Wenger - Why do I have to buy a £40m player?
By Richard Clarke
Big names mean little to Arsène Wenger.
Saturday’s defeat at Fulham has seen the media clamour rise even higher for a major signing at Emirates Stadium. But the Arsenal manager remains defiant that his squad is strong enough to compete at the highest level and one new addition will not make a major difference on his own.
The Frenchman is still chasing a defensive midfielder before the transfer deadline closes on September 1. But, speaking at Tuesday’s press conference ahead of the Champions League tie with Twente, Wenger was straight to the point.
“There are no names and there is no news,â€
Wenger - Why do I have to buy a £40m player?
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Basil is a Gooner
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Who's talking about spending £30m-£40m - Just a few quid on that guy Defensive McMidfieldson, a centre back who can head and move and an Irish keeper would do. 
I don't know whether this is all a front now or what AW genuinely beleves. Guess I will find out when he writes about it after he finishes.
I don't know whether this is all a front now or what AW genuinely beleves. Guess I will find out when he writes about it after he finishes.
We dont need a £40m player
More Spin from AW.
He also says that he sees this squad play great in training and it's about transfering their form in training to a real match...
This is getting really boring, every manager has to work this out. But what he doesnt seem to understand is that in training the squad are only playing themselves. Where is the test in that, how do they improve?
The scenario we are left with is that we have someone like Denilson who is a good player, but far from great ( far from Arsenal first team material)
does not have any real competition for his place. What motivation does he have to keep improving, who is going to keep him honest?
We dont need a £40m player, but we could do with 4 £10m players - what about this lot for starters - Shaun Wright Phillips, Niko Krancjar, Michael Johnson, Tim Cahill.
He also says that he sees this squad play great in training and it's about transfering their form in training to a real match...
This is getting really boring, every manager has to work this out. But what he doesnt seem to understand is that in training the squad are only playing themselves. Where is the test in that, how do they improve?
The scenario we are left with is that we have someone like Denilson who is a good player, but far from great ( far from Arsenal first team material)
does not have any real competition for his place. What motivation does he have to keep improving, who is going to keep him honest?
We dont need a £40m player, but we could do with 4 £10m players - what about this lot for starters - Shaun Wright Phillips, Niko Krancjar, Michael Johnson, Tim Cahill.
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gas_face_gooner
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well gotta agree with what most are saying wenger needs to realise no fan is asking for a '£40mil' player just one maybe two 10-15mil players (such as the names del75 mentions more krancjer and johnson though!!)
now if we can't afford a 15mil player then we have a right to know this and the board and AW should stop leading us on a merrydance!!!
now if we can't afford a 15mil player then we have a right to know this and the board and AW should stop leading us on a merrydance!!!
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I Hate Hleb
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Spot on!!g88ner wrote:Another attempt by Wenger to undermine the opinion of the fans by going from one extreme (buying no one) to the other extreme (spending £40m)
Nobody said spend £40m Arsene, but we have a couple of major flaws in our team...so if you have any money, then please sort these flaws out.
Re: We dont need a £40m player
Looks like that one could be on - Portsmouth have just announced that he is to undergo knee surgery and will be out for 12 weeks.del75 wrote:We dont need a £40m player, but we could do with 4 £10m players - what about this lot for starters - Shaun Wright Phillips, Niko Krancjar, Michael Johnson, Tim Cahill.
Add 3 more months on to that and you have a deal
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QuartzGooner
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On the other hand he normally slates us (the fans) for suggesting that he spend £100 million on a player. 
So he is becoming more realistic
The fact that no one I've read or heard, has ever suggested £100 million or £40 million or £30 million is of course beside the point.
Or maybe Wenger thinks all players go for £40 million ? But I doubt if that's the case as he would surely have noticed the discrepancy between that and what we get for all the players we keep selling.
So he is becoming more realistic
The fact that no one I've read or heard, has ever suggested £100 million or £40 million or £30 million is of course beside the point.
Or maybe Wenger thinks all players go for £40 million ? But I doubt if that's the case as he would surely have noticed the discrepancy between that and what we get for all the players we keep selling.
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Its Up 4 Grabs Now
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But didn’t he say this in response to being asked by the press how he felt about Chelsea buying Robinho & United getting Berbatov for about £30m each?
I’m not sure how that would make it an attempt to undermine us and our opinion. It wasn’t like the EboueParlour-gate incident at the shareholders meeting where he was answering fans’ questions.
There’s a certain amount of spin that’s probably a necessary evil when dealing with the press in that if he’d come out and said anything that could even be interpreted as "we need to spend some money too or we’re fucked" imagine how the press would’ve run with that story.
Wenger would’ve essentially written off the players we do have and if (or more likely when ) we don’t get a new signing for whatever reason he’s then got to go back to those same players that we’re left with and convince them he believes in them in order to at least get the best result out of them we can.
