Does Sanllehi’s comments show Arsenal still have no ambition?

Raul Sanllehi – Transfers Not A Priority? What? By Dan Smith

I have always referred to Arteta as the cheap option. I refuse to believe, like Emery before him, that they were the top names on any shortlist. Would they have got any other top job?

What I believe is an Allegri, Ancelotti, etc would only take the job if they saw ambition. These are winners who, long term, would want to have a realistic chance of challenging for the title (yes, I’m saying Everton have more ambition then us). The moment they heard our transfer budget they would have ended negotiations. Luis Enrique has pretty much confirmed that in the past.

So, the criteria had to be someone who would accept limited funds for the sake of getting such a post. Emery wasn’t getting an offer from a bigger club while for Arteta, the reward is worth the risk for your first job. His worst-case scenario is that he gets a payoff and goes and works with Pep Guardiola again.

Don’t get me wrong Arteta could be the next top coach yet, if he is, then Stan Kroenke stumbled on him. All our owner cares about is someone to train the current squad who won’t question the lack of desire to make us great again.

We don’t know the fact and figures of how this pandemic is going to affect each club. Yet why have I got the feeling the priority this summer will be yet again lowering the wage bill, with Raul Sanllehi saying transfers are not a priority. Excuse me?

We talk about how much Ozil gets paid. This man is equally given thousands of pounds a week to identify signings. If that’s not his priority, why is he here? Isn’t that literally his job? Shouldn’t he been scouting the world every day? He should have a shortlist ready to go especially given our current position. If being 9th is not a time to think we might need better players, when is?

Remember the days when we mocked Mr Wenger for ‘only’ finishing 4th? Would you take that now? Or do some still have an agenda where we can’t admit we have gone backwards? That letting contracts run down is still happening.

Let’s not hide behind what’s going on in the world and pretend that’s the only reason we now won’t buy a Coutinho or Upamecano. Those are the signings a Man United or Chelsea will make, while our recruitment team will again be asked to find value.

We are yet again going to lose our best player, so common sense suggests if we are currently in 9th, then lose our top scorer, serious investment is needed for us to even challenge for the top 4 again?

Why are the players giving up 12.5% of their wages just to be told we can only afford free agents and loan signings? Why can clubs go after our best talent, yet a West Ham and Leicester manage to price theirs out of the market? Put it this way if those clubs do sell a Madison or Rice it will be over the odds, around 60-80 million.

No wonder Ozil wants to wait and see the true financial hit. If the season gets finished that’s the TV companies kept happy. If not, how do we know what Sky and BT will negotiate (they might simply ask for the same price, more games next campaign?).

Do clubs have insurance?

Will FIFA step in with a loan?

Either way we can’t afford seeing those teams above us to strengthen while we don’t. Our owner needs to put a cash flow in now, or else we are going to see the gap between ourselves and the top get bigger.

The frustrating thing is even if you go down the route of free transfers there are options available, but it takes you being aggressive. We should be offering a Cavani, Meunier, Chiellini, etc, a contract, but again we will care too much about our wage bill. Those are three free transfers who would make us better. Yet we will focus on their age not that in the short term they would get you back in the Champions League.

We could swap an Auba with a Coutinho, but again will prioritise salary over making us better. Even a Willian or Fraser, who would offer goals from midfield, there is talk that we feel their demands are too expensive.

There’s some who will defend Stan Kroenke with the usual, ‘How do you know what he’s thinking’? I just base it on the last decade, where even losing Champions Football hasn’t made him invest in the club because TV money makes him enough revenue, it doesn’t really matter to him where we finish.

Why are we the only one of the top 6 who sell our best players? When have we last bought Man City’s, Chelsea’s or Manchester United’s best players? When have we even managed to get the best player out of those not in the top 6? Why does it feel every window we end up slashing our wage bill?

