In the midst of all the giddiness and joy among Arsenal fans at the prospect of a brand new, literally shiny, high profile manager taking over the reins of management from that wizened, grizzled old grand-dad we had all gotten used to, something just doesn’t ring true.
Don’t get me wrong. Although am a well known partisan for Arsene Wenger, I have nothing against Unai Emery and wholeheartedly welcome him to the club and truly wish for him all the success possible. He is young and handsome, a very telegenic face, around which the PR people at the club can only drool. Apparently, when unveiled to the media, he said all the right things which had the hacks in rapture as they pounded their keyboards, oiled their tongues for radio or were dabbed with makeup before video recording the usual clichéd segment for TV. Most of all he has a brilliant CV, starting in the boondocks of Spanish football taking a couple of clubs to promotion, excelling at Sevilla with 3 Europa League titles and, prior to Arsenal, managing one of the biggest-moneyed clubs in Europe ending with a quadruple of titles. Surely he is the perfect man for the job.
And that is what triggers my contrarian instinct. The script is just too perfectly written.
By the way, we all have a contrarian streak genetically coded into the deep reptilian recesses of our cranium, the one that tell us: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is”. But too often, most of us get suckered by our emotions, based on narratives fomented by the mainstream media, and forget to listen to our brains, not our heart.
Something is “too good to be true” with the narrative we are now being sold. According to almost all the usual suspects Emery will save us from the washed-up, stupid, old fool who only managed an Invincible year as part of 3 league titles, 7 FA cups and kept us in the top-4 for 20 out of 22 years:
“Emery will get Arsenal more organised than they have been”. (BBC)
“What they will be getting is a coach who is fully committed and, in his approach to preparation, a startling break from what they have been used to. If Wenger’s twilight years at the club produced a team that often appeared under-coached, then the reign of Emery will be the exact opposite.” (Independent)
“Where Arsène Wenger’s teams may have descended into the painfully one-dimensional, Emery’s outlook is one of nuance and precision, which may well suit Arsenal’s developing team rather more than the entrenched, haughty collection of Parisian stars.” (Guardian)
Disorganized, Under-coached and One-dimensional
So less than two weeks after Wenger’s final game the football media takes off the gloves; no more of the hypocrisy, flattery and lofty odes to one of the greatest managers in English football. His teams, in their own words, were disorganized, under-coached and one-dimensional. Thus the need to hire Unai Emery who it is predicted will bring glory to north London, apparently the type experienced by Sevilla and PSG. Mark you Sevilla last won the Spanish league title in 1945-46 and PSG has not even made the Champions league final since gobbling up hundreds of millions of the best oil money the sheiks of Qatar could throw at the club over the past 7 years.
Apparently things were so bad under Wenger, Arsenal’s last trophy of worth was the FA cup as far back as May 2017. Moreover, things were so bad in the 17-18 season, they had a mere 14 home-wins, the second highest in the league.
This is the same media (as well as most bloggers and podcasters) who choose to ignore the fact that since 2005, Wenger has progressively been outspent by three clubs in the premier league. In fact one news media, in their effort to downplay the magnitude of the disparity, characterized Arsenal as the 3rd strongest club financially in England. In other words, this liar and misleader, was suggesting Arsene should be consistently averaging 3rd in the league because of the financial resources available.
Clearly the new manager, who is currently being feted and glad handled, is already being setup. He is expected to outperform Wenger’s average 4th place finish over the past 12 years at a time when United and Chelsea are desperate to make up the difference with City, there being a gap of 19 points between 1st and 2nd at the end of last season. Moreover as was reported in sputniknews.com, Abramovich recently had his Tier I visa held up by the UK government, a privilege to freely travel back and forth which is tied to volume of his investments in the country. It doesn’t take an expert to predict he will make another handy investment in Chelsea in the next transfer window to prove his bona-fides.
Why this elaborate set up?
