Scouts and Signings

[supergeorgegraham]

Just a chance for fans to ask the question about our flop signings. Now if we start with Santos he cost 5 Million and is utter garbage.
Why did we sign this flop when he was in the process of being dropped by Brazil.
Chamkah was free but expensive in wages so again why did we consider him good enough for AFC.
Arshavin was the expensive flop that came with false advertising. He has cost the club a small fortune but we all were decieved on this one.
Squallachi remains the worst defender I have seen and we have also had Silvestre !! How and why did this guy earn money for the last couple of years.
Its too expensive to be making these errors and surely we have a decent scout system so how and why does this keep happening.

[augie]

Just a chance for fans to ask the question about our flop signings. Now if we start with Santos he cost 5 Million and is utter garbage.
Why did we sign this flop when he was in the process of being dropped by Brazil.
Chamkah was free but expensive in wages so again why did we consider him good enough for AFC.
Arshavin was the expensive flop that came with false advertising. He has cost the club a small fortune but we all were decieved on this one.
Squallachi remains the worst defender I have seen and we have also had Silvestre !! How and why did this guy earn money for the last couple of years.
Its too expensive to be making these errors and surely we have a decent scout system so how and why does this keep happening.

For the umpteenth time can I say that arshavin didnt come with false advertising......he came with absolute class and was fcuked about positionally and tactically until he turned into the tubby demotivated lazy player that we currently have on our books. If a manager like pep had him at his peak I have no doubt that he would have become one of the top 5 or 6 players in world football

[GranadaJoe]

Augie said, "For the umpteenth time can I say that arshavin didnt come with false advertising."

No you can't! This is a thread about scouting and signing players, not a Fat Lazy Russian thread.

The other thread about this season's biggest flops has had me thinking. How do so many (all?) clubs make so many mistakes when scouting and signing players? From the succession of crap goalkeepers at Manure a while back, to Helder, Stepanovs etc to this season's Marin, Borini, Kagawa, Sahin to the Victims ability to spend 100 million on dross.

Managers admit to having players watched 20, 30, 40 or more times, yet they still sign them and they turn out to be shit. Are they not seeing the weaknesses of the player, are foreign leagues so different that proper judgement can't be made, do good players become shit when they land at Heathrow?
I can understand taking a punt on a young player who doesn't make the grade, but surely if you for out 15 or 20 million you should being guaranteed a good player. Cue endless examples proving that you're not.

[northbank123]

I think the answer to that is that as managers try to find bargains the risks of scouting increase.

There is always going to be a higher level of risk where you're relying on 'potential' or what a player has produced in a lower/foreign league. Unfortunately, we've been largely relying on a combination of the two, so there are far from any guarantees to our signings.

[franksav63]

When Wenger hires people as scouts with vision like Stevie Wonder, Lennie Peters, Ray Charles and George Boyd you get the likes of Park, Squillachi, Gervinho and Santos.... so the answer to your question is it's Wenger's fault!!!

[QuartzGooner]

I think a club can never entirely predict how a player will adapt to a new cub, new league, new country.

Arshavin and Chamakh were good players before they came, but circumstances were not to their liking at Arsenal and their heads dropped (and in Arshavin's case his waistline expanded).

Both were very different signings from the likes of a Santos though.
Both the former appear to have been watched for a considerable period of time prior to signing, in Arshavin's case he was a very well known player throughout Europe.

But players such as Santos and Park appear to have been panic signings after out defeat at Man Utd.
Gambles really.
Possibly signed after watching hurriedly couriered highlight DVDs?

[TeeCee]

Arsenal scout players in two places the majority of the time - France and Africa. Wenger's comments about Gervinho being the best at ACN was a prime example of the fact that he is OBSESSED by Africans!! Arsenal probably do have great scouts but they are constantly sent to scout on the same rubbish by a myopic senile dictator.

[supergeorgegraham]

I will try and work out how much cash has been wasted but I would not be surprised if we are looking at a figure of around 100 Million.

[Revgoon89]

I've just concluded that the reason we tend to sign so much dross is because of Wengers reputation of being difficult to deal with in the transfer market. He spends so long trying to convince club that we have to do business "his way" and sell players on terms "he wants" that by the time he realizes that the won't tolerate his bullshit there is only a few days left and we have to panic buy. Add that to when something happens at the last minute like the 8-2 defeat or a Gibbs injury and most of the time it's a recipe for disaster, not counting players like Arteta mind, and Nacho looked solid against the Rugby team,

[GranadaJoe]

As much as we may want to highlight the dross that AW has bought, the reality is that every top manager has bought dross, so why can Fergie watcha player 40 times, buy him and then discover he's shit? How can top managers continue to spend squillions on players who can't/don't play?

[I Hate Hleb]

The main difference being that Fergie doesn't need to watch someone 40 times before deciding to buy them and, if they do 'prove to be shit', doesn't then give them 100's of games before getting rid of them. Oh, and unlike Wenger, he does manage to get rid of them once they prove to be of no service to him!!

[northbank123]

Sign players from France and the lower leagues - you take the risk.

Sign players of established quality from England (or next best thing Spain) - risk is reduced hugely.

We keep signing shit players because you can watch somebody play in Ligue 1 (or 2!) 30 times but it's still guesswork as to whether they'll do the business in a faster, more physical league against a far higher calibre of opponents every week.