Arsenal Will Lose in the Short Term and Win in the Long Run: Here's Why

It was around the time that Sunderland signed Lorik Cana for £5m that the hope started to fade again.  When Milan snatched up Klaas-Jan Huntelaar it took another hit.  When even Marouane Chamakh was deemed too rich for Arsenal blood, it was enough to make the fans cringe with the summertime blues.

Hinting back and forth at being both satisfied with his current squad and talking about the big burst of transfers during the waning hours of the period, Arsene Wenger has all of us white-knuckled and at the edges of our seats.  Patiently, many wait for a big man to come through the doors and be the bully that keeps the Arsenal boys from getting their lunch money stolen.

But no matter how much you search for any tabloid written gossip linking anyone to Arsenal, the facts most clearly show that there isn't going to be outrageous spending or consensual opening of wallets in the Red and White boardroom.  It's going to be one or two guys, but maybe even that's asking too much.

Not to burst anyone's preseason bubble, but we all know the truth.  Arsenal's defense is weak, the midfield isn't strong enough, and there isn't enough money.  Fourth place might be just enough, but only just.

That isn't because of Manchester City's spending. Of course they'll be stronger this time around, but when you have eight strikers in your lineup, that's not simply a misuse of money, it's a show of improper managing judgement.

Mark Hughes is a good manager, and he may even win a few trophies with Man City, just like Blackburn did when they basically bought the league back in 1995.

Good for Manchester City fans.  Everyone deserves a little bit of hope for the team they love.

Arsenal fans deserve hope as well. The simple fact is, Arsene Wenger is one of the greatest managers in history.  Not simply because of his footballing style, his youth policy, or the fact that he's the best seller in world of football, but the fact that he has done for Arsenal what Johan Cruyff did as coach of Barcelona.

He has created a footballing culture, a beautiful mentality that has everyone from North London to Saigon wearing the red and white.  The man has built a club from "dull as ditchwater" status to gorgeous invincibles.

This period, however, is the natural occurrence, the symptom, of what Arsene has strictly followed.  In order to found a club on youth (something which is only a recent phenomenon) and in order for youth to grow and develop, they need years—years which have cost Arsenal trophies for almost half a decade.

But it's not all Arsene's fault.  When Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea and dipped into his Scrooge-McDuck-sized vault, it was a monetary knife in the heart of all other Premier League competition.  Chelsea had always been competitive, but now the club was an 800-pound gorilla knocking down the doors of clubs that had developed slowly and gracefully over decades.

Manchester United felt the heat for a while, then fought back with a money splurge that left them in massive debt.  Liverpool did the same, so much so that at the beginning of the summer, Rafa Benitez was left with a slashed transfer kitty and a nervous pair of American owners unsure if they could pay back their loans.

Now Manchester City.

They'll be competitive, certainly, but they won't last.  So many clubs have come and gone with pockets full of money, and only a handful remain.  Mark Hughes isn't a world beating coach, and the club doesn't have the infrastructure built over patient years like those toiled over by Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson. What they will do, however, is push Arsenal back many years.

For the short yet foreseeable future, Arsenal are going to struggle in ways that may or may not destroy Wenger's career. There will be a trophy drought of heart-wrenching proportions, there will be young players sold, and there will be beautiful football, as always.

But if Arsene survives? Well, there's only so much money in this world to be spent on clubs. All the bony-nosed Frenchman has to do is wait and survive.

Ferguson knows what he's talking about when he says that Arsenal are contenders.

Sure it's a mind-game to put off Man City, but Ferguson has always been watchful of Wenger. He knows if any coach is going to destroy his legacy in the Premier League, it'll be the man from Strasbourg.

Think about it like this; Jose Mourinho, as amazing a coach as he is, could only do what he could with exorbitant amounts of cash and older more experienced players. Although a great man-to-man motivator, players didn't improve under his tutelage, they only remained consistent.

Benitez, although achieving amazing things in the Champions League, doesn't seem to be able to pull off any sort of English success.  Carlo Ancelotti isn't much of a league man either.  Mark Hughes?  Well he's neither.  He is, and seemingly always will be, just an ok coach. (Of course many people would kill just to be an ok coach!)

So who does that leave surviving in the Premiership?  Ferguson isn't a young man anymore, and we would all do well to remember that Fergie has a decade more of experience over Wenger in England.  Can you imagine Wenger's power given the time he needs?  The possibilities are simply staggering.

But he's not quite there.  Not yet.

I may be entirely wrong.  Arsenal could stomp their way over to the end of the Premiership season, gracefully pirouette over to the trophy, put a few through balls in along the way, score 17 goals against Manchester City, and go on a 38-game winning streak.

But in reality, the possibility of Francesc Fabregas hoisting a major trophy over his head come next year is a fading image in an already murky pond.

In a few years however?

With the proper growth of Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Samir Nasri, and Thomas Vermaelen, the "golden era" that Wenger has occasionally spoken of might just be fun to watch. 

There is of course one caveat to this grand vision of the future: the survival of Arsene Wenger.