Why are we being sold such a grand story of failure by Arsene, so much so that the club needs a savior, a metaphoric David to rescue Arsenal from the Philistines? Isn’t it amazing that in 2 years, Arsene moved from being the most powerful man at Arsenal to being a has-been. Be reminded that the 16-17 season started with great optimism, the club having acquired Mustafi, Xhaka and Lucas Perez to supplement the group who came 2nd to Leicester the prior year. But at the start of the season and Mertersacker, one of the cornerstones of the central defensive partnership, suffers a season-ending injury. The new Koscielny-Mustafi or Koscielny-Gabriel partnership is unable to replicate the level of the old-firm. In October, Santi Sazorla, the mastermind of prior year victories over United, City and Chelsea also suffers a season-ender. To this day the combined ‘expertiste’ of the media makes no connection between the injuries to two of Arsenal’s best players and the club coming 5th that season. Instead there is a massive blame-game on Wenger. When he was offered only a two year contract, it was self-evident his future was in doubt.
What is most striking is how this was the opening for the chief executive, Mr Gazidis, to seize power away from Mr. Wenger. In the summer of 2017 we are informed the CEO has moved his offices from Arsenal House to London Colney, the training ground. In relatively short order Mislintat becomes chief scout and Sanllehi as head of football relations. As a famous denizen of this blog tweeted there are now 5 people doing the job Wenger performed by himself.
But while the corporate office has grown bigger and surely more expensive, Arsenal suffered on the field with points lost not only due to player inconsistency (at least 8 first team players from 2016-17 are gone) but also from a pattern of poor and biased refereeing by the PGMO. If the CEO and his team were campaigning for VAR in the executive suites of the Premier League it was a “silence of the lambs”.
The Coup
What convinced me that the Emery appointment may be just one big show is a piece in the Guardian by one David Hynter which suggests he was ordered to do a PR piece on behalf of Mr Gazidis. They are quick to highlight the following:
- Gazidis is responsible for signing Ozil
- Gazidis is, first and foremost, a football lover.
- Gazidis has long advocated a management structure that does not rest on a single point or employee because, when it fails, there is the potential for the whole thing to collapse. He has wanted a broader coalition of talented specialists greater than the sum of its parts and, for so long, his efforts were frustrated by Wenger, to whom the club’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, was in thrall. Wenger had a hotline to Kroenke and he could shape or veto Gazidis’s ideas.
- Gazidis wanted a director of football but Wenger pushed his friend Dick Law into a position of executive-level authority.
- Gazidis wanted greater expertise in data and contracts and hired Hendrik Almstadt only for Wenger to say he did not want him.
- Gazidis oversaw the purchase of the data analytics company, StatDNA, but Wenger was not a fan.
Hynter concludes with a flourish:
“It was a meticulously orchestrated coup and Gazidis carried it off while showing all the respect in the world to Wenger, who has watched virtually all of his people leave the club. It has felt like a plot-line from Gomorrah, the Neapolitan mafia drama. Gazidis was not always the favourite to outlast Wenger. Now, his position looks stronger than ever.”
I could not have said it better than Mr Hynter. The evidence clearly points to a coup. He says it in triumph but I am disgusted by the lowball tactics that have been employed.
As an aside, while I arrived at a similar conclusion, by taking the available facts to their logical conclusion, because yours truly does not write for a big mainstream newspaper, I would be accused by the charlatans in the media (as well as the bloggers and podcasters) of being a conspiracy theorist for calling out Mr Gazidis for being Wenger’s Brutus.
Unfortunately, most coups fail because they are based on lies and the golpistas (Spanish) rule without the consent of the people. That is why I fear for Emery. He may think he is a big-time Charlie but he is just a chump in a giant con being played on Arsenal fans. The new manager will find the Premier League is made up of several merciless sharks; mainly the three clubs with giant financial teeth whom he cannot compete in the transfer market, the other big one being the PGMO whose job is to protect the big boys from being upset as the PL needs the external money to keep flowing.
I wish Emery all the best but the signs aren’t good. He is on 2 year plus one contract suggesting he is a placeholder, a short-term appointment. Does this mean Arsenal has ended its tradition of managers being long-term appointees with time to build a team that can compete for titles without busting the bank?
Am not predicting the future, but as much as most fans are optimistic that under his management it could get better for Arsenal, I am duty bound to warn my readers that odds are even and it could get worse. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Positively Arsenal 
New York Knicks. The NBA sure didn’t manage to get them into the finals. Lakers fell off a cliff. Chicago hasn’t won since Michael Jordan. I can’t recall them even having been to the finals. You’re arguing against yourself shotta. Cleveland meanwhile have made it to their 4th consecutive finals.
