Arsenal should only celebrate if Wenger spends in the summer

Let's get this out of the way first - I am a Tottenham supporter, so it is very hard for me to watch Arsenal players, coaches and supporters celebrate, especially when it comes at the cost of my own club.

But a thought did occur when I watched the scenes at full time at St James' Park on Match of the Day - just why were Arsenal celebrating so much? Sure, those of us at White Hart Lane would have 'gone f-ing mental' had we snatched fourth place and the chance to test our nerves again in a Champions League play-off, but then again Tottenham have only qualified for Europe's premier competition once (in it's current form). For Arsenal, it is almost a given.


To explain my point, consider the Aston Villa fans when they found out they would be safe - should they celebrate as if they had won the title? No, because a team the size and quality of Aston Villa should not secure Premier League safety with just one game to spare. Relief, naturally, tons of it, but celebration?

Of course, the margins for finishing in the Top 4 are a lot smaller than finishing in the Top 17, but the reaction on Sunday evening in Newcastle continues the worrying trend at Arsenal over the last five years or so. Ambitions continue to slip, to a point where locking in that fourth place finish on the final day is nor a massive achievement.

Now, if it means Arsene Wenger can stop operating in the relative bargain bin of the big teams' transfer market, stops signing one season wonders from France (Olivier Giroud), recently relegated Bundesliga players (Lukas Podolski), inconsistent hair transplant victims (Gervinho), and Sebastien Squillaci, then it would be a cause for celebration. If Arsenal can move on from a collective of young players struggling to meet the hype, established internationals and European stars who cannot establish themselves in the Gunners starting XI, and one or two genuinely world class players, to a side resembling the early Wenger teams, aligning break neck pace with a winning mentality and a rock solid defence, then the finale to the 2012-13 season will be remembered as the moment that re-launched Arsenal Football Club.

I admire the way Wenger has managed to run Arsenal economically and prudently, especially since the building of the Emirates. The stick he gets for an unwillingness to spend money the club doesn't have is ridiculous, however not enough is made of the many he has spent. 17 years in the Champions League and the team has changed from van Persie, Fabregas, Nasri and Toure to Giroud, Ramsey, Cazorla and Mertesacker. The star players shine less brightly than their predecessors, while those around them are of a much lower standard. Arsenal used to have young prodigies bristling for the chance to play, whereas now Wenger has players sat on the bench who he would rather not have to rely on.

This summer we can expect big spending from Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea as they prop up new managers. Liverpool will hope to continue their good form from the first half of 2013, although the likelihood is Everton will suffer in the wake of David Moyes' departure. Arsenal and Tottenham will be going head to head, and whoever has the better summer transfer window is likely to come out on top next season. Both teams could do with a new lead striker, while Arsenal lack fortitude in midfield and Spurs lack a playmaker. At the back Totttenham will be happier with their lot, while rumours persist over the Gunners' No.1 spot.

What gets me is that while the likes of Villas-Boas and Brendan Rodgers look up, Wenger is more worried about what is below. The Top 4 as a trophy did not sit well with ordinary football fans, and while it is a sign of the evolution of modern day football it also demonstrates a worrying attitude from Wenger. Nobody believed him when he said at the beginning of the season that Arsenal were title contenders, and most alarmingly of all was that you did not feel Wenger really believed it either.

It is apparent that Wenger is caught between a rock and a hard place - set targets too high and they will be dismissed out of hand, set them too low and there is a chance the club becomes complacent. However, it is better to fail aiming high than fail aiming low.

Wenger himself needs to demand more from his players, who might not cost the top amount in transfer fees but certainly take home big wages (even by your average Premiership players' standard, and some Arsenal players are very average cough Bendtner cough) but the Frenchman also needs to sharpen up his act in the transfer market. Newcastle signed Moussa Sissoko, a rampaging, physical box to box midfielder, for around £3million with agent fees, where were Arsenal? Tottenham signed Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen, two players who would have loved to have joined Arsenal by all accounts, but Wenger said no. Why? Blind loyalty? Or has the ex-Monaco boss started to doubt himself and worry a little too much about what might happen if the transfer doesn't work out, rather than what will happen if the transfer succeeds?

The one ace in the hole that Arsenal have, especially over their North London rivals, is they have the new stadium already. Other teams will have to restrain their budgets to pay for a bigger capacity, however the Financial Fair Play rules may turn that Ace into a Jack or ten. Still, if Wenger is gambling that everyone else will be penny pinching and Arsenal can take advantage of their financial planning, I fear he is massively mistaken.

