From Rhys Jaggar
You’re not totally accurate that Wenger’s way won’t work.
It works if he has a defence that already knows how to defend and if the strong characters can’t be forced out of the club.
George Graham taught Adams et al how to defend, so what Wenger did for them was to extend their shelf-life with his diets, stretching etc etc. He didn’t need to shout at anyone because Tony Adams would do it anyway. He knew he couldn’t ease Adams out because Tony had led the side to 6 trophies and he was unknown in England.
As I see it, he can create, nurture left backs (Ashley Cole, Clichy less so, Gibbs jury’s still out but looks good) but not Centre Backs. He bought Campbell, Gallas, Vermaelen fully ready. They did well. Toure learned from Campbell, Djourou, Koscielny and Squillaci are mostly needing to learn on the job. He’s not groomed a right back yet: Hoyte, Eboue didn’t really bloom there, Sagna and Lauren were already what they were for Arsenal. You’d have thought Pat Rice would be able to do that…….
He can nurture creative midfielders but he can’t nurture defensive ones. Gilberto Silva was a World Cup winner when he arrived, Flamini left because they treated him with disrespect over his contract. Song maybe the one, but only if he accepts he’s not Fabregas. He can nurture wing-halves, notably Pires and Ljungberg.
He can nurture second strikers but can he nurture old-fashioned number 9s? Man Utd play as silkily as anyone, but Giggs, Ronaldo, Nani, Rooney can all cross a ball properly and folks like Berbatov, Vidic and Ferdinand know how to get on the end of those crosses. Chamakh has done it well a few times, but crossing a ball hasn’t been Arsenal’s forte the past 5 years, any more than corners were. Can Gibbs, Wilshere, Arshavin, van Persie or Nasri do it? Because if they can, why is it left to Sagna and Clichy??
You have a few choices in that situation: you build a team of coaches who can fill in the gaps for you, so you can hire up-and-coming guys in all positions; you buy experienced players in positions you can’t coach so well; or you buy experienced players who can teach their colleagues say at right back.
What you don’t do is fail to acknowledge your own weaknesses.
When he had:Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Vieira, Silva, Cole, Campbell in the 2004 side, he had 7 world class players. He had a very good goalkeeper, a very good right back, a very good young centre back and a very good left half.Unless you have £500m to spend, you’ll be lucky to be blessed with 7 world-class players each season.
Which means you must make more of what you do have. Not less.
That’s where the discussions between Wenger and the Board should be going right now.
Because right now he has two world class players: Fabregas and Nasri.
Four or five with world-class potential with the rest very good, good, or average.When that analysis is done, you’ll see why recreating 2002 – 2005 isn’t immediately obvious.Unless he maximises the effectiveness of the squad he has got. And adds to it for the purpose of winning trophies, not growing yet another creative midfield teenager.
Time will tell, I guess.