Football Special Report: Arsenal and their Problems
Arsenal and Arsene Wenger are famous for bringing sublime talents as youngsters to their club and nurture them into world class talents.
It is a phenomenal practice that the club and manager have stuck too but it has a flip side too.
Youngsters with all their talent and verve can never win you a trophy; they can attract praise from every nook and corner but just do not have what it takes to land a Premier League or a Champions League trophy all by themselves. That is where Arsene Wenger is wrong and that is the prime reason why Arsenal have been trophy less for over 5 years now.
To win a title you need a perfect blend of youth and experience, just like Barcelona, They have Bojan Krikic as a 21 year old in their squad but also have Carlos Puyol at 34; they have Pedro as a 20 year old but also have Xavi as a 31 year old.
It is very necessary to strike a perfect balance, which Arsenal have failed to do over the years, yes they play a brand of football that is very easy on the eyes but just playing beautiful football is not enough. Their ‘beautiful football’ was laid bare in front of their own fans in the last year’s Champions League quarter final, when Barcelona, the original artists, ripped the gunners to shreds.
Arsenal’s footballing ethos is beautiful and envious but there are some glaring flaws in their system.
To start with it is their policy of only buying youngsters. It has been 5 years and Arsene Wenger still has not understood the importance of marquee signings. Over the last 5 transfer windows, Arsenal have not bought any big names and have only relied on the youngsters to carry the weight of such high expectations.
However, the youngsters can’t really be blamed as after Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry walked out of the club, there was literally no one at the club to put their arms around the shoulders of young and upcoming players and give them the confidence boost that they needed.
Of course it can be argued that even after the departure of Henry and Vieira there was William Gallas and there was Gilberto Silva but those two have never been the perfect role models specially Gallas given his temperament.
Arsenal have always lacked a big figure in their team that can spur them on the field and give them the confidence and advice off the field and that is what has been hurting Arsenal so badly but Wenger still fails to address the issue.
Arsenal perhaps have the best attacking threat in the Premier League with the likes of Maruane Chamakh, Robin Van Persie, Andrei Arshavin, Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas but they also have the worst medical staff in the history of the Premier League.
If there is any team who needs an overhaul of the medical staff, it’s Arsenal. Injuries have always been Arsenal’s Achilles heel and if they fail to address the issue for another season then they must embrace themselves for another barren year.
So often their player get crooked and so often their medical staff declares them fit again in no time and they get injured again. How many times has it happened to Arshavin, to Van Persie, to Walcott and its high time that Wenger should consider overhauling his medical team.
Arsenal are a beautiful team that is even more beautiful to watch, all they need is just tad bit of fine tuning and they will be up there with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, all that is needed is for Wenger to see what the fans all over can so painfully see.
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