So this it, a crucial summer that will either make those last day celebrations to start with more to come, or the final hurrah as the club continues to slowly slip away from the top.

Today's Quickie - Old Man Wenger needs to become Grumpy

"I cannot fault the effort of our team, I believe we gave it absolutely everything for 120 minutes."

So said Arsene Wenger after his side's Capital One Cup exit to League Two Bradford City on penalties on Tuesday night.

If this had been the Arsenal of old you would have thought Wenger had put out a team of inexperienced youngsters who disappointingly lost. When the likes of Fabregas, Walcott and Alex Song have used the competition as a step in their development the hope would be that even the youngsters would be able to compete with the workmen of the fourth division. However, Wenger put out a side that was almost the strongest he could. For a side of internationals earning millions, to give everything and still be outfought by a team whose weekly wage budget is a quarter of what Theo Walcott is asking a week, is shameful.

They are not being helped by their manager taking all the pressure of them. There were raised voices in the dressing room but after some of the performances recently it's clear that a bit of a bollocking is not having the desired effect. Wenger needs to call out his team in public - it is the only way to rid the side of the malaise they constantly find themselves in.

As I wrote here, Wenger's lack of ambition is a root cause of Arsenal's current woes. Another reason for the Gunners troubles has been Wenger's detached behaviour. Once known for his prickly press interviews after the classic Arsenal-Man Utd games, his myopia whenever a decision went against his side, and his willingness to engage in mind games, albeit with a laid back attitude, Wenger now appears tired of such events.

As his side has lost aggression so has Wenger. He looks old, weary, and the growing discontent from the terraces has only added to his woes.

Wenger has become too nice, and unfortunately in the modern footballing world 'nice' is no use. Whether motivating the team or yourself, battles need to picked, wars need to be fought, in the mind if not on the pitch, and right now Wenger looks an ageing general who no longer has fire in his heart.

In his old age Wenger has become placid, an affable wine drinker rather than a bitter old drunk. Perhaps if he became a Grumpy Old Man his Arsenal side would have more success.

6 ways Wenger can make Arsenal winners again

 Tuesday’s 2-1 loss away to Olympiakos might have felt like another nail in Arsene Wenger’s coffin, but in the grand scheme of things a hugely changed side lost little in Greece. There are plenty of reasons for hope, if not happiness, for Arsenal fans, but it will need some tweaking, some new tricks and a return to an old one for Arsene Wenger if the side from the Emirates is to return to challenging and then winning trophies.

According to reports, Wenger has around £70million to spend and Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis says it is solely down to the manager how he spends it. With that in mind, and without being unrealistic (there will be no chance of Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov resolving their differences yet), we offer 6 ways Wenger can take Arsenal back to the top.

1.       1. Get a Plan B

Arsene Wenger is a fantastic developer of talent. He can nurture a young player and turn their potential into world class ability. However, tactically he is not the most enigmatic. He started with a 4-4-2 when Arsenal were still at Higbury, switched to a 4-2-3-1 when Thierry Henry left, and since then has stuck with that formation.

There has been no invention. Nearly all his changes this season have been like for like and while they say the hardest thing is to change a winning team, when you are not winning the easiest thing is to switch players and switch tactics. Wenger prefers not to.

Arsenal used to be criticised for passing, passing, passing, dropping points whenever they came up against an organised team that put men behind the ball. With so little flexibility in their other tactics aside from passing (a front man with two wide forwards, ball playing central midfielders, advanced full backs that offer the width, for example) all teams need to do is find one way of beating them and Wenger has no in game changes to combat it. Last weekend’s game against Swansea was a prime example – although Michu’s two goals came late, the team from Wales had dominated in terms of chances from the start. A better tactician would have evaluated Arsenal’s problems and made in-game changes accordingly.

There are some gaping holes in the red and white squad, but they do have players who could play in a different system – indeed these players have actively voiced their preference for change. Both Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski have pleaded to be played in a central birth, and alongside the improving Olivier Giroud they could give more options higher up the pitch, causing more problems for the opposition and making Arsenal less predictable.

2.     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...

3.     3. Stop being a stepping stone

If Wenger has £70million to spend, or whatever, he should spend all of it. Soon. Arsenal need to send out a statement that they are a club aiming for the top, not a team trying to halt a slow slide to the bottom.