Remember in a business sense we have always been run well, so surely we should be best qualified to take advantage if others have to tighten their belts? If players are taking 12.5% cut why is Raul Sanllehi saying transfers are not a priority? This is why an Allegri is not our manager because he would ask those questions. He would know that you can’t close a 42-point gap on Liverpool with loans and slashing your wage bill. He wouldn’t accept the signing of Mari just because he’s 10 million. He (and others) wouldn’t accept the job, because the Kroenke family don’t care about us being champions again. In fact, as long as they are in charge, don’t consider us a big club anymore.

That’s why Arteta got the job. Like Emery, for the sake of getting the job he will tolerate the lack of ambition and won’t question anything. Worst case for him is he’s got a job waiting for him at Man City.

The irony being a man great at finding value (Arsene Wenger) we got rid of to be in 9th yet gooners won’t admit we gone backwards?

Stan Kroenke doesn’t care, it’s a lot cheaper paying Arteta then Wenger.
That’s all our owner cares about, saving money.

Dan Smith

55 Comments

  1. Of course transfers are not a priority. The priority is to rid the country of covid19 and then get to a point where it is safe to resume playing football again. Spending money on new players is the last thing on any clubs mind let alone ours.

    1. Spot on Phil.Kroenke may be a billionaire on paper , but like Richard Branston, his investments will have plummeted due to the Pandemic and he may well have cash flow problems in the USA.I have to say I do not agree with many aspects of the article penned by Dan who is normally well reasoned and sensible when he writes.Differing points of view are of course natural give rise to healthy debate, but on this occasion Dan ,I cannot support many of your comments and assumptions.

  2. Loads of loose based accusations.
    If you actually read the article about Sanllehi he has basically said the same thing as the CEO’s of Man U and Tottenham, and that is, that of course the economic impact will mean the types transfers, we have seen earlier, are simply not viable.
    Realistic and sound comments, as I see it, and in no way does Arsenal stand out here.

    1. Firstly I do hope every one is keeping safe and well
      Interesting read dan but I think you under estimates peoples intelligence here.
      I think everyone who comes on here knows the top tier aka SK is happy to milk our club of its money and assets
      We all blamed AW in some way or another for the contributuion of the demise of afc which could be true or not but one thing is for sure is that he would bleed red and white which is unlike our owner who would bleed green
      I do hope MA is made of the same stuff as AW in his early days as then we do have hope
      What I have seen from the first half of the season I like what i see…

      The Most important thing at this momentin time..
      People what ever team you support, what every race you are, what ever religion you believe in
      All stay safe and well
      On wards and upwards my fellow gooners

    2. So you believe without this pandemic things be different ?
      I think we still sell Auba based on lowering wage bill
      We still buy Mari because he’s 10 million.
      We still would be outspent by our rruvals

      1. Dan And we can sell all our deadwood as well mtyi £200 000 off the wage bill swap Lacca for Partey sell AUBA and play the young ones who have a lot of talent forget 20/21 look ahead

  3. Dan- sounds like you decided to have a rant without thinking too much PAL. Just look at some of your comments and tell me you believe what you have written. Your Articles are normally very good, but this one really goes wrong on just about everything you have written .

    1. I just want to say Phil that this comment is excellently worded (not saying I agree with the contents of the comment one way or the other) You made your point with impact and it carries far more weight than saying what a stupid article or you are an idiot or deluded etc, I am not saying you specifically say that, I am generalising for everyone’s benefit. Cheers mate.

      1. Thanks AdM- perhaps I have turned that corner. Might have been a different reply though if it was you who posted the article and not Dan😂

        1. I know and I appreciate it, I just did not want to highlight it any more so said nothing but I should have acknowledged it and so I also apologise for my lack of communication.

