It has been a strange summer for Arsenal: no signings of any particular magnitude, a couple of key players made for the exit, and the fans just hoping that Arsene Wenger knows what he’s doing.
But that seems to be par for the course in recent years. What will upset Arsenal fans is that not winning anything has also become par for the course — the Gunners have not picked up any silverware since the F.A. Cup in 2005.
And this week’s sale of Kolo Toure to Manchester City only added to the mystery.
Toure, 28, spent seven seasons at Arsenal making himself into one of their most valuable defensive assets. Only in the last year or so has he shown himself to be vulnerable in a back line full of cracks. Still, Wenger’s decision to let him leave so easily (albeit for some $25 million) is puzzling. All he has done to strengthen the defense this season is bring in Thomas Vermaelen.
Even though Vermaelen was Ajax Amsterdam’s captain at the tender age of 23, he is still unproven in the rarified atmosphere of the English Premier League. To partner him in the center of defense, Arsenal have the shaky, aging pair of William Gallas and Mickael Silvestre as well as the often unreliable Johan Djourou and Philippe Senderos.
So what exactly is Wenger’s plan?
In recent years, he’s made it very clear that he is gambling on youth. And, to his credit, it usually works as far as individual talent is concerned. But the lack of experience has been all too obvious when the team has had its back against the wall. Toure even said this week that it was one of the reasons for his departure.
“When you look at Arsenal you see all the great players have left and are now in the past,” he said, according to the BBC. “Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Ray Parlour have gone. We lost too many leaders at Arsenal.”
And Wenger still has not gone out and splashed around Arsenal’s money to bring in that experience and a big name. At least not yet.
Making things even more strange for the Gunners is that Wenger’s big acquisition — the player to shore up the character and strength of the team — could be Patrick Vieira. He left Arsenal for Juventus in 2005, but now, at age 33, is saying that he would like to come back. And Wenger is not ruling it out.
If he did return, would he be the same player who once dominated Premier League midfields? It’s hard to say. Since leaving London, Vieira has often struggled with knee injuries and not played at the heights he once did. He is after all four years older.
Arsenal is quickly developing into one of the most intriguing stories of this transfer season, and huge money has nothing to do with it.
Comments