So Arsenal drop yet more points in games they should be winning.
This, aside from transfer matters, was the message for many observers, of the whole weekend.
And yet time and again, when Arsenal results are said to disappoint, my personal disappointment, (aside from the points that have been dropped), tends to rest heavily on the shoulders of two groups of people not actually involved in the loss of those points. And that combines with irritation with two other groups which, all in all, means that anything less than victory is going to be far more painful than really should be the case.
So what – or who – are the disappointments and what are the irritants?
First and foremost are groups – noisy ones, at that – of the club’s own fans, too many of whom anticipate cricket scores in our favour against supposedly ‘lesser’ opposition. By now, they really should know better.
One of the key features of a league such as the PL awash with money successfully shared (compared with, say, it’s Spanish equivalent) throughout the division is that there are now rarely any whipping boys or ‘rollover’ matches. And this is not a recent development – all games now have to be won; it’s no longer sufficient to merely turn up as was once the case. This is true for all clubs as conveniently demonstrated by both Manchester outfits already this season.
Given that this is not a new thing, the tendency for our own fans to erupt on social networks at the first hint of a setback, especially DURING games, is particularly disappointing. Whilst you might reasonably expect the fans of other clubs to talk nonsense about our club, when it’s our own fans doing it, it’s particularly regrettable.
The second group to disappoint – and this seems to be the case for most games these days including those not involving Arsenal – are the performances of the men in black.
Many accept they (the refs, the linesman/assistants and the ‘fourth’ official) are no longer fit for purpose and some of us are only waiting for the inevitable introduction of video technology to ride into town to save us all from the lottery that plays too big role in the outcome of far too many of today’s games. But it is not their inability to keep up with the play, to see through blatant (let alone thinly disguised) player gamesmanship or even the ill-advised current fashion to ‘manage’ as opposed to ‘referee’ games (ie, apply the rules) that generates disappointment in these game-weary eyes.
My fundamental problem with the officials is their failure to perform consistently.
Yesterday in two games we had the perfect illustration of this with Liverpool benefitting from the softest penalty award we are likely to see this side of Xmas (or, as some wag will inevitably suggest, until Liverpool next play again). Meanwhile, down in the Midlands, Cazorla is illegally ‘displaced’ in the penalty area, goes flying immediately in front of the ref as the game is allowed to continue ‘to flow’.
So one game is allowed to flow, thus benefitting the lesser talented side needing to take a more ‘muscular’ approach to the match, and the other game is governed – at least at one critical moment – with an iron-fist, to the benefit in an up-to-that-point even game, of a Liverpool side still working to achieve dominance. That Liverpool should benefit in this way is particularly galling for any observer familiar with the thuggish defensive practises of their own defensive lunatic Skrtel who is routinely permitted penalty box assaults without penalty (let alone free-kick, booking etc) for any and all set-plays – but maybe that’s another story, albeit a closely related one, in truth.
I understand that offside is hard to call correctly.
I get that throw-ins and corner decisions go wayward on an all too frequent basis.
At a stretch, I understand that to some referees, certain players get sent off thanks to embarrassing cases of mistaken identity.
But it is unacceptable on any level in the same competition for one ref to ‘let the game flow’ and for another to apply the rules to within an inch of the game’s life. That continental referees veer towards the latter suggests ours should follow suit if only to prepare players for life playing in European cup competitions/international games. Either way, standards need to be agreed and applied. Consistently.
So those are the disappointments, what of the irritations?
My primary irritation lies with those clubs who consistently turn with cup final-level performances one week against Arsenal, only to roll over a week later against the next scheduled opposition. We can reliably guess that Leicester will not prove as obdurate again this season unless they make it to a cup final. Or play Arsenal again. It must be said that Man u had to overcome this many times in years gone by when they were still a giant of a club – the phenomena of teams playing out of their skin in the full knowledge the eyes of the majority of the footballing world would be on them. So yes, Arsenal have to deal with this but I do wonder why those sides, capable of virtuoso performances one week, let it all slide the next. I genuinely feel sorry for their short-changed fans and, regardless, find this whole syndrome incredibly annoying. Especially when, as they usually seem to, their goalies turn into Gordon Banks for the day.