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Rich ..Ugh..That foul on Diaby makes me sick. And what’s worse is that when he came back, opponents targeted that very ankle. Paul Robinson of Bolton, Michael Essien of Chelsea, and Joey Barton of Newcastle stick out in my mind, but they were hardly alone.
This is why I prefer to talk about systems rather than people. Those excuses for footballers (even if some were talented) were only ‘playing the game’ as the Pgmol saw it. Ferguson and Riley laid the blueprint which the media championed once it was taken to its logical conclusion by Allardyce’s Bolton. And then it became the system. The norm. And it is disgusting that nothing was done to stop it. Rather, the opposite.
And it’s not near as bad, but it hasn’t entirely stopped. They still talk about Arsenal being soft (and if anyone reacts then Arsenal are dirty)
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Fully expect swift action by Riley’s mob if we press aggressively, yellow asap for any contact.
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Shard
Mission Accomplished.
A young talent like Diaby just praised as being the better player by Pogba himself, such a talent won’t be moving to the Arsenal again anytime soon. Anyone who believes otherwise has chosen to inhabit la la land.
I blame Vengaaarrrrghjjj for losing his touch? In spite of Ozil and Sanchez and others hitting their individual heights under Big Weng, I suppose I’ll just have to ignore that little nugget of information whilst I smack myself in the face with this full blown Meme.
LOL!
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Bellerin, a talent for sure. Possibly a great one (as in he’ll have some great seasons, not quite Maldini/Anelkalevels but hopefully can go on to be the best RB we’ve seen at the club, no offence to our former favourite Sagna).
Diaby levels? Let’s not be silly, that was a special talent.
Pogba isn’t listing Diaby alongside those other names on the wind up.
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NBA?!!!?
I’m sticking to sports with eleven a side (in my ignorance I have no idea of the numbers in basketball or netball heh)
The whole poor coaching meme which mutated this season is fashionable in the cricket too.
Not sure how poor coaching can explain the idiotic decision by the England coach himself and his Captian to ignore the conditions and bat first in a test match in England in May.
Ignoring that there’s only one stellar batting talent in the England team the incredible awe inspiring A.Cook, as precious in his own way as the Anelka’s and Cole’s that we have seen in the past. Further the England team are still flogging Anderson and abroad and whilst Anderson is an equivalent bowling talent to Cook he is very long in the tooth now and can’t be leading an attack like this. So where are the up and coming bowlers? Stokes had his interruption and needs time to recover some form of his sake hopefully, anyone else?
What kind of observer of such teams blames the coaches when the talent simply isn’t there at this or that specific moment. things can change but this is not a hypothesis, just a humble and fairly simple and straightforward observation.
How did it become possible for people to ignore the reality and start blaming poor coaching for players like Mustafi who’ve never played a prolonged spell as a CB? Perhaps he never played CB for Madrid at the age of twenty like the CB AW drooled about signing, Varane, because he’s not as good as the top CBs out there? He can only improve with more minutes and with following his record this past season!
Am I asking or expecting too much logic and reason to be applied here? Apparently so!
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Shard
Completely agree. A lot- coaching, culture, history, refs, media, his own trajectory in football- goes into someone like Smith deciding to make that foul on the day.
Think i’m right in saying he was released shortly after, and safe to say it was not because they were unhappy with what he had done to a fellow pro. So why was he used that day (think may have been a late sub, for debut)- a last chance? a goodbye gift for a player whose character they liked but who they knew wasn’t making it?
If either or those things, it makes what he did no less extraordinary, and perhaps more so. Sure enough, his subsequent career proved he wasn’t near football league standard let alone prem.
Fairly sure their temporary manager that day was club legend Kevin Ball (checked, it was, first of two caretaker spells). Enraged me years later when his name cropped up during commentary of one of our games. A friend of his was doing commentary and mentioned a discussion with Ball about playing us. Cue some guffaws as a few euphemisms for kicking shit were mentioned.
That discussion would have taken place years after one of his charges fucked up a hugely promising career. These people are unrepentant.
Oh, and I see on wiki that after Ball’s first caretaker spell, he immediately returned to former post, that of assistant academy manager, meaning he would have been well acquainted with young Smith and his abilities, and quite likely played a role in creating the player.
