By Jason Burt
The
Arsenal
manager is furious at the
limit on squad sizes along with the insistence by the Premier
League that eight of the 25 players selected have to be
'home-grown'.
"Instead of asking 'we have the best league in the world, how
can we make it greater?' they wonder 'how can we make it smaller?'
" Wenger said on Friday.
"The rules they decide are a disaster for this country.
Ridiculous. They are all artificial and have nothing to do with
top-level sport."
In his criticisms, Wenger is out of step with the Arsenal board
as the club voted – as did the other 19 in the League – unanimously
for the rule change when it was agreed upon last year.
The rationale from the Premier League is that the rules – with
'home-grown' defined as one who has been registered with the
Football Association for three years prior to his 21st birthday –
will help the England national team and, crucially, the development
of young talent.
However Wenger was dismissive of this argument. "You have as
many foreign players in Spain as in England," he said of the world
champions. "You can sign players from all over the world in Spain.
Why do they still produce players and we do not? It's down to the
coaching. You cannot just close your eyes and say: 'Let's kick the
good players out' and produce the same quality [in the league].
"I've been educating players since I was 25 and I know one rule.
The first thing you do to develop a player is to put him with
another good player. If you are a great player, you want to play
with great players.
"If you are a great musician, you want to play with an orchestra
where you have the best musicians. If you offer the guy the chance
to play in an orchestra with poor musicians, he will not be happy.
You have something here [the Premier League] that the whole world
watches. For me, to see that some people are only concerned with
putting the quality down is sad."
Arsenal will comfortably comply with the rules but Wenger
insisted they would damage the league.
"We have a situation where the richest people in the world want
to invest in this country and you only think 'how can we keep
foreign people out?' " he said.
"You can't let the richest man from India, say, come here and
invest a lot of money and then tell him 'oh no, you can only play
with English players'. That does not work."
A consequence of this, Wenger said, will be players demanding
more money because there will be a premium on their
qualification.
He used the example of Stephen Ireland – who is classified as
home-grown having been a trainee at Manchester City – and his
proposed move to Aston Villa which has stalled over his financial
demands.
"I read that Ireland wants to go only if Man City gives him £2
million," he said. "That's because the new rules transform, even
more, the agents into mercenaries. It is absolutely ridiculous and
it is paralysing the market.
"Nobody buys. It is a joke. But they will create more rules like
that, the home-grown rule, which is rubbish. It is not linked with
quality. Do you really think it will remain the best league in the
world? No chance.
"The Premier League have to decide: are they here to prepare the
national team, so let's kick everybody out? or are they here to be
the best league in the world?"
Wenger said that he expected to sign a new three-year deal at
Arsenal within a few weeks, with his contract expiring at the end
of the season.
"It will be sorted out very soon," he said. "I have to show as
well how much I believe in this team by showing my commitment It is
more a question about timing, and all the other ingredients which
are in a contract will be easy to sort out."
Wenger admitted that he had "not made up my mind" yet who will
start in goal for Arsenal in Sunday's opening league game, away to
Liverpool.
The manager is in the market for a new goalkeeper and set to
move, again, for Fulham's Mark Schwarzer after the Australian
handed in a transfer request.