Why am I imagining they do this so much versus Arsenal? I can only guess that it’s something to do with our penchant for playing the game in the way it should be played – as a thrilling, attacking spectacle – that incentivises opponents to try to beat us by exploiting our gaps and by playing the heroic underdog card. They are entitled to, of course, but their fans must sometimes wonder …
My final irritation lies with, almost inevitably, the media and its reaction to any perceived Arsenal set back. Images on newspaper back pages of broken cannons, doom-laden studio analysis, apocalyptic radio phone-in debates are rarely truly matched when Citeh drop points, for example. Man u never seem to crash and burn in quite the same way as AFC in the eyes of the media and Liverpool are rarely hung out to dry, no matter how many times Steven ‘slippery’ Gerrard loses his footing, in quite the same way or with as much gusto as is reserved for Arsenal. There was a glee attached to the ramblings of Jamie Redknapp on yesterday’s Sky coverage that was fuelled rather than moderated by Ed Chamberlain, the Sky anchor, which just doesn’t happen in the wake of the unexpected defeats of other ‘big’ clubs.
Defeats?
Oh, that’s right, it was a draw yesterday, wasn’t it?
Who’d have known?
Positively Arsenal 
There were a couple of nailed on penalties not given this week for which I am truly grateful Andrew. As you say though inconsistent.
I have been impressed with Monreal these past few weeks, yet another target of the boo boys and the groaners. The Spaniard has very much stepped up and it just shows what a few games in succession, hard games all of them, can do in improving a player’s confidence and the certainty of his touch.
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Good post Andrew
It is irritating when lower, lesser teams play a game of their lives.. but it’s something we should expect. Same as the media, I don’t expect anything less from them. We will face bigger tests during the season.
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These disappointments and irritants are all part of the rich tapestry that is following The Arsenal! But made immeasurably richer by such gems as this post. Thanks Andrew. I quite like Jamie Redknapp as he often seems to be gently on our side, and I don’t mind it when pundits criticize if it is carefully thought out and intelligent: after all, it is what I try to do, and it would be a strange viewer who didn’t try to work out what is unfolding in front of them. I suspect however that for many of the fans, the sad truth is that for many of them one or two beers have been consumed before watching, which can cloud judgment, or so I am told.
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Well said on all counts. For me, there’s a third group which annoy me….the fans that are not bright enough to realise that the media are idiots or that the performances of referees make a difference.
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I suppose there are another group who irritate me, Arsenal ‘fans’ who can give you chapter and verse on what Adrian Durham said today
Like I give a fuck
It takes a little getting used to but for Arsenal games with Alan Smith as co commentator, as yesterday, just mute the sound. You will not regret it.
My enjoyment of the game soared after removing the whining East Midland twang
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Fantastic piece Andrew, thanks
I have yet to watch the game, I was away visiting old friends. But we are still unbeaten and we have had a tougher schedule than the ‘top’ teams so far…the international break is probably welcome. I’m expecting that Arsenal will kick up a gear or two and all will change…..
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I see Arsene’s refereeing of a charity match in Rome this afternoon is causing a bit of twitching among the Scarfers.
My Gawd he knows how to wind them up
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Andrew – You are much too kind. Apart from the the blatant dishonesty and incompetence of referees like Anthony Taylor who wave off nailed-on penalties, body checks, grabbing and holding of skill players who have completely bamboozled their more agricultural opponents (all of which I have come to expect), despite all of this, the worse thing at Arsenal are the complete pricks in our fanbase. They feast on trying to belittle both players who wear the shirt and the manager who is a proven genius in buiding our team into a championship winning force. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they spew with glee the media narrative that our players aren’t good enough, last year it was Ramsey, last week it was Giroud, today it is Sanogo. As these players grow into their role and become big money targets of other clubs, they shamelessly move unto another target, repeating the same bullshit.
