Arsenal’s approach to spending

Wenger prefers to buy youngsters. (Image courtesy of The Telegraph)

We all know about Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s policy of choosing to develop young talent rather than splurging on big-name players. According to this article by BBC Sport's Editor David Bond in his blog, other big clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea are so inspired by this policy that they have decided to implement it too – because of the financial benefits. This indeed is a timely topic as many Premier League clubs are now tightening their spending because of reducing income sources.

Bond’s research is adequate and this helps to back up his interview with the Arsenal Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis. For instance, he includes figures to make the story more sound, such as the fact that Arsenal’s turnover is now more than 300 million pounds per year. But he should have included the sources of these figures to give credibility.

Bond’s article focuses on a single interview with Gazidis about how he supports Wenger’s approach, so it might have helped if Bond had a quote from Wenger himself to verify the statements made about the Arsenal manager. Perhaps comments by other Premier League managers on the merits of Wenger’s approach may have given differing viewpoints too.

Bond should have explained more about Uefa’s new ruling though, and how it supports Wenger’s policy, rather than just bringing in a single sentence that says the ruling limits “the amount owners can invest in their teams.” The writer definitely assumes that readers know what he is referring to. Those who did not read about the new Uefa ruling might be confused at what is being discussed.

It is also interesting that Bond has actually embedded the actual interview footage into his article rather than just having say, a picture of Gazidis. This highlights his interactivity with his online readers and shows that he is embracing the new forms of technology that are available to him.

But overall, this is a pretty well-written article.