Is Emotion getting in the way of Arsenal’s Ambition?

Arsenal Transfers: Emotion vs Ambition by BVR

Emotion (In My Opinion) is what is stopping Arsenal from buying the players who could really make THAT change and lead us to titles. My first case in point is the extension of Mikel Arteta’s contract. Yes, Arteta has been a great servant to the club. Immensely committed and loyal. But what does this mean? Are we not going to buy a DM?

Another example is Tomas Rosicky. He is one of the most naturally gifted players, yes. But what is his place in the squad? Why cant he be used to a) generate money by selling, b) used in part exchange/swap deals.

Joel Campbell was never given a proper chance with Arsenal and now we are selling him!! Ospina was great (at least better than very good) last season and superb in the Copa America and now we are selling him! Why?.. to keep Szczesny!! Why is such an error prone GK still being backed when one who has performed very well (exceeding expectations) being booted out.

Per Mertesacker; he is a “very” good defender but we all know that he is slow and error prone too, and it is actually Koscielny who makes Per look good. But why is he still our first choice? Why cant he be replaced! The most important position, Striker. Giroud. We all have different opinions about his ability but the bottom line is, is he the one to lead us to titles?! Can he score 25-30 goals in a season?

The common thread in all these cases is emotion and/or loyalty. It is our biggest strength, yes. We are one of the most loyal and supportive clubs in the world. But is the same loyalty and emotion clouding our judgment? Titles are won by ambition and ruthlessness. We cannot aim for Champions League or Premiere League without being ruthless.

I may cross people here but it is time we take a leaf out of Jose Mourinho’s book (just one leaf). He sold Frank Lampard (THE Chelsea player of all time) and replaced him with Cesc Fabregas (Lampard’s most famous foe) and went on to win the title. Why cant we want the same from our Arsene? It’s a way of practicality. We (the fans) have to be practical and also should wish and hope for the club to be the same too.

Position Analysis (Practical Approach):

GK: Szczesny, Ospina, Cech

Keep Ospina and Cech and sell/loan Szczesny.

CD: Per, Koscielny, Gabriel, Chambers

Replace Per with Garay/Manolas etc.

LB: Monreal, Gibbs

No change (at least for next season)

RB: Debuchy, Bellerin

No change (at least for next season)

DM: Coquelin

Needed cover/competition. Schneiderlin/Carvalho

CM: Wilshere, Ramsey, Cazorla

No change (at least for next season)

AM: Ozil

Need cover. Cazorla could be rotated.

For practical reasons I did not include Arteta, Flamini & Rosicky for the above three positions.

Wingers: Sanchez, Ox, Walcott, Gnabry, Campbell (who deserves a fair chance IMO)

ST: Giroud, Welbeck, plus Akpom & Sanogo (who IMO should both be loaned out)

Now the Wingers & ST places pose a conundrum. If Wenger’s plan is to use Walcott as a striker, then we need a World class/goal scoring winger. Reus/Draxler/Pedro. If Walcott is to be deployed on the wings, then we need a world class Striker. Benzema/Lacazette etc.

Titles are won by scoring goals. Whatever position we look to buy for (Wingers/ST) our aim should be the goal scoring. It could be a striker with 30 goals or a winger with 20 goals.

Players to be Sold:
Szczesny (or loaned out), Per, Flamini, Arteta, Rosicky

Loaned Out: Akpom, Sanogo, Zelalem, Gnabry (if Campbell is kept)

Players to be bought:
Garay/Manolas etc. for CD, Schneiderlin/Carvalho for DM, Isco/Draxler/Reus (can play as AM/Wings/stop gap ST), Benzema/Lacazette/Cavani for ST.

Lets all hope that Arsene Wenger gives priority to ambition/practicality over emotion (which was given a glimpse of by the purchase of Cech) and makes the ruthless buys that turns us into a real contender to be Champions.

BVR

Tags Giroud lacazette Szczesny

40 Comments

    1. I think it is the emotion of a significant proportion of the fan-base that is clouding the issue of progress. If you have not picked up on the transformation since summer 2013 then a trip down memory lane is in order. There are only 3 or 4 players that started against Villa back on the first day of the 2013/14 season that still have fairly assured first X1 spots now. Our bench had Fabianski, Jenkinson, Frimpong, Gnabry, Podolski and Sanogo on that day. Since then Ozil, Alexis, Debuchy and Cech have joined. Bellerin and Coquelin have emerged, Monreal has improved massively, Cazorla has become pivotal.

      We now fret we have an embarrassment of goalkeeping riches and it is presented as a “problem”.

      We worry that the likes of Walcott, Ramsey, Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain don’t appear to automatic starting places in our best X1s. Well what a shame.

