For all the praise rightly lavished on Arsene Wenger, and the singular influence he’s had in shaping the recent history of Arsenal, mistakes have been made along the way. Over the last decade, and maybe even longer, some blind spots and a certain stubbornness have become apparent. His legacy remains secure but Wenger’s early success in building beautiful and effective teams for a relative pittance has succumbed to a changed economic landscape.
The move to the Emirates was meant to ensure that Arsenal could compete in the petrodollar era but they’ve increasingly been left behind, particularly as far as the Premier League and Champions League are concerned. Some poor signings have been made to exacerbate the issue, and here are five of the worst from his time at the club as a whole.
Francis Jeffers
Five years into Arsene Wenger’s reign and his reluctance to sign English players had become a major talking point. Despite inheriting a solid backline of Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Tony Adams and either Steve Bould or Martin Keown, there was a sense that English footballers had too many technical shortcomings to fit into his system.
Surprisingly three arrived in the summer of 2001 – Sol Campbell, Richard Wright and Francis Jeffers. The latter was a promising young striker signed from Everton for an initial fee of £8million. He was labelled by Wenger as a ‘fox in the box’ who would sniff out chances, but struggled desperately. Although injuries didn’t help, Jeffers was out of place in such a highly-functioning team and scored just eight goals in 39 appearances overall.
Manuel Almunia
The problem was not so much Manuel Almunia, as what he represented. After the success enjoyed when David Seaman and then Jens Lehmann operated as the last line of defence, the Spaniard was a significant downgrade. He signalled a settling for second best, competence rather than excellence, and a wilful refusal on Arsene Wenger’s part to address some glaringly obvious issues with his squad as time wore on.
A free transfer from Celta Vigo, he spent much of his first three seasons as back-up before displacing Lehmann. Arsenal won nothing during his spell as undisputed first choice and fell off the pace at the top of the Premier League. Almunia made some costly errors, including the Ronaldo free-kick below and evidently wasn’t a match for the goalkeepers at rival clubs, like Pepe Reina, Petr Cech and Edwin van der Sar. Still the situation wasn’t addressed and the club slid backwards.
Andrey Arshavin
Unquestionably an excellent footballer on his day, but another symbol of where Arsenal started to go wrong. Arshavin was something of a lily gilder, another decorative adornment for a side that needed more steel and a greater ruthless streak. They had plenty of neat, technical players capable of delivering moments of individual brilliance, but nowhere near frequently enough to make up for their deficiencies elsewhere.
Wenger’s team developed a reputation for being mentally and physically soft and relying on so many players of this kind is the reason why. After an impressive start to life at the Emirates, including a four-goal haul away to Liverpool, Arshavin faded badly. He often seemed to lack heart and commitment to the cause. So much more was expected after Arsenal paid a then record fee for his services.
Andre Santos
Supporters were growing restless and many were starting to turn against the manager. After a disappointing pre-season, during which several high profile transfers failed to come off, Arsenal started poorly. They failed to win any of their first three league games, and crashed to a spectacular 8-2 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The result prompted a mad trolley dash and four signings of variable quality during the final two days of the transfer window. Per Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta were good but unremarkable additions; Park Chu-Young and Andre Santos decidedly weren’t. The stocky Brazilian left back played 33 times during 18 months with Arsenal but was often a liability.
Yaya Sanogo
Arsene Wenger used to find exceptional value when he bought French players, but in the latter stages of his Arsenal career, he seemed to have lost his touch when it came to unearthing a hidden gem. Back in 1997, he spirited a teenage Nicolas Anelka away from Paris Saint-Germain for just £500,000. Sixteen years on, and the rather less impressive Yaya Sanogo joined.
The young striker signed from Auxerre was felt to be a great prospect but never matured as Wenger hoped he would. Ungainly and erratic in front of goal, he played infrequently before being sent on a series of unfulfilling loans. Sanogo scored just five times during the four years he was attached to Arsenal, and only once for the Gunners. He was released at the end of his contract and went back to France.
