In the five years since Arsenal last won major silverware I haven’t once called for Arsene Wenger’s head. You’re more likely to find me hanging with the “Arsene Knows Best” brigade than the boo boys. In fourteen years he has led the club to three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, a Champions League final and a national record for league games unbeaten. Whether you’re an Arsenal fan or not, it’s difficult to argue with those stats.
The one thing that has always puzzled me about Wenger though is his reluctance to invest in defense. Before signing Thomas Vermaelen for £10 million last summer the most he had spent on a center back was £2.5 million for Philippe Senderos.
I’m sure it’s no coincidence then that just a year later he has already paid out a similar amount to secure the services of Laurent Koscielny. It seems that the success of Thomas Vermaelen, and to a lesser extent Andrey Arshavin, has shown Arsene that money talks. Now rumors are rife that he is set to offer Werder Bremen £12 million for their international defender Per Mertesacker.
I would love to say that there’s no smoke without fire, but I think we have all learned otherwise after the Ibrahimovic to Fulham and Puyol to Newcastle rumours. After feeding off scraps for so long though, it’s difficult not to get excited when Arsenal are linked with new players – particularly when the move makes this much sense.
In Vermaelen, Sagna and Clichy the Gunners have a pretty good defensive base, but what all three lack is height. Add in a 6 foot 6 German and you have, on paper at least, a well balanced back four. Mertesacker would bring a physical presence that we have rarely seen during the Wenger regime.
And therein lies the doubt. Campbell, Toure, Vermaelen and Gallas have all enjoyed the adulation of the Emirates/Highbury crowd at some point in their careers, but Sol is the tallest of the bunch at 6 foot 2. Wenger has always favored smaller, mobile center backs. Perhaps his recent signings are a sign of the Frenchman accepting that changes are necessary. Two from Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Djourou and Campbell sounds pretty good to me. Of course, that could all be in vain if they’re forced to play in front of Almunia or Fabianski.
Would you be happy to see Mertesacker and Schwarzer at the Emirates. Or would you take a lower quality center back in exchange for a better goalkeeper? Hit the comment section with your thoughts. Also check out my blog over at http://clintbeefman.wordpress.com .
i would love to have read this article but once i got to the point where you stated wenger had never spent money on defence i got annoyed. so what was sagna? did he just fall out of the sky? or the 20 million pound contract for campbell? lauren? gallas exchanged for a world class leftback?
@guy. I explicitly wrote that Wenger has never spent big on centre backs, otherwise I would have mentioned Lauren. And about the Gallas transfer, I thought it was universally accepted that we got ripped off in that deal?
I think Arsene has known now for a while the players he requires to compete with the big boys. The question is and has always been is he prepared to pay the price. Arsenal football club took a decision five years ago so that they could keep up with the Jones’s. The price in the short term would be to sacrifice any kind of silver wear. Bar a couple of seasons of really bad luck and the lack of protection from referees. I really do believe that we should have won two Premierships in that time. I know many people are laughing at that comment but think about it, the season when we where flying until that assort in Birmingham. And last term what might have been if RVP hadn’t been injured for five months. I think no one knows this better that Messier Wenger, and for that reason will find the final jigsaw piece’s to complete the squad. Wenger’s hardest job in the past five years has been keeping his squad, while adding to it together. Don’t stop believing the right man is at the helm and will steer us to glory.
a goalkeeper is priority if we start with the same 3 keepers were going knowhere never replaced jens for a club of arsenals stature its a joke heads should roll
yes i would like to see both Mertesacker and Schwarzer and if we could get Ozil then there would be no stopping us from winning the Premiership and possibly the Champions League. Then we can bring in Szczesny as number two
As a long time faithful Arsenal fan, I would like to see a high quality goalie who will be there for the long run. Someone in his mid to late 20s signing on for a 5 year contract. But yeah getting Mertesacker would be great too. We also need a strong solid forward.
if he wanted Mertesacker i dont fink he wud av got Koscielny, because i dont believe arsene wud spend 10mil on a player jst 2 warm the bench, but mertesacker wud av cost the same price i dont know why he didnt get him instead right 4rm the start along wiv shwarzer
I think it’s better to have an average center back (who could eventually progress throughout the season or during his career) than a lower quality shot stopper because once a keeper is not good you may concede goals from 30m or just like R Greene did during WCup. I hope that Igor Akinfev move is not just a rumor as he’s someone special and can replace the likes of D Seaman or P Jennings in our heart
i think mertesacker and akinfeev plus maybe gregory van der wiel would make since. obviously we NEED another CB and a goalkeeper. akinfeev is absolutely world class and only 24. mertesacker is also exactly what we need. a strong, tall German. offensively i believe we are okay but we need a few more defensive signings. since sagna is basically the only RB we have i think van der wiel would be a fantastic addition as he is young and he came from the famous ajax youth academy. he also proved his skill in the world cup. these three players added and arsenal would be very fearsome!
Roshan, I think Chamakh might be the strong centre forward you’re looking for. Very solid, pacey and decent in the air, he’s the kind of forward Arsenal have lacked. He’ll do a good job. As for goalkeepers, I think Wenger should have a look at Allan McGregor at Rangers. They’re selling all their players because they’re broke and he would certainly be a step up from both Almunia and Fabianski. Champions League experience as well as playing for a big club. He’d be a good shout as a potential solution to the gk problem.
People are talking as if 12 m would buy Mertesacker for sure. His current club is not offering him around and has also only three center backs in rotation right now and with absolutely no external pressure to sell at all, they are not about to sell the head of their defense for that much under value.