Arsenal News: Is Arsene Wenger Right About Manchester United's Inevitable Fall?
As Arsenal tries not to fall out of the top four of the Premier League this season, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger isn't talking about his team's apparent step down, he's talking about Manchester United's inevitable downfall.
That's right, United is headed for a fall. Along with the rest of the Premier League.
What Wenger is talking about is England's financial situation, which hasn't gotten better as economies across the globe suffer, many steeped in recessions.
Teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid have taken advantage for the moment; each have their own individualized TV rights and have "much more financial power than they did 14 years ago," Wenger said.
But Wenger didn't stop there.
As his club battles some of the top spenders, he thinks all of Europe will eventually begin to level out, including Barcelona and Madrid, with every club strapped for cash and not able to unload massive sums of money on soccer stars.
At that, Wenger proceeded to forecast the world as he sees it down the line, via ESPN:
""I believe that Europe overall, as a unit, is going towards a massive crisis, which nobody really expects now. I am convinced that Europe will go into a huge financial crisis within the next three weeks or three months and maybe that will put everything into perspective again.
"Football is not untouchable. We live with people going to the stadiums as well and from advertising from people who buy products. All our income could be a little bit under threat in the next few months. Football is not only about money. We believe in ourselves that we can compete with them but it's as simple as this."
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"The next three weeks or three months," huh? Well, I wish Wenger would tell us one or the other so I can start planning accordingly.
But Wenger does have a point. While his economic forecasts sound a bit exaggerated, it's not far-fetched to see clubs starting to spend less money as economies fluctuate around the world.
The problem I have with Wenger's theory that teams like United will fall hard is that they still have their name brand, and that alone will still attract some stars, even if it means taking potentially less money.
While teams like Arsenal would lose money and potentially be looking up at the top four, teams like United are at the top of their class, and the chance to win a Premier League title is enough for many soccer stars to think about joining United.
United has been succeeding for ages. Sometimes a brand name is more important than having the most money.
