This isn’t to say that all big money buys end up as flops because that is clearly not the case. It does however mean that you cannot be guaranteed to be a success just because you pay over the odds. The player you have is what is important and not the price on his head

Good afternoon Gooners,

Still floating around this mini winter break, looking for bits and pieces to talk about before the very important game against Chelsea turns up on our doorstep. I will come back to that in a moment though.

Before that, Wenger is being questioned about his spending policy again in the press. Arsene was speaking on Aljazeera (thank you to @MoHoops from twitter for sending the link my way a few days ago)

It sounds very much like an interview given by a disgruntled Arsenal supporter. Why are we not spending big money on experienced players? Why are Arsenal not joining the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea for the expensive players?

Those are all familiar questions continuously asked on almost a daily basis around the blog world.

Firstly I believe that the Premier League, Premiership or whatever it was known as had clearly spiraled out of control, the financial rewards for being at the top made too many people greedy and act irresponsibly.

As viewers of Premier League football, we have become accustomed to watching clubs pay £25 million for a single player then pay that player £110,000 over four years.

Being accustomed to this way of spending has never made it correct and it is only now that we are understanding that it was never feasible to act this way.

Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth, West Ham etc are all in a financial mess and it is because clubs have spent recklessly. They have borrowed money so they can reach the promise land, the trouble is everyone wants to reach the promise land and it is a land only big enough for one and not everyone who decides to pay over the odds on player x who is destined to move the club to the next level.

Players such as Andriy Shevchenko (£30.8m), Juan Sebastian Veron (£28.1m), Robinho (£32m), James Milner (£24m) to name a few.

This isn’t to say that all big money buys end up as flops because that is clearly not the case. It does however mean that you cannot be guaranteed to be a success just because you pay over the odds. The player you have is what is important and not the price on his head.

I totally agree with Arsene Wenger who says that he is surprised that people are surprised that he does not want to spend over the odds on players.

People are so used to clubs spending beyond their means that spending appropriately is incorrect. Not borrowing money to spend on players shows that you lack ambition. Not buying a player for big money with no resale value means that you are content to finish in the top four.

This is actually reality, it is why we are in a strong financial position and not loaded with a whole host of unmanageable debt.

The idea that Arsenal do not buy players and only bring in young players is slightly strange. Wenger has always bought players to play in our first team squad. Arshavin, Squillaci, Nasri, Koscielny, Sagna, etc are just a few names I can think of. All players who went straight into the first team squad over the last few years.

I believe that the new rules that have come in to prevent financial doping will even up the playing field and that will give Arsenal a big advantage.

Players such as Henri Lansbury are being groomed to take part in the future squads. Wenger has praised the midfielder currently plying his trade on loan at Norwich and he thinks that he will become an important player in the years to come.

Lansbury has some massive competition as many of our talented midfielders are still young so I am not exactly sure where he would fit but youth is on his side and I am sure he has plenty of room for improvement. One of those midfielders is Jack Wilshere who has been speaking to the official Arsenal magazine about his improved tackling and his role as a defensive midfielder alongside Alex Song.

Worth a read to those who feel that Alex Song abandons his role as a sitting midfielder. I think it tells you a lot about how much Wenger rates Wilshere (who apparently does not play English players) by his appearances against both Chelsea and Manchester United away from home.

Two of the biggest games of the season away from home, he trusted an 18 year old in possibly the most important area of the pitch when it comes to controlling a game.

Perhaps Mario Balotelli does not know who he is but there is an inevitable feeling that the whole world will soon recognise Wilshere as one of the best in the game.

I would talk about both Denilson and Bendtner and their futures but I do not see the point. Both players will be at Arsenal after January and I expect Denilson to remain at the club for the longer term. All the rest we will see in the summer. However, I suspect that we have seen the last of Manuel Almunia. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him depart during the next few weeks.

I just checked our injury situation on the old .com and touch wood, if we get through the Chelsea game on the 27th then we could be heading into the new year without any injuries to our first team squad minus Emmanuel Frimpong. That is quite ridiculous considering we are actually Arsenal.

Vermaelen is back next month we hope, Diaby is back in training. Cesc and Van Persie are getting up to full fitness. What on earth is going on around here?

Even if we pick up a few injuries after the Chelsea game we are surely likely to be in good shape. I do not remember the last time I have been able to say that about our squad.

Incidentally, I feel very confident about the game against Chelsea. I think we will break our current bad run and I hope that it could be the start of a good run. We certainly need a good run of results.

And with that, I am off. Off to brave the snow.

Hopefully, back tomorrow.