Morning all.
The mischief makers are out there again and now it’s the turn of Alexis to hit the headlines.
Apparently, the lack of spending (which equates to ambition) since he’s been here is making him think about his Arsenal future. To be honest, it’s no more than some on here have thought about him and Mesut Ozil.
There’s been plenty of headlines which suggest Arsenal are in talks to tie both players down to new contracts but surely the club know that these two are used to winning trophies and have done so in Spain with Barcelona and Real Madrid so there’s a chance they’ll need a bit of convincing to stay.
Of course, there’s no good reason why both can’t get their hands on Premier League glory in May and there’s still the FA Cup too and to get one or both, Mesut and Alexis have to stay at the top of their game and injury free, that’s for sure. Not just for this season either, we need them tied down to Arsenal for plenty of years to come.
Him and Alexis are the game changers. Both of them have the strength to win games, so it’s vital for the team’s title chances that they perform well – Tomas Rosicky.
But Arsene Wenger or Arsenal’s transfer polices, depending who you believe to be culpable, are hardly likely to have either player believing the club are truly ambitious are they?
Just a few years ago, RvP made his views on the clubs transfer policy quite public and all just before he headed out the door in search on a League title, but Arsenal can’t afford to let anything similar happen which ends up with our German and Chilean leaving for similar reasons.
After all, these two are the clubs future, not alone I know but they are players to build around and build on. Players who the younger ones can look up to and learn from, players who with a moment of magic, can win a game.
Neither are a one season wonder crock are they, neither are ageing or about to enter the final year of their Arsenal contract so hopefully, as both sit and discuss their future with the club, the club make it very clear that no more Sanogo’s will be coming to North London, just more quality players, solid players and players who are willing to roll up their sleeves and play for Arsenal and have the ability and mindset to go with it.
A summer when a few players will be on their way and both Mesut and Alexis agree new deals…
Good Morning Lovelies and Hunkies.
Good points boss. Yes players come and players go, but sometimes the club need to bite the bullet and put their money where their mouth is. And that means buying new players. I believe, as you rightly pointed out, that both are winners. And imo we do lack a few more. We already have Cech, Alexis and Ozil who are serial winners. And we have players who have an attitude of winners…..Bellerin, Nacho, Kos, Coquelin, Cazorla, Gabriel and Ollie.
But imo the jury is still out on the others. Aaron, Theo, Campbell, Danny, Elneny, Gibbs, etc.
you might say Per has won the WC but imo he is declining as age is catching up with him.
We need at least 2 more winners.
If this team wins the EPL then it will be a good leap for this them and it will help. But will they stay the distance this time?? Time will tell
Did he fail or was it Arsenal wasn’t ambitious enough. Because the first season at man united he won the league with them. That’s why Fabregas and Nasri left.
I’d agree re the winners Devil, we have too many softies in this current squad…
Bliss – my fail analogy relates to his contract renewal.
He clearly wanted the the club to be more ambitious in the transfer window but instead of the club matching his ambition, they were prepared to cash in. They can’t afford to behave in the same way with the likes of Ozil and Alexis..
Morning all.
Agree with the post Rico.
According to the gutter press Alexis wants £25m deal, lasting to 2019. For a man with his ability the amount probably represents a bargain basement investment. If Ozil demands similar, pay the guy, as the club won’t find better!
With all the TV money sloshing around and Arsenal’s determination to make the fans the paymasters, any under investment would seem to be a crime against footballing progress!
But when did that ever influence the mean, tight fisted Arsenal board?
Old but accurate maxim: you only ever get what you pay for. Buy cheap you get crap, buy expensive you should get quality. If you already have quality, nurture it and cosset it for it will return for 20 times its value in weight and trophies!
However, there might be another element to these contract talks. The outcome may well be tied to the Manager’s tenure. That is to say, if Wenger is thinking of going in the near future will his star players decide to move on too, or will they wait and see who the new man through the door is and whether they like his philosophy etc?
It’s all in the runes!
Morning Rico, good post…
There are similarities between RVP and Alexis/Ozil, but Robin wanted a substancial pay increase and with his injury record, I’m not sure the club saw that as vfm…
He had one great season at ManUre before the injuries kicked in again and his attitude stunk the place out at the end, so it was good business, but not a great idea selling to them!