Wenger himself has to take a lot of the blame for Arsenal’s diminishing status in the eyes of the footballing world. Players no longer join to win leagues and trophies, they join to improve their game, perhaps experience the Champions League for the first time, and enjoy good wages that English football has to offer. If they make a good impression then great, maybe they can get even more money with a few medals chucked in at their next club.

The talk around Ashburton Grove is not about challenging for titles anymore, not really. It is about qualifying for the all important Champions League. Arsenal have managed to do that on 16 consecutive occasions but as their ambitions slip from winning, challenging, competing, to simply qualifying, the danger is a bad result here or a bit of bad luck there and now they are not even top 4 anymore, and the whole Emirates edifice comes crashing down.

Of course, it would be foolhardy for Wenger to suddenly claim they can win the Premiership now, but the downgrade of their aims has been a slow and steady process and at some point they need to reverse the rhetoric. A couple of stellar names, players who make supporters go ‘wow’, would really do the trick and change the negative atmosphere around the club at the moment.

A good start might be Klass-Jan Huntelaar, but more will need to come, including....

4.     4. Where is the midfield destroyer?

Petit, Vieira, Gilberto Silva, Flamini, Song. All players who got stuck in. Not afraid to do the dirty stuff. Win the ball. Shield the defence. Carry the water. However you want to put it, it’s clear that Mikel Arteta, for all his ability, is no ball winner and certainly not a physical presence. Jack Wilshere will get stuck in once he has a few more games under his belt, but the rest of the midfield looks flimsy, and undoubtedly adds extra pressure on to a fallible defence.

As mentioned before, Wenger was once well known for not seeing the various indiscretions of his players on the pitch and Arsenal racked up 68 red cards between September 1996 and March 2007 – over 6 a year on average. Over the next 3 years they picked up 12 (4 a year), including six in the Premiership in 2010/11, three last season, and one this season and in 2009/10 (Premier League only). This despite more challenges being deemed worthy of a red card over the last five years, with one footed lunges joining the two footed variety in earning a straight red.

Arsenal need more bite across their team, they need to press more, put more tackles in, and generally have more physical presence on the pitch. Opposition teams feel they can bully Arsenal off the pitch, not with fouls and kicks (although that does happen) but just by being stronger.

5.       5. Get rid of the deadwood

According to transferleague.co.uk Arsenal used to sell a lot more players than they bought, nearly twice as many from 2002 to 2007. This season being an exception (although we’ve addressed the need to bring in more players), Arsenal have bought and sold on a largely even basis in terms of numbers, but this is not by design.

Marouane Chamakh, Nicklas Bendtner, Ju-Young Park, Denilson, Andrey Arshavin, Sebastien Squillaci and Andre Santos could all be employed elsewhere is anybody had wanted them. The merits of Lukasz Fabianski, injury prone Abou Diaby, and the inconsistent Tomas Rosicky could also be questioned, while Bacary Sagna and Theo Walcott’s futures are uncertain.

That is a lot of talent that is either not required or whose future needs deciding on, and while they remain they only serve to cloud Wenger’s thinking.

There was a time when the manager would have ruthlessly culled those who were not good enough, safe in the knowledge that he had the quality within the squad or players lined up to come in that would enhance the team. Now, with problems mounting and no clear and simple solution in sight, Wenger is stuck relying on players he knows are not good enough.

6    6.  It’s okay to ask for help

Whether it be a new coach with fresh ideas, or an active director or chief executive to help Wenger in the transfer market, the ex-Monaco manager needs a little help.

He has carried Arsenal football club through some great times, into a new stadium, and his only hope seems to be that the financial fair play rules will hurt all the other clubs, leaving his team standing at the summit. Personally I cannot see this happening, the FFP will be a battle between accountants and lawyers, and as the Etihad sponsorship of Manchester City has shown the rules can be not so much bent, as smashed to a pulp.

The absence of a David Dein-like figure has coincided spectacularly with an absence of silverware in the Arsenal trophy cabinet, and while Ivan Gazidis talks a good game and seems a respectable man, he does not give the appearance of having the cunning, knowledge or skill of Dein. If nothing else, Dein helped lift some of the weight from Wenger’s shoulders. Wenger looks increasingly tired and exhausted, and it would be no shame asking for help in running the football club.

By following even one of those suggestions Wenger will get Arsenal performing a lot better and help return the club to where it once was. Can you think of anything else Wenger could do?

Pressure on Dalglish after Comolli Resignation

"Once I made the choice who I wanted, Damien went away and did a fantastic job of bringing them in..."

