Frank Lee
I received my e-edition of The Gooner this morning, and when reading the interview with Chris Whyte, it reminded me that both he and Lee Chapman were key members of Leeds United’s 1992 title winning side, several seasons after having been released by Arsenal. The Gunners had, in between, won two titles, with Steve Bould and Alan Smith effectively filling the roles that Whyte and Chapman might have played had they worked out.
For various reasons, sometimes players just do no fit at certain clubs. I felt that Chapman was one such, and an example of this from elsewhere is Diego Forlan, who ultimately proved a great player, but never really looked the part at Manchester United. There are a large number of pros that have been on Spurs’ books, not looked like anything special, then gone on to become hot properties once released. An obvious one that comes to mind is Kevin Prince Boateng, who by and large looked a waste of space at the Lane, but is now an integral part of Milan’s line-up, including their title winning side of 2011.
It got me thinking of whether there were any other players, in more recent times, that have proved unsuccessful at Arsenal but have moved on to achieve success elsewhere in the way that Whyte and Chapman did, perhaps proving the club wrong. Although players like Fabregas and Van Persie will achieve things at their current clubs they were unable to with Arsenal, neither can be considered failures at the club. If anything the Gunners failed them by the inability to surround them with enough quality to give them the titles their talents justified.
Who are the equivalents of Whyte and Chapman in recent years, in the sense of being given a decent opportunity, but ultimately discarded as not of requisite quality? The names that come to mind are Denilson, Bendtner and Eboue. At times you could see signs that these could develop into top players, but in the end, they simply weren’t quite good enough – or specifically consistent enough - for Arsenal, although they were given plenty of time to prove otherwise. Will they go on to be a part of title winning sides elsewhere? Well, in the case of Eboue, he already has, winning the championship in his first season at Galatasaray. Some might think this was a given, although the reality is that the Turkish title is a three horse race these days, so merely joining one of the three teams is no guarantee of a title.
However, the real issue for Arsenal is whether they have improved on the players that have not worked out. In a sense, Eboue was replaced by Bacary Sagna as early as 2007, and was a squad man in his final four seasons. Denilson’s replacement is probably Jack Wilshere, in the sense that the majority of Wilshere’s games have been played in a deeper role rather than that created for Fabregas when the team changed its formation in 2009. An obvious improvement and one that could lead to success if enough quality is brought or developed to surround him.
As for Bendtner, he was presumably loaned out in the belief that one of Chamakh or Park would prove a reliable back up for Robin van Persie. It is interesting that, with that pair discarded and Van Persie sold, the Dane was not even considered worth another go to provide competition for Olivier Giroud, in spite of the club covering a significant portion of his wages during his time spent in Italy. There are those that still believe the striker will come good one day, with a theory that his natural stage might be the Bundesliga, where physical strikers are often a key component of successful teams. First, he has to resolve his injury issues, and then, perhaps, his sense of professionalism. Then, perhaps, he might have the last laugh after being regarded as surplus to requirements at Arsenal, as did Whyte and Chapman 21 years ago.
(Ed’s note – For those who prefer the old-fashioned print version of The Gooner, it will be on sale outside the stadium at tomorrow’s game v Reading. Chris Whyte will be signing copies of the issue before the Norwich game, which we will give more details of in the week leading up to the game. Postal subscribers who would normally have received their copies this morning should get them in tomorrow’s post, delayed slightly due to today being a bank holiday.)
