Tuesday 26 April 2011

Consumer Choices

It's strange that there hasn't been that much to talk about of late sport-wise. The most 'noteworthy' happenings have been Arsenal's inevitable mental collapse and Manchester United's predictable win over Schalke in the Champions League semi's. Two events that even I predicted would happen...

What did interest me, in the Man U game, was the performance of two men, one on each side.

Javier Hernandez and Manuel Neuer represent polar opposites on the great football spectrum of young talent. Hernandez was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson as an unknown afterthought before the South Africa World Cup, and proceeded to justify the move by putting in impressive showings in the Rainbow Nation. His form this year has made him an obvious choice for the non-existant 'Premiership Best Buy' award (and this is in a year featuring Asamoah Gyan and an £8mil Van Der Vaart. Crazy).

Neuer, too, impressed at the World Cup. We were aware of his talent before the tournament, and had it rubbed in our faces as Germany progressed. He was destined for the top; one of those players who are the jewel in their club's crown. Everyone wants jewels. And yet nobody ever tried to sign Neuer.

I have always found it odd that some managers seem incapable of making decent, logical decisions. I also find it interesting that some managers are able to see a speck of talent where others see only a Freddy Adu.

Isn't it wierd that Arsene Wenger fits into both these catagories. He has undoubtedly picked up and coached up some quality players; Henry, Vieira and Van Persie for those without a recent memory, plus decent players like his current group of Clichy, Sagna, Song, Djourou and Gibbs. But he has also spent the past five years not making some obvious decisions.

For example, yes Wojciech Szczesny (which is a nightmare to type by the way. For some reason I always link him with semi-infamous cool Nazi Otto Skorzeny) may turn out to be excellent (I predicted so a couple of years back when he was playing on loan at Doncaster incidently), but the simple addition of Mark Schwarzer on the cheap could have won Arsenal another title or two. Think of the games the Gunners have lost due to Almunia alone. Likewise, if he had simply kept playing an in-form Marouane Chamakh instead of playing Van Persie as a lone front man, or constantly utilising Niclas Bendtner, then this year's Premiership could easily have been residing in Ashburton Grove.

It;s not just Arsene. Why nobody has tried to sign Neuer, or Lyon's Hugo Lloris, by now is a mystery to me. Both would be reasonably cheap, certainly compared to the extortionate cost required to bring in literally any striker these days, and would probably have a more consistent impact.

Some questions are just too obvious to have answers it seems.

GM

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