Wenger: Trust me in this summer's transfer market

[outlaw_member]

Blowing his trumpet about Vermaelen, although leaving us with two poor goalkeepers and without a direct replacement for an injured van Persie for the majority of the season.

The thing is that most fans were perfectly content with Almunia last season though (he was voted player of the season on Arsenal-Mania by quite some distance, even), and when we were linked to Chamakh last summer not a single poster wanted him except for me and ricky. Hindsight is great, but one or two signings wouldn't have made much difference when we lost so many players to injuries in the end.

There were also many critics of Almunia and for many of us it was more of a resignation that he is what we will have to contend with, as opposed to having real belief that he will become a valuable player. Irrespective of that, whoever did have faith in him were obviously wrong in doing so. Wenger is paid millions to judge the players at his diposal and he horribly misjudged not one, but two of his goalkeepers. Managers don't have the excuse of hindsight, which is why they are paid so much money. Wenger showed great foresight to envisage Vermaelen's impact, but on the other hand he failed to judge Almunia's.

Plus, he well and truly cocked up with Chamakh and the 15 million we saved on him could have been the difference between the league and ending up trophyless. There really aren't any excuses to have been so stingy in that situation when we had sold our first choice striker, and being able to sign the replacement a year later wasn't exactly going to benefit us this season. As Chelsea fans prepare to potentially celebrate their first ever Double, we can all elate in having saved money on Chamakh. Thankfully, Wenger did manage to get some things right but he failed to address certain other problems which ultimately undermined our whole season.

 

[Mastadon]

I would be more concerned about the goalkeeping, defensive and offensive situation than over the midfield. Diaby and Song have improved a lot this season and there is no reason why they won`t continue to improve next season. We need cover in the DM position but not as badly as we need a new goalkeeper, defenders and a striker. Having said that I wish we would sign a proper DM, not just to compete with Song but to play alongside him and Cesc in the midfield.

 

[Raider]

I feel he's not only testing our patience now but a few of the players patience too.

This is his grand Season. Everything should fall into place.

He's been through everything, seen everything and should know how to deal with everything.

Unless we're actually robbed in a final for a real reason, Wenger will have no excuses next season.

Roll on 2010/11....

 

[goonerleila]

I will be seriously dissapointed if Wenger doesn't address the goalkeeping situation at the club. I'll be absolutely livid if we go into the new season without having signed a new #1 and have to deal with another season of Almunia and Fabianski. Please God don't let that be the case!

Also I'm hoping the 1 or 2 players Wenger is saying will go out of the club are not the obvious players who are out of contract such as Gallas, Silvestre,Merida and Senderos. Wishful thinking I know!

 

[Kain]

Opening quote reminds me of that thread the other day where someone mentioned Wenger always makes these comments before season ticket renewals, never thought of that before but it I can see why some would be sceptical.

 

[sabret00the]

Wenger wont do it not because he listens to the fans but because those guys are his personal projects and he wont accept failure.

He's stubborn, that's for sure. But even the fans on here think that Song is the best thing to play in midfield since Fabregas. If you want more defensive cover, it's gotta come at his expense and even if Wenger had the balls to do it, the fans would just get on the back of the replacement for simply not being Song.

 

[patrick42uk]

I feel Song is more reliable than Diaby personally and it should be the latter that makes way. My absolute ideal would be to bring Flamini back or get another Flamini type and play him in there with Song and Cesc.

 

[sabret00the]

If you're talking about defensive duties then Song is clearly your issue, if you're saying that our midfield isn't working enough, then by all means re-frame your argument to talk primarily about Flamini/Diaby/Denilson. However, I feel you was on something with your former argument. Song is lacking, for the same reasons Wenger acknowledged he can't play centre-back plus a couple more. The second midfielder needs to be a footballer who can facilitate our attacking/possession game, rather than being cover for a defective defensive midfielder.

 

[Burnwinter]

Keeper is a side issue. It has become fashionable all of a sudden it seems. Yes Almunia is a plank but even with Buffon our defence will continue to be overworked because we have a midfield incapable of protecting it. I cannot take Wenger seriously if he chooses to do nothing about the midfield.

The thing about keeper being a separate issue is that at least it's something that can (and should) be addressed as doing so won't unbalance anything else.

 

[outlaw_member]

Changing the circumstances with a theoretical "what if" scenario is precisely what people usually mean with having the benefit of Hindsight.

If van Persie and Bendtner's coincident injuries and Almunia and Fabianski's continued poor performances post-January have been two of our biggest issues, both could reasonably have been either planned for in advance or mitigated mid-season.

Prediction, not hindsight.

And with the benefit of (ever more) experience, we can definitely anticipate the likelihood of both factors affecting us again next season if we rely on Robin or either of Almunia and Fabianski.

Exactly Burnwinter, albeit that's a first. You can bet on those players proving to be a hindrance next season for one reason or another and if we fail again because of them, not for the first time we'll have no-one to blame but ourselves.

 

[RammiXP]

This is the usual Wenger Pattern:

First some declaration that he will look to add players.

The a statement that says he want to sign people as soon as possible (ie before a major tournament due to prices rising)

Then he mentions how its tough to compete with Chelsea and Manchester City in the Market

And now we have the next step which is to trust him and that the most important thing is to keep the squad together.

