What is wrong with Arsenal’s transfer strategy? by Pierre
The negativity surrounding Arsenal has become overwhelming, in part and justifiably because of the massacre at Anfield. There are no explanations, excuses, special circumstances to overlook it. However, this is one of 38 games, so let’s not talk relegation and other stupidities yet.
As for the transfer window, it has been overwhelmingly described as a failure: disaster, amateurish, clueless, and many other adjectives have been used. However, what were the objectives for this transfer window:
* Keep hold of your stars: Check. Alexis and Ozil are staying
* Sign a world-class striker: check. Arsenal broke the transfer record to sign Lacazette, who has scored over 30 goals for the past 3 years for a club that doesn’t dominate its league.
* Bring some more muscle: check. Sead Kolasinac is not only a beast, but he was in the Bundesliga team of the season and he was free.
* Do the transfer business early: check. We got Kolasinac for nothing and Manchester City spent roughly 127 million on full backs, including 27 for a substitute. We also got Lacazette early and paid a record fee for him.
* Get rid of the deadwood: check. Sanogo gone, Gibbs sold, Jenkinson loaned out, Perez loaned out. Szczesny sold (neutral, he does have potential but was not needed anyway), the Ox sold (he hasn’t proven himself, wanted very high wages, and was sold for 35 million, neutral), Gabriel sold (neutral, could progress further but will never be a top central defender, just a squad player), Campbell back on loan (not needed), Perez on loan (was unused so we might as well have someone else pay his wages)
Where is the disaster? It would have been nice to bring in one or two more players (world-class center back and holding midfielder) but this team is definitely stronger than last year’s. Walcott is much maligned but he did score 19 goals in 37 games last year, so he may not be a starter but he is certainly very useful. Chambers had a very strong season at Middlesbrough (look at the results with and without him on the team last year) and also for the England U21 team, and he will be on the first team. Wilshere has managed to play 27 games and has at times shown that he still has it, besides no one will ever accuse Jack to lack the fight. One dark spot: Debuchy is still on the payroll (because no one wants to pay his wages), but he was once an excellent player (he started for the French national team ahead of Sagna at the World Cup) but has had two gruesome injuries.
So Arsenal is still an excellent team (that won the FA cup, beating Chelsea and Manchester City in the process) and drawing conclusions from one horrendous game is premature. The Manchester clubs certainly look very strong on paper, but one finished 3rd, just three points ahead of Arsenal, and the other one was one place behind Arsenal. They have spent ungodly amounts of money but nothing less than winning the league will be considered a good season, and one of them won’t. As for Chelsea, they brought in Morata, Rudiger, and Bakayoko who are all excellent players, but they also lost Costa (well not quite), Matic, and John Terry, who was no longer at his prime but had a huge influence in the locker room. Is that a stronger team than last year?
So before you bury Arsenal, Wenger, Kroenke, Walcott, Ramsey, Wishere, Ozil, Xhaka, etc. let’s watch a few more games. I hope Arsenal returns to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Cech, Bellerin/Koz/Mustafi/Kolasinac, Ramsey/Xhaka, lacazette/Ozil/Sanchez, Giroud.
Pierre
The negativity stems partly from our 2 losses, funny to think that if we had won against stoke the situation would be wholly different, but i am not here to defend the owners of arsenal… we have a despicable board..
talk about skewing the stats to fit your own conclusions…this is like a slap in the face to every real Arsenal fan…have you no shame, have you no dignity, have you no sense of right from wrong…if you think everything was so well orchestrated why is everyone and their brother laughing at the way in which we conduct business both on and off the field…either you’re a paid hack or a delusional buffoon…regardless you can’t be a genuine Arsenal fan because the difficulties facing this club having been going on for years and this latest episode in our pathetic recent history is but a glaring reminder of how far we have fallen…I’m not going to waste my time discrediting every single ridiculous statement you made in your love letter to Wenger, but if you write another article I will gladly expose you for the fraud you truly are…this club is in desperate need of a serious cleansing and for you to try and package this dog and pony show as a well-oiled machine is a direct insult to anyone who has supported this team during the supposed “lean” years…the deceptive and disrespectful manner in which this organization has treated it’s fans is an abomination to supporters everywhere and for you to even try to justify their actions is akin to saying just shut-up and keep filling our pockets…so please crawl back under whatever stone you crawled out from under and think carefully before you spew this type of propaganda ever again
It’s not about the 1 match, it’s the collective of things and the manner of which Arsenal conduct themselves. Pierre I believe you are not being partial with your analysis, please be realistic, even stats show we are regressing so stop defending for our incompetence.