I repeat what I said on twitter yeterday:
C*nts here, c*nts there, c*nts everywnere
A parasitic form of support, never giving anything to the team, simply living off the body of Arsenal as camp-followers.
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I’ve just spent a little bit of time on Twitter, and apparently we need a striker and a beast in midfield. It is all Arsene’s fault and we are a laughing stock who have no ambition.
So I guess if we can’t buy one today to cover for Giroud we might have to either be inventive or promote Akpom, and rely on Coquelin to cover for Ramsey, Wilshire, Areta and Flamini. Meanwhile, Sanchez, Cazorla, Ozil, Walcott, The Ox, Campbell, Podolski and Rosciky will just have to do the best they can in front of goal.
It doesn’t look quite so desperate to me.
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The only problem with being 5 points from 3 games is that Chelsea are 9 form 3.
They have had humongous luck to get that.
The fact that the spent big money for Cesc and Costa will cause grumbles of discontent from many of our fans. In particular from the fanbase who seem to have forgotten we bought Alexis Sanchez.
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Last Chelsea striker to score four in their opening three PL games was Adrian Mutu DC !
(Sniffs loudly)
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You are exactly right shotta. Fucking parasites, gloating to high heaven when we win and when things dont go according to how they think it should go in their retarded heads, they do their bit in dragging the club down along with the media. Arsenal doesnt owe them a fucking thing.
The media are always wankers, trying to stir trouble where there is none. It is these self-important, deluded, spoilt, throwing-toys-out-of-pram dumb fucks that really piss me off.
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Simply love how Wenger doesnt give a toss about what the ingrates and media think of him and has gone to manage a charity match. That man raises the finger in the classiest possible way.
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Wenger and the board have been rightly applauded for signings of the calibre of Mesut and Alexis, but they will also rightly be heavily criticised for failing to add players… There is absolutely no excuse for it.
The drab draw vs the Foxes is yet more evidence of the need for quality additions, but the fact we are still waiting on transfer deadline day is beyond frustrating.
I appreciate this goes against the grain here… I doubt I’ll return after today.
Thanks anyway.
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Erm, Leicester drew against Everton away, were very good against Chelsea in their 2-0 loss and played very well against us. They’re going to be that one promoted side which comes a long every season and ends up playing better than all the lower table clubs. I expect to see the big boys to drop points at Leicester.
A lot of people are bemoaning dropped points even though we’ve played two of the hardest fixtures we’ll have this season, Everton and Leicester away, with a couple of Champions League qualifiers thrown in for good measure. To see people throw in the towel after the third fixture is sickening.
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Annicoll: “Last Chelsea striker to score four in their opening three PL games was Adrian Mutu DC !”
Food for thought, eh?
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It’s all about the time of fixtures – I’m sure later in the season after a couple of drubbings the foxes tails will be down and they might likely lay down and get rolled over.
Same for Everton – a long Europa League campaign awaits, and they usually go to pieces for a few weeks after Liverpool beat them.
Meanwhile Chelsea’s second XI can wrap up UCL group stage qualification for themselves.
We have practically all away League games after midweek group stage games. Funny that.
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Sid: “The drab draw vs the Foxes is yet more evidence of the need for quality additions, but the fact we are still waiting on transfer deadline day is beyond frustrating.”
I’d say the drab draw is a result of going down to ten men in mid-week against Besiktas and the offense learning how to play together. There were instances in yesterday’s game where Ozil, Ramsey and Alexis were in the same exact spot at the same time.
What quality additions would you bring in?
