Why are we still blaming Wenger? We’ve spent 315 million since…

315m Spent since Wenger by Gurjit < I haven’t posted an article in a little while as it would be difficult to not add to the negativity surrounding the club. However, there are some views I feel that I want to highlight. That view being that this is mostly the players fault and we need to get rid of the “deadwood” before we can make any real progress – a view as it happens our board seem to have hinted at with comments around an overhaul of the squad. Firstly I agree that an overhaul of sorts is needed, though I think to blame it all on the players is a bit of a jump. After all they do not sign themselves and they do not manage themselves as this is what Arteta, Edu and the board is responsible for. So let’s take a look at the claim “the Wenger era players are the problem and they need to leave” as it’s one I hear a lot. To do this I am not going to scrutinise the players that we have left from that era and their impact, but look at what we have done since to improve the squad. We have signed a whole host of players for substantial fees and salaries in the time since Wenger left – Torreira, Leno, Sokratis, Guendouzi, Litchsteiner, Pepe, Saliba, Tierney, Luiz, Mari, Martinelli, Soares, Ceballos, Partey, Gabriel, Runarsson, Willian. (going by Transfermarkt this is around 315m Euros excluding wages and loan fees) It should be clear from this list that we have, at considerable expense, brought in players to improve the squad, yet we are in a situation in the league worse than fans have ever seen. How many of these players are you happy with? Gabriel, Martinelli, Tierney, Partey, Leno? (though ironically fans prefer Martinez who signed under Wenger). It isn’t good enough from the board to spend this much money on players and then turn around and say the squad needs an overhaul due to the players attitudes, as if they are not responsible for the squad. It isn’t good enough from fans either to scapegoat players as if they are the cause of this situation, and say that if they left to free up space and money we would sign those players that could really change the squad. Pepe is a great example of what is wrong, as we can all see that he has talent, so the fact that he has been so poor along with Auba, Willian and Lacazette, should indicate that the issue is not just that recruitment has been poor, but that once we have these players we do not coach them well. This is to say nothing about us leaving our only creative player unable to complete for the squad on merit and then not bringing in a replacement either. As I see it the players aren’t the biggest problem (directly) and nor are the owners (from a financial perspective). We have repeatedly made mistakes in the transfer market and it is not good enough for the board to say that we need an overhaul of players that they brought in and failed to improve and coach effectively. Where do you think the issue lies? Gurjit

Tags Arteta Gabriel. Partey Pepe

73 Comments

    1. Uncle Sue Manu Petit has detached himself from the club because of our rapid decline 😲 my mum only watched Arsenal games because of him 😂😂

        1. I remember the world cup final in 98 and all she talked about was petit and he goes and scores the final goal can’t say my old man was too pleased 😂😂 big game tomorrow Sue I trust you won’t detach yourself from it ? 😆

          1. 😄 Good on her! Loved that WC.. drooled every time he was on the box!!
            No, actually looking forward to tomorrow, Kev.. as we should see some youngsters! May even see Saliba?? Do you think we’ll score? Keep 11 on the pitch? There’s no VAR, is there?

          2. After that world cup I wanted Ronaldos Nike boots 😂😂 no doubt Man city will put out full strength team and Sterling again 😩 I doubt he will play Sue it seems Mr Arteta just has his favourites although the 2 Gab M’s might play 😄 I think we are spared VAR but that doesn’t mean we keep 11 men 😂

          3. Yes Sergio will return!! A lot of youngsters trained today, including Moller, Azeez, Balogun, ESR..
            We could be in for some Brazilian magic then, Kev.. and no I don’t mean Willian 😄

          4. I would play all of them I like the look of moller I watched him play in that game few weeks ago and thought he had a great touch 😃 haha the only magic Willian has is disappearing 😂 we know what happens when he plays against us Sue 😩

  1. It’s time for Arteta to put away the stats and trust his eyesight. Unless he is suffering from long COVID then he should see clearly what is happening.
    Players are not working for each other and making themselves available when we have the ball. No movement and happy to be easily marked, closed down and outnumbered.
    Meanwhile, when we don’t have the ball we stand off all over the pitch or run away opening up even more space. Even when pressing, that needs to be done as a team, as individual presses only allow easy outlets. Clearly we don’t have any basketball fans in the team.