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Second rumour regarding an experienced defender so far, and it’s still May:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/44279973
Looks like the crack team that Ivan has put together these past one or two years and been in charge of transfers have had a similar moment of inspiration, realised their error in relying upon Koscielny last season with a little bit help from the farting tendon that was clearly unimpressed with the workload they’d demanded from the poor broken bugger all season long, i’d have thought the wincing and the sluggish movements the exaggerated loss of pace would all have been a clue? Not for me to critique such genuine expert physios at Arsenal from the ignorant comfort of a garden but at last they’ve concluded that having Mustafi as your only fit senior (just about) CB is not ideal! Better late then never…
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And in other news I hope the rumours surrounding the Ostersunds manager are true. They were a decent team, played some good football, and he’s the kind of young riding coach you’d hope would get a chance at such a club after having show his skills in Europe.
Meanwhile the newish owners of Southampton who haven’t quite followed the model that made the club a recent success have appointed the Oooze after plucking him off the merry go round. I suppose these owners have their reasons for appointing the manager who couldn’t do much with a billion dollar squad (how does he still get a job?) but those reasons can’t have much to do with the Footy?
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Shard, a couple of questions come to mind visiting a site I’ve never heard of, reading an opinion piece on the NBA, which I know nothing about: “Is this person reliable?” And as a shortcut: At a time when people gravitate towards news/content that already reflects their views, “For whom is this person writing?”.
So the reaction was WTF? That’s the long and short of those two comments earlier. Not equipped to get into discussions on censorship, or give you anything more articulate than “WTF?” in capitals!
Don’t feel bad about calling me bird-brained – I’ve heard worse riffs on the bird thing. I was literally “tweet, tweet” right through school.
Mostly agree about Arsenal’s treatment up to around 2012 or so (though might disagree about what caused that environment). I don’t think Guardiola would have been a roaring success in the PL ten years ago, toiling in mudbaths, when 50-50s were won by whoever was more sadistic. It was no shock that Stoke did get schooled by Valencia when they played in Europe in 2012.
Increasingly, only old bores lament the direction PL football has taken. It took a few years for it to catch up with AW.
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https://mobile.twitter.com/robinblackmma/status/1000805087332184069/video/1
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In Klopp’s post match press conference he spoke well.
As always I’m looking forward to the Liverpool games next season. With more experience in defence on the bench and on the pitch next year if the Arsenal can hold them off or peg them back until the 60th odd minute as during the 3-3 it’ll be more likely that the Gunners will get the three points.
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Well, I like the idea of the two experienced defenders mentioned.
Both have impressed me in past (though think lichtsteiner has had me groaning at his cynicism on a few occasions, and i’ll no doubt write his name as the country a bunch of times)
I’ve not seen a great deal of Sokratis in last year, Dortmund have been patchy for a while and, yes, if he were flying he’d have your Barca,etc after him, but I’m still optimistic.
On the last point, that’s just where we are. Can only ever see us winning a direct battle for a player with the cash- or cash + prestige- giants if that player is young or there are unusual circumstances (Ozil, Sanchez type situations where a guy is leaving one of the giants, though that feels slightly less likely now)
We can be sure club have kept a closer eye than us, and very possibly he’ll respond well to a new challenge.
Think I made it 10 experienced players we lost since last summer, not including Kos, nor Rosicky just before that.
Gabriel, Ox, Gibbs, Coq, Theo, Sanchez, Debuchy, Giroud, Mert, Cazorla. Huge change. Well over a thousand (1500 at a guess) games in our colours.
Think we’ve brought in 5- kola, Lacazette, mkhi, Aubameyang…? Or maybe 4,then- in that period. So another 2-4 very experienced players sounds about right, plus hopefully a bright young thing (ideally a player who, if they suceed, would have your Barca and Real’s after them, and still some room for youngsters to play.
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Sokratis Papastathopoulos or Socrates:
Dortmund and Greece vice captain, approaching thirty, played for AC Milan before his long spell at Dortmund. Definitely experienced! A veteren center back who was playing CB in the CL as a teenager. Played against Arsenal in some of those memorable encounters with Klopp’s Dortmund.