Pierre my friend it’s about 1 step forward and 2 steps back. If you are only looking at the 1 step forward and neglecting the 2 step backwards then you are definitely going to have an argument that justifies your own cause. Plus our football is really unattractive as well as obstinate. How can you defend the management that has lied to the fans? No excuse!
Stop being part of the problem but instead part of the solution. Why can’t a sensible man like you see the problem we’re in before it’s all too late? Your actions is factionalizing the fans and not uniting them to a common cause, which is for change and the betterment of our club. How many years do you need to come to your senses?
The other side of the coin:
* Alexis and Ozil are staying, but will leave next season. We will need a big outlay to replace them. Club’s fault to keep them hanging.
* Stop saying Sead is among 2 signings, he was signed in January.And he is free. His wages is more than anyone in Spurs team, 7m per year salary compensates for his transfer fees to some extent.
* I am fine with Ox being sold, even to direct rivals Pool(personal opinion). Perez was a drama, and finally a loan move will come back to hurt us next year, 29 year old harder to get rid off. Gibbs we rejected 10m to sell for 7m later. Wellington Silva backfired, we bought and could not make a profit.
* Debuchy is still around, Wilshere is still around.
* We did not bring anyone for the future. Most teams did few young additions. Hurts me the most when bidding wars are happening for a lot of young kids and none of them are Arsenal players
The problem is that we’ve managed to look weak and ineffective, by first saying that we weren’t going to sell AS, then it looks like we were bending over backwards for Citeh, as they were sending out all their representatives etc. saying they felt ‘confident’, then messing up the transfer. We should’ve have just told Citeh, “The answer is no, and don’t ask again”, and acted like the 7th biggest club in the world, rather than being completely humiliated by a club half our size, which beat us 4-0, then took one of our players, which clearly we didn’t want to sell them, and then tried to push a deal across the line in the last day, which we couldn’t manage all summer. That’s ontop of the fact that we’ve alienated a lot of our main squad, Mustafi, Chambers, by saying we were going to sell them, and now haven’t, and we have glaring gaps in midfield and defence, yet have sold off first team defenders without replacing them. I could go on, but you get the drift.
Agree. Should have signed a world class CB, but we should wait for 10 games to completely dismiss our chances for the title. 4-4-2 with Bellerin, kos, mustafi, kolasinac is a good defence. Injuries to any one will surely cause problems. But we should wait for 10 games to form a complete opinion.
U do know keeping Sanchez is not a win for anybody right, this is a player that doesn’t want to play for us anymore, the two new players we bought are being benched by le fraud in other to play players out of position, but we shouldn’t be angry, let’s celebrate whoooo we failed to address our biggest problem again getting rid of the yoghourt man.
exactly. Sanchez wont put up close to the numbers he did last season. I’d be surprised if he’s even a main in the XI cause it can sometimes get pretty ugly when a player that doesnt want to be there stays. The team we put up against Liverpool is actually stronger than the team we have now.
or rather the squad is. Cause Wenger was on drugs again and didn’t even Lacazette… That’s what drugs can do to ya kids.
I couldn’t disagree more on this. He wants to play. He need to play and play well. First,This is a contract year for Him. If he wants to get the money he desires he has to show that he is worth it. Else any club looking to sign him will use that against him in negotiations and he’d wind up getting a smaller weekly wage. Secondly, this is a WC year. Sanchez and Chile want to win and be very competitive during the WC. If Sanchez isn’t playing and playing to his potential he will be “off form” and damage his nations chances of qualifying and competing/winning the WC.