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Well, Sid – to date we’ve signed a goalkeeper, a right-back, a centre-back and a striker at a combined cost of £61m. You may be right that there’s absolutely no excuse for this sort of profligacy, but I suspect they’ve substantially strengthened the squad. Time will tell.
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DC: “We have practically all away League games after midweek group stage games. Funny that.”
City have the same problem. Chelsea doesn’t have it as bad, but the two fixtures they’ll face away after their Champions League clashes are City and Man United.
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Sorry Gains.
I’m seeing conspiracies everywhere today.
People might be pissed that we are not bothered in buying the much fabled CDM, but the reasons for not buying are clear when you look at the numbers we have there. ( we ain’t even selling Coq).
Clear to me anyway.
A 4th Choice CB can be picked up tonight. Options for a reasonable TV5 replacement seem to be dwindling.
Only the ugly looking pulls will be left on the dancefloor.
The less said about the striker situation the better.
However, Theo will be back to full fitness soon.
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Coq and Ryo may be making moves, on loan.
hardly a quantum leap of a guess, that!
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The hardest thing for the average fan is to not get caught up in the emotionalism of the deadline day and the xfer window. The biggest spenders are taking the hugest risks in the hope of wining the top-4 lottery. Man Utd is now repeating the Monaco mistake of thinking they can outspend a club backed by the sovereign wealth of an Arab Emirate. Monaco had firepower upfront and no defenders and limped to a miserable 2nd place in Ligue Une last year (9 points behind PSG flatters as the Abhu Dhabi oilers had the title wrapped up at least one month before season-end). The Monaco project is now over as evident by the sale of James and Falcao, their two most marketable assests. It is one of the biggest football financial disasters of 2014 and nobody in the media cares to highlight it.
The media loves to stoke the fires of the transfer window without seriously emphasizing the risks and dangers. With so much money at stake, the transfer market is swimming with voracious sharks greedily preying on the emotionalism of fans and the fear of owners and club executives who fear missing out on the PL or champion’s league bonanza. As I type this, on TalkSport and Twitter Arsenal “fans” are being whipped up in a frenzy cursing Wenger and Gazidis for refusing to get caught up in the mania. Based on their track record, Arsenal’s management remain disciplined and unmoved by emotianalism. They will only make deals that benefit the club. At the end of the day they will be proven right again while many of our competitors go to the wall. It is inevitable.
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DC, if you look at our back line we’re in better shape than Chelsea or City. Chelsea and City have two starters and an inexperienced back up. We have two starters and Calum Chambers, the pick of the bunch when compared to Zouma and Mangala. Then you have the RB who can play as CB situation. If you’ve watched Chelsea play, you will have noticed that Ivanovic is usually their most important player getting forward. If he’s stuck at CB, Chelsea lose a huge attacking weapon. As far as Sagna is concerned, their game against Stoke showed why a lot of us didn’t cry when he left. Awesome player, but he’s not exactly Cafu when going forward. We have Chambers, Debuchy and Bellerin at RB. The only place were the competition is tight is on the left. We have Nacho and Gibbo,. City have Kolarov and Clichy. Chelsea have Filipe Luis and Azpilicueta.
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It’s very hard not to get caught up in the emotionalism of it all – I admit that for 5 minutes earlier today I was there when I thought about Falcao to manure. Thinking it through rationally, I realised that it was just too much of a risk for us and that what we really need is time for the new players to gel. I am concerned that the injury curse does not appear to have deserted us, but I also need to remember that we have several players who have yet to make an appearance and we are only 3 games into the PL also having navigated CL qualification. We cannot underestimate the emotional impact of those qualifying games. I remain hopeful that post the international break we will be ready for the real start of our season. The biggest obstacle is our whining fans who will continue to surround the club in a pall of negativity unless they get the biggest, shiniest toys of all. It’s like their goldfish minds have already forgotten about Alexis!
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You guys want a chuckle? Go read LeGrove’s latest post. The dude is just as funny and absurd as Adrian Durham.
