After the pitiful 1-0 reverse against Fulham on Saturday, Arsène Wenger offered a response that will be infuriatingly familiar to Arsenal fans: “When you lose a game the solution is not always to buy.”
The great man is right, of course. It would be ridiculous to wade into the transfer market every time you suffered a defeat. Not only would it pull the carpet of confidence from under your current players, it would also display a complete lack of understanding that all teams occasionally have an off-day.
The worrying thing about Wenger’s statement is that it seems to be preparing us all for yet another underproductive transfer window. It wasn’t long ago that Wenger gave assurances that he would definitely be bringing in a quality, preferably experienced midfielder to replace the departed Mathieu Flamini and share the burden of expectation with the over-relied upon Cesc Fabregas. Now it looks as if he is attempting to backtrack on this promise.
It is not clear whether the change in stance represents a change of opinion about the need for a new player, a change in the Club’s financial position, or a strategy designed to disguise the lack of suitable and available players. My instinct tells me it is the last of the three. There is no reason to suppose any change to the Club’s finances and there has been little on the pitch to convince the manager that the team can cope without a new addition. The likelihood is, therefore, that Wenger has been unable to find “the right player at the right price” – a rule he rarely, if ever, considers breaking.
For Wenger, it is better to buy no-one than to buy the wrong one. This is undoubtedly a wise approach, but it becomes a problem when your criteria for what makes someone right are too exacting. Wenger feels he has to study every aspect of a player’s game before he parts with significant sums. This explains his success rate with respect to new signings, but it also explains the relative inactivity of Arsenal FC compared to her main rivals.
Wenger hates to “panic buy”, but the reality is that when time begins to run out in the transfer window, there is little option but to act quickly. Scouring for the very best deal money can buy invariably leaves one empty-handed, and it is for this reason that Arsenal are likely to begin September with the very same squad they have at present.
This will worry and annoy Arsenal fans because it has been all too predictable – and avoidable. It has been apparent since the departures of Flamini, Gilberto and Hleb that the squad needed quality replacements, but those have not materialised. The players that have come in have huge potential but they are unlikely to step up to the plate this season.
Sometimes, Arsène, the answer is not to buy. However, sometimes it is.
