Who’s next for Arsene Wenger?
In the third and final part of The Beck’s trilogy of posts, Arsenal’s most recent signings are revisited and the timely question raised: has Arsene lost the ability to sign players good enough for Arsenal Football Club?
In 2010, we signed Squillaci, Koscielny and Chamakh, as well as Miyachi, Wellington and Lehmann.
Squillaci looked more solid than Koscielny in the opening games of the 2010-11 season, but Koscielny has grown like a beanstalk and has shoulders the size of Mount Everest. We now look at him with pride as he plays with heart and quality. Squillaci had 3 average seasons and didn’t manage to make a good partnership with any of his defensive colleagues.
Chamakh had a very good start to his career, but Robin came back from injury and made Chamakh’s career outlook quite bleak; he has never shown promise sufficient to return to the squad or the first team.
Miyachi was given out on loan and has come back looking bright and many are hopeful of good performances from the raw winger.
I’m not sure Wellington exists, but if we get to see him play, I’m told he has nice feet (people at the shoe shop love him).
In 2011, we had a quick dash at the last minute and Arsene opted for Santos, Mertesacker, Arteta, Jenkinson, Gervinho, Benayoun, Park, Eisfeld and a certain Thierry Henry (a further blast from the past).
We also gave Frimpong, Meade, Neita, Monteiro, Martinez, Hajrovic, Ebecilio, Rees, and Hayden chances to make the grade but only Martinez and Frimpong remains though Frimmy’s days now appear numbered.
Santos never was a solid left back for us. He was an attacking alternative to Gibbs (who got injured a lot) and left a lot of space behind. He was never quite received in the same way after he ill-advisedly hugged van Persie and swapped shirts with him at half time during a key competitive game.
Park Chu Young, scored a goal for us versus Bolton and after that, well I don’t know if he continues to exists either.
Gervinho had erratic form but showed his true value in his second season following a good set of displays towards the end of the season. He’s now left for Roma for a few million less than we bought him.
Jenkinson looked incredibly raw when first bought but has grown into a fine, attacking right back, though he probably has a few years to go before he truly learns it all.
Benayoun was for one year a great squad player, popular with the fans and crucially helped us get into the Champions League.
Arteta and Mertesacker have been revelations. They’ve found themselves in positions where they are consistent and show the qualities they have of reading the game perfectly.
Eisfeld looks a quality player, but is very young and whilst I say he might need years to learn the other tricks of the trade, if the boss feels he is ready, he will be ready. Same with the rest of them.
In summer 2012, we added Podolski, then Giroud, and finally Cazorla. This was followed by Monreal in January of 2013. Monreal has proved to be a stable option at LB and much more so than poor old Santos.
Podolski appears to have had a decent season considering he was apparently carrying injuries for most of it. He has a terrific left foot and whilst his movement didn’t seem great enough to play through the middle, it appears he is forging a brilliant partnership with Olivier Giroud.
Giroud could have scored a lot of goals in his first season. Like many strikers coming in and adapting to the league he had a decent tally but the second season is often where you see the development of a great striker in his mid-twenties. He has a great first touch touch and a terrific finish.
Cazorla has been different class, a signing that just personifies Arsenal in so many ways.
In 2013, so far, we’ve only signed Sanogo, but I am 100% sure in a couple of weeks things will look very different …
The whole point in me writing this, was to show the thinking behind most of the moves at the time and how at the time they may have been the best option considering the budget and the availability.
I also wanted to showcase how many signings Arsene gets right because people often paint it as though he doesn’t get signings right anymore. I think partly this is because good players get sold but people live with the idea that the sale somehow cancels out the fact that Arsene Wenger signed that player, made him world class and then was either forced to sell him or wanted to sell him because the club had moved on and he wanted to find the player and the club a solution.
It seemed only a few were not of the quality Arsene Wenger wanted. The ones who were, stayed and many of them went on to develop and became world class. Those who did not, were either sold, or were loaned out. Our perception of events are often skewed by personal wants and needs and misunderstanding of causes in the past.
When I go through each of those signings, considering what our situation was (both in a sporting sense and financially), I find that Arsene got many right, that the ones he got right, made our club bigger and better and more financially stable. I find that the ones which he got wrong, whilst we were winning trophies, didn’t seem to matter as much.
