVE
ON TO BETTER CLUBS,BECAUSE THERE BOTH TO GOOD FOR ARSENAL,
AND THE PROBLEMS ARSENAL HAVE GOT AT THE MOMENT,HAVE BEEN
BROUGHT ON BY”ARSENE PLONKER”AND IF HE’S NOT CAREFULL THERE
WILL BE MORE PLAYERS WANTING A MOVE,IF OUR SO CALLED
MANAGER HAD DONE WHAT 60,000 SUPPORTERS WANTED HIM TO DO
TWO SEASONS AGO HE WOULD’NT BE IN THIS MESS NOW,IT WAS
SIMPLE,”A FIRST CLASS GOALKEEPER,CENTRAL DEFENDER,AND STRIKER”,IF HE HAD GOT RID OF HALF A DOZEN CRAP PLAYERS THAT HE HAD BROUGHT IN IT WOULD HAVE PAID FOR HALF OF THEM,
BUT NO THE STUBBORN PROFESSOR WOULDN’T BUDGE,I DO HOPE OUR
BOARD OF DIRECTORS CAN SEE HIS MISTAKES,AND PAY HIM OFF.
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@Charlie
You are an optimist. Nothing wrong with that. We’re just realists. That’s all. We’ve been let down every summer transfer window and every January transfer window – for 6 consecutive years (My hair was dark 6 years ago and now is turning grey). All facts, no assumptions there.
Of course, we’ll be more than happy to be proven wrong, come August. Either I will be a born-again optimist, or you will become a realist like us. But I’m not sure you will though, if it turns out not as you expected.
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Football has evolved;clubs now earn more revenue,and players are now more expensive compared to last decade.Other clubs have embraced and adapted well to the new trend,but Wenger is still living in the last decade where players hardly cost more than 20 million pounds!Change is the most constant thing in the world and change has happened in football,so why is Wenger stuck in the past?Somebody should please wake Wenger up from the last decade and tell him this is the 21st century! This philosophy of Wenger will never win trophies in any top league;its a philosophy that will get young good talents(not outstanding ones as they will be out of his price range).Unfortunately,there is no guarantee that a good young talent will blossom to a world class player.Denilson,Bendtner,Alliadiere,Jeffers,Reyes,Eboue,Senderos,e.t.c sum this all up.While wenger has nurtured many young talents to stardom,he has also failed to buy good players in positions where his young talents are not performing well.I think Wenger should understand that there is no top league winning team that has the club record signing of Arsenal which is 17 million(Reyes).Wenger should point to any good team in the world winning with his style;there is none.With wenger’s style,we will always get average players and young talents that are not certain to become stars(e.g Gibbs,Traore,Vela,etc),while losing our best players yearly due to lack of trophies as trophies are the most important things to footballers not the loyalty bullshit wenger is preaching.Its true that buying proven players too is not a guarantee;but there is a far greater chance of success when one buys proven players.I repeat,Wenger’s method is a recipe for failure(in terms of trophies not business)!
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the board is gonna sell all our good players over the summer and Wengers just gonna take all the flack for it cos that’s why they pay him the big bucks
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@ STEVE and XX you are both clearly spuds with a brain capacity of a potato. you are not real arsenal fans, you are fat greedy idiots with grease running down your spotty chins, unable to comprehend what the great arsene has done for our beautiful club, YOU WILL REALISE ONE DAY, AND WILL BE TOO ASHAMED TO ADMIT YOUR REACTIONARY IGNORANT VIEWS, AND WILL HIDE BEHIND LIES PRETENDING YOU NEVER LOST FAITH IN OUR TEAM! Wenger is a genius(all who have flaws) and if we let him go would be at barca, real or ac milan within a year fact. MADRID KNOW THAT THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN GET NEAR TO BARCA, IS TO GET WENGER HENCE THE NUMEROUS APPROACHES FOR HIM IN 2010. SO BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. IM ENGLISH, but it is no wonder we are so behind the rest of the world in terms of football technique if we have peeps like STEVE and XX shouting there mouths off, nuff said, love guns love wenger!!
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We already hear rumours of gervinho as a signing but I’m not convinced this is the tonic gooners need. I think names like Cahill and schwartzer would probably settle arsenal supporters nerves a little more; people who have been tried and tested in the PL. No doubt we need another goal scorer but I’m not convinced you can cut corners on the price tag of top quality strikers (£10m gervinho) I Only hope I’m wrong but it does seem like Benzema was a non starter which would have been a real move in the right direction but what do we really expect now from arsene?
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It’s over. Wenger cannot keep his best players happy and can no longer recruit. “You will see that I am right”.
Toby, LittleWilly, wenger will be gone in less than one year.
CaribKid, correct.
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Man City spent over 120million and manage to score a goal worth 120million in the FA Cup. This is a sign that it is not all about money. Some years ago, Real was winning why Barca built, today Real is struggling because the gap is huge.
Another insult in EPL, the best team was utterly disgraced by the best of SPAIN. The ended season just revealed the number of badluck, bad refrees, etc experienced by Arsenal. I have hope and I know just some little top up, a consistent goal scorrer not hitting the bar all the time will make us the real champions. It is not all about money
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Much more than 10 footballers he wont buy!!!!
The players he buy are cheap teenagers, free transfers, cheap old and crappy players, and French!!!!! he has special place in his heart for French players. This stupid stubborn stingy man dont do jack this summer as well like last 6 summers. As long as he is in Arsenal he is like this, like or not!!! Bring big banners in Emirate and loudly demand his sacking that is the way to get rid of him for good. He destroyed Arsenal, and the hopes of the fans.
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@ezat you clearly know nothing about football, luckily if you did bring a banner you would most likely get it taken off you and put somewhere you wouldnt like. to say he has riuned arsenal is one of the most ABSURD statements i have ever heard, they have the 5th Highest turnover off any club in the world and are the only one making a profit, all you doubters will regret what you have said about wenger either in the future when he takes arsenal to glory, or in the future when he leads another major cub to sucsess. and if he moved to madrid he would spend, as he is to old to build another team. you lose arsene you lose arsenal
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I have seen many comments about Wenger, many accusing him of not coughing money to buy experienced prayers. Do you guys realize that Wenger is an employee of Arsenal. Some decisions have to be approved by he owners. Whereas I am also of the opinion that Arsenal needs to buy good experienced players, we should not exclusively blame Wenger, but the club owners as well.
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Ooh I meant players, but not prayers, while commenting over there
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