On November 21 2012 19:49 Telcontar wrote: Another notch on the belt for Roman. How can Chelsea fans be ok with this dictator in power? I guess money and instant success is all most of you care about. Perhaps I'm just a naive fool for thinking loyalty, patience, and faith should count for something in today's football.
Way to paint everyone with the same brush. 90% of us are furious about it but don't let that stop your holier than thou attitude.
The holier-than-thou attitude is even funnier when you dig this up:
On August 21 2012 04:05 Telcontar wrote: Now Song? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WENGER? That's it. FUCK ARSENAL. I refuse to support a club that has CHOSEN to become a feeder club. Good luck trying to stay in the top half of the table.
On August 21 2012 05:03 Telcontar wrote: I suppose those who only know and support this current Arsenal, are just fine with mediocrity. You weren't there when we were winning, when we had real ambitions, when we actually competed. I know that every club goes through fluctuations, but this club is consciously deciding to turn into a middle tier club. If you're content with that, good for you. I hope another 7 years of drought serves you well. I for one, will save myself the pain and heartache.
Loyalty, patience, and faith indeed.
And when did I say infinite patience, or boundless loyalty? What do you think the Arsenal fans and the board has been doing for the past 7 years? Wenger promised a squad for the future, and we trusted and waited for him to come good because of what he has done for the club. That is loyalty. That is patience. However, after 7 years of jack all we're no more competitive than we were before. There's always a limit to how much leeway you can give someone based on past deeds. Wenger is, or in my opinion, has reached that limit.
So you think I'm a hypocrite? Pah. I don't give a fuck because you obviously don't have a clue. Come back when Chelsea and Roman have shown a manager half as much respect and gratitude as Arsenal has to Arsene.
On November 22 2012 07:26 sharkie wrote: As long as Wenger manages to get top4 and get out of CL group stages I really dont see why he should go.
Do you not want to win trophies again? How can you be satisfied with just getting into CL every year and maybe getting to the Ro16/8? Have you forgotten how much of a force we used to be? How we used to be favourites going into tournaments? How we struck fear into the hearts of our opponents? If you're ok with Arsenal being just a good side, fine. I, on the other hand, want us to win things again. I want us to recapture the glory of the past, and it's worrying me that it's becoming increasingly harder to find Arsenal fans with the same ambitions.
also; benitez did fantastically with liverpool in champions league. in fact, he did a great job in general until the 2009-2010 season. he also deserves plenty of credit for how he managed valencia.
Anyway, they finished 2008-2009 as runners up in the PL - they were actual title contenders during benitez' better years, and two champions league finals in 3 seasons is amazing for every team in the world. Even current day Barcelona or Real Madrid would be very happy with copying liverpool's 2005-2007 CL run. Since then though, he's been.. bad. And some of it might just be with what type of manager he is. Essentially, he's been bad with great teams, and great with mediocre teams.
I also think he happens to develop a style of play particularly suited for knockout tournament play, rather than league play, because the liverpool he developed was rock solid defensively, but ultimately relied on individual performances rather than a well developed and clever attacking system to score goals. In the league, this isn't good enough, because you end up drawing too frequently. But in champions league, you can advance through playing two ties.. looking through the CL 2004-2005, liverpool barely made it out of an easy group, and then went on to concede only 3 goals over 6 matches against bayern munich, juventus and chelsea on their way to the finals. 2006-2007 again, they beat barcelona on away goals and chelsea on penalties.
take further into consideration that benitez was sacrificing the league by resting players before CL matches, consistently, you see why he succeeded to the degree he did. Some luck, but mostly just cleverly doing the best possible with what you had in an attempt to win the one important trophy your squad was actually capable of getting hold of.
But ultimately, he's also shown to suck at two things. 1: buying players that can actually strenghten the team. 2: succeeding a great manager who left him with a club full of world class players. I think he's a really, really bad signing for chelsea, but I could see him as doing great with a club like say, fulham or whatever, where he'd get time to develop his team, where the fans would be content with draws and 1-0 victories, and where the managers would be delighted with a mid-table finish and an FA or League Cup trophy.
