Wenger – The Economist

(Getty)

The Secret Footballer:  I’ve seen everything there is to see in football, and a lot more outside of it. My anonymity let’s me tell you how it is, from inside the game without the shackles of pre-conception or fan bias.

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When Wenger arrived he spent good money on Overmars, Bergkamp and Henry as well as picking up the inevitable bargain, due to his knowledge of French players (Anelka and Vieira).

Then market conditions changed. New owners with vast wealth began buying football clubs and Arsenal, in an attempt to match them, decided that they needed to increase their matchday revenue. So they built a huge new stadium and those market forces meant that Wenger had to buy cheaper players while the stadium was paid off. Put that together with the sale of one or two players and the increase in match day revenue that started to materialise, Arsenal’s coffers swelled.

For some reason fans and pundits began suggesting that Wenger was incapable of spending big money on big players. This, as I said before Özil, was utter nonsense. There is nothing to suggest that Wenger does not know how to spend money; the man is an economist, in a bull market he will spend, in a bear market he will adjust accordingly.

If ever you wanted a perfect example of somebody that knows what they’re doing and a groundswell of people that are panic merchants and on the outside looking in, look no further than Wenger’s tenure to date. What he has achieved at Arsenal is incredible-  if, like me, you can appreciate the whole picture.

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I really look forward to watching him play but not half as much as I’m looking forward to seeing if that chap behind the Arsenal dugout that held up a piece of paper saying ‘spend spend spend’ has changed it to ‘sorry sorry sorry.’

Source: TSF