  4. Arsenal have spent 400m+ on this squad.
    50m on Lacazette 60m Aubameyang 70m Pepe, 25m Tierney 31 mill Saliba 27 mill Torreira. 36m Mustafi 30m Xhaka 20m Leno 36m Sanchez 27m on Socritis. So the money has been spent on transfers. Large salary packages have also been paid out. Bellerin 120k Kolasinac 120k Luiz 90k Ozil 350k p/w. The club also has to pay 30m a year for the stadium build. With no Champions league for 3 years soon to be 4 seasons Arsenal’s revenue streams are weak. Losing Sanchez and Ramsey for free cost the club another 100m. We lost Koz Monreal Debuchi and Jenkinson for virtually nothing. Now with the Covid19 financial melt down and with none of the big earners willing to leave Arsenal is facing a significant balance of payments deficit for some time. So unless Mr Kroenke slips the club a lazy 150 mill high priced transfers are very unlikely.
    Besides we don’t need any transfers because the squad is much stronger than when Emery made the EL final and 5th in the league. Bring back Mkhitarian and make he and all the other high earners justify their salaries. Top four is easily attainable with this squad

    1. Stevo, I was about to write the same about our players’ transfer fees and wages.What we need is a proper system in place where the scouts look for the talent which the coach needs to deliver results.Blindly signing names with fat wages and ZERO output has brought us to mid table or worse. To sum it up, our best performers are Gabreil and Saka on mere wages and Auba .
      And who wants Coutinho, flopped at Barca & Munich. Why sign failures, when things can be done in much better ways? Think of Leicester, Sheff and Wolves – what counts is the determination, desire, will power.
      Our former captain was scared of Watford!!
      Our highest earner walks off the pitch on an European Finals night when we are trailing?The team needs a psychiatrist to have them checked for their mental health and a physio to certify that they can cope up with the rigors of the EPL.
      We blame Stan and everyone of the non playing staff, but adore and defend this bunch of players.
      Even if we spend another 200M and sign Dembele, Couthino, Willian,Lingard, Smalling , Cabellos, trust me we will be closer to relegation than challenging for the title.

      1. Loose Cannon, agree with everything you say. The major issue at the Arsenal over a number of years has been paying too much to bring in underperforming players on inflated wages.
        The fallout from Covid19’s impact on revenues for professional sport worldwide is massive. There will be a major restructure of the market place and particularly transfer fees and player salaries.

        1. Ozziegunner, that is my concern, everyone from ownership, to management and a section of fans accept mediocrity as the new norm.The ownership/management has to act tough with erring players. Would ManCity or Pool or any top club accept a player walking off the field or another hothead swearing at fans go unpunished? Mediocrity, indiscipline and lethargy has seeped in from top to bottom of the club. I feel the club has to change hands to a more ruthless and demanding ownership or Stan starts voicing his concern.

    2. We are 9th so squad can’t be that good ?
      We just been knocked out of Europe Leauge in round of 32
      What are people seeing ?

  5. Dan, I understand completely where you are coming from.

    Take the corona virus out of the scenario and then challenge the basis of the article.

    1. Was Arteta a cheap option?
    2. Have we improved under UE or MA?
    3. Why do we continue to lose our best players to our rivals?
    4. Is this club, under kronkie, ambitious?
    5. Where has the money from twenty years of CL football gone, the TV money and the record sponsorship disappeared to as we are the only club to have announced a pay cut in the Premier league?

    Of course the virus is top priority, but the club will not be able to help find a cure so let’s tackle the virus that Is infecting our football club, kronkie!!!

    1. Bless u my bro, I feel sad seeing Newcastle becoming the next big thing in the PM and they wud come nicking our player just like Man City did few yrs back. I wonder why no one is trying to buy arsenal ? Fans must get together to force the kronke mercenaries to let go of our club, they are slowly strangling arsenal, it hurts, arsenal was always in top five in everything in the past, the most painful part is, wenger saw it all coming, he new what the club want, he knew the club don’t want to be an elite club, being in the CL was the highest achievement they wanted and he delivered that consistently until he couldn’t anymore. finAlly fans must come together and pressure these strange kronke out of arsenal for us to be competitive again

    2. Ken, Arsenal has been going downhill since David Dein left, which also equates to the time Kroenke bought in.
      The Club has been deficient in managing the available funds (as alluded to by you) and Kroenke appears deficient in selecting the executives he has, to manage the Club on his behalf.

  6. Just take a look at the three articles BEFORE Dan’s post and realise how far we have fallen in the pecking order for players – WHY?

