We all love and admire what Arsene Wenger has done for Arsenal, and we can be proud of what he has achieved.

But no matter how good his strengths, we know that, like every other great manager, he has his faults too. But in Wenger's case, his greatest strengths are also his biggest faults.

Perhaps the Gunners boss's main strength is his vision of how the game should be played. And he holds a long-term vision for the club in which he is careful with money and puts players first. His faults are exactly the same. Let me explain . . .

'Arsenal have always had wide men who cut in, but now, with strikers who can head the ball, the wide men still cut in and don't cross the ball'


Arsenal's style of play under Wenger is very easy on the eye. Players enjoy playing it, teams find it hard to combat against it and it brings success. The weakness of his total belief in this style of play means that he will not change it even when it seems not to be working. Players have to be on form 100% for it to be very effective. Under Wenger, Arsenal have always had wide men who cut in, but now, with strikers who can head the ball, the wide men still cut in and don't cross the ball.
 
My other point concerns Wenger's care with spending. This is part of his long-term vision for the club and no doubt has freed up funds towards the building of the fine Emirates Stadium and training ground. Wenger has also built a young side at low cost and has restructured the Academy, which now promises to create high-quality youth.

The flip side is, of course, that while facilities have been built, little money has been available to buy the quality players needed to have a title-winning side. Arsenal’s low-budget signings are not always the finished article and may have cost the Gunners some trophies. The broader aspect of the building of a great Academy structure is that  Wenger is now refusing to sign senior players, preferring to wait for quality youngsters to come through.

The Frenchman believes there is no point in spending money on developing young players if you buy older players and put them in the way of progressing youth. So now Arsenal have a lot of money to buy players but will not buy because the Academy players are on the verge of breaking through.

Very few, if any, managers treat their players as well as Wenger. He always puts them first and they love him for it. He's reluctant to let them leave and they appreciate that. He wants players to enjoy how they play. The down side of putting players first is that it sometimes leaves the squad light in numbers due to letting unhappy squad men leave.

His reluctance to come down heavily on under-performing players may be perceived as a strength, but he sometimes needs to yell and scream to let them know they cannot get away with it. In the past he has been accused of letting star players dictate team selection and style of play, and this should never be the way.

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