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Who gets it right in the market - Wenger's Arsenal boys club, love-a-deal Liverpool, choosy United or moneybags Chelsea?
By Laura Williamson
Last updated at 4:56 PM on 11th May 2009
Questions: How long will Arsenal keep faith in Arsene Wenger's vision?
It's a marathon, not a sprint, the Premier League title race.
While Sir Alex Ferguson has shuffled his pack in anticipation of a final push down the home straight, Arsenal are limping towards the finish line.
They were undefeated against 'Big Four' opposition in the first half of the season, recording 2-1 victories over Chelsea and Manchester United 2-1 in November and holding Liverpool 1-1 at the Emirates in December.
But since Christmas, Arsenal have been decidedly second best against their main domestic opponents.
The 4-4 draw with Liverpool aside, the Gunners were knocked out of the FA Cup by Chelsea and outclassed over two legs by United in the Champions League semi-final.
Arsenal may have gone 21 League games without defeat, but they have struggled against the top teams.
Their 4-1 capitulation against the Blues yesterday was a case in point. The match underlined the gulf in class between Arsene Wenger's youngsters and the rest of the 'Big Four' and showed why Arsenal have not won a trophy since 2005.
They just don't have the experience. It's easy to blame Wenger's youth policy, but look at his transfer record since that FA Cup win in 2005.
Enlarge
Beaten: Nicolas Anelka (far right) fires past Lukasz Fabianski yesterday
The Arsenal boss has signed only one outfield player older than 30, buying Mikael Silvestre from United last summer.
The Emirates is simply no place for 30-somethings entering the twilight of their careers, players who may not have the burst of pace they once possessed but can still do a valuable job.
Wenger has no time for them, insisting players older than 30 shouldn't be given deals longer than two years. But Emmanuel Petit, who was 30 when he left Arsenal in 2000, has a different point of view.
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He said: 'You have to be good from the beginning until the end but you can't learn that without experience.
'Yet, in turn, experience is very rare and expensive because it's like a good wine - you have to give it to develop and gain knowledge.'
Difficult viewing: Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov (centre) talks to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich
Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has expressed similar sentiments, admitting that his team's performance against Manchester United in the Champions League was 'a bit like men against boys'.
'Does the club need to take a step up? Of course,' he said. 'Look at United on Tuesday night. They had at least £100m in talent sitting on the bench.'
And a 39-year-old in goal. Plus a central defensive pairing with a combined age of 57. And a 35-year-old substitute. You get the idea.
The message finally seems to have got through to Wenger, who has admitted he will be looking at more experienced players in the summer transfer window.
'If we buy, it certainly won't be players who lack experience. We have enough of those,' said the Arsenal boss.
But the Frenchman must follow Ferguson's example by opting for quality rather than quantity.
Quality pickings: Anderson cost a packet, but has proved a good addition to the Manchester United squad
The United manager has only bought 15 players since 2005, while Arsenal have signed 25 in the same period.
The average cost of a player at Old Trafford is significantly higher than a typical Gunners purchase, but this has paid dividends in terms of trophies and titles.
It's time for Wenger to put his purist theories aside and put experience before youth and substance over style.
Arsene Wenger's buys since 2005
£90m (estimated)
25 players
Summer 2005
Nicklas Bendtner - KB, undisc (age 17)
Vito Mannone - Atalanta, £350,000 (17)
Armand Traore - Monaco, undisc (16)
Aleksandr Hleb - Stuttgart, £11.2m (24)
Young and cheap: Nicklas Bendtner
January 2006
Vassiriki Diaby - Auxerre, £2m (19)
