Arsènal (15 page)

So the manager had to gamble on potential rather than relying on reputation, prospects who would be unlikely to reach the standard of Vieira, Henry and Pires as rapidly, if at all. As a consequence for two seasons the club was well off the pace at the top of the Premiership, yet ironically Wenger was inured against criticism by the move that had created the handicap in the first place. There was little danger of lack of demand to attend for the final season at Highbury, whilst the novelty of the Emirates also produced full capacity. So despite the extra 22,000 places (a good portion of which were in the highly priced middle tier) as many were coming through the turnstiles as would have if the team they were coming to see were the Invincibles reprised.

The only real imposition placed on the manager as he replenished his resources was the prerequisite of year-on-year involvement in the Champions League for the income it guaranteed. He pulled it off, but certainly flirted with danger as qualification became a serious distraction in Highbury's home stretch, Arsenal only squeezing past Tottenham and into fourth place on the last match day. Points were certainly sacrificed as more and more of the players pencilled in for his future plans were blooded: the defence that was put out after the turn of the year often featured 24-year-old Kolo Toure as its oldest head.

During the Invincibles season, Wenger was questioned about the optimum age for footballers.

“I'm convinced that up front now you need to be young,” he began.

“Up front? I remember last year,” said his interviewer, “you talked about the optimum ages throughout the team. Can you tell me how you feel about that now? How old does a goalkeeper have to be?”

“Between 30 and 35”

“And a central defender?”

“I would say best age 26 to 34. Midfield between 26 and 32 and a striker between 24 and 30. Those are the top ages.”

“But you're breaking those rules with some of the young players aren't you?”

“Exceptional talents break the rules – that means they play early – they make their own rules. I do not say that these players do not play before [they reach the optimum age] but they are at the top of their potential during this period. But before, because they have an exceptional talent they play already.”

“What about some of the other key qualities for each of these departments in the team?” Wenger was asked.

“Well I would say at the back it's concentration, apart from all the quality you look for . . .”

“In an athlete?”

“You need to be an athlete everywhere, but I must say for me the top quality for a defender is concentration level.”

“Don't you only get that though when you get older?”

“Yes, because you get more cautious, and he is a fireman, a defender, he always predicts the worst and tries to have a position where he can correct it. So that's easier when you get older. When you're young you live off the cuff. Midfield – a technical level and up front pace.”

“And you would say that you have that throughout the team at the moment?” his questioner continued.

“Well we have qualities I feel are very exciting and overall a very good technical level and a very good athletic level. Then I think we have above that a great spirit in the club and in the team.”

With the financial restrictions placed upon him, Wenger's shopping had to be even smarter, which meant procuring less-established players than he might have picked up in more affluent times. The mark of a typical signing during this time was their anonymity, even those who were already internationals. So instead of Kanu, possessor of a Champions League winner's medal, 2006 saw Emmanuel Adebayor join from Monaco – an unused substitute in the 2004 final with a loser's medal for watching his vanquished teammates. Who in the English game was familiar with Abou Diaby or Bacary Sagna from Auxerre? Even internationals like Alex Hleb and Eduardo had fans wondering about their pedigree. The one exception was William Gallas, an atypical signing as the likelihood of Wenger hiring a 29-year-old apart from a goalkeeper under normal circumstances are almost non-existent. However, David Dein was determined that if Ashley Cole was going to Chelsea it must be at the cost of weakening their squad rather than making a minuscule dent in their owner's bank balance. A more characteristic purchase who arrived at the same time as Gallas but with far less fanfare was the 18-year-old Brazilian Denilson from São Paulo.

