by Hoop Blah »
28 Sep 2016 13:47
Handsome Man stealthpapes Shuffling the deckchairs. Won't matter one jot without looking at the players five to ten years away from being pros.
Wenger would do that though. He could take control of all England Men's football, from schoolboys up, getting them playing the right way, and not losing talented Arsenal strikers to Nigeria.
IMO, Wenger has a pretty poor record of turning talent into consistent performers, especially over the last 10 years, and he's managed some of England's
brightest talents not to really fulfill their potential under him over that time (Wilshire, Walcot, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chambers (early days), Gibbs, Jenkinson). I don't think it's just English youngsters who fail to thrive under Wenger recently either. How many young players have really kicked on to another level at Arsenal over that time?
I'd argue that he's just as reliant on buying established players as any other manager, he's just living off the reputation built on the likes of Henry, Veira, Toure and Cole.
Is that really the track record of a manager who can really help turn talented kids into top international players?
I wouldn't say no to him taking on the England job though, I think it would be a very interesting choice.
I do disagree with the notion that we don't have talented players already though. I don't think it's technique or talent that's missing, more the environment that would allow them to flourish.