In a league that has become obsessed with transfer fees, wages and debt, Arsene Wenger’s team represents that romantic vision of a well-run club striving for nothing less than perfection on the football pitch. At time of writing, Wenger’s Arsenal sit on top of the premier league in what is shaping up to be the most fiercely competed title chase in many seasons. But come June, when the fervour and tension has eased, even the staunchest of rival fans from Manchester United and Chelsea would surely accept that Wenger and his philosophy are deserving of a crowning success.

Opening a newspaper or checking the sports websites and reading about a club in financial difficulty is becoming frighteningly frequent. It came as little surprise that Arsene Wenger’s response to Chelsea’s claims to be “virtually debt free” after converting the loans owed to owner Roman Abramovich into club equity was not one of congratulations. The Arsenal manager’s retort that clubs who recklessly reject the need to manage team and club finances as one are “half-cheating” was a timely reminder of his beliefs, which in the current environment, should be applauded.

In the past 5 years, Wenger’s rivals have grown richer than ever before. Chelsea have emerged as a threat thanks to Abramovich’s billions and Manchester City may well follow next season. Yet Wenger has not backed down or changed his style out of fear of the nouveau riche. If anything, Wenger has become entrenched deeper into his own philosophy. A whole new team of typical “Wenger-type” players has been slowly constructed at Arsenal. The ‘Invincibles’ of Henry, Vieira, Pirés, Ljungberg, Lehmann, Ashley Cole and more recently Kolo Touré and Adebayor have all been replaced by younger models for a sizeable profit. Wenger’s belief in his youngsters is something that is sadly not shared by all managers. The pressure for instant success has played an important role here. Sure, 4 years without a trophy is a long time for a club like Arsenal, but Wenger has earned that time and the Arsenal fans and more importantly, the board, are safe in the knowledge that their manager is usually right in the end.

The current side contains the big signings of Vermaelen and Arshavin, who themselves, in the current market, look like shrewd deals at a total of around £25million. These are surrounded by the classic Wenger signings. Young talent, brought in for a typically small fee who develop into key parts of the first team. This has been best highlighted this season by the midfield. The hole left by the likes Vieira and Flamini led to persistent rumours of either Gareth Barry and Xabi Alonso being brought in for a huge fee as Arsenal looked for a player to fit next to Captain Fabregas. But now it seems like Wenger knew all along. Alex Song and Abou Diaby, were already at Arsenal and have been two of the most impressive players in the league so far this season, themselves ably backed up by Denilson and Aaron Ramsey. Plus, the TV pundits are quickly running out of superlatives for Cesc Fabregas. Again, Fabregas’ growth into perhaps the Premiership’s best player is not an accident. His performance in the 2006 Champions League game as an 18-year old against Juventus’ Patrick Vieira was one of maturity and quality. Since then, he has continued to improve and add different sides to his game. He has taken on the responsibility of the team’s talisman and is now the complete midfielder who would be the first name on arguably any team sheet in the world.

Perhaps the greatest achievement that can be attributed to Wenger is that Fabregas is not an anomaly, but rather one in a long line of successful Wenger projects. One point of interest personally as a Chelsea fan is that Fabregas arrived in 2003, the same summer as Roman Abramovich. Since then, Chelsea have bought over 15 players who have featured in central midfield at a total cost of 115 million. These include: Michael Essien,
Jiri Jarosik,
Juan Sebastian Veron,
Joe Cole,
Tiago,
Claude Makelele,
Scott Parker
John Obi Mikel.
It was slightly embarrassing to compare some of those deals to Cesc Fabregas.

Of course, Chelsea have won 2 league titles since then, every team would have been better off buying Fabregas,and players as good as the Arsenal captain are very rare, but it just signifies the difference between Wenger’s ideals and those of his rivals. One more thought that comes to mind after that kind of statistic, is Arsenal’s purchase of Fabregas the best signing of the last 7 years? Quite possibly.

Wenger’s team this year seems to be rid of the occasional vulnerability of a soft underbelly that has been exploited in the past. But even this has been done more mentally with a new steely determination rather than the addition of big, strong players at the expense of his preferred type of footballer. If a manager has ever, or can ever, deserve to win the League, then Wenger has to be considered. In the previous few years, he has portrayed the demeanour of a slightly mad professor, blinded by his own perfect vision of his football team. This year however, it could all pay off spectacularly. A title win in 2010 would mark a place in history for the “Wenger Way.” It would be an achievement for what is right about modern day football, something that we need to happen to restore some belief in the Premier League today, where the unthinkable notion of a club going out of business is becoming a real possibility. But we can be assured that it won’t be the end, Arsene Wenger is already working on his next Arsenal team.

Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Premiership