Morning all.
There are some suggestions around the £40m-mark, depending on what competition Arsenal get in (Champions League or Europa League), I’ve been told that it could be around £100m to spend. As we know with Arsenal, that would factor in salaries as well, and we need to see what competition they get in.
There needs to be intelligent recruitment as well. It’s all well and good having the £100m, or however many hundreds of millions, or less. But how intelligently they do it is going to be the key factor here because it’s not going to be the level of money other clubs will have.”
Daily Cannon
That’s from David Ornstein who was taking on the Arseblog Podcast which is worth listening to.
Apparently it was John Cross who kick started the £45 million summer transfer kitty story and whilst any football journalist comments should be taken with a tablespoonful of salt, Ornstein’s perhaps deserve just a pinch.
£100 million isn’t much though, not in today’s over priced transfer market but I’d imagine that amount would be increased should we secure top four or by some miracle win the Europa Cup. Similar I’d have thought with any money the club might make through player sales. It’s unlikely we’ll ever be in the spending bracket of Man City, Chelsea or Utd whilst the Kroenke family have a hold on the safe keys but after those three clubs, not many will have that kind of amount of money to spend on players. If that figure is true of course.
Another rumour and again I stress it’s only a rumour, the reason Unai Emery isn’t playing Mesut Ozil is because he wants the German sold in the summer and by freezing him out, he hopes Ozil will ask to leave. Big games are for big players and they don’t come much bigger than Mesut Ozil yet on Sunday, he was nowhere to be seen. Not even when we were 2-1 down and in need of a goal did the most creative player we have in the squad be called upon. Yes, I’d say this is a rumour worth taking note of.
If the club do manage to sell Ozil and a few other players who we have suggested during the season so far, I doubt we’ll get a lot of money for them, certainly nowhere near what we paid for them. £35m for Mustafi, no chance, I reckon we’d be lucky to get £10m. £42m for Ozil, we can only dream, especially when his wages are taken into consideration. I reckon were more likely to make a profit on the likes of Elneny, Ospina and Chambers if they go.
With players leaving for free this summer, the club will wipe £370k a week off its wage bill and that’s not including Nacho Monreal as I’m unsure what his situation is. Add Mustafi, Elneny and Ozil’s salary should all three leave which in my opinion they should, there’s another £450k a week gone from the wage bill.
£820k a week, roughly anyway which by my maths equals £42,640,000 a year. For what? Value for money?
That’s for you to answer….
Morning Rico, some eye-watering numbers in there.
Since you brought up the subject of players wages, I thought I’d throw this bone into the ring and see what some of your other contributors thought?
Surely players contracts should be modified so that they get a basic wage (in the event of injury for example) & total earnings should be related to actual availability (whether on the bench or in the starting eleven). If they play they get a bonus dependent on their playing time.
Do the players who are injured get the same weekly wage as if they were fit and available to play?
Frankly if that IS the case they shouldn’t because they should have insurance policies for those issues.
So there would be savings made.
Özil is an interesting case financially, because Arsenal are snookered, I think? How badly does he want to play football is the question?
Out of the national team by choice, training with the others but not playing, surely this would wear him down eventually?
Of course, by not playing he’ll lose his cutting edge. If I was him I’d cut my losses and submit a transfer request….
Morning Andorra. I know to replace the players leaving etc we’d still have to pay out a high percentage of that figure but even so, we might actually pay players who bring something to the team. Something better than what we’re getting that’s for sure.
I don’t think the PFA would accept that kind of pay structure. I wouldn’t if I was a player..
I agree Rico, I was just thinking if there is some way out of the impasse with Özil…where either party didn’t end up with egg on their face?
Morning Rico and all. I had a listen to the Ornstein thing and I am not convinced. When he was asked various insider details about Arsenal he really just came up with the usual old fudges. There were ‘some’ within the Arsenal camp who didn’t want to offer Ozil a new contract and others that thought the wages were too high. Really? I reckon we could have worked that one out for ourselves. Indeed many have said exactly the same thing. Did he give any names or specifics? There is unrest within the club. Of course there is. Objectives aren’t being met so obviously there will be. It’s all too vague and shapeless for me and we should ask who or what it serves.
