Has Wenger got it right?

I’m one of the first to admit I’ve been critical of our wiley old boss over the last two or three seasons and for many different reasons – lack of depth/strength in our squad, standing by players like Diaby, Denilson and Silvestre, poor team selection and substitutions, the list goes on. Most of this comes from frustration having been beaten by Wigan, Spuds or even Sunderland, all games which I feel we should be winning..

At the end of the season, Wenger said something along these lines in relation to any possible incoming transfer targets.

‘I won’t buy a player on a World Cup performance, I want a player who can perform for the whole season and not just for four weeks’ (It’s not word for word, but it’s near enough)

Well Mr Wenger, I think you are spot on with your views and we fans should be glad he’s not judging any player over the next three weeks… Just look what has happened over the last week and a few of the players many of us were crying out for the boss to sign:-

France – Gourcuff, Toulalan
Holland- van der Vaart
Germany – Mertesacker
Serbia – Subotic
Cameroon – M’bia
Brazil – Melo
Australia – Schwarzer

The above are just a few of the ‘big’ names linked to us over the last few weeks and like me, I bet many fans have been waiting for the World Cup to begin so they can get a good look at players with their own eyes and not just through a few youtube clips..

Not long ago, when the rumours about Cesc Fabregas gathered great pace, Peter Hill-Wood said that any money generated from sales would be all Arsene Wenger’s to spend. In panic, like everyone else, I started thinking about who is there out there who could fill our captains boots? Reality is, there isn’t anyone, but the name Yoann Gourcuff started to do the rounds (I blame JonJon for that )

After a few youtube clips, I convinced myself he was the man, however…….

Having watched France draw on the opening day and lose to Mexico on Thursday, right now I can honestly say that the only thing Arsenal could do worse than buying a player from the French team right now, is sacking Arsene Wenger and appointing Raymond Domenech – seriously, they have been poor but Avenell raised that subject yesterday so I won’t harp on.

Holland didn’t exactly set the world alight either, but they are the side I can watch with ease, a bit like watching Arsenal. They have talent and experience all over the pitch and during the opening game, van der Vaart looked pretty good, could have easily got himself on the score sheet – I’m going to keep my eye on him as I think he may be one of the few to impress all the way through the tournament, as will Holland (my fav’s to win)

Germany, they had a storming 4-0 start, yes, not against the strongest opposition and after Cahill got sent off the score could have gone into double figures. Blimey i thought, go on Arsene, go get a couple of this big strong talented German guys – next game they get thrashed 1-0 by Serbia and referee called, A Undiano Mallenco. Dreadful game, dreadful refereeing but Germany were poor.

Did Subotic or Mertesacker do enough during yesterdays game to make you wish we would sign them?

Cameroon – Without our man Song, they lost, M’bia needs to be watched again. The same can be said of Melo, Brazil won but they made it look like hard work against North Korea….

So – my point is, we get linked to many players, many are involved in the World Cup, many aren’t. All I know right now is that those involved in South Africa over the last week have really failed to impress so far. Maybe they don’t need to, maybe they just want to start slowly and build up as the tournament progresses. Sadly though, as we will soon see, the latter only gets you an early flight home.

Arsene Wenger is right, not only about a player who ‘can perform for four weeks’, but what about players who ‘can’t perform for four weeks’.

A good, solid, steady player performs all season, not just for a World Cup, but including a World Cup.

A big named player gets you a big named player, but maybe a player who is desperate to break into the side of his country is a player who will fight harder, play better and not take his place for granted, he’ll also cost a lot less money…

Talking of which, it seems Laurent Koscielny will soon be our second signing, he’s obviously done enough to impress Arsenal. If he’s as good a signing Vermaelen has proved to be, I’ll be very happy….

It’s not all about ‘who’ the player is, it’s about ‘what’ the player is about. Maybe I’m just starting to understand the philosophy behind Arsene Wenger and his transfer policy… And there was me thinking he’s just been a tight old bugger