Its the new stick used by the malcontent to beat Arsene with. They are turning Leicester’s miracle season from their success to Arsenal’s and Arsene’s failure. “Arsene said we couldn’t compete with oil money” they squeal with glee. “George, this destroyed your argument that we needed oil money to compete” my own personal hoard of following halfwits screech at me on Twitter.
Well they would be right, had I, Arsene or anyone else said that. The problem for them is, we didn’t say that. Or anything remotely like it. In fact here is exactly what I said on this very blog last July.
“There have been studies done that show an 85% direct correlation between spend and success, across all major leagues. This isn’t my opinion, it is fact. It may be a sad fact and one we wish didn’t exist, but a fact it is and being a fact, we have to acknowledge it and until it changes, accept it. In simple terms that leaves you a 15% chance of beating the odds. So yes, it can be done. Again I ask though, not why Arsenal ‘could’ be the team to do it, but why they ‘should’ be the club to do it?
People will point to Atlético Madrid as an example of how it can be done. Yes, but they are the 3rd biggest club in Spain and have done it once in 20 years. That is 5% of the time and within the previously mentioned 15% window.However that simply proves the maths, it does not mean they (or anyone else) should be expected to do it. Just that its possible. No one is saying its impossible.”
So there we have it. A correlation of 85% between spend and success means that 85 times out of 100, money wins. For the slow of learning, it doesn’t mean 100 times out of 100. The debate has never been whether its possible to compete with less money, but rather how much of a disadvantage it puts Arsenal (or any other team for that matter) at.
If Leicester do go on and win the title, it will do nothing more than confirm that it is possible, but as I said, that was never in question.
The fact is that since Roman and Mansour tipped up with their ill-gotten gains, they immediately made it (this is simplistic) 85% more difficult for teams that can’t match their spending, to win the league. No one was making it up. Chelsea, and City have won it with United being the only team that was able to have a squad that matched their’s on cost. Only those three clubs were able to pay the wage bill that allowed them to compete for the League Cup and Champions League. The two exceptions, so far, have been Leicester and Liverpool, coincidentally both teams that had/have no interest in any competitions other than the league itself. I’m not imagining this, it happened. Honestly, its in history book now.
If we glance across The Channel we see that PSG are 21 points clear after 24 games. Is anyone going to tell me this is down to anything other than “oil money” ?
The rarity of what Leicester are doing does not show how easy it is to do, the very opposite in fact, it proves how difficult it must be.
People will say “if Leicester can do it , why not Arsenal ?” Well the truth is there is no reason why it should not be Arsenal. That said, you must accept then that any team can do it. Not just Arsenal. Why should Arsenal be the one club that should have been expected to do it?
So let all the malcontents climb back on their perches and wait until they can find their next stick.
Positively Arsenal 
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How much of these bloody entitled fans moaning against high ticket prices but wanting the club to buy the most expensive players and pay them top-top wages, are willing to wage a sustained campaign to get safe-standing in all PL stadiums with a corresponding affordable ticket price. I read and listen these bloggers and podcasters who are quick to jump on the bandwagon behind the malcontents but they are totally unwilling to take a stand that will lose them popularity and their privileges they enjoy with the Arsenal hierarchy.
The only meaningful reform that will objectively limit the power of the clubs to jack up ticket prices and to covertly convert stadia into quiet compliant theatres are safe standing areas mandated at say 10-15% of total capacity. The only way the craven PL owners will do this is through political pressure from legislators and from the grassroots.
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I see Arsenal have spent their entire summers transfer budget, in fact they have spent several years worth of transfer budgets, we have bought a big new ranch in Texas. the odd thing is that this will not show up in the Arsenal accounts, neither outgoings or in ownership, but I know we have paid for it, cos idiot Arsenal fans have said so, “Stan buys a ranch” therefore becomes “Stand buys a ranch using Arsenal’s transfer budget”, really how do these people go unsupervised.
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as you say shotta there would need to be a change in the law to allow safe standing areas in BPL grounds, as it is currently against the law.
secondly Arsenal as things stand could not increase stadium capacity even if safe standing was to be allowed. Islington council will not allow it, and would be very unlikely to change their view on this, without a major upgrade of transport links, which Arsenal would be expected to fund.
So as things stand safe standing areas is a real no no for Arsenal, we would remain at 60k, ticket revenue would go down, and add in the cost of constructing the standing areas, and if we want to increase the capacity the cost of upgrading the transport links is so prohibitive it just would not make economic sense.
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Ticket revenue would go down if people were charged less to stand than to sit eddy.
The assumption of course is that clubs will charge people less to stand than to sit.