It serves to wind the supporters up even more and it serves Ornstein and his ilk by getting more clicks which, somewhere down the line will see him being courted by sites that see him as an ITK and it might even result in a few more quid in his back pocket from being some sort of Arsenal oracle.
Gazidis said that those who don’t know speak and those that know keep it to themselves. Over the years we’ve has Stammers, Cross and now Ornstein take up the role of Arsenal insider. I don’t completely rule it out but I am doubtful.
As an insider myself I can tell you the following. People inside the club are concerned that Mustafi might not be at the level required and that Xhaka offers little in the way of defensive cover. There are also those that believe that Aubameyang is a bit of a show pony who seldom does it in the big games and is looking for a move to a big European CL contender. Some, at board level also doubt whether playing him alongside Lacazette really works except at home against teams low in the PL. Some board members even believe that the club should cash in on Kolasinac and that Ozil should be shipped out for whatever they can get for him to free up the wage bill for new younger players like Guendouzi or Torreira. The list goes on and on.
Nice one Rico. When you look at the Arsenal squad and compare it to the other top six sides, you begin to understand that it looks like when other teams wised up to the demands of the modern game, we were at sea. Saw how Everton terrorised ManC yesterday and was shocked to see City take the ball to the corner flag obviously to run down the time. Ditto Palace, Wolves etc. But against us, we see ManC, Liverpool, ManU, even Tottenham attack us with so much venom and our players running helter skelter, falling like packs of ards.
No doubt our team is talented, but hardwork beats talent, especially when the talent is lazy and lacking cojones. Arsenal must look to start recruiting creative but strong playets. The physicality of the modern game, will see teams with extremely talented players that are strong, fast and physical grab the headlines. Ozil, Monreal and a host of Arsenal players are talented but are not combative. So if we are looking to recruit, going forward, we must not shoot ourselves on the foot again. For now, Suarez is under my watch, and I hope he is not all skill and no cojone.
Morning Adam. Great comment. I think the views on Xhaka, Mustafi and Ozil are spot on although I’m slightly surprised about Kolasinac.
I’d much rather see the likes of Guenzouzi and Torreira being signed because they’re like a breath of fresh air and give their all. If one of our two forwards have to be changed, it’s Aubameyang for me me too as he really is a show pony who does bugger all other than spurn opportunities whilst scoring against lesser sides.
Hi Rico. I am merely passing on the thoughts of board members who have confided in me. 😂Call me Ishmael.
Thanks Daniel, so are you suggesting that Emery and his coaches aren’t doing enough, or what they are doing isn’t right?
😀 Adam. Makes sense to me though..
Some good comments there guys.
I only played in the Southern Amateur League where our combativeness far outshone our tentative skills (LOL) BUT, we tried hard and got stuck in.
For the sums of money our players are getting I want to see more value for money. Like you, I tick the boxes of Torreira, Guenzouizi, Lacazette because they don’t give up and mix it up with the opposition.
Perhaps that’s something the so called “Talent Spotters” should be looking for, not only the obvious skills, but vision, the right mentality & not afraid to run back and tackle.
Auba I have noticed does NOT get stuck in and in reality if you get stuck in you are less likely to injure yourself than if you just wave a leg in the general direction of your opponent.
Have you noticed how much effort rugby players put out for 80 minutes and, in their case the clock gets stopped from time to time.
We need better time-keeping in football – Independent time keeper, stop the clock when play stops = impossible to time waste.
Afternoon Gooners
Afternoon Rico.
So it was a John Cross expose?
A journo who likes everyone to think that he has the inside track but probably got the office tea boy to look back at Swiss Ramble posts and made it up from that!
It we’d had a poll on here asking us last week how much we think Kroenke will allow Emery to spend next summer we would have probably come up with a similar amount, it isn’t journalism, it’s guesswork and imagination.
The true amount probably lays somewhere in between the Cross figure and the Ornstein figure, but whatever it is it won’t be enough because Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool will spend more and pull further away, and that, I’m afraid is the life and times of an Arsenal fan under the dead hand of Enos…
Never mind the Swiss Ramble (whoever he is?), forget about the oracle Ornstein and disregard Cross, we have our own beast from the east on HH,
our own oracle,
the one and only,
I give you the Great Adam ITK inc.