  2. Wenger’s ability to find cheap talented players is one of the factors that made me loved Arsenal at the beginning. I think Wenger didn’t like to buy expensive players because of their attitude and his successors don’t seem able to handle it either

    1. its all about the scouting….but since Dein left, he do not have a good closer to sign the quality players and convince the board to pay the extra millions

      1. We’ve hired Leicester’s scouts and Mislintat, yet they gave us turds mostly. We need to follow Liverpool’s scouting method

  3. Well, if you have at the players we’ve been trying to get out the door – ozil, xhaka, mustafi, kolasinac, bellerin, elneny, they are all wenger players. He signed them to contracts on such high wages relative to their talent that it has been difficult if not impossible to get rid of some of them Tbf there have also been some disaster signings like luiz, willian, cedric ect since, but those who were wenger out were also kroenke out. We know that the rot started at the top

    1. I thought the third word was too complicated and quite controversial. But the fourth was beautiful and spoke volumes !

  4. Wenger would develop players, give youngsters a chance, command the dressing room, protect his players in public, play interesting football, and always finished in top4 even when we moved from Highbury to Emirates

      1. AHMED to quote me accurately, which you chose not to do, you should have said Kroenke does not spend HIS OWN billions on the club he creams profit from personally each year.

        NOT THE CLUBS MONEY BUT HIS OWN. Too difficult for you to understand? Don’t tell lies about what I write again! Get that sonny?

        1. No matter how you spin it money has been spent. Way more than during Wenger’s time. In case you have forgotten Kroenke owns the club and the club’s money technically is his money. If he had so wished he would not have sanctioned any of the incoming transfers. We have one of the highest wage bills in the EPL. How do you think the players are getting paid when there’s is no gate money etc? I don’t like Kroenke either. But to blame him for our misfortune is lazy narrative.

          1. All to result in starting SEVEN players (with FOUR more on the bench) from the Wenger era in our most recent home game.

            The FACT is Kronke has spent not a penny of his own money whilst presiding over OUR football club.

            Please see the QUOTE from our absent owners own mouth below.

  5. Are we still blaming Wenger?
    Only a few, clinging on to their personal gripes, I would suggest.
    Love the article and I couldn’t have said it any better myself 😂😂😂

    1. Gurjit is meaner with words even than Kroenke is with our club. Would the Admin please tell us how we can respond to an “article ” containing only four words?

    2. Nor any briefer KEN!

      HALF WAY THROUGH IT I DISAGREED VIOLENTLY BUT HIS THIRD AND FOURTH WORDS COMPLETELY CHANGED MY MIND! Even his name was just one word repeated! Hilarious!

  6. A nice, short and concise point. Couldn’t have said it better myself. We should not blame someone who isnt at the helm of affairs when we have spent so much to improve the situation which supposedly only he sabotaged…

  7. I think what Edu and co need to do is come out in open and put brief overview of the structural changes they are making and put a time on it. A lot of fans might then probably will take that patience pill. What happening at the moment is they are selling the banner for our poor performance as a new project which includea a lot of structural change at the club with no end date sited. No logical person will agree to that specially when you are failing badly on the field. Any major project you start you have to give an overview of what you intend to achieve without going into too much details if it’s sensitive and then have to provide some sort of time frame to achieve your goals along with budget. Just by saying the words structure change and it will take time solves no problem. You want fans to sit here no idea what’s happening at club at all and wait for years after years with no guarantee if something is happening or when will we reach the other side of tunnel.

  8. It’s a lie net spend approx 200 million spent since Wenger left
    So a billionaire average spend since Wenger left is 66 million on a team who finished 6th

    1. I wasn’t looking at net spend – more the value we have got from the money we have spent. Though I do wish my full article was posted rather than the headline which admittedly may have increased the suspense!

      1. But net spend is crucial
        If you paid me 200 pound to fix your car put I spent 150 on parts I havnt made 200 pound , I made 50
        It’s like when fans say ‘ oh we did pay 55 for Auba ‘
        45 we had to raise by selling players

        1. The article isn’t about how we are getting the funds its about the value we have got from the funds we have spent. Ie we spent 75m on pepe was it well spent? Its not about where the money has come fro m that’s not what I wanted the article to be about.

    1. And for that 66 mil net spend per season over 3 season, we’ve turned from a team in sixth place (Wenger’s worst ever season) into 15th in late December, with relegation a distinct possibility.

      Wenger’s fault once again?

      I couldn’t be arsed to look up the stats, but my initial thoughts are that Wenger spent far less than 66 mil per season (net) post 2004…could someone dig out the stats, please?

    2. Do you know how much Leicester have spent during the same time? It’s not a dig, but just for information.

        1. So I rather compare us to those who finished top 4 as that’s are minimal requirement
          Last January we got 2 injured defenders on loan
          Man u got Fernandez
          In summer top 4 all got stronger

          1. Who’s to blame for signing two injured players on loan? Said players are now on board for years on significant wages.

        1. AW haters will always try to twist facts to crucify the man and make Excuses for the current regime. AW is French. He changed the way the English game was being played. Some people will never forgive him.Reality is the man is a genius and would han o qualms bringing him back on a caretaker basis while we convince either Rogers or the Southampton boss to sign next season.