Hey, Georgie, we should arrange a debate between a Positivista, the dude from AST, Pedro from Le Grove and every other idiot who plays at knowing more than Arsene. These pricks should be called to task over their idiocy once and for all.
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This is spot on!
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Look at the amount of pressure Pedro from Le Grove is under, you guys.
“Yaya in our starting 11 is both laughable and negligent. Things got so bad in the pub I was in, that Liverpool and Spurs fans were singing to keep him on the pitch. The craziest thing about it is we have Joel Campbell who has three seasons of two leagues, a World Cup and the champions league. Why isn’t he being given a shot?”
Fuck, the guy had to weather a couple of Liverpool and Spuds fans who were making jokes about Yaya. Can we start a telethon or a GoFundMe account to raise money for this poor soul?
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Here’s young Pedro again:
“Now, here is where you really get an insight into Wenger’s ‘stubborn to the point of reckless’ behaviour. Against Everton last week, Sanchez had an average first half in his first Premier League game as a striker. Wenger yanked him at half time. A pretty serious move that can be demotivating.
This week, Sanogo absolutely stinks out the place to the point you feel for him. Wenger doesn’t change a thing. He doesn’t just keep things steady for a bit then yank him… he waits into the 74th minute. Where is the consistency Arsene? Absolute madness. That game was crying out for some pace and directness. Wenger sat on his hands and allowed Leicester to taste the finish line.”
According to him, Wenger is stubborn and reckless because he pulled Alexis off and put on Giroud to rescue a draw at Everton. He shouldn’t have done it because Alexis, sensitive boy that he is, could have started crying. Then he cries about consistency in substitutions while completely disregarding tactics, fitness levels and a shit load of behind the scenes scenarios he’ll never have a fucking clue about. But yeah, fuck Wengerrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!
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Here’s him talking tactics:
“Planning:
Again, total disregard for the planning process. If you’re lining up against slow fullbacks, gut instinct would tell you they loading the front line with pace, particularly the wide areas, would be a simple but effective tactic. We don’t even do the basics. Where is the vision for our play? What is Wenger trying to achieve?
I couldn’t tell you. I can look at most sides and see roughly what their coach is trying to achieve. I watched Liverpool before the game, now, I know I’ve a bit of a hardon for Rodgers, but I think he’s a talent. You can see exactly what he’s trying to achieve on the pitch and you can see what he’s trying to build with those players. Power and pace all over the park. Smart set up. Intricate passing systems. Sure, it’s not perfect, but you can see where his plan is going. Mourinho comes in, year one he has a clear out, year two he makes his moves. Two genius signings in Cesc and Costa. He’s built out the rest of the squad with top quality and he’s sold well.
What is our plan? We’ve bought a wide man to compliment our forward line. What else? It’s replacing rather than building. A pal I was with yesterday asked the last time we signed a beast of a player. I couldn’t think. Maybe the actual beast (Baptista). It’s quite incredible to think a man who rakes in £8m a can go into a season with no real plan.”
I don’t know how the hell he jumped from slow fullbacks to pace up front to, Grrrrr, we don’t even do the basics. I have no clue what direction he’s trying to take his argument.
Look at him splashing his love for Brendan Rodgers and Mourinho all over the place.
He has a boner for Brendan Rodgers, a manager who was destroyed by City just the other day and failed to win the league despite playing ten or so games less than all other top four teams last season.
I’m getting sick of this Mourinho love in. Mourinho was hounded out of Spain for playing boring, defensive football. He then comes back to England and wins fuck all in his first season back. This season, three games in, he’s already won the league because he signed Costa and Cesc?
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Gains, it’s the perfect example of the instant ‘microwave’ society that we live in. 3 games in and chelski are anointed as champions having played 2 newly promoted teams. Unless it is obvious, they can’t seem to accept that there is more than meets the eye in most cases. We only see what is on the surface and have no idea of what is going on behind the wizard’s curtain. Even young Isaac Hayden had an interesting quote on his Twitter page: “Patience is not the ability to wait. But the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.” A few AFC ‘fans’ would do well to reflect on that thought!