He speaks, we listen… 😉
I am not worthy… 😀
G’day all, Mustafi and Mkhitaryan are both in full training, Xhaka and Maitland-Niles will be assessed before Saturday’s game, Sokratis won’t be back in full training before the end of the month. So the defence is looking dodgy already.
The next NLD, on 2nd March, will be played at Wembley as the New Swamp still won’t be ready.
I don’t for a moment believe any of the sums being quoted are emanating form the club, The so called insiders are just speculating on how much the Krankies are likely, or more likely, unlikely to shell out. 😉
Great post Rico !
I think Adam should be sent to a Leper Colony for blaspheming against Orny !
😆
ITK should stand for ………………….I`ll Torture Kroenke !…………………………..I`ll do it for nothing given the chance !
Afternoon Kev. I shall pass on the jewels of wisdom I am handed down as soon as I have made them up.
Afternoon Kev, apparently so. They all think they know something eh….
Value for money for the squad is a easy metric to quantify. As such I think we have the fifth biggest wage bill so finishing fifth is about right.
Obviously individuals within the squad can be looked at more closely.
However the main issue is that we have players in our squad that were bought by different people with different motives and different playing endpoints.
As far as the transfer fund for summer I think it goes something like….
We have £40 ish million for players and wages.
If we qualify for champions league it goes up by £50 million ( £25m for the tv rights, £20m for the sponsorship clauses, and £5m in gate receipts).
So a massive amount rests on us getting champions league? I’m not that hopeful, are you?
Just remember if we say yes to Suárez on a permanent deal it’ll cost at least £28m including wages.
Oh and regarding the accuracy of the information Ornstein has. It’s been common for years for people in the cub to leak information to back their agenda.
The trick is working out who the leak is and what they are trying to gain from it.
For example The daily Star was a go to source for the old board members as one of the Hill-Woods works there. John Cross always used to be Gazidis mouth peice etc etc
Ornstein is just the latest in s long line.
I never claim to be ITK by the way, but the best inside knowledge I used to get was from a steward, who used to do the home games for us, plus the reserve games, and also worked up at the training ground. He had some great stories about things happening tat never made the press.
Thanks Lc.
Hobart, I thought Cross began spouting garbage long before Gazidis.. lol
Personally, I`d like to see an Ornstein statue outside The Emirates………………… similar to the blow up one I have in my bedroom !
😆
Cheers Adam, I can hardly wait… 🙂
As far as the supposed £40m or £100m surely if we release some large wage earners like Cech, Ramsey, Elneny, Lichtsteiner, Welbeck, Jenkinson, Ospina, Chambers, etc, that’ll free up enough finance to cover the salary of new players and also pay their agents (another financial black hole) and that £40/£100m is spread out so £40m could be enough to sign 4 players.
Amortisation is what it’s called I think, paying fees in instalments…
That’s what the post says Kev. 🤣
Oh dear, I’d better go and read it then… 😄
Steve Stammers before Cross and before him Desmond Hackett who claimed to be the man they can’t gag always claimed to have insight to just us and the Totts. In reality apart from over indulging in the hospitality suites heMade most of it up.
As always it’s just smoke and mirrors.We are not like the British Parliament we don’t publicise our position before we negotiate and what goes on behind the closed door of the boardroom remains in the tradition of the club secret. People can Speculate and they will but the truth is out there it’s just that we don’t know what it is.
In answer to the headline question, no we are not and rarely have, in the past few years, got value for money where wages are concerned.
Ozil’s £375,000 per week is the most obvious example. Emery has decided that he does not fit into the way he wants the team to play. Yet we he has been unable to offload the player either by selling him or sending him out on loan. One way to get some value out of the situation is to actually put him in the starting eleven, he is our most talented creative player after all and we are stuck with him for the rest of the season at least. Would we be any worse off with Ozil in the side instead Iwobi?
I think play Ozil too. We can’t defend so why not use his creativity and try and out score the opposition. Plus, if he’s playing we’ll probably have more of a chance of selling him.
If Emery isn’t playing Ozil for that reason, he ought to be sacked as that’s a disgrace imo
330k a week and he isn’t playing the guy?
Farcical but then so is letting Ramsey go in a free.
I believe Özil isn’t being played for a different reason but then none of us really know because, as usual, the club give us nothing.
