As any football fan, coach, or pundit will tell you, if you want to win the league, you must view it more like a marathon than a sprint and, as a result, it obviously helps to have some extra reserves in your locker. Any team playing well can look like potential champions, but the test truly begins when a side is ravaged with injury, tired, or playing poorly. These sections of a campaign - commonly referred to by optimistic fans and delusional managers as "blips" - often determine the title winner, and when consistency is the key to success, stamina is an essential component.
Luckily for Arsenal, the league's new directive which ensures that a team must pick from a squad of just 25 senior players, including eight home-grown talents, is absolutely ideal. Throughout his tenure as manager at Highbury, Wenger has been investing in youth and, more importantly, talented youth. Now that policy may have paid off. Despite the fact that Arsenal haven't won the league title since 2004, early football betting suggests this wait may well be coming to an end.
The definition of home-grown is "a player trained for three years under the age of 21 by a club in the English or Welsh professional system". This means Wenger's policy of bringing in Europe's brightest young talents at the age of sixteen means that they can come to fruition by the time their nineteenth birthday rolls round. This tactic means Nicklas Bendtner, Gael Clichy, Denilson, Johan Djourou, Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song all qualify as home-grown, despite not having a British passport between them.
Cynics have criticised Arsenal for this approach. After all, the rule was introduced in an attempt to increase the number of Premier League players eligible to play for the England squad – but what loyalty should Wenger have towards the FA or even England supporters? His only priorities should be the Arsenal fans and his own legacy at Highbury - there is no room for sentiment when the price of failure can be so high.
Wenger's approach may not be everyone's cup of tea, but loopholes are there to be jumped through and he's certainly doing well, the football predictions hint the side will also challenge for the Champions League. As long as what he is doing is within the Premier League's rules then he is simply doing his best for his club and their bid to bring the title back to North London - and many believe that this year might just be his year.
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