Morning all.
Enjoy last nights match did you? Me too, I absolutely loved it. Best comedy I’ve seen in years. I dreaded Liverpool winning the Champions League because we’d never hear the last of it. Instead though we can laugh, especially as they bottled another big night on the 26th May. 1989 and now 2018.
Should I feel guilty about muttering the words ‘I’d love Salah to get injured early, nothing serious, just enough to see him out of this game’ about ten minutes into the game? Well I didn’t, instead I focussed on whether or not I could take up a new career as a clairvoyant.
The money debate, it does my head in because it’s become so boring. Surely it’s simple, every club has its own budget and they stick to it because if they don’t, they could be in trouble financially. Some are fortunate to have an bottomless pit, not many I hasten to add and even Roman has stopped throwing good money after bad, perhaps because he’s realised that not always does it work. Just as it didn’t at Man City until they finally got the right manager in Pep Guardiola. Look at Everton for the opposite reason because how much did Koeman spend?
If football really was about how much a club spent on signing players alone, then, and if the above chart is factual, Arsenal, on average over the last five seasons, have been the leagues third highest spenders, yet during that time period, we’ve slipped down the league table as in 2016/17 we finished fifth and just last season, sixth..
You don’t need me to tell you who sits bottom of the league for net spending as it’s clear to see, which just goes to show that spending money alone guarantees nothing. Good football, disciplined football and well drilled football comes from the manager/head coach and the staff around him. If a club doesn’t haven’t that, no money in the world will turn a squad of superstars into winners. No doubt there would be the odd exception but even top top footballers need guidance in order to work as a cohesive unit, a competitive unit.
Leicester won the Premier League on a shoestring. Yes, a one-off, a fluke, it’ll never happen again ‘they say’ – something which remains to be seen. After all, I suspect someone once said that no club in the Premier League would go a season unbeaten, but one did.
My point is, apart from the two Manchester clubs, we have for the last five seasons been the highest net spenders in the league which on paper should equate to us finishing third at least shouldn’t it? That’s if you’re a believer that money solves every problem on the pitch. Great players for key positions will always come at a premium but those on the cusp of becoming that kind of player will usually be available for a lot less and it was Arsene Wenger’s ability to spot such a player which made him such a big name in the game. What he had back then in the late nineties and early noughties was envied by so many. But as other managers cottoned on to what he was doing, his gaping hole in the market began to close. Either that or he just lost touch of where to look. I don’t know and my days of knocking him are done.
What Arsene Wenger also had back then though was inner drive, he had something like what Pep, Klopp, Poch etc have now, in a different way obviously but he got the best out of who he had. Latterly though, and we’ll all have our own different view on when we believe things were beginning to decline, he seemed to lose those qualities and regardless of who he signed, little improved yet he signed some big players during that period. Not all came cheaply either. I don’t mean £200m or however much Neymar cost PSG but £35 million, which even now is still a lot to pay for the kind of player he was getting. Then there’s been a few more expensive ones like Ozil, Lacazette and lastly, Aubameyang who between them, cost around £150 million. Yet for a manager without big amounts to spend, sure as heck cocked up when allowing contracts to run to their end and turning his back on £60 million for Alexis Sanchez.
Aubameyang cost Arsenal more than any one player which Guardiola signed, Mustafi cost us just £11 million, give or take a pound, more than John Stones, Sane cost less than Lacazette, Jesus was just £27 million. I say just… Ok, he bought a few more players than Arsenal but that’s because he’s competitive and wants to win every competition he enters. My point is, there’s not one player Man City signed that Arsenal couldn’t have afforded. Getting them is a different matter though because Guardiola is the attraction at City, just as Wenger once was at Arsenal. Why? Because he’s meticulous, organised, forward thinking, tactically astute and a winner.
Money helps, only a fool would would deny that but it’s not always the difference between success and no success because no matter how much a club spends, without the right manager, it’s unlikely that the club will be successful. However, turn it around and I’d say it’s more likely that a great manager/coach with a lesser budget has more of a chance. That imo opinion is what Ranieri proved at Leicester.
As the old saying goes, you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
That’s where we as a club are now I think. If our players were horses, they’ve been turning their nose up at the trough full of stagnant water for a long while. They’re thirsty but not interested in drinking. The water has now been replenished, the trough cleaned and as the players return from the World Cup and their summer break, they’ll be ready to go. That water will be the new ideas, excitement ahead of the relatively unknown, just as we will. We’ve all learned what to expect from Unai Emery from his interview and I strongly suspect that by the time the transfer window closes, the club will have signed two or three players he wants to make us stronger.