Of course, the debatable decision to dispense with experience was a matter of choice for Wenger. Starting with Dennis Bergkamp, the policy of only offering single-year contract extensions to the over-30s was introduced. Thus, a player in his late 20s knew that any deal he signed would be the last to give him any long-term security. If the new approach meant the loss of Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord (who was offered a two-year contract as a 29-year-old, but rejected it in order to be able to leave on a free transfer) then so be it. The manager was prepared to forego a potential transfer fee rather than subsidise for any length of time someone who he felt had his best days behind him. On occasion, Wenger's intransigence strained relationships. While Dennis Bergkamp was prepared to accept what was on offer and come back for more at yearly intervals, others wanted and felt they deserved greater security. It became apparent from January 2004 onwards that Wiltord would leave in the summer and, once he had recovered from injury, he was marginalised in much the same way Ian Wright had been several years earlier. As Wiltord went on to enjoy three title-winning seasons with Lyon, there is certainly an argument to be made that Wenger would have been better served by retaining him in spite of his age, rather than investing heavily in his youthful replacement, José Antonio Reyes, who ultimately flattered to deceive.

Wenger though had different priorities. He had to ensure that if, financially, things did not work out, he had a young group who would grow older together and that, in the worst case scenario, would have some sell-on value. “My priority will always be to keep the players I already have,” he says, “because above all I believe in the virtues of teamwork. And one can only maintain and develop the players by communicating a culture, a culture which passes from generation to generation.” In the short term, trophies would actually be a bonus. It was a delicate balancing act, operating with a miniscule budget compared to his rivals whilst keeping his team competitive enough to ensure Champions League football, with its attendant (and essential) income.

The corollary at the start of the 2006/07 season was a largely inexperienced squad. The opening skirmishes at the Emirates saw Henry and Ljungberg start, although their injury woes soon gave the fans a glimpse of the future. Aside from Gilberto and William Gallas, the oldest outfield squad members were 25-year-olds Tomas Rosicky and Kolo Toure. So much for Wenger's optimum ages. By his own criteria, only William Gallas was playing at the peak of his powers. His qualifying assessment, “because they have exceptional talent they play already”, was still to be proved.

Compared to the past there were a high number of home draws in the first half of the Premiership campaign – five in the first nine fixtures. A pattern emerged as a result of unworldliness on the one hand and exceptional stamina and fitness on the other. Either Arsenal scored first, and went on to a comfortable victory, or conceded the lead and then salvaged a draw, often equalising right at the death as the visitors visibly wilted under the pressure. But it was often naivety – specifically a lack of concentration – that sometimes handicapped them when they fell behind. Still, the omens were good. As the team gradually became accustomed to their new surroundings, results improved. The concluding ten league matches saw only five points dropped, compared with twice as many from the first nine. They even came from behind to beat eventual champions Manchester United, and taken in conjunction with a victory at Old Trafford, the conviction grew that, with greater consistency, this young side could challenge their free-spending rivals.

Wenger believes that “the elevation of the general physical level has made the game faster and therefore you need a minimum high standard of physical ability to survive, even if you have experience and talent. So, instead of driving at 100 miles an hour football is now 150 miles an hour. So at 150 mph you can use your experience, but you must be [physically] capable of driving at 150 mph. The physical level of any team in the Premier League compared to ten years ago is higher. Because every new generation is better prepared. And the measurement of the physical performances of the players has kicked out some players who were not at the level.”

Certainly the Arsenal squad for the first seasons at the Emirates, with at least two players for every position, was numerically as strong as any other. However, due to the lack of experience, there was less quality in depth. So, needing to overturn a 1–0 deficit against PSV in the home leg of the Champions League game, Wenger fielded Gilberto at centre back whilst the raw Johan Djourou remained on the bench. In central midfield there were two teenagers. No one questioned the selection of the precocious Fabregas, but was Denilson the right partner? Up front Emmanuel Adebayor, yet to notch his first Champions League goal, was partnered by Julio Bapista who, outside of the Carling Cup, had scored a total of two goals since his arrival on loan from Real Madrid. Arsenal's scorer on the night? A PSV player putting through his own net. It was not enough. In desperation, Wenger was forced to send on an unfit Thierry Henry for his final appearance in a futile attempt to score a second goal. PSV qualified thanks to a late equaliser.

