The Real Reason Arsenal Haven't Bought in a New Vieira

Over the past few months almost every Arsenal blog has posed the question of why Wenger has persisted in playing what some fans view as underperforming, callow youngsters rather than bringing in a tried and tested midfielder.

The usual explanations for this course of action take one of three forms. I will briefly touch on each but unlike the endless stream of similar articles I will propose an entirely different possibility—one which might anger both those of the anti-AKB brigade and those who believe the man can do no wrong.

Common Arguments for the Inclusion of “Underperformers”:

1. They might not be performing in matches but Wenger sees them every day in training and accordingly understands their potential and current level better than the viewing public.
2. Team members who were in excellent form last season are themselves playing worse. This is a common argument put forward by many Denilson-raters: that he is a quality player but is lacking the top class support around him (e.g. Vieira) that someone like Fabregas had when breaking into the first team.
3. Wenger has become overly obsessed with his youth plan and would rather see Arsenal fail than be shown to be wrong for gabling on the kids.

An Alternative

I believe that Wenger may recognise that the players he have put in are not performing as well as they could. However I also believe that he knows the team’s form could be improved by buying in that defensive midfielder so many online commentators long for, but has decided against it.

I think that he has taken a calculated gamble that we will probably muddle through into the Champions League places this season and that it is worth sacrificing the team’s current performance to maintain our reputation for giving “the kids” a chance, especially now as the league title seems to be beyond our grasp.

The importance of this is two-fold: firstly the effect of bringing in a more established player at the expense of  those who have just been given their chance to shine.

This would have massive ramifications for the mindset of our current players: I’m not just thinking of the first team squad members who would be displaced from the starting line-up but also from the many players on the lower rungs who, having thought they were a part of a system that would give them a chance at playing at the highest level, have that potential reward snatched from in front of their eyes.

The Fontes, the Ogogos, the Frimpongs of the Arsenal family would see that Arsene’s faith in them is not absolute, in fact will be dissolved by a couple of mediocre performances.

The second major impact of bringing in established players from outside, having given others only a short time to demonstrate their qualities, is on our ability to continue to bring in the very best youth talent.

A recent example of this is when Aaron Ramsey, pursued by Arsenal and Manchester United, decided on Wenger as the man to look after his future development, reportedly infuriating Fergie.

Now admittedly you don’t get the impression it is terribly difficult to get Ferguson riled up but would Ramsey have made that decision as easily if he had evidence of Wenger’s unwillingness to give his younger players time to adjust at the highest level?—and make no mistake that is what it would be were he to bring in a Veloso or an Inler.

Is this a possibility? If so, is AW right…?

                                                                                Werewerf (AKB Status withheld)