Wenger Defends His Decision To Buy Flops Like Gervinho & Squillaci

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has risked further flack from the fans by defending his decision to buy flops like Gervinho, Marouane Chamakh and Sebastian Squillaci, according to the Sun.

The boss has come under increasing pressure this season, and rightly so. We’ve made our worst start to a Premier League season in Wenger’s era and the criticism grew after the humiliating Capital One Cup defeat to Bradford on Tuesday.

We Arsenal fans have seen our best players sold in recent summers and replaced by inadequate replacements, many of which aren’t fit to wear the famous Red & White shirt. You know the players I’m talking about, and it seems so do the journalists.

At his weekly press conference on Friday, the Sun claim Wenger was asked if he was disappointed with how some of his recent signings have turned out. Wenger demanded examples. He was given a list that included Gervinho, Marouane Chamakh, Sebastian Squillaci, Park Ju-Young and Andre Santos, and Wenger defended his buys.

When asked if the reported £11m he had spent on Gervinho was money well spent, Wenger replied:

“It was £8million,” Wenger is quoted as saying by the Sun

Oh, right. It was only £8m. That’s OK then Arsene. The boss was then asked if the Ivorian – who’s scored just 9 goals in 54 games – was fulfilling his potential, to which he replied:

“Yes, he is a good player.” Wenger continued

Many Gooners may disagree with you there Arsene. Gervinho has shown us very little to suggest it has been money well spent. He was then asked about the other names and Arsene continued to defend his purchases.

“Chamakh was a good buy, and he came on a free. And Squillaci was nearly free. You cannot say we have a squad of no quality. In fact, we have a squad of players who are top-quality internationals.” Wenger is quoted as saying by the Sun

Chamakh was a “good buy”?! He’s scored four goals in two years and is one of the worst strikers to ever wear an Arsenal shirt. We may not have paid a transfer fee for him, but i bet we paid a large signing on fee as well as astronomical wages, so he was most certainly not FREE Arsene and neither was he a ‘good buy’.

And so what if Squillaci was also ‘nearly free’? Does that make it OK that he’s useless? The Sun reporter claims he thinks Wenger is in denial at the trouble we’re in and the current shape of the squad. It’s hard to argue with him.

While it’s understandable that the boss defends his players – I wouldn’t expect him to come out and slam them and say they’re sh*t – but he could say something more honest such as they’ve struggled to adapt or he expected a bit more from them. Saying ‘they were free’ is just making an excuse as to why they’ve under performed.

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Many questions will be answered in January I suppose. If he buys the players we clearly need to be able to compete with the top boys, we’ll know he’s not lost the plot, if he doesn’t, I fear there will be increasing trouble ahead for the Frenchman…..and Arsenal FC.

What do you think? Is Wenger right to defend the likes of Squillaci and Gervinho? Get involved in the comments section below.