Not signing Suarez is biggest mistake of Wenger’s reign
WHEN Arsene Wenger looks back, how much do you think he regrets that £1? In July 2013, when Arsenal were pursuing Luis Suarez, how different would things have been had they made Liverpool a proper offer?
Wenger and Arsenal were under the impression, remember, that a bid of more than £40million would take Suarez away from Liverpool but they took that to the extreme. By putting just £1 above the fee they thought would trigger a deal, it ensured business would never get done.
I thought about that situation this week, first when I heard Suarez had spectacularly revived Barcelona’s quest to win La Liga and then as I watched Arsenal beat West Bromwich. As Suarez was scoring four to pursue another medal, Wenger’s team were fighting to stay in the top four.
If you look back at Wenger’s 20 years in English football, there are so many highlights, but that day in July 2013, with the bid that enraged Liverpool, cannot be ignored. Not signing Suarez is the biggest mistake of Wenger’s reign.
He’s always been careful with money, only spending when he is sure he’ll get maximum value. It’s a sign of how stable Wenger is in his job that he can wait and wait. Look at what he did last summer, for instance, when signing goalkeeper Petr Cech from Chelsea but no outfield players.
Wenger will never hurry to do a transfer and always thinks of the long term, but how do his squad feel when they see individuals who would help Arsenal win the biggest prizes ending up elsewhere? Players are selfish and never think about tomorrow. They want to win now.
HAD Arsenal pushed the boundaries for Suarez, perhaps with an offer of £50m, I believe they would have won the Barclays Premier League in two of the last three seasons. That’s the thing about Suarez: whichever team he plays for, he drags them to a higher level.
NACIONAL,his first team in Uruguay, hadn’t won the title for three years until he broke into the team in 2005; his parting gift to Ajax was helping them end a seven-year wait to win the Dutch title; Liverpool went from seventh to the brink of being champions in the space of 12 months because of him.
Uruguay, meanwhile, had waited 16 years to win the Copa America until he sparked them in Argentina in 2011. That came on the back of them finishing third at the World Cup 12 months earlier because of his goals.
Suarez has been so good for Barcelona that we can legitimately ask whether he has taken them to a level of play beyond the majesty of Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering squad. Are you telling me he wouldn’t have had such a profound effect on Arsenal? Of course he would.
There were lots of empty seats at the Emirates Stadium for the West Brom game and the frustration among fans is understandable. This should have been their year but, once again, Arsenal have faltered when it matters most.
Normally when a campaign is reaching an end, Arsenal have the kind of momentum that makes you feel, ‘ Next year will be the year’, and I certainly believed that to be the case when they won the FA Cup in 2014 and then retained it 12 months ago.
But this time I look at Arsenal and I don’t know where they are going. Next season nearly every team will have a buzz about them on the first day, whether it is Manchester City with Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool or Antonio Conte and Chelsea. Will there be a buzz at the Emirates? No.
We’ve had sympathy for Arsenal in the past and there were valid financial reasons when they found it hard keeping up with Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, who kept signing Wenger’s best players, but Leicester and Tottenham’s development this season has changed the game.
You can understand, then, why fans are protesting against Wenger.
I’m not saying I condone that — absolutely not — and I hate seeing banners unfurled that criticise a manager. They are embarrassing but a message on one at the Emirates is revealing.
It reads: ‘This is Arsenal Football Club not Arsene Football Club’. They feel Wenger is acting as if it is his club rather than him being just an employee. It also shows how stretched the bond between the manager and fans has become. It’s hard to escape the feeling that the end is approaching.
I don’t take any pleasure in writing this. Wenger is one of my favourite people in football, a genius who has brought so much to our game. We will never forget the Invincibles, the best Premier League side I played against.
EVEN now, when you see him under attack in press conferences, Wenger never loses his composure. He is a class act, plain and simple. It is why, if the end is approaching, I hope he gets to go on his own terms because I hate the thought of him continuing to receive so much stick.
But who would Arsenal get to replace him? A change wasn’t likely at the start of the season with two FA Cup wins and two top-four finishes in successive seasons. And when Liverpool appointed Klopp in October, and Manchester City recruited Guardiola in February, Arsenal were a win from top spot in the table, so his position was not under threat.
THEideal scenario would be for him to say in August: ‘This is going to be my final 12 months.’ Doing that would get rid of all the uncertainty about his contract, it would hopefully prevent the atmosphere becoming toxic.
Most importantly, however, it would provide the time frame for Arsenal to begin preparations for a new era. Wenger is so intrinsically linked with the club that his stamp is all over it and we have seen with Manchester United the problems that can occur when one long reign ends.
Wenger should get the final year of his contract because there is no standout candidate available to come straight in.
Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone would be the highest-profile target but he and Wenger are chalk and cheese. I love what Simeone has done but Atletico are the most defensive team in Europe. For him to come in now would require a total change in culture at Arsenal.
No, Wenger has earned one more year. He deserves the opportunity to finish his reign in style.