TRANSFER BLUES: UNDERSTANDING THE ARSENAL WAY by Uche
Hello guys, good day to you all. It doesn’t take a genius to decipher that many of us are going nuts about the fact that we are not signing players at the rate that Manchester United and Liverpool are doing. Of course both teams finished below us and needed this transfer window a lot more than we do. This however hasn’t stopped the average Arsenal fan from getting depressed and cursing Wenger.
I was on the thread yesterday that implied that Wenger may not sign more players and believe me, bloggers on that thread were going absolutely nuts. I cannot remember the last time I witnessed such negativity and anger. Well, except you started following Arsenal a few months ago, this is typical Wenger talk. If you are not familiar with the Arsenal way, I can tell you for a fact that we are not Real Madrid so save your energy. We don’t throw our toys out of the pram (Angel Di Maria, Alvaro Morata, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Mesut Ozil etc) just because we want new toys. That is just silly.
For all this talk about missing out on Morgan Schneiderlin, nobody has told me what he can do that our very own Francis Coquelin cannot do. Coquelin’s only crime is that he did not cost us 20 million pounds. It is ridiculous how folks are bitching about us not signing a defensive midfielder while we have Francis. Look at his stats last season. Compare it with that of top defensive midfielders like Schneiderlin and Matic. Coquelin held his own and compared favorably. In fact, when you are done looking at all those stats, the one thing you will come out with is that these three are on the same level. So why are we freaking out? Yes we would like another defensive midfield lynchpin to back up Coquelin, just in case he gets injured or needs to be rested, but here is the question. Do you think that for 28 million pounds, Arturo Vidal will sit on the Arsenal bench waiting for Francis to get injured? Do you think Morgan Schneiderlin, whom Manchester United bought for a similar amount, will do the same? You cannot pay that kind of money for a top player and not play him. At the same time, you cannot bench a top player like Coquelin who did his job to perfection and was one of our best performers last year, in search of someone who is just as good as him.
That is just cruel. Why bother having an academy if you will not give a chance to hard working youth who have earned it? Should we replace Gibbs and Wilshere too just because they did not cost us millions? Messi, Iniesta, Pique, Pedro and Xavi cost Barca nothing too. But look at them. They have been given that chance and they have won everything. Arsenal is on the up. We are winning trophies now. So why do we need to enter the market and shop like Liverpool? We need to grow up when it comes to transfers. The work involved is not child’s play. None of us here can do what Wenger does and if you think you can, you must be totally full of yourself.
The Arsenal brand is just like the Barcelona brand. Our team is a mix of top purchases and top home grown players. That is how we do it. If you don’t know this by now, you had better get with the programme before you give yourself hypertension. Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin, Keiran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott are just some of our home grown players that have risen to the top ,and have the ability to mix it with the best and play in any top team in the world. If not, why does Barcelona want Bellerin back? Why is Man City willing to cough up 40 million for our very own Jack Wilshere? Why did Mourinho demand Ox or Walcott in return for selling us Peter Cech? Why is Real Madrid interested in Ospina? Why can’t Bayern Munich get over the fact that Koscielny is not for sale? Why is Juventus lusting after Mesut Ozil and Atletico Madrid is this close to kidnapping Santi Cazorla? These are all Arsenal players that we don’t seem to value whenever the transfer window comes around and yet all the top teams in the world are interested in our players.
I can understand fans wanting a backup for Coquelin. I want the same too. But what can Arturo Vidal do in the holding midfield role that our own Aaron Ramsey cannot do? Is this because Ramsey only cost us 5 million and was not purchased from Real Madrid? Well, if it makes you feel better, if we put Ramsey up for sale right now, he will fetch us Raheem Sterling kind of money. Barcelona let it be known that they are prepared to pay as much as 50 million for Aaron Ramsey. This was just a few months ago and Ramsey is not even in our first eleven at the moment. Barca is willing to buy one of our subs for 50 million and we are here crying like our players are rubbish. Be rest assured that our home grown players are worth as much as those other players we are losing sleep over. And please don’t point to Arteta and Flamini while making your point. Every sensible Arsenal fan knows that those two won’t even make the bench next season. So, no they will not back up Coquelin. Ramsey will. He deserves to play and he can.
In conclusion. We have a good and deep squad. We don’t need wholesale changes, unlike Liverpool and United. Wenger always talks like this. A few days before the Cech deal was announced, Wenger publicly claimed he was not interested in him because he already has top goal keepers that he is happy with. This same Wenger went as far as claiming that he had never heard of Santi Cazorla. At the time of making this claim, the deal for Cazorla had all been wrapped up. A medical was all that was left. Wenger talks like this but he almost always does the opposite. Right now, we just need a central striker because there is room for improvement in that department and reliable sources have tweeted that we have made bids for Lacazzette and Aubameyang. For the millionth time, the window is still open. All of this may fall on deaf ears but it wouldn’t stop me from saying what needs to be said. After all, isn’t that why we all gather here? To console each other and argue sensibly?
Peace.
Uche Edochie
Lagos – Nigeria