On November 21 2012 17:19 Mentalizor wrote: The sad thing about the Shaktar goal against FC Nordsjælland was how the danish captain actually talked to the ukrainian agreeing Nordsjælland could just walk up and get a "free" goal and the whole incident would be forgotten - yet some of the ukranians didn't accept this and went on to defend.
I have never seen such unsportsmanlike conduct... Regardless of the result I hope someone brings this up with UEFA somehow. I don't know what to do - but breaking fairplay in football is horrible... Just horrible... Especially with FIFA doing everything they can for "Respect" and "Fairplay"... And I somehow find it even worse considering it's a non-white player - one of the guys FIFA actually wants to defend with all their campaigns. I don't know if I'm out of order stating this
Fair sanction/penalty would be 10-12 UEFA match penalty for Luiz Adriano (regardless of team he plays future of course) and 3-0 win for Nordsjalland (standard penalty to give 3-0 win). May seem harsh but example must be set.
On November 22 2012 07:26 sharkie wrote: As long as Wenger manages to get top4 and get out of CL group stages I really dont see why he should go.
Do you not want to win trophies again? How can you be satisfied with just getting into CL every year and maybe getting to the Ro16/8? Have you forgotten how much of a force we used to be? How we used to be favourites going into tournaments? How we struck fear into the hearts of our opponents? If you're ok with Arsenal being just a good side, fine. I, on the other hand, want us to win things again. I want us to recapture the glory of the past, and it's worrying me that it's becoming increasingly harder to find Arsenal fans with the same ambitions.
Just to put some perspective when I support my home city team VPS from Vaasa, Finland. My dream would see VPS playing at CL group stage (HJK is only team to do that 98-99 season) and second to get in Europa league group stage (none from Finland managed to do that yet). Would be epic because yearly budget for the team is 1.5M€ (includes player budget) but getting in would double it easily. End of wishes.
On November 21 2012 19:49 Telcontar wrote: Another notch on the belt for Roman. How can Chelsea fans be ok with this dictator in power? I guess money and instant success is all most of you care about. Perhaps I'm just a naive fool for thinking loyalty, patience, and faith should count for something in today's football.
Way to paint everyone with the same brush. 90% of us are furious about it but don't let that stop your holier than thou attitude.
The holier-than-thou attitude is even funnier when you dig this up:
On August 21 2012 04:05 Telcontar wrote: Now Song? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WENGER? That's it. FUCK ARSENAL. I refuse to support a club that has CHOSEN to become a feeder club. Good luck trying to stay in the top half of the table.
On August 21 2012 05:03 Telcontar wrote: I suppose those who only know and support this current Arsenal, are just fine with mediocrity. You weren't there when we were winning, when we had real ambitions, when we actually competed. I know that every club goes through fluctuations, but this club is consciously deciding to turn into a middle tier club. If you're content with that, good for you. I hope another 7 years of drought serves you well. I for one, will save myself the pain and heartache.
Loyalty, patience, and faith indeed.
And when did I say infinite patience, or boundless loyalty? What do you think the Arsenal fans and the board has been doing for the past 7 years? Wenger promised a squad for the future, and we trusted and waited for him to come good because of what he has done for the club. That is loyalty. That is patience. However, after 7 years of jack all we're no more competitive than we were before. There's always a limit to how much leeway you can give someone based on past deeds. Wenger is, or in my opinion, has reached that limit.
So you think I'm a hypocrite? Pah. I don't give a fuck because you obviously don't have a clue. Come back when Chelsea and Roman have shown a manager half as much respect and gratitude as Arsenal has to Arsene.
Wenger doesn't owe you anything. Arsenal is a business and he has to operate within the bounds of that business. To be a serious title threat in this era of insane spending, you need either:
1) A gigantic global brand that brings in revenue and allows the club to get players using both money and name value.
2) A sugar daddy.
Arsenal has neither of these (it's a big name but not compared to Utd, Bayern, Real Madrid etc.) and consequently will probably not win the league for many more years. The same applies to Tottenham, Newcastle, and all other big-but-not-huge clubs. What exactly do you want Wenger to do about this? His only choice is to secure top 4 every year for enough CL revenue to stay competitive, and try to nurture young talent. Giving him the axe won't provide Arsenal the financial clout to win the league. This is reality, and it's not going to change.