To me both Ozil and Alexis are worth it…
They’ve proved their quality on the pitch and they’re not injury prone like so many of our players still seem to be…
True talk Rico
Very good point wavy re the manager, and let’s be honest, a good few of our players signed because of AW…
Morning Kev – but how much could we have done with RvP the season after he left? In fact I’d say we may have won the league that season had he stayed but no, Kroenke/Wenger, whoever put the £22m ahead of the club.
Also, he/they must have known what selling him to Utd would mean to us, why not sell for less to an overseas club? If Rvp didn’t want to go, then tough, he’d have had to stay..
Toothless lot really.
Good Morning to The Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
Rico – I agree that the the need to do everything within reason to keep key players like Alexis and Mesut. With rumours that the next? ManUre boss, that viperous midget Maureen Yo, being handed 300 million pounds to rebuild and the likes of Abu Dhabi Citeh, Chelski and Liverfool likely to do something similar; we can ill afford to lose players who would be difficult to replace, especially with so many other teams throwing money around.
We need to keep our best players and bring in some good recruits to replace our retiring players. Arsenal are unlikely to and shouldn’t offer new contracts to Arteta, Flamoney and/or Rosicky. There are a number of other like the BFG who should be demoted to squad players.
There are some promising Young Guns like Alex Iwobi who could/should be promoted into the first team and eased into the squad over the current and next seasons. However, with questions marks hanging over the likes of Welbeck and Wilshere and their return to full fitness and the possible/probable return of Debuchy, Jenkinson and Szczesny; we will probably still have to buy two or three experienced top quality players to remain competitive. The BIG QUESTION is, as always, WILL WE?
Evening to the Lady of the house and girls,
Still pissed off about RVP gone to manure and won fergie the title.
Socialist wage structure really pissed poor the objectivity that separates the most worthy player in your team to your dross. Those board clowns and wenger didn’t respect the effort of that player that deserved at least 200k/week to at least hold him to stay.
Agree rico 11:29AM, holding onto RVP and paying the 130k a week or whatever it was couldve won us the title next season. It pretty much won MU the title as they didnt exactly have a flash team!
130k doesnt sound like much these days, does it? And as for injury records, well Walcott… and we coughed up for him.
Wavy- wath may disagree with the old maxim…
All Grey Goose taste the same no matter where you buy it from. 😛
Afternoon Rico and all. But what it did show was that Fergie had a clarity of thought and a ruthless ambition that identified RVP as the man to bring the title to an otherwise fairly mundane team. If he could emasculate Arsenal at the same time, then great.
As ever, we capitulated which suggests to me that, while playing musical chairs with player’s names, might seem like the route to success, the real drive comes from the bloody minded ambition of a manager who is not afraid to take the real hard decisions regardless of hurt feelings and truncated careers. How long would Walcott have lasted under Fergie?
I’m not sure, but I thought that RVP went to ManUre for a lot more than £130k pw…?
It was as much about wages as it was about ambition for RVP I suspect…
I take your point Rico, I would have preferred him to stay and I believe that Wenger wanted to keep him and let him run down his contract, but it was Kroenke that forced the sale…
Mr Bottom Line…
Agree with you Adam, you have, for as long as I can remember, been saying that Wenger and the club in general, have deliberately worked to lower the fans expectations – the old 4th is a trophy malarkey – and to an extent that policy has worked as we all bang on about finance as much as we bang on about winning trophies.
But you know what, for all RVP’s promise, he only ever gave us one great season, his last. The rest of the time he was keeping Diaby company…
He was, as big a sicknote as Wilshere, Walcott, Rosicky, Gibbs, Diaby, AOC and many others you care to mention…
Fair enough Kev,
But that doesn’t have wenger and the board’s right to keep this ridiculous socialist wage structure while their mindset always based on profit oriented.
Kev – Unfortunately Silent Stan is a businessman first, last and foremost. I doubt he has any true affinity for the club or love of the game. He can afford to recently buy the largest cattle ranch in the Excited States of America, but can’t afford to buy of few good players for the club.
