Arsene Wenger: Tightest Man in Football?

10 Years in charge. Four F.A. Cups. Three Premiership titles, and unbeaten Premier League campaign. A Champions League runners-up medal.

Arsene Wenger has accomplished a lot at Arsenal, also having brought through a mass of young talent: Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas, and Kolo Toure to name but a few. The Frenchman hasn't received much criticism over the years.

However, if we were to point out Mr. Wenger's fatal flaw, it would be his lack of bravery in the transfer market.

In the last three years, Arsene Wenger's Young Guns haven't felt success. More often than not, it has been due to his team not having the strength in depth required to stay up at the top of the table with the big boys.

This season, the football public thought Arsenal might end their dry spell.

The Gunners were half-way through the season unbeaten and playing fantastic football. Wenger still chose not to buy in the January window, believing his team had the strength in depth to win what seemed rightly theirs.

Lady luck struck, and struck Arsenal with a few injury problems, leaving Eduardo out for the season and the defense weakened. Arsene's Young Guns lost their place at the top, and with one game left to go their only chance seems to be second place (if Newcastle and Bolton can do them a favor).

So surely Arsene Wenger has to look ahead to next season.

It seems as though Mathieu Flamini has chosen to leave, along with Jens Lehmann and Gilberto Silva, who was destined to go. William Gallas is not the captain he once seemed to be. So there is some serious consideration needed when going into next season.

As usual, Wenger has been linked with a flock of young foreign talent such as Hatem Ben Arfa, Obafemi Martins, and Ezequiel Garay. But if history were to repeat itself it would be likely that Wenger would not add to his squad apart from the introductions of more Arsenal Youth players.

So now that money has become such a big part in the present game, Arsene Wenger soon has to realize that his free flowing style of play and inexperienced youths need more to taste success—and that the cheque book really does need to be opened.