So Alexis had every reason to play to his highest level for his club team.
Let’s not forget. The fact that Sanchez wants to leave is mostly conjecture at this point based on the fact that he hasn’t signed a new contract with Arsenal. There could be a myriad of reasons not to sign an extension yet with Arsenal that have nothing to do with him wanting to leave.
Keep in mind that he had NEVER said he wants to leave. He has not submitted a transfer request. His situation is the polar opposite of Costa’s. So we cannot even be sure that he wants to leave. Sure his body language looks like he’s done. But he looks like that fit Chile and has looked like that since joining AFC.
Look at all the players who wanted to leave and are unhappy. VVD, Coutinhio, Mharez, Barkley etc. they have all submitted transfer requests, they are all either not playing or training with the U-23 (or alone) and they have all said they want to go. Sanchez isn’t doing any of this. Not one.
if you want to be oblivious to the obvious, then sure, Sanchez doesnt want to leave arsenal >_>. I don’t think you’re quite grasping that Sanchez is leaving on a FREE transfer, so you’re right his situation is nothing like the other players you mentioned because unlike them, he knows he can just walk to City next season independent of what numbers he achieves this season. He’s already a proven player, you’re acting like this is a Mahrez situtation.
With respect, you are missing the point. Sanchez has everything to play for. It is irrelevant that he walks away for free. What is relevant is that he is a high energy player closing in on 30. This is his last st chance for a big contract. Yes, maybe he goes to ManC regardless but his performances this year will dictate whether he goes there on a £400k/week contract or a £120k/week contract.
He said he won’t play another game for us
Yes, he did. Sanchez is definitely going to sit on the bench and sulk.
Leaving for free isn’t really losing out on money for AFC. With Sanchez AFC have a significantly better chance of getting back into the CL. Without him, probably wont happen.
If Sanchez helps them get back into the CL AFC will make well in excess of 60 million in CL bonuses, increased share of CL TV money, and increased revenue. So keeping Sanchez is not as bad financially as it seems.
And expect City to come in January with an offer that’s probably less than half of the 60mill they offered. Chances are they will be in the title race and Arsenal won’t be and will have nothing to gain.
Arsene hasnt sold to Man C, he’s stupid cos Alex would leave for free next season and arsenal has lost 60m. Arsene sells Alex, he’s weak, he has no ambition, the club is greedy blabla bla. Get real! Our transfer was not the worst neither was it a disaster as some are crying. Chamberlain turned Chelsea down, Barkley turned Chelsea down, Matic crossed to Man United, a title rival and of course their best striker Costa, who is to them as Alexis is to arsenal, has absconded. Chelsea lost their first game at home, Stamford bridge has not fallen.
Let’s stop being necessarily so bitter and negative, let’s get behind our team and help them pull through. You may not like Wenger, but Wenger is not Arsenal, the earlier we get this straight the better for all. After all football is still a game and a sport, for frienship
“Arsene hasnt sold to Man C, he’s stupid cos Alex would leave for free next season and arsenal has lost 60m. Arsene sells Alex, he’s weak, he has no ambition, the club is greedy blabla bla.”
Arsenal “fans” love to go bla-bla-bla…
The reality is that apart from City none of the clubs competing in this year’s Champiiins league sought bid for. Sanchez this transfer window. If an offer had come in from abroad it is far more probable that a deal would have been struck. And City of course had the ulterior motive of weakening a domestic rival.
Alexis is 28 time is not on his side he can’t really do a strop strike because he is not able to play this or that completion. I think if he wants to have suitors come the end of the season he’s goona have the appropriate level of performwnce
That’s arsenals major problem hiring people to defend its weaknesses, we are not about a good team so is Everton so is westham we need a premiership winning team not shambles
Start searching for justification right now because at the end of season with this team we are a mid table team because Wenger cannot motivate his team anymore. One decent example for our business policy, we had a serious buyer for Gibbs for £12 million which was rejected by our board and wanted at least 15 million for him and ended at selling him for 7 million in the same window. What a great way of doing things. Can you please make me understand the move was based on financial or footballing reason.
