I know that a lot of Arsenal fans disagree vehemently with the decision by Stan Kroenke not to inject massive funds into the club but long term it is the only way.
The club has to become self-sufficient, that means making a profit on transfers, bringing through youth, controlling wages, doing the right sponsorship deals and of course, success on the field of play.
Missing out on the Champions League has damaged us financially and will always have a knock-on effect in terms of revenue and attracting the right sort of player but Arsenal are big enough to withstand that and if we stick to our financial model we will always make our way back into Europe’s elite competition.
Some will argue that without a huge injection of cash we will not be able to compete for the title but look at Liverpool, they amassed 97 points and still did not pick up the Premier League trophy, why?
Because the game has been distorted by the spending of Manchester City, they have not earned their success, they have bought it and they will, at some point, pay the price for that which could include being banned from the Champions League.
The authorities are clamping down on clubs cheating the system and a time will come that clubs will have no option but to work within their means and the sooner we adapt to that the better it will be for us long term.
Tottenham have gone down that path and it has served them well, yes, they have been bloody lucky and losing 13 league games in a season shows they have a long way to go but they are on the right track and Arsenal are now on that same course.
We are a huge club, we earn more than enough to become competitive, we have made mistakes and that is why we are where we are today and that is a truth we have to face.
Terrible transfer deals, horrendous contract negotiations, losing players for nothing, not bringing through enough young talent, poor coaching decisions and so on have all contributed to where we are today, not a lack of funds by the owner.
Of course, it would be lovely if Kroenke could throw in £200 Million and we go out and buy three or four world class players but that money has to be covered, if it is not then we will be punished by the authorities and do not kid yourselves that will not happen because it will, they are now getting tough with the liars and cheats in our game that are manipulating competition through financial skullduggery.
I know this is not a popular opinion but I am confident we will get it right, that we will be self-sufficient and will be able to compete for silverware, we just need patience.
Martin
A well written article which I am in agreement with. We are where we are due to gross mismanagement and it will take a few years to recover from the past regime of mainly Gazidis and to a slightly lesser extent, Wenger. Kroenke throwing money at it won’t happen, we know that but it wouldn’t be the answer anyway. As you you say Uefa are coming down heavily on clubs spending money they haven’t earned and City look likely to get a Champions League ban and transfer embargo. Chelsea are banned from buying in this window too. The authorities, as woeful and corrupt as they are, at least are starting to clamp down on the cheating clubs in the game. When Wenger was sacked the statement from the club was that we would hire a top level coach with vision and a philosophy of quick attacking football, using young quick technically gifted players. What did we get? Drab, crab like football played by ageing players on inflated salaries. Unfortunately the recent “staged” interview of the Arsenal hierarchy talking about the new vision for the future did not fill me with excitement or real hope. We’ve got a few more years of this yet, in my humble opinion.
Some of the financial mistakes by arsenal are amateurish, Gazidis deserved to be sacked a long time ago and Wenger is partially culpable. Every club makes mistakes but ours was on another level. This summer will show if this new regime will bring change. So pls in the name of God, sell/release Ospina, Mustafi, Jenkinson, Lichtsteiner, Elneny and Asano. After that, decisions should be made on the likes of Martinez, Chambers, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Ozil, Mkhi and Iwobi as to we keep or sell. If some of them can be improved upon, then do it. We need action for the sake of the fans, no pissing around anymore.
My reply was meant for here not to myself. Lupe I think your remarks are pathietic and just meant to annoy. You remind me of the Dr Spoock famous quote: After six to eight weeks baby begins to gurgle and make funny noises.
Hahaha, sorry i annoyed you snowden. I hope you’re not always so unreasonable. Read your comment below, can’t wait to read that post you promised about what arsenal’s biggest problem really is, it will be an interesting read. Also, good luck on that “mini richer league” you mentioned whatever that means…Lol.
