How Wenger's transfer policy has been vindicated while Galacticos suffer

By Brian Reade

Published 06:00 13/03/10

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Last summer Arsene Wenger's traditional transfer window kicking was more vicious than usual.

Oh how he was pummelled for selling Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure for huge mounts and replacing them with an unknown Belgian centre-half. Even Alex Ferguson claimed Arsenal were the Big Four team who looked most vulnerable. For many, the phrase "Arsene Knows" became "Arsene Knows Eff-all" and obituarists sharpened their quills.

Meanwhile in Madrid, praise was lavished on the cavalier genius of  Florentino Perez, for putting together "Galacticos - The Sequel"  for £250 million. Life was being breathed back into the biggest club in the world they bragged, pride was being restored. And so to the fall.

"Failure", "Catastrophe," "Nightmare" were three of the headlines in the Spanish press on Thursday, after Real Madrid failed to make it past the last 16 of the Champions League for the sixth year running.

Given that they are out of the Spanish Cup, if they fail to topple Barcelona as champions, they will have spent a quarter-of-a-billion pounds to do as badly as they did last season. Worse, when you consider Fulham lasted longer in Europe.

"Titles are not bought, they are won," blasted El Pais newspaper this week. Well, nice of you to notice, but where were those sentiments last summer when you applauded the cream of the world's talent for being seduced by Perez's wallet?

I'll tell you where. Coming out of Wenger's mouth: "Why do people think that all the problems can be sorted by buying players," was his reply to criticism of his lack of buying.

Why indeed. Look at Wenger seven months on, slaughtering Porto 5-0 without Robin Van Persie, Cesc Fabregas or William Gallas. Far from falling out of the top four, as Fergie feared, they are two points behind leaders United with a game in hand. Arsene knows. But then so does Fergie.

He too was criticised for not splashing out the £80 million he received for Ronaldo. Instead he concentrated on the up-side of losing El Winker. How he now had one less morale-sapping sulker, and the chance to unleash Wayne Rooney in his natural position.

So he kept the faith with what he had, and this week completed the total humiliation of his bogey team, AC Milan. Another club which for years was bankrolled by a megalomaniac, Silvio Berlusconi, who demanded the biggest names in the world. But ran out of cash. So ended up with the Geriatricos.

Italy and Spain kid themselves that the recent English dominance is all about money. That's only partly true. When you look at Arsenal and United's ability to stay at the top this season, despite little strengthening, it proves that proper managers who know about football and are allowed to manage, will always succeed ahead of puppets hired by egos.

Which is a heart-warming lesson. Not least because I was inundated with abuse from Real fans last June for predicting how the last day of their season would go:

"The white hankies will be waved as the latest Perez Globetrotters traipse off the Bernabeu having lost La Liga to Barcelona, who, the following week, will take on an English side in the Champions League Final. In the Bernabeu.

"On the day of the final, Perez will be in hiding from the world and El Winker will be sulking on a Californian beach, diving off rocks into the arms of Lindsay Lohan. His agent saying all is not well with his head."

I presume Wenger saw the same scenario. Which is why, when Perez begged him to manage his new Galacticos he told him where he could stick his job and his millions.

Arsene knows? Si, senor.

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Landon Donovan goes back to California next week after a ten-week spell at Everton, in which he helped them to within touching distance of Europe.

What was so remarkable about his stay was how he looked like he'd been playing Premier League football all of his career.

He slotted in to the Everton side instantly, scored twice, and was one of their most consistent performers in a run that saw them beat Chelsea and Manchester United.

It was the best bit of business by far in the January transfer window, and backs up a view I've held for a while – that Americans, like Australians, fit into the British game more naturally than most other nationalities.

Maybe instead of keeping tabs on every young talent in South America, Africa and Europe, our scouts should keep a closer eye on the talent emerging over the pond and Down Under

**

El Hadji Diouf faces jail after accusations that he assaulted a woman in a casino.

Can't he embellish the defence he churned out at Goodison Park last year and claim he was hit by a banana daquiri?

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