There is no doubt that Wneger has brought on a lot of solid squad players for Arsenal. You just can't argue with the fact that he has been able to bring though squad players well. He has also though brought through 2 genuinely great players in Fabregas and Van Persie, and potentially there are 1 or two more coming up Song, Wilshere, Ramsey and Walcott being the next four with the most potential. I happen to think Song is one of the best midfielders in the world, but that is just my opinion. You make a good point that Wilshere and Sczezney are youth products, but I think both say hat Wenger certainly showed them a lot of faith and gave them a great deal of support. I think you should consider just how much money it would take to sign and pay these 6 today, given that they are all roughly on a par with Nasri, value-wise. Now, do you think, given our financial strategy, or the insanity of the board if you prefer, that we would be able to buy them even if their clubs had them for sale?
Just because Oxo cost 12m doesn't mean he wasn't a good spot. If he turns out to be worth twice that, he's a good signing. Gibbs was brought in to the Youth Set-up, as was Chesney, and I think Song. They weren't developed at Arsenal, they were spotted, brought in from elsewhere, and turned into good players at Arsenal. Thus...they count. Buying any of those listed players would cost hugely more than Arsenal paid for them, so they've actually all been good buys.
Apparently this kid has really good technique and skill, as you would expect from German academies. I have read plenty of people on here bemoaning some of our players lack of technique, so come on lets be positive about this kid.
Totally agree . Wenger obviously is great at spotting some young talent, but don't forget he isn't always right (such as with Amaury Bischoff etc), so this may yet be a flop but it's too soon to tell. The fact that he's only been playing U19 football is a bit of a worry seeing as Dortmund hardly seem the type of club to be afraid of putting young players into the team. But I'm just hoping this is because of giving him time to recover and hopefully he'll be just a late bloomer
I knew a coach that used to ask kids what the most important part of their body was when they were playing football. The answer? Their brain. It is very difficult to judge a players brain and particular how it relates to the philosophy or system a club uses. Sometimes, even long time professionals sometimes cannot adapt to new tactics. These days, nearly any 15-year old has the ball skills and physical ability to play at the top level. Their ability to make it to the very top is dependent on their brain and how well they use it. At this point, we have no idea what this guy's brain is like.
2 things theBear. The first is, yet again, we have to wait for a player to progress and he may or may not. Secondly, Van Bronkhurst had been at Rangers for long enough, he wasn't a relative unknown, he was a very well known
He is in contention to play tonight for the reserves. I'm very much hoping Wenger has pulled off a master stroke (lol!) and that he'll be playing first team football within a few weeks.
Yes you do. I never claimed otherwise. People need to realise though its Wenger's youth policy that has kept us in the Champions League places. Its the consistent selling of our top stars that has set us backwards.
Had to pinch myself for this one. Pretty much the perfect summary of the last few years. I applaud you Sir.
1) We continually have to wait for kids to develop - so we never have a team fit or ready to do battle for the whole season. 2) WE sell our best players because they want to win trophies and they haven't at Arsenal. The cycle continues. We didn't have this cycle at Highbury because Wenger bought different players. The cycle will continue while Wenger insists with his youth policy.
I doubt he'll fixture much in the remainder of this season, don't really know much about him and didnt expect us to sign anyone yesterday so that fact that we did is a bonus although we will find out just how good he is. If anything it will also add another option in midfield and wenger knows what young players to buy so i don't doubt his judgement there, and hopefully miyachi will do well at bolton the same way wilshere did and come back strong for us next season. But the fact that wilshere has another injury setback is huge, i doubt he will be starting for us before the end of march as stress fractures usually take 6-8 weeks to heal which is a massive blow but who knows hopefully he will be back in time to give us that little push to clinch 4th.
These are statements that are by no means proven and each one needs a leap of faith that I don't have. 1) We always have a team fit and ready. Maybe not the top team, but a team - always. 2) Most of players leaving Arsenal are not the "Best". Even Nasri was not "The Best". Fabregas was the only player in this category and it is only your opinion that he left for trophies. My view is that if Barcelona were a mid-table club he would have left anyway. He grew up wih the players playing at Barcelona right now. 3) I think the cycle continues because that is our strategy. The players we had at Highbury were sold on too when Wenger felt they were past their prime, but we could still get a decent amount of money for them. The difference at Highbury was that there was a much more level playing field in buying and paying players and Wenger was able to exploit that.
Jan 2011 was awesome. Shezza Sagna Kosc Djourou (Epic then) Clichy Fabregas Wilshere Song Walcott Van Persie Nasri That COULD be our best ever squad if they'd all stayed and it was 2014. As it is, I take the 01/02 squad to be the best one.
I've been on holiday for the past week so when I did my usual football catch-up (Arsenal site, not606, bbcsport etc) and I read 'Dortmund player joins Arsenal' as the headline, I got really excited... Still though, I didn't expect any signings and although underwhelming, there's hardly any damage this signing can do so I'll give the lad my full support.
I don't think there was any way we were going to sign Goetze or anyone of similar quality in January. I've heard people whining that we should have signed quality players on the 1st Jan, totally unrealistic pie in the sky thinking imo. January is a notoriously quiet window, clubs don't want to let their best players leave at the best of times, let alone half way through the season. Look around the league, how many top quality signings have been made? It's a mixture of loan deals and cover signings.
If this new fella is decent he will be fast tracked into the first team. Wenger knows we are lacking creativity.
