The reasons Manchester City cannot buy success !

So has the best league in the world now come to the level that it can be bought ? Manchester City and Chelsea are prime examples of the statement. Last sunday Manchester City thrashed Manchester United by 6 goals to 1 in Old Trafford . Did Manchester City buy the victory ? Many believe thats the case . If you analyze the starting XI of City during sundays game only two players were playing for them since before 2008. Or to be precise before the reckless spending phase began . And the cost of the Manchester City team that beat their local rivals was nothing short of a whooping $185 m. City are without doubt the strongest team in the league right now. Chelsea , meanwhile , have spent 222 m in the last four years. But will all this spending help them in the longer run ? Lets find out.

For success in the long term prospect , a club needs to forge a really strong team . All the clubs which are backed by rich Sheikhs or oil oligarchs look to build a team full of superstars . Now the problem is that building a team full of global superstars come at a price . What happens to the players of the youth academy ? Few clubs have a good youth set up and Manchester city is without doubt one of them. The players they have produced in the last few years are Micah Richards , Stephen Ireland and Daniel Sturridge and Dedryck Boyata. While Richards has established himself and Sturridge left for more green pastures , Ireland and Boyata have struggled to make a name in the first team . The same thing happened at Chelsea . After some initial success they decided to put in more money and buy the best available. What happens when they keep on buying new players is that their youth set up becomes a mockery. None of those players are going to get a chance to shine on the top level . And with the rule of home grown players being a must in the squad , they finally decided to spend on the academy . While no notable names have come out of the academy so far , Chelsea need to step up their youth set up.

Secondly , these rich owners have limited knowledge of football and that came to light after Roman Abramovic fired Carlos Ancelotti who led Chelsea to a strong 2^nd after a very disappointing mid season. The rich man at Etihad stadium also fired Mark Hughes just because few results did not go their way. If a club needs success then first they need a strong management. Firing the manager just because of a few bad results will not work. This only puts more pressure on the manager. If that was the case then the world would not have seen the greatness of Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger. If the club needs to stay on top for a longer run , they need to stick to their manager and instill confidence in him no matter what the results are.

The financial restrictions coming into play from the coming season means clubs must break even on a rolling 3 year period or risk a possible ban from UEFA competitions. Now that would put an end to all the big money transfers from all clubs . So what happens when all mega stars get old and retire ? That will be the time clubs like Manchester City will face the problem . So in my opinion big clubs who just spend big and with the thought that money can buy success will not succeed in a long term . All across Europe , the top sides have/had a set of players associated with them . Xavi , Iniesta , Puyol and Messi at Barcelona , Zidane , Figo , Raul , Casilas at Real Madrid , Giggs , Scholes , Neville and Beckham at Manchester United , Henry , Pires , Vieira , Tony Adams at Arsenal , Del Piero at Juventus and the list goes on. But when is comes to Manchester City , no name will spring to the mind. Simply because they just keep shuffling around. They buy the best thats available to them. Thats the key ingridient they are missing. He needn't necessarily be a local guy from Manchester. He needs to be a player who embodies their style and be a leader who works harder and be appreciated for that. Now City may be leading the premier league. And who knows ? They might even win it. But will all this reckless spending and the enormous wages their players receive be an answer to their long term success ? In one simple word the answer is NO .

For many years , the noise that was coming from the City fans was that they were the real local football club of Manchester and that United were now a global brand. They said Manchester United has “sold out” by losing its soul. And now ultimately what City combine to create is a soulless and cultureless team playing for a lot of money. For all the years of the fans talk of being the real “local” club , they have now forgotten what they stood for and they look set to become the least authentic football club in the world.

Arsenal Vs Bolton : Team news

Arsenal yesterday confirmed that Park will definitely start against Bolton on wednesday. Chamakh and Oxlade Chamberlain are also expected to start upfront with Park in a 4-3-3 formation. The midfield will probable consist of Benayoun Frimpong and Diaby , who is fit and will be needing some practice before the Chelsea game on saturday. The defence will need some sorting out as Jenkinson and Gibbs are injured. Djorou will continue at the right back and Santos will be at the left back . The center backs will probably be Squilacci and Miquel .

Starting line up : 4-3-3
Fabianski
Djourou
Miquel
Squilacci
Santos
Diaby
Frimpong
Benayoun
Ox-Chamberlain
Chamakh
Park

Subs:
Rosicky
Ramsey
Myaichi
Gervinho
Coquelin
Watt

Van persie and other major players will probably be rested ahead of the crucial match against Chelsea. A victory against Chelsea on saturday will put the season back on track and we will be surely aiming for more than just a 4th place finish.

COYG !!

Why Wenger is the best man for Arsenal right now ?

The man who led Arsenal to a 49 game unbeaten run , does not become a poor manager all of a sudden. At this moment of crisis , there is no better man to lead Arsenal than the great Wenger himself . No one knows Arsenal FC better than Wenger , David Dein and of course the Arsenal board. And all of them believe Wenger is the right man for the job . Isn't that proof enough ?

