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Can Alex Do A Wenger; Transfers
Topic Started: Aug 30 2010, 05:05 AM (482 Views)
ESONEULB
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14 years at Arsenal and Wenger has managed to purchase and woven some wonderful talent within these years.



Patrick Vieira (1996-2005)

Vieira’s acquisition of £3.5 million from A.C Milan in 1996 turned out to be an absolute bargain for the Gunners.

The Lanky midfielder fitted right into the English rough and tumble game and became one of the best centre-midfielders the world has ever seen.

Vieira had the ability to defend as well as attack, and was a formidable force in the centre of the park. His midfield partnership with fellow Frenchman Emmanuel Petit was something of pure class and genius by Wenger…it were as if both the midfielders knew what one another were doing throughout the whole 90 minutes.

In his 9 years spent at Arsenal, saw the midfield general accumulated a monstrous 406 games for the Gunners whilst netting 33 times along the way.

Vieira captained the side for 7 years after Tony Adams retired, and led Arsenal to 3 Premier League titles, 4 F.A Cups and 4 Community shields. Vieira has to go down as one of Wenger’s best ever transfers as well as an Arsenal legend for many fans.

Emmanuel Petit (1997-2000)

Wenger signed the pony-tailed midfielder whilst he was manager of Monaco and did it again for Arsenal in 1997 for £2.5 million.

Wenger transformed Petit from a centre-back into a solid defensive midfielder and decided to partner him alongside Vieira. This decision proved to be a very smart and affective one, as the two French midfielders formed one of the best pairings the English game has ever seen.

Petit along with his team, inspired Arsenal to a domestic double in his first season with the North London club. Despite being at Arsenal for only 3 years before moving to Barcelona, Petit is still highly admired by many of the Arsenal fans today.

Marc Overmars (1997-2003)

Overmars arrived in 1997 from Ajax for £6 million and the ‘Flying Dutchman’ took to the Premier league like duck to water.

His light-footed movements struck fear in the defence as the Dutchman used his brilliant pace and agility to get by defenders week in week out.

The former no.11 Arsenal man became a huge hit with Arsenal fans and helped the club clinch a Premier League title and F.A Cup. His 3 years at Arsenal propelled him into one of the most dangerous players in his position and soon enough Barcelona came knocking. Arsenal sold Overmars to the Catalan giants for £25 million in 2000.

Nicolas Anelka (1997-1999)

Brought in from Paris St-Germain in 1997 for $500,000, this was possibly one of Wenger’s greatest ever signings from a financial standpoint.

Anelka was not a very established striker until he made the switch to Highbury and he certainly made his mark very quickly. His goal threat and explosive pace helped the Gunners lift the Premier League title in his first season at the club. In 1998 Anelka helped Arsenal lift the F.A Cup, this was the Frenchman’s last trophy for the club.

Whilst he only spent 2 years in North London, Anelka built up a reputation of being one of the best strikers in the world and his efforts did not go unnoticed. Real Madrid acquired the striker’s services in 1999 for just over £22 million…a great profit for Wenger and Arsenal football club.

Freddie Ljungberg (1998-2007)

Ljungberg was an absolute nobody with a ridiculous hairstyle when Wenger captured him from Swedish side Halmstads in 1998 for £3 million.

However, the Swede grew in popularity and status very rapidly with his professional manner towards the game. The wide man provided great pace and a keen eye for goal when he was with Arsenal. Arguably his best season came in 2001-02 where he helped the North London club clinch their second domestic double.

Just like Pires, Ljungberg bagged 2 Premier League titles, 3 F.A Cups with the Gunners. But, after 9 years with Arsenal, 46 goals and 216 appearances, the versatile Swedish winger decided to depart from Highbury. Ljungberg headed east, where he signed a four-year deal with West Ham.

Thierry Henry (1999-2007)

Wenger’s best ever signing as Arsenal boss, no questions asked. Thierry Henry arrived from Juventus in 1999 for a fee of £10 million, which raised a few eyebrows with the Arsenal fans at the time. Henry was brought into the club to replace Nicolas Anelka, but Henry predominately played his football out on the wing rather than in the centre. This soon changed as Wenger converted the Frenchman into one of the best and most feared strikers the English game and world has ever witnessed.

His transformation from when he was bought, to the day he was sold was unprecedented. His skill, deadly finishing and terrifying pace made him one of the best in the world under Wenger’s guidance.

Henry spent 8 years at Arsenal and now holds the title of the clubs top ever goal scorer after shattering Ian Wright’s previous record. Wenger made a £6 million profit when he sold the forward to Barcelona in 2007.