I’m not sure how that would make it an attempt to undermine us and our opinion. It wasn’t like the EboueParlour-gate incident at the shareholders meeting where he was answering fans’ questions.
There’s a certain amount of spin that’s probably a necessary evil when dealing with the press in that if he’d come out and said anything that could even be interpreted as "we need to spend some money too or we’re fucked" imagine how the press would’ve run with that story.
Wenger would’ve essentially written off the players we do have and if (or more likely when
) we don’t get a new signing for whatever reason he’s then got to go back to those same players that we’re left with and convince them he believes in them in order to at least get the best result out of them we can.-
I Hate Hleb
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But why does it always have to be an extreme example to try and prove the point? Why does Wenger strengthening the squad translate into a public admittence that "we're fucked"? 
Don't you think it could actually boost the squad if we managed to buy a couple of experienced players to go with the good youngsters? Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the players themselves are thinking "we need a couple of additions if we're going to seriously challenge".
Everyone - bar Wenger it seems - can see that our squad needs a couple of experienced additions. Wenger 'not seeing' things? Oh the irony!! If it wasn't so serious, it would be very, very funny!!
Don't you think it could actually boost the squad if we managed to buy a couple of experienced players to go with the good youngsters? Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the players themselves are thinking "we need a couple of additions if we're going to seriously challenge".
Everyone - bar Wenger it seems - can see that our squad needs a couple of experienced additions. Wenger 'not seeing' things? Oh the irony!! If it wasn't so serious, it would be very, very funny!!
Good post IHH..sums it up, really.I Hate Hleb wrote:But why does it always have to be an extreme example to try and prove the point? Why does Wenger strengthening the squad translate into a public admittence that "we're fucked"?
Don't you think it could actually boost the squad if we managed to buy a couple of experienced players to go with the good youngsters? Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the players themselves are thinking "we need a couple of additions if we're going to seriously challenge".
Everyone - bar Wenger it seems - can see that our squad needs a couple of experienced additions. Wenger 'not seeing' things? Oh the irony!! If it wasn't so serious, it would be very, very funny!!
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Its Up 4 Grabs Now
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I Hate Hleb wrote:
Hold on, I 100% agree that we need to sign a bare minimum of one new player, preferably experienced, and good players more often than not cost a lot of money. I’m not disputing any of that for one second and have voiced my opinion to that extent before.
My point was never that actually buying these players would be detrimental to the squad or that the squad wouldn’t be boosted by new arrivals. It was that if he comes out and declares publicly that we need to or else we’re fucked (or words to that effect) but then doesn’t manage to actually do so (which we all agree is looking increasingly likely) then in that case he would have essentially written off the players we are left with as not good enough. Which probably would be to the detriment of the squad, even if we all know in reality they aren’t good enough as things stand.
Ultimately my point was that personally I believe Wenger surely can see that we need quality reinforcements (and if he cant then maybe it really is time for him to go!) but that to a certain extent you have to temper what you say and how you say it when talking to the press.
The extreme examples Wenger uses I agree are annoying and often self-defeating. I said on another thread only yesterday I’m increasingly baffled by some of the things he’s said this summer. But I do think people are taking some of his quotes a bit too literally (ie the “too busyâ€
But why does it always have to be an extreme example to try and prove the point? Why does Wenger strengthening the squad translate into a public admittence that "we're fucked"?
Don't you think it could actually boost the squad if we managed to buy a couple of experienced players to go with the good youngsters? Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the players themselves are thinking "we need a couple of additions if we're going to seriously challenge".
Everyone - bar Wenger it seems - can see that our squad needs a couple of experienced additions. Wenger 'not seeing' things? Oh the irony!! If it wasn't so serious, it would be very, very funny!!
Hold on, I 100% agree that we need to sign a bare minimum of one new player, preferably experienced, and good players more often than not cost a lot of money. I’m not disputing any of that for one second and have voiced my opinion to that extent before.
My point was never that actually buying these players would be detrimental to the squad or that the squad wouldn’t be boosted by new arrivals. It was that if he comes out and declares publicly that we need to or else we’re fucked (or words to that effect) but then doesn’t manage to actually do so (which we all agree is looking increasingly likely) then in that case he would have essentially written off the players we are left with as not good enough. Which probably would be to the detriment of the squad, even if we all know in reality they aren’t good enough as things stand.
Ultimately my point was that personally I believe Wenger surely can see that we need quality reinforcements (and if he cant then maybe it really is time for him to go!) but that to a certain extent you have to temper what you say and how you say it when talking to the press.
The extreme examples Wenger uses I agree are annoying and often self-defeating. I said on another thread only yesterday I’m increasingly baffled by some of the things he’s said this summer. But I do think people are taking some of his quotes a bit too literally (ie the “too busyâ€
