Let me start off by stating I really like and respect Arsene Wenger. I think the Frenchman has great philosophies when it comes to football. He has certainly helped revolutionise our footballing culture in the UK.

That said Wenger does like a moan. Sometimes these moans make complete and utter sense and then other gripes just seem strange.

The latest Wenger rant was about how the loan system needs to be changed. He feels its unfair that certain English Premier League clubs (i.e Chelsea) loan out stars to other EPL sides, yet these players are then banned from playing against their parent clubs.

Basically he has looked at Everton with Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea) and Gareth Barry (Manchester City) in their squad and doesn’t like it.

Why?

It’s simple its because his side are playing Everton, who are right behind Arsenal in the league and a win for the ‘Toffees’ would mean that the ‘Gunners’ would leave the title race and that their Champions League spot will also come under threat.

Its all a bit of mind games. Plus a nice wee dig at Chelsea.

But when you look at Arsenal’s history in the transfer front it makes little sense, as Arsene then comes across as looking a bit two faced.

Just off the top of my head I can recall quite a few players leaving the Emirates on loan deals to fellow Premier League sides. Jack Wilshere to Bolton, Johan Djourou went to Birmingham, Nicklas Bendtner scored 8 EPL goals for Sunderland and Ryo Miyaichi spent loan spells at both Bolton and Wigan. I am sure there’s more but thats just the ones I can remember. I am also pretty sure Wenger wasn’t demanding these players should face Arsenal.

Also the ‘Gunners’ brought in Chelsea’s Yossi Benayoun on loan in 2011. Where was Wenger’s whinges then?

Now I really don’t get his argument. Here is a quote from the Alsace manager…

“Look, I believe if you want to continue the loan system, we have to make them available against the teams that loan them, or the system is not defendable,”

But say we let Lukaku play against Chelsea and he doesn’t have a good game, then will people like Arsene Wenger come out and question his commitment? Probably!

Look at what happened when Celtic were drawn against Swedish side Elfsborg in the Champions League. The Swedes counted Mohamed Bangura amongst their squad, after they had loaned the Sierra Leone striker from the Parkhead club. As the teams hadn’t inserted a clause in the deal that would prevent the frontman playing against Celtic if they were grouped together in Europe, he was free to play against his employers. I say free but Bangura was put under pressure from Celtic boss Neil Lennon not to face the ‘Hoops’ as it could affect his future in Glasgow. Bangura would play for Elfsborg and would subsequently be released by Celtic when he returned to Celtic Park. (It should be said Bangura did little in the tie and that Lennon had already made his mind up that the player wasn’t good enough)

So for me it makes sense that we keep the loan system the way it is. Players don’t need to face their actual employers as it would cause a huge conflict of interest.

Now obviously it might be better if clubs like Chelsea, Man City and the like didn’t buy so many players but that is a totally different story. As it stands when the regulations on financial fair play are still weak, we need loans to protect the players footballing futures.

I would prefer Arsene concentrated in getting things right at the Emirates and concerned himself less in moaning about odd situations that do little but make him look weak.

Posted on April 6th, 2014 by scott
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