Many have, of late , said that Mourinho or Guardiola should be replacing Wenger . But how would that solve the problem ? Excluding his days at Porto , Mourinho has had to spend 100s of millions to buy success while Pep Guardiola has had the good fortune of taking over a team that had the best players in the world. At this moment Arsenals confidence is lower than their position in the league table. Ever since I started following/supporting the Gunners there has been just one point where I felt so low. And that was in the 2004 lent season. Arsenal were knocked out of the FA cup by Manchester United in the Semi-finals on saturday . Then on Wednesday , Chelsea knocked Arsenal out of the Champions league Quarter finals . And on Friday Arsenal welcomed Liverpool to Highbury . Honestly I expected them to lose and choke . And they were losing . It was 2-1 at half time and Liverpool were on top. But out came the players after the break and like a phoenix they rose from the ashes and beat Liverpool 4-2 and from then on they never turned back . So if Arsenal can come out of a situation like that (Losing out on a treble in the space of one week) , I think Wenger can easily steer his team to safety with the expectation much lesser now .

Wenger built his team around Cesc Fabregas and in the summer he left to his boyhood club , Barca . Arsenal will take time to recover from that transfer . Give Wenger time till christmas and I will chew my hat if Arsenal dont start winning and start move up the table by then . Arsene Wenger has been Arsenals most successful manager. He has achieved what many have only dreamt of. He is the only manager in the premier league to take his team through an entire season unbeaten . Not even SAF could do it . Many believe Wenger is reluctant to spend. That maybe true. But also consider the fact that he has Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Ox Chamberlain in his current squad. They are all young and yet to hit top form but they are already household names . They are supposed to be the future of English football .What that also means is financial stability. He does not have to give out hige wages . Arsenal's profit keeps increasing and the debts keep decreasing. What other club has this scenario ?

Another reason why Wenger is the right man for the job is his reputation to unearth young and unknown talents . Who knew Eduadro da silva or van Persie or Adebayor or even Cesc Fabregas before they all came to Arsenal ?

Arsene Wenger has never known a darker period in all his time at Arsenal, receiving unprecedented questions as to his ability to deliver results for the club. His past successes, however, will stand him in good stead as he battles to prove why he is still the right man to lead Arsenal to title glory once more.

Wenger has built an incredible infrastructure at the club, one which is envied by the majority of Europe, and because of this he has become the club’s greatest custodian during his 15-year spell in North London.
He is not without criticism, but there are a number of reasons why Arsenal should hang on to Wenger—a manager whom many will say is still the right man for the job.

And one final thing - In Arsene We Trust ! 

Arsene "who?" to Arsene Wenger .

   

 

 On this day exactly 15 years ago , the French professor took up the Arsenal job . And when he signed the paperworks at Highbury the question on everyones lips were "Arsene who ?" . But he erased all doubts as the team finished a healthy second and in his first season incharge he completed the double thereby becoming the first overseas manager in the history of the Premier league to complete the double. He brought in unknown youngsters and transformed them into superstars and mega stars. Patrick Veiera , Nicolas Anelka , Thierry Henry , Cesc Fabregas are just to name a few . The late 1990's and the early 2000's witnessed the rivalry between Manchester United and Arsenal reach an all time high. Every game was intensely fought and his personal rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson increased . He created the French revolution at London .At one point the first names on the team sheet were Sylvain Wiltord , Thierry Henry , Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires. All French. They revolutionised the way football was played in the premier league and mesmerised everyone . He brought back total football to England . He went to Old trafford and snatched the title away from Manchester United . He went to White Hart lane and sealed the title there . These two stadiums have given Arsenal the frostiest of welcomes and to go there to win the title just shows the mental strength of Wengers team .

Ever since Wenger took over there has not been a single season where Arsenal did not qualify for the Champions league . This feat is bettered only by Manchester united and Real Madrid .

Arsenal went through an entire season unbeaten . And went on a 49 game unbeaten run . That feat wil never be achieved again because "Invincibility was born and buried in highbury " . That statement has a literal meaning to it as Arsenal completed the switch to the Emirates stadium in 2006 and ever since they have never been able to reproduce the football that they used to . They are still contenders but fall in the final hurdle. Ever since moving to the Emirates , Wenger lost his talismans in Henry , Pires , Adebayor and most recently Fabregas and Nasri .

Wenger has come under a lot of criticism this season for not buying major players to boost his squad . And he was forced to go against his policy and made 5 signings on transfer dead line day . To all those who doubt Wengers policy here is an explanation . He lost the man around whom the team was built and it takes a lot of time to recover from it . And Arsenal are no different. In another 2-3 years time Wengers plan will be executed . He , in my opinion , has created a team for the next ten years that will rule the premier league .

Wilshere(19) , Walcott (22) , Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (18) , Frimpong (19) , Jenkinson (19) , Gibbs (19) , Miquel (18) and Szczesney (21) are all looking like household names already . But look at the age of all these players . This is what Wenger has always stressed and his hardwork is going to pay off starting from this season . This team will win something this season and Wenger will lift the trophy with that smile on his face and then again we will repeat " In Arsene We Trust "

From an ardent fan of Arsenal , Wenger and his philosophies !