Arsenal FC: Gunners Fans' Misconceptions of Arsene Wenger's Priorities

For a long time, Arsenal were nicknamed "Boring, Boring Arsenal," due to the fact that they were neither fun to watch, nor that successful in terms of wins. However, in the late '80s and early '90s, they started getting their act together.

Then Arsene Wenger arrived.

In 1996, Frenchman Arsene Wenger, who had only coached minor teams—AS Nancy Lorraine (France), AS Monaco (France), Grampus Eight (Japan)—was appointed as Arsenal manager and faced with a tough task. He had to make this semi-successful North London club into real trophy contenders.

First of all, Wenger implemented a strict policy about drinking. Because his parents ran a pub in France, he saw the effects that alcohol can have on people, and therefore imposed a ban for his players.

Second, he started seeing the kind of food the players ate in the academy, and made them eat healthier food.

Wenger made a drastic difference to the Arsenal squad, and under him, they won the Premier League three times, and finished second five times.

Not only did he bring success to the club, but in an attempt to make watching Arsenal games more enjoyable, Wenger also got the team to play a whole new style that was essentially built around passing. He took great pride in the new type of football that Arsenal were playing, because Wenger's philosophy is not only about what you do; it's also about how you do it.

His way of success was based on the style of play, as well as on bringing in youth from the academy, and molding them into first-team players. This was tough, since he had to make kids fit into an EPL squad. He had the ability to spot young talent, and over the years he made several terrific buys.

There was, of course, the young Catalan Cesc Fabregas, whom Wenger bought at the tender age of 16, and who turned out to be a sensation.

Jack Wilshere was also brought in from the Arsenal academy, turned out to be a fantastic young player, and is expected to be very successful.

One more example is Aaron Ramsey, another player whom Wenger spotted as a mere teenager at Cardiff City, and though he is better known for his gruesome injury than for his play, he is expected to play a big role for Arsenal in the future.

Others like Patrick Viera, Theo Walcott, Bacary Sagna and Kolo Toure turned out to be important players, even though they weren't very well-known before moving to Arsenal.

From this, we can tell that Wenger prefers buying young players with potential to already established superstars.

As opposed to teams like Manchester City and Real Madrid, Wenger is not willing to buy his way to trophies. Sure, he will make a big signing every once in a while, but he won't purchase a whole starting XI.

Ever since City were taken over by rich owners, they have simply thrown money at problems, buying tons of expensive players, such as Carlos Tevez, Samir Nasri, Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure, James Milner, Gareth Barry, Mario Balotelli and David Silva.

Wenger won't do the same thing as Real Madrid, who became known as the "Galacticos" because they bought several superstars who propelled the team to victory.

No, that isn't Arsene's style.

More things we have learned about Wenger are his views on the how the game should and should not be played.

He strongly believes that it is not proper to throw around excessive amounts of money, in order to buy superstars. Also, he clearly has a style that he thinks is superior; one that is built on passing and attacking play, rather than one that is oriented around defense, and relies on tactics such as launching long balls.

One of the most controversial topics among Arsenal fans is whether or not Wenger is doing his job right.

Some Gooners agree with le Professeur, saying that he is absolutely correct in wanting to play fairly, despite sacrificing trophies. In their opinion, his principles are excellent, and being financially responsible is the best possible way to function.

Others, however, are fed up with Wenger and his so-called "principles," and they want silverware for the club so badly that they just want him to do everything in his power in order to win titles.

Of course, both sides of this argument are very understandable, and neither one is 100 percent correct.

It's not up to anybody to decide which one is better, but for Arsenal fans who worship Arsene Wenger, but dislike the side of him that refuses to spend money, this is what I have to say: He will not change his ways.

From 15 years of him running the club, it's safe to say that Wenger, who has strong principles, will always prefer losing while playing "properly" than winning while playing "incorrectly."

This is currently a relevant topic because this summer, like most summers for Arsenal, several players have been linked with a move to the Emirates, and fans are desperate for more players. Players like Phil Jagielka, Christopher Samba, Yoann Gourcuff, Ricardo Montolivo, Scott Dann have supposedly been on the Gunners' wish list, but no huge deals have happened yet.

Sure, Gervinho, who has been very impressive so far, looks to be a great signing, and Wenger just signed former Monaco striker Park Chu Young. And of course, a few teenagers have transferred to Arsenal, but Wenger hasn't made any big signings, even though other teams have done so this summer.

Manchester United got Ashley Young, Chelsea got Juan Mata, Liverpool got Charlie Adam and Jose Enrique and Manchester City got Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero, among others.

But it is because Wenger hasn't made any huge signings that he is getting criticized.

He has, however, proved to be quite stubborn in recent years, and criticizing him in an attempt to get him to spend money will come to no avail. That is something that some Arsenal fans need to understand.

Arsene Wenger will not change.