    1. Well Ken- I would imagine it’s simply a matter of finance, added to the fact that the elite players demand Champions League. And might I also politely suggest that you seem only too eager to believe what is written as being fact. Arsenal, to their credit, always attempt to do things discreetly. Take the Pepe signing of last year, I mean where did that come from? And I also strongly believe that the finances at Arsenal are much much stronger than at the very mast majority of EPL Clubs, and certainly much more so than at nearly all European Clubs, most typically AC Milan. They have nobody worth trading to Real Madrid in exchange for Jovic, and would certainly not have the £30-40m required to buy him. Whereas we have Aubamayang who they “ reportedly “ are desperate to sign.
      Nobody knows just how Football will operate in the next few seasons, finance wise, but I do believe that Arsenal never allowed themselves to be over-exposed, and are more likely to be able to build themselves back up more quickly and with less negative impact than 99% of all European Clubs.
      And Ken, I must comment on your points to Sue re empty seats not used at games by season ticket season holders, and how you believe the Club are monitoring this very closely. I would hope the Club do everything to ensure these guilty S/T’s are put on notice and lose their tickets if they continue to not have been attending. At the very least these seats should have been offered on the ticket exchange so that fans get the opportunities to attend games they otherwise would not have been able to see. I really hope this is followed through as it is embarrassing seeing attendances being shown as full when at times it seems as though there are thousands of empty seats. Let’s hope the Club acts on this.

      1. Of course it’s a matter of finance Phil, that’s the point.

        If you say we are in a position to come out of this better than most other clubs, why on earth did we becone the only club to introduce a pay cut?
        Not only was it badly managed by the club, the media are still dragging our name through the mud with great relish.

        The players you love to denigrate because Wenger signed them, ensured we were a regular top four club, despite the new money pouring in from City and Chelsea etc.
        At no time were we viewed as a bottom side, or in a relegation scenario – yet we are now supposed to believe that signing over seventeen new players it still goes back to the man who actually had the signings and contracts taken out of his hands over three years ago?

        Utter rubbish Phil, how did we finish with top four placings over twenty years and, but for one point, twenty one years?

        You can keep on blaming AW as much as you like, but the present situation has nothing whatsoever to do with him – the club has been in a downward spiral since he left and let me remind you of something you said when UE took over:
        “We have a decent squad and just need a few good players to make us competitive again.”
        So after 17 new signings the club has made since gazidis and his three wise men took over that responsibility, how many more of the “few” still need to be added?

        As for believing everything I read, if it’s officially from the club, I always do – even that now seems to raise questions however, following the debacle regarding the pay cut statement wouldn’t you say?

        How this club needs that top four placing that you deride so easily is there for all to see and the last three seasons have seen that goal slip further and further away – let’s keep blaming AW though, because the reality is to hard to admit.

        1. So Ken- all the players mentioned, with the exception of Ozil in his earlier years, never performed under both Wenger and Emery. Arteta has got consistently better performances out of them in just a few months, Wenger had seasons.
          You always mention the 20 years of consecutive CL Football Ken , but seem to forget that last season. Forget how many points we missed out on qualifying for the CL, the point is it was Wengers negligence that began the downward spiral and that should never have been allowed to happen. He had lost it, he knew it and everyone else knew it too. We were predictable as he had allowed the Club to become sterile and boring. The FA Cup wins were a camouflage of what was happening in reality, and this has been proven. His tactics never changed, the players were in a comfort zone and Wenger still thought he had earned the right to catty on regardless. The decision to award him those extra two years was total negligence by the Board, quickly realised when they sacked him less than a season later.
          We did have a good squad of players that were handed over to Emery, and it was that fool who carried on as Wenger had done in his last few years. The word is mediocrity Ken. That’s what Wenger allowed to happen and Emery proved to be as useless as Wenger in the end.
          I’m not sure I have ever derided that Top 4 spot, why would I. But to me, it’s not the ambition of a top club is it? I would have thought 1st place was the position we should be aiming for, not the mediocre 4th spot that Wenger thought exonerated him of all other responsibility. He ended up talking like a loser, and that’s exactly what he produced in the end, a team of losers.

