Arsenal: Do They Handpick the Mentally Weak?

Look who’s talking. Eboue enlightening Wilshere on the mental side of football.

Arsenal fans often wonder if its a mere co-incidence that Wenger’s boys seem to be a tad too ‘nice’. A closer look suggests that Arsenal intentionally buy youngsters with specific psychological traits.

Arsene Wenger has been known to consult Jacques Crevoisier, renowned Sports Psychologist and a personal friend of Le Prof regarding Arsenal’s youngsters. Mr. Crevoisier, a PhD in Psychology, has devised a set of 117 questions, used to determine a football player’s mentality.

Wenger’s Utopian Vision?

According to the tests, Arsenal youngsters have some of the best ‘psychological profiles’ in the world. How is it then, the young Gunners undergo a mental collapse at the end of every season?

It would be easy to dismiss this test, or even blame it for the fragile minds and hearts in the Emirates dressing room. But it seems that this aspect of Arsenal too is under the influence of one man – Arsene Wenger.

Such is the absolute power wielded by the manager, everything from transfers to training, from the stadium to pre-season tours is under his control. This control, combined with Wenger’s unwavering idealism has resulted in a frustrating mixture of unmatched brilliance and inexplicable breakdowns.

Just how far this test has been used to determine the progress of youngsters is not public knowledge. But it is well known, that Wenger has a liking for ‘good’ boys who don’t get into trouble. Wenger has been quoted saying that he prefers ‘intelligent’ players. But does that intelligence come at the cost of passion or aggression?Considering that Wenger himself is an Engineering Graduate and an Economics PhD, it should be no surprise that he values the power of intellect over raw passion and aggression. It seems that his ideology has filtered on to the Emirates pitch.

Nice Guys Finish Last (or at most 3rd)

Beautiful football, Trophies and Fair Play: No team on earth has fulfilled all three cornerstones of Wenger’s utopian vision

The results of this approach are there for all to see. Arsenal’s capitulation of 2007-08 and the blunder in the Carling Cup Final come to mind. In addition, when big-talkers like Patrice Evra mock and deride Arsenal, it seems no one is keen to talk back.While the likes of Wilshere and Szczezny are showing some bottle on the pitch, the majority of the senior players are a quiet lot. One rarely hears a peep from seasoned campaigners like Sagna, Clichy, Arshavin, Rosicky, et.al.Successful teams like Manchester United have at least one player whose job is to get under the skin of the opposition. Gary Neville did that job (and more), Evra has taken over from him, and one can expect Rafael to do it in the future.Kenny Dalglish had no qualms about splashing £60 million on Andy Carrol and Luis Suarez – two players with a certain reputation. It seems to have paid off immediately.Even the ‘idealistic’ Barcelona, have the likes of Sergio Busquets who are ready to drop all pretensions of decency when push comes to shove. Wenger’s successful sided had such characters too. The likes of Vieira and particularly Keown inspired anger and hatred from the opposition fans. The current bunch, inspire nothing but pity.

Part of the manager’s job is to manage people and egos. If Wenger is picking only nice and obedient kids – it appears as if he is shying away from an important part of his job, at the expense of the team’s success.

The Hunt for Arsenal’s Badboys

It may sound silly to go looking for a trouble-maker, but Arsenal should at least not be turning down players based on personality. It has been reported that Wenger refused to consider the likes of Mario Balotelli and Andy Carrol purely on this basis. While such players may cause tensions in the dressing room – a good manager should be able to handle these issues and direct the tension outwards – aka Sir Alex and his handling of the Wayne Rooney saga.Part of the manager’s job is to manage people and egos. If Wenger is picking nice and obedient kids to begin with – it appears as if he is shying away from an important part of his job, at the expense of the team’s success. He may have the best intentions at heart, but it is always dangerous, when an entire organization starts to mirror one man’s personality. Apart from making talent the sole criteria for transfers, naturally aggressive players like Wilshere and Sczezny should not be curtailed. It is time for the lads to shed their innocence.