da leao： The season is all but over and all that remains to be seen from Arsenal fans’ point of view is whether they automatically qualify for the group stages of the Champions League by finishing third or whether they are overtaken by FA Cup winners Manchester City and finish fourth thereby triggering a potentially difficult qualifying campaign for Europe’s elite football competition.
da wazamba： All of the football talk, in terms of the Gunners, will now focus on the plans for the summer with a majority of fans now calling for changes to be made. A 6% increase in ticket prices (blamed, almost humorously, on high transfer fees) has been a slap in the face to the Arsenal faithful and most will be praying for Arsene Wenger to change his philosophy and spend the money required to get the players that the squad so desperately needs.
But we know all of this. We’ve heard the same talk at the end of every season since 2006. Wenger never spends money, so what is different now? Is there hope for the fans that they might finally get what they’ve been screaming out for?
Let’s start with Wenger himself. His position has never been questioned… up until now. His excuses are starting to wear thin and his stubborn dedication to his football philosophy has not paid dividends and, to be honest, it doesn’t look like it ever will. Wenger has been proven wrong a few times this season and Arsenal fans are starting to wonder if the genius they once adored is turning into the man behind the curtain; pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes. Maybe Arsenal have been happy to ‘make do’ for the past few seasons.
I dug out this interesting quote from only a month ago and it shows how far Arsenal have fallen in the space of four weeks.
“We are second in the league. Is that a disaster? There are teams who invest 10 times more than us, and they are behind us. If we are disappointed at the end [of the season] then OK. Why do you say it’s a disaster when we are second in the league? Do the 18 clubs behind us have a fantastic disaster?” – Arsene Wenger, 9/4/11
I remember thinking at the time that Wenger being content with second showed a lack of grit and determination that I like to see in a football manager. Sure, he was being realistic but there seemed a subtext of defeatism lingering in those words. Wenger was trying to convince us that second place wasn’t a disaster, how is he going to do next week if he has to defend fourth place?
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I’m not one of the ‘sack Wenger brigade’. He IS a talented football manager and HAS kept Arsenal competing at the top for years when the club was in financial difficulty. The club owes a huge debt to him. But Arsenal aren’t in financial difficulty anymore, quite the opposite, they are one of the most financially stable sports teams in the world.
Wenger will cite players like Torres costing a fee of £50 million and use it as a vindication of his tight pursed approach. And this is the problem; Arsene Wenger seems to only see things in extremes. Fans don’t want you to spend in excess of £40 million on a player, Arsene, but they would like you to spend around £20 million on a top class centre back; a position that is in dire need of strengthening and surely worth the money.
To get down to it, the sad truth about football in the modern age is that it’s all about money. Maybe ironically though, this might be the very factor that causes Wenger to invest in his squad this summer.
Wenger has pleased the Arsenal board throughout the years because he has consistently got them into the Champions League without spending a lot of money. This makes good business sense. However, if the Gunners do finish fourth this year it will be a wakeup call to the board. Manchester United, Chelsea, and, especially, Manchester City will invest heavily in players this summer. And given their recent progression it is hard to imagine those teams not dominating the top three come the end of next season. That will leave only one Champions League spot left and if Kenny’s revolution at Anfield is backed with cash by the board, or Tottenham realise how much they miss the Champions League, invest in some new players and keep their stars, will Arsenal still be able to compete if they don’t adapt? It’s a tough question.
Arsenal’s position in the top four has been challenged for the past few seasons with teams like Man City, Tottenham, Everton, Aston Villa and Liverpool threatening to force them out. I‘d never been worried about it, I always knew Arsenal; had the quality to persevere. Next season, without significant personnel changes? I’m not so sure.
The Champions League is big money and money that the board will simply not do without. It is this simple fact that might force Wenger’s hand in the summer. Next season will be the biggest challenge to Arsenal securing Champions League football since the mid 90’s and the cost of missing out on the competition in 12/13 will surely be greater than the price of a few decent players this summer. It’s just simple business sense.
Read more of Nicholas’ articles at This is Futbol