          1. There you go again Phil, saying that I have forgotten his final year, when in every post regarding his twenty two years in charge, I have always said that he should have resigned after the cup final win over chelsea – but let’s put that fabricated piece of misleading post aside and look at what you then go on to say:

            Why do you want to forget the fa cup wins, the top four finishes?
            Why do you not want to acknowledge or discuss the impact of the oil money and the roubles that signalled so much change within the premier league?

            It’s there for all to see, look at the titles, the cups, the players and the wages as these two clubs dominated the scene.

            Have a look at how many times city raided us for players, using unlimited money to disrupt our plans – was it five players they came for? Five players that AW had intended to build teams around.

            Chelsea took players like Mata away from under our noses, when all but a signature was required for him to become a Arsenal player – hazard was another player who our club was looking at as well, of course.

            So, after spending over £300 million pounds on 17 players, since the new regime stepped in THREE YEARS AGO, what had we achieved?

            No CL ootball, no trophies, anarchy in the club, a begging bowl extended to the players pleading for a pay cut, still losing players for nothing, allowing players to run down their contracts, discussing relegation and clinging to the hope that we can somehow get into europe because city….you know, the club that has unlimited sources…have been charged with foul play.

            A downward spiraling performance that saw us go from 4th to 3rd to 2nd in the league, winning the fa cup three times in four years and qualifying for the knockout stages of the CL as regular as clockwork. I would suggest that is an upward spiraling trend actually.
            All achieved playing mediocre football, never changing tactics, being boring and sterile as well – the rest of the premiership managers must have been really stupid not to have spotted this.

            Every manager in the premier league, in charge of a “top club” has said that their first priority is to qualify for the CL – that is the number one goal – for heavens sake, we have been discussing why top players will want champions league football when they transfer from one club to another, yet you want to forget about it?

            The real problem is Phil, that you will not accept that, with kronkie as the owner, any manager we employ will have his hands tied and it falls to said manager to get the very best from his players – I gave you twenty examples of managers and players who said exactly that about AW, you choose to ignore them.

            Well, we have the opportunity to see now if Arteta can do what AW did, keep playing a mediocre (your word not mine) type of football that will give us CL football.

            It should be easy, as AW did it for so long don’t you agree? Especially as he has already turned players like xhaka and mustafi into producing consistently better performances, so the world is our oyster once again.

            The good squad of players you and I agree about, are still there, boosted by over £300,000,000 worth of players, 17 in all i believe, that have nothing to do with AW, including a record signing of £72 million, more than what mustafi and xhaka cost together.
            Some might say that they are not his players, but he knew them inside out and took on the job anyway.

            So whatever happens Phil, we will see CL returning, because it is very easy to achieve with mediocre football- I sincerely hope Arteta becomes THE most successful manager in the clubs history, whether it is with a mediocre team or not.

            If he gets sacked, it will mean six months of keeping him on while we look for a replacement, even though we had planned to sack him months before it seems.

            Of course, we could just sack him like we did UE or spuds did with poch, or united and chelsea did with mourinho, or leicester did with ranieri – would that make more sense?
            Here today gone tomorrow type of sacking that every other club does – seems the right thing to do for such a mediocre manager, I wonder why we didn’t?

  7. The kronke dont give a f*** but if they carry on like that, arsenal will end up in relegation fight within 3yrs, just like when top 4 was the target, now they ve dropped out of it and if being among the also rans becomes their target while the others Clubs around them like wolves etc regenerating and improving u can only imagine where arsenal wud be in next few yrs

    1. JD- did not Kronke sanction £120m+ of signings in last summers transfer window? And let’s remember that this was at the time he finally had 100% ownership of the Club. And is there not some legal reasons that Club owners simply cannot continue propping up their clubs financially? This is why Citeh are in the trouble they are, and rightly so. Each EPL Club must have a level of self-sufficiency, otherwise 90% would be bankrupt within years. Kronke would not be allowed to simply invest his own money even if he wanted to. He could, I understand, “ loan” the Club money from his own personal wealth, or underwrite loans through third party lenders.And despite being a Billionaire, you would be surprised how little spare cash most of these super-rich individuals have as it’s nearly always tied up in their investments.
      I’m pleased to be corrected on this if I’m wrong, but don’t actually believe I am

