Arsenal: Arsene Wenger Should Look To Mourinho

The transfer market must be the most hopeful and hopeless time for an Arsenal fan. But if Wenger wants a direction, he should actually look to Mourinho.

The frailties in our transfer philosophy are deepened by the juxtaposition of other EPL teams such as Manchester United and their new manager, Jose Mourinho.

At United, the problems have been determined and outlined. As soon as Mourinho was appointed manager, he asked for four new players at a minimum.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JULY 5: New Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho during his introduction to the media at Old Trafford on July 5, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images) /

Striker, center midfielder, right midfielder and center back.

Similar needs to Arsenal, no?

I’d take a Per upgrade. Gabriel has had mixed results and Chambers is lost at the training colony.

We’ve signed Xhaka to be a tough enforcer in our midfield. I’m really excited about this one.

A right-winger makes sense since Arsene can’t decide between the Ox, Campbell or Walcott and has to frequently put Ramsey out wide.

And of course, we need a striker that can consistently put away the glorious opportunities presented by Ozil.

So it really grinds my gears to hear Wenger point to the idea that there are not many players in the market that could improve our current Arsenal squad. Yet every summer we see City, Chelsea, Madrid, Barcelona – all add more quality to their squad.

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Would we not have benefited from adding some of the players that the above teams have brought in? We absolutely would.

Mourinho must see the quality out there. While this has been going on at Arsenal for some time, it’s taken Mourinho how long to make changes to an anemic post-Ferguson squad? A month and a half.

While we’ve been patient, Mourinho has been appropriately impatient. United have signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic (for free), Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. That’s the amount of time it’s taken Jose to start putting the pieces together for the upcoming campaign.

Mourinho wants four new players, but he could undoubtedly and probably add more. They’ve even been heavily linked with a return for Progba.

Jose is out there proclaiming things like

“I want everything. To win matches, to play well, to play young players, to score goals, for the fans to be behind us. Everything.”

And taking digging at Arsene with

“There are some managers, the last time they won a title was 10 years ago”

He’s got a point.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 19: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and captain Patrick Vieira hold the Premier League trophy at Islington Town Hall on May 19, 2004 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) /

For all of Mourinho’s faults, he has never lost sight of what he craves most, to win. Winning attracts.

It’s a difference in how situations are handled and addressed.

I feel for Wenger. I really do.

The time Wenger finally decides to do something we’ve all been asking him to do, it doesn’t work out. He submits a bid for Vardy, only for the player to decide not to join us.

It seems as if the failure to land Vardy has hampered our transfer plans beyond just fulfilling our need for a striker. Since then, Arsenal transfer news has been quiet and although we know we need a striker (proved by our bid for Vardy) we have yet to move forward in our objective.

There’s a fine line between patience and stagnation. But, I have a feeling the situation would have been different if the player were a target of United’s.

There would have been more action. United would have countered with an even higher contract offer. Or at least if that didn’t work, they would been quick to submit a bid for another striker on their list. I doubt they would have let the news fester as it did with Arsenal.

Arsenal has built a squad closest to anything we’ve ever had to actually compete for the EPL. All of this is centered around three world-class players including Cech, a proper top class keeper since Lehmann left in 2008.

We have Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez for crying out loud.

To think of how much more could have been done last season in our best chance of winning the league in 12 years. This wasn’t the response I was expecting, there doesn’t even seem to be the desire to respond.

With it being Wenger’s final year on his contract, does he not feel the fire?

Next: Arsenal Confined to Wengers Ingenuity with Lacazettee

Does he not want to beat Mourinho, finally, for once?

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