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We are always ready – Steady boys, Steady
We’ll fight and we’ll conquer again and again
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Pass and Gains: I think Wenger gave them mindless cretins, including the pompous self-important bloggers, tweeters and podscaster, the classic finger today. Off to ref a charity football game. Total confidence in his squad.
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Gains
So, you feel we are on par with Everton then? Ok, so 5th place it is then, that’s fair enough.
I would suggest quality additions would be a recognised striker and a defender. The squad hasn’t been adequately strengthened for donkeys. Thing is it wasn’t easy before as we didn’t have the readies… Now we do so the fact it hasn’t happened will heap more undue pressure on the manager and staff.
So unnecessary… It’s not like other clubs haven’t signed decent players.
But fuck it, we need our manager riffing a charity match in Rome.
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What do you expect? Wenger said we need a striker and a defensive midfielder at the end of last season… We don’t sign them, Giroud gets injured, Sanogo looks unready and it’s all guns aimed at any Gooner who dare ask questions ?
Go figure that one out.
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Sid, Arsene is the manager, he does not actually negotiate the transfer deals, so regardless of where he is, transfers will or will not happen for other reasons. As for your claim that we have not strengthened for years, we spent 128 days at the top of the PL last season and it was injuries that scuppered us in the end. We have replaced the 3 that left – GK, RB, CB and added 2 upfront (one of which is Alexis FFS!), so it’s possible that injuries permitting, we can do better than last season. We are not in a position to throw money at all our problems, so we need to recognise that and deal with the reality of where we are in the great scheme of things. It may not be where we would want to be, but it is where we are.
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Who the fuck left the door ajar?
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Oh Jesus, let’s forget we need a striker, a midfielder and a defender and blame the…. Refs, the fans and that cunt Piers Morgan instead.
Ok, gotcha. Laters.
I’ll be back in May when we are all bemoaning; refs, injuries and duplicitous fans for finishing fourth.
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I dare anyone to suggest they wouldn’t have taken Falcao.
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Sid: You either overpay for signings who are not the required quality or you keep your money and wait. Collymore was on TalkSport explaining the transfer racket and how clubs overpay. Fulham simply pissing away at £12 million on Mitrioglu or Villa wasting £24million on signing Bent. Apparently in football there is a saying you never regret the signing you never make. Makes perfect sense.
Pissing away money is costing us the fans eventually as the League implodes on itself with this inflated spending. Apparently Borini wants 90K per week; that is why his proposed deal to Sunderland fell through. Can you imagine the impact that would have on salaries of low-to-mid level strikers.
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Sid, if money were no object, but unfortunately it is for us as we do not have unlimited resources. I would rather we could compete for such players, but I have come to terms with the reality of our situation. We can only do the best we can within our limited resources. Falcao and his agent are all about the benjamins and we just could not pay him £346,000 per week. Like it or not, that is the reality of our situation.
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Thanks for being a spot of calm in a sea stupid today.
That Pedro idiot and his followers drive me crazy. I suppose I’ve been engaging in a little bit of trolling over there recently. The “out dated training methods” talking point really gets to me. No one can tell me what our training methods are over there (or anywhere for that matter) much less what specifically is wrong with them. All you get is really just a bunch of ageist comments about Wenger the “dinosaur”. Those people need to look up the word support in the dictionary and realize that is not what they are doing.
As for transfers we can not afford to just throw money around like some think we can. Imagine we got Falcao. He would be on more than double the wage of our highest paid player. I once trained someone at a former job and found out, from the accountant who was a good friend of mine, that the trainee was making more money than I was to be my subordinate. Needless to say I was somewhat upset by this and in no uncertain terms demanded a raise from my employer. If I hadn’t gotten it I would have left. Not a good situation.