Emmanuel Adebayor - Monaco, £7m (21)
Theo Walcott - Southampton, £9m (17)
Mart Poom - Sunderland, undisc/nominal (34)
Summer 2006
Tomas Rosicky - Borussia Dortmund, £6.8m (26)
Joe O'Cearuill - Watford, free (19)
Fran Merida - Barcelona, free (16)
Alexandre Song Billong - Bastia, £1m (19)
William Gallas - Chelsea, player exchange (29)
Denilson - Sao Paulo, £3.4m (18)
Summer 2007
Lukasz Fabianski - Legia Warsaw, undisc (22)
Nacer Barazite - NEC Nijmegen, undisc (17)
Eduardo - Dynamo Zagreb, £7.5m (24)
Bakari Sagna - Auxerre, £6m (24)
Lassana Diarra - Chelsea, £2m (22)
January 2008
Luke Freeman - Gillingham, £200,000 (15)
Summer 2008
Aaron Ramsey - Cardiff, £5m (18)
Samir Nasri - Marseille, £15.8m (20)
Amaury Bischoff - Werder Bremen, free (21)
Mikael Silvestre - Man Utd, £750,000 (30)
January 2009
Andrey Arshavin - Zenit, £12m (27)
Sir Alex Ferguson's buys since 2005
£134.825m (estimated)
16 players
Summer 2005
Edwin Van der Sar - Fulham, £3m
Ji-sung Park - PSV Eindhoven, £4m
Ben Foster - Stoke, £1m
Good Korea move: Ji-sung Park
January 2006
Nemanja Vidic - Spartak Moscow, £7m
Patrice Evra - Monaco, £5.5m
Summer 2006
Michael Carrick - Tottenham, £18.6m
Summer 2007
Owen Hargreaves - Bayern Munich, £17m
Anderson - Porto, £17.8m
Tomasz Kuszczak - West Brom, £2.125m
Nani - Sporting Lisbon, £14.25m
Carlos Tevez - West Ham, £6m loan deal
January 2008
Manucho - Petro Atletico, undisc
Summer 2008
Dimitar Berbatov - Tottenham, £30.75m
January 2009
Zoran Tosic - Partizan Belgrade, £8m
Adem Ljajic - Partizan Belgrade, £1m (initial)
Ritchie De Laet - Stoke, undisclosed
Chelsea's buys since 2005
£188.1m (estimated)
22 players
Expensive flop: Andriy Shevchenko
Summer 2005
Asier del Horno - Athletic Bilbao, £8m
Scott Sinclair - Bristol Rovers, free
Lassana Diarra - Le Havre, £1m
Shaun Wright-Phillips - Man City, £21m
Michael Essien - Lyon, £24.4m
Summer 2006
Michael Ballack - Bayern Munich, free
Salomon Kalou - Feyenoord, £8m
Andriy Shevchenko - AC Milan £30m
John Mikel Obi - Lyn Oslo, £16m
Khalid Boulahrouz - Hamburg, £7m
Ashley Cole - Arsenal, player exchange + £5m
Summer 2007
Steven Sidwell - Reading, free
Claudio Pizarro - Bayern Munich, free
Tal Ben-Haim - Bolton, free
Florent Malouda - Lyon, £13.5m
Juliano Belletti - Barcelona, £3m
January 2008
Nicolas Anelka - Bolton, £15m
Branislav Ivanovic - Lokomotiv Moscow, £9m
Franco Di Santo - Audax Italiano, £3m
Summer 2008
Jose Bosingwa - Porto, £16.2m
Deco - Barcelona, £8m
Carlos De Silva Mineiro - Free agent
Rafa Benitez's buys since 2005
£162.8m (estimated)
38 players
Summer 2005
Jose Reina - Villarreal, £6m
Mark Gonzalez - Albacete, £4.5m
Boudewijn Zenden - Middlesbrough, free
Antonio Barragan - Seville, undisc
Mohamed Sissoko - Valencia, £5.6m
Peter Crouch - Southampton, £7m
Godwin Antwi - Zaragoza, undisc
Jack Hobbs - Lincoln, undisc
January 2006
Paul Anderson - Hull City, undisc
Jan Kromkamp - Villarreal, player exchange
David Martin - MK Dons, undisc
Daniel Agger - Brondby, £5.8m
Robbie Fowler - Man City, free
Rafa's red: Liverpool winger Albert Riera
Summer 2006
Craig Bellamy - Blackburn, £6m
Gabriel Paletta - Banfield, £2m
Fabiano Aurelio - Valencia, free
Jermaine Pennant - Birmingham, £6.7m
Dirk Kuyt - Feyenoord, £9m
Nabil El Zhar - St Etienne, undisc
January 2007
Alvaro Arbeloa - Deportivo, £2.6m
Francisco Manuel Duran - Malaga, undisc
Javier Mascherano - MSI, £18.6m
Summer 2007
Andrei Voronin - Bayer Leverkusen, free
Krisztian Nemeth - MTK, undisc
Charles-Hubert Itandje - Lens, undisc
Fernando Torres - Atletico Madrid, £26.5m
Yossi Benayoun - West Ham, £5m
Ryan Babel - Ajax, £11.5m
Emiliano Insua - Boca Juniors, undisc
Damien Plessis - Lyon, undisc
January 2008
Martin Skrtel - Zenit, £6m
Summer 2008
Philipp Degen - Borussia Dortmund, free
Andrea Dossena - Udinese, £7m
Diego Cavalieri - Palmeiras, £3.5m
David Ngog - Paris St Germain, £1.5m
Robbie Keane - Tottenham, £20m
Vitor Flora - Botafogo, free
Alberto Riera - Espanyol, £8m
By Laura Williamson
Last updated at 4:56 PM on 11th May 2009
Questions: How long will Arsenal keep faith in Arsene Wenger's vision?It's a marathon, not a sprint, the Premier League title race.