      Our unkind definition of “deadwood” has moved on from the likes of Squillaci, Santos, Miyachi to Mertesacker, Arteta and Rosicky. It is like every time there is an improvement we have to re-train our gunsights to shoot down the next batch. There should be room in every squad for 3 old-hands – they bring something we do not see – every young pro will talk about their senior squad players and the influence they wield.

      We now insist that the likes of Chambers and Welbeck are “not fit to wear the Arsenal shirt” and completely miss the point that they haven’t earned the right yet, they are not starters, and are there buried in a deep squad as back-up if required. “We need world class in every position – including the squad members” and all that nonsense. If you think they are not good enough to take up a place in a 30 man PL squad you need to get out more and look around. Without googling it there are not many on here who could name the Barca or Bayern squad members outside their top 20 players.

      I have said it before, the arguments appear to be now more about the speed of change. In the red corner you have the guys who are probably used to getting their own way in their daily lives, were probably queueing for the iPhone6 when it came out and indulge in 15 hours of FIFA career mode every week. They need there shiny new toys now and are not prepared to wait – despite the overwhelming evidence that replacing half your first team in one go is not the wisest option.

      In the blue corner are the rest, patience and good things come to those that wait and all that stuff………….

    1. Oi! I’ve already written that article and it is up next lol!
      Great minds think alike……

  1. I agree to a certain extent. I think Campbell has a little chip on his shoulder and I why he was loaned out in January and why he will possibly be sold. But I can understand why Wenger wants to keep players like Arteta and Rosicky in the squad. They are great people to have at the club, people that the younger players can learn not just football skills from but how to be decent human beings. Per is probably in the same boat. I think we could get a better centre back and have Per as a squad player and to be honest, having Per, Arteta and Rosicky as squad players that will come off the bench probably isn’t a bad thing.

    1. Good article,but sadly the one person who needs to read and absorb what you are saying no longer seems to think clearly. We all know that we are heading for yet another disappointing window. Hope I’m wrong..

  2. wenger apparently wants to check on fitness of his players before looking for options!!!! suggests he thihks he has the players he needs to ensure we hold on to 3rd place which reflects his heightened ambition for season ahead….sad but probably true

  3. If Wenger doesn’t buy anyone else this transfer window nd believe he has wat it takes then I will just hope for a 3rd place finish and probably faCup. I really cant understand this Wenger, Does he hate spending money or wat???

  4. emotion is the problem of wenger and arsenal fans, that we bought ozil millions nw means he hav to start all game and finish it even when he is not @his best, and rosicky will be wasting his magical on the bench, we have the chance to sign fabrigas last season we didnt y cus we have wilshire and ramsey, now vidal case hav surface we now talk about how ramsey is better than him, when its clearly written that we need vidal kind of player no matter who is playing their, how long will we continue keepin faith to mediocrity hoping they will get better

  5. most annonying part is that people sees ramsey as a world class player, when wilshire is more talented than him and people bash him alot, tell me one player ramsey is better in chelsea 1st 11 and i will tell u two player wilshere is better in real madrid

      1. lolsss u think ramsey is better than oscar bro u need medical attention, wilshire is better than isco, kroos, illarimendi

    1. @Rock
      Wilshere is not better than anybody at Real M. Stop huffin that hippy crack…
      And talk about being”emotional”. Why do we hold on to these injury prone 10 match a season players, like Jack?

    2. I think u r right, but wilshere is yet to learn wen to hold on to d ball and wen to release it. Also, he needs to have an eye for goal. Talent wise wilshere is better than Ramsey, but he is yet to tap his full talent.

  6. Let’s analyse your reasoning:

    Arteta – the player has done no wrong. He may not be first choice anymore but he is a great player and still club captain. He won’t sell for any worthwhile amount but he can do a great job from the bench. Why wouldn’t you renew his contract?

    Rosicky – Again, his age means he won’t sell for any large amount. He is still a quality player and offers cover for a variety of positions. Arguably Wenger isn’t using him at all so maybe it would be better to let him leave to free up squad space, but realistically he is such a high quality reserve if both parties are happy with that situation then selling him for £5m is kind of pointless!

    Mert – I am Mert’s biggest critic. I think he has passed it and was struggling to keep up with the pace last season. Yet, he still consistently makes sure our defence is one of the best in the country when partnered with Kos. Yes, we need to replace him, but Chambers and Gabriel have just been purchased. Seeing as how Gab was consistently injured last season due to an annoying groin strain it’s kind of hard to know if Mert is still genuinely first choice. Either way, it’s far from sentimentality keeping him in the team.

