Arsenal's signing of Danny Welbeck from Manchester United was a curious example of a deal that seemed to leave both sides disappointed.
Arsène Wenger’s idea of welcoming his new signing was to remark that “if I’d stayed at home [instead of going to Rome for a charity match on transfer deadline day], he wouldn’t be here now.”
Meanwhile, United's media old boys were sceptical. Gary Neville: "I'm struggling to understand the logic behind it in two or three ways." Mike Phelan: "They have probably lost the way of Manchester United a little bit."
The grumbling reached such a pitch that Louis van Gaal felt the need to take charge by pointing out that Welbeck had never matched up to Wayne Rooney or Robin van Persie, and that after 142 appearances he had run out of time to prove he ever could.
Van Gaal’s remarks were perhaps tactless, but you could see his point. Welbeck is nearly 24 and has scored 37 goals in club football. Rooney at the same age had more than 100 club goals, while Van Persie, a slower starter, had 56. Welbeck has often played out of position, but the same could be said of Rooney and Van Persie in their early years, and their quality nevertheless shone through.
Yet even if Arsene Wenger can see the logic in van Gaal's argument, he should be grateful to the Dutchman for that withering public verdict. If that diss doesn't fire up Welbeck, nothing will.
Welbeck missed his first chance to make van Gaal eat his words 11 minutes into his debut against Manchester City. He ran through onto David Silva's backpass and chipped the ball over Joe Hart, only to see the shot bounce back off the inside of the post with most of the stadium already celebrating.
Neuer ‘weakness’
It was a fascinating moment because it brought to mind a piece of spin which had circulated about Welbeck in the aftermath of the transfer.
The story went back to March, when United played Bayern in the Champions League. David Moyes' scouts thought they had detected a weakness in Bayern's keeper Manuel Neuer. Apparently, when Neuer rushed strikers in one-on-one situations, his eagerness to create the most intimidating possible spectacle often led to him leaping through the air, leaving unguarded space beneath. Welbeck was told: if you're through, shoot low.
Best weapon
Nobody who saw that game needs reminding that when Welbeck did get through, rather than shooting low, he tried a chip that went horribly wrong. This, the story goes, marked the precise moment when Moyes lost faith in Danny Welbeck.
It’s a neat story, and a useful one for those at United who seek to justify the sale of Welbeck to a rival. Certainly, that miss is hard to forget.
It’s easier to forget that Neuer didn’t actually rush at Welbeck in the manner it had supposedly been suggested he would. In fact, the Bayern keeper advanced coolly and didn’t commit, daring Welbeck to make the first move.
Another thing that’s easy to forget is that chips are actually the best weapon in Welbeck’s finishing armoury.
Nearly all of the best goals he has scored have been chips – for England against Belgium and Moldova, for United against Spurs and Swansea, for Preston against Ipswich.
The Bayern miss story has been used to damn Welbeck, but instead of asking why he didn’t do what he was told, you could equally ask why Moyes didn’t trust his striker to do what comes naturally. Finishing is the most instinctive part of the game. That battle of wits and nerves between striker and keeper happens in a place that is beyond a coach’s control.
Overbearing manager
The problem with Welbeck’s miss against Bayern wasn’t that the chip was the wrong decision. The problem was that the chip was horribly executed.
Moreover, it was recognisably the sort of thing that happens when a player is caught in two minds. You could say: if he’d rolled the ball low, maybe he would have scored. You could also say: if he hadn’t heard Moyes’ voice in his head at the crucial moment, urging him to do the opposite of what he likes to do in one-on-ones, maybe would have produced a better chip.
If Moyes could be an overbearing manager, overburdening his players with instructions and advice, Wenger is the complete opposite. He tries to induce a general mood of confidence and trusts his players to take care of all the details.
This is probably why Arsenal keep making the same sort of mistakes – how many times have we seen them concede simple set-piece headers such as Martin Demichelis' equaliser on Saturday? – but it also might be why Arsenal, at their best, play with the sort of irresistible flow David Moyes teams never seem to produce.
Right now, Manchester United is a club of superstar strikers, and Welbeck will never be one of those. As world stars like Di Maria and Falcao arrive, Welbeck will quickly be forgotten.
He is now the first choice striker at a club that teems with goalscoring attacking midfielders. His job will be to open up spaces for Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey as much as to score goals himself. He'll have a manager who'll trust him to get on with it his own way, and that could be exactly what he needs.
The transfer that seemed to please nobody might work out for everybody yet.
