May 09 2008
Arsenal In Trouble
Arsene Wenger’s young Arsenal squad seems to be hanging by a thread at this point. Having already been faced with the defection of Mathieu Flamini, Arsenal could also possibly stand to lose Hleb, Fabregas, and Adebayor. Hleb announced his plans, this week, to leave the club in the off season. Adebayor has said he won’t remain with Arsenal unless they ink a deal for him to make £80,000 a week, and Real Madrid have stated that they are willing to go to any price to buy midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
As things are shaping up now, it’s beginning to look as though manager Arsene Wenger is losing his grip on the squad he almost lead to glory. But there really are no surprises here, as they are a team filled with young players, and with Wenger failing to deliver success, it was only a matter of time before someone was going to leave. Which calls into question the Wenger philosophy. Arsene keeps claiming his concept works and that he doesn’t need to spend as much money as other top flight clubs, that his team only needs more experience. But four years have gone by now, since they won the league, and four years of trying one system without success, means there’s something wrong with your strategy.
In other interesting news of the day, Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has been called to London to meet with club owner Mike Ashley, to explain himself for comments made before the match with Chelsea on Monday. Keegan, who was brought in mid-season to hopefully retain his Newcastle success of previous years, came under scrutiny for saying that it would take years for his club to even make an attempt at cracking the top four. The manager stated that even with a large amount of financial support, it’s still unlikely that any club will be able to break into the top spots for some time.
Keegan even went so far as to call the Premier League boring, in mid-week, saying that the top four have been the same for six years, causing little to no competition in the title race. The Newcastle manager of course came under fire for these comments as well, with League officials defending the Premiership as being the highest rated League in the world. Basically saying, why would so many people watch the Premiership if it’s boring?
I would have to agree, though the top four have been the same for a few years now, that’s part of the Premiership. The same club that’s going on a good run today, could be in relegation trouble a short while from now. Just look at Arsenal, if they keep going at the same pace, there’s no way Wenger is going to crack the top four. What if Manchester United lose Sir Alex Ferguson after this year, bringing in a different manager could gut the squad and destroy their winning edge.
Teams go on successful runs, just look at the Liverpool of the past, the team that holds the English record for titles. With the exception of two Champions League final appearances, they can’t buy a trophy anymore.
