Arsenal manager: ‘We’re victims of our own success’

by stresster on June 27th, 2008

| 256 words |

The Gunners might not have won any silverware last season, although some of their dazzling performances in Europe seems to have cost them dear, according to manager Arsene Wenger. The Daily Telegraph reports that the Arsenal manager cites his team’s fantastic 2-0 win against Milan at the San Siro as a game where the star talents in the team were showcased to all and sundry, causing clubs to become interested in the likes of Flamini, Hleb and Adebayor.

“The Milan game did us a lot of good, but also bad,” he said.

“We gained a lot of credit all over the world through that game - but also at that time clubs became interested in our players. This game unsettled our season. Many clubs do not work as well as we do, and do not give a chance to young players so they looked at the quality of team display in that game, and it attracted a lot of keen clubs.”

Arsenal were certainly very impressive that evening, with every player contributing to a superb win against the then-holders. It must be frustrating for Wenger to only see clubs chasing his players when they appear in the Champions League - it’s not as if scouts from Milan and Barcelona were probably over in England watching them in the Premier League each week.

Cesc Fabregas is doing a pretty good job of showing what he’s all about during Euro 2008 - will Wenger end up citing this as a moment where clubs started sniffing around his jewel in the crown?

{ 5 comments read them or add one }

gunner - June 27th, 2008 at 11:47 am

its true…. we have such great players with great potential. i jus wish they wud stay becoz the grass isnt always greener newhere else. look at henry.. he went Barca coz of arsenals unsuccessful two seasons n then we got top of the table til like march with out him…n he had a torrid time at barca.

Flamini is a perfect example.. we made him who he is n he deserts us for AC Milan.. Hleb too is another player who’s style of play suits arsenal n no other, he will go to barca or inter or wherever hes goin n probly wnt fit in to their style.. both have made grave mistakes in their career. i do not believe adebayor will go.. there is a lot of speculation, from the press , tht he is but i think he has realised tht with arsenal he can achieve great things.

we were so close last season but we jus lacked a little depth, a little experience n aboveall we werent consistant enuff. we halted mid season wen we were on such a good run.. eduardos injury and the draw at birmingham was a big blow for our title run n things may have bn different had tht not happened. but we cannot use tht as an excuse and shud of shown maturity to gt over tht, which we ddnt do i.e gallas turning into a baby.

with a few Midfielders cumin in, a new keeper, n definately a class CB we can definately compete for the title next season. but we must keep our players……
georgesydaust - June 27th, 2008 at 11:52 am

dont know where you’ve been but, they’ve been sniffing around his jewel in the crown for the last 18 months….at least.
LGB - June 27th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Victims?? I wouldn’t be so negative to view Arsenal as victims because of major interest being shown in our players. Yes it is a testing time to see if Arsenal has what it takes to keep hold of some of their best, or whether we will stubbornly stick to our guns of rigid pay structures etc and allow other c lubs to benefit from our hard work and graft.
By all means sell if we dont want the player or if we have seen someone else we want to bring in who will improve the club, but any sale should be on our terms. If we loose players to other clubs simply because they are wanted elsewhere, without trying to match the players aspirations, then we can not consider ourselves to be a big club or even a progressive one. Instead we begin to look more like a feeder club for the Milans, Barcelonas and the Madrids.
We should be over the moon that other clubs rate our players highly not down in the dumps. But we need to be equally prepared to do whats required to keep our assets if thats our intention.
Arsenal are a shrewd club and need to continue to be, but we need to recognise changing times and accept that on our own, we can not stop inflating prices etc. We will simply get left behind!!
Anonymous - June 27th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

i am not an arsenal fan but i can say this….truth is arsenal work wonders under wenger only……most of them become flops when they leave elsewher…its like two ppl with potentials 40 and 40 percent together become 100%..
anony - June 27th, 2008 at 12:25 pm

what success?

gunner - June 27th, 2008 at 11:47 am

its true…. we have such great players with great potential. i jus wish they wud stay becoz the grass isnt always greener newhere else. look at henry.. he went Barca coz of arsenals unsuccessful two seasons n then we got top of the table til like march with out him…n he had a torrid time at barca.

Flamini is a perfect example.. we made him who he is n he deserts us for AC Milan.. Hleb too is another player who’s style of play suits arsenal n no other, he will go to barca or inter or wherever hes goin n probly wnt fit in to their style.. both have made grave mistakes in their career. i do not believe adebayor will go.. there is a lot of speculation, from the press , tht he is but i think he has realised tht with arsenal he can achieve great things.

we were so close last season but we jus lacked a little depth, a little experience n aboveall we werent consistant enuff. we halted mid season wen we were on such a good run.. eduardos injury and the draw at birmingham was a big blow for our title run n things may have bn different had tht not happened. but we cannot use tht as an excuse and shud of shown maturity to gt over tht, which we ddnt do i.e gallas turning into a baby.

with a few Midfielders cumin in, a new keeper, n definately a class CB we can definately compete for the title next season. but we must keep our players……

georgesydaust - June 27th, 2008 at 11:52 am

dont know where you’ve been but, they’ve been sniffing around his jewel in the crown for the last 18 months….at least.

LGB - June 27th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Victims?? I wouldn’t be so negative to view Arsenal as victims because of major interest being shown in our players. Yes it is a testing time to see if Arsenal has what it takes to keep hold of some of their best, or whether we will stubbornly stick to our guns of rigid pay structures etc and allow other c lubs to benefit from our hard work and graft.
By all means sell if we dont want the player or if we have seen someone else we want to bring in who will improve the club, but any sale should be on our terms. If we loose players to other clubs simply because they are wanted elsewhere, without trying to match the players aspirations, then we can not consider ourselves to be a big club or even a progressive one. Instead we begin to look more like a feeder club for the Milans, Barcelonas and the Madrids.
We should be over the moon that other clubs rate our players highly not down in the dumps. But we need to be equally prepared to do whats required to keep our assets if thats our intention.
Arsenal are a shrewd club and need to continue to be, but we need to recognise changing times and accept that on our own, we can not stop inflating prices etc. We will simply get left behind!!

Anonymous - June 27th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

i am not an arsenal fan but i can say this….truth is arsenal work wonders under wenger only……most of them become flops when they leave elsewher…its like two ppl with potentials 40 and 40 percent together become 100%..

anony - June 27th, 2008 at 12:25 pm

what success?

Arsenal manager: ‘We’re victims of our own success’

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