The arrival of German International Lukas Podolski from FC
Koln marked a change in Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy. The signing of the £11 million rated striker would be the
peak of the change in the way players are bought into the club. But this change
is not sudden, it did not start overnight. Maybe the actual spark was the 8-2
humiliation at the hands of Manchester United that hit Arsene right at his head;
it really must have nerved him to watch his team lose so badly at the hands of
his long-standing rival, Sir Alex Ferguson.
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| Dejection |
That loss saw the panic button being pressed and saw Wenger
bringing in a plethora of players (Park Chu Young,Mikel Arteta,Andre Santos,Per
Mertesacker).Till that day,he had made only what you would call ‘ Wenger
Signings’ which included Alex ‘Ox’ Chamberlain,Gervinho,Joel Campbell and Carl
Jenkinson,all great talents, unproven and young. The difference in the two groups
of players were easily identifiable, the second set,the ones bought after the
8-2 loss were all older and more experienced.
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| Change of ways?? |
Out went the regular scrimmaging for a bargain and a more
readiness to pay the top dollar for the proven talent was seen in the old
warhorse. It looked like he is more ready to pay money to get his targets before
other teams come in and swoop away a deal. This also shows with his dealing in
the current season. He already has secured Podolski and looks to add Yann
M’vila, Shinji Kagawa and Matias Suarez to the ranks. All reputed and proven
names (maybe the exception of Suarez, but what would Wenger be if he can’t
bring in at least one gem??)
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| New-Boy Lukas |
Seven seasons without a trophy would be enough
for any person to take a change, and this has been long enough for Wenger and
this could be part-II of Wenger’s reign at Arsenal. There are many reasons
being said, some say it was the move from Highbury and the debt that followed.
Some would say the loss of several high profile players in the span of 2-3
years. All this together forced Wenger to build a squad deeply based on Youth
Development and Shrewd Bargain Buys and hoping that the team chemistry and raw
hunger among the players would help them win trophies. Somewhere along the way,
Wenger lost the plot, that foundation he built never had the strength to mount
a serious challenge. There were moments of greatness but there was never enough
substance for them to ever become serious enough. Each time, the failure was
more hard to take and more players kept leaving off for ‘Greener Pastures’.
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| More to come? |
Now it seems that the time has passed and Wenger is making a
very hard effort to keep his best players and sign more well-accomplished ones. Wenger was heard saying that he wanted to build another invincible squad
and I and rest of the gooner community hope that this is the dawn of a new age
at the Grove.
For some of you viewers who are interested, Podolski's first interview as an Arsenal Player.