Song impressed more then any of the Dortmund players in a few of those games. Has he retired now! Auba and Miki have impressed since the moment they arrived at the Arsenal. Arsene was pretty good at the old coaching stuff IMO.
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< he scored against Arsenal!
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Jeez. Thought Fabinho looked such a good player last year for Monaco. Super smart (and cynical), very sound distribution, interceptions, tackling, strong and streetwise.
Likely to be a very good signing for Liverpool. Keita, who I’ve seen less of live but certainly looks part in clips, also meant to be a very big talent.
There should be no argument their front three is excellent, so if they get other elements of team anything like as good it’s pretty ominous.
For years they were inefficient and despite landing a few diamonds- Suarez and Coutinho at least- were let down by many a stinker. Now it appears to be a streamlined approach- big transfers but fewer of them. Much of this is only possible, I guess, thanks to the giant Coutinho fee and sizeable Suarez one earlier on.
We’ve lost plenty of good players over the years but never really had the considerable consolation of a gargantuan selling fee.
Oh well. The challenge is always going to be big while City, utd, Chelsea have their financial advantage, and if Liverpool happen to put together a very strong team we’ll just have to hope we get stronger also.
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Giroud has scored for France V Ireland tonight, his 31st goal for France, he is now joint 4th top scorer for France, level with Zidane
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finsburyp
May 28, 2018 at 4:42 pm
I think you’ve been a little unfair to the club in regards to the defence. Having to let a good defender go because of language issues, and not being able to replace him was not helpful. Maybe the club expected to get more out of the BFG in his last season after that FA cup final performance? Mustafi was also not quite the disaster he has been painted. Yes, he made some errors, but he also had many good games. His problem was a lack of consistency. Tony Adams would not have survived his early ‘donkey’ years in the current internet age. We know that there were serious attempts to get the WBA defender on a couple of occasions. We also have no way of knowing who else we tried to get and maybe just didn’t succeed. The fact that we are going for such ‘mature’ targets now suggests that there is not that much quality available within our price bracket. We do not have the cash to splash on £70m defenders like some teams. We also have a few promising young CB’s of our own who will now have the time to mature alongside these older players who will hopefully not get in their way.
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Passenal
While I agree with the general tone,I will have to disagree that Arsenal don’t have the cash. It’s there and it’s available.. it’s also a one time use. But at the same time keeping it in the bank while player fees rise dramatically also doesn’t help.
I don’t mind either way, but if Arsenal want to, they can buy a 100m player.
I don’t think we have to. First things first. Get back to the CL. That’ll give us pulling power again.
A head scratcher.. if you got.. say.. a 70m offer for Ozil, would you sell?
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Sounds like some smart and decisive moves from the club regarding defenders.
The Holy Trinity certainly seem to be getting things done, that is not meant to be disrespectful to those who came before, just a compliment to what they appear to be getting on with for the club.
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Fabinho at 40m is a very good buy. Liverpool will push for the title next year I think.
I just want us to have a solid defence and to take it.. cliche alert… one game at a time.. I really think we don’t have to fear anyone if we can do that and our attack is quality. Top 4 is something we can definitely achieve..
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Think you are right Shard, tighten up on the defence, and hopefully start improving that dreadful away form. ok, not as easy as it sounds I know. We have some huge threats up front. I think we might surprise a few next season as long as the players take to UE and his team and can think of no reason why they will not.
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IMO it would’ve smart and decisive been to being in some CBs last season.
Some these people were here then. Two out of the three divines?
Given Koscielny’s injuries back then. It wasn’t going to get any easier for him, and Per hardly played last season, was always going to be harder and harder if not too hard for him to drop into a tough intense away game after Xmas without any regular game time the following year, with his legs not getting any younger and further and further out of match practice.
I don’t mean to sound harsh on Mustafi I think asking him to carry the heaviest load this season was a miscalculation by this team who didn’t just magically appear overnight but have been involved for a time now. Shotta’s concerns outlined in his article are not without a reasonable considerations, this is simply one of them!
All I’ve been doing is highlighting the significant difference in numbers of senior CBs available as a result this season when compared to the last. It’s consistent with my previous comments on having depth at CB, something the squad enjoyed for three or four seasons just prior to this last. Just like it’s important to have depth in the front three options!