Whether that means spending £50 million or £150 million, who knows but when you consider how much Utd spend these days, it’s not doing them much good. But then they have got an old has been in Mourinho as their manager eh….
I hope that all makes some kind of sense. In my head it did….
Am I the only one who thinks that Salah might have bottled it?
Rico. Good post.
Almost as interesting is the ‘winning’ lifespan of each manager and how they can adapt to the different conditions and style of each country in which they manage. Remember Villas – Boas? He was the next big thing for a short period, after tearing it up in Portugal, before dropping through the floorboards and Ranieri, who performed a minor miracle at Leicester didn’t stick around long as it was plainly a one-season thing. Pep’s time will come too, and Klopp previously lost his effectiveness in Germany. Wenger, arguably, stuck around for quite a few years too long and I’ve always thought that the more he spent, the worse the team played.
Yes, of course money is important, but a really tuned-in manager is vital.
I don’t think he did DB, he was in bits. A lovely sight… lol
Thanks Adam and a good reply.
Totally agree re managers life span. Stay somewhere too long and complacency kicks in too. Everything becomes too easy and that’s when errors are made. Ranieri did what he wanted to do imo, that was his only aim after having been treated dreadfully by Chelsea imo.
I like the idea of rotation in managers, not every six months but certainly at the sight of standards slipping..
At least we were largely spared the sight of Klopp’s teeth and his horribly thin lips while pumping his fist.
? The photo of him on the plane home is good..
I’ll see if I can find it Rico. 🙂
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/dejected-liverpool-players-touch-down-12605276
Here it is Adam.
Sehr gut!
I thought so too…
Top post Rico even though I dont agree with it all, but that`s what we are here for to debate.
Definately agree a top manager will make a helluva difference, but they are few and far between imo.
Bit confused by the above table as if we are talking about net spend per season over the five years then we are not third, Chavs are, but still around only a third of what CFG have spent and they will make aa mockery of that table come end TW…………..they net spent £180M last season from what I read.
Very surprising how much C Palace spent and as much as Spuds have not spent, the bastards still haven`t won a trophy !
My occuring point (and Please dont quote the anomaly of Leicester 🙂
) is that the big 3 who have spent the most and will probably continue to do so have monopolised the EPL title since we last won it with whoever manager they have had and Chavs have had quite a few………………………..the big problem now is that not only have CFG got the biggest mountain of money, but they now have probably the best manager and he has signed an extention to his contract, so I have to agree with Ray Parlour in that unless we spend big we will not win the EPL………….unless we do a Leicester and that will take all the stars and planets to be alligned especially Uranus ! 🙂
What we really need is for you to use your clairevoyant powers and get Kroenke to have an injury !………………….something which makes him sell to Uzzy !
Nice watching Scousers landing at John Lennon Airport on Sky Sports News looking miserable………………………….”Imagine there`s no trophy…………….. on the 26th of May “……………………………..
Ok, so we’re fourth, my mistake.
How can you dismiss Leicester just because it doesn’t suit your remit?
Afternoon Gooners….
Afternoon Rico, all that money spent for 3 FACups, no serious EPL challenge for a decade and the Europa League for his last two years. That’s not a lot to write home about although there was also the League Cup final defeats to Chelsea, Man City and the mighty Birmingham City plus those 3 Charity Shields wins – hooray!
Tbh, I’m getting bored with looking backwards, Wenger was initially great, then disappointing, becoming underachieving with a flourish at the end and now he’s off to Japan where he can slip into semi-retirement in a country where he can work in some peace and quiet. Good luck to him, thanks Arsene, au revoir.
Now the more pressing issue is what our new Head Coach will do this summer in improving a team whose defensive mind set is substandard and has been so for around the last 5 years and suspect before that.
Who can forget how you felt when Gibbs cleared off of the line at Wembley with Arsenal trailing 2-0 to those northern giants Hull City. Lest we forget…..
