Arsenal fans still delirious after the emphatic routing of European champions AC Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday could be forgiven for thinking their team — young and undoubtedly among the most talented — are strong enough now to win everything .
But before getting too carried away, they should heed the words of Spanish talisman Cesc Fabregas just minutes after his strike took the Premier League leaders to the quarter-finals of the Champions League:
“We don’t have 25 internationals like Chelsea so we were never going to be able to challenge for all four trophies but we’re still in contention for the two that really matter.”
For all the promise of Arsene Wenger’s youthful squad – average age 24 — the plain truth is that it is now too small to allow the north London club to become a dominant force in European football. Their core players are certainly talented enough to beat anyone, if they are all fit and available, but the normal round of injuries, suspensions and international duty can bite.
At one point in January while Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue were away at the Africa Nations Cup, Wenger had just 14 players available at a time when Arsenal were in contention for the FA Cup, League Cup and also trying to defend top spot in the Premier League. They were hammered in both cups.
A couple of years ago, Wenger could plead poverty to explain the size of his squad as coffers were drained by construction of a new 430 million pound ($850 million) home ground.
But with the 60,000-seater Emirates Stadium producing as much as $5 million per match and cash no longer an issue, that cannot be an excuse.
Ironically, it may be one of Wenger’s key strengths that is now holding Arsenal back: his fondness for a close band of players whose team spirit is so strong they look more like members of a family than staff of a multinational corporation.
That spirit is helped by the fact that the squad is small. The top players know they play as long as they are fit. Wenger doesn’t rotate players in the manner of Alex Ferguson at Manchester United or Avram Grant at Chelsea.
He can’t because he doesn’t have enough of them. But if Arsenal are to realise their promise and become one of the world’s great teams, that is going to have to change.
Is Arsene Wenger a good enough manager to run a really big team with Fabregas’s “25 internationals” — and 25 egos that don’t like being left out of the big games?
Chris Johnson, London
PHOTO: Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger during their Champions League win at AC Milan. March 4 REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
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7 comments so far
he can but only if he put priority in all the cups including the small ones. A good Manager to rate the every game as important to excite football funs. We are all behind him. Wenger is driven by football passing but he he to put drive and passion first to achieve all on national and international scene. With the money available now let him inject some strentgh in defence and strike force, the mid is fine so far.
- Posted by NelsonI think if he is able to win either the EPL title or the Champs League that would be a pretty strong indicator that his team is great. The difficulty is that they are young and with success they will want more money and some players might seek other clubs who will give them the big dollars. I think the only reason people are questioning Arsenal right now is because their lineup is unconventional but it appears to work. I think he is definitly capable.
http://futbolinks.blogspot.com
- Posted by billI can’t agree with Bill about the need to go out and buy big name players-why is this an obsession with certain people as though it answers everything-Spurs, Liverpool Chelsea and Man. Utd all seem to have to get success this way but Wengers team are top of the league their young players are very talented and will improve every year. they also have experience Gallas, Toure, both goalkeepers, Rosicky (he’s 27 which is a good age for premiership)Fabregas has been playing for 4 seasons also Flamini, both have played in a European final Hleb is in his mid twenties-the team lacks experience? I dont think so.I believe that this side will prove to be the best of all Wengers teams so far.
- Posted by FRANKArsenal will win EPL this season by 2 points..keep waiting till May when all Manu and Chelsea fans will cry…I am sure that this will be our year..GO GUNNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Posted by GunnerForeverWe may have the cashflow, but we also still have the debt and have yet to crystallise those real estate gains. Expect our spending on players to grow in the next few years, once we’ve cut our creditors down to size. The mark of Wenger’s greatness is surely Arsenal’s capacity to remain competitive by playing beautiful football in the era of BIG MONEY while moving to a new home.
- Posted by El CidI dunno if we’ll win the CPL and EPL this year, but we might and we certainly will in the future under his tutelage.
We are going places and we don’t need to take an oligarch along for the ride. The sooner Usmanov realises that, the better.
Wenger has already made Arsenal great.
- Posted by Joe KellyAs a Chelsea fan I hate to say it but quite simply, yes he is.
- Posted by Betting Blue BoyHe’s been at the club for a long time now, knowing the place inside out and even getting a say in the final design of their new stadium, the one thing that I have to question is his ability to seal the deal so to speak when it comes to making Arsenal a great side.
The youngsters he and his team have hand picked and nurtured into the players we see today and the ability to do this time after time is something no other manager has managed at any level of football for such a sustained period of time but it’s getting that final ounce of determination to finish the job off which he has missed during his entire tenure in North London.
With the likes of Fabregas and Gallas though, he has a team full of talent with the backbone and grit they have been missing. If this team is to become great, now is the time.