The development of players such as Mathieu Flamini, Manuel Almunia, Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas saw Arsenal leading the Premiership for much of the season, and if it were not for an extensive and unfortunate injury list that left the likes of Robin Van Persie

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR VISION ARTICLES ARE SENT IN BY READERS AND ARE NOT WRITTEN BY ARSENAL VISION WRITERS.

By Jason Ball

Although much has been said about the way in which Arsenal closed out the season, I sincerely believe that this has been extremely successful campaign for the Gunners, which far exceeded even the most competent and experienced commentator’s prediction. The development of players such as Mathieu Flamini, Manuel Almunia, Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas saw Arsenal leading the Premiership for much of the season, and if it were not for an extensive and unfortunate injury list that left the likes of Robin Van Persie, Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo Da Silva out of action for much of the season, it could be argued that not even Manchester United would have made up the ground. Fate it seems punishes the bold, and a less than sufficient squad depth has been attributed to Arsenal’s demise, with many people attributing this failure to Arsene Wenger’s stubborn nature and lackadaisical approach to the transfer market, opting not to bring names to the club even when they express a willingness to join. Whilst this may be the view of the majority, it is not an opinion that I myself share because although it has been some time since Arsenal added to their already impressive trophy cabinet, the club has had to keep a firm grip on the finances what with the development of the Emirates stadium. Arsene Wenger needs to maintain a club that will continue to appeal to big players and attract them to north London and splashing out loads of cash on big names may initially achieve that. However, what makes Arsenal so different is that they have shown that they are THE club that make big players and it is now quickly becoming recognised that having “played for Arsenal” on your c.v. is not only something that shows you must be a great player but, also a player whose interest it is to improve as a player and strive to play the highest standard of technical football. It shows that you strive to reach your potential rather than to fill your pockets.

As soon as Arsene senses a shift in a player’s attitude that moves away from playing football towards the cosmetic desire to be a galactico, he tests their loyalty by presenting them with carefully thought out contracts that intentionally offer less than they can get elsewhere but, specifically cements their place in his first eleven intentions. The result of employing this technique is that Arsene is effectively cutting the wheat from the chaff because although he may lose some good players, who have had run of good games, there will always be teams that foolishly offer ridiculous sums of money for such players and instead of paying them one hundred thousand pound a week for two years and then loose them to sum one who can afford to offer them one hundred and twenty thousand, isn’t it best to just cut your loses and get rid of them when they are only costing you £5000 a week? Those players who are driven by money will never be as good as those players who play for a club because there heart is in the club. Think of Jamie Carragher, John Terry and Steven Gerrard, yes they have big contracts but, that is as a reward for their loyalty and arguably these are the players that are more consistent year on year for their teams. Arsene is no fool and the team he is buildings based on a squad of players that want to play for Arsenal football club and thus, he is securing Arsenal’s future as the dominant force in English football. I am confident I will not be left in the position where I am forced to eat these words but, what makes Arsenal better than any club in the world is their ability to spend money well and get the best out of the players they have. Arsenal is only set to be great!