Initially, I personally believed that between 2006 and 2011, Arsene’s Wenger’s ability to spot a signing had deteriorated. But looking at history, it appears that he’s always got most of them right, especially those he spent a considerable amount on. When you are financially restricted, either by your own club or by the market (or according to some observers, by yourself), you will find it hard to get the best players.
I think our way of self-sustaining, which led to us selling a whole starting 11 of key players of the last 8 years (especially from 2009 to 2012) with some not even reaching their prime under us, has had a devastating effect on the perception of supporters and the team itself.
I don’t believe he has lost his touch, certainly not based on the entire list I just went through.
I originally believed he had lost his touch prior to this research. But perhaps this is just a personal perception due to player sales and injuries. And most importantly, trophies.
Trophies tend to change your perception of a manager’s ability.
The scouting system has changed, we have more competitors and they’ve caught up with both our business and the business of other clubs. We’ve had competitors that make us seem financially poor, even though technically we’re not.
But despite all of this Arsene is still pulling the likes of Koscielny out of the bag, putting faith in the likes of Ramsey, and finding ways for old-timers like Rosicky to find rich veins of form. Mertesacker, who was often criticized for lacking pace, is now lauded for his tactical abilities, due to partnering him up with a fast recovering Frenchman. And finding steals like Cazorla, even in 2012, when his normal price should have been around £30m – and perhaps even more considering this crazy summer.
Arsene is now in a position where he can buy more than one Reyes. He can buy 4 of him and he can afford that one or two might want to go back to Spain because they miss the weather.
I believe he will get even less wrong with more financial capabilities and we might see an Arsenal who has young players that are under less pressure and have great players to learn from.
The only way is forward so I have no idea why everyone is so nervous.
I’m not.
The Beck can be found on Twitter @The_Beck_
Positively Arsenal 
Brilliant series Beck!
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just great !! particularly liked this
“I think partly this is because good players get sold but people live with the idea that the sale somehow cancels out the fact that Arsene Wenger signed that player, made him world class and then was either forced to sell him or wanted to sell him because the club had moved on and he wanted to find the player and the club a solution.”
reyes was more of a natural talent than theo but theo is now the better player…wenger knows.
theo : “This is a big year for Arsenal and myself.”
go for it !!! raise aim FIRE !
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you re absolutely right dc..the ‘arsenal dm’ is a specialty position..some even call it pivot… whatever that means. hence i cant see wenger risking giving that role to anyone else than mikel who has been thoroughly educated by the prof of what is expected when playing there
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Great series of articles and great conclusion.Well done Beck
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Excellent series Beck mostly because you take a broad historical sweep and not one-off, one-season events in coming to your conclusions. For example, we often we read the media and bloggers say with smug certitude Wenger must spend big to make a good signing. Except it cant stand up to 16 years of finding good players and turning them into world class talent.
Currently the big blogs and twitter is ablaze with whiners and moaners (many with large followings) whipping up mass hysteria because 17 days before the window closes the club hasn’t done a Man City by throwing big money at a big player to “strengthen” the squad. Yet historically this has never been Wenger’s preferred solution. Usually it is an unknown player who adds quality to an already improving squad. Yet these mongs are conceited enough to believe that failure is imminent. Hence the meme I can no longer “defend the indefensible” i.e. they can no longer support Wenger.
What a load of tosh. It is Wenger that is going to make fools of them. Mark my words.
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Thank you all, I wrote this three page piece in like 20 minutes last week, I often get these flurried thoughts in my mind that really encourage me not only to defend Arsenal, the club, or Arsene, but also people like you, who are calm and collected, I owe George and Adi a lot because I think they’ve helped me think better. But all of you have. This is a shared fan/supporter experience.
Hope everyone has a lovely evening.
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What a load of tosh. It is Wenger that is going to make fools of them. Mark my words.
…hehe…. he has been doing it the last 17 years but stupid people never learn
especially the last two, what with having his best players abandoning him and having to achieve the targets with new players, stripped of psychology against hostile crowds, media and refs..
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but also people like you, who are calm and collected,
i taught them that…
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Great stuff Beck,I think we know Arsene will bring in at least 2 signings before the window shuts,ideally we’d have done our business at lot earlier,I see that on twitter, the experts are out in force-I swear some of them don’t enjoy Arsenal-I can’t wait for Saturday,I’ll have to listen on the radio as I’m driving back from France-hope the PA crew meeting up before the game have one for me-COYG!