While Sir Alex Ferguson has shuffled his pack in anticipation of a final push down the home straight, Arsenal are limping towards the finish line.
They were undefeated against 'Big Four' opposition in the first half of the season, recording 2-1 victories over Chelsea and Manchester United 2-1 in November and holding Liverpool 1-1 at the Emirates in December.
But since Christmas, Arsenal have been decidedly second best against their main domestic opponents.
The 4-4 draw with Liverpool aside, the Gunners were knocked out of the FA Cup by Chelsea and outclassed over two legs by United in the Champions League semi-final.
Arsenal may have gone 21 League games without defeat, but they have struggled against the top teams.
Their 4-1 capitulation against the Blues yesterday was a case in point. The match underlined the gulf in class between Arsene Wenger's youngsters and the rest of the 'Big Four' and showed why Arsenal have not won a trophy since 2005.
They just don't have the experience. It's easy to blame Wenger's youth policy, but look at his transfer record since that FA Cup win in 2005.
Enlarge
Beaten: Nicolas Anelka (far right) fires past Lukasz Fabianski yesterdayThe Arsenal boss has signed only one outfield player older than 30, buying Mikael Silvestre from United last summer.
The Emirates is simply no place for 30-somethings entering the twilight of their careers, players who may not have the burst of pace they once possessed but can still do a valuable job.
Wenger has no time for them, insisting players older than 30 shouldn't be given deals longer than two years. But Emmanuel Petit, who was 30 when he left Arsenal in 2000, has a different point of view.
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He said: 'You have to be good from the beginning until the end but you can't learn that without experience.
'Yet, in turn, experience is very rare and expensive because it's like a good wine - you have to give it to develop and gain knowledge.'
Difficult viewing: Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov (centre) talks to Chelsea owner Roman AbramovichArsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has expressed similar sentiments, admitting that his team's performance against Manchester United in the Champions League was 'a bit like men against boys'.
'Does the club need to take a step up? Of course,' he said. 'Look at United on Tuesday night. They had at least £100m in talent sitting on the bench.'
And a 39-year-old in goal. Plus a central defensive pairing with a combined age of 57. And a 35-year-old substitute. You get the idea.
The message finally seems to have got through to Wenger, who has admitted he will be looking at more experienced players in the summer transfer window.
'If we buy, it certainly won't be players who lack experience. We have enough of those,' said the Arsenal boss.
But the Frenchman must follow Ferguson's example by opting for quality rather than quantity.
Quality pickings: Anderson cost a packet, but has proved a good addition to the Manchester United squadThe United manager has only bought 15 players since 2005, while Arsenal have signed 25 in the same period.
The average cost of a player at Old Trafford is significantly higher than a typical Gunners purchase, but this has paid dividends in terms of trophies and titles.
It's time for Wenger to put his purist theories aside and put experience before youth and substance over style.
Arsene Wenger's buys since 2005
£90m (estimated)
25 players
Summer 2005
Nicklas Bendtner - KB, undisc (age 17)
Vito Mannone - Atalanta, £350,000 (17)
Armand Traore - Monaco, undisc (16)
Aleksandr Hleb - Stuttgart, £11.2m (24)
Young and cheap: Nicklas Bendtner January 2006
Vassiriki Diaby - Auxerre, £2m (19)
Emmanuel Adebayor - Monaco, £7m (21)
Theo Walcott - Southampton, £9m (17)
Mart Poom - Sunderland, undisc/nominal (34)
Summer 2006