I understand your frustration...I support Tottenham and Daniel Levy just flushed a promising squad down the toilet in the name of transfer window profit. What I don't understand is giving up on Arsenal because there are no trophies coming in, and then lecturing a chelsea fan on loyalty. Staying on board for 7 trophyless seasons doesn't make you loyal. If you're loyal, what does that make Everton fans?
On November 22 2012 07:26 sharkie wrote: As long as Wenger manages to get top4 and get out of CL group stages I really dont see why he should go.
Maybe so they can go back to winning something ? Now I understand if its a club that doesnt have a history of winning titles and having shots at winning in Europe.
But Arsenal is not that kind of club and their fans over the past couple of decades have not been brought up in a culture that expect being consistently at the top but never winning anything.
When you start being "just ok" with the status quo then the only way to go is down. Not up and thats a very very dangerous thing.
On November 21 2012 19:49 Telcontar wrote: Another notch on the belt for Roman. How can Chelsea fans be ok with this dictator in power? I guess money and instant success is all most of you care about. Perhaps I'm just a naive fool for thinking loyalty, patience, and faith should count for something in today's football.
Way to paint everyone with the same brush. 90% of us are furious about it but don't let that stop your holier than thou attitude.
The holier-than-thou attitude is even funnier when you dig this up:
On August 21 2012 04:05 Telcontar wrote: Now Song? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WENGER? That's it. FUCK ARSENAL. I refuse to support a club that has CHOSEN to become a feeder club. Good luck trying to stay in the top half of the table.
On August 21 2012 05:03 Telcontar wrote: I suppose those who only know and support this current Arsenal, are just fine with mediocrity. You weren't there when we were winning, when we had real ambitions, when we actually competed. I know that every club goes through fluctuations, but this club is consciously deciding to turn into a middle tier club. If you're content with that, good for you. I hope another 7 years of drought serves you well. I for one, will save myself the pain and heartache.
Loyalty, patience, and faith indeed.
And when did I say infinite patience, or boundless loyalty? What do you think the Arsenal fans and the board has been doing for the past 7 years? Wenger promised a squad for the future, and we trusted and waited for him to come good because of what he has done for the club. That is loyalty. That is patience. However, after 7 years of jack all we're no more competitive than we were before. There's always a limit to how much leeway you can give someone based on past deeds. Wenger is, or in my opinion, has reached that limit.
So you think I'm a hypocrite? Pah. I don't give a fuck because you obviously don't have a clue. Come back when Chelsea and Roman have shown a manager half as much respect and gratitude as Arsenal has to Arsene.
Wenger doesn't owe you anything. Arsenal is a business and he has to operate within the bounds of that business. To be a serious title threat in this era of insane spending, you need either:
1) A gigantic global brand that brings in revenue and allows the club to get players using both money and name value.
2) A sugar daddy.
Arsenal has neither of these (it's a big name but not compared to Utd, Bayern, Real Madrid etc.) and consequently will probably not win the league for many more years. The same applies to Tottenham, Newcastle, and all other big-but-not-huge clubs. What exactly do you want Wenger to do about this? His only choice is to secure top 4 every year for enough CL revenue to stay competitive, and try to nurture young talent. Giving him the axe won't provide Arsenal the financial clout to win the league. This is reality, and it's not going to change.
I understand your frustration...I support Tottenham and Daniel Levy just flushed a promising squad down the toilet in the name of transfer window profit. What I don't understand is giving up on Arsenal because there are no trophies coming in, and then lecturing a chelsea fan on loyalty. Staying on board for 7 trophyless seasons doesn't make you loyal. If you're loyal, what does that make Everton fans?
Thats all very nice but your missing a key factor here.
Neither Everton nor Spurs have ever been taken seriously as title contendors or won anything in the last decade and a half.
secondly for all Arsenes financial genius. His teams wage bill up until last year still rivaled United and Chelseas.