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Everyone should read this
http://www.gunnerstown.com/arsenal/2013/8/15/arsene-wenger-the-most-negligent-manager-in-the-history-of-football … …from @1MrT_AFC
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Yep, Great stuff Beck. Nice to see it all laid out so clearly. Marvellous
PG, that’s a great read cheers for that.
If folk are meeting up before the game I’m more than happy to join and have one for MEL (as suggested above), as well as one for myself and perhaps another for someone as yet unnamed and even a fourth for someone who may not even exist, although 4 is more than enough nowadays but hey, it’s a new season! woohoo.
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Some time not too long ago I was reading of a study in sports transfers and player signings, special reference to football. Amongst a lot of non-conclusive but interesting stuff, one result was emphatic and the silly season and Arsenal reminds me. It was as simple as this: the most effective (in terms of team improvement and results) player transfers averaged out concern upgrading an identified weaker link in a team in any position, while “marquee signings”, especially for high-profile positions are decidedly patchy, risky. Think Berbatov, a prime example. I thought about this when I heard 3Gs was off, and again hearing Wenger’s comments as to why. Wenger is not looking at big-deal media-hype signings because they don’t assist us effectively enough, or at least that’s not the point. He is looking at strengthening known and identified weaker areas, with precise acquisitions accordingly, as exactly as possible anyway. It’s not accidental, guesswork, hope, wishful thinking; it’s research, stats, discussion, consensus over the type of weakness; lists of possibles, probables, potentials, permutations. Then activity.
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First and foremost, many thanks for that Becks. Taking just 20 minutes to write that is awesome.
PG absolutely brilliant link many thanks for that too…..
As for meeting up before the game on Saturday, Arsenal Andrew and I met in the Coronet on the Holloway Road last time on the right hand side just down the few steps as you enter from the Holloway Road entrance.
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ZimPaul
That sounds like how Le Prof does things for sure….
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Beck, worth enduring this whole transfer window, just to read those 3 articles.
Top top quality work sir.
Hunter, I was conversing with PG’s former associates, and some of them were surprisingly complementary about how much Theo has stepped up as a player in the last couple of years.
When I suggested that there is only one man who could have been responsible for that [ the French control freak even makes the tea nowadays at Arsenal because of his empire running ways] it went down like a fart in a space station.
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Thank you so much for the series Beck. It gives a very clear picture with evidence.
Just 20 minutes to write all of this? You are just showing off! It takes me days to write average pieces.
Jokes aside, stellar work.
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Hunter
I’m not sure you got my point, was Viera a DM, was ZZ, even Roy Keane? Is Arteta or Rambo the typical DM? Is Diaby?
No. None of them are. You just need a guy who thinks it’s a personal insult to his mother’s honour if the other team have the ball, but once he gets it…THAT’S when the destroying begins.
Sorry to mention RK, he was an utter cunt, but he was from my country.
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Boy things are really desperate in Negativania
Even the successes of our commercial team are a clear indication of fotball Armageddon…. This after AFC announces Bodog as an official partner:
“sorry, i didnt realise we were still in a hissy fit about the first team squad being a total fucking joke..
lets all concentrate on being richer instead..thats what really matters..
im so excited..i think a bit of wee has dribbled down my leg at this fantabulous announcement..”
No prizes for guessing whom that quote cam from….
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pedantic george August 15, 2013 at 5:55 pm
magnificent!
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moyes complaining about fixtures..haha…when in rome….
dc you have intrigued my mind…i will go to kenedy space centre one day and ask to visit an antigravity chamber and release a big one …will it be a floating bubble i wonder?
steve I ..i havent forgotten , just waiting for my ticket ..to be couriered on friday ive been told…hopefully.
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Hunter
Did you see my post above about a possible meet?
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Hunter, wear a crash helmet., remember Newtons laws….for every action there is an equal an opposite big one.
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and george thats just one of the battles the manager has had to deal with ( having chelsea city united stealing his targets with overbidding) ..he has also had to deal with an army of neanderthals on the pitch butchering his players and refs demoralising his players psychology, hostile crowds , hostile media …and yet he still keeps the team focused enough to deliver what matters the most depending on the circumstances. what is happening with our fans is truly incomprehensible and it all started with them blogs and their ‘opinions’… every muppet around will twist and twist and say ” oh ill have a go too” and will usually find things to moan about which arent even there…just to kill time…and fill up their unimaginative brains with negativity and scorn….hate em.