They’re getting some numbers in now. Finally. Hopefully it’ll work out. You all know I rate Holding and Chambers both, but are either ready to be starting at CB at the top level in a premier league campaign?
Giroud scores again. the world’s best current target man who was never acknowledged as such by the Experts down at the Arsenal but I’ve been enjoying with the options up top for the Gunners. even if Welbeck’s finishing will never match OG’s, you never know another half season free of injuries and he might kick onto the levels he was hinting at when he arrived. Hopefully Aubu. will continue his mind blasting form with the new manager. And Ramsey will resign soon! Very soon. Hopefully tomorrow – again I don’t meant to sound critical but they really do need to sort that one out! Especially as the incoming manager allegedly said he wants to build the team around Auba & Ramsey!!! Then again any manager of this squad would say the same thing haha!
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If you think Arsenal fans are much different from their peers, check this out:
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If he was signed the 40% would immediately become 10% according to the 80:10:10 rule.
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< chambers is probably not that far off. I get the impression that he and Holding are coming alone nicely.
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Shotta my brother who knows more then me about martial art techniques said that the Ramos move was straight from the master Baresi’s handbook. But I disagreed with him.
We often saw Baresi in those high profile matches outlining his mastery of the whole specturm, grapples, throws, pinches, pulling, pushing, you name it he was doing it but I can’t recall a manoeuvre quite like that ever. Maybe he did similar and I never saw it, he probably did, but I have this romantic memory of Baresi as a talented thief, a cunning one but not a nasty one.
I wouldn’t expect a ref to completely spot the move and give a red but I’d hope that between the six or five or however many extra officials they have at the game none of whome can operate a television (save in the 2006 WC final?) they’d have given a yellow and justifiably curtailed his game after such a foul. Surprising to see no card when Ramos was given one for a similar yet gentler foul (no final flourish to cause real pain) in an earlier round.
I’ll say this much for Ramos, he showed his opponent more respect then cowards like Shawcross.
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Going back into the distant past, pretty sure there is an akido move where you use the opponents momentum to pull them down locking the arm in the process? Ramos also had the decency to ensure a fall on the injured arm/shoulder.
I think he knew instinctively exactly what he was doing, and of true, he is pretty clever at spotting opportunities at that speed, though will ultimately leave to the experienced martial artists on here.
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The NBA keep ‘fixing’ games against The Knicks
Don’t they know the size of the NY market ?
‘Da Bums!’
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I love those Yankees!
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With all this Ramos talk, worth considering his beginnings and probable mentors
I had vague memory of year he came through at Sevilla, watching late night La Liga game on Sky, and some centre back with a fearsome reputation and record number of red cards.
Found the guy in question after a quick search, and then found out there was another player at time with as bad or worse reputation.
Meet Javi Navarro and Pablo Alfaro.
One clip isn’t at all funny, with an elbow leaving an opponent knocked out and convulsing on floor
Another, shows, after an innocuous start, an astonishing array of fouls which all look distinctly Ramos like
Finally, a rather grim episode involving a finger. Navarro is the one grabbing Enrique by throat, Alfaro the other.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2004/feb/03/europeanfootball.sport
At least Sergio hasn’t tried that one, yet. Think they only had a year to teach Ramos but looks like he was a keen student and fast learner.
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Odd little detail on that Fabinho transfer is that supposedly he is with same agency as Welbeck, Gabriel, Willan and others, called Kick and Run, but his agent actually appears to be Jorge Mendes, who of course has his own agency.
I reckon reports of us making late bid are pure bullshit anyway, but if he’s a Mendes man then no fricking way.
Weirdly Mcguane is listed as a Kick and Run client when I’m almost certain his agent, prominent on twitter defending him the other day, wasn’t connected to any of the big boys. Are things getting even murkier?
I see it as a litmus test of life after Wenger if we ever do business with Mendes.
Last point of intrigue is that Mendes represents Mourinho, so what’s going on there if he has guided a player who I’m fairly certain Utd wanted to Liverpool instead?
Weird. Maybe this is the comeback for Utd giving so much of their dosh to Raiola instead of him.
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I wouldnt believe a word from Sky unless confirmed elsewhere. We have never played by the rules this gambling company would like, if they can in anyway discredit or hinder our club, they most surely will
Interesting where Liverpool are getting all this money for transfers, and I am sure wage increases , along with stadium improvements. FFP is alive and well
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Passenal
I’m not always the most concise with my comments!