With every passing transfer window since Wenger splashed out on Theo Walcott, Adebayor and Abou Diaby in January 2006, Arsenal's supporters became increasingly frustrated at the small amount of chequebook activity, not least because with the club at last on more solid financial ground and the board's pronouncements of available fund ing, the only restraint on the manager is his own parsimony. Many fans believe the squad is simply not strong enough, doubting Wenger's faith in the younger players, or indeed that certain of the older ones that he has signed (such as Pascal Cygan) were ever good enough in the first place. What is revealing about the youthful inflow is that, in spite of not paying huge sums to get them, Arsenal's 2006/07 wage bill (£89.7 million) was similar in size to that of Manchester United, though at just over 50% of turnover is way below the Premiership average (Chelsea write their own rules with staff costs of over £100 million). The message seems to be that even if Arsène Wenger now chooses not to shop at Harrods, once he has bought what he wants, he is determined to hang onto it if he can (without undermining the club's wage structure).

With a combined budget for transfer activity and player wages, the Arsenal manager knows his limits, though they have been considerably extended as a result of the high rise in income: the Emirates effect. If former managing director Keith Edelman is taken at his word (“Arsène has got sufficient funds for any signing he wishes to make”) Wenger chooses not to spend everything he has available to him. Towards the end of the 2006/07 season, Peter Hill-Wood, Danny Fiszman and Arsène Wenger met up for dinner at Wiltons, a renowned West End restaurant. Hill-Wood recalls, “At the end of the dinner, we were talking about a new contract for him. And Danny said, ‘Arsène, if we gave you £100 million to spend, what would you do?' And this was exactly his remark. ‘I'd give it back.' Good, nice to hear it.”

It is apparent that the manager places more importance on keeping happy those he has taken time and energy to find and develop than he does taking a chance on expensive new additions. “I will always stick to the same policy,” Wenger explains, “but if there is a guy who could one day reach out to another level and will cost a fortune, we could nevertheless buy him.” It would be inaccurate to claim that Wenger used to sign current stars, as really only Marc Overmars, Davor Suker, Sol Campbell and William Gallas ever arrived with well-established reputations that the manager was never going to markedly enhance. But it could certainly be argued that Arsenal had more success when there was stiffer competition for places, with experienced campaigners often unable to get a start. At no point in their careers at the club could the likes of Kanu, Sylvain Wiltord, Edu, Gilles Grimandi and Oleg Luzhny claim that they had a first-team place nailed down. That resource disappeared with the stadium move and cries for its return have seemingly fallen on deaf ears.

Is it possible that, in reaction to what Wenger has referred to as “financial doping” (a veiled attack on certain clubs' extravagant spending) he has decided to build a team in a completely different way, declining to engage in any auction? Could he be reluctant to spend his budget by way of proving a point? Namely, anyone can buy success, but there is another way: constructing a side stuffed full with players produced by his own coaching methods. “You may forget that one of the joys of team sports is the development of a group who have been together for some time,” reflects Wenger. “Take the example of this young Arsenal team [2007/08]. They have grown up together which means they have also suffered together and shared the pain. When you think about the disappointments of last season, I feel in spite of everything it was a turning point. We held on. We never gave up and we always fought. I said to myself, ‘There is something special there, a mental strength that will surprise people when it goes well.'”

Granted, the approach is almost certainly a result of (financial) necessity being the mother of (youthful) invention, but how many other managers could have produced a team on such meagre resources that sells out a 60,000 stadium on a habitual basis? And not only that, but wherever in the world they play, Arsenal attract crowds as glamour opposition, a consequence of the regular broadcasting of their Premiership adventures and the sheer entertainment value they provide. So now Milan or Real Madrid versus Arsenal is an 80,000-plus sell-out as a live event with millions more around the world watching the television spectacular. Indeed, the Arsenal versus Milan Champions League first leg in February 2008 had more commentary teams covering the game in the flesh than any previous match in the competition's history outside the final. Wenger's young team are top of the bill, as he concurs: “I think we are more respected in Europe because of eight or nine consecutive seasons in the Champions League. Everywhere we go it looks like it is a big, big game. We had to gain respect and we are [now] looked upon as a big scalp.” (Gooners still chuckle at Zinedine Zidane's response when a journalist asked him if he almost joined Tottenham earlier in his career. The answer – “Who?” – would never have been given about Arsenal.)