I mean he signed Toure for like 250k, Vermaelen/Koscielny/Holding were also decent signings that weren’t well known (assuming you don’t give him credit for players like Campbell and Mertesacker since they were already well known players not diamonds in the rough). Most of the players on this list were either young cheap prospects (djourou senderos) or meant to be backups from day 1 (cygan squillaci silvestre stepanovs) and they played too much maybe bc the first choice players got injured or whatever. But I think mustafi was the only major failure since we spent a lot of money expecting him to be a regular CL quality starter.
Koscielny okay not great???
Man was incredible for a good couple of seasons, and otherwise good for the rest of ‘em.
Holding was OK, Per was fairly good but faced the struggle of being a wingless stork in a high line system. Worked when Kos was fit, not so much when he wasn’t. Holding’s a bit of a similar story, but wasn’t quite as good as Per on the whole.
I do agree Wenger was much better at judging, or perhaps polishing, attacking talent though. No doubt about it, even if his tactical approach probably also played a role.
One thing i can say: Even if Arsene had one of the best talent ID skills in the history of football, his CB ID was trash.
I mean he signed Toure for like 250k, Vermaelen/Koscielny/Holding were also decent signings that weren’t well known (assuming you don’t give him credit for players like Campbell and Mertesacker since they were already well known players not diamonds in the rough). Most of the players on this list were either young cheap prospects (djourou senderos) or meant to be backups from day 1 (cygan squillaci silvestre stepanovs) and they played too much maybe bc the first choice players got injured or whatever. But I think mustafi was the only major failure since we spent a lot of money expecting him to be a regular CL quality starter.
Holding was not so good. Koscielny okay not great, same with Mertesacker. Kolo, yes.
But such few names when compared to the midfield/attacking signings.
Koscielny okay not great??? Man was incredible for a good couple of seasons, and otherwise good for the rest of ‘em.
Holding was OK, Per was fairly good but faced the struggle of being a wingless stork in a high line system. Worked when Kos was fit, not so much when he wasn’t. Holding’s a bit of a similar story, but wasn’t quite as good as Per on the whole.
I do agree Wenger was much better at judging, or perhaps polishing, attacking talent though. No doubt about it, even if his tactical approach probably also played a role.