How do you react to one of your rivals losing their star player in a transfer window? What would be your reaction if the same team loses two best players in two successive summers? Whatever it may be, the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has no sympathy at all.
Wenger was talking about the loss to Liverpool over two successive summers. Luis Suarez was their talisman player before making a big-money move to Barcelona. Raheem Sterling carried the mantle last year before moving to Manchester City early in this transfer window.
Interestingly, both the players have been linked with Arsenal and Wenger even lodged an official bid for Suarez. Not going into the saga that dragged a whole transfer window, it looks like the Frenchman has moved on.
Wenger knows and understands the monumental job at hand for his managerial counterpart – Brendan Rodgers. The task of rebuilding the side after losing the mercurial forwards is tough for any manager but Wenger is not concerned about that.
“Liverpool can make their own decisions. They refused to sell us Suarez, so I cannot feel too much sympathy for them.”
Wenger saw his £40 million plus £1 bid for the Uruguay striker hit the headlines for all wrong reasons in August 2013. The extra pound infuriated the Merseyside club so much that they flatly refused to sell the striker to Arsenal.
The Gunners’ boss has been looking for a striker to lead the line for his team – for many seasons now. Though he refuses to acknowledge it the quality of strikers at his disposal is still in the gray scale.
Liverpool have addressed their striker problems by signing the Belgian striker Christian Benteke from Aston Villa. Wenger has been linked with many strikers throughout the transfer window. Not least among the linked strikers is the Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.
The challenge ahead on Monday night for his team would be to tackle the threat of Benteke. The striker is a menace, especially since he is strong in the air and also can bring other players into the game.
Wenger should know the seriousness of the task for Rodgers since he himself had to endure the tough task of rebuilding many times. When Arsenal lost Thierry Henry to Barcelona and Robin van Persie to Manchester United, they may have been nearing the end of their prime but they were still leaders of the pack.
Sridhar