[/quote]I see your point my friend, but am afraid that Wenger's 'eye for talent' disappeared a long, long time ago.
I am not talking about the players so much that Wenger signs as flops - it is more the quality of players that he allowed to let the club miss out on.
I don't wanna rake over old ground, but Dembele for £15 mil was a bloody steal. But no, spend it on Giroud instead.
Signing Giroud and Gervinho for a combined £26 million is a scandalous waste of money, when that £26 million could get you a striker like Llorente, or could be used to bid for a Falcao. Wenger's 'eye for talent' is a thing of the past. Cazrola cost £16.5 mil I read today - so sorry if Mancini can't be given credit for signing Aguero (who I think is value for money) then Wenger gets none for splashing out on Cazorla.
'Eeye for talent' now RVP, he would count as that. How long ago was that? Adebayor that would count too - again though was he not signed in 2006? Who was the last quality player Wenger spotted from relative obscurity? Someone you hadn't heard much of but turned out to be quality?
Those days are long gone my friend, and other managers are now much better at this than Wenger.
I trust what my eyes show me, and the whole of last year at Montpellier despite scoring a fair few, it just reminded me of when Michael Ricketts went on that mental scoring spree: a poor player on a streaky run.
Giroud's problem for me isn't just that he is technically deficient. It's his entire mentality. Wenger himself has alluded to the fact Giroud cannot cope with the pressure at this level!
Giroud is missing because he is 'freezing up' as it is said. He isn't at wee Montpellier anymore, banging in goals against the likes of Evian, Valenciennes and Lorient. He's in a proper league now where there are expectations and he cannot cope with that, which is why he belongs at West Ham or Reading, where they'd be merely glad to survive in the league.
The fact that Giroud shits himself the minute it comes around means he is not cut for the big-time, he is cut for a Montpellier or a Siena.
I have absolutely no idea what he is doing at Arsenal, other than this being yet another case of Wenger deliberately choosing to overpay for a mediocre player, just as a means of using Arsenal to pump cash back into his beloved French football. Sorry but I am finding it so suspicious how Wenger continues to spend ludicrous amounts on French league players who most people know aren't good enough (Gervinho, Giroud) and overpaying for players who were available for peanuts months before he splashed out on them (Koscielny was available for £1 mil, Wenger ends up paying Lorient £10 mil about eleven months later.)
Like I said, we should have gone in for a Benzema, a Jovetic, a Falcao or a Lewandowski. Proper players who have shown their worth in big games in proper leagues and consistently too. Not one season wonders from Montpellier FFS.
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The thing is mate, when did our board ever spend 20m+ on any player? I imagine they took some convincing to even spend 16.5m on Cazorla, a technically brilliant player who was a steal at that price. It is just a reflection of today’s market value for a player of his calibre. To buy a player of that mould 4-5 years younger your easily looking at 20-30m a figure our board are not willing to pay. Just from reading the recent interviews with Hill-Wood/Gazidis, it is clear we will never be bringing in the likes of Falcao, Cavani, Hazard, Benzema and any other big name players you can think of due to their prehistoric ‘club ideology’. I hope, if we win nothing this season, there will be radical changes in that board room. The sad fact is, you need to spend money to win trophies in the modern game, the PL is too strong now. But if we do win the league this season how sweet will it be, knowing it was done the right way...
I disagree about other managers being better than Wenger, bar SAF I rate no one higher. No other manager I can think of could do what he has done with the financial restraints he has had, having to sell our best players every year to rivals. Imagine what he would have achieved if he had the riches of Chelski, City, Madrid, I have no doubts we would running things. The fact he has qualified for CL football consistently for 15 years is phenomenal. What other manager would want his job? He is not at fault for players wishing to leave for more money...You may have a point about Wenger’s ‘eye for talent’ lacking, but perhaps he is tired of working this way, he buys Podoski, Cazorla, Giroud then has to sell RVP and Song to ensure we remain in the black. Our squad looked frightening before our two best players last season were sold. Do you honestly think this was his decision? I don’t. This board just hide behind him...
...Dembele - had we wanted to pursue him we would have. Lets not forget we have Diaby, Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky, Coquelin, who can all do what Dembele does on their day. I just hope Wilshere returns to what he was and fulfils his potential. I’ll admit I was furious too we let him slip, but from what I’ve seen, I dont think we need him, if Spurs come to AG and try to play fooball I’m confident we will tear them apart...
From what I’ve seen of this guy Giroud, he is not Arsenal quality, I agree. You have no idea how much I cursed this prick after the goals he missed / decisions he made. At least our other signings have come good early on. Pod and Caz are demonstrations of quality. One thing Girood will offer us is the chance to revert to a Plan B, something we have not had in recent years. If we play to his strengths when he is on the field which would be in the air he might start scoring, problem is we do not play like that. This needs to be resolved by Wenger/Bould but lets give him time before we write him off. He is a bench warmer for now, and I’d rather a player that cost us 13m warming our bench than a 30m/35m player sitting there...I wasn’t saying berbers was a flop, the geezer is class but just didn’t suit Utd’s style...I’m not sure if he would have been successful at Arsenal given the speed of our attacks...
As for Wenger pumping money into french football, you may be right, I cant really comment. What is clear is that managers always favour players from their homeland, there is no evidence to suggest it is to support their country’s football.
Ok yeah he's at a new club and all that but its not like he's making the transisition from another sport. The ball he seems to have a problem controlling is the same size and shape as it was for him in that same stadium last season so whats the problem?!. 