Robert Pires (2000-2006)

In the year 2000, Wenger decided to bring in Robert Pires from French side Metz for £6 million. Fans were unsure of the acquisition of the winger at the time, but these views soon changed. Pires adapted quickly to the English game, while many pundits thought the Frenchman would have struggled in his first season at Highbury. His second season was a scintillating one, so good that he won the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year in 2002.

His skill, touch and technique was second to none, and the Arsenal faithful adored watching the Frenchman…he even bagged a few goals in the Arsenal shirt (84 in 283 appearances to be exact).

Pires spent 6 years at Arsenal where he won 2 Premier League titles, 3 F.A Cups, and 2 Community shields.

Sol Campbell (2001-2006)

Sol Campbell’s switch from Tottenham to Arsenal was one of the most controversial signings by Wenger, but proved to be a great one. Wenger signed the powerful centre-back on a free from their fierce rivals in 2001. Sol Campbell was an ideal candidate to fill the void that Tony Adams had left in the Arsenal defence.

Campbell spent 5 years with Arsenal where he lifted 2 Premier League titles, 3 F.A Cups and 2 Community shields.

In 2006 he left for Portsmouth where he spent 3 years at the southern club. The defender then made a shocking move to Notts County where he only played one game and decided to leave. In January this season, Campbell made a return to Arsenal and is now considering a new deal with the Gunners.

Jens Lehmann (2003-2006)

Despite what anyone thinks the capture of Jens Lehmann was one of Wenger’s best signings as Arsenal boss.

Granted, the goalkeeper had a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ personality about him, but the German was a class act for Arsenal football club. Wenger signed Lehmann from Borussia Dortmund in 2003 for an undisclosed fee as a possible replacement for David Seaman.

The German goal-stopper was a consistent performer for the club. His best feat came in the 2003-04 season when Arsenal went the entire season unbeaten to win the title; Lehmann played every game in the league that season.

Many fans adored his temperamental behaviour and some have said that Lehmann has been their best goalkeeper since David Seaman’s departure. The German stayed with Arsenal for 5 years before moving back to Germany to play for Stuttgart.

Cesc Fabregas (2003-Present)

Fabregas arrived from Barcelona when he was just 16 in September 2003. Since then, Wenger has nurtured and helped the youngster grow into one of footballs most talented stars.

Fabregas was appointed the clubs captain in 2008 and is now their talisman and prized asset. The midfield maestro pulls the strings for Arsenal these days and has great technique and skill in abundance.

Fabregas has been with Arsenal for seven years now and the 23-year-old has already managed to appear (in all competitions) 267 and bag 46 times for the Gunners. His future at Arsenal has been recently clouded with a move back to Barcelona, but whatever the outcome maybe, he is still regarded as one of Wenger’s best ever signings.


Now i know the prices have gone up a little but gems are out there, can Alex find them like Wenger can????

http://www.footballfancast.com/2010/05/foo...er-got-it-right
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ESONEULB
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When Wenger got it wrong

Arsene Wenger is known in the transfer market to find the diamonds in the rough. Wenger has found and brought in players from the depths of obscurity and moulded them into players of the highest quality in recent years.

However, Le Professeur, like everyone else, can’t always get it right, and would have probably wished he never signed some of the players that have modelled the Arsenal shirt in the past.

This article will list Wenger’s top 10 worst ever transfer signings since taking charge of the North London club 14 years ago.

Luis Boa Morte

Boa Morte was one of Wenger’s first ever signings as Arsenal boss. The Portuguese attacking winger was brought to the club from Sporting CP for a fee of £1.75 million in 1996. The winger spent 3 years at Arsenal making a total of 37 appearances and scoring just the 4 times for the gunners.

He wasn’t a speedy winger, a super-sub and he was certainly not a good finisher…nothing special at all. With every passing year, Boa Morte saw less and less of the football pitch, and was eventually flogged off to Southampton for a fee of £500,000…a total flop for Arsenal football club.

Christopher Wreh

Wenger knew of Wreh when he was manager of Monaco and brought the striker to Arsenal from the French side in 1997 for £300,000. Wreh was merely a back-up striker and was fourth in the pecking order behind Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp and Nicolas Anelka…So why Wenger drafted him in was beyond me. However, Wreh did manage to score some vital goals for the Gunners, but as the years went by, Wenger brought in a Frenchman by the name of Thierry Henry, which eventually saw Wreh leave Highbury in 2000.

The Liberian forward’s record for Arsenal stands at 46 appearances (mainly coming on as a substitute) and netting just the 5 times in 3 years…Not a good record at all.


Oleg Luzhny

The Ukrainian was dubbed by many as ‘the horse’ and boy did he live up to that name. Wenger recruited Luzhny from Dynamo Kiev in 1999 for £1.8 million and was supposed to be a long-term replacement for the legendary Arsenal right-back Lee Dixon. Unfortunately, his lack of pace proved to be disastrous in the English game and was never comfortable playing for the gunners in his 4 year stay.