      1. Even if I agree wit ur findings am still not convinced by their level of commitment and ambition in arsenal, it seems like it’s only a money making venture to them which the club truly is at the end of the day but they seem to forget its a sport business , where they must win titles to remain an attractive and relevant brand to lure top dollars , whereas arsenal somehow allowed all the fame and success they ve had to evaporates due to poor management and lack of ambition by the owners, if not, how do U explain a manager that was walloped 10-2 by Bayern Munich, 8-3 humiliation by Man U to name a few allowed to carry on, how can they let the primary aim of arsenal to only be CL Qualification?i would hv love to see some aggression by the owners to win something major, either by getting a top manager sooner instead of letting Wenger destroy his legacy or through funding the team, Liverpool, Tottenham, Sheffield, wolves didn’t have to bust the bank to become better today

        1. JD- if you read the posts sent by @Stevo @Loose Cannon and @Ozzie Gooner you will see they have hit the nail right on the head. The investment WAS THERE. But the wrong players were bought and some had their demand given into and that is why we are in this position. Sanchez should have been sold to Citeh for the £60m they offered. Ramsey should have been sold instead of letting his contract run down. Ozil should never have been offered the obscene wage he demanded to stay. That is where the mid-management of the Clubs money has been wasted, along with the £70m Wenger spent on Xhaka and Mustafi, although it does seem as though Arteta has them both playing to a much higher and consistent level than Wenger and Emery managed.
          The point I am arguing is Kronke sanctioned the money for fees and wages so it is wrong to say the investment was never there. It is solely down to the wrong players being bought and the wrong handling of selling when we should have.

          1. Phil, I’m totally agreeing to what you say except in you agreeing with quoted users in saying wrong players were bought. These so called players weren’t this terrible when we brought them in. It is absolutely right to say arsenal is failing to get the best out of them or failing to develop them properly. Look at Sallah, Mane and Firmino in comparison to PEA and Laca. Those pool players struggled to score more 15 goals a season for their previous clubs, especially Sallah and Mane. They are giving pool 25-30 goals now even more. Whereas, PEA and Laca came to us with record of scoring goal for fun, 25,30 even 40 a season. We all know how those are fairing now. Arsenal has being failing together for years not only on the field but all facets of except in being classy and nice

      2. Phil can I ask about net spend ?
        I would argue the Saliba money is taken out of this summer’s budget – watch this space
        It’s also well know we only got Pepe because they accepted like 15 million a year whereas a Zaha – Palace wanted most money up front – we got 35 million for Iwobi so that covers two of those payments
        Martinelli and luiz what 6 million each ?Tierney 20 million
        Well we.sold Monreal.,Koscilney , Ospina, Jenkinson and Belix so that covers that along with the 6 million made for a percentage of Anderlade sell
        We swapped Mykatrayan’s salary for Cebbaos
        The wage bill was slashed by Cech , Welbeck and Ramsey leaving
        So work it out he didn’t spend 110 million
        Then think of all the big names who left and was that money put back in ?
        We sell Fabregas get Artet a
        We sell nasri get benyaoun on loan
        We sell van persie – get Giroud
        Always spend part of the fee we then where does the rest go?

        1. Once again Dan spot on!!

          We have actually released, sold or loaned out over twenty players since AW left and let’s not forget the vastly improved sponsorship deals as well.
          I’m not sure what the total number of players in and out is since gazidis and his three wise men took over SOLE CONTROL of these matters… you know, when it was trumpeted that we had got our Arsenal back!?!?

          Kronkie didn’t need to sanction the deals, as long as they fell within the self sustaining model – that’s why he employs people to make those decisions.

