Arsene Wenger on Marouane Chamakh, “We do like him a lot”
Submitted by James on February 9, 2010 – 4:30 36 Comments
The January transfer window may be over but Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is already thinking about next summer and possible reinforcements for his side.
Speaking to Canal+, the Frenchman confirmed he likes Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh, comments which come days after the player revealed he would like to play in the English Premiership, with Arsenal.
Wenger said:
In life you should achieve your dreams, above all you should try for them.
We do like him a lot, but the day we sign him – we will let you know.
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Again Wenger is playing mind games with the fans. “but the day we sign him , we`ll let you know”. Why can`t the man just say “yes, we do like him and he is a definate possiblity for a summer signing” Give the fans something for God`s sake…wet their appetite don`t treat them like naughty boys “speak when you are spoken to”….”cihldren ( fans) should be seen but not heard” Come down from you ivory tower Arsene we`re the ones paying your wages.
Aussie Jack – don’t be so quick to criticise Arsene. His words are always carefully chosen. Whether he says “we like him a lot”, or “we’ll definitely sign him”, means nothing until he actually does. His job is not to whet your appetite but do the right thing by the club. There’s no guarantee he will strike a deal on Chamakh, or he will meet his personal terms etc. Plus there could be a lot better options open up between now and June. Like any good negotiator, he’s keeping his cards close to his chest. He says he’s interested, but he doesn’t want to signal he’ll do the deal at any price. None of which means anything until a deal is done, and if you don’t like it, tough. If he did things your way and to please the likes of you Arsenal Football Club would squander millions of pounds every year without necessarily doing any better than now – eg. he could’ve signed Chamakh for 12 million last summer but wasn’t prepared to pay more than 6. Do you really think that would’ve been a game changer in the league table if he’d done that? Leave the man to do his job. He’s the best manager we’ve ever had, he’s the best in the world in his footballing principles and sheer intelligence, and the rest of us “who pay his wages” should applaud and let him get on with the special project that is Arsenal.
Mr Aleksi….u’re definitely inlove with this man called ‘Arsene’…wake up into reality….i can’t imagine why people like u still “applaud” even when we obviously cant see any sheer intelegence in his recent actions…the money he’s saving is not for the fans …its for the board n him
a few points:
1.we a r third in the hardest league in the world.
2.our team cost half as the others and still young so we should gets lots of years
3.chealsea had to wait 50 years and 750M to win the league and Liverpool has not for 20 years
4.and yes the money is for the shareholders who have also invested in the club who stand to loose their money / lives if we go the Pompey way.
And to every one else who do we buy this Jan? I cant see any world class player who would improve our team. Those you may think were available are NOT unless at a bloody kings ransom. I suppose just to make you Fantasy football types happy he should go out and pay 30 mil on a player who may not make it. (Benzima springs to mind, 20mil aquilani, Berbatov, and my personal favorite…….. wait for it….. Jpllion Lescotte for 24 MILLION POUNDS
)
PS: real Madrid have the best players in the world and they still wont win a thing this year. So the next time you think buying is the answer think again!
PSS: I also find it weird that people talk about spending 10 or 20mil as if its £20. get real this is real money not monopoly!
I do think we could strengthen but at the right price and the right players. and the right time.
Mr. X,
Allow me to disagree on your first point.
You say we’re 3rd in the league as if it’s an achievement, a reached objective. Is it? Based on Wenger’s words at the start of the season and weeks ago, I thought we were supposed to fight for first place, not third?
Isn’t therefore third a missed objective?
One must be optimistic and look for positives in a particular situation. Off course winning the Leage and Cleague is the objective but at the same time we should be behind the team not be so neggative. None of the solutions offered by anybody is guranteed to make a difference.
Sack the manager – even if we do get someone of his quality as mentioned by another post they will want to build their own team and we come back to the point that we dont have man city money to do majour reconstructon. Pluss thats not our way. I dont know about you but I love the romance of buikding a team of some of the greatest youngters and turning them into the best in the world. Would you doubt that Cesc will be the best in the world in the next year or 2.Granted it would be great to get a trophy or 2 but I am willing to wait to see the plan com to fruition.
I personally expected Chealse to win the league from the beginning of the season before the first game was played and I think most people who i spoke to.