My opinion is that every summer we will make one “big” signing with two or three “medium” signings (10-15 mil.) from a pool of players that Wenger has identified. If some or all of these players are unavailable he will have the patience and balls to not go throwing money around chasing shadows.
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Oh and Sid, in this real world we live in, I would not take Falcao. In imagination land I would have him all day.
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Passenal. It was a loan. Sure an expensive one, but not out of Arsenals reach. But even allowing for that, we are supposed to believe no striker was available? Remy? Ballotelli? Then there’s the small matter of sorting the gaping hole in midfield.
Yep, it’s unpalTable, but the centre of our midfield is like a worn out cheese cloth.
But let’s blame Robbie Savage and mike Riley.
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Quack surgery on his knee in a bid to get him ready for the WC that failed?
To play for Arsenal in the PL?
Did you see Özil and Chambo hobble off? Arteta? The smack on kozza’s head not given a yellow?
But let’s forget all that. He’s signed up with Special Agent Mendes. Never going to happen. Not ever. Same as with any other Mendes player, take your pick from the list.
Unlike two notable manages in the game, Arsenal are not specialist in signing players signed to Mendes, I do not need to write a blog or host a podcast in order to be aware of this information.
Arsenal FC sacked their previous manager for taking a bung of a few grand. That is peanuts compared to what’s going on in today’s game, you saw how Makay had his pants pulled down by Don Sun Tzu Tan right? Or did you miss all of that as well whilst you were so busy staring into the Arse?
No offence Sid but you should go and watch some of these games, pay attention to what the club you actually support is, and then come back when your Arsenal is better stocked with useful info and the benefit of the use of your eyes. Ta.
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Fucking Mendes. Pardon my French.
No wonder the hacks never mention him!
How many Arsenal Hole bloggers out there have discussed Arsenal signing Special Agent Mendes players this summer. It’s never going to happen. Click an’ easy eh?
*Carvalho is getting on a plane on his way from Lisbon later tonight*
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And with that it’s back to work for me. Whilst the AAA go through another cyclical media induced meltdown (please refer to the. Meltdown following the £1 addition, which to my mind, seeing as the players contract was beng broken, was quite funny…thought the media husheed up the bit about the broken contract, too much fun trolling gullible arsenal fans).
These people are having their buttons pushed too easily. Scarily.
Nice post AA, thanks. Great comments too.
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Sid: “I would suggest quality additions would be a recognised striker and a defender. The squad hasn’t been adequately strengthened for donkeys. Thing is it wasn’t easy before as we didn’t have the readies… Now we do so the fact it hasn’t happened will heap more undue pressure on the manager and staff.
So unnecessary… It’s not like other clubs haven’t signed decent players.
But fuck it, we need our manager riffing a charity match in Rome.”
Apart from Costa, Chelsea re-signed Drogba and Giroud’s back up in the France squad. United are paying half a testicle for a player who will not be there next season. City bought no strikers this off season. Please name a recognized striker you’d like to see at Arsenal that is better than we already have. Do keep in mind that we have Walcott coming back from his injury in the next few weeks.
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what is wrong with the players we have and why is he leaving Monaco? he went there for money and has continued to move toe highest bidder or is that payer? he made his name on athletico; , allow Campbell and sanogo to make theirs here
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Sid: You either overpay for signings who are not the required quality or you keep your money and wait. Collymore was on TalkSport explaining the transfer racket and how clubs overpay. Fulham simply pissing away at £12 million on Mitrioglu or Villa wasting £24million on signing Bent. Apparently in football there is a saying you never regret the signing you never make. Makes perfect sense.
Pissing away money is costing us the fans eventually as the League implodes on itself with this inflated spending. Apparently Borini wants 90K per week; that is why his proposed deal to QPR fell through. Can you imagine the impact that would have on salaries of low-to-mid level strikers.
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