Wenger speaks.........

Thursday, August 4, 2005

Wenger slams big-spending Chelsea


Arsene Wenger declared that Chelsea were paying double the normal market value of players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips as he refused to be lured into wasting his remaining transfer kitty.
Wright-Phillips, the 23-year-old adopted son of former Arsenal legend Ian Wright, had been tipped as a potential Highbury signing before Chelsea swooped at a cost of £21 million.


With Asier del Horno also recruited, while Michael Essien could still be on his way to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have continued their multi-million pound spending spree.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have bought only Alexander Hleb in a deal that could be worth up to £10 million, while Patrick Vieira has been sold for £13.7 million and Julio Baptista has moved to Real Madrid instead of Highbury.

Wenger, who again ruled out a move for Michael Owen as he would not dove-tail with Thierry Henry, declared: -It is not Chelsea's fault or my fault, it is just like it is.

-But everyone knows that they have plenty of money and, when they come in, they will buy for £20million what [otherwise] costs £10million.

-Do you really think Wright-Phillips would have cost £21 million had Chelsea not come in for him? Frankly, we have to be honest. What would be his price?-

When a figure of £10million to £12million was suggested, the Arsenal boss responded: -Exactly. There are two markets, one when Chelsea is in, which is quite lively and high, and one when Chelsea is not in, which is morose - all over Europe.-

Without Chelsea's interest, Essien would presumably have been another target for Wenger, but he insists that he is not worried by the loss of Vieira without a direct replacement.

-What do you want me to do, go to the casino with the money?- asked Wenger, who faces Chelsea in Sunday's Community Shield tie.

-I could understand that the fans would be frustrated if we played bad football and didn't win our games but not because we haven't spent money. That's not a reason to be frustrated.

-I am not envious of Chelsea. There is a way to be successful and beat Chelsea despite the fact that they have more money than anybody else.

-There are enough good players in the world that you can always get good players. Real Madrid have spent more than Valencia, but they haven't won any trophies for two years.-

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has described his own task of adding to his talented squad as one of the hardest jobs in the game.

However, Wenger insisted: -There are much more difficult jobs out there than I have, don't worry. I cannot feel sorry. I don't know what the situation is at Chelsea.

-I just know about my situation. I have worked very hard on the youth policy and I must find a player who is better than Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva to replace Patrick.

-At the moment, I have not found one. I don't want to buy a player for the sake of buying a player.-

Wenger is poised to bring in Uruguay international goalkeeper Sebastian Viera from Penarol, either on a loan deal or a permanent basis.

-Maybe he will join on. That will be decided tomorrow as long as the medical and financial reasons are sorted out,- he revealed.

Wenger has nevertheless delayed a decision on triallists Philippe Christanval and Alex Song, while he has no intention of performing a U-turn on his decision not to bid for Owen.

-I have nothing against Michael Owen - I love him - but you cannot force me to buy him if I don't need him,- he concluded.

-We have Thierry Henry who scores 25 goals a season and can they live together? I don't know.

-I like Owen but I am looking for more for a deeper kind of striker as Dennis Bergkamp is getting older, while Thierry is not yet at the age to play deeper.

-It would be dishonest to take an international player like Michael Owen and put him into the same situation that he has at Real Madrid.'

*** As far as the SWP overpaying goes, even Mourinho himself stated that they overpaid, but it's what it took to get him. Obviously teams can hope for a bidding war when they have a player that Chelsea desires to buy, and know that in the long run Chelsea will outbid anyone (if they want him bad enough), and at that point the amount they have spent will most likely hurt other teams in the transfer market, meaning prices for players will now be jacked up.........Oranjepalooza

What a legend.

Dude, just copying and pasting news stories to make posts on this site isnt ideal.

How about writing your own post on the topic and generating some discussion?

I think its safe to say that all members of this forum read Football News too so can see this story there.

Sorry. won't happen again. Your the first negative feedback I've gotten, most comment with 'good read', but your the moderator and you can run it like you please. No problem here.....(dude??)...

we do value your input Oranje but as Big Jono said sometimes a whole page of news is unecessary . Just a little heading and a comment about the story will do , then we can discuss it with everyone.

Isn't that a strange thing to say?? Basically he's saying Gilberto, Flamini and Fabregas aren't good enough and he's seeking a player who is better

If i was a player and my manager said that about me i'd be a bit ticked off.

hate to disagree with fellow moderators but i think oranjepalooza's input is an asset to the forum, so what if it's articles pasted from somwhere else?? i enjoy reading most of them!

i completely agree with you. About the Gliberto et al bit.

I wasnt saying his input isnt valued, it is quite the opposite in fact. Orange, you get a lot of good discussion going on here and you obiously know your football. Even tho youre a gooner your contributions are valued

Im just following the lead from above in requesting that news stories arent copied and pasted so much into posts here. The General has asked a couple of people to do this and seeing as hes away at the moment i thought i would step up.

I didnt mean to cause offence.

ok fair enough Jono it just seemed like you were "having a go" at him and you didnt value his contributions

However points taken and forgotten mate

I guess I need to speak out here, when we get away from talking football than I think we defeat the purpose of the forum. I don't mind if someone feels the need to 'call me on the carpet', I may not agree with it, but I will respect it and do accordingly. What I do have a problem with is me or anyone else getting 'called on the carpet' (in a personal manner, i.e. 'dude'...) where the world can see it. I think if it's a problem that needs to be taken care of, then that individual should be notified with a 'private message'. Otherwise, this forum will be just like all the others. When we have the Admin's telling us to recruit people for this site I don't thing chastising people publicly is really an 'invitation' to new people to 'come join us'. That's how I feel. It's done, no hard feelings, so let's get back to talking about the 'beautiful game’!

i think the comments Wenger has made about finding someone better than fabregas,flamini and gilberto to replace Patrick Vierra are not meant as an insult to them . He probably means they are still improving and he needs someone as good as Vierra to replace him right now .

In response to the above, I just want to back up both parties.

We as a website do not like to post articals from other sites due to copyright laws etc. We do however encourage members to create topics, and discuss up to date news etc. Best way to do this is to write the news artical in your own words (dont expect an essay) and give your personal views on it.

Big Jono was only doing what he has been advised by us admins on the site. The reason he was doing it in public view is so that other members are made aware also - hense this post from myself. It was not done to belittle you in any way, and has not been posted in a harsh way. The fact that he used "dude" in the post is to keep it to a personal level, and keep a friendly tone.

Hopefully that helps clear things up slightly.

I also wanted to point out that you are one of the many members who has stood out on the forum Oranje, and I would like to thank you for your contribution to the site so far. This is from all Admins on the site.

Your work here has been noticed

Thanks....as I said, I consider it over....football is and should be the topic here, so we need to get on with it. I do appreciate it O Dogg...

Good to see,get it in the open ,get it cleared up and lets move forward.My input in any topic has so far ,although minor,been well received,in fact better received than I anticipated.I can deduce the level of understanding of the game is good at all age levels and this is something I am enjoying.Speak to you all soon I expect.