That’s a good point Rico, Calum Chambers’ value will have risen due to his impressive form at Fulham, so if Arsenal decide to cash in we might expect to get more than the £25m that Crystal Palace were reported to be willing to pay for him some 28 months ago.
Therefore it might make some sense to play Ozil at Huddersfield and Elneny and Jenkinson vs BATE Borisov to enhance their value.
You didn’t mention the above in your post already did you?
Just checking…. 😄
Scott, when Emery came to Arsenal, he had an idea of how he wanted us to play and I’m pretty sure that he would have made that perfectly clear to the players, even in his broken English.
It’s quite open to debate whether he’s been successful on not in that and by how much, but he seems to have decided that neither Ozil or Ramsey are worth wages that would amount to some £550k per week if Ramsey had signed, probably because they couldn’t or wouldn’t fit into his vision of how he wanted the team to perform.
If you have two talented players who ignore their coach and just want to play a game that suits the way they want to play regardless of what the coach tells them and how it affects his strategy, then what do you expect him to do?
If he lets them get away with it the players will just lose respect in him.
If he leaves them out he gets lambasted by their fan clubs, but he’ll retain his authority as long as the team get positive results.
Now I don’t recall any of the Ozil PR team saying much after we beat Tottenham 4-2 and Chelsea 2-0, minus Mesut. Whilst Ramsey played a part in both games if I recall but didn’t start either game, but nothing was said about Aaron either.
Arsenal have two more really difficult games to overcome in Tottenham (a) and Man Utd (h), the rest of our league fixtures up the end of the season are manageable.
We don’t have the drain of FACup ties and the UEFA Cup is do’able if we can avoid Chelsea, so there’s a lot for us to play for. I’ve even heard that Welbeck could be back before the end of the season – like a new signing…
So for me, the jury is still out on Unai but I’m sticking by my assertion of giving him two years before I go on Twitter and ask for his head (which I won’t do anyway 🙂)…
Hi Kev, for mine, the best managers are those who make the very best of what they have.
One of the biggest criticisms levelled at Wenger was his lack of willingness to alter his game plan no matter who we played or which players were on the pitch, and deservedly so, but now we should allow Emery to do the same thing?
Mourinho had Utd playing his way despite the fact he had creative imagers and that ended up in turmoil.
Some of the best regarded managers simply buy the very best squads and, imo, have inflated reputations for that very reason but we don’t have unlimited funds, we don’t have that many creative players yet we have one who our manager apparently wants to do the donkey work, after this same player being universally known as one of, if not the, best no. 10’s in the world.
It beggars belief, imo.
Seems most fans love players who appear to be busy but we need a mix of hard work and flair.
Seems Emery may disagree and that’s on him so he has to make the call, but we’ve already seen plenty of fans turning against him and unfortunately for him, he won’t have the luxury of buying his way out of trouble so he’d better start producing.
Now that’s all assuming this is in fact the reason he’s not playing Ozil but we don’t know the facts at this stage.
My biggest issue with Ramsey isn’t letting him go, it’s letting him go on a free and then to compound the problem, not playing him.
I doubt anyone can explain how that’s a smart move.
Scott, there was a contract offer on the table but Ramsey refused to sign it. It was his decision to run down his present contract and leave at the end of it. After that decision was made the club withdrew the offer and accepted the fact that Ramsey saw his future elsewhere. Perhaps an offer of £200,000 per week would have encouraged him to stay, but would that have represented value for money? More likely it would have led to more players demanding pay rises which the club could neither justify or afford.
The Ozil situation was created by Wenger and Gazidis who were panicked by the departure of Sanchez, they both knew that losing the best two players in the squad would be a PR disaster for both them and the club.
Cicero,
There was an offer agreed upon by both sides but the club pulled it without explanation.
That’s unprofessional and just wrong, imo.
As I said, though, that’s not my issue.
Why not sell the guy??
Crazy stuff.
I look forward to the day down the track we stop blaming wemger fir what’s wrong because maybe we will remember what he did that’s right lol
Not playing Ozil is ridiculous imo
Well, unless we allow him to do what he’s done best for a decade rather than trying make him a cart horse.
Ha ha Kev, I don’t think so.