Common — after selling Ade and Toure( which i agreed with) all the blgs had the Fantasy crew saying we would not even make 4th place. I know we were not yet at their (chelsea) level or ManU but this season will be the one to get it all together and iron out the issues- a season of discovery if you will. We now all know what has to be tweaked and by saving the money from this xfer rather than taking a gamble we should have about 60m to spend if he gets his usual 30m to add to that in the summer. (just guessing here – no one knows the answer to that one)
Buy a new striker- I totally agree – But who in this xfer window that realy would make a difference. Many of the names being touted do not even want to come to England. High taxes– shit weather- and not being able to cope with the pace of league in the first place. Many of the so called targets in terms of strikers are only big fish in small ponds. The PL would break them. I remember Chevchenko (not suggesting for a moment that Seri A is a small pond) – Best striker at the time but could not score for chealsea. Robbie keen and Berbatove – Great players? or surronded by shit which makes them look good. ( if you want to counter and say they have decent players (spurs) tell me which one is good enough for arsenal)
I believe the problems Arsenal are facing at the moment are being seen from the wrong perspective.
Many are bashing the “negative” supporters but seriously, how can you blame them? You said it: at the start of the season we were not on the same level of Chelsea so why say we will fight for the title(I’m referring to Wenger here).
You know, it’s like starting to build a skyscraper, being promised that it will be the tallest of the area but when the work is complete, you see that two, three other skyscrapers are taller than yours.
Wouldn’t it have been easier to be promised that yours will be amongst the tallest rather than the tallest one? No wonder Arsenal supporters are frustrated, only days ago Wenger was saying ““It’s very important that we win something, we’re here to win trophies”.
So how can you blame someone who is upset for not seeing the promised trophies?
I see your point.
By the way great Blog – I have read it in silence for a long time but the negativity is really getting to me. Like everyone else I was in the pub on Sunday and even My ManU mate felt sorry for me and tried to console me because he understands the arsenal project is I like to call it.
Back to the topic:
But as a manager he cannot go out and say that we are not going to try to win. I bet even phill brown tells his team at the beginning of the season they have a chance to make the Europa League. To motivate you must at times show some blind optimism. (LMAO-just thinking of the hull dressing room and Phill giving that speech—- see — life with arsenal is not so bad now is it
Even at work — whatever you may do, if you have a target to meet you never start out saying that you cant do it —– along the way you may have to start reassessing the situation and accepting that you may be a few days off (the target) but if everything goes right the target is still possible.If mathematically its possible then you still have to believe that it can be achieved, and to reassure the team the way to affirm that belief is to say it.
I know wenger says some far out stuff at times but trust me he knows what he is saying and says it for a reason. he make himself subject to critisism and abuse by saying these things as that is one of the ways to show his players he trusts and believes in them even if he himself thinks otherwise. To me that is to be admired.
This may be going a bit far- but how many times has a parent promised their child a new toy but failing to deliver– broken promise? — or unbenown to the child was that the boss had reduce his parents wages due to the recession. Truth is we do not know what goes on in the background to make such judgent. We should keepfaith and believe in our team and manager. Always remember we could be hull. ( you know i now feel pitty for Phill- i thought he was a tosser but when you think of the troubles of clubs like hull we should sometimes be happy to have such a great club with the likes of Cesc, RVP, Verm, Arshavin and yes one day Walcott to ( could I be pushing the optimism too far only time will tell)
This is not misleading
Of course it’s frustrating for the fans, but in truth, the ‘real’ Arsenal fans, the ones who stood on the North Bank during bleaker periods of the club’s history, know just how Mr Wenger has transformed the club we all love.
Whilst having tight financial constraints throughbuilding one of Europe’s premier football arenas, he’s kept us in the top four of one of the world’s toughest leagues, with the added bonus of playing some of the most attractive football I’ve ever witnessed.
Of course we want silverware, but I for one admire the way we play, and trust Arsene’s plans for a financially stable future that will hopefully provide the basis for glory on the pitch.
To the nouveau ‘football’ fans who consider 5 years without a trophy as tantamount to treason, maybe you should consider supporting Rangers or Celtic, you’ll be guranteed something most seasons. For me, being a life-long Arsenal fan is about more than instant success at any cost.
could not say it better myself.
Thanks for the comments Mr. X. Of course I can do nothing against the negative comments as deleting them the way other blogs do would mean denying the so-called freedom of speech. Though that is when readers like you and Andy come into play, discussing things in the polite way, cheers for that.
