Wenger has been unable to identify and develop a single English player in his 11+ years in charge

This man hasn't got a clue has he!!! This is always labeled towards Wenger, an accusation that he doesn't bring though English players. Well he does but they are just not good enough for Arsenal. He has actually brought through more English players in the last 5 years than all the other top 4 clubs put together.
Cole
Sidwell
Pennant
Muamba
Bentley
Upson

3 of these players are current England internationals!!! Also Wenger has spent £18 million in the last 4 years in the transfer market when Utd has spent £100m, Liverpool £125m and Chelsea £177m. I don't think Wenger is doing too bad a job do you?

James, north wales,

Does it mean it anything that in the game @ Old Trafford, three different United players wound up wearing the armband, and none of them was Wayne Rooney? As for Wenger's blind spot about keepers, why doesn't he just get himself an American? It's worked (over the years) for Leicester, Blackburn, Reading, ManU & Everton.

Arthur Durbano, Springfield, USA/Pennsylvania

Just as Wenger ruthlessly dumped any player he considered had run out of ideas,is it not time to get rid of Wenger who has clearly run out of ideas for some time now?
Arsenal have not won anything for a while now.While claiming youth,the fact is Man Utd have just as youthful a team while they have continued winning.
Wenger has been unable to identify and develop a single English player in his 11+ years in charge.Not only is this shameful for Arsenal but also weakens the England team.For a man who claims an ability to develop younger talent,Wenger's record of not identifying a single English player over this time is a disgrace.
For Arsenal to field a team every week without a single English player is also a disgrace(walcott only plays as a late sub sporadically).
The time has come to get rid of Wenger and bring in a manager who will re-develop an ENGLISH backbone to the Arsenal team.When it had an English backbone it won titles and cups.Since that time,nothing much.

C.Elder, Paris, France

Gallas unsuited, Toure too rash, Fabregas no presence and too small, Adebayor not a natural striker, Bendtner not in the same league as Roonie, Drogber and Torres - ditto Adebayor. Van Percy too injury prone. Time to clean house and start again. You need men and talented strikers to win things and Arsenal have neither.

Vivian Eastwood, Hong Kong,

Who exactly were the alternatives to Gallas for the captaincy?

Gilberto? Proved a good vice-captain in 06/07, but hasn't been able to command a place in the starting 11 this season, and has looked out of sorts when he has.

Toure? Not really ready to be a captain of Arsenal, there is still very much a juvenile tendency in Toure. A better spokesperson than Gallas, but equally, probably not an inspirational figure in the dressing room when things go against them.

Fabregas? Too young, and his petulance would probably manifest itself in a similar way to Gallas.

Lehmann? Self-explanatory.

Flamini? Has proven himself as a warrior on the pitch, but until he signs a new contract, cannot be considered. At the start of the season, it looked like he was being farmed off to Birmingham, and was light-years away from being captain.

Clichy? Tidy player, but not really captain-like qualities.

New signing? Never an easy task, ready-made captains aren't readily available either.

James, London,

Wenger's myopic huffiness over players like Senderos, Gallas and an out of position Eboue are central to our failings in the latter half of the season. Fabregas looked increasingly shot and without the slicing runs of our injury prone "Dumpling" Rosicky. Without a more robust squad Wenger lacks the ability to keep his best players, Fabregas,Adebayor and Clichy well rested. A short term replacement for Eduardo is desperately needed, as well as a true center half with enough aerial authority to cover Kolo Toure's flaws. I believe Wenger should play Toure at center half and rid his house of the pox Monsieur Senderos. Turn Eboue back in to a wing back instead of a woefully incosistent and erratic midfielder and look for a more athletical inclined, younger goalkeeper. Then and only then can we destroy the Sith .. I mean MUFC.

Paul Nsanze, Venice, CA

Please STOP saying this is a young side, it simply is not true. Even in the body of this article mentioning Gallas it states his age, "30", hardly a spring chicking in footballing terms, check out the ages of all thier other players.

The young side excuse is long gone, Mr Wenger needs to own up, his squad is paper thin and long overdue for some new (expensive) blood. Also, blaming every defeat on anything other than Arsenal actually loosing is extremely boring.

Time for Wenger to wise up or move on.

jono, canaries, spain

Wenger has to change with the times or Arsenal will fall further behind as other clubs continue to develop and Arsenal will degenerate into a youth academy from where the top- flight clubs can find good players. Yes, his blind spots are costing the club dear, with mediocre captains and keepers. Add to that talented players but with fragile anatomies and minds that cannot handle failure. It's a sure- fire recipe for disaster.

As a gooner, I'm getting impatient with Wenger. He sticks to the same old methodology, little recognizing how far the tactics and strategies of his competitors have evolved. Arse tries to get those elusive, perfect goals while the opponents get away with quick counter- attacks and matter- of- fact goals. If I just love to see complicated stylish movements on the field, I'd go to a figure- skating competition. C'mon, beef up the squad, speed up the game and get some goals- and silverware. It's two years too late.

Thomas P T, Cochin, India

I think Wenger now knows there are deficiencies that his youngsters cannot at the moment overcome so I expect (and hope) that he is looking for one or two fully formed players. Most of all, though, as said above he needs a leader who can stop the heads dropping. I can understand that financing the new stadium was a priority but that can no longer be a reason for not spending.

Jig, London, England

Excellent article - I was just saying to a Man U mate of mine today that the last two captains (Henry and Gallas) have been a disaster. Henry was impatient with the kids, and Gallas is a nutter. The difference between these two and Vieira is like night and day. Gallas should be relieved of the captaincy, but as you correctly point out there is no obvious candidate right now, and anyway Wenger is an obstinate bugger. Which is why some of the excellent suggestions you make for acquiring talent, or anyone else who costs more than 4p for that matter, will fall on deaf ears.

I'm deeply disappointed with Wenger. He is wedded to ideology, and seems incapable of adjusting. It's also true that we have had exceptional bad luck with injuries. But his failure to build a squad with sufficient quality in depth is the biggest reason for this season's melt down. Our subs are simply not of the required quality.

Dave, Washington DC, USA