As an Arsenal fan, I was fucking ashamed to call them my team after watching that game. We were terrible everywhere, from start to finish. I truly hope this result is a blessing in disguise, because the fact that Wenger thinks this team can actually compete for trophies and make the top 4 comfortably is a joke. We're out of the Carling Cup, out of the Champions League after the first leg, were out of the running for the title after the first few weeks of the season and we can barely hang on to fourth spot. Not only that but we play Sunderland in the FA Cup this weekend, and after that performance I'm seriously worried we'll get knocked out of that too.
I respect Wenger for everything he has done for the club as he has been a brilliant manager, but his past success cannot override the fact we're slipping more and more each season since we last won a trophy in 2006. We used to be a team that included many world class players and were just about always a threat for trophies, but now we're a team that buys unknown players, half of whom go bust, whereas the other half develop into top players, players that we end up selling anyway. Perfect example is Samir Nasri. I had never heard of him until we bought him, he is with the club for a few seasons, was our best player last season, then leaves for Man City, a team full of world class players. In a way I can't blame him.
What makes this all so much more worse is the fact we're the fifth richest club in the world. We sell top players for a lot of money, yet Wenger searches through the bargain bin and attempts to pull out a gem that'll reach their potential years later. It's time Wenger grew a set and forked out the cash next season (if he's still around) or it's time for a big change and we bring in a top manager that can rebuild the team and make it a force again by splashing the cash. Top teams NEED to spend money on top class players, but the simple fact is we haven't done that since 2006. Here's the proof:
06/07 - Thierry Henry, Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell leave the club. We bought Eduardo (was often reliable before he suffered that horrendous leg break), Lukasz Fabianski (has constantly made crucial mistakes, therefore never becoming #1 and could be gone at the end of this season), Denilson (has never fulfilled his potential and will be sold at the end of the season), William Gallas (was a great addition due to his experience) and Alex Song (only developed into a good player in the past two seasons).
Grade: Fail. Song has taken too long to become a good player, Fabianski and Denilson are duds and unfortunately Eduardo was a shadow of the player he once was after that leg break.
07/08 - Jens Lehmann, Jose Reyes and Freddie Ljungberg leave the club. We bought Samir Nasri (developed into a world class player), Bacary Sagna (often our most consistent defender) and Aaron Ramsey (has begun to fulfill his potential, but is too inconsistent for my liking). We also bought Lassana Diarra but sold him by the end of the season after never playing. He is now at Real Madrid.
Grade: Pass, but only because Lehmann and Ljungberg couldn't offer much anymore, making their losses not that substantial.
08/09 - Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Hleb and Gilberto Silva leave the club. We bought Andrei Arshavin (somebody who was great his first two seasons but has declined his next two and will be sold at the end of the season) and Mikel Silvestre (was never close to getting into the first team and was wayyyyy past his prime).
Grade: Easy Fail considering how fantastic Flamini and Hleb were playing at the time.
09/10 - Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure leave the club. We bought Thomas Vermaelen (currently our best centre-back and vice-captain) and Sol Campbell (free agent in Janaury, was, at times, beneficial for the remainder of that season).
Grade: 50/50. We didn't replace Adebayor, but did replace Toure.
10/11 - William Gallas, Eduardo, Sol Campbell and Phillipe Senderos are the only notable players sold, but Eduardo was a shadow of the player he once was, Campbell was only signed for six months, and Senderos was never close to getting into the first team. We bought Marouane Chamakh (first half of that season was awesome, has been shit ever since), Laurent Koscielny (has had a fantastic season thus far), Sebastien Squillaci (complete dud buy, just like Silvestre, gone at the end of the season) and Ryo Miyaichi (has shown glimpses of brilliance, but hasn't been close to the first team yet and therefore is out on loan).
Grade: Pass. Koscielny has been great and Miyaichi is a player for the future (although we need players that are top class right now), but both make up for our minor losses.
11/12 - I'm gonna assess this differently considering it's currently this season. I'm gonna compare our losses to their replacements:
- Gael Clichy and Armand Traore sold, Andre Santos bought. Grade: Fail. Santos is bad defensively but good offensively, often leaving us with 3 defenders when he plays, whereas Clichy has been in and out of the City first team and Traore was a mainstay in the QPR team for a while.
- Emmanuel Eboue sold, Carl Jenkinson bought. Grade: 50/50. Eboue was average and never played, whereas Jenkinson was beginning to play well in Sagna's absence before being injured himself.
- Cesc Fabregas sold, Mikel Arteta bought. Grade: 50/50. It's Fabregas, so unless his replacement was world class than it was never gonna be a Pass. Not to take away from Arteta though, who has been one of our best players this season, which is why the grade isn't a Fail.
- Samir Nasri sold, Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain bought. Grade: 50/50. Gervinho makes terrible decisions in front of goal and hasn't scored enough, whereas Oxlade-Chamberlain has been fantastic when he has played. Nasri has been in and out of the City first team, but only because their team is full of world class players.
- We also bought Per Mertesacker (frequent player for Germany, has been alright this season) and Park Chu-Young (has appeared twice in the Carling Cup, scored a great goal in one game, but is a dud buy).
Overall Grade: Fail. Three 50/50's and a Fail, as well as an alright centre-back buy and a dud forward, makes this a Fail.
Overall Transfer Grade: Fail. One Easy Fail, two Fails, a 50/50 and two passes that come only because of the players sold not being/no longer are world quality makes this very disappointing to see. Combine this with a lot of reserve buys that I saw, many of whom are already gone or haven't been close to the first team and it's clear to see we have issues with buying players. It can all be summed up with this:
IN: Alex Song, Bacary Sagna, Aaron Ramsey, Andrei Arshavin, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mikel Arteta, Gervinho and Per Mertesacker
OUT: Thierry Henry, Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Jens Lehmann, Freddie Ljungberg, Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Hleb, Gilberto Silva, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, William Gallas, Gael Clichy, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri
Yep.
