Arsenal FC: The real reasons behind the annual players' exodus

Perfectionist or ruthless?

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” – Winston Churchill

Communism (or its euphemistic equivalent socialism) has failed the test of time. The reason is simple, if you pay everyone equally regardless of performance, the good ones will quit working. This is exactly what has happened in the Arsenal dressing room. The Frenchman wanted to create an Arsenal that would essentially be a system independent of the qualities of individual players. A system of quick passing and teamwork where the collective mattered more than the individual.

For this to work, the players had to be selfless and believers of the cause. Unfortunately for Arsenal, players are human beings who need reward for their hard work. The Invincibles of 2003-04 achieved unparalleled success and they were rewarded with the humiliation of 1 year contract extensions the moment they turned 30.

This mistreatment of seniors in the team had two effects:

1. The experienced players left early, leaving the youngsters with no one to guide them.

2. This is often overlooked – The younger players knew early about the fate that awaited them as they approach 30. This resulted in the younger players like Van Persie, Fabregas, Nasri, et al. to view Arsenal as a spring board to bigger and better things, not as a lifelong association.

Arsenal’s handling of Alex Song was shameful.

This “everyone is dispensable” (except the dear leader of course) philosophy has been deeply damaging to Arsenal. The attrition rate has been unbelievably high and the team has been in a constant state of rebuilding. In the team that will start today against Southampton, there will be at least 5 players who have been at the club for less than 2 years.

According to reports in the media and analysis of the Arsenal FC’s own published reports, the Gunners have been employing a flat wage structure. This means that even though Arsenal had one of the highest wage bills in the league, the top players did not earn much more than the flops or perennially injured. This has been part of Arsene Wenger’s utopian vision for Arsenal. For example, Alexandere Song, one of Arsenal’s best players for the last few seasons, was earning 55,000 pounds per week, the same as Nicklas Bendtner!

To add insult to injury, after selling Song to Barcelona, Arsenal insiders ‘leaked’ the reason for selling him. In these leaks, Song was accused of being lazy and unprofessional. If this wild claim is true, then Song must have been incredibly talented to be Arsenal’s best midfielder for 2 seasons running without a major injury. Similarly, others who left, are accused of being greedy for money. It is worth noting that Arsene Wenger is paid a weekly salary of 135,000 pounds, more than Sir Alex Ferguson. No shortage of money there!

Fortunately for Arsenal, there is still some time before the next transfer window. Nevertheless, the rumblings of discontent can be heard. Bacary Sagna, who is now one of the few players to have been at Arsenal for over 5 years, is talking about Arsenal’s lack of ambition.

After the disastrous start to the season last year, Wenger abandoned his failed policy of not buying experienced players and that resulted in a miraculous recovery. He will need to drop some more of his principles if he wants to stop the exodus.