His willingness and desire was admirable, but never hid the fact that he guy was simply not an Arsenal player.

Jermaine Pennant

Pennant was signed at the age of 15 by Wenger in 1999 for £2 million (a record fee for a trainee at the time) from Notts County.

He endured long spells on the bench at Highbury and unfortunately the Englishman never lived up to his potential. Instead, the winger suffered from major disciplinary problems which affected him from settling into the club. Pennant had a couple of loan spells at Watford and Leeds United before he was let go by Arsenal and was sent packing to Birmingham City in 2004.

Igor Stepanovs

Possibly the worst signing Wenger has ever made in his managerial career. Why Stepanovs was bought to the club is beyond me and possibly most of the Arsenal fans reading this.

The 6’ 4’’ centre-back was absolute garbage and the 6-1 battering at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford proved this testament.

Wenger paid £1 million to Skonto Riga (a Latvian club) in 2000 for Igor Stepanovs services. The defender made 17 appearances before moving to K.S.K. Beveren in 2003. Stepanovs was a complete and utter joke for Arsenal, and that’s me being nice!

Francis Jeffers

Jeffers was playing his club football for Everton and impressed so much that Wenger opted to sign him from the Toffees in 2001 for a surprising £8 million. Everton must have been laughing all the way to the bank when they sold the striker for as much as they did.

Jeffers spent 3 years with Arsenal, making a total of 22 appearances and managing to only score a measly 4 goals for the North London club. The English striker was ultimately sold to Charlton for £2.6 million in 2004, as he was forced out by better forwards in Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord…a fox in the box? More like a frog in the bog.

Richard Wright

Richard Wright Joined Arsenal in 2001 from Ipswich Town for an estimated £6 million, after a countless number of splendid performances for the Tractor Boys impressed the French manager.

Wenger brought in the English goalkeeper as a successor to David Seaman, but failed to make an impact for the Gunners.

His calamity against Charlton Athletic which led to a home 4-2 defeat for saw the fans question the goalkeeper’s ability. Wright also suffered a long-term injury which saw the keeper drop to third choice behind Stuart Taylor. Wright’s only year at Arsenal was below average, but the goal-stopper was also plagued with a number of injuries and only managed to make a total of 22 appearances for the club…he was later sold to Everton.

Philippe Senderos

The Swiss defender was signed in 2003 for a reported £2.5 million by Wenger. Senderos was bought into the club at the age of 17, and looked a promising acquisition for the club, but then he met Didier Drogba and since then has never been the same.

He has been out of favour for Arsenal and as a result has been sent out on loan. Senderos was lent out to Milan last year and is now currently with Everton on loan.

It’s a real shame that Senderos inherited the famous no.6 shirt, because he simply does not deserve to where it, he is making an absolute mockery of it. Not a good defender and should be looking to leave the Emirates this summer without a doubt.

Pascal Cygan

Wenger obtained the bald-headed centre-back from Lille in 2002 for £2 million and it turned out to be one of his worst ever transfers as the Arsenal boss.

Cygan was a clumsy defender who lacked positional sense and above all was slower than a tortoise…how he made it as a professional footballer is baffling.

The French defender managed to only rack up a total of 63 appearances (in all competitions) for the gunners, whilst netting 3 times in 4 years. Cygan was planets away from being the next Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Steve Bould, the gut just couldn’t defend properly. Arsenal sent the Frenchman packing to Villarreal for £2 million in 2006… Wenger what on earth were you on when you bought this guy to England?

Jose Antonio Reyes

Arsenal splashed out approximately £17 million for the Spanish winger (a record signing for the club at the time) in 2003.

Reyes did have a promising start to his Arsenal career and was tipped to be a great player for the club, but unfortunately in 2005 he felt a sudden urge to head back to his native Spain. The winger was also tricked in telling a prankster (on the phone) that he was looking to leave the club due to the London lifestyle and claiming there were ‘bad people’ within the club.

Reyes spent three years with the gunners before making a year loan move to Real Madrid, after which he was sold to Atletico Madrid for an undisclosed fee by the Gunners.

Reyes would have been a great player for the North London club, but his crave for Spain let him down big time. Wenger did spend £17 million to obtain Reyes’s services, but because the player couldn’t settle in London he proved to be a complete and utter waste of money…a bad signing on Wenger’s part.

http://www.footballfancast.com/2010/05/foo...er-got-it-wrong
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ESONEULB
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Now why did i post this, it shows how managers can get it right and wrong , but we should give Alex all the support in the world because he could do a Wenger.