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PG
We PA fans are sick and tired of this, you just tease us with links of the likes of quality players like gooner town but you still have not signed him up. We want our old PA back. After spending a fortune every month in phone bills to support this formally glorious site, I’ve had enough. Go now. I want new bloggers.
Pendantic out! Pessismistic in!
That was ironic – just in case anyone was worried.
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the coronet? ok yeah…ill look for that …is it before or after the uni ( as youre walking from north to south) ? probably before…. right?
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double canister August 15, 2013 at 8:30 pm
haaaahaaa ill wear that thing from hurt locker…
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Hunter
Click on the link for details and location. Let’s say @1.30 pm
http://tinyurl.com/nsy8kk4
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pedantic george
August 15, 2013 at 5:55 pm
Great link George.
Thanks for the series of articles Beck. The perspective is good and goes to show that there’s more to this team building lark than just ‘splashing the cash’. The internal development of our own young players seems to go without notice as well as the 4 top quality internationals we bought last season – Poldi, Santi, Nacho and Olivier who have all been successful. But the negativistas can only focus on the ones that didn’t work out as if no other teams have players who don’t make it.
Steve I – you can have one for me too as due to poor planning on my part I will be away this weekend and therefore missing the first home game of the season! I’m gutted, but I have my ticket for the CL home leg to look forward to instead.
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PG, brilliant, keep ’em coming! It seems that a certain Mr Beck has dissed in 20 minutes, all the moaners and groaners that intrude.
The 1st Quarter of the current Financial Year 2013/2014, ends on the 31st August 2013. For the first time in a number of years, The Arsenal are now trading at a “loss”.
There is no detail as to when the Barratt final payment of £10 millions is due to be paid. The Barratt family have a huge Inheritance Tax bill to pay.
It is very obvious that the majority of those who write about the finances of The Arsenal, have little practical experience of accounting rules and regulations. This includes The Swiss Ramble, who knows nothing about Clients’ Accounts, Pay as You Earn and National Insurance Contributions, etc.
The Swiss Ramble entry for Wednesday, October 28, 2009, is not too bad. Apart from the snide comment about Ken Friar’s emoluments..
The Swiss Ramble entry for Tuesday, September 28, 2010, is different!
“At the time the books were closed, 570 of the 655 apartments at Highbury Square had been sold, leaving only 85 still available. Gazidis has since informed us that the 600th sale was completed in August with the remainder expected to be sold in the next accounting year. Based on the average price of sales to-date, that would produce proceeds of £34 millions. As the loans have now been paid off, all this is surplus cash that will be available to spend”..
The Swiss Ramble did not know that the flats had to be fitted out, and that came at a price! The fitting out costs would have been in the region of about £31 millions.
Year by year, The Swiss Ramble repeats the same errors again and again.
BUT, he does do a good turn by collating Deloittes, and the Premier League and UEFA Champions League payouts.
The £70 millions transfer budget, as detailed by the Arsenal Supporters Trust, is pie-in-the-sky.
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Back again folks!!! I’m still busy as heck!!!
I would like to thank Beck for his sensible write ups. Lord knows we need it in times like these. Great stuff!
Was the OX mentioned in this last article? because he is another gem. That kid is going to be a great player.
I must say that I am so pleased with how Ramsey and Walcott (an excellent goal yesterday) are playing. They look ready, mature and well composed on the ball.
As far as signings. I have read some of the idiotic hysteria but I chose to focus on the players we have…they are all class. I am excited about the youngsters coming through, those that played in the pre season matches did not look out of place at all. Things are looking up.
Lastly, I have a feeling that Sanogo is going to do some major damage once he gets used to the PL. I just like how he looks
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Notoverthehill
Many thanks for your comments. Absolutely, fundamentally important contribution to the debate.
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Great points n.o.t.h.
Yes, I’ve been reading Swiss for a few years too and I’m getting to be such a dork that I even go through the Arsenal’s published annual accounts too. God help me I even read spurs accounts last season. Shoot me now.
Swiss Ramble is very good on the graphs, but you are spot on – he ain’t no business man and misses really how AFC run the club. The line about wages is bollix – that included all the coaching staff, reserves, youth teams, the women’s team, the admin , the medical team, the grounds staff, the community staff, the match day staff, the shop staff , Goonersaurus and Doris the tea lady. Plus their national insurance, healthcare and pensions.
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Georgaki and DC, how is it?
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Notoverthehill – very interesting comments.