I don’t see why – it is not a given. If you want to stand up then that is fine, stand up. If you want to sit down then that is also fine. I don’t really see why I should be charged more, or less, because I chose to watch football in a particular posture.
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Since Klopp took over at Liverpool he’s only won 5 in 18, no wonder LFC fans so against ticket price increase
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well it would be expected that prices would be cheaper, as it has always been the way, it is in the football league, it is in all leagues across the world. All fan groups put forward the main reason for bringing back standing is so that ticket prices would be cheaper.
and even if as you say prices remained the same, the club still have the cost of bringing it in for no financial benefit to the club. Again I say fan groups put forward the view that it will benefit clubs to have standing areas as it will mean far higher capacities so greater revenue in both tickets and what the extra fans will spend in the ground. What I’m pointing out is that for AFC as things stand neither is an actual viable option, as we can not increase capacity, and we can not afford to upgrade the travels links to allow us to increase capacity.
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Alastair Brookshaw @albrookshawAFC 15h15 hours ago
Thing about season tickets is that cost of *anything* over a year seems a fortune. 1 Starbucks vanilla spice latte a day? £1295.75 a year!!!
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Daniel Cowan @thedanielcowan 17h17 hours ago
My ticket to the NLD cost £96. To Burnley it was £26. That’s an average of £61. At that price I wouldn’t have been able to get a NLD ticket.
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Stan should have bought Holloway Road Tube station rather than a ranch – sorted
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Arsenal issued ‘cease and desist letter’ to Mark Elis.
http://www.herefordtimes.com/sport/14269924.Arsenal_Football_Club__concerned__about_former_Hereford_United_coach_s_alleged_actions/?ref=twtrec
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I thought that safe standing would help (& it would) but the sight of the Utopian Dormund fans with their beer and orchestrated chanting and English football fan tourists and safe standing areas throwing tennis balls on the pitch as well as all the rest has made me think twice.
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Let’s do some basic maths, shall we?
An Arsenal season ticket – should you be so lucky to posses one -costs basically £1,050.
You get to see 19 league games and 7 CL/Cup games = 26 chances to see the Glorious Arsenal in a season.
That’s £40 a game. I really can’t see what the problem is.
60% of the stadium is reserved for ST holders = 39,000
3,000 away fans. avg. say.
21,000 seats are left of Silver and Reds to fill who may have to pay higher prices – and still most games sell out within an hour of being on the Arsenal.com website.
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I defy any management to succeed in charging the same or near equivalent price for standing as they would for the seated punter. It defies the laws of commerce and common sense. There are all kinds of objections to safe standing but what is being desperately concealed by the media and others is how a prescribed amount of safe standing zones (10-20% of stadium capacity) will reduce the pricing power of the owners simply because a fan can, for example, choose between sitting for £40 vs standing for £20. Years ago I was quasi union leader-organizer and what freedom to organize and strike did was reduce, not remove, the pricing power of owners. Once they retained absolute power they could keep down wages and benefits while hiring and firing at will. It is self-evident that the emergence of the all-seater stadia has given the owners almost absolute pricing power. They will adapt and adjust to any major protest but sooner or later they will impose their power. It is the law of nature.
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Im enjoying reading all the posts today on PA,Im as ignorant as the WOBs/protesters although without their point of view/reasoning,so its been fascinating and enlightening to see what youve posted.
Cheers to A5,Shotta,dc,Fins and Ed!
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Basic maths me arse.
60% of the stadium is 36,000 ST holders.
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Is there no apprehension for Sunday?
I thought I would mosey over to check out the Leicester v Liverpool game, right?
Leicester have played roughly, one game a week except for the Cups, 4 – 4 -2 is Rainier’s game plan, no surprises expected.
Obviously, the only aspect left for Ranieri to do something unexpected was his overriding strategy and approach to the game. On that front Leicester are similarly predictable when it comes to starting formation and personnel. The Italian manager typically has them playing a reactive type of football home or away, based on keeping men behind the ball (mainly to compensate for immobile centre-backs and as a whole average defensive unit), invite pressure from the opposition and then pour forward on the break whenever possible, looking to involve their two star men – Mahrez and Vardy – as often as possible.On Sunday, all of this will be evident, but Ranieri can add another layer on top of all this.
Not since the heavy defeat from Arsenal towards the end of September – Leicester’s only thrashing up to now – did Ranieri use a clearly proactive approach featuring an advanced defensive line and ferocious pressing from high up. He did in this versus Liverpool.
The Arsenal cannot afford to be slow starters, and therefore pace per Walcott will be an essential ploy against a static 2 with 4 by 4 well advances in the Arsenal half!
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Its a bit quiet on here today…
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It is a bit GP
I expect we are having some sort of silent protest demonstration
I must say its very effective
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Is there no apprehension for Sunday?