With that statement Kenny Dalglish has accepted full responsibility for Liverpool Football Club, and most significantly the signings made during his tenure. Given their performances this season, that is a huge burden Dalglish has heaped on his own shoulders.

Damien Comolli is a mystery wrapped up in an enigma, covered in marmite. Some people love him for his forays into the European market, some hate him for the eye bulging amounts spent on distinctly average players, but apart from a handful of people at Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool, nobody knows what he actually did.

At Arsenal he was little more than their scout in France. At Spurs he claims credit for bringing in Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon, and Luka Modric, but unsurprisingly makes no mention of the £15million David Bentley, the £16.5million Darren Bent, the £8.2million Didier Zokora or £13.5million Roman Pavlyuchenko. His record at Liverpool is equally inconsistent - Luis Suarez and Luis Enrique have been their stronger performers; Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and most notably Andy Carroll have failed to get anywhere near matching their transfer fees.

All in all, Comolli's year and a half at Liverpool provided Dalglish with the perfect cover, and nobody would have doubted him if the Scot excused the millions splashed out on Carroll et al by blaming Comolli. The 'Director of Football' is a misunderstood title in Britain and Comolli's record hardly shouts value for money. Comolli's departure could have strengthened Dalglish's hand when it comes to funds for the summer.

Of course, it could be argued that Dalglish is actually being very astute, for now, and in time his views will change. At this moment in time, slagging off Comolli would be to slag off the men above Dalglish - John W. Henry and Tom Werner. Comolli was their man, the embodiment of the Moneyball philosophy they wanted to import into football. Insult Comolli, insult Moneyball, insult Henry and Werner, and while Dalglish is an Anfield legend and has the league cup in the trophy room, results in the league and the fall out from the Suarez affair have left relations between board and manager a touch strained. Dalglish would not gain anything by challenging his employers.

With great power comes great responsibility and either through action or inaction over the summer Dalglish will be the sole person to be judged. Liverpool need to show a marked upturn in their performances and results, and if those multi-million pound Brits fail to prove value for money, Dalglish will have to face the music alone.

It's refreshing to see a manager to take responsibility, something which Dalglish has not always done this season, but it may turn out to be a very foolish move. Dalglish's decisions in the summer need to be spot on.

Managers' Decisions Changed Arsenal - Barca Game

A great game for the neutral. Entertaining, attacking football that produced chances, errors, moments of brilliant, and set up the second leg perfectly. But when you look a little closer, the match hinged on the changes made by the managers.

Arsenal had their chances in the first half but they were counters presented by Barcelona's attacking football. When the full backs become auxillary wingers you can, when the opportunity presents itself, cause panic in their defence if you counter attack with pace. Indeed, with better decision making, Arsenal may have scored in the first half. However Pep Guardiola's men created several excellent chances and arguably should have scored more than David Villa's goal.

The side from the Emirates tried to press high up the pitch but Jack Wilshere and Song sat too deep. There is nothing more fruitless and exhausting than breaking your balls to press a centre back or defensive midfielder only for him to make a simple pass to a free team mate. The Spanish side make this look easier than it is, but with Arsenal trying to push up but their central midfielders too deep, Barca could get in dangerous positions and then slide someone in behind, as they did on several occasions in the first half.

Second half Arsene Wenger's side pushed Wilshere alongside Cesc Fabregas and Arsenal's pressing game became much more effective. Wilshere was getting much more involved in the game (personally I thought he was anonymous in the first half and caught in possession too much) and also much further forward.

Then, with the game very even, Guardiola made an ultimately horrendous decision. Seydou Keita came on for David Villa. Villa had been very dangerous in the build up as well as a goal threat. If Messi had squared the ball on a couple of occasions Villa would have six yard tap ins. In fact, out of the two the Argentian was the one having a poor game - his dribbling often slowed down moves, he ran into crowds and his finishing was wayward.

With Iniesta pushed forward, Wenger made his next decisive move - taking off the liability that was Alexandre Song and putting on Arshavin, pushing Nasri inside with Wilshere. With greater cutting edge going forward Arsenal turned the screw and got the goal their increasingly better play deserved.

Barcelona lost shape, found it difficult to get their passing game working, and Arsenal grew in strength. The Spanish champions were not poor by any means, which makes Arsenal's victory more worthy, and the away goal is key, but Wenger has certainly sharpened up his game plan to beat 'the greatest side in the modern eara'.

It's a great achievement to beat Barcelona anywhere, but will they be able to get the result they need at the Camp Nou? That's a completely different challenge altogether, although as Hercules and Mallorca have shown, it is not impossible...