The second press conference

The printed press in England had their own, customary session with Arsène Wenger after the first press conference I've described earlier. Here, the Arsenal manager reportedly opened up a bit more.

There will be no deal for Juan Mata of Valencia, Wenger maintained. A deal for Jadson of Brazil and Shakhtar Donetsk is 'nowhere near'.

A new central defender will be available, he said, as Thomas Vermaelen hardly played last season.

For details, read for instance Richard Williams' blog on the Guardian website, the award winning Henry Winter in the Daily Telegraph, or the more hostile Matt Barlow in the Daily Mail, who claim that Wenger's press briefings were 'full of contradicitions'. (I'd argue that the reporter in question might have misinterpreted something - see earlier blog.)

Still Barlow has perhaps the most acute angle to Wenger's messages in both press conferences:

Perhaps it was a message for Valencia, Shakhtar, Everton and Bolton, all with players admired by Wenger who know Arsenal will soon be awash with new cash.

Another point has been made by the Daily Mirror reporter John Cross on Twitter: Wenger has categorically denied deals before, only to make them later. (How refreshing with a reporter who can back it up AND does it: check the links in the Tweet.)

Arsène Wenger himself made a point which is of major interest to me - as it's the main reason I started this blog in the first place.

“If our fans go the way the media want them to go we have no chance. The people behind me and around the press box do not necessarily represent the majority of the fans. 

"They are the ones you [journalists] hear the most but aren’t necessarily the majority. They make your opinion maybe but they aren’t necessarily the opinion.” 

If we all believe every jot of what's in the papers, we'll never have a good night's sleep again. But that doesn't mean that everything the club says should be taken for Gospel.

I've been critical of Arsenal's communication strategy this summer. There may well be some clever thinking behind Friday's and earlier press briefings. But whatever strategy, if what you say isn't believed, it's failed.