We then will sign our only player of merit (Chamachk).

Then we will sell a stating player im thinking Clichy is gone.

We will then loose a few fringe players on a free and let a few youngsters go on loan for the season.

We will play really well in pre season and Wenger will start to say how the team looks great before the start of the season and we do not need to add but if a good opportunity come up we will do it.

WE then will scrambble on deadline day to try and sign a few player but fail due to a lack of time.

Im bored of our summers its the same **** different year,

 

[Shadow Moses]

More rubbish from Wenger. 5 years running of the same empty promises each summer and some still buy it.

 

[dreamLord]

He never comes out with comments like these before the season - others like 'We have a great squad' 'This team has matured' 'We're looking at some players' etc etc yes, but not 'trust me'. He knows his time is short, i'm actually trusting Wenger to make the correct decisions this time.

 

[goonerleila]

Why shouldn't we buy it? How do you know for sure that he will not seriously make the changes we so desperately need? I'd rather be optimistic that he will than constantly moan that he won't.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

If we are going to give up and call it a day because of injuries, we don't even have to bother about next season, because we WILL have injuries to key players in 2010-11 as well.

No one's said that. At some point it obviously starts to affect the team heavily though.

Changing the circumstances with a theoretical "what if" scenario is precisely what people usually mean with having the benefit of Hindsight.

If van Persie and Bendtner's coincident injuries and Almunia and Fabianski's continued poor performances post-January have been two of our biggest issues, both could reasonably have been either planned for in advance or mitigated mid-season.

Prediction, not hindsight.

It hasn't been just them though, has it, it's been them in combination with everything else. Bendtner has done a good job since he came in. The problem was that we didn't have either him or Robin available between late october and early february, and during the same time we missed at least half a dozen starters for fairly long spells. And since then it's gotten worse. Signing a temporary striker solution in january wouldn't have changed that. It wouldn't have kept Ramsey from breaking his leg, Gallas from missing 3½ months, Cesc from sustaining a hairline fracture to his fibula, Arshavin from pulling hamstrings or Walcott from suffering severe complications and reoccurances of his knee injury. If we had signed a striker who came in and delivered what Bendtner has done we'd all be raving. It's not the issue here. We've got as good squad depth as anyone else and I believe we've shown it loud and clear.

... and as much as people love to say "I told you so", Robin played the entire 08/09 campaign without sustaining any lengthy injuries. Who would honestly have predicted that he'd get his ankle ligaments torn in a heavy challenge? Again, it's the benefit of hindsight.

 

[TheEconomist]

I think going by that interview, hes going to sign some more unknown players, it isnt really a problem, players like TV and sagna have been good for us, It just looks like hes trying to let people down slowly when all the big name signings dont appear

 

[thegame24]

Glad he wants a Vieira, havnt won **** since he left

 

[Wryer]

Don't know what to make of this.

He wants us to "trust" him that he will make the signings necessary that address our current problems (GK, CB), or to "trust" him with his idealistic youth project?

 

[Gooner_Stu]

I trust Wenger in many things, such as Economics and running the club very well. I also trust he will test mine and everyone elses patience in this and any transfer window. Not that I dont believe he will get a job done, its just these things have a habit of dragging on.

That said however, if he wants it done before the World Cup, that probably means he's got a list of sorts and if 1 player is playing hard to get, chances are he'l just chase the next one & so forth. No Nasri/Arshavin saga's this summer i hope. My fear is that noone is going to sell cheap/quickly pre-world cup, as they (other clubs) will wait for the WC to end in the hope it boosts the value of their players.

 

[Burnwinter]

It wouldn't have kept Ramsey from breaking his leg, Gallas from missing 3½ months, Cesc from sustaining a hairline fracture to his fibula, Arshavin from pulling hamstrings or Walcott from suffering severe complications and reoccurances of his knee injury. If we had signed a striker who came in and delivered what Bendtner has done we'd all be raving. It's not the issue here. We've got as good squad depth as anyone else and I believe we've shown it loud and clear.

... and as much as people love to say "I told you so", Robin played the entire 08/09 campaign without sustaining any lengthy injuries. Who would honestly have predicted that he'd get his ankle ligaments torn in a heavy challenge? Again, it's the benefit of hindsight.

Klaus, a moderate and inoffensive position you hold there. But to appreciate our improvement whilst bemoaning our bad luck this season is having it both ways.

The better we would like to believe our season has been, the more Wenger's failures to reinforce are damned. The fact that we were still contending - despite our horror injury run - a couple of weeks ago sums it up. We had a good chance to take it this year if we'd had the will.

The arguments regarding RvP's injury history, the failure to replace Adebayor with a comparable signing (because of Vela's potential :? ), the abandonment of the pursuit of Chamakh over 2m or so, and the failure to act in January after a triple meltdown at keeper are already out there.

I think there's enough in them alone - not to mention other less simplistic issues, such as our persistent problems with defensive organisation - to suggest Wenger has allowed too many avoidable weaknesses to persist during the last twelve months.

He hasn't covered himself in glory by avoiding several opportunities to prepare, predict, invest and be rewarded.