          The problem is, gazidis as usual, made the wrong decisions, employed staff (some of whom left in record quick time when they realised what an idiot he was), only for the “man” himself to realise said fact and swan off to wreak havoc at AC Milan!!!

          1. No arguments Dan, the nett spend was not the amount we paid out and we did remove excess wages with the offloading of players. But Kronke still sanctioned the Club to buy these players and this will need to be paid over the next 3-4 years. That’s clgoing to be tough without the ST income, gate receipts and match day sales of merchandise, beverages etc. But we will still be better off than most clubs and that’s before the full financial impact is calculated.

  8. Lack of investment is not the problem at Arsenal it is the catastrophic mismanagement of our funds that has led to us being a midtable team at the moment. Sanchez,ozil, ramsey, debacle has cost us more than 100m. xhaka and mustafi were a wasted 80m.

    Liverpool sold their best players at the right time and bought ridiculously well while we did the exact opposite. its like we took a wrong decision every damn time. How well off would we be right now with a good 40m defender and a good 40m def midfielder. Add another 100m to replace a sold off ramsey and sanchez with a good central mid and left winger.

    1. @Ackshay- all those players you mentioned were brought to the Club by Wenger and the contracts, with the exception of Aaron Ramsey, were on his watch. Wenger and Gazidis sanctioned those deals, and are therefore to blame for the mid-management of these funds you note. It is now the new management team are having to clear up their mess, with ever decreasing funds to work with.
      Perhaps @Ken1845 would suggest a plaque clearly stating this fixed to the Statue he is so keen to have erected of Wenger.

      1. Truth writ large Phil! By the way, is the “1845” a personal joke with Ken, since you are hardly a kid either as nor am I?

      2. Is it Wenger’s fault Auba’s contract is running down ?
        We gone backwards since Wenger left

        1. Yes, we have gone backwards since Wenger left. Only not as much as we did in his last few years 🙂

          1. AndersS, so in AW’s last few years (what shall we say five years?) this is what happened – if you want to go further back I’m quite happy to compare:

            league positions – 4th…3rd…2nd…
            (no backward situation there then, in fact progress)
            5th…6th:

            fa cup results – Winners – Winners – 6th round – Winners – 3rd round defeat (first in his 22 year reign.

            CL positions – knockout stages – knockout stages – knockout stages – knockout stages -Europa cup – semi final –

            So where, exactly, is the regression? And let me remind you, in the two seasons since he left:

            league position 5th – 9th to date

            fa cup results 4th round – 6th round to date

            CL No qualification in either season to date

            Europa Cup – Final – last 16.

            So, with upwards of 17 new players signed at a cost of over £300,000,000 since “we got our Arsenal back”, are you wanting anyone to believe that our club has had better results, both on and off the field, since AW left.

      3. And the new management team have done what Phil?

        Having signed 17 players and released 20 plus, are we any nearer to the top four or winning trophies?

        Something we did with Wenger’s bad buys, but nowhere near it with the new regimes clear out and wonderful signings.

        1. But Ken- have any of the new players cost as much as Wengers mistakes? Seriously? Sokritis is capable at best but other than that let me mane a few for you. Mustafi? Only now has a proper modern minded coach as Arteta been able to get him to look a decent player. Xhaka? Ditto. That’s £70m spent on two players who Wenger had scouted, anylised, bought and then………. allowed them to play week after week, regardless of their performances. Elneny? Seriously? Never a Premiete league player in a million years. Welbeck? Totally injury prone and never a CF to lead the line and score goals. That’s over £100m Ken on what? Mediocrity. Which is exactly what Wenger turned Arsenal into.

          1. Well Phil, I’ll just answer your first question above, as I have covered the rest, I think, in an earlier post.

            Have any of the new players cost as much as AW’s mistakes?

            Well, Pepe cost £72 million, Luiz cost £8 million, Lichstenier, Suares loan deals another £8 million in salaries, so off the top of my head, that’s £88 million in just eighteen months, without Cebs salary and taking your word for it that Soks isn’t a mediocre player!!!

            As for Elneny replace with Guendouzi.