    Ospina/Szczesney – This comes down to what the player wants to do, not the club. If Ospina wants to leave because he is not number 1 – then the club can’t force him to be number 2 and be happy. Szczes wants to fight for his place and is ok with doing that from the bench. THUS the situation where Ospina leaves and Szczes stays. I think everyone can agree that best case scenario is Szczes is loaned out and we keep Ospina but it’s not down to just the club if that is going to happen.

    Campbell – For whatever reason Wenger did not see fit to use the guy. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say there is good reason because frankly, Wenger has given game time to players who are far fresher who show way less instant talent, Gnabry is a good example. For some reason in training Campbell just wasn’t showing enough and the loan deal was a result. He’s been solid for other teams but never set anything alight except for the WC last summer. If Wenger doesn’t see him stepping up to Arsenal quality, then I trust his judgement over an armchair fan. We don’t know the whole story and it seems to me that he is good but not great and won’t ever be good enough to be a first team starter.

    Which leaves us with the final question about strikers. Yes – we need a top striker. If Theo becomes that then great. BUT a new winger is kind of pointless. You listed 4 wingers excluding Welbeck AND most of our CAMs are deployed there at times by Wenger. In reality Wing (unless you talk left wing) is one of our most filled positions. A WIDE winger on the left would be great as Walcott, Gnabry and Ox can all fulfill that on the right but even Alexis will come inside off the left. So wide left winger or a striker, but certainly no RW. RW is one of our flush positions – remember that Alexis is even a RW if we want. NO filling that up anymore please.

    And ultimately after all that analysis there is also one other thing to bare in mind – who is available. It’s all good and well stating we need to replace people but sometimes you just can’t get the players you need. Striker for example is in very high demand with very short supply this year. I’d not be surprised if every top 16 european club is looking for an in form super striker. Being as we are among the lower half of the spendable money among them, I doubt we’re gonna get the next one on the market!

    1. I couldn’t agree with you more. I could have written exactly what you wrote but I don’t have the patience for such depth of analysis. Some guys on here just want a total overhaul of the squad forgetting that it took us a while to gel last season because of the new players and slight tweak in our system. Now the author of this article wants us to replace 4-5 players at once. Arteta is still a VERY useful squad player. The only down side to his contract extension is that Wenger will surely not buy a DM this window. The author also feels we should keep Ospina and sell szchesny. The decision of who stays IMO is not up to Wenger. Will Ospina considering his age want to stay and fight for second spot with Szcesny? The no. 1 spot is taken till further notice. Szcesny is more likely to want to stay and fight. And Wenger WAS RUTHLESS in buying Cech knowing he had two good goalies. The only thing I agree with the article is the striking position. Crap article by BVN.

  7. OK BVR I really do agree with you. In the most simplistic sense both Arteta and Flamini are not good enough to win the PL and CL. Rosicky can still give an impact 45 min as sub. We are two players short of a challenge. What worries me is that at the end of the season Wenger recognized he had to upgrade and now he seems to be dithering and getting his ‘Transfer Paralysis’ back. I would go a step further than you. Yes emotion is a problem, but Wenger’s demons always make him buy from left-field. Gazidis clearly said that last week. So whoever the supporters and pundits suggest signing, rest assured Wenger will buy someone else. He is a great coach, but has a major destruct button. Like many great flawed leaders he will be the author of his own downfall. We need two top players to make a real challenge and Wenger will not do that. Expect to hear how unlucky we were with injuries in a few months and to hear how we need another DM and Striker. Groundhog day.

    1. We have debts… we was a selling club. Like it or not, we was!
      We got rid of our debts and Wenger bought Ozil, some may say it was a panic buy but we was rumored to be interested in Cesc before but Cesc turned us down… What was Wenger to do? He got the Assist King Ozil.
      The season prior to Alexis joining us it was noted we needed more pace in the team, someone to drive at players… Theo was out for long periods and he was our main man for getting in behind the opposition and injecting pace into the team. We needed a top player who can inject pace into the team so what did Wenger do? Did he umm and urrr all window long and then make a stupid panic buy? Nope. He got Alexis, he made sure he was in the right place and at the right time to convince Alexis.

      3rd season without the debts aproaching and we could do with a top GK, Ospina done nothing wrong but the oppertunity to get Cech was too great to miss… Wenger didn’t miss it did he?

      Gazidis clearly said…
      And you believed him! Your the damn fool!
      You are aware that prior to Ozil, the last time Arsenal broke their own transfer record was a few months before Gazidis came to Arsenal? It was the Arshavin deal Wenger done along with getting Nasri… you pay for quality and Nasri wasn’t ‘cheap’ either for how young he was at the time.