On the morning his latest blog was posted I asked Swiss Ramble, via Twitter, if there was any possibility, in his view, of there being factors separate from his description of the state of the finances, that might affect or otherwise cause behaviour by the Board which might, to those ignorant of those factors, appear irrational.
The numbers tell a part of the story, for sure, but they rarely give the whole picture. Number-crunching without the application of appropriate context is of somewhat limited value, in reality.
He’s a busy guy and I’m still waiting for a response.
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Howdy Paul-N!
Settling in to the new house?
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Not there yet, DC. We are staying with some good friends in Houston for now. Will be flying back the Florida the 2nd week of sept.
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That write up that George posted is very very good.
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Geeze, these Brasilians stay up late, what time is it in Germany now?
Where’s this big announcement?
Truth is, he’d be lucky to get a game in our midfield, and Diaby is better.
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Andrew, whats up bro?
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Diaby, now that is the player I want to see get and remain healthy. He would definately be like a new signing.
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Paul-N
It’s all good when you have a place that shares ones optimism!
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Hey Paul – good to hear from you! Hope you’re getting things sorted!
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Thanks, Beck. As I said before, research-based articles, how refreshing. Excellent job.
@PG
Wry smile while reading that post you linked to!
@ Notoverthehill
You have hit upon the point that I always make about Swiss Rambler and Arseblog and the like – nobody knows their provenance, they have no credentials and yet their every word is taken as gospel truth by some, whilst any utterances from identifiable, accountable and qualified people are automatically distrusted just because they are from within the club or from outsiders approving of the club. Does my head in. Arseblogger is entertaining and clever and I am prepared to believe Swiss Rambler has accounting training but basically both those guys are Some Bloke Off The Internet with an axe to grind.
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Good morning all
The link below was retweeted by Philip Auclaire yesterday. It is a must read for us. It helps justify AFCs position on a careful and calm approach to transfers this summer
http://t.co/AudMVC15He
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“The Swiss Ramble did not know that the flats had to be fitted out”
Oh dear! Classic. Thanks for that NOTH.
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That reminds of a certain stadium that was left, more or less, as a bare shell and core fit out for a few years before there was some loose change available for the drapes and stuff. Obviously because there was no plan of how to budget on a, well, a budget (what are they?). And of course the gaffer has been pocketing all the moolah. Seems like a reasonable conclusion.
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@ finsbury and Notoverthehill
And moreover they went for a higher standard of refit than originally planned on many of them because the housing crash had hit and making the flats more luxurious was a deliberate strategy to put them into a higher market and more likely to sell.
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GP
Thanks for that link too. Seems far too sensible for the football blogosphere.
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Well, I warned those who had fallen for Gustavo not to jinx their dreams. I’m more excited by The Ox being unleashed in CM, with Ramsey. Just a little exciting.
I did once drool over a certain Aguero. In private, before he came to blighty. Only this year (in recent times) can AFC actually afford bid for a player in such a position, already at a middling to big club. Which is nice. And after some research, talking to those I trust, I’m happy to agree that they’ve bid for the best player in the PL. Terrible, isn’t it. Dark days. When will it all end! Woe, woe and thrice woe.
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I remember listening to the excessive jip that the best young English wide player (has been since that hat-trick against Croatia, quite a while ago!) received from his own fans last season the year he was the clubs highest scorer.
I suppose to reflect upon that observation is to claim I am a better fan? There’s nothing wrong with heckling your own is there? It’s all Arsene’s fault isn’t. Although not spending has nothing to with the grief Theo gets. Perhaps it is a manifestation of the same kind of mentality that saw the Blackburn fans win so many admirers?
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That whole Gustavo affair was quite weird,
Wolfsburg, seriously?
Arsenal would destroy them if they ever got a European game.
Must have been the free Volkswagon that swung the deal.
A big fish in a small pond, he will get his game time there, but ambition?? Phaff.
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I think Gustavo didn’t feel confident enough that he would hold down a regular spot in our midfield. According to Raphael Honigstein Gustavo has accepted a lower salary at Wolfsburg
http://tinyurl.com/p8pxk4m
That may be interpreted as recognition that our midfield is very strong.
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Morning/Afternoon folks!
I agree with that Georgaki, regarding Gustavo. From what he has said his biggest concern was keeping his spot in the Brazil team. Looking at our mid, there is no way that he would be a shoe in to start most matches. You do expect a player to confident enough to put up a fight though.
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