In reply to Andy, two things bother me to be honest. One is indeed what we discussed before, that is, it would be easier if Wenger says we will fight for a top-four position rather than for higher objectives, which clearly, cannot be achieved.
And Mr. X, I don’t agree that he should say we’ll fight for the title just to motivate players and supporters. One has to be realistic in the objectives, if then you see supporters leave because of that, well then you would have the answer of who really is a “true” supporter or not.
In other words, I would not close the blog if Wenger says we cannot fight for the title in August. But on other hand, I would not be bitterly disappointed when I see something like the last two Sundays.
And two, seriously, I don’t believe we needed 10 players to make the “quality jump” this season, one, maybe two would have been enough. Are we really in such a desperate financial situation where two signings would drive us to self-destruction?
Chris, being the manager of such a high profile club puts Arsene in a no-win situation when asked to predict the team’s chances of success. Suggest we can win the league, and risk disappointing expectant fans, or say we’ll fight for a top four finish, only to be accused of lacking ambition……it’s a difficult one.
I think as fans, we need to take stock, look at the reality of the situation, consider the financial strengths of the other major players, such as Chelsea, Man U, and now even Man City, and not blindly expect to be battling for the championship. Surely we’re wise enough to know we’re fighting against mega-bucks owners, but what will happen when those owners move on from football to their next chosen pastime, where will those clubs be left……nobody really knows, so I’m kind of glad Arseneal aren’t currently being taken down that path.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been as gutted as you with the last couple of results, but when I hear ‘fans’ calling for Wenger’s head, I really think they should be careful what they wish for. There are some 89 teams below us in the English tables, and countless others around the owrld who would take Arsene with open arms. Even the two teams above us would like to play football the way we do. The key for Arsene is to mix the style, with just the right amount of experience and strength……no mean feat, but I do believe it will happen.
EDIT: Maximum nested replies reached – discussion continues below
I see your point.
But I do believe we can win hence why he should sell it as such. Winning is not down to the squad only as you know, but many other things such as but not limitted to- injuries, fixtures, and let not forget good old fashioned luck.These things could allow us the title if they go in our favour with our current squad.
I also respect the negativity as you rightly say they also have a right. My point was that for too long I have listened or read for that matter without adding my two cents in defence of the Boss and now I have.
Without the negativity I would have nothing much else to rant about so please whatever you do let the negative ones continue.
Keep up the good work.
on the 8 players my point was that if one wanted an instant jump – (in months rather than a couple of years) then we would need that level of player investment to get like for like replacements on the bench. Most of the current squad will get there——– but not this season – Walcott, denielson, Diaby, Bentner, Gibbs, Clichy, Ramsey, Wiltshire ( even RVP has not peaked yet nor Eduardo) still have more to come– some are closer than others – - – for me I can wait but for others, if they want us challenging like Chelsea we need 23 first team players like Chelsea , and that means we need at least 8 including a world class keeper. That however takes money we don’t have, and a philosophy we don’t believe in. (which I agree with)
AW,you have tossed fans minds stop it or return to Japan where u began your coaching career for more lessons,how many more people do you want to see dead.
In AW we trust?????? lets see if that remains the same in may.We needed a striker and you played clever cat now you rub your nose and throw your arms all over,we needed a better GK and you still trusted MA who cant even make the top 5 spanish keepers.in EPL he is close to relegation.
for several season are team plays for champions league fispot not a trophy.what a shame
WHY DIDN’T U SIGN THE GUY IN JULY WENGER- I SWEAR THIS GUY WILL BE HIS OWN DEMISE!!! WHAT IS HE UP TO…I RESPECT GIVING YOUNGSTERS THE CHANCE BUT HOW MANY TIMES CAN U MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE!!! WE NOT GETTING ANYTHING FROM THE USELESS PLAYERS YOU’VE REPLACE OUR STARS WITH!!! HE’LL SELL CESC TO BARCELONA – THAT’S A FACT. THEN MAYBE THE SUPPORTERS WILL REALISE THEY’VE BEEN BRAIN-WASHED!!! BRING MOURINHO IN!!!!
Chamakh isnt the answer..We need a proven forward with a lot more strength than chamkh has.. he is too lightweight and will be bullied too much in the english league. we have too many of those players already Mr Wenger…
Torres gets away with it because he backs it with real skill and quality , pace and agility that u have to have. And i dont think that chamakh is anywhere near close to his standard..
thank you. some sense at last.
i believe chamakh is 6′2 and torres is 6′1, chamakh is exactly what we need at the moment, an all rounded striker!!