Do we blame Wenger or Gazidis or both or the whole negotiation team . one thing that seems to have come out is that for whatever reason we appear to have been lliving beyond our means and probably explains why Gazidis jumped ship when he did.
I don’t think it now does any good to try and lay the blame in any direction . We are where we are , For a long time we have been badly run paying far too much for underperformance . It suits KSE to keep a board of nodding dogs in situ where effectively more drastic action is required. The tinkering at the level below the board and the ownership is only moving the deckchairs . I doubt that anything other than maintaining the status quo is in their minds . Why spend a billion to chase £ 300,000 back in possible prize money.
Scott, I’m my opinion there’s a difference. Wenger signed the players he wanted to play the game his way. Supposedly anyway but for Emery, how can he suddenly be expected to use the same players to play in a different way?
Although I’m having doubts about Emery being the manager, I too think he needs players of his choice before he can truly be judged. He wants to play the pressing game which neither Ramsey or Ozil seem to be able to do. Nor Iwobi or Xhaka and he’s got a defender in Mustafi who makes error after error.
Ok, Lichtsteiner has proved to be a bit of a flop but imo, he was always an emergency player but injury has thrown him into something he probably didn’t expect to be doing but Guendouzi, Sokratis and Torriera have been very very good I think.
More like them in the summer and less Ramsey, Iwobi, Ozil etc, and perhaps Emery will flourish..
I don’t think Ozil is regarded as one of the best number 10’s in the world. If he ever was, he certainly isn’t now. Imo, he’s taking the pee out of the club.
Until the majority of Wenger’s players have gone, he’ll always be mentioned imo. Ozil would have been a great signing had Wenger built a team around him, a team which required hard workers to compensate for Ozils weaknesses but he didn’t. Ozil therefore imo was a bad signing, a waste of £42 million because all Wenger did was expose his weaknesses.
Similar with Ramsey who was never given a specific role imo. Shoved left, right and anywhere he could fit him in and I reckon his game suffered because of it.
Gazidis and Wenger are responsible for his contract situation which should never ever been allowed to run into its final year. When Emery arrived, Ramsey was always the one in control of his own future.
He was known as one of the very best, no question, Rico.
Not sure he can be blamed when he’s sitting in the stands though but as I touched on, there could be various reasons that’s happening.
I do agree Emery needs to be given time to bring his players in but for now, there’s no excuse for not trying to get the best out of what we have and imo he isn’t doing that at all.
I do agree we hardly utilised Ozil or Ramsey in the best way.
They’ve copped so much criticism and this factor is often put aside when discussing them.
Potter, I’d say we should blame them all.
Was he Scott? I don’t recall that but I guess it depends on who is being asked.
He’s in the stands because he’s just not doing things on the pitch when he’s played..
They were the negotiating team before Emery weren’t they Potter? It’s hard not to blame them though, we’re in this mess because of them..
Rico, Didn’t you just say we should’ve built a side around him?
That suggests to me a player of world class ability.
Morning Rico. I think we are where we deserve to be in the table. Our players, with a few exceptions, are nowhere near good enough and do we have a real game changer in the team? As for the Ozil situation’ Emery clearly doesn’t fancy him for whatever reason. Is it his lack of pressing or his lack of fight? We don’t really know what sort of a character he is but perhaps Emery has gone head to head with him so that he will move on. He’s had enough chances but continues to put in powder-puff performances.
Man City have spent their way to the top and assembled a squad of considerable quality. In Pep they have a fat-headed egotist who has a plan knows how to win. They’ve changed the face of the PL and probably not for the better. But that’s another debate.
We are being left behind.
Some is our own doing, some isn’t.
Either way, the self sustaining model will be a pathway for long term existence, but success and trophies could be few and far between:
Would the club be any worse off if they remained at Highbury?
Not at all Scott. He’s a very good player when he feels like it but in a team like ours, he’s not effective. There’s a difference.
Scott. I agree. Money is the total lifeblood of the sport now. Clubs are far less a part of the community from which they spring and as a new generation of supporters supplement the tourists who see a trip to a PL match alongside the Tower Of London, as part of their London visit. I was surprised to read how few football subscription customers Sky actually have these days. The link between advertising revenue, TV money and success has grown ever more tenuous and though FFP was a splendid concept, greed and excesses of money that has poured from the ground, has killed it stone dead. There will be a European league someday I imagine and it will be a collection of matches where the haves compete against each other and the TV tickets are sold alongside advertisements for sports gear, ghastly cans of vile liquids and twats like Robbie Williams waddle across stage before screaming into microphones a la SuperBowl.
