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Arsene Wenger is a Player’s Manager not a Fan’s Manager
By Josh Sippie
In the midst of everyone kicking the dead horse that is Arsenal’s transfer inactivity, one man has done the unpopular thing and defended Arsene Wenger for who he is and what he has done.
John Hartson has spoken out about why Arsene Wenger did the right thing in not overloading his squad with unnecessary players. Here is the quote (from talkSPORT):
"“Why would he buy just for the sake of buying? Why would he just add numbers to give himself a problem and put players on the bench and pay them astronomical wages? I totally understand why Wenger has not bought. The Danny Welbeck situation is unfortunate now he has to go in for a knee operation. You look at Liverpool, and how much did they need Danny Ings? They signed him for a free, but what’s the point, Danny Ings has hardly kicked a ball for Liverpool That’s not the way Wenger works. He protects the club’s money, he doesn’t just go out and buy bang-average players. If you’re going to get into his team, you’ve got to improve it and you’ve got to be better than what he’s got.”"
He went on:
"“We’ve all criticised Arsenal and would like to see them be a bit more active in the transfer market – he hasn’t been. He’s won two FA Cups on the bounce and they keep finishing in the top four. They’re not as strong as Man City or Chelsea, but Arsene Wenger keeps producing and keeps building teams. He’s not going to buy players just to add the group. You’ve got to bring in players that are going to enhance the team.”"
It exemplifies the fact that Arsene Wenger is predominantly a player’s manager and not a fan’s manager.
There are pros and cons to this, just like there is to anything else. We will tackle the pros first.
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Arsene Wenger is always going to give his players every chance in the world (unless your name is Joel Campbell). Sometimes it will be painful how many chances someone gets but before all is said and done there will be no questioning if someone could have made it or not (unlike Angel Di Maria).
Another pro is that the players have faith in the manager just as much as he has faith in them. Take for instance the last few years. Arsenal have not had the greatest results aside from two FA Cup titles and yet Wenger still managed to wrangle in Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Those are two of the best at what they do.
Not only that, but he has maintained them. Why? Because players want to play for Wenger. Both Ozil and Sanchez cited that as a major reason why they chose Arsenal over other potential suitors.
Another pro is that we get to see players develop in our system. Wenger traditionally buys young and builds players as opposed to buying final products. Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Francis Coquelin – these are all guys that have been with Arsenal for quite some time. By building a player rather than buying you get the added side affect of them wanting to win for the club just as much as they want to win for themselves.
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But then there are cons. When there are gaping holes in the squad, Wenger would prefer to plug the gaps with the resources at hand before overspending, as we saw this transfer window (although the holes in the squad are not gaping by any means).
Fans enjoy signings. They enjoy big name guys coming to the club, especially when everyone else is doing it. Everyone is a conformist deep down. Arsene Wenger does not give that satisfaction. He does not buy just to buy. As such, banners of “Wenger must go” will be alive and well at the Emirates this year. That is, until this team kicks it in gear and proves their worth.
Sure, there should be some acknowledgment on Wenger’s side that he needs to appease the fans, but winning trophies is more important than wasting money. The best way that Wenger feels he can win trophies is by doing exactly what he is doing. That is how he is going to please the fans.
Next: Did Wenger know the severity of Welbeck's injury?