Despite once being a great advocate of talent from the continent, the
Gunners coach has struggled to unearth too many quality African talents
in recent years
FEATURE
By Victor Abimbola
After
Arsenal’s Champions League Last 16 elimination at the hands of
AS Monaco, questions are once again being asked about
Arsene Wenger.
The coach is often criticised so fiercely because he achieved so much
in the past at Arsenal, and it’s easy, when things aren’t going well,
to recall the golden years of the manager’s early reign.
African Imports Key to Wenger's Glory Years
The most successful period of Wenger's time in North London was
between 1998-2005, One major component of Wenger's success during these
years was his African imports.
Even before he came to North London, he had a penchant for players
from the African continent. He nurtured and developed Victor Ikpeba at
Monaco despite the Nigerian having a difficult start to life at the
club,
Ikpeba scored 13 league goals to help Monaco win the French title.
In 1999, after just 12 games and one goal for Inter Milan, Wenger
struck gold by signing lanky Nigerian international Nwankwo Kanu who had
just recovered from a life-threatening heart condition.
The rest is history,
30 goals in 119 appearances doesn't tell the whole story; Kanu scored
important goals for Arsenal and rose up to the occasion when it
mattered most. A memorable hat trick in a 3-2 comeback win against
Chelsea at Stamford Bridge remains the highlight of them all.
Kanu | Enjoyed perhaps his finest years at Highbury
Kolo Toure was snapped up from ASEC Mimosas for a meagre £150,000
after a short trial and went on to become an important member of the
club's Invincibles squad. After coming into the team as a defensive
midfielder, Wenger converted Kolo into one of the best centre-backs in
England.
The same thing happened with fellow Invincibles teammate Lauren, The
Cameroonian came in as a midfielder but was converted into a very
effective full back by Arsene.
Alex Song was signed for £1 million after a successful loan spell at
the club from SC Bastia. He went on to become a key member of the side
and forged good partnerships with Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie.
The Indomitable Lion was sold to Barcelona for £15 million in 2012.
Strength has always been a most abundant trait with African players
signed by Wenger, and there was an abundance of it in the coach's most
successful teams.
Even Emmanuel Eboue, not the most successful, was quick, strong and
physical. Despite his rashness and poor judgement in tackle at times,
Eboue had an incredible level of strength.
Kanu wasn't the strongest but he drew fouls in important positions with his lanky frame and languid style of play.
In recent years, however, Arsenal's team has been derided by fans and
pundits as one lacking strength and steel in the middle of the pack.
Patrick Vieira was Arsenal's last midfield powerhouse but he had the
strength of Kolo Toure to rely on in defence alongside Lauren on the
right flank. Teams just couldn't outmuscle them.
Kolo | A colossus at the back and a bit of a bargain too!
So is it possible that the lack of steel in recent Wenger teams has been down to his continued ignorance of African players?
Arsenal Ignore African Talent, Chelsea and City don't...
It’s not an enormous leap, especially if you consider the fact that
during Arsenal’s fallow period, Chelsea signed Michael Essien, Didier
Drogba and John Obi Mikel while Manchester City signed Yaya Toure. Both
teams are at the summit of the EPL table at the moment.
With those players in their teams over the years, Chelsea have three
EPL titles, one Champions League, one Europa League, five FA Cups and
four League cups, while City have two EPL titles.
Many would point to the huge financial investment by both teams but
on the flip side, none of Wenger's African imports were expensive
signings, except Gervinho of course, who claimed the Frenchman never
really believed in him while he was at Arsenal.
Gervinho's Arsenal career never really kicked off. Maybe he just
wasn't good enough or Wenger had probably lost his eye for spotting and
nurturing young African talents into top level players.
Maybe Gervinho was the right man, at the right club, at the right
moment, but he was mismanaged by the coach as he claims—his subsequent
glistening showings have certainly inferred a fault on the manager’s
part.
Wenger had the chance to sign Drogba from En Avant de Guingamp but
ignored him and the Ivorian went on to torment Arsenal for many years.
Yaya Toure had a trial at Arsenal but was not signed due to work
permit issues, or maybe the Frenchman just didn't see the talent in him
and failed to press harder to secure him a permit. The African champion
has, of course, grown into one of world's best midfielders in recent
times.
Yaya | Could have been a Gunner...
Latterly, Arsenal had the chance to sign talented Ivorian full back Serge Aurier, but Wenger went for Mathieu Debuchy instead.
The French international has spent more time on the treatment table than the pitch since moving to London Colney.
Aurier had a good World Cup which secured a loan move (with an option
to buy) to French giants Paris Saint-Germain, and was recently crowned
an African champion with the Ivory Coast.
Debuchy, meanwhile, continues to battle with injuries.
Arsenal have been heavily linked with Morgan Schneiderlin since last
summer while Victor Wanyama continues to be ignored despite being the
important physical foil to Schneiderlin's success at Southampton.
Wenger’s career at Arsenal has had two fairly distinct halves, one
characterised by achievement, the other, as Jose Mourinho likes to point
out, responsible for his reputation as a specialist in failure.
The coach has begun to suggest that his ability to spot, assess and
recruit excellent African talent has also deteriorated. Arsenal are the
worse for it.
Wenger opened the eyes of the world to how effective and adaptable
African players can be. However, everyone else has caught up with him
and left him trailing in that aspect.
He recently claimed that Arsenal would win the title in the next
three years, he's obviously building his team towards that and there are
many talented players in the squad but they still lack that raw
strength and steel in certain areas of the team, and that is a quality
synonymous with many title-winning outfits. Maybe if he's ever going to
reach the levels of success he managed to attain during his early years
at the club, he'll have to pay more attention to players from a
continent that has played an important role in his past success.