Its a one off Rico, if you were doing averages/percentages etc`, they wouldn`t come into it, we might as well say about Spuds winning back in `61 !…….ahahaha…………………………probably the biggest shock ever in football !…………………………..anyway, it`s not about Leicester it`s about whether or not we agree whether money is a big factor in winning titles and your Leicester were the only ones to spoil the big 3`s party since 2005 !………………………still wonder how the big three spenders have managed to win most titles !………………..hahaha
Not knocking you Rico, but we just dont agree, I know it`s about the money and you think it`s about managers and tactics…………………..probably somewhere in the middle !………………….but as I said………….top post !
Afternoon Kev, kind of proves a point doesn’t it?
Agree though, it’s time to look forward. It’s time to stop comparing our spending on what every other clubs spend too as each club is different imo. Now is the time for Emery to put right all that has gone on over the last few years, raise the players morale and approach and mindset.
Turn this lot of total underachievers under the old regime into a very good team again.
I’m not expecting a raft of headline grabbing transfers, a couple more Mavropanos type deals and maybe one big hitter will do me.
Tbh it’s what Unai does on the training ground that really interests me, can he solve our defensive indiscipline?
Maybe that’s what is behind signing some experienced old campaigners, to reintroduce some resilience and bloody mindedness into our squad of nicey nicey players.
I’ve maintained for awhile that we haven’t got a bad squad, just a poorly coached squad.
I’ve not been as excited about a new for a long long time..
Usually Wenger’s transfer inactivity killed any enthusiasm I had by August 1st.
I’m quite optimistic that the areas that need strengthening in our squad, will actually be attended to for the first time since Sol Campbell signed.
Thanks Lc, as in the post, both is how I think is the best but not one or the other…
Hi Rico, yep agree, there’s really little point in comparing our spending with Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd anyway, we don’t operate the way they do, Wenger evolved us to operate as we presently do and that’s how it is.
Ditto Kev.
This season I’m not giving any thought to domestic titles or cups although I do think he’ll try for Europa.
This season is about something different, although if we win the PL I’ll be happy.. 😉
Gutsy players is what this team lacks imo, not over over hyped, overpaid, over inflated egos and price tags.
It’s probably PR spin from KSE, giving Unai another £20m to spend, but why did it never happen under Arsene, why did he never seem to spend all the funds that he had at his disposal?
There’s going to be a sizeable chunk of Luddite Arsene fans out there, just waiting for Unai to trip up, just so that they can say ‘Be careful what you wish for’.
The Lord Wengerites waiting to swoop, because for them it’s personal. It was never about Arsenal, it was about them and their feelings of knowing better than the majority, a bit like Remainers. They cannot accept that Wenger is gone and that they’ve been finally proved to be wrong, maybe they should find another club to support, you know, like AFC Wimbledon…
I doubt anyone bar Ivan knows our budget, but not for one minute do I think it’s £50 or £70 million…
Rico, this Unai guy has european pedigree, I’m quite optimistic about how we’ll approach the Europa League, our prospects in it as none of the teams in it for 2018/19 are better than Arsenal, although we have to see who drops into it from the Champions League.
Absolutely Rico, those figures are just PR spin, I mean Adams’ mate Sami Mokbel was the first to come up with the £50m, how does he know, do we really imagine that Gazides et al are going to confide in that little turd?
I’ve heard it claimed that you can work out the figure from the Arsenal accounts and maybe you can, but does that take into account any new monies the club has generated?
I actually think that £70m sounds about right and as you spread the cost of transfers over the length of the deal it seems that we can do some reasonable business this summer, including any funds raised by sales.
Anyway, the cricket is heading towards it’s expected conclusion Rico and I’m heading off to work, lata. ?
Again Kev, I agree re Europa and Emery, if any manage can, he can. Yes, let’s hope all the big ones get through their group although who’s to say by the time those kind of fixtures come around, we are not looking much stronger and certainly better.
Spot on earlier btw re the Wengerites, I bet they can’t wait for Emery to fail… Sad though as the club should be what we all want to do well, not any one manager..
Re the budget, I think a lot of it is the press trying to stir the pot because they know there’s fans out there who will jump on it and then go on a rant either against the board or the owner. It happens here too. I always think it’s best to wait and see, especially now we have a new guy in. I was always of the belief that Wenger simply chose to address the squads needs because he believed he could win on a shoestring.
Let’s see what happens now eh..
Go steady on the roads Kev…..
