Dec 04
Why do you think Wenger let Upson go (See article) ? I often think he doesn’t give youth a chance like Alex Ferguson does. I mean granted the Arsenal team is hard to break into, but so is ManU. Why do you think he let a promising defender like Upson go?
9 Responses to “Why did Wenger pass on Upson”
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December 4th, 2003 at 8:49 am
I also read that article and it’s really not clear as to why Wenger let him go. No doubt he’s a good player but for some reason the manager didn’t think he was good enough for Arsenal and he usually gets it right. Anway I think the peformances this season by Toure have been outstanding and as good as or better than anything Upson could have given us. He would have been a very good backup though.
December 4th, 2003 at 9:46 am
Upson was not and will never be good enough for Arsenal. He is too much of a ponce and not hard enough for the very top level but will do fine at Birmingham.
And just because he plays for England doesn’t mean anything either. Would you want Trevor Sinclair at Highbury? Same difference really.
December 4th, 2003 at 1:33 pm
I often wonder about alot of the decisions made regarding our youth…
but Wenger hardly EVER makes a really bad decision… (see Pennant recently… he needs the work at Leeds, he wouldn’t be playing here…)
Upson would be good cover at the back…
but Toure has been excellent… Cygan has even played well recently…
and…
we MAULED Wolves with our youth team….
they all played so damned well… it was hard not to be overwhelmingly impressed with the kids…
We are undefeated in the league… and need a solid performance at home in the CL to progress…
so…
I question almost NOTHING the man does…
Arsene knows… in Arsene we trust.
December 4th, 2003 at 1:46 pm
The story went that Upson asked Wenger about his future at Arsenal. Wenger told Upson he had a future at Arsenal and rightly or wrongly Upson didn’t believe he did.
Upson decided he needed to go and Wenger does not get in the way of any player who wants to leave the club (Paddy the exception perhaps).
So, Upson wasn’t ran out or told to leave. He made the decision to leave. I think had he waited and we had the injuries he’d have gotten to be first off the bench this year and I think we may have even won the title had he been in when injuries and suspensions occurred. I don’t think we’d have drawn v. Villa, or lost to Leeds or drawn v. Bolton.
December 4th, 2003 at 2:38 pm
I think truth be told the injuries had more to do with the decision than anything…He seemed well on his way to perhaps replacing Tony Adams before injuring his knee, and then was working his way back into the first 11 when his broke his leg, and this was after three or four years around the first team at Arsenal. Players like Tony Adams who feature in your defence for the better part of two decades are by far the exception rather than the rule-and in Lee Dixon, David Seaman, and Martin Keown and Nutty and even Stevie Bould and you realize just how special our “Famous Back Four(Or Five or Six)”really was…a tribute as much to Gary Lewin and the Arsenal Physical Staff as the players themselves I’d reckon and George Graham and Arsene Wenger too. More likely a six-to eight year career in first-team football on the outside awaits the typical footballer-so Upson was more than likely already half-way through his career as a first-choice quality player perhaps further and had had his development as a top player severely interrupted and disrupted by two serious injuries. My guess is Wenger reckoned he certainly could play, but not at the level he desired for his first-choice defence, and he further realized it was no good to leave Upson on the bench. He just didn’t fit at Arsenal anymore and Wenger as Upson noted wanted him to get his chance to play and acted immediately to ensure he did…sort of like a college football or basketball coach releasing a player from their scholarship and actively helping find a school to transfer to rather than letting them fester on the bench…
December 4th, 2003 at 6:05 pm
but where would Kolo Toure be?
not at the back… not playing so well in the center… so everything worked out just fine in my eyes…
December 5th, 2003 at 5:11 pm
With all due respect to the original comment, which youth, exactly, has Ferguson given a chance to? I’ve already pointed this out extensively on Big Soccer, but John O’Shea is the only youth product to break in to the ManUre first team in something like 7 years. Meanwhile, Arsenal have matched that with Ashley Cole.
Upson, as also has been pointed out extensively in the past, admitted in an interview with The Guardian that he wasn’t practicing properly and that he wasn’t taking care of himself properly (i.e., not staying out of the pubs when he should have been resting) in his final months at Arsenal. As we’ve seen this season, he’s no better than Campbell or Toure, so he would have been stuck in the same role, whining about a lack of opportunities but not doing anything about it (unlike Kolo Thuram, who has literally forced his way onto the first team and has been our 2nd-most valuable player this season).
Upson has also been injury prone. Thought this was bad luck at first, but now I wonder how much is down to lack of taking care of himself properly.
Upson has found his level; he is a perfectly decent center-half for a low-level EPL team. When there’s no pressure on a week-to-week basis, he seems to cope fairly well. But when the pressure’s on, such as the international game where he gave away a PK, or the Arsenal game where he was woefully out of position on Pires’s goal, then he’s “found out,” so to speak.
Upson never was and never will be good enough for Arsenal. With Toure and Campbell and Senderos and Cygan all ahead of him, I don’t think playing in the reserves would have suited him at all. The move to Birmingham is just about his speed, and he seems to be happy working under a former defender. But when Bruce leaves for a bigger job, or when Birmingham get relegated, we’ll see what’s next for Upson. I have a feeling it won’t be pretty.
December 5th, 2003 at 7:40 pm
oh geeeeeez….
cut the kid some slack … will ya?
he plays for ENGLAND… he is a decent player…
who definitely would have trouble breaking into our starting back 4…. but if he stayed here… KOLO would NOT be in the back 4…. he never would have been given the chance…
Upson is not Igor Stepanovs…. he is far better than that!!!!!! he’s an adequate defender…
Arsene wanted him to stay…. he wanted to go…
whats wrong with that…
(see: PENNANT)
December 6th, 2003 at 6:24 pm
“oh geez” yourself.
Do you have trouble with reading comprehension? I never mentioned Stepanovs. You seem to disagree with me, but then you describe Upson as a “decent” player and an “adequate” defender - not very high praise, is it?
So what if he’s been capped for England - so have Carlton Palmer, Chris Armstrong, and Warren Barton. It means next to nothing.
You’re wrong about Kolo not being given a chance, because Kolo has the attribute that Wenger prizes most, which is speed. He would have been given every chance to break in.
By the way, Upson’s close to 25, not really a “kid,” is he?
And I have no idea what your Pennant reference means (unless you’re pointing out another overrated player who doesn’t work hard enough to break into a top team).