I have given praise of the club’s handling of recent events. What I’m trying to articulate is that however it came about that the club didn’t leave AW with as good or complete a squad in his final season as had been available in more recent seasons. This is not a new concern I was sharing thoughts about Koscielny’s struggles and potential slowing down slightly ahead of expectation this time last year.
Lots of unknowns, the Alexis saga etc. AW often indicated that he would follow physio’s guidelines as when explaining resting Ramsey etc. so no need to apportion blame for going a season too long with the BFG and as before I’m not sure I’d be critical of such a call anyway as I can appreciate why and how it was made.
But it is fair to say that after the January window and with the benefit of hindsight that AW undoubtedly had a weaker hand to play with in his final season, most obviously in the Europa League SF when the attacking options were limited.
Perhaps in the end it is fitting that in AW’s final season he sacrificed his own glory for the benefit of the club and the next manager, as opposed to retiring last summer after his most glorious (IMO) & record breaking FA Cup final victory over the champions. With players like Eddie Nketiah and Maitland-Niles and hopefully Nelson all breaking through, perhaps not as precocious as Varane but I think these players are being looked after well and not over exposed to the hurly burly of the PL. Given the respective ages of Nketiah, Welbeck and Giroud that particular call makes perfect sense unless you’re a manager who’d have liked to have had a better chance at the Europa League.
All of which means I can understand some of the reasonable considerations underlining Shotta’s concerns in this article.
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Mandy
But Liverpool and Tottenham have spent less then The Arsenal!
LOL?
Another gibberistic meme splattered all over the place last season and happily sucked up and regurgitated by those who were’nt paying attention to what went on their plate.
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“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyses needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
FDR could string a sentence together – oh yes. And reading some of concerns posters have expressed of late, at a time of significant change in our mighty club, I thought the situation and his words fitted together rather well.
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“Interesting where Liverpool are getting all this money for transfers, and I am sure wage increases , along with stadium improvements. FFP is alive and well”
Didn’t they get a barrowload for Coutinho, a £100 million + ish, and then there is the £40-£50 million from the C? They have paid a wedge for Van Dijk but they still should have a few bob on the bank.
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I’ve always been a fan of the New Deal that FDR left as his legacy to all of us. All those schools, hospitals, infrastructure funded and built under “austerity”. Not as impressive as the post war reconstruction in the U.K., but to be fair he did agree to fund the rebuilding of Europe. Not bad.
I could be wrong but I think the way he sold it to Wall St., after chucking a few less then enthusiastic goose steppers into the slammer (till their grand kids and kids could be president), was that unless they agreed to his reforms that they’d be swinging from the lampposts like those poor Tsars (Caesars!) and the Romanovs.
He certainly put the fear into that lot!
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I think he said something about “organised money” being as dangerous for the good governance of a democracy as an “organised mob ” Fins
The 1932 and 1936 inaugural addresses are on You Tube and are formidable pieces of public speaking/ theatre/statemanship – somewhat different to the current chap
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They did get a lot for Coutinho and the bitey one, and I guess the likes of Carroll and Sterling, but believe 70 m on Keita, 75m VVD, 40m on Ox, 35m on Mane, Salah and I think Firminho (some bargains in there) then 50m Fabiano, and I am sure more to come Even in the more days we couldnt spend much, they were regularly going 20-25 million on Southampton and Boro players
Have to admit, they sell well these days, a model I suspect we will aim to resurrect, though at the time 40m for Ox seemed pretty good to me. And there is the CL money.
But,the stadium revamp, while nothing like what Arsenal, or, erm Spurs are forking out, must still have cost a pretty penny.
And wasnt there supposed to be some Premier League version of FFP stopping spiraling wages?
That said, with City and their dodgy sponsorship, probably not worth even mentioning FFP any more
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I’ve been enjoying the words from like minded souls debunking the “poor coaching” meme and gibberish resulting the cricket:
“Remember when the big problem with England’s Test match batting was that Ian Bell only scored hundreds when somebody else did?”
“OMG our 4th best batsman is only the 7th best batsman in English cricketing history wtf are we going to do?”