I really can’t wait.
Morning Adam. Agree re Pep at City. What happens when he moves on will be interesting. Money can buy anyone but finding great coaches is slightly more difficult.
I too think we are where this squad deserves to be. Will things improve? They might if what money we do have is spent wisely.
I agree Rico. The manager/coach is paramount but the governing body is crucial to the future of the game.
Rico, I do agree with you that Özil has been ineffective with us too often.
Not sure it’s all his doing but it really doesn’t matter-we haven’t got anywhere near the best out of him and that’s a shame.
Adam, I’m caught between laughing and crying at that comment.
While your take on it is bloody hilarious, the issue itself is very sad and obviously I say that as a non local, but having been there, seeing exactly what the game and the club means to people, I hate seeing it going the way it is.
The irony is the entire experience is even changing for us tourists as the local supporters attitude to the game changes.
Genuine fans who are first timers want to embrace the entire culture as best they can soaking up every little moment but I’m sure that we’d have seen things differently 10-20 years ago to now.
The point about Ozil is that regardless of whether or not he plays, we have got him until the end of the season anyway, and will continue to pay his exorbitant wages, so it surely makes sense to put him out on the pitch, where he might do something worthwhile, rather than leave him in the stands where he can sit and admire his ever growing bank account.
We have all admired Emery for his willingness to make changes when things aren’t going well, since he is limited in the changes he can make with the present squad it behoves him to make the fullest use of every member of that squad. Surely his tactical genius must be up to the task of fitting a talented creative player into a modest team crying out for a bit of creativity. Or is Emery not the tactician we thought he was?
Indeed Adam.
If football does go down the super bowl route, I’m out that’s for sure. I’m already losing interest in the game because of the money, the lack of consistency in the officiating of the game etc etc. Football isn’t what it once was and it’s quite sad really.
Rico, I reckon you’d be one of tens of millions.
Scott. As an Islington boy, born and bred in Highbury, I hate it too. In fact it really pisses me off, but when you open your door, all sorts of undesirables are free to barge in and some of them will be rich but have dubious motives. That’s where we are at the moment. There was a whole bunch of mates that used to sit behind me at both Highbury and then the Emirates. I got to know them. They came out of Liverpool Road, which is local. Many of them went to school together, some worked together and they and their wives went out and partied together. Arsenal was more than a club for them. It was their passion and their social gathering point en masse. Over the long years (they’re in their 60’s now) they had seen more downs than ups but Wenger came and the whole profile of the club lifted. They were still there, week in, week out and they loved the football and the success obviously. We all did.
I ran across one of them a few months ago and he said that, of the original 25-30 of them, he was the only one who still forked out for a season ticket. The group had more or less dissolved, some had sadly died, but he said they had largely been replaced by a bunch of drunks who arrived 20 minutes late before falling asleep with a half-eaten Arsenal burger in their mouths, the copious amounts of mustard at a mere 50pence a sachet, dropping down upon their Stone Island clothing. Sometimes they might make it through until 10 minutes before half-time when they would leave to get a few pints of beer down their necks. They might not ever make it back to their seats or be seen again that game. Those who did would descend into a wretched, snoring slumber before staggering out of the ground before the final whistle presumably in search of more alcohol.
Most of them were apparently solicitors or worked in advertising or the media.
I’ve taken a bit of literary licence there, but you get the point. 😂
Indeed I do mate hahahahaha
No question that the simple cost of tickets has stopped plenty attending.
Again, as a tourist, I can see the damage done by encouraging more and more day trippers to games.
That horrendous day at Stamford Bridge-my first ever game-we few thousand away fans out sang the Chavs fans easily.
I was talking to one after the game on the train and he told me probably 60-70% of the fans were tourists.
Even without the new, flashy stadium, the big clubs seem to be all the same.
So do I Scott.