Tomas Rosicky - Borussia Dortmund, £6.8m (26)
Joe O'Cearuill - Watford, free (19)
Fran Merida - Barcelona, free (16)
Alexandre Song Billong - Bastia, £1m (19)
William Gallas - Chelsea, player exchange (29)
Denilson - Sao Paulo, £3.4m (18)
Summer 2007
Lukasz Fabianski - Legia Warsaw, undisc (22)
Nacer Barazite - NEC Nijmegen, undisc (17)
Eduardo - Dynamo Zagreb, £7.5m (24)
Bakari Sagna - Auxerre, £6m (24)
Lassana Diarra - Chelsea, £2m (22)
January 2008
Luke Freeman - Gillingham, £200,000 (15)
Summer 2008
Aaron Ramsey - Cardiff, £5m (18)
Samir Nasri - Marseille, £15.8m (20)
Amaury Bischoff - Werder Bremen, free (21)
Mikael Silvestre - Man Utd, £750,000 (30)
January 2009
Andrey Arshavin - Zenit, £12m (27)
Sir Alex Ferguson's buys since 2005
£134.825m (estimated)
16 players
Summer 2005
Edwin Van der Sar - Fulham, £3m
Ji-sung Park - PSV Eindhoven, £4m
Ben Foster - Stoke, £1m
Good Korea move: Ji-sung ParkJanuary 2006
Nemanja Vidic - Spartak Moscow, £7m
Patrice Evra - Monaco, £5.5m
Summer 2006
Michael Carrick - Tottenham, £18.6m
Summer 2007
Owen Hargreaves - Bayern Munich, £17m
Anderson - Porto, £17.8m
Tomasz Kuszczak - West Brom, £2.125m
Nani - Sporting Lisbon, £14.25m
Carlos Tevez - West Ham, £6m loan deal
January 2008
Manucho - Petro Atletico, undisc
Summer 2008
Dimitar Berbatov - Tottenham, £30.75m
January 2009
Zoran Tosic - Partizan Belgrade, £8m
Adem Ljajic - Partizan Belgrade, £1m (initial)
Ritchie De Laet - Stoke, undisclosed
Chelsea's buys since 2005
£188.1m (estimated)
22 players
Expensive flop: Andriy ShevchenkoSummer 2005
Asier del Horno - Athletic Bilbao, £8m
Scott Sinclair - Bristol Rovers, free
Lassana Diarra - Le Havre, £1m
Shaun Wright-Phillips - Man City, £21m
Michael Essien - Lyon, £24.4m
Summer 2006
Michael Ballack - Bayern Munich, free
Salomon Kalou - Feyenoord, £8m
Andriy Shevchenko - AC Milan £30m
John Mikel Obi - Lyn Oslo, £16m
Khalid Boulahrouz - Hamburg, £7m
Ashley Cole - Arsenal, player exchange + £5m
Summer 2007
Steven Sidwell - Reading, free
Claudio Pizarro - Bayern Munich, free
Tal Ben-Haim - Bolton, free
Florent Malouda - Lyon, £13.5m
Juliano Belletti - Barcelona, £3m
January 2008
Nicolas Anelka - Bolton, £15m
Branislav Ivanovic - Lokomotiv Moscow, £9m
Franco Di Santo - Audax Italiano, £3m
Summer 2008
Jose Bosingwa - Porto, £16.2m
Deco - Barcelona, £8m
Carlos De Silva Mineiro - Free agent
Rafa Benitez's buys since 2005
£162.8m (estimated)
38 players
Summer 2005
Jose Reina - Villarreal, £6m
Mark Gonzalez - Albacete, £4.5m
Boudewijn Zenden - Middlesbrough, free
Antonio Barragan - Seville, undisc
Mohamed Sissoko - Valencia, £5.6m
Peter Crouch - Southampton, £7m
Godwin Antwi - Zaragoza, undisc
Jack Hobbs - Lincoln, undisc
January 2006
Paul Anderson - Hull City, undisc
Jan Kromkamp - Villarreal, player exchange
David Martin - MK Dons, undisc
Daniel Agger - Brondby, £5.8m
Robbie Fowler - Man City, free
Rafa's red: Liverpool winger Albert RieraSummer 2006
Craig Bellamy - Blackburn, £6m
Gabriel Paletta - Banfield, £2m
Fabiano Aurelio - Valencia, free
Jermaine Pennant - Birmingham, £6.7m
Dirk Kuyt - Feyenoord, £9m
Nabil El Zhar - St Etienne, undisc
January 2007
Alvaro Arbeloa - Deportivo, £2.6m
Francisco Manuel Duran - Malaga, undisc
Javier Mascherano - MSI, £18.6m
Summer 2007
Andrei Voronin - Bayer Leverkusen, free
Krisztian Nemeth - MTK, undisc
Charles-Hubert Itandje - Lens, undisc
Fernando Torres - Atletico Madrid, £26.5m
Yossi Benayoun - West Ham, £5m
Ryan Babel - Ajax, £11.5m
Emiliano Insua - Boca Juniors, undisc
Damien Plessis - Lyon, undisc
January 2008
Martin Skrtel - Zenit, £6m
Summer 2008
Philipp Degen - Borussia Dortmund, free
Andrea Dossena - Udinese, £7m
Diego Cavalieri - Palmeiras, £3.5m
David Ngog - Paris St Germain, £1.5m
Robbie Keane - Tottenham, £20m
Vitor Flora - Botafogo, free
Alberto Riera - Espanyol, £8m
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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