Arsenal’s disappointing season took a new turn for the worst on Sunday as defeat at White Hart Lane against fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspurs widened the gap between them and the Champions League spots. Out going Youth Academy boss Liam Brady backed Wenger publicly (Daily Mail) as he talked about his and most other people at the club’s belief in the Frenchman. As Brady has already announced his departure from Arsenal in 2014 it would have been easy for him to criticize Wenger without having to worry about the consequences but he did not and confirmed his support for the manager
Sunday’s derby defeat consigned Arsenal to fifth place in the table and further away from the Champions League as they are now five points behind Chelsea in fourth and seven adrift of Spurs, who reclaimed third spot from Chelsea. Arsenal have never finished outside the top 4 during Wenger’s reign and subsequently have always qualified for the Champions League, but this run may come to an end this season as even Wenger has talked about the real difficulties that the Gunners are facing to qualify.
Wenger has been criticized in many quarters for selling key players every summer which has weakened the team and he has not effectively replaced them. Club captain Fabregas was sold two summers ago to Barcelona and the next club captain, Robin Van Persie was sold to title rivals Manchester United last summer. Wenger also sanctioned the sales of key players like Gael Clichy, Alex Song and Samir Nasri in these two windows. Arsenal have never really replaced these players and have also failed to bring in any marquee signings, and do not look like the team of old that can challenge for trophies.
Arsenal’s decline in recent years has led some fans calling for Wenger’s head but Liam Brady believes Wenger is the man to bring Arsenal back to its former days. He insisted that majority of the fans and staff are behind Wenger and support him fully. He believes Wenger needs big funds to spend to rebuild the squad. Arsenal’s record transfer fee stands at just £15 million for the acquisition of the Russian Andrei Ashravin in 2009 and Brady feels that Wenger will have to spend much more than that to land top quality players in this summer.
The Academy boss believes that Wenger is under no pressure from the Board since he has delivered before at the club and can do so again if he is given the funds to spend big. Arsenal recently announced cash reserves in excess of £123 million and it is widely thought among Arsenal fans that Wenger will need to break the bank this season to sign the players needed.
Brady also believes that the financial fair play regulations should come into effect sooner rather than later which will greatly benefit Arsenal as being able to spend only what you make will really help them. Brady believes this financial position of Arsenal will once again put the Gunners at the top of world football when the FFP rules come into existence.