Wenger is shattering all the dreams of the supporters with his stupid statements .Tell him to shut up until he actually does sign someone
hey..if no one is asking him he probably would shut up. It’s becoz the press is asking question to him that’s why he came up with a statement..
Give the fans something for Good-Arsene Wenger, becouse “We do like him a lot”
by
Zport Club
Aleksi……Let me straighten you out….I never suggested Wenger does things my way and incidentally spending millions on players is definately not `my way` and I certainly don`t need a lesson in negotiations from the likes of you, I spent fifty years doing just that.
Maybe it`s the English/French translation but I just feel he`s getting a little too high and mighty at times that`s all. By the way, don`t let the Aussie Jack bit fool you, I spent my youth liing on the Seven Sisters Road and have supported the Gunners since a kid at the end of the war.
If we like him so much, how come he’s not at the club already? Because we want to get him for nothing rather than spend 5 million to get him at the start of the season.Maybe we would have won the league with him or the FA cup.That would have been money well spent. Wenger is treating the fans like idiots.
but maybe we would not!
do you think the results at Chealsea and ManU would have been determined by us having a new player (chamak). We would have lost anyway. As I said its no shame being beaten By Chelsea and ManU considering their teams. For us to be like them we would need another 8 players on our bench of the same quality of the first team. To accomplish that would take years with our budget restraints. I dont think you could get more than 1 or 2 world class players ( players who will immediately show their worth ) for 30-40m these DAYS.
Next time your mates are going on about who they are going buy and feel left out dont say we should sack the manager…….. remind them of Lescott, Berbatov, Benzima etc!
By the way I like the way you so cavalierly cooly suggest we spend ” £5M”- like its 5 quid, on maybe’s. You could also say maybe if the whole squad was fit we could have win all 4 trophies but hey who knows!
Aleksi you are right Arsene is the best coach in the world,supporting Arsene only when he wins is what some of our fans does it is wrong that way. Like i have said before a FAN DOES NOT NEED A WINDOW TRANSFER.
What does that mean in plain English? “A fan does not need a window transfer”.
I go along with Aussie Jack as I live downunder now but I lived in Hackney in the 50s/60s and have supported Arsenal ever since.Arsene has been good for the club but he needs someone to keep him in line before his ego ruins the club
Don’t talk you like this player, this, this and this but you did not follow by bidding him.I’m so boring.. If you want to buy, then make a straight bid. You throw lots of money on youngster but why you are so stingy on buying the quality senior players???? We need strength and big players in all areas. You need to offload lots of rubbish in current Arsenal squad. I believe you saw all wrong in Arsenal performance but you did not take any further actions to improve the squad. How long do you want to utilize the abilities of youngsters, another 10 years?? You don’t have any ambitions or passion to win trophies??? Stop blaming our opponents, it’s your policies, philosophies and muppet players you have to be blame!!
what if AW leave the club?? I bet that all the top clubs will want to sign him..Madrid, Barcelona, AC milan, Intermilan, Juventus. And when he moves, will we regret? I’m sure we will. Who will replace him? will the new manager able to coach anonymous names to become a star like what AW did with adebayor, nasri, vermaelen. song,etc.. the answer is a big NO. I’m sure that the board won’t give money to buy star players, so the new mgr will have to struggle on playing anonymous players.. just think about it. I think we’re still lucky that AW still wants to coach for Arsenal
BRAVO schoolboy – you understand. Just need the other Fantasy Football types to realise.
Dont know your age but by your name I assume you are on the youngside. Most comments of negativity come from supporters who started watching football and witnessing the chealsea big spending heyday and think that’s the way to win. Dont they realise when they sacked the “Special one” they have not won a thing!
lets just look at the reality..the board will not give Wenger the money to keep the club’s financial in good shape. And Wenger realised that, so he spend money efficiently but try to keep the club in the top level. Our objective is to win the title and we can see that, we can see how the club tried so hard to go to the top. They tried!! they tried with limited budget and resources..with the massive list of injuries, we are now 3rd!! and who knows where we will be at the end of season..but Arsenal will try and keep trying to reach the top!!! without Wenger, how far do you think can we go? I myself will give support to my beloved team till the end..because I know they tried!!