NOTH missed some earlier comments.
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Listening to a mundane and droll podcast on the football as I work my way through some work chores and they’ve just informed their listeners that “we are heading towards the corporatistion of football”,
Fuck my boots. Have they ever heard of this Fing called the Premier League? Have they ever watched the Damned United (no need to even read!)? If as these individuals have as they claim been campaigning for better ticket prices etc over the years than to make such a statement or declaration is mind blastingly staggering. In fact it is unbelievable.
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There is nothing better than a well publicised demonstration Fins, especially when it is carefully and sympathetically covered by the same TV company that you are complaining about for arbitrarily moving the match at short notice.
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There is no apprehension – man for man our players are better than theirs. Collectively our players are better than theirs. We are at home, in a ground where we have beaten Bayern, and disposed both Mancs side in the past few months.
We shall set about them with no mercy.
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what a great irony it would be to put another 5 past them… goal diff may yet be the issue in the coming months!
winning it one point clear will be nail biting but most satisfying!
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Have no extreme tactical knowledge of the game, but just have a feeling our slightly good backs are going to be very important…and hopefully decisive in this game.
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Though a strange and irritatingly thought out work course I find myself in Barcelona. Plane home Sunday afternoon so miss our game but also miss the chance to see Barca play Celtic Vigo much later that evening . Twas ever thus I guess.
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The calm before the storm…..
Listen all, we are a much better team than Leicester. If there are no stupid self-inflicted mistakes or a refereeing howler Arsenal will win. With ease….
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its good to see Alexi iwobi being officially added to the first team squad, another winter signing and compleating the last place in the 25 man squad. With 4 players currently injured (although Danny is back next week) and two keepers, there are currently 19 outfield players competing for 17 places and thats not including youngsters banging on the door like Jeff. We have lots of games coming up and the squad needs to be resileant, at the moment I think it is which just leaves form, good form will lead to trophies.
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Just secured a ticket for next week’s FA cup tie….would love to meet up with any positivistas again….
Sunlan just gone ahead against Manure….
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Need to contact Fins and Passenal. How best to link with you guys? Can I ask PA admin for your email? Let me know.
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I am not going to be there GP but have fun !!
Just watched ManYoo defeated at Sunlun – a deserved three points for Sam’s boys. The Mancs a rag bag of expensive, ill fitting, confused individuals. And it seems to be getting worse, and worse, and worse.
For the idiot brigade among our Scarfistas who endlessly babble on about “spend some farkin money” they should be made to watch Manchester United over the past two seasons, until their eyeballs bleed.
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Shotts
HM George should have our contact info!
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If you have no objections Fins I will send Shotts your e mail – same for Pass ??
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All good
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Sending you an email soon Fins.
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Shotta can access them himself Andy
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Heh
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Being a curious but simple Arsenal supporter, I thought I would do a recce!
To beat a team, you must attack. Without taking any shots, your team won’t score.
The referee is well-known, therefore Leicester may possibly increase their penally goals? An unknown unknown!
In the last Leicester v Arsenal game, Aaron Ramsey went on one of his marauding runs early in the game, got to the box and tried a shot on his left foot, surrounded by three players – Kante,Drinkwater and Morgan – who are instructed to hunt in packs. This isn’t naive, last minute panic defending – the reason for pressing opposition players in packs is clear and very, very effective – if the ball bounces loose, one of the three or four is bound to win it.
Sorry Kelly, young Aaron take note.
As one guy wrote, Never,ever, lose the ball, attack at exactly the right times and NEVER lose the ball. Ever.
Man City apparently has two good shouts for a penalty, nothing given – and at home? shades of Atkinson. Giroud going to ground in the penalty will never, ever earn a penalty, from Atkinson. Giroud can expect a battering from Huth and Morgan, therefore where art thou? Theo! Your shooting boots should have had a some intensive training sessions this week, I trust?
IF the new guy that Gary so despises, has done his new job (?), the Arsenal WILL WIN!
Come on, let us be having you. COTG
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He can can’t he George !!
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George and Andrew:
I wanted Fins and Passenal’s permission. Like you both, I take my admin privileges seriously.
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Fins: Your email address is not working. You may want to reactivate it.
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Feck me. Is Newcastle this bad or Chelsea that good? 5-1 so far.
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Ooops. George has my working email address, I must be posting this comment amidst some kind of WordPress glitch!
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Sorry George (IBSF)
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Praise the football gods for Valentine’s Day, stern partners and tickets thrown my way haha!
Valentines Day a day that deserves a blooming protest.
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George – You have Fin’s email address in your mailbox. I remember a back and forth between you both when he sent his last post. Please DM it to me.
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Shotta, try this one
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