“We had a top seven that all averaged 40+ (Data!!!!) and nobody thought anything of it. Fucking mental”
I have to loudly agree with this one! Arsenal had a collection of top class CBs supported at various stages by different international level players…and no one thought anything of it! But they enjoyed the cups won during that phase/cycle.
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https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/world/europe/uk-austerity-poverty.html#click=https://t.co/WT5XEVZCZM
The new new deal. Turning a city near you into a rusting Detroit sometime soon.
Not my usual hang out the NY times. Feels dirty just reading one of their articles, I hope no was is offended by my dropping a link to them. Insert banned winking thingymajob.
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Great. I knew I should have paid attention in class when FDR and the New Deal was being taught.
The only New Deal I care about is the one for Ramsey.
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I hope that UE managed to put the fear into the holy trinity:
“If Ramsey ain’t re-signing,
then guv’nor I ain’t gonna be signing up.”
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Spending a lot of money on a Brazillian centre-back, who has been playing in France, does not mean that he can cope with the quick and rough game here. Spending that sort of money on him is a risk and does not necessarily mean that he will improve their defence.
Spending money does not always mean improving.
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Mandy
They got lucky in terms of the way their last owners were forced out. Ballpark figures they bought the club for just over 200 mill, had a 350 million loan to bank they were struggling to pay, owners squabbling and wanted to sell for between 600 mill and a billion.
Some guy Purslow, later went to chelsea, came in, think appointed by bank, with a remit to sell.
Sold club for 300 mill to current owners, against former ones wishes, and most of that presumably went to bank, as apparently their debts were drastically reduced and set on manageable level.
Old owners tried to sue but lost.
Feel I’ve seen that story plenty before in football where a club overstretches badly and gains an (unfair) advantage, i.e. spending money they don’t really have, and then narrowly escapes without footing bill.
Read quite a bit on it in a book on football finances once which claimed something like risks exaggerated (for bigger clubs at least) of going to wall, as they almost always escape by hook or crook and only a very small number of clubs around Europe have ever disappeared. Think I was ready to shout ‘but what about Leeds?!’ throughout the book.
But anyway, inter an example of a club whose successful spell was made possible by mountains of debt (Got a figure around 150 mill in mind, and think that may have been per year during worst- Mourinho’s spell- time). Presumably those debts biting account for their lean recent years but it also leaves me feeling that with their various takeovers maybe they never bore the full brunt of the debts they amassed to win trophies,including champions league.
Anyway, they may well be run now on a self-sustaining model. Who knows? I do suspect that they and most clubs are a lot more likely to stretch themselves financially than we are. Not wise to the mechanics, but maybe loans, maybe investing money they don’t yet have but will do.
With us, far as I’m aware, we’ve always been completely strict with budget- no spending now in preparation for extra money that’ll come in next year,etc. It’s probably not the typical way of it in football but it’s our way.
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I much preferred what’s now the old way, where big clubs could suffer big consequences if they got a splurge wrong, as Liverpool so blatantly did under Souness in the 90’s. The rules even somewhat applied to utd at that stage.
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Parma just got back to the Serie A after being demoted to the bottom of the league structure because they went bust. Did it in straight promotions though. They got funding in the second tier I believe. And the fans stayed loyal. Fiorentina had gone through something similar. Lots of clubs have paid a price that we wouldn’t like to, even if we feel they got away lightly. The way to ensure it is to punish the owners rather than the club and its fans. But then we know the state of the fit and proper test of the FA and of FFP, so no point bothering about it.
Abramovich has taken Israeli citizenship by the way.
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That twat John Humphrys grilling Rwanda’s development chief over the deal now.
Must have missed all the mainstream questioning of City’s owners- who have spent roughly a gajillion more- over human rights et al.
I’m not particularly comfortable with the move but as always the hypocrisy stinks.
At least lady here defended herself well and had Humphrys’ number: ‘In her robust defence of the move, Clare Akamanzi told the host of the Today programme he was ‘very biaised’ and either ‘ill-informed or ill-intentioned’.
Yep, that’s him. Applies perfectly to most things that good pal of Mail’s c***-in- chief Dacre does.
http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2032502&c=setreg®ion=2
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Rich
Why aren’t you particularly comfortable about it?
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