The problem was there well before we started and then we started we got a small team in numbers and still do
I believe in the way Mr wenger does things but running a team on a shoe string is weak so best to change this negativity to a positivity bringing in enforcements from the reserves as proven to be a success is there no striker within them
We needed a striker all along but we didn’t do anything on that front our defence is leaking goals we are still leaking goals we didn’t need to spend money we could have loaned players couldn’t have we?
Yes i believe in our player’s yes they are world class but are in need of some tuning some practice we are a little short
We got to remain positive we need to motivate we need to stay on top of things here it is a long hard battle we need to stay focussed (tweaking to perfection)
Wednesday is here to come com on Arsenal lets reload com on let us score some get our heads up and fight on we can com on Arsenal
(In reply to Andy’s last message).
I am also one of those surprised with those asking for Wenger’s head but when I see how close we are and that where we are supposed to be is not reached because of Arsene’s stubbornness, sometimes, maybe for only a second, I fully understand why he’s under fire.
I think the problem is a very simple one and it’s been pointed out by so many people now that I think it must be true. We are 3 (GK, CM, FW) quality players away from winning the league.
Look at the impact Vermaelen has made? Just one quality signing really helped us and brought the best out of Gallas. But just one man and cannot do it alone, certain members of the defence and the midfield have been for want of a better word, awful. Time and again we are exposed in the same old way. There are obvious tactical issues, but both clichy and denilson have cost us dearly this season.
Denilson had a brilliant first season, he has been in steady decline since. In my opinion he should never play in a red and white shirt again after the man u game. This was always coming, he is lazy. And he cannot be relied upon as back up to song, or a defensive mid of any kind. Can you imagine Flamini, Petit or Bert allowing Rooney that time and space? or not even bothering to run back after losing the ball for their third?
The Goalkeeper has again had one good season in the entire time he has been with us. He has been the worst keeper in the league this year. No question. So why did Arsene leave it to the last day of the window to bring in Sorrenson??? Surely he didn’t just realise on that day that Almunia had lost the plot? Why not use the entire month to bring someone in?
We were a striker short at the beginning of the season. We lost adebayor, which in my opinion was a good thing as long as he was replaced. Van persie is one of the best players on the planet when FIT. Unfortunatelty his injury record speaks for itself, as does Eduardo’s and Walcott’s. As for Bendtner? I’m sorry but he simply isn’t good enough. If it wasn’t absolutely essential that we bring a quality striker in at the beginning of the season, then why wasn’t it during the transfer window???
Look at the impact Arshavin made last season, a quality player with experience. Imagine how good a player like Dzeko would be in our league?
To be honest I think what Wenger has done at this club over the last few seasons has been nothing short of miraculous. To be in the top four year after year with a squad of players that are, on the whole, average or injured is pretty impressive.
What I don’t appreciate though is his inability to notice the failings of certain players and the constant need to defend them and put their feelings and ‘development’ ahead of the fans, the club and the team.
In short, I don’t think it wouldn’t take much for us to be a challenging side again. But after this season, I can’t see that happening in the near future. Not under Wenger anyways. (And it hurts me to say that, by the way)
Mr Wenger,
I think its time to say “thank you and good bye”.Arsenal are losing Fabregas at the end of the season due to lack of glory.Here are the reasons why :
1.You consistently chop and change the team,the team does not gel at all;
2.You are biased towards certain players;(Look at Sagna,the defender cannot deliver an accurate cross at all,since when has he contributed to a goal?Look at Eboue,he is creative but he is used when you run out of options only,look at Clichy,he has lost it ,cant cross a meanful cross,overlaps without direction,check Chelsea’s seond goal,Amunia,can you not see that the man is very lethargic,he pretends to dive long after the ball is behind him.These three have really cost Arsenal everything this season)
3.Your strategy of having centre backs overlap is a disaster,check how many goals have passed through this passage and compare with how Chelsea.Man U defend)
4.You consistently blame match officials for your failures,please ,please your song is now not only boring but emabarassing too;
5.You cannot run an academy by experimenting with first class games,you have to choose whether you are running an academy or first classs team.
In South Africa we say “I am gatvol,meaning I have had enough
Only an imbecile would go to school with the aim of coming third in class when he knows he has the power of coming first if only he can stop chewing his eraser up! Chamakh is a winner, so is Bordeaux. Football is all about getting goals and if he does that for Bordeaux, then i wonder what being ‘good enough’ means?
Good comment Endi…