As I posted the other day and seems like no one read it or maybe they did and it did`nt register………………………Gazidis recent comment said that all available funds in the bank are there for the manager to use (and that applied to Wenger) and at the year ending 30th November 2017 Arsenal had £137.6M in the bank, so being someone who takes Gazidis at his word !………………………£137.6M is what we have to spend………..he also said that anyone can look it up as Arsenaql is a PLC……………….sell a few players and we will have more !…………………or am I missing something ?…………….Haven`t Fulham just got £160M for winning the play off ?
If that’s the case Lc and I happen to think Ivan is possibly the closest we get to the truth about the club, £137m seems a lot more likely, plus any money they makes from sales/wages.
Wenger didn’t like spending money, of that we can be sure…
Le Coq, the £160 million includes the prize money for winning the playoffs and the money they will earn next season as a premiership club. That is the equal share, which all clubs get, TV appearance money and prize money depending on final league position.
Thought that Cicero !…………………..makes you wonder what anyone (apart from CFG and Manshafter………Chavs seem to be towing the line the last few years ) would do if they didn`t get that £160M !….and what they got in previous seasons !.
Yes Rico…………………straight away we have saved on Santi`s wages, what was that £80kpw ?………………………………oh and not forgetting Arsene`s wages ! 😆
Very true Lc, there’s Jacks too, possibly Ramsey’s as well..
Just had a look ………………..Santi was (allegedly) on £90kpw ! …………………………….Arsene (allegedly) £160kpw !
Dick is allegedly on £5M PA !………………………so he already has a spare (approx`) £150kpw to pay a big signings wages !…………………………………………and I dont mean Lichtsteiner !………….hahaha
Forgot about them Rico !!…………………….we could be rolling in it come the end of the window !……………….hahaha
Lets hope the agents dont read this blog as we were doing all this secretly to make them think we had only £50M !…….. 🙂
Hi rico.
2.53 you said wenger didn’t like spending..I think you have been too kind there. .
he was happy to pay himself and his cronies all those millions..
buying duds and crooked players, paying them fortunes..
let’s not forget renewing mortaly injured players that hardly featured over seasons. .
He wasted 100’s of millions ..he did all that whilst talking about values and respect.
But I know what you mean ??
Hi Kk. ?
I keep looking at the table at the top and find it interesting in that it doesn`t tell all the story.
Spuds even though bottom of the table actually spent more than us and the same for Bindippers, but seeing as it is over 5 years it probably accounts for both of them getting a lot of money for players like Coutinho, Suarez, Bale, Walker etc`…………………even Everton spent more than us !
I think the likes of both Spuds and Bindippers have been purchasing talent at a virtually cheap price and selling them for a huge profit and what hurts is that as you say, Rico, Wenger used to do it, finding the rough diamonds to be polished !……………………whether luck/flukey or just great scouting others have been fortunate. I wonder who will be the next club to do the same ?……………………Leicester who I dont want to talk about 🙂 did it a couple ago seasons ago unearthing Kante (who Wenger knew about), Mahrez, Steptoe !…………………………seems to go around in cycles, we had our time, now others are being fortunate, although as I keep ranting on about, CFG dont have to have any luck, they can just spend nilly willy !.
Well the keeper we are after is RICO from Seville.Twice winner of the Europa Cup.He is 6 foot 4
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5775867/Ruwandan-dictator-spends-30-million-UK-aid-sponsoring-Arsenal-FC.html
Don’t like at all a country tuled by a dictator on our shirt sleeves
Hi Kelsey,
I wouldn’t believe anything the DM spouts. they always have hidden agenda. .Rwanda was a war torn country lead by criminals that took the word ethnic cleansing to a new level with hundred thousands innocent victims paying the price. .not ignoring foreign influence supporting one militia against the other.
Now Rwanda is one of the most stable and progressive countries in Africa along with Ethiopia. .ultimately few riches would benefit most. .they call him dictator despite being elected by his own people.
We can talk politics all day but most sponsors and owners in the EPL have dodgy background somehow. .
I don’t speak on behalf of the Rwandan people and I don’t know where they stand on this deal arsenal got..may be they think it’s waste, may be they think it’s good publicity that they can benefit from.
The average man from Qatar or Abu Dhabi thinks it’s criminal that their kings and sheiks are wasting their own money on prima donnas players that they often spend in new tattoos,fancy cars and orgies
.
And there is Putins bestie over the bridge and all united, bindippers dodgy sponsors from china and south Africa ..
Never read anything from the DM about that.