His wage structure clearly sucked. It wasnt based on how valuable his players were to him and nor were the renumerated proportionally.
All in the interest of being "fair". It might sound good on paper but clearly it doesnt work.
Hernandez earned a quarter of what Rooney did and around Id sayyyy half ? of what Bendtner and Vela did in his first year and he was invaluable.
Not only that when his shit salary got raised to slightly less shit he was over the fucking moon. And kudos to Fergie he's cultivated a culture where players feel like they owe the club rather than the club owes them something.
And when they misbehave he gets back at them. Perhaps not immediately but he doesnt forget what you did and he knows he will get his chance.
If he cant lose them he will start to slowly phase them out and if he can cya later.
And yet his teams do well. Theyve shipped out great players to.. Van Nistelrooy Ronaldo Becks Tevez, the list goes on.
All managers could learn a thing or two from that. Its not all tactics and great money management and sugar daddies that build great teams.
Granted those things form the basic framework and backbone but its these sorts of intangibles that push teams from good to great.
And its these things that Arsenal fans expect of Arsene Wenger after all the patience and free reign he has received. And rightly so.
I dont know how to say this nicely (because I love Everton and Moyes) but as it stands for this generation of fans Evertons or even Spurs culture is sadly not comparable to Arsenals.
For all the hate Utd. get from fans of other teams and shit, you have to appreciate the culture they have there. They may have been behind 8 or 9 times this season, but they always find a way to get something out of the game or go down trying.
Nice post Rebs, but I still am not swayed. I think Wenger does a fantastic job with very little, isn't he the only manager that operates with a profit? the ONLY one?
On November 22 2012 10:09 Craze wrote: There's only one SIR Alex though =/
For all the hate Utd. get from fans of other teams and shit, you have to appreciate the culture they have there. They may have been behind 8 or 9 times this season, but they always find a way to get something out of the game or go down trying.
Nice post Rebs, but I still am not swayed. I think Wenger does a fantastic job with very little, isn't he the only manager that operates with a profit? the ONLY one?
Well thats a little tricky. Im not a huge fan of Fergie, But I respect what hes done. Im a huge fan of Wenger and his philosophy but sometimes you have to be a little savvy into how deep you can put your hands it into your own (or even someone elses cookie jar)..
Now let see United here. They are fucked primarily by the fact that theyre take over was leveraged by debt. Debt the current owners are having difficulty managing.
That is also partly Fergies fault because he had a fight with the old owners over that stupid horse. Gibraltar or something and it was them or him and the club chose him.
All of these clubs in debt neverthless will be fine in the long run.
Fans get nothing out of the club making the kinds of profits Arsenal makes. well almost nothing, they still pay those ridiculous gate fees and for what ?
You dont give someone the taste of blood and take it away. You cant get to comfortable doing what you know even when it stops working.
Fact is this club attracted some great players. It doesnt anymore. Why ?
There needs to be some introspection here. Liverpool is in a similar boat. They dont have any of the pedigree left they built so well and but atleast they havent become comfortable with it. Neverthless they have gone balls to the wall nuts trying to atleast figure it out, even if its failed miserably.
When you get to cozy making your little margins and not expanding you become that corner store everyone says is really nice but only goes to in emergancies while they shop at Walmart.
I dont think any fan whose used to playing with the big boys will accept that.
Wenger doesnt have very little. This is a myth. He can spend plenty of money if he has to. But its not just about spending money. Its about how you spend it. Like I said his wage bills are still comporable to top clubs. And frankly the rosters look nothing like those of other top teams.
Its a team no one wants to stay at because top players want to win, they dont want to come 4th every season. So then the only way left to go then is down and that is where the danger comes in.
I have no doubt Arsenal will go on their little run, probably even get ahead of Chelsea but as soon as silverware is in the crosshares they flinch and miss. Every single time and in the most ridiculous of circumstances.
Benitez taking over Blues is really interesting. Don't agree with the choice, but I can see the reasons. I'm guessing they're really hoping he can get Torres going, for one. Also, he's a smart guy that usually gets results in tournament play.
Sick goal from Mexes.
