Whos stronger now than when it all begun?

I often wonder what the point is, why do we get so excited about ‘Transfer deadline day’. Sky have done very well in marketing it as a huge event for the football calendar. But is it really? Gone are the days where teams panic buy, chairman are fed up of gambling their money on players who move from club to club. After all which team is really that much stronger today than they were on December the 31^st?

Chelsea have swapped one winger for another, Man U have signed a backup keeper and Spurs brought in and then loaned back out a hot prospect. Even the usual big players in transfer deadline day did little to live up to their reputation. Redknapp went into meltdown as his only signing is an unfit striker who he then tried to send back and Liverpool didn’t budge.

Call me old fashioned but isn’t it time we stopped the hype and looked at the facts will this January transfer impact the end result that significantly, and if it doesn’t then what’s the point?

You could argue that City are stronger by bringing in a proven Premier League goal scorer, but he won’t be available till the middle of January and although he doesn’t have to settle into the pace of the league he will still have to adapt to the way City play. Arsenal finally bit the bullet and signed a centre half who let’s be frank half of us had never heard of, he has never played for Brazil (who’s defence is their weakest aspect) and he hardly comes across as the powerful dominating force they needed. Will he even play regularly?

At the other end of the table I must doth my cap to Pardew and the instant impact he has had at Palace but did he need to sign 2 strikers and 2 wingers plus central midfielders? Surly they can’t all play in the same team as well as the players he already has there. For instance I really like Lee Chung-yong but will he play in front of Zaha, Bolasie or Puncheon. Some of these are clearly panic buys.

Pulis will keep West Brom up and adding experience in Fletcher will help as well as the pacey winger McManaman. Then next season when they are clearly safe the naive Baggies will demand a more attractive style of football and off he will go to take over at Hull who sit 2^nd from bottom. Finally Sunderland beat off a lot of competition to sign Defoe who could help them avoid relegation, but they probably would have anyway.

So what I am saying is the January transfer window has shut once again but was it really worth opening? Will it really make any difference?

I doubt it. 

Wasteful Wenger

There are many reasons why Koscielny’s goal against a stubborn Newcastle could be the catalyst for much needed changed at Arsenal Football Club. There can be no denying that during Wenger’s 16 years in charge he has had some fantastic sides who have played beautiful football, but that is no longer the case. Even the most hardened of Arsenal fans would struggle to argue the fact that coming 4^th and going 8 years without a trophy is not course for concern and as for beautiful football some of what we have had to watch this season has resembled the style Chelsea used to employ with long balls up to Giroud and quick wingers around him. They no longer play beautiful football regularly and they no longer dominate sides and frankly too many of their players couldn’t play beautiful football if they tried.

What differences does finishing 4th this season, and gaining a place in the Champions League, has to the previous 16 years of doing exactly the same? Of course just like any other Champions League side you expect to attract better players, something a side like Liverpool have struggled to do since losing out on the top 4 places (Suarez aside), but it’s not like Arsenal haven’t always qualified for the Champions League and yet in recent times they haven’t managed to bring in top players. If reports are to be believed this year could be different, with sums such as ’70 million to spend’ being bandied about Wenger might finally dig into his pocket and make some significant signings.

I’m not writing this to suggest Wenger isn’t a great manager, he built a fantastic side ‘The Invincibles’, that should have been a foundation to continue to develop and bring in some world class players. He failed to do that and the club has suffered, with teams such as Chelsea and City spending millions of pounds and United always looking to progress Arsenal now find themselves exactly where they belong, fighting for 4^th place. Every year it seems he suggest his ‘young’ side need time to develop, well Wenger you have had 8 years to develop that young side and they did develop nicely for other clubs. He has been manager of Arsenal for 16 years and exactly half of them where fantastic the second half however has been pretty forgetful. The scenes on the final game where almost cringe worthy and although I tend not to agree with him to often Piers Morgan was bang on with his views that a club like Arsenal should not get the Champaign out just for coming 4^th in the Premier League. This once great footballing side have to resort to the last day to get in the Champions League not to win the Premier League.

Wenger was wasteful because he didn’t build on his success and he has been more wasteful with the money he has spent in the transfer market. He has done wonderful things bringing through some very talented youth players and making them into world class footballers, he has a keen eye for a bargain that has never changed. Players like Henry, Viera and in the current squad Arteta have all come in for relatively small prices and have performed amazingly and of course there are many other examples of bargain players. You could also argue that players he has invested in often are sold on for profit, especially with Man City’s obsession with buying Arsenal players Toure, Adebayor, Clichy and Nasri have all gone north for good profits. This is all very good but when it comes down to it and Wenger in pushed into spending top money he never seems to deliver the right players.

As far back as Reyes (20 millions), Arshavin (16.5 million) to Chamakh, Podolski and Gervinho. All of these players cost a lot of money came with a lot of expectation and as far as I can see failed to deliver. He has never properly replaced Seaman in goal, the famous back line is no longer that famous and the powerful midfield of Viera and Gilberto is much more lightweight. Henry went Van Persie stepped up he soon went to try and challenge for titles (similar to many other who went) and Wenger opted to buy a relatively cheap replacement more in hope than expectation. Imagine now an Arsenal side with the players who he has let go in their starting line-up, we wouldn’t be having a discussion about 4^th we would surely be talking about titles.

So he has let very good players leave and never really replaced them, often gambling on a bargain buy that doesn’t quite work or investing heavily in a player that performs well as and when he feels like it. If I owned Arsenal and I had 70 million pounds to spend I would hold onto that money, wait a year until Wenger leaves and then allow the new manager the chance to build a team he wants. There is no point allowing Wenger to invest in overpriced average players (such as Podolski) only for a new manager to have to attempt to offload them. You never know perhaps they will get a man in with a better track record in the transfer market!

Wenger is Wasteful because he wasted the chance to build on some amazing teams, he wasted the talent he and nurtured by allowing them to leave and more poignantly he wastes money when he does attempt to spend big. From where I’m sat that makes him a very wasteful man.