    2. Yes Ackshay, money wasted on Suarez and Ceballos loan deals, (add Soares too), Socrates, Torrera, Pepe, Leno 20M? Luiz 8M?- part of the new regime’s bad decisions. Only Gabriel looks like a good talent and Tierney , unfortunate to have another injury.
      Mediocre performances, hefty transfer fees/wages.Stan’s fault is that he is not actively involved in the clubs ops, hence is being taken for ride.Should axe the to top honchos first, then the non performing playing assets.

      1. Loose Cannon, at last my friend!!!

        Someone who doesn’t agree with evrything Wenger has done, but a fan who actually thinks about what has happened since he left and tries not to put the blame on one person.

        Let me add Lichsteiner, Mkhitaryan, Mavropaos and Guendouzi to your list of players that the new regime have bought since gazidis introduced raul, viai and huss to take over the responsibiity of players in and out, their contracts and their salaries.

        Now we can go on and on about Xhaka and Mustafi costing £70 million, but just one player, Pepe, has cost more than those two together – let alone the other eleven identified.

        To date, this new regime have spent over £300,000,000 since taking over responsibility three years ago as detailed above and to put that into perspective, in 2010 AW spent £17,000,000 and in 2015 £13,000,000.

        Furthermore, in 2010 and 2015 we had CL revenue flowing into the coffers, along with top four prize money.

    3. @Achshay
      Excellent comment.
      Our problems is the result of mainly 2 things:
      Several years of mismanagement in players aquisition and player development and spending too much on the wrong players and an unbalanced squad.
      The owners fault in this, is that he was too passive and trusted former regimes for too long.

  9. Hai..nice article..however i am glad for Arteta to take charge Arsenal..i can see his philosophy..the way they play week by week..i hope we can be great again. I am fully trust Arteta and team. Hope Arsenal and England can fully recover from the Covid19 pandemic..and we can have football back. Love from Malaysia.

  10. DAN in your well constructed post , I take substantial issue with much, though agree about how you have outlined the Kroenke era. The REAL point is that from now on almost ALL clubs and some FAR richer than ours will do well to survive. I don’t mean such as City will go broke BUT that for City to win titles there has to be a league to win and that is far from certain right now. THAT then is surely the main point and you have avoided it, sadly.

    You are blithely calling for Arsenal to spend big tranfer fees NOW. In the PAST, I do agree with your Kroenke stance. Who could not! But NOW after this huge change , to STILL call for huge fees to be spent is avoiding the facts of how changed ALL football now is and will be much more so when it returns, in so MANY WAYS TOO.

    It seems to me that you are among the many who just have not grasped the depth of enforced change that will happen to ALL football. That REALISATION is keenly shared by all the owners and those who have enormous personal wealth, at the moment !!

    1. Thanks Jon
      I do sometimes get so down about Koronke I do get carried away
      Yet I still feel there are even free transfers we could approach
      Just a decade zero ambition and going backwards
      It hurts

      1. DAN, yes we are all hurting, thanks to Kroenke. But the past is now gone and my point is that from now on we and all clubs are in an entirely new world money wise and in many other ways too. True that in normal times we can and should learn from past mistakes but we are NOT in normal times nor will be for a very long time to come. By “we” I mean the whole of football and much of the world too. By all means write about the mistakes made but apart from letting off steam it accomplishes nothing in our new circumstances.
        What ALL clubs must and will do, IF they are able, is plan to survive financally first and foremost and move Heaven and Earth to move on players who are draining finances and not repeat that mistake with ANY new signings. SEEMS VERY PLAIN TO ME THAT IS WHAT WILL AND IS HAPPENING, EVEN AS WE SPEAK.

  11. Sir Matt Busby started with young kids and looked where that got him THE BUSBY BABES we have young eager guns waiting

    1. Totally agree towny254, they also did it with the class of 93.

      We have a great bunch of younger players ready to carry our club forward, I just wonder how much damage has been done by the, reported, pressure put on them by Arteta to accept a pay cut?

      Saka certainly wouldn’t have been impressed as he negotiates his new contract, that’s for sure.

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