      Wenger gets ‘Transfer Paralysis’?
      BS again.
      You are aware that one of the reasons why we got Wenger was because we met his demand of getting Vieira?
      Wenger spoke to Henry on a plane jouny and Henry said something along the lines of wanting to play for Wenger again so Wenger went out and bough Henry, no hessitation, Dein supported him.
      Ljungburg was bought because of his good performance which was watched on TV… no hessitation, our scouts knew him and he ticked the boxes needed so deal done.

      Shall I talk about sooooooo many transfers prior to Gazids to prove my point or would you be happier to look it up yourself?
      Gazidis is Silent Stans yes man, they knew each other prior to joining Arsenal through USA soccer and isn’t it funny how Gazidis was always saying Wenger had final say on transfers yet Nasri has came out and admitted he was sold by the board after Wenger assured him he wasn’t being sold.

      You blame Wenger, I’ll be a fan and support the team which includes the manager. Although I blame Gazidis, I still support him, he looked out for the TEAM and we are spending bigger again now the debts are gone so I am happy with the progression.

  8. Guys can you please stop posting comments longer than the article? Because I find it kind of annoying and I’m pretty sure most people don’t read it.

    1. Sounds like you can’t be bothered to read other peoples thoughts, instead you want a twiiter reply which isn’t enough to try and explain your own thoughts.

  9. Emotion has nothing to do with it.

    Szezsney is being kept instead of ospina because he is a capable no.2 who also happens to be homegrown.
    Arteta is being kept because he is capable of fitting in against weaker opposition, he is also a great influence in the dressing room, and from what iv heard helps the youngsters more than anyone, im also sure i heard he speaks like 7 languages which is useful.
    Mertesacker has 104 caps for germany, that doesnt happen if you are average, and people say we lack leaders and you want to get rid of our best leader and the man who should be captain next year.
    Olivier scored 19 in 29 last year this is not a poor return, in fact its very good, it also included goals vs man city, man utd, liverpool and the cup final, not bad for someone who cant score in the big games.
    Next season giroud will be second choice rotating with theo and he will thrive.

    Emotion has no impact on these players staying, they stay because they are useful.

  10. I hate Wenger’s treatment of the fans. It’s not fair. I hate him Bcos of dis… Annoying, U need to sign so they can have time to gel with d team!!!!

  11. i know that i know one thing. if we don’t sign another quality striker and a dm we can as well forget the pl. mark my words in your heads people

  12. Arteta may not be a starter but he can help the younger players develop, he has maturity which can be passed on and in the past we lacked that and payed the price, who would be stupid enough to ignore such benefits?

    Does anyone resigning mean we will not buy if someone who is good enough and wants us comes along at the right price?

    I dont think so!

    Szcz had a bad year… it happens. He did share the golden glove with Cech a couple seasons ago so he has the potential to compete with Cech, lets see how well he can push on with a real quality GK who has “been there, done that” and that GKs long term coach.
    Yes I feel sorry for Ospina, he didn’t do anything wrong but Szcz is HomeGrown so maybe the gamble is warrented. Either way it will be a gamble.

    As with Per, he is worth keeping as it’ll encourage Gabriel to push on, Gabriel has more of a chance breaking into the starting 11 with Per being his main competitior… at the same time Per has a lot to offer still and will fight to keep his spot, this should bring out the best in them all, if we signed a new CB then it would be like saying to Gabriel “your not good enough”. Damn glad we have Wenger and not this Football Manager wannabe.

    You say no cover for Coquelin and then try to explain it away later, what a load of BS! Arteta may not be starter material but he can cover and be used to rotate with Coquelin to keep Coquelin fresh for the more important games. We also have Bielik who can play in the league cup.

    You kept Wilshere in the CM, personal opinion only! Wenger has played Wilshere on the Right AM spot, he has been played in the ACM role… Oh didn’t you say Ozil had no cover? LOL!!!! Zalalem needs to start getting game time and Cazorla could be played there with Ramsey playing the B2B role. Cazorla doesn’t have to start all our games, we do have a fantastic Ramsey!

    BVR has Walcott as a Winger as well, do you not keep up todate on what managers are doing? Wenger refused to play Walcott as a winger at the end of last season and instead played Ramsey… Walcott was used as a sub to replace GIROUD who is a CF, he then played instead of GIROUD in the CENTERFORWARD role.
    your playing FIFA again aint you?

    Too many faults in this article, I just can not take it serious, it may as well been written by a 10 year old playing Football Manager and not by a fan who watches his team EVERYTIME they play and keeps up todate on watching the interviews either… Low knowledge has lead to a poor article.

  13. Let’s cut the crap if wenger does not buy a new and improved centre forward wenger will not win us the prem or cl within his last 2 years of contract. Sanchez and Ramsey can’t carry us all the way

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors