I think the first point that needs to be made that the article, in my interpretation, seemed to miss, is that both Wenger and Chelsea are trying to make it seem like the other club needs the deal more. This is business and thus anything either club states cannot be taken as fact, the more Chelsea need Cole the more Arsenal can charge and vice versa. Thus it would seem to me that the whole article is flawed, it is attempting to sort out the truth in what is essentially a bluffing game. Both sides are going to obscure the truth in order to get the best deal for them.

In the analysis of Wenger’s second quote area it is stated that the Wenger does know that problem is money which I think doesn’t read into him enough. In a later quote (evaluated below) you read between the lines but fail to here. Wenger is not stating that he doesn’t know what the problem is but rather making a veiled jibe at the amount of money Chelsea has. No other transfer Chelsea have been involved in have stalled over money issues, I think Wenger is probably having a dig at this when he claims he ‘doesn’t know what the problem is’ because it can’t be money — money is never a problem for Chelsea.

I also wanted to mention that in your analysis of the last of Wenger’s media announcements it is suggested that because Wenger states Arsenal need the right offer that offers have been lodged. I feel this is reading what you want into the statement, while I agree that your analysis is definitely a viable option I also believe that he words his statement like this because he has to. Admitting that Arsenal are “open to offersâ€? suggests that they are looking to offload the player as soon as they can whilst mentioning the “right offerâ€? is tantamount to saying we will reluctantly sell should the offer be good enough. It is the same as the media games I mentioned above, it makes Arsenal seem less desperate to do a deal than Chelsea and doesn’t necessarily reveal that an offer has been lodged and rejected.

Whilst I’ll admit that there are flaws in my last paragraph I just wanted to show that there is always a second way to interpret this and that your article seems a little biased. I admit that I am an Arsenal fan myself and thus am hideously biased to the other extent but I did feel that the article did miss these points and was a little one sided (I don’t think Chelsea is mentioned once in a negative light despite being just as guilty as Arsenal). Overall, I believe Wenger is trying to do right by Arsenal and let’s not forget we have over a week left until the transfer deadline for these games to continue.

Ditto for van Nistelrooy’s lack of fitness being an excuse for not playing him when he was playing the full 90 for Holland.

I’m not saying you weren’t pissed, I was simply saying that this is managerspeak, no manager will wash his team’s, or his own, dirty laundry in public. And during transfers, it’s not even a case of dirty laundry, simply holding one’s card to the chest till the very last minute.

http://soccerlens.com/ruud-van-nistelrooy/163933.html

I don’t buy the training ground incident argument one bit. It’s just spin to justify RVN’s benching, and a shabby one at that.

http://soccerlens.com/rvn-has-left-the-building/092238.html

And considering that I’m probably the biggest fan of Beckham you’ll ever meet, I think the last argument falls flat too.

You’ve got a point about managers talking this way, and I agree – you’re right. I’m not ok with it when Ferguson does it and I call bullshit even then.

Just like I called bullshit on Wenger’s statement.

You want a direct quote from me? Read the link.

This is how managers will talk, you should know considering Fergie’s whiskey-fuelled rants regarding Veron’s situation at United among other things.

“Lying”…you’re having a laugh. Didn’t see you use that word for when Fergie was “fudging” details during van Nistelrooy’s last days. Or when he’d booted Beckham in the eye.

Isn’t this the point of the article? That Wenger’s said they haven’t turned any offer down, when he goes on to say that they haven’t got the “right” offer? Slight difference, that’s all. If there’s an offer and he says it’s too low, that’s talking business, which is A-OK.

Arsenal will hold up the deal because they want Chelsea to pay a lot of money.

My understanding is that Chelsea made Arsenal an offer, Arsenal came back with their own terms and from that time on both sides have refused to back down. I’m not going to take Ashley Cole’s side here because no one really knows for sure what happened between him and Dein, but suffice to say that Cole, his agent and Dein are not completely innocent in this matter.

Bottom line is, Cole shouldn’t be asking for this transfer but he’s bent upon it and has destroyed his reputation in the progress.

And as the whole lot of you have completely ignored this question, I’ll ask again:

At the end of the day, the transfer game is about getting the best possible value for your club. And if Arsenal are planning to push the transfer fees high enough to discourage Chelsea and Real Madrid (both of whom have signed players over the weekend), they should also be prepared to start the next season without having sold either player.

And if that happens, is that really “the best value� for Arsenal?

First of all, this article is yet another in a series of “foaming-at-the-mouth� articles by the author.

Touche, Rocky. I absolutely agree that anyone who questions Wenger’s statements must be a bit crazy. I take it you still haven’t gotten over my calling Henry a diver?

First, what “Anti-ArsenaLâ€? line of questioning is Wenger responding to? The question was stated merely to find out about the Cole situation and Wenger gave his interpretation of it. He didn’t say Chelsea were doing anything wrong, he just said that no offer meeting the club’s demand has been offered. What “anti-Arsenalâ€? questioning is Wenger responding to?

It’s easy to get very literal here – the questions about Ashley Cole have been asked with respect to what Chelsea have been saying for the last week or so. Wenger responds that there has been no offer, and then puts it all on Chelsea that they haven’t made a move yet. That’s fudging the facts, and that’s what I was talking about.

Also, how exactly does this relate to Real Madrid unsettling Reyes? Especially considering Madrid actually have been trying to unsettle Reyes by offering him a way out of his unsettled ‘social life’ in London, and then not meeting Arsenal’s valuation.

A player desperately wants to go to another club, and suddenly they are accused of unsettling the player? Ronaldo had an episode after the England vs Portugal game where he said he kept saying that he wanted to go to Madrid. The circumstances were different, but he was clearly unsettled at the time. United controlled the situation, and turned Madrid away.

With Reyes, Arsenal haven’t been able to control the situation. Reyes is unhappy in London and wants to leave. He wants to go to Madrid, and they are offering what they think they can get away with. How is that unsettling? This is business, they will offer what they think is right and Arsenal will ask for what they think is right. Wenger saying that Madrid are unsettling Reyes (by not meeting their evaluation) is untrue – if they had offered less money to the player and told him he had to clean the toilets to come to Madrid, that would be unsettling.

In the end, while presenting ‘facts’, you state that Arsenal are well-within their rights to ask for their valuation. Arsenal are under no obligation to sell. Saying that other clubs are not meeting their valuation isn’t pointing fingers, it’s simply stating your position. What would you like Wenger to say…We’re absolutely wrong to place a valuation on our player so let us please the other clubs by stooping to their demands?

When you say that another club is unsettling your player, that’s pointing fingers. I think Wenger is right on pricing Reyes and Cole so high, but then he shouldn’t bitch about other clubs offering a low amount. And he certainly shouldn’t put the blame on other clubs for drawing out the transfer – the responsibility lies on both sides.

What exactly, then, is the point of this article? Try to clutch something other than (very thin) straws while taking a shot at Wenger next time.

Believe me, if I were taking a deliberate swipe at Wenger (Arsenal god and all that) it would have been much worse. I think Wenger is not just playing mind-games, he’s plain lying about the deal.

Little Dutch

Yes – it is hardly insight. But it’s still worth pointing out. Like I said, I think Wenger’s not telling the whole story. I’m loathe to trust Mourinho, but if he says they have made an offer then they probably have.