Arsene Wenger is a hugely intelligent man, of that there is no doubt. I do think that he has noticed a flaw in his plans though. Foreign youngsters will always want to return to their homeland at some point.
However, purchasing English talent, especially from smaller clubs could be even more successful if the quality of the player matches that of a foreign born youngster. The homesickness isn’t there, the desire to play for their original club will be suppressed by playing at one of Europe’s top clubs.
For all the class that Cesc Fabregas has, he was always going to return to Barcelona. We may miss out on his very best years as a player despite working with him for as long as Barcelona did.
Bringing through English youngsters should in theory give them a bigger bond with the club which means they are less willing to break that. There will always be bad apples like Ashley Cole but could you really see Jack Wilshere sneaking off to Barcelona or Real Madrid?
It is a move in the right direction from the boss in my opinion and bringing in Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn’t got my vote from a footballing point of view the fact that he is now looking at English youth rather than going abroad can only be a good thing. A happy medium looks like it has been hit and I can’t wait to see the results.
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I have now seen a full re-run of the game and was so impressed with the pressing of Wigan, we repeatedly hemmed them in and it wasn’t just closing them down, it was closing them down at the right angle.
They hunted in packs and the forward surges from Jack Wilshere added extra impetus down the middle with Nasri and Theo providing that out wide. The performances of van Persie, Cesc and Alex Song were top draw.
Clichy also stood out.
I said earlier in the season that a string of 10 wins would win a team the title, this team can do that. That would take us up to the 23rd April if we don’t reach the FA Cup semi-final. There are some tricky games in there but none against title rivals, the Liverpool and Everton games look tasty but we are more than capable of beating both of them.
We can win this title and now is our chance to do it.
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Wenger always wanted a core of English players brought up as kids within the club. The first real group was the Bentley, Sidwell era, who just were not going to forge past the best team the club has ever had.
The current crop have been there since before they were teens, that means that the Academy recruited them just a few years after Wenger arrived, and really the only fair group he can be judged on. Either way, the media perception of what he really wants is way off target, English players have always been what he wanted, but English that have the DNA of the seniors.
Don’t forget we’ll still have to play Manchester United at the Ems.
I personally do think that wenger stance on english talent has changed because he always has stated that he would sign a player regardless of their passport consistently, however I just think that the last decade there has not been a wide talent pool for technical players that would suit our style of play, therefore we just had to develop our own player like jack, kieron and hopefully JET and buy like with the case of theo.
and good shout on the performance of the fulback and the team in particular.
That is the game after the 23rd April.
I believe Wenger is looking at Chamberlain for his footballing talent and NOT for being English. Players attitude as they become stars are unpredictable. We’ve had Anelka, Bentley and Adebayor and we’ve had Henry, Campbell and Kanu.
Leave it alone, mate -
Why does making an offer for Chamberlain mean he wants more english players?
He bought Walcott
At youth level, he’s brought in Gibbs, Bartley, Edge, Freeman and probably loads of others.
He’s given loads of English guys games, including Theo, LJW, Gibbs, JET, Eastmond, Watt, Hoyte x 2, Frimpong (if he opts for England), Randall, Lansbury, Cruise, Bartley, Bentley -
Loads of guys – most of them just weren’t or aren’t yet (hopefully) good enough.
Wenger isn’t biased against English players – it’s just that if you want to compete in the Prem and the CL you need the best players in the world not the best players in england (who are also for some unknown reason also overpriced).
As for them being more loyal, I don’t know where this comes from. You can bang on about Cesc aving Barca DNA all you like (you can go and support them if you like, they play very good, interesting tippy tappy football sometimes and they may well knock Arsenal out in the next round) but he has only ever played for Arsenal and he is still here omn a long contract. Is it impossible for you guys to wait for things to happen (e.g. signing Chamberlain) before dcommenting on it and its implications?
Clichy, Song, Bendtner, Denilson, Gilberto, Viera, Ljungberg, Bergkamp, RvP, Henry, Lauren have all shown great loyalyty and most of them have simply left when they couldn’t get in the team anymore.
Did Muamba or Bentley hang around because they were English – or at other clubs Rooney, Lampard, Ferdinand and the other English guys at West Ham, Waddle, Gascoigne, Lineker the list is endless.
When you’ve got some evidence that English players are more loyal and deserve a place in the first team, maybe just maybe write something like this.
On the other hand,
Nice one Chris.