I've discussed Arsenal and my love for them so much, as well as my discontent with us not winning a title in forever, so I'll just stick to making a short comment this time. I'm perfectly fine with being one of the top teams in the best league in the world (just my opinion, don't want to fight anyone over it), but obviously I want us to win shit. The PL, FA Cup, The other cup that's not as cool, or the Champions League. I'm a fan of the team, not the trophies.
On November 22 2012 10:22 Rebs wrote: Fact is this club attracted some great players. It doesnt anymore. Why ?
Is this regarding Arsenal? If so, I disagree. We bagged Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud this last transfer window.
As much as an anti-United guy I am, one has to give Sir Alex credit. He's been on top for so long and the old motherfucker just keeps on winning. It'll be a sad day when he quits. The loss of a great rival.
On November 22 2012 10:26 NuclearJudas wrote: Benitez taking over Blues is really interesting. Don't agree with the choice, but I can see the reasons. I'm guessing they're really hoping he can get Torres going, for one. Also, he's a smart guy that usually gets results in tournament play.
Sick goal from Mexes.
I've discussed Arsenal and my love for them so much, as well as my discontent with us not winning a title in forever, so I'll just stick to making a short comment this time. I'm perfectly fine with being one of the top teams in the best league in the world (just my opinion, don't want to fight anyone over it), but obviously I want us to win shit. The PL, FA Cup, The other cup that's not as cool, or the Champions League. I'm a fan of the team, not the trophies.
On November 22 2012 10:22 Rebs wrote: Fact is this club attracted some great players. It doesnt anymore. Why ?
Is this regarding Arsenal? If so, I disagree. We bagged Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud this last transfer window.
As much as an anti-United guy I am, one has to give Sir Alex credit. He's been on top for so long and the old motherfucker just keeps on winning. It'll be a sad day when he quits. The loss of a great rival.
lets face it man, Cazorla is nice Podolski is really good and Giroud is ok but these are not pedigree or marquee players. NOt in the least.
They are very good but just that.. Very good. I dont know if you notice but Giroud is simply not at the consistency of a world class finisher (he showed it today to). He good but hes not great. Cazorla is good, borders on great but hes not at the level of your Silva's or Mata's. Same for Podolski he hasnt really had a sterling career as good as he is its just been really good. Not great.
And thats what Arsenal is. Good not great. People are giving this operating profit thing to much credit. Its not like the other top clubs have no Value mind you. They are despite their debt significantly bigger assets than Arsenal.
For the record I think Uniteds team is pretty mediocre to. But they know how to win games. Because they have some good players and always always have atleast a few great players. Arsenal doesnt now and they did before.
Viera, Pires, Bergkamp even the Ljunbergs and and ofcourse Henry. Are you seriously going to sit here and tell me that this current crop of players rivals those ?
Also for all the decent signings theres a ton of flops to. All for the sake of pulling pennies or not paying that 5 million extra.
Is it really painfully hard to give RVP a raise on the level United did and then attract someone who would want to make him stay ?
You have to have done something really wrong when your best players want to leave every season. On occasion you can legitimately call Judas, but this many years in a row. mmmzz.. Feeder club level stuff man.
On November 22 2012 10:26 NuclearJudas wrote: Benitez taking over Blues is really interesting. Don't agree with the choice, but I can see the reasons. I'm guessing they're really hoping he can get Torres going, for one. Also, he's a smart guy that usually gets results in tournament play.
Sick goal from Mexes.
I've discussed Arsenal and my love for them so much, as well as my discontent with us not winning a title in forever, so I'll just stick to making a short comment this time. I'm perfectly fine with being one of the top teams in the best league in the world (just my opinion, don't want to fight anyone over it), but obviously I want us to win shit. The PL, FA Cup, The other cup that's not as cool, or the Champions League. I'm a fan of the team, not the trophies.
On November 22 2012 10:22 Rebs wrote: Fact is this club attracted some great players. It doesnt anymore. Why ?
Is this regarding Arsenal? If so, I disagree. We bagged Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud this last transfer window.