Scott. I didn’t means blokes like you though. You came for all the right reasons and showed commendable levels of support even in the Indian restaurant we visited. And it’s not just the financials either. The spirit of the club has changed. Just like everything really.
Lol Adam-I wasn’t implying that at all.
Never entered my mind, mate.
That Curry House was phenomenal though 🙂
That Bloody Super Bowl though.
I had the day off to watch it with mates because I really don’t like the game, but thought I’d give it one decent crack.
It’s all hype and the glitz and glamour will never work in Europe, imo.
Same with Oz.
We are more low key than the Yanks, generally speaking.
At the very beginning of the Sky era they tried the Americanisation . Remember the Sky Strikers dancing their way to centre circles with all the pom poms and all. We had Sam Fox at Highbury who got the obligatory requests from the crowd the parachuter that missed the stadium and of course the Spurs supporting Shamen who were catcalled off at half time. It was all American tat and it did not work.
But that hasn’t stopped it and probably nothing will , the lust for money has bought up the 39th game idea and I believe that it is only a matter of time before the whole Premier league becomes a Harlem Globetrotters travelling circus.
Football will eventually eat itself and that should be a warning to all the other sports sitting on the side lines looking for a share of it’s pie. Like most of us the chances are that by the time it happens I will either not be here or else the brain will be so befuddled that I won’t know it’s happening.
Afternoon Gooners
Afternoon Rico, great post, although it did seem familiar. 😄
Scott, you’re wrong, get over it…. 😆
Adam, your quill is at its most waspish today… 🙂
I put this in an email to an Arsenal friend earlier today Scott, it’s how I see where we are atm:
I’ve noticed Emery copping more flak recently, via Twitter mostly, but as I don’t go on there it’s just a feeling I get. I find that all quite amazing, a guy comes in after his predecessor does almost 22 years and tries to shake things up. Finds he hasn’t got the players he needs or the finance and starts the process but is still not cut any slack by the extremists and Wenger in brigade – who let’s be fair, are loving this after his unbeaten run, they’ve been desperate to tell us ‘be careful what you wish for’ and ‘we told you so’…
I think he’s done ok, not great but ok. He wasn’t responsible for most of the summers transfer business and he had nothing to spend in January, so basically he’s been able to do pretty much zero in his first two windows. So this still isn’t his team it’s still mostly Wenger’s team indoctrinated with his style.
He’s made mistakes, of course he has, managers alway do, Wenger made loads, but overall I’ve been comfortable with what he’s done.
Some of his selections leave me scratching my head, but there is usually a tactical reason even if it doesn’t work. It often doesn’t work because our players mess up, as Iwobi did at Man City, his tactics were sound but the players he has can’t or won’t do what he asks. You could argue that he should play certain players and leave out others in that case, but he has and it still hasn’t changed anything. Until he is able to sign 4 or 5 of the players he wants we’re not going to know for sure. I mean Guardiola and Klopp didn’t set the world alight initially so how does anyone expect any different from Emery on a much much tighter budget?
It’s not surprising now that we didn’t award the job to one of the really big hitters like Allegro last summer as none of the really big managers would accept the Arsenal job under the circumstances that Emery accepted it. That is minimal influence on the transfer business done in the summer as it was pretty much done when he arrived and no money to spend in January!
The only other candidate seriously considered was Michel Arteta, a novice.
As I wrote above, Emery in my view, has done ok.
I agree with most of what you say Kev, but I do think Emery is missing a trick namely the use of the youngsters particularly the younger defenders.
Great result by the women’s team, beating Man U 2 – 1 in the cup semi-final last night. It’s City in the final.
Afternoon Kev, you old hoot… 😜
Evening all.
Dont know the veracity of this link, but if true it`s obvious that it`s left in the bank for a rainy day and not for January TW`s ! hahahaha
https://angryofislington.com/2019/02/08/arsenal-have-231m-in-cash-but-what-good-does-it-do/
Hiya Kev,
I can’t understand why any Arsenal fan would enjoy seeing us struggle for results other than to massage their own egos.
Wenger had to go, and of that there’s no question.
I’m with you that Emery has done ok, must be given more time but it’s these strange calls that are frustrating atm.
I’d say this time next year we will have a much better idea on if he is/was the right man for the job but the very worst thing the club can do is start chopping and changing managers.
