(Guest Blog) Fighting the Ugliness of the Interlull: Top 10 Wenger Deals from 1996-2011

[Editor's note: This was written by our regular reader/commenter Orion, who helped us get through a little lull in the action with this fine blog. Thanks for his help.]

First off, some news update. Koscielny and Djourou are back in the fore and available for the match against Sunderland. So is Squillaci, defying the injury gods and hopeful predictions by most Arsenal fans that his injury would keep him out until his contract runs out. Also, we know what happened with Jacky boy. Curse you Djourou. Oh, and there’s a good piece on the Mail that tells of the interview Keown did with Bergkamp. You wouldn’t do any harm if you checked it out. Unless you punch someone who is saying bad things about Arsenal while you are reading. In that case, I admire you for your ability to multi-task and for standing up to idiots.

You might have realized that, thanks to international breaks, we have several separate weeks where absolutely nothing happens. This has become known as the Interlull. This is a cruel timeframe to be in for everyone involved. The clubs awaiting their players to return unscathed, the players waiting to return to their clubs and fix their current on-field problems (yes, we’re looking at you, Arsenal), the fans anxious to see their clubs back in action. Everyone, that is, except the money hungry punks up at the FA. Now I know there’s a whole complex thing going on about this, and I remember Martin tackling it back in the day, so I won’t go into it. My point is that its bloody boring. And that, my friends, is why Homey asked me to write a simple blog.

When thinking of doing a “Top Ten,” there were a lot of ideas that came to my head. But since I’m one of the last of the Wenger Brigade around here, I will try to highlight some positives done by Arsène. So here they are, the best deals Arsène Wenger has done since he joined in 1996. If we did this from a solely financial perspective, then everyone would know who would be first; one of the most famous Arsène coups of all time. That is why we will be looking at the transfers of players who have come and gone from a “what they gave Arsenal in return for the fee paid” – a sort of value-for-money analysis. Onto the list:

10) Gilberto Silva (2002 – 2008)

One of my favourite Arsenal players, Gilberto came to Arsenal for a fee of £4.5 million from Atletico Mineiro, having impressed at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In 170 appearances, Gilberto Silva tightened our defence and earned the nickname “The Wall” for his ball winning performances.

When Wenger signed him, he had this to say about Gilberto: “What I like was the fact that he kept things simple. He can play all across the midfield but the holding role just in front of the defence is what he does best.” One can see why he is Alex Song’s role model, then. Scoring on his debut in the Charity Shield, Gilberto went on to become an integral part of the Invincibles and was entrusted to fill the gaping hole that Vieira left in the heart of the midfield.

When Thierry left, everyone assumed he would be given the armband. Instead, Gallas was made captain and from then on, his career seemed to be declining, as did his form. He was replaced by the in-form Flamini in the first XI and left for Panathanaikos in 2008 for an undisclosed fee. He is now playing for Gremio in his home country, at the age of 35.

9) Marc Overmars (1997 – 2000)

An integral part of the great Ajax side that blew the European Cup away in ’95. Wenger bought him in the summer of 1997 for £5.5 million, after having returned from a serious injury. Marc was nicknamed the “Flying Dutchman” for his lightning pace.
Overmars had this to say when he signed for Arsenal; “There were other clubs in other countries that were interested but it will be good to play in England. I have heard only good things about Arsenal from Dennis [Bergkamp]. He’s a great player doing very well here.” It was we were first choice for first class players.

In 142 appearances, he scored a total of 41 goals, some of which were vital in helping Arsenal clinch the double in 1998.“Mes que un club” did come calling though, maybe as a sign of things to come, and he was sold in 2000 for £25 million (€40.6 million), making Overmars the most expensive Dutch player of all time. He was never at his best in Spain, though, and was voted as Arsenal’s 12th best player of all time.

8 ) Kolo Toure (2002 – 2009)

One of the last to go of the first teamers of the famous Invicibles. He came to Highbury relatively unknown from Asec Mimosas for a grand total of £150,000. At the beginning of the “03-“04 season, Kolo won his place in the first team as a centre-back alongside Sol Campbell, and we know how that season ended.