KRO

:bluzz:
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beegeeblueboy
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ESONEULB
Aug 30 2010, 06:15 AM
Now why did i post this, it shows how managers can get it right and wrong , but we should give Alex all the support in the world because he could do a Wenger.

KRO

:bluzz:

AM gets far more right than wrong. I recall on Femi Augustien being a real dud. I think on Marcus Bent he got bounced into by the previous board and Fahey's performance in the promotion year was crucial to that success so he was clearly value-for-money at that division. I am surprised KF has struggled at this level, which I think is down to lack of self-belief.
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ESONEULB
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beegeeblueboy
Aug 30 2010, 06:56 AM
ESONEULB
Aug 30 2010, 06:15 AM
Now why did i post this, it shows how managers can get it right and wrong , but we should give Alex all the support in the world because he could do a Wenger.

KRO

:bluzz:

AM gets far more right than wrong. I recall on Femi Augustien being a real dud. I think on Marcus Bent he got bounced into by the previous board and Fahey's performance in the promotion year was crucial to that success so he was clearly value-for-money at that division. I am surprised KF has struggled at this level, which I think is down to lack of self-belief.

This is not a criticism of Alex it is just a way of highlighting what some mangers can do if we give them our support and backing.

They all make mistakes and get things right as well.

:bluzz:
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Bluebird
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Quote:
 
beegeeblueboy Posted on Aug 30 2010, 06:56 AM

AM gets far more right than wrong. I recall on Femi Augustien being a real dud. I think on Marcus Bent he got bounced into by the previous board and Fahey's performance in the promotion year was crucial to that success so he was clearly value-for-money at that division. I am surprised KF has struggled at this level, which I think is down to lack of self-belief

Agreed bgbb....
And that lack of self belief by KF could be reversed if he didn't receive the St Andrew's Sigh every time he got the ball....
The fans have to realise where he was two years ago and where he is now....

And ESONEULB I think those are two great Posts and I also think you are right as well....
Not dissimilar to KF in some respects although fortunately for us Big Mac believes in his own ability totally....
But he is still learning at this level and continually needs the backing of the faithful.... :break:
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Kyle-KRO
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Ian Handysides
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You can see that he's trying to do a Wenger here...

Posted Image
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adamneaves
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Kyle-KRO
Aug 30 2010, 03:12 PM
You can see that he's trying to do a Wenger here...

Posted Image

:LMAO:

Brilliant
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V_For_Vendetta
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Paul Tait
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beegeeblueboy
Aug 30 2010, 05:56 AM
ESONEULB
Aug 30 2010, 06:15 AM
Now why did i post this, it shows how managers can get it right and wrong , but we should give Alex all the support in the world because he could do a Wenger.

KRO

:bluzz:

AM gets far more right than wrong. I recall on Femi Augustien being a real dud. I think on Marcus Bent he got bounced into by the previous board and Fahey's performance in the promotion year was crucial to that success so he was clearly value-for-money at that division. I am surprised KF has struggled at this level, which I think is down to lack of self-belief.

I agree with all of that.

I was a big fan of Fahey and I really thought we'd signed one for the future. He just looks like another shell of a player - bit like McSheffery.
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morrisonisclass
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beegeeblueboy
Aug 30 2010, 05:56 AM
ESONEULB
Aug 30 2010, 06:15 AM
Now why did i post this, it shows how managers can get it right and wrong , but we should give Alex all the support in the world because he could do a Wenger.

KRO

:bluzz:

AM gets far more right than wrong. I recall on Femi Augustien being a real dud. I think on Marcus Bent he got bounced into by the previous board and Fahey's performance in the promotion year was crucial to that success so he was clearly value-for-money at that division. I am surprised KF has struggled at this level, which I think is down to lack of self-belief.

Yeah I agree with you their , I think Fahey is definatley a premier league player, it's just he is being asked to cover defensively on the left hand side and to just tuck in and be compact. You can see he is almost playing with a leash on, and I feel for him... I am sure that his self belief will have suffered a lot because of this, as it looks like he is not playing the natural game he enjoys, and isn't getting into goalscoring positions etc, which would give hm confidence.
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scudwalker
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Kyle-KRO
Aug 30 2010, 03:12 PM
You can see that he's trying to do a Wenger here...

Posted Image

:Blues: Classic what a phot perfection at its best
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adamneaves
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Well he certainly likes getting current or ex wenger players

Traore
Hleb
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ESONEULB
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scudwalker
Aug 30 2010, 05:05 PM
Kyle-KRO
Aug 30 2010, 03:12 PM
You can see that he's trying to do a Wenger here...

Posted Image

:Blues: Classic what a phot perfection at its best

Great photo..... :LOL:


Hleb looks posible

but

Traore gone on loan as you all know.
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ESONEULB
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At least Hleb is not in Wengers all time worst signings list...
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