Arsenal won the FA Cup and then Arteta gave away all the players for nothing by Dan Smith
Because of Arsenal’s 100 percent start to the season certain business has gone under the radar.
There’s often a divide among our fanbase where you either say everything is wonderful about Arsenal no matter what, or your accused of having some kind of agenda.
Like most things the truth is somewhere in the middle.
I, for example, love the fact the Gunners are top of the table, the only side in the division to win all of their fixtures. Yet it doesn’t mean I can’t be concerned about certain aspects of our club.
It doesn’t make me any less of a supporter if I refuse, like some of my peers, to turn the other cheek.
You can do both, want the team to succeed, but critique if you think mistakes are being made.
Our pursuit of a midfielder on deadline day took attention off the fact that we allowed Bellerin to leave on a free to facilitate his return to Barcelona.
Essentially, we ripped up his contract to get him of the wage bill. At the club since 16 and having played 239 times for us, winning 3 FA Cups and doing nothing wrong apart from suffering a couple of serious injuries, the Spaniard deserved a better exit from North London.
A loan was once intended to prove to your parent club that you could still contribute something. He lifted the Copa del Rey at Real Betis and did enough for Barcelona to be interested.
Say that out loud, a player apparently not good enough for a side who finished 5th but is rated by one of Spain’s big 2.
You know, just like Aubameyang in January. The All Or Nothing Documentary sees our manager claim to have a dossier of all of his ex-captain’s indiscretions.
So bad his employers would rather release him then wait for a transfer fee.
So terrible that they rather have Eddie Nketiah as their source for goals even though they knew it most likely would cost them a place in the top 4.
Apparently giving him away was better management then working with the player and trying to get the best out of him till the end of the campaign.
Not that bad though …… enough for Xavi and now Tuchel to overlook.
Not enough to stop him scoring goals in La Liga and obviously not enough for Chelsea to look the other way.
It’s okay if it were a one off.
If Auba was simply a personality that didn’t suit our managers ethos that’s fine.
If Bellerin doesn’t suit his ethos, that can happen.
Even if those individuals go and prove him wrong, that can happen.
Yet it’s not a one off, is it?
It’s Pepe, Maitland Niles and Mari who have all been loaned out.
Ozil, Sokratis, Mustafi and Kolasinac all had their contracts ripped up.
Countless loans meant Guendouzi and Torreira lost serious value.
Even if you think those names are or were not good enough for our first 11 from a purely economic point of view, are you really saying they are not worth anything?
Use Pepe as an example ……
An asset we were willing to fork out 72 million for 2 seasons ago. Now no one is willing to even pay a million for.
It’s because suitors now know that the Gunners are so desperate to slash the wage bill that they will essentially give their players away.
Why make an offer for a Pepe or Bellerin when you know you can call our bluff and eventually, we will cave?
Our boss doesn’t have a good poker face. Pepe, as an example last started in the League in October!!!!!!!!!!!
Bellerin hasn’t been included in any squad this season!
That’s essentially telling the world what you’re thinking.
If you had involved Pepe and even pretended that you were open to him staying, then maybe you would have received an offer.
Instead, he just washed his hands of the player. Again, that’s fine as a one off, but how many players has Arteta given up on? That stance has at the very least cost us a lot of money.
That’s not his fault.
That’s his employers.
They have allowed a rookie boss to think that instead of getting the best out of the resources he has, it’s fine to just stop trying.
Let use the 2020 FA Cup Final as an example.
Don’t think about whether they were good enough. Think about how they were treated and how much money was lost.
Martinez – 20 million
An example of what happens when you treat a player fairly.
Arteta was open to have two goalies competing for the number one spot and wouldn’t give assurance to either the Argentine or Leno, believing competition would bring out the best in both.
That led to Villa making an offer.
See what happens when suitors don’t know what our manager is thinking?
Bellerin – released
As already mentioned, the only thing he very did wrong was suffer injuries that robbed him of the pace that made him so good.
Fitness issues meant that even after a great loan spell last season, few would be willing to match his current salary.
The Gunners essentially released him as a favour to Barca on a condition they were included in any sell on clause.
Tierney – Still at the club
Holding – Still at the club
Luiz – Arguably best performances for the club were in FA Cup Semi Final and Final.
Contract allowed to run down which was always the intention by both parties.
Injury ended his Gunners career earlier then planned as he had to sit and watch our campaign decline
Maitland Niles– loan
In some ways is rated by Arteta, in other ways he’s not.
Deemed good enough for us to turn down a reported 20 million offer from Wolves after his man of the match display in the Cup Final.
Yet the third manager to deem him not good enough to be anything else then a makeshift full back.
Now 25, he might look back and regret not embracing the chances he got at left/right back, a position he could have made his own.
Loans at West Brom and Roma proved he’s not the midfielder that exists in his own mind.
Why would the Saints pay a fee when they know Arsenal are so open to loans
Ceballos – loan ended
As I expected at the time Ceballos was a convenient option, a chance to bring in a body into midfield without having to pay a transfer fee.
Some Gooners made him out to be better than he was.
Returned to Real Madrid after two seasons on loan.
Has only played 14 times in La Liga since.
Xhaka – Still at the club
Lacazette- Free agent
All parties seemed to accept for a while those negotiations over a new deal had stalled with neither interested in changing that.
Laca was allowed to run down his deal, something we were promised by Vini Venkatesham would never be allowed to happen after Ramsey did the same.
Can’t blame Arsene Wenger for this one!
Aubameyang – Contract ripped up
The previous regime were blamed for allowing Ozil to run down his contract to the point he club felt pressure to pay over the odds to keep a player who had zero re-sale value.
Most Gooners seemed to not notice that we did exactly the same with Auba.
It’s never been confirmed what was so bad that our then captain was made to train on his own with no way back.
Yet it hasn’t put off Chelsea.
Pepe – loaned
Our manager gave up on him last October, refusing to start him ever since.
Even when the team were struggling for creativity, our obvious plan B was given a few minutes to make an impact.
On the few times he did, at home to Wolves, he still wasn’t rewarded with a start.
Even when Laca was clearly not scoring goals, Pepe was never considered as an option.
If I were an owner, watching my team struggling, I would demand to know why my asset worth 72 million was not being used.
We often talk about liking or not liking Arteta and Edu.
This isn’t a popularity contest.
They get paid thousands of pounds a week to work on behalf of Arsenal
Our Technical Director has the responsibility of making choices that often involves millions of pounds.
If Arsenal are failing on the pitch and not getting maximum value on their assets, then that’s not good enough
I’m sorry beating Leicester, Palace, Villa and 2 promoted sides isn’t going to make me ignore resources and money being wasted…
Dan Smith
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