Yep, I agree Scott, I could never understand any Arsenal fan wanting us to struggle just to prove a point but there’s a few of them out there, fortunately none on this site.
Scott, I also wonder about some of Emery’s calls, but I guess it’s because for such a long time we could all read pretty much what the manager would do and got used to it.
You could set your watch by his substitutions and pick his starting XI and his tactics.
Remember when Theo said after an away game that he didn’t think that the team was prepared properly after a defeat.
That was the end for Theo…
Well we can’t read Emery and some fans can’t get used to that, they don’t like it.
Same with Emery’s substitutions, nobody can read them anymore, so they say that Emery doesn’t know what he’s doing.
But maybe he does know what he’s doing, even if we can’t see it, it’s just that he doesn’t have the right players yet to implement what he wants to do?
Yeah Cicero, I’d like to see Emery using some our youngsters more, maybe he missed a trick in some of the early games in the League Cup and UEFA Cup?
That’s why I hope he is more imaginative in the two BATE Borisov games.
At the end of the day, if our youngsters are good enough, as with Smith Rowe, I’m sure that they’ll get opportunities from Emery, I’d like to think so anyway?
Apparently, there’s a possibility for RB Leipzig to take Smith Rowe for the entirety of next season as well as the present loan, if everybody is happy with that scenario.
I dare say that Leipzig will pay a hefty loan fee and Arsenal will insist on clauses to be able to recall him if the need arises. If he can get a full season in the Bundesliga then Arsenal may consider that more beneficial to his development than a few cup games and the odd EPL substitute run out in England?
Kev,
It’s amazing what a loan spell can do to a player, especially when they’re getting plenty of game time.
Chambers seems to be going damn well so hopefully he comes back a player pushing to okay first team football for us.
that of course is the crux of the matter. Far too often they go on loan to manager’s supplementing their squad and frequently don’t play.
Potter, although our A League is of a pretty average standard. I reckon some young guys would “grow up” with a season and here and they’d learn how to handle themselves against stronger, more physical opponents.
They’d certainly get game time, as well.
Morning all.
One player who is getting time is Martinez – motm in his second game too. Talking of Reading did you guys see the state of one of their players face after being stamped on? Koscielny got lucky I’d say, very lucky if luck is the right word..
I gather it was messy, Rico?
Was it accidental?
A real mess Scott and no. Then again, I didn’t think Lukaku’s was accidental either..
https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport/17405574.reading-fc-tyrone-mings-responds-after-leaving-nelson-oliveira-with-horrific-facial-injury/
Bloody hell, that’s disgraceful.
Definitely intentional!!
It looks as if Mings was wearing blades, I think they ought to be banned myself.
Morning Gooners
Morning Rico
Morning Kev.
Bring back Nike Tempo’s etc, might stop a lot of injuries…
rico…..I agree with you about Lukaku’s foot in the face landing. IMO it was deliberate. Watch the way his feet go on landing. The normal way would be to land reasonably close together, but on this occasion he lands one foot ( offending one) further back than the other one. !!!!!!!!! looks to me an unnatural way of landing.
As you say, Koscielny was “lucky”
Moulded in the dry and six studs for mud simples.
Vcc, I was surprised more wasn’t said at the time. He knew what he was doing…
Had it been Xhaka landing like that there would have been a Parliamentry enquiry probably followed by a court martial and a public flogging.
Totally agree Potter. But Utd remain untouchable don’t they.
Afternoon Rico and the House.
Its half time in the youth cup and and its 1-1
WBA took the lead after 7 mins and Saka made it 1-1 on 30 mins
Once again he has hit the crossbar 3times in 2games
A bit surprised not to see Mavropanos start, but Willock and Nketiah on the bench is encouraging.
Let’s hope we’re cruising and they both get on…
Todays team
Leno Niles Kossy Mustafi Monrael
Kolas Torreira Guendouzi Mikkytaren Iwobi Lacerzet
On the subs Dinos Suarz Eddy Willock
Afternoon Rick. Hopefully the second half will bring more Arsenal goals.
New post up now.
More Fred Karno defending at the finish, ffs Emery, sign some defenders in the summer…
I guess three points are all what matter at this stage of the season.
If Mustafi is still an Arsenal player in August, I’ll be amazed…