Morning all.
I hadn’t been long in this world when Manchester City were relegated into the old Division Two. Two years later, and after the appointment of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison – they were back in Division One with better times ahead. Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell joined City and then in 1967-68, they won the league. An FA Cup trophy followed, as did a European Cup Winners Cup but as far as European success goes, that was their lot until Pep Guardiola led them to Champions League victory last season. Their success story as far as League winners go was restricted to titles outside of the top tier in English football, until their big takeover that is.
In 2008, Manchester City were in a financial pickle. Thaksin Shinawatra had taken control of the club the year before, but political ‘issues’ saw his assets frozen. Later the same year, in came the Abu Dhabi United Group and the rest as they say, is history. Money was no object as one expensive signing seemed to follow another. Mark Hughes their manager at the time, a man in a similar position then as I think Eddie Howe is in now at Newcastle, was soon replaced by Roberto Mancini. An FA Cup and Premier League title was won under his management but after losing the FA Cup final to already relegated Wigan the following season, he was sacked.
Next to try his luck was Chilean Manuel Pellegrini. A League Cup winners medal, another League title followed by a decline and he too was gone. Goodness only knows how much the club had spent on transfers by this time but I know some of the money ended up in north London.
Then came Pep Guardiola and City haven’t looked back since. According to the internet, City’s spending under the Spaniard alone looks like this:
Total Spent: £1.074billion
Total Sold: £596million
Total Net Spend: £478million
It still took him seven seasons to conquer Europe and a whole lot of money.
This piece is not written with any kind of envy or indeed bitterness towards City and what they have achieved but, if it’s proved they broke the rules along the way then I really do hope they receive the kind of punishment which hits and hurts them hard. Same goes for any club found guilty of operating outside of the rules.
Compare Man Utd’s spending during Guardiola’s time at City and you might be surprised:
Total Spent: £1.077billion
Total Sold: £242million
Total Net Spend: £835million
Arsenal, well they’ve had it tough since the big takeovers at Chelsea and Man City and for years have lagged behind, certainly in the spending of money department. On the pitch too, they’d been pretty disappointing. But, after Unai Emery had the thankless task of working under a board without any kind of direction or plan, with change, change has come.
This is Mikel Arteta’s 4th full season as Arsenal manager and whilst we’ve won the FA Cup, success in terms of a League title or a European trophy, we’ve come up short. .
£600 million worth of players signings, still less than City, Utd and Chelsea have spent and we’re backing up last seasons 2nd place finish with another challenge for the League title. This time around though, we seem better equipped.
To you and I, £600 million is an obscene amount of money but in football, it’s not, not really. Not over a five year period and the cost of footballers these days. Ask any Arsenal fan if Arsenal still need more players and I suspect the answer will be yes. A striker, a midfielder, a winger and a central defender – perhaps even more but these days, the financial big brother is watching every club so it’s not easy. To continue funding the strengthening of the squad, I think it’s inevitable that we’ll see a few departures this summer and some of them might not go down well with every Arsenal fan. ESR, Nelson, Nketiah and Ramsdale could be the sacrifices the club make in order to raise funds. Partey, Soares, Elneny, Hein are likely to depart too which of course will free up funds to pay any new signings.
For now though, it’s about who we have and doing something Arsenal haven’t done for a while and that’s to come away from The Etihad Stadium with a positive result. Whether that be a draw or victory. Of course City will be favourites but I think they’re beatable and I think this Arsenal team/squad can beat them. Even at The Etihad.
Many a conspiracy theory is floating around the internet, especially surrounding injuries but I’m sure both managers know each other too well to fall for any kind of mind games.
The officials have been appointed:
Referee: Anthony Taylor.
Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn.
Fourth official: Tom Bramall.
VAR: Jarred Gillett.
Assistant VAR: Darren Cann.
Surely the PGMOL could have found someone other the Jarred Gillet to operate VAR……
Catch up in the comments.
Afternoon Rico and Co.
Jarred Gillet eh?
The blind leading the blind…
There’s only limited pool, so little to choose between them.
One in the eye for Nike!
Afternoon Kev, Cicero.
Yep, Gillet is pretty bad. Taylor is ok though, ish.
Is it just me or is anyone else getting a bit tired of the Rice stuff? He’s been great for us, no doubt but it’s kind of disrespectful for the media to make out it’s only him who has improved Arsenal this season.
You’re right Rico, it not just Rice that made the difference although he has a lot to do with it. The stability behind him has helped enormously and that is founded on the partnership of Saliba and Gabriel. Ben White has proved to be invaluable too. The one weak spot was Zinchenko but the other three largely covered for him and Kiwior has been a revelation.
That stability has allowed Rice and Jorginho to partner up and take control of the midfield in most games. All in all I reckon he has been the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle.
If we could just find a striker……
Exactly Cicero, this is a team sport after all. Our defence sometimes gets forgotten as the goals go in yet are soon remembered if/when there’s an error.
Kiwior has been very good I think.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/ethan-nwaneri-signs-first-professional-contract
More good news…
After turning 17 last week, Ethan could finally sign a pro contract and the midfield was delighted to commit his future to a club he’s spent over half of his young life at already, having joined our academy aged nine.
And having been a Gunner all that time and rising all the way to first-team level, he admits he feels that the club and everyone in it has fostered a family feel he was desperate to remain part of.
“I’m delighted to have finally got to this stage after all the hard work over so many years,” he said. “It’s a proud moment for me and my family to finally be here, so I’m happy and ready to keep working.
“It was the dream to get to this stage. I’ve always thought about when this day would come and I’ve been looking forward to it, so I’m happy it’s finally here. I didn’t have to think about it – this is my family and it feels like home here. Everyone’s like a family together and they care about everyone. It feels so special to me here.
“All the people around me have helped me get better as a person, and definitely helped me develop as a player on the pitch. The opportunities from Mikel, all the under-21 coaches, under-18s coaches – they’ve all helped me develop so I’m grateful to them.”
Good news indeed. Just don’t let Southgate get his sticky fingers on him.
Amen to that. Thankfully he’s still young..
So is the Man. United kid Mainoo but Southgate will run him into the ground if there are anymore drop outs from his squad.
Sunday is going to be busy for Arsenal fans, City game kicks off at 4.30 and Womens League Final against Chelsea at 3.00.
True but he’s playing for Utd’s first team.
Bad planning, we’ll miss 20 mins of one of the matches… lol
Cry Cicero, for England and Saint George.
New post up