Yes but it is not just Man C. We have a mini Euro League of clubs that are financed from outwith the club. They are able to pay players much more than a self financing club can. Now it is not the cup that counts or league position but What can the club pay?
We have the potential or the hope to be top of the ladder of self financing clubs and may be for one even two seasons break in to the mini richer league as could others .
However in my opinion the lack of money is not the biggest problem we face. After the Cup game I plan to write about what I think is our biggest problem.
My eyes, my thoughts are fixed on the game. COYG
Pathetic
Wrong wrOng sOO SO damn wrong – we were patient when wenger was reconstructing the squad and here we are advocating more doses of “patience” for the new era under coach emery. We do need investment and we need it (*quickly/ already). I’m skeptical about arsenal’s patience model and find it something of a damp squib, a party line and meaningless soundbite. being patient seen the likes of sadio mane, VVD and no doubt countless other talents coaxed towards our competitors rather than playing for us. I think the time for “fans patience” has long gone, it was patience time when we were paying for the stadium and losing our best players to chelski, to man city and manu but now is the time for investments,for rapid response (in transfer market) and being first (rather than last) with bids for quality recruitment.
Its only by entering the market(s) an paying-up is the one-and-only way we will be bringing the likes of h.maguire, doucoure, mahrez, marshalls or any other “noteworthy” additions into the arsenal fold. Spending means taking risks – taking risks never did chelsea, manu, liverpool and now man citeh any harm whatsoever – it has only strengthened their positions in the epl. Its the realist among us that will see and understand we need to be seen to act rapid quick and quickly or else we can expect failure(s) to become the habit.
@waal2waal. Could not agree with you more!
The stadium has been built and is now ageing. Time of austerity has been long over so much so that a new stadium up the road has been built and instead of being miles ahead and booming we are going to be competing with that and still looking to play the long game.
I dont disagree business acumen, key investment instruments and strong management at board level has to be much much better but we’re out of austerity no longer in debt surely even a director’s loan of however much is sustainable and acceptable by FFP rules? Wtf are we still playing the long game?!! We need a boost to bridge the gap and we need that boost now otherwise I fear the gap from the top 4 will be too far and we will be brushing the shoulders with the likes of lower teams competing for 5,6,7 spots. Manu have already identified this and doing whatever they can to stay with the pack.
Please remind me again the reasons why the Arsenal left Highbury, redeveloped it for apartments and spent a fortune building the Emirates?
As no promises made at that time have thus far been met, you cannot believe anything the board says. They have zero credibility.
Your usual common sense!
I agree it’s like circle of things.when we have djorou or whatever the spelling we have van persie,when we have Giroud-we have kos and merta at their best,when we have Sanchez we have kos injury prone,we have laca n auba then mustafi.
Simple we should learn to capitalise Wen player are their best.i.right now strengthen our weak point.otherwise 2020/2021 laca n aub won’t be moving on cos they have ambition than our club
sorry meant Laca n auba will be moving on.
what utter BS
One problem is if we want to sell Ozil or Mikhitarian, what club is going to be willing to pay their inflated wages ( same for United and Sanchez).
So either you sell them for less than their footballing value or you keep paying part of their wages to their new clubs. Clearly there needs to be a clear out of the many Wenger mistakes named above which will give us some money, but the 40 million if we lose the Europa league cannot purchase decent replacements for the many areas of need. We can hope that a couple of the youngsters will prove Premier-worthy but to ensure growing success more must be made available. Remember Kroenke has made sure to take millions out in “management fees” so it’s time for him to support his new manager.
Ok facts. Kroneke took 3 million out in first season and never took any more coz of the pr backlash.
This “self-sustainig”crap is patethic.It’s not Alice in wonderland :if you dont invest you dont get results in the pitch, plain and simple.Kroenke is fooling the fans….
Pathetic sorry
I disagree bud this is an interesting debate with well thought out comments
And a topic that isn’t spoken about much apart from ranting and raving
Feck knows what’s for the best they just need to sort it asap