As much as an anti-United guy I am, one has to give Sir Alex credit. He's been on top for so long and the old motherfucker just keeps on winning. It'll be a sad day when he quits. The loss of a great rival.
lets face it man, Cazorla is nice Podolski is really good and Giroud is ok but these are not pedigree or marquee players. NOt in the least.
They are very good but just that.. Very good. I dont know if you notice but Giroud is simply not at the consistency of a world class finisher (he showed it today to). He good but hes not great. Cazorla is good, borders on great but hes not at the level of your Silva's or Mata's. Same for Podolski he hasnt really had a sterling career as good as he is its just been really good. Not great.
And thats what Arsenal is. Good not great. People are giving this operating profit thing to much credit. Its not like the other top clubs have no Value mind you. They are despite their debt significantly bigger assets than Arsenal.
For the record I think Uniteds team is pretty mediocre to. But they know how to win games. Because they have some good players and always always have atleast a few great players. Arsenal doesnt now and they did before.
Viera, Pires, Bergkamp even the Ljunbergs and and ofcourse Henry. Are you seriously going to sit here and tell me that this current crop of players rivals those ?
Also for all the decent signings theres a ton of flops to. All for the sake of pulling pennies or not paying that 5 million extra.
Is it really painfully hard to give RVP a raise on the level United did and then attract someone who would want to make him stay ?
You have to have done something really wrong when your best players want to leave every season. On occasion you can legitimately call Judas, but this many years in a row. mmmzz.. Feeder club level stuff man.
Maybe you're just a really tough critic compared to me, or I'm helplessly biased, but Cazorla is absolutely a great player in my eyes. I'd put him on the same level on Mata for sure, even though Mata has been in great from from the little I've seen recently. Giroud is bordering that great level, but I very much so believe he will score tons of goals for us. Podolski has played way above my expectations after being pretty bad at the Euros, but he's been really good most games I've seen him in. Not the marquee players as you say, but great purchases in my book.
As far as comparing today's squad to the Invincibles almost a decade is obviously going to go in the favour of the old guys, and I have never claimed that we're as good now as we were back then.
Arsenal good but not great and United having a mediocre squad is something I'd have to disagree on, but whatever.
We have profit yes, but need to be more bold on the transfer market. We didn't buy a defensive mid of considerable class and took a shot on Diaby and 'lo and behold, we're fucked again.
About players leaving, I think it's more about the modern player mentality than a fault of Arsenal, in my opinion, but I could just as easily be badly wrong. Players want to win stuff, I get that, but they have so little patience nowadays. They want to win RIGHT NOW. Look at all of Van Persie's injury-filled seasons until his sexy season(s) where he scored like we always hoped he would. Fabregas leaving when it looked like we had a squad to not only be a challenger for the title, but a very serious threat. Nasri leaving at the same time. I guess they got their wins, so kodus to them, but the last two seasons have been very hampered by players that leave when the team looks to be at the place where we can really challenge for real. I don't think we're going to be up there fighting for the title this year either, and yeah, that kin of makes me angry and sad, but at the same time I'm glad that we're still a top team, because that's what I think we are.
And hey, we're in the Ro16 of the Champions League for the thirteenth year in a row. That's impressive to me, at least.
Edit: Just saw Giroud's assists against Montpellier. Freaking boss.
On November 22 2012 15:30 Ferrose wrote: So Rebs, how is all that spending going for Chelsea and Manchester City?
They will actually be perfectly fine.
FFP is a ways of doing anything significant and both of them have Sugar daddies, but its not just transfer fees. These guys have poured (Chelsea) and are pouring value into the club in addition to the ridiculous spending on players.
Chelsea is more than fine actually.
The spending is ridiculous sure and definately not tenable in the long run but that wont matter to much because the idea is they will just sugar daddy their way to a platform where they wont need it anymore. And even if they do once in a while need the sugar daddy to pay for something outside the clubs assets. Well hes not going to say no.
City is overblowing it a bit but they too will be fine.
Their reported fiscal losses are like in the 100 millions which is nothing. Its not particularly easy to cook the books either since everyone from the city council to people in the areas would get roasted if they fucked around to much.