Our club may as well be owned by a computer. Business interests, especially the television networks, are ruining the game and putting it out of the reach of it’s historic supporter base. Who can afford to take their family to a game these days?
Tbh Orf, some the wages dished out to players today, make me sick…
But I see you point
Judas van Pursestrings moved for more money. The “lack of ambition”, while true, was only a ploy to justify his greed. A great player who will never get the recognition he deserves as a player because he is/was such a soulless mercenary. May he rot in Turkey.
CG, I’m well aware of what Mr Kroenke is all about mate, but I blame Fiszman, Hill-Wood and Lady Nina for selling out to him…
Any success we enjoy with that ersatz cowboy in charge, will be despite him, not because of him…
Good point there CG,
The moment after i watch the “moneyball” movie starred by brad pitt, I know there is something fishy about that cheapskate recruit mindset.
You can’t just simply observe talents and skills by relying mostly to computers based statistics.
There are more factors to it like characters, other non technical attributes to required as future winners.
Kev – “But you know what, for all RVP’s promise, he only ever gave us one great season, his last…” All too true. Arsene and the club stuck with him through a long series of injuries, but he gave us none in return. Despite all his glowing praise of the club and badge kissing; he ran off like an old hound after the first bitch in heat that wandered by.
Kev – “Any success we enjoy with that ersatz cowboy in charge, will be despite him, not because of him…” Amen to that!
Unfortunately owners with a true love of the game and a respect for the history of their clubs are becoming as rare as a virgin in a bordello.
Good Afternoon Rico and All. Interesting read. We must do everything in our power to keep those two. AW has passed several opportunities to get rid of those that don’t want to put in maximum efforts.
As Adam said, if Theo and OX were under SAF banner, he would had sold them long time ago.
AW is playing dangerous game with his legacy. Even those that supported or supporting him, their patients are running out. Especially now that the club has money. Enough money. He is buying player (s) he can’t use, it seems he can’t change his tactics, he is scare to use his backup plans when the situation demand its. And he is not ruthless enough with some of his players. There are some in our first ELEVEN who can’t make it in RM, BARC or BM first eleven, yet when they are giving the chance to show us what they are made of, they let us down.
He is all for SK and the Board. To hell with the fans and supporters, and in the process he is tanishing his legacy.
Theo’s 5 goals this season whilst on £140k p.w and being fed by one of the best number 10’s on the planet is fucking embarrassing!
Afternoon all.
Darn internet crashed today…..
Not many other of our midfielder’s or wingers have scored goals either Lee… 😉
2.14 Kev. Just why most of my blame sits at his door… And as you said, those who sold their shares to him….
Top post Rico…. Devil is right about Cech, Ozil and Alexis being winners. But I think our problems are not WINNERS, but LEADERS. Watch these guys when things are not going their way – especially Ollie, OX and Ramsey, the gestures and the complaining borders childishness; hence the reason Arsene is always concerned with MENTAL STRENGTH. In my opinion, there are winners and there are BIG WINNERS – the type of trophy and the part the individual played in winning that particular trophy—so your point is well taken Devil, re the big 3. With regards to contracts, Alexis and Ozil do not need guarantees to sign, given the state of sports now a player can sign today and demand to leave tomorrow if they want to. Arsene will not hold a player hostage is against his philosophy – and I think rightly so, you don’t want to be here, Nasri, Cesc go. On RVP, he made a business choice. Given his history of injuries he didn’t know how many years he had left so he bolted for the highest bidder….. the EPL title was just a bonus. With regards to the salary structure – you call it socialist Stan calls it NFL style SALARY CAP. No matter what moneys became available as long as Stan is the owner it will stay – in all 3 major American sports (NBA, NFL, NHL) many times owners either lockout players or players strike for new collective bargaining agreement. Stan has a team in each league. Also much as we get frustrated with Arsene, let keep in mind that he wants to win as much as anyone of us, it’s the most important evaluator of his profession – the problem is he wants to do it his way. Agree or Disagree, Arsene thinks indiscriminately buying high price players (which I thinks doesn’t insure success anyway because we know there are other factors) is a form of “DOPPING”.
