Wenger Transfer Policy Criticism Highlights Need for Balance

Emmanuel Petit, who played for Arsenal through many of their most successful years under Arsene Wenger, has criticised the club's transfer policy - highlighting the need to balance short term results with long-term strategy.

The worlds of business and sport are increasingly focused on short-term results. Football managers can be sacked within weeks if results go badly and confidence is lost. Business leaders talk of the need to get through the next quarter as being the priority to keep shareholders on side. In the current climate, financial collapse can be just around the corner, as many big names will testify.

Few doubt that Arsene Wenger is building a squad of players that could deliver success in the long-term, but in the meantime he has sacrificed trophies and tested the patience of many fans who expect more. Petit's criticism revolves around Wenger's unwillingness to spend big on new players, break the wage structure, and his apparent willingness to let senior players go when the squad may benefit from their experience.

Chelsea, in particular, among their rivals would appear to have taken the opposite approach, backed by Abramovich's deep pockets. Critics might point to the lack of evidence of a pipeline of home-grown talent. Clubs who buy are at risk of building a house of cards - when the current crop of players goes, where is the bench strength to replace them?

Balance is not easily achieved. Manchester United have done it, although recently they've depended more on bought talent than home-grown. But they have been able to keep refreshing their squad, building for the long-term while maintaining results.

The same can be said to be true for any sport, whether 'professional' or not. Some years ago I was involved in the review of a major Olympic sport and their 'World Class' programmes. Within the sport there was some appetite for shifting focus (and funds), from what was seen as a bloated and ineffective senior programme, to their talent development programmes. A closer look, however, showed that success at the senior elite level was a crucuial driver of the whole system and that focusing on getting it right at the senior end could bring funding for the other programmes. A shift towards the junior programmes could be highly risky and ultimately result in the loss of overall funding.

Likewise, in professional sports such as football, the first team is the economic driver of the whole system. Revenues from TV, sponsorship, ticketing, prize money and other commercial ventures are dependent on success of the first team. The first team is the 'brand' in so many ways.

So maybe Emmanuel Petit is right. Clearly Arsenal aren't a bad team, but perhaps Wenger and the board have been a little dogmatic in their approach; perhaps just a little too focused on the future and not quite enough on the here and now.

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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com