Its the Shiekhs money he can do whatever he wants it wont affect the club or the affiliated organizations negatively one bit
Mind you City dont own their stadium. They lease it aswell.
Its idiots like Moratti and Berlsconi who get legit emo and bleed their assets into clubs.
Top flight England is making and will be making too much money. Its not like these clubs are going to be net fiscal profit machines overnight but in the long run they seem ok.
And if your question was from a footballing perspective.
They both have trophies and big tournament wins. Respectively (doesnt matter how they did it) so I think pretty good.
United got owned last year too. It happens.
Mind you both of their groups were significantly harder than Arsenals. Chelsea has little excuse but that wasnt to unexpected. RDM cant coach that team to attack and win games all year, not on your life.
Winning (titles) is a habit, and once you fall out of it, it is mighty tough to get that back.
I respect what Wenger has tried, and is still trying to do. Building a good and cohesive squad (for cheap) from ground up is an admirable task, but we have to look at the facts: it hasn't worked and for 7 long years at that. I would actually be ok with this barren period if the squad was continually showing signs of being more and more competitive. However, after barely securing 4th spot last year and failing to impress in other tournaments, we're back to where we started or perhaps even backtracked a step or two.
Spending money is important not just because you bring in talent and experience. It actually shows your current squad that the club has ambitions to go and win things. I understand that relocating our home put a very heavy strain on our finances, but that doesn't mean we should've just discarded the idea of borrowing money to invest heavily in the squad. Just imagine if we had spent quite a bit to bring in some talent when we still had the likes of Fabregas, RVP, and others around. Those players would be peaking in prowess right about now and our team would've been a force to be reckoned with. We would be winning titles, or at least pushing other teams right to the end, and you can't put a price on winning trophies. Forget the prize money, just the prestige alone is worth the investment. That means more exposure for potential fans (which also means more merchandise shipped), and increased desirability for good players to join the team. Also, coupled with our legacy from the 90s/early 2000s, that means Arsenal would've secured itself as one of the biggest teams in the world, both in popularity and achievements.
I, however, will be first to concede that it would've been very difficult for Arsenal to be competitive in the transfer market during those years, even if we had borrowed heavily. The emergence of sugar daddy clubs like Chelsea, Man City, with the pre-existing well-funded clubs like Real Madrid, Barca, Man Utd means we were always going to be financially out-muscled, especially factoring in inflation. That doesn't mean we should've just stepped aside though. We needed to spend, if just to show our star players that we still had big ambitions. The same applies to the current squad. It doesn't matter how talented it is. If we don't win anything, eventually, players like Wilshire, Vermaelen and etc will leave. What then? Start again from scratch? And then when will our drought end?
If it seems like I'm pointing the finger of blame squarely at Wenger, that's only because I don't know what's going on behind the scenes at Arsenal. It might be that the board has decided that it doesn't want to spend money, and Arsene is forced to work with what he is given. If that is the case, I have even more respect for what he's doing (if that's possible). Whatever the case, we need to change. Change in strategy, change in personnel; whatever it is, we can't just keep doing the same thing we've been doing over the past 7 years. Some say Arsenal will come good when the financial fair play regulations starts being enforced in 2014/15, but it would be foolish to think other teams won't prepare in time and we'll be the only ones with money to spend. And by then, the damage will have already been done to our reputation as an ambitious and competitive club.
I never thought we (BVB) would be able to win our CL Grp of Death. I would've been happy with P3 and a solid EL Season, but this is crazy. Now lets see what the RO16 has for us.
On November 22 2012 08:29 Too_MuchZerg wrote: Fair sanction/penalty would be 10-12 UEFA match penalty for Luiz Adriano (regardless of team he plays future of course) and 3-0 win for Nordsjalland (standard penalty to give 3-0 win). May seem harsh but example must be set.
The problem is they can't really do that because it would be against the rules. Fair play is fair play, it's not really written down, sure it's nice to give the ball back to opponent when the game was stopped while they had the ball, but it's not official rule that must be followed. Similar thing happened in that infamous Netherlands - Portugal match although they didn't score from it, no sanctions afterwards I believe.
EPT