During the following season; ie. 2004-05, he managed to get 50 appearances for Arsenal, making him one of the most consistent performers and in the side. A year later, Toure formed a defensive pairing with Senderos that resulted in a Champions League record of 10 straight clean sheets, with Arsenal reaching the Champions League Final in the process.

In 2009, Kolo Toure was reportedly involved in training ground bust up with William Gallas. However, Wenger made one of his major mistakes as an Arsenal manager, and sold the wrong defender. Manchester City bought Toure the summer of that same year for a fee of £16 million after having made a total of 203 appearances for the Gunners. Unfortunately, we can only imagine what a Toure – Vermaelen partnership would have looked like.

7) Sol Campbell (2001 – 2006)

In one of the most dramatic transfer sagas of the early 2000’s, Sol Campbell signed from Tottenham on a free transfer, after having not renewed his contract with our lovely neighbours.

In his first season in an Arsenal shirt, Campbell was first choice defender, having either one of Martin Keown or Tony Adams alongside him. This yielded success for Arsenal – the 2001/02 double. After both Keown and Adams left, Kolo Toure emerged. The Ivorian formed a wonderful defensive pairing with Campbell, and the two men were indispensable in the unbeaten campaign.

Later on in his Arsenal career, mainly in the 2005-06 season, he was hit with injuries and a lack of form, which resulted in him losing his place in the Arsenal first team to Philippe Senderos. He did manage to score a header in the Champions League Final, putting us in front after 35 minutes, causing many Arsenal hearts to be filled with hope in the process. During the summer of 2006, Sol Campbell left to seek a “new challenge.” He returned during the 2009-10 season, and although he was 36 years old, he did an excellent job in covering at the back. With 221 appearances to his Arsenal career, he is now a free agent.

6) Fredrik Ljungberg (1998 – 2007)

Before signing for Arsenal for a fee of £3 million in 1998, Wenger had never seen Freddie play live. His only evidence of how good he was was a televised match between Sweden and England.

As Arsenal fans can testify to, the gamble paid off with Ljungberg famously scoring on his debut against Manchester United. He salvaged the 2002 double, scoring extremely important goals in the absence of Robert Pires. This scoring habit, coupled with that awesome red hair, made Freddie an idol at the Arsenal.

A nagging injury to his ankle put an end to his Arsenal career after 10 years in which he managed 328 appearances and 72 goals. He was allowed to run out his contract and join West Ham at the age of 30. He now plays in the Japanese J. League Division for Shimizu S-Pulse. He was voted as Arsenal’s 11th best player in the club’s history.

5) Robert Pires (2000 – 2006)

Yes, Arsenal fans. There was a time when we sold we sold a star and bought a star to replace him. Robert Pires was bought for a fee of £6 million from Marseille after winning out against Juventus and Real Madrid, with the thought in mind to replace the hole Overmars left on the wing. He was an integral part of the French national team of ’98 and 2000, so one can see he came with quite a bit of pedigree.

After a slow start, Bob gained form slowly but surely as he got accustomed to life in England. He was voted as Arsenal’s player of the season in the 2002 Double. Donning the number 7 shirt, Pires managed 84 goals in 284 appearances in his six years at Arsenal.

Form slowly declined and with his being 33 at the time, Pires joined Villareal for free in 2006. The man was voted as Arsenal’s 6th best player of all time.

4) Cesc Fabregas (2003 – 2011)

When deciding where to put Cesc on this list, I realized I’m not over him yet. He never fulfilled his true potential, and with patience, could have become an Arsenal legend. That is not to say that players higher up the list are not, since legendary status is not what this list is all about. If only we won the League in 2008, if only Barca were not that good, if only we did not collapse last season, if only.. *sobs*

Cesc joined as a youth product in 2003 aged just 16, looking up to players like Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva. At 16 years and 177 days, he became Arsenal’s youngest ever first team player, against Rotherham United. In the 2004-05 season, Cesc started to play with the first team in the League and Champions League. He entered the spotlight after Paddy left, and formed an excellent partnership with Gilberto and Flamini.

He formed a partnership with Henry that yielded plenty of goals, and he was next in line to take the armband Henry used to wear, after William Gallas.