          .

  9. In the absence of the article I would be interested to learn who was responsible for buying each player on the missing list.Perhaps it’s just not possible to get this information but it would clarify who should carry the can for the mess we are currently in.

      1. Spot on Icw.

        All decisions taken on behalf of this football club would have to be rubber stamped by absent Stan.

        The big problem is , the man doesn’t have a clue re’ players out there and what we need , or much else regarding Arsenal Football Club.

        And as for the argument he is
        “advised “ – well he employs the
        idiots around him.

        It’s all about the spreadsheet !

  10. So how did we get to this desperate place…I would suggest that since the time of Wenger’s departure, and likely before, the inmates have largely run this asylum…Unai clearly experienced similar issues, but without the managerial title it was almost impossible to make the necessary changes to overhaul the increasingly toxic locker room…of course winning has a way of masking some of these festering issues, but as soon as our form dropped things went south incredibly quickly…by the time Unai was sent packing numerous stories about disgruntled players, sketchy transfer business, involving both club personnel and “super” agents, and a severely divided locker room were being openly discussed by media outlets and fans alike…it was clearly understood by Freddie, during his brief tenure, as he tried to make a statement with some of his team selections, but it just exasperated the situation when he failed to get the necessary results…so on the heels of all that, along comes Arteta…he clearly understood the gravity of the situation, which is why one of his first statements involved a “clean slate” initiative…although the results were mixed, many were willing to give him some time to right the ship…unfortunately, he became a victim of his own success, especially after winning some games against some upper echelon squads and winning the FA Cup…all of a sudden, talk of a rebuild took a backseat to thoughts of us being only a handful of moves, both in and out, away from competing for Champions League spots…short-sighted on us fans for pushing that narrative, albeit understandable considering our groundhog day experiences since arriving at the Emirates,,,shame on this club for not being the responsible adults in the room and staying the long-term rebuild course…Partey, Gabriel and Saliba aside, all other off-season decisions were irresponsible and suggested they didn’t really have a cohesive long-term vision…they should have gotten rid of every single player that wasn’t part of the plans, assuming there was a plan, even if it meant having to absorb some financial losses…now they’re still paying for players that aren’t even playing, which has inflamed an already fragile situation…so this is the new Arsenal way, two steps forward, four steps backwards

  11. Kroenke back in 2016.

    Make of it what you will;

    “If you want to win championships then you would never get involved. I think the best owners in sports are the guys that sort of watch both sides a bit. If you don’t have a good business then you can’t really afford to go out and get the best players unless you just want to rely on other sources of income.“

  12. A four word article attracts 49 posts, as of this post. I wonder how many millions of readers one of MY long articles should attract, on that basis!

    1. Jon.

      Does this give credence to the adage;

      “Sometimes less is more” !

      Seriously though, I think many of us could write pages on the (self inflicted) plight of our beloved club right now.

  13. Given the poor investment culture of Arsenal, We stayed in top 4 because of Wenger. This is not even worth debating. Now this has changed and the Kroenkes more than fans regret his leave. They are feeling it – deservedly! Based on empirical and applied knowledge, it is estimated to take 3 dollar to 1 under Wenger to get the same ‘unambitious’ results we so much came to despise. This conclusion is not based on emotions. I have actually calculated it against Wenger’s misery genius and actual inflation; and the results are shocking. This is one of the worst cases of ‘cow not knowing the value of its tail until the flies begin to swarm.’ Check the price of Wenger’s top signings in his last 5 years. Compare those to the cost of our mediocre signings now. You would be shocked. Do it for yourself. I do not wish to depress you more. Had the Board given Wenger the monies he asked for in the last 3 years when they pulled the support from him, Arsenal would be good. I know some fans are unaware that Wenger was begging for greater support as the suffering started in his last 3 years. Now they trying but it needs about 200 million in a single season to reset. Will it come? I do not think so? Is MA the best person at this time? Negative. We cannot ask an inexperience coach to address a crisis such as this.
    We have to brace for some serious pain. MA might be able to help with the stats on this. Lol.

    1. No one blames wenger for the abysmal current state … he just kicked off a lost decade … and should have left in 2015 at the latest as the club had clearly fallen behind top tier of European clubs by then and had lost a winning mentality with epl position in hands of others rather than consistent performances ourselves … but it got worse under emery and worse still under arteta as the club steadily lost direction and performances lurched from average to u watchable … in end it’s down to kroenke but that won’t change til we drop out of top tier which no one wants … but the idea that failed managers have nothing to do with the decline is clearly nonesense ..