Obi, but when a player is under contract for a long period of time, the club hold all the cards. Look at Stones – Chelsea offered a lot of money for him but Everton simply said no because they could and I bet if Stones was honest, he’d want to be at a club playing in the CL – well for this season.. 😉
Same with Barkley and Lukaku and plenty of others imo.
I don’t think that Wenger ever accused ManUre of financial doping, because they earned what they spent…
With ManCity n Chavs it was a gift, a financial dose of MDMA…
I suppose you could say that Blackburn were financially doped when they won the EPL…
Rico,
I think what most fans saying is right now we are in supreme financial well being.
They don’t mind with the silly wages like walcott has right now as long as he earned it with his goals tally and superb form consistently.
If he can cope with minimum 20 league goals per season like Lewandowski, heck if arsenal get rid of the stupid socialist wage structure, then we should pay world class striker 250k/week to attract them to join arsenal.
Like I said most our dross didn’t even deserved to be paid silly wages considered their poor and inconsistent forms.
Neither I Kev.
They are just a club with huge debts… Lol
Orf, I get that. I was being ironic.
I guess I can’t pick on Walcott alone when we have other players not giving their all either…
I wonder who authorised the £140k a week salary? Mind you, I read it wasn’t that much…
Spurs have been financially doped for years. The original sugar daddy club, financed from the Bahamas.
I think precisely more to 120k/w, but I don’t know the latest development of his accurate contract value.
The decision initially I think based on Wenger’s judgements, and the boards will sing along and approve. The power grip that wenger has from Stan’s freedom is amazing to even one can imagine.
Hi Adam, Totts are just dopey… Lol
Rico – yes there are exceptions, Berahino comes to mind. But in Stone’s case,
he just didn’t have the pull too young and as much as he wanted to go, he also
didn’t want to damage his England position, on the PR end. Lukaku really wants two
teams and neither has placed a bid for him. Barkley better be happy where he’s at,
as overrated as he is. But none of these guys are Ozil or Sanchez, their
pull are much larger.
Barkley overrated Obi? Not sure I agree there…
Kev – Manure really don’t earn what they spend thou, a lot is financed (IPO’s) hence the debt. They are no different from Barca and Real borrowing from the Spanish bankers.
Rico – how high would you rate Barkley? Imho, I think he’s average. Is he > than JW (if healthy) Tadic, Payet, Eriksen, Chaldi, Sirgurdson, Barry, Milner or even Ramsey.
Payet has signed a news five year deal with West Ham. He’ll be expensive to sign now… Lol
None Obi, he’s Barkley. Strong, powerful and pretty good imo… Lol
Barkley has enormous potential. Who knows what the future holds for Wilshere?
He’s back running apparently and a return is imminent…
As is Santi…
I can’t wait Rico.
I’ll be glad when both are back Adam, and Welbeck..
Not sure how AW will use Jack but a fully fit squad can only be good…
A fully fit squad would be unique I would think Rico.
But Tomas remains injured Adam, so it won’t be happening any time soon…
For the sake of the question I would think we can discount him Rico.
I’m off for the day, have another twenty episodes of Breaking Bad to get through…. 😉
Night Adam and all…
I think so too Adam…
Enjoy them Rico. Night.
SSNews has reported that Abou Diaby was an unused sub on the Marseille bench. Sadly as he rose from his bench seat he pulled his glutinous maximums and will be sidelined for the next six months, but they expect him to be fit in time for next season.
What a pain in the arse that is for our former player of the decade!?
And with that I’ll sign off for the night. Sleep well one and all.
Maximus ……f..in iPad it even manages to ruin third rate jokes?
Morning All
It was one of those mornings, the alarm went off and I set it an hour later and went back to kip….
Divine ?
Right, I’m off down to gym to exercise my maximums… ?
Danny Welbeck, set to start against Hull next weekend. I hope he starts through the middle.
Cazorla and Wilshere due back the middle of next month…
Morning Kev and all.
Lazy devil… 😉
?
“Not many other of our midfielder’s or wingers have scored goals either Lee… ?”
Not many are on £140k pw though…………….