True Wenger has always given opportunities for young English players and I don’t think this has got anything to do with a change. He still has many great foreign youngsters on the books & is still buying them – Miyaichi, Silva and may be Hazard + a whole lot more.
Still he has to pay more for English youngsters with obvious class – but imagine if he did a ManCity or Chelski for Walcott today – $25m plus would be the price. It’s cheaper to buy early if you are certain of your estimate of value – he’ll get a few wrong but a lot right.
If there is one thing that will have Wenger paying a bit more for young English talent it will be the desire for future squads to keep within homegrown rules. And at Arsenal that means getting the best young talent otherwise they don’t make the squad!
I don’t think his stance has changed at all.. he signed the talent he thought was best.. and this shows that he looks at talent rather than nationality.. he doesn’t prefer the locals to the foreigners or vice versa. He cares about talent. God bless you Wenger.
You’re all missing a valuable point here:-
One of the significant drivers why Wenger is bringing English youth through is not down to footballing talent or loyalty. It’s becuase of the new UEFA ruling on homegrown talent.
The opening line of this article (“Arsene Wenger is a hugely intelligent man”) suggests that, whilst true, he is just moving with the times.
Whilst many of the overseas players classify as homegrown (due to the number of years playing for the club), he has always said that he would like to buy homegrown – but only at the right price. The purchase of Oxlade-Chamberlain is a testament to this…..
cesc is a smart guy,he only need to have a look at the players ho left 4 other clubs and what happen to them.plus just have a look at mascherano the guy is argentina skiper and he cannot fit anywhere near the 1st team.xavi is 30 iniesta is 26 villa is 29 messi is well.and he cannot fill in 4 pedro as they r not similar players.the others r all ahead of him im the national team.so really why on earth will he leave what he got which is massive??
Just because Cesc problem you said english player is more loyal, that was crap, at least Cesc is still at Arsenal. Lampard, J. cole jump ship when Chelsea offer more money. Rooney only stay when MU nearly double his salary when he know that Mu financial is not so good. and latest Bent jump ship too right when he have much more at current club.
I feel Chris has a point, think about the likes of Bent, Milner, Gareth Barry all of them were playing at a good level and had aspirations for Europe when suiters came in and unlike cesc the clubs that wanted their services weren’t by far their boyhood clubs nor were they European powerhouses and yet you could tell by these players’ on field performances that they wanted out. On the other hand look at Cesc who has been courted by barca for so long but week in week out he fights for us on the field, he puts in a 100% for the club that has nurtured him for so long and I feel we must respect him for that such loyalty cannot be bought.
p.s sorry for the long sentences
Thanks Jimmie, you’ve just blown the writers theories and assumptions out of the water…wateva the saying is.
Where is our centre half arsene?,never mind this kid from southampton,why not buy for now arsene instead of always buying for the future.Also arsene why are you never playing c.vela when he is a young gifted player with obvious ability,dont make a fool of him let him go somewhere permanently or play him.We have already aqquired the services of ryo.miyaichi and wellington.silva for the future and walcott is very young,so is this chamberlain alleged signing needed,i dont think so.Its so clear where our current weaknesses are so please address them arsene.
I am not Ashley Coles’s biggest fan but I do sometimes think we are quick to slaughter him. you label him as a bad apple and that is fine.
However he was told by Wenger and Dein he would be getting a contract worth £55k a week. This was agreed face to face and in principal. Then they ring him up and tell him “No it’s £50k a week”
I know the story about him nearly crashing his Bentley and the reduction is only £5k a week and he still gets £50k the greedy XXXX. BUT Wenger is meant to be a man of his word, I seriously could never imagine Wenger agreeing a deal in principle face to face with Denilson, Diaby, Arshavin etc etc. then at the 11th hour backing out!
To this day I blame Wenger and Dein for allowing the Worlds best left back to get tapped up and leave to that lot at the Fulham bus stop!
According to The Telegraph, at the weekend, Arsenal have fifty six members of the Academy. What does it say to those youngsters when the club go out and buy a seventeen year-old from Southampton for £10 million.
If the Academy can’t supply good enough players for the first team what’s the point of spending the money on it.
Bollocks to ashley cole being the worlds best left back thats nonsense.We got the best years out of him anyway.We have younger better left backs in clichy and gibbs,no one needs a player like him who has been disloyal in all aspects of his life.He must be crazy to cheat on cheryl she is unbelievably hot and a lovely lady,certainly better off without that prick.Do you think we would have won trophies goonertank if he had of stayed?,because i doubt we would have as the keeper and centre half weaknesses would still have cost us.