      1. Nothing more to add there, RW1, Would like to move on from the Wegner era but too many of his players are still there to taunt us. Plus it’s clear that Kroenke’s takeover was the beginning of the end, however dear old Arsene was a willing foot soldier and supported the process of scaling down expectations, for a reputed 8,000,000 a year that is.

  14. I don’t believe baying new players going to make any deferent, the way I look at players there is nothing Ron those Arsenal players, because they wing FA C they wing community CUP. They beat top three big teams one thing I don’t understand why Arsenal supporter blame. Players, I think my opinion is the manager, he has no tactic, he has no plans A & B, selection of teams is very bad, he is not for. Arsenal, he has to go, 🤔🤔🤔😡

  15. Money doesn’t always solve issues. Look at how much United have spent since Fergie.

    Of course Emery, Arteta, and the new board have made mistakes since taking over, but look at what they inherited from Wenger and Gazidis. The club was in the gutter, with problems in every area of the club.

    Our problems are cultural, and for anyone who thinks you can change an entire culture within one of two years is delusional!

    A great example of this is the squad. 2 1/2 years since Wenger left, yet we have the same problems, and that’s because many of the senior players from Wenger’s reign, are still here. We cannot get rid the dross because of Wenger and Gazidis.

    Under Wenger the players were used to the easy life. No expectation to perform, no discipline, and now things have got worse since, because Emery and Arteta have tried to change this, the senior players are not having it. I personally think Arteta has gone too hard on the discipline, hence the problems of late.

    1. It is always Wenger and not the failure of the coach that succeeded him. What Emery or Arteta inherited is Arsenal pure and simple and if they don’t or can’t turn around the misfortune of the club is simply their failure. Klopp inherited a struggling Liverpool side in January just Arteta did from Emery, he did all he could do with the players like Henderson, Sturridge etc he got to the final of El and lost to Sevilla. Following season he restructured his team by discarded the players he didn’t not want by selling or benched them. He even sold Coutinho or Suarez and the rest is his a success story that we all admire today. Can’t Emery or Arteta do the same. Imagine the turmoil that couldn’t have erupted if Arteta had he sold Auba. Yeah he tried actually to revive Xhaka just like Klopp revive Henderson, he even got credit for improving him but when he Xhaka back to his usual best he suddenly became Wenger failure again but not the man that begged him to stay. Who got the credit for showing Welbeck, wilshere, Ramsey, Carzola, Kos all the so called dross or deadwood of Wenger era fro the team. Was it Wenger? Then why blaming him for the remaining ones or his successor using them. Mo didn’t play regularly under Wenger and Emery. Emery for fact loaned him out to Turkey where the player performed so well. We could have got 10-15m for had Arteta decided to reintegrate him into his team. Were Auba and Lacaa failure in Wenger era, Was it Wenger that bought Sokratis. I expect Arteta to do any players that he thinks doesn’t fit in his team what he does to Sokratis and as well shoulder the blame for the failure and credited for the success of his decision and we stop shifting the facts to fit our narrative. Finally, when Wenger got Arsenal job was everything given to him to become invincible why then do you think every coach that comes after him should have it easy and not work to make their own success. You can see Xhaka is not good enough but Arteta thinks he showed a Positive Energy by grabbing someone throat and you think it Wenger problem because he bought him.

      1. Yes but Klopp wasn’t taking over from someone who had been at the club for over two decades though. Like I say, it’s an entire culture that needs changing.

        Same at Utd. When you have someone there for so long, it’s almost as if no one knows what to do once that person has left. Utd have been struggling as well, despite throwing huge sums of money at their problems.

        The big difference between us and Utd though, was that Wenger and Gazidis left our club in a shambolic state. Although Fergie didn’t leave a great squad either, at least he left them league champions, and CL football.

        1. I completely agreed with you on cultural change and as an African and a religious individual may I also say our club needs spiritual intervention because what is happening with us transient my human understanding with the qualities of some of our players we should be high up their, not winning the league now but be higher than wolves or Everton. My point regarding where blame should allotted is I blamed Wenger for our on-field problems ( cultural, performance etc ) when he was the coach and blamed Emery when also for his failures too. From the outside he should be able to know Ozil won’t fit pattern of play because he has renounced spectacular way of play. Immediately when he got the job he should have pulled him aside let him know he is not in his plan and find a solution with him instead played him and later pick up a fight with him. That is an example of his failure. Arteta too.

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