The Daily Mail has an agenda, when it suits its a President, alternatively Dictator is used when someone doesn’t fit their political profile.
Of course rubbishing Arsenal into the bargain makes it a win win for a newspaper that supporter Hitler in the 1930’s.
Frankly I think that Arsenal should ban the Mail from the Emirates for the entirety of next season.
Morning all.
Kev, I wouldn’t stop at one season, I’d ban them permanently. An absolutely appalling pretence of a news paper,
Overcast here, not too cold though or wet!
Morning all from the most southerly sweltering tip of Britain 🙂
Thanks Kk for that as I was thinking the same thing about Mansour City lot !
I only ever read the paper which epitomizes the weather down here…………………….The Sun …………………………………..not sure there is a paper called …….The Rain for where Wavy lives !
🙂
Good morning all, The Daily Mail? Never read it, but it’s a great paper……for wrapping yesterday’s rubbish in.
Clear blue sky and warm sunshine with a gentle westerly breeze, here in Norfolk. ?
Still unhappy with the deal.The DM are only reporting.MP’s have questioned the 120 million per year they get in aid.They have a dictator who supports Arsenal ,have active concentration camps,the people earn peanuts.it doesn’t sit well with me, yet they have a booming tourist trade.Arsenal should have thought this out.30 million over 3 years for a sleeve sponsorship is OK but does Rwanda pass due dilligence.Just my opinion.
It’s a bit posh where I live! We have a local ‘weather’ paper though, it’s called ‘The Precipitator’ for obvious reasons! It rains news on us regularly, especially on prolonged wet periods!
Don’t know much about Rwanda, except historically. The daily fail never deal in news, they only deal in scandal and unsupported traducing of often innocent parties. Imo they should be shut down and all their publishing equipment melted down and sent to land tip.
Sad to say the drive for more and more cash is unrelenting the Arsenal are no different. Doesn’t make it right but unless this dictator guy gets himself into really hot water we’ll just carrying no asking the dodgy cash with no questions asked! The moral majority will be ‘noted’ and then summarily ignored!
The world has become a very strange place to live in, just lately. And I can’t see it ending well!
Perhaps Dick will turn the Arsenal round then I might view the world a little more optimistically,
Sun’s out!
The sleeve sponsorship deal is with an organisation called “visit Rwanda”. The DfID Department for International Development, has stated “DfID does not give any money to Visit Rwanda or the Rwanda Development Board. All UK aid to Rwanda is earmarked for specific programmes only, such as education and agriculture. We are helping Rwanda to stand on it’s own two feet, building education systems, and supporting increased trade investment to grow the economy.
An Arsenal spokesman said: “Rwanda…is now regarded as one of the most advanced and respected countries in Africa. We believe that, having conducted due diligence, it is a partnership that will help Rwanda meet tourism goals while developing football in the country “.
Corrections…..’just carry on taking the dodgy…..’
I have to update my 11.18 weather report…..Hot sunshine, 26 degrees, win now a light breeze.
……the breeze is so light it has lost it’s “d”.
DM should be banned indefinitely. As someone said, “it’s a great paper, for wrapping yesterdays rubbish in”. Also a mouthpiece for another mouthpiece, JRM
………….Those loveable Scouse supporters, they call themselves “the best fans in the World” are being investigated by Merseyside police for posting death threats, aimed at their own ‘keeper’ on social media.
The Oracle has spken !…………………………another Greek defender !………………………………….lets hope they are banned from being anywhere near ceramic plates !
https://twitter.com/bbcsport_david/status/1001067070090629120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redlondon.net%2Fbbcs-david-ornstein-reveals-arsenal-are-now%2F&tfw_site=Red_London
Talking of keepers, Cicero, I saw that Klopp has a wealth of goalies wanting to take over the Number 1 shirt !
http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/sites/default/files/media/International%20Clown%20Festival.jpg
You have to have a bit of sympathy for Karius, as he said, goalkeepers can’t win matches but they can lose them.
Good night Gooners…….everywhere.
Morning all.
Klopp didn’t hang around getting Jorginho, apparently we failed with a late bit… Has Arsene returned? 😉
Morning Rico and all. I very much doubt whether this will be the last time we hear this during the transfer window. It’s cheap and easy shot for any of our esteemed ‘journalists’.
Morning Adam. Perfect example of why to ignore such garbage..
Yes, I would say so.
New post up now.