Postby KeithPratt » 21 Mar 2017, 10:35
The problem is, deep down, that Arsenal were briefly able to shine at a truly exceptional level because they had Vieira, Pires, Bergkamp, Henry, Ashley Cole et al. For a brief period between 2002 and 2005, they should really have won, or at least competed at the highest level for the Champions League given the quality in their team. That side would clean up now in the Premiership without doubt. What I'm trying to say perhaps is that Arsenal performed at a level beyond them nowadays because of circumstance and it is rare for any manager to be able to repeat that. Jonathan Wilson talks about a "10 year" period for virtually all great managers where they shine and after that it never gets better. Ferguson is the exception to that rule, but I would also suggest that his success was partly predicated on Manchester United's supreme financial power in the nineties. Once City and Chelsea started wielding the cash, United sunk to the levels of their competitors.
Those players moved on, and sometimes it is easy to say "well you should just replace them" but it is blazingly obvious that given the way the club is run on a financial basis, the most pressing need was to pay for the new stadium. And in all honesty, it is very difficult to replace a player like Vieira, who was obviously world-class. Name me one other player in the world right now with his quality? Maybe Kante? They come along once in a generation and Wenger was in the right place and time to buy him, just like Pires and Henry. The stars were aligned for him in a way that doesn't come around very often.
Now they have a side that, on its day can battle for a Top 4 place but clearly don't have the frame of mind for a title race. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the summer.