Blame the club for paying him that amount… 😉
Don’t worry Lee, we’ll be signing Sturridge in the summer, so it seems…
That should keep Shad Forsyth busy…
Blame Wenger more like….
Wenger, Kroenke, the board. Blame the lot as together they make the decisions…
I reckon Wenger decides how much the players get paid sweet f.a to do with anyone else…..
If that is the case, it’s a disgrace…
And again I ask why Arsene has such power, who allowed it and when will someone do something about it?
And good morning all 🙂
We’ll never win Scott… 😉 ;
I know, Rico, and I’ll never understand it.
I blame Wenger for a lot Scott, but when it cmes down to him having so much control, then I blame those above. But that record playing is tiring so until there’s any change at the club, things will stay the same…
Anyway, I have family stuff to do today so I’m heading off…
Catch up later or tomorrow…
Night Scott..
Massive changes are required, no question, Rico.
Enjoy today 🙂
When your alter ego is Napolean Bonaparte, you either have total control or none at all! I’ll leave you all to work out which incarnation Wenger is at this stage of his career. Still for those who care about these things St Helena beckons! If you know what I mean?
I know this flies in the face of most but, I rather approve of Wenger’s practical applications of ‘socialism’ when applied to the footballing fraternity. Whilst I recognise its failings too. Sanogo on a lucrative salary is clearly wrong, given his lack of ability, but if he’d turned out to be the next Jamie Vardy then we would all have a very different view about retention and reward. Some you win and some you don’t.
Feo when he got his pay rise was playing pretty well and we were all desperate to keep him rather than see him sold to Brenda and the dippers. The fact that he has been mostly injured or crap since is an annoying part of football. However, pay rises for Alexis and Ozil and one or two others should be a matter of routine. How else is it possible to keep players of world class?
My complaint is the amount all footballers are paid. £150,000, £200000 per week, that’s more than our current PM earns in a year, I’ve not included his expenses! The world has gone mad, utterly bonkers. And I blame television and the greedy gits of the Premier League for the ridiculous hiking of prices throughout the game. And who suffers most from this greed? The fans, sorry the ‘customers’! Time we left our wallets at home or like the medical profession, emigrate to Germany or Australia where watching games is still relatively affordable and the sun always shines and the beer always flows! Ah Utopia here I come……..in my dreams!
This is not a rant it’s a sad indictment of how football has driven or is driving its fans away. It will end up like Eastenders, unwatchable! And will ultimately price itself out of existence!
Morning all and the top of the morning to you all.
I see that Arsene Wenger has stated that the ticket prices charged by Arsenal ‘are fair’…!
He also stated that Arsenal charge the cheapest ticket price in London…
Well he never really has had any time for the fans, so why should he care…
Btw, both Crystal Palace and West Ham offer a cheaper ‘cheap seat’ than Arsenal…
But if you are disconnected from the fans and live in a bubble then that’s any easy mistake to make…
The negotiations with Alexis are looking interesting…
With Cech and Elneny the only signings, in the last two transfer windows, Sanchez must be wondering about the ambition of the club he signed for in 2014..?
I mean, when he joins in training and sees the likes of Yaya Sanogo, he must scratch his head and think to himself ‘ Estas seguro?’…
afternoon all1
I have been abroad and i didn’t watched last game. anyway, I recorded it and will see this weekend.
what’s happen with Elmeany?
He only play when Flamini will be suspend?
“Estas seguro” of what, allez?
JM, it isn’t meant as a question, not in that sense…
A bit like saying ‘you must be joking?’
Over reliance on Giroud has cost us again this season; a striker who blows hot and cold during the season. His only competition is Walcott, who’s coasting on £140k a week doing the bare minimum and a injured ex Man United squad player in Welbeck.
Evening, Rico & Lads,
No new post Rico, busy then?
Always busy Orf, just yesterday, busier than usual so something had to give. Plus, I thought Id have a day off from moaning…. lol
Morning all..
Ozil’s agent has apparently told Bild that he’s in talks with other clubs…
Ah, contract time and he wants a big package. Who can blame him IF Walcott is on £140k a week…
New post up.