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What Does Arsene Know These Days?

Sarah Hayward commends Arsene Wenger on being a brilliant manager, but pleads with him to spend more money on better players.

By Sarah Hayward

19 Aug 2011, 13:30

In the summer of 1999 I was sat in a rented flat in Archway with my Scottish flatmate. An ardent Dundee Utd fan. We were assessing the relative merits of our teams going in to the new season. Arsenal had lost out on every trophy in gut wrenching style the previous season as Fergie marched Man Utd to his historic treble.

Despite the bitterness of Giggs’ goal and the improbability of Man Utd beating Bayern Munich (for those who only remember the result Utd were comprehensively outplayed for at least 86 minutes of that final), I was optimistic for the new season. My dour Scottish flatmate thought I was deluding myself. He contended we hadn’t improved our squad, buying only – as he commented –  “a  mediocre winger, who couldn’t get a game a Juventus”.

That mediocre winger was Thierry Henry and for the next eight years he set Highbury alight. My favourite Henry goal was scored against Utd (of Manchester not Dundee). It sparked the end of a fallow spell. He received the ball on the edge of their box with his back to goal, surrounded by Utd defenders. He controlled the ball, flicked it as he turned turned and fired it in to the opposite top corner – as he received the ball it looked impossible that he’d score. But that’s Thierry Henry. I was sat yards from the bulging net in the North Bank lower. I can still relive that moment like it was yesterday.

I recount that story because today, as I anticipate (with outright terror) our first home game of the new season, I’m not sure which, if any, of this year’s unknown signings have the capacity to be even half as good as Thierry Henry. And I’m not sure what of our existing squad have the capacity to come out of the shadows now Fabregas and Nasri have gone. Wenger’s time has been littered with the little known player who becomes a global footballing superstar. Henry and Fabregas are cases in point. But do I really believe that Jenkinson (playing non-league football for part of last year) or Oxlade-Chamberlain are those players? Is Chamakh ever going to come good?

I’ve not felt this depressed about the beginning of a season ever. Tuesday night’s match against Udinese didn’t calm the nerves either. We won but we were frankly rubbish. If Almunia had been in goal, or any of the Udinese strikers could shoot straight we’d have lost 5-1.

This is uncharted territory for me. I’ve had almost blind faith in Wenger since 1996. His managerial record and trophies speak for themselves. But this weekend we’ve got just four fit defenders, if it’s possible even less midfielders available, and strikers that either can’t score or can’t play. Liverpool, having spent millions over the summer, are the visitors to north London tomorrow lunchtime.

I feel like a traitor to the cause. But I just can’t get my hopes up. Assuming the Nasri deal goes through we’ll have banked £60m this summer. And yet we can only just muster a defensive foursome at the weekend. What happens, if as it did on Tuesday night, two of them get injured. And you can ask the same questions about every bit of the team. What’s going on? Remember when Pires would come of the bench?

I don’t want Arsenal to follow the road of Man City and Chelsea. I’m not interested in billionaire oligarchs using us as a toy. But we’re in an amazing financial position as a football club. And while rightly, we’re not going to pay £250k a week that City are, we do have a pulling power and financial ability that is beyond most top tier clubs in most top leagues in Europe. But it won’t stay if we don’t compete.

So I must implore Arsene Wenger to spend some of that £60m. Spend in on a decent centre half. Spend it on a solid, defensive midfielder - as desperately needed cover for Song. Spend it on a sports psychologist to sort Chamakh out – or just another new striker.
 
And please get some new medical staff.