Yet we knew the day would come when Cesc, with 190 appearances to his name, had to go. Fabregas wanted to play for Barca, and Wenger deemed it unfair for him to be playing for us when his heart was set elsewhere. So £29 million later, he is now a wonderful player for Barca and has struck a delightful partnership with Messi that has left fans in awe.

3) Nicolas Anelka (1997 – 1999)

At the age of 17, Anelka joined the Gunners for a fee £500,000 from Paris Saint Germain, making him one of the first players Arsène bought upon his arrival. During the beginning of the first season, he found opportunities hard to come by. Yet when Ian Wright sufferred an injury midseason, Anelka took his chance by storm. He became one of the most revered strikers in Europe, helping Arsenal clinch the double in ’98. He was voted as PFA Young Player of the Year in 1999.

With 18 goals in 45 appearances, and a bright future ahead of him, Real Madrid came calling with £22.3 million, which we would have been mad had we refused. In 2009, Wenger had this to say about him “Financially it was a good deal [to sell Anelka] but basically because we didn’t want to sell him,” and that basically sums it up. This was easily one of the best transfer dealings, not only by Arsène Wenger, but by any manager in general.

2) Patrick Vieira (1996 – 2005)

Of course, the media never forget to remind us that we last won a trophy in 2005. And Paddy famously won it for us with his last kick for Arsenal. Upon his arrival, Arsène insisted we buy him before he signed the contract. Which we did, from AC Milan, for £3 million.

Vieira, with his physically strong presence, quickly got used to the English game. After he managed to discipline himself on the pitch, he became one of the best defensive midfielders in the world; managing to win the ball deep in midfield and start some classic Arsenal counter-attacks.

Vieira appeared in the PFA team of the year six years in a row from the 1998–99 season up to the 2003–04 season. Vieira went on to captain Arsenal through a major winning period in its history, including the famous 2003-04 season. In total, he garnered 406 appearances at Arsenal.

After two seasons of speculation, what is our 5th best player of all time according to Arsenal fans, left for Juventus for a fee of £16 million. He is now a Football Development Executive at Citeh, with Dennis Bergkamp saying he should be at Arsenal instead “There was talk of Patrick going to Arsenal during the summer. I would’ve done everything possible to get him there. Just to get him in and around the dressing room. It would have brought so much to the team.”

1) Thierry Henry (1999-2007)

Of all the football fans I met, and I met a lot of football fans, I have never met one who had a bad thing to say about Henry. Although come to think of it, I have never met an Irish football fan, so you make the conclusion.

Thierry Daniel Henry joined for £11 million in 1999 from Juventus. A hefty fee, which is fair to say that paid off. A left winger by nature, Arsène Wenger transformed him into the deadliest striker in the world at one point in time. I will not write a mini-obituary about our greatest ever player’s Arsenal career; I will only show you this table.
[Editor's note: I couldn't format the table Orion sent to me, but you can access it at Wiki. But in 369 total Arsenal appearances, Henry totaled 226 goals and 92 assists.]

Absolutely phenomenal.

Of course, after in the summer of 2007, Barcelona did come calling AGAIN. Injuries had started to bother him, and he did want a new challenge, so off he went for a fee of £20 million. The following season, we almost won the league. So even though all of us fans felt the gap, the team’s form was apparently left untouched.

Oh, I forgot to mention his individual honors. But the whole point is to show you how good of a transfer this was. And do you need me to list a dozen or so individual trophies he won so you can understand? No, we all know how bloody good he was.

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And that brings me to the end of this blog I wrote. I hope I didn’t bore you. Thanks go out to Homey for giving me the opportunity to speak my mind about what I want, and even bigger thanks go to you, who managed to read this whole thing. I hope this blog made you realize that legends have come and will continue to come to the Arsenal. And legends will go. The team is the only constant. No player, no manager, no shareholder is bigger than the club itself. Watch, enjoy, cheer, laugh, cry. Do not let anyone tell you that you do not love the club because you don’t do this or you don’t do that. If you love your club, you’d know it. If you love your club, you’re willing to patiently wait until the good times will come back, be they after weeks, months or years. One thing is for sure. The good times are going to come back, because we are the Arsenal.

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“Good things come to those who wait”

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Category: Arsenal News, Arsene Wenger, Randoms