Yep, it is that unmotivated team that came back from behind to be beat Leicester? The same team where Lacazette’s goal was deemed off-side, and where Bellerin was denied penalties…
The team did not play well against Liverpool as Ramsay was mostly in one box, and did not play box-to-box, and your favorite Ox did not track back enough to stop a shot after being outplayed… Yes, other players did not well either, but they were no loud, and even apologized.
Time to move on and focus on what is to come. When Santi returns, I hope that Arsenal are in better shape to make a run at the top four.
Wow Pierre, you are very easily satisfied! I’m incredibly disappointed because with the proper moves during the summer and some proper tactics and player management and team selection decisions (that so far have been sorely lacking this season) we could actually contend for a title! Now it’s going to be a REAL stretch and probably even a stretch for top four and it ALL could have been avoided. There was no rational reason to run down the contracts of so many major players into the last year. We landed two great acquisitions early on, then NOTHING the rest of the summer. We could have brought in Lemar easily for 45-55M in July with proper negotiation rather than diddling about with how much to pay upfront. We almost certainly need a replacement for Alexis (at least the closest to such as thing as is possible) from next year forwards anyhow, so why mess about? If not Lemar, then other options were clearly available (Draxler, Mahrez, etc.). We could have brought in a proper badass defensive midfielder, but no moves whatsoever in that direction. We could have strengthened the center back ranks, but instead we sell Gabriel at fire sale prices and almost give away Mustafi as well. Alexis and Ozil are still here, but what will their motivation be? What level of chaotic distraction might their ongoing contract dramas and how much team cohesion will be destroyed by this, especially from January forwards? We offer Ox ridiculously overvalued wages to his contribution level and lose him anyhow. It takes till the very end of the window to move marginal players due to their overpriced wages, and many of those are loan only. We send away promising players who can deliver like Lucas and keep players who for years have not such as Welbeck. Meanwhile, during the first three matches Arsene makes some truly puzzling and maddening team selection decisions. Monreal at center back? Bellerin at LWB? Laca & Kola on the bench for Liverpool? And many of these things are carry-over patterns from recent years. As just two quick examples, we could have landed Lacazette a few years back if not for nickle and diming the negotation, and Van Dijk was available for fire sale prices from Celtic in similar time frame. Instead we “track” players for years on end before pulling the trigger, while other teams sniff the scent, step in and often land such players ahead of us. Are you really so surprised that the fans are unhappy? Okay, so will still have a core of a certain level of excellence. If they perform at capacity we could still have a great season, but it will not reach the levels of what easily would have been possible through proper management and it’s a big IF they perform at capacity and are managed properly.
I agree with everything you stated; if the plan were to severely weaken team spirit, strength and respect, then the AFC have certainly reached their goal. Even now being in the position we are in, with the squad on hand, the team could still compete, I believe, however, yes, there are some glaring holes like CB and CDM!
But the most important factor needed, which could help guide the team to some success is not around, and that is a Manager with passion, motivation, spirit, and tactical know how! The players need an energetic bright-minded coach to come in, shake it up, instill some passion and pride . . . with Wenger it’s stale, predictable and frustrating! Now, this is what most fans and pundits see from the outside, imagine how it is for the players and staff on the inside?? I can’t imagine seeing AFC finish anywhere near the top of the table at this point. I believe there is the possibility with the current squad, but without sharp and respectable leadership in place, it doesn’t look good on so many levels right now.
“Wow Pierre, you are very easily satisfied! I’m incredibly disappointed because with the proper moves during the summer and some proper tactics and player management and team selection decisions (that so far have been sorely lacking this season) we could actually contend for a title!”
This is hilarious! Man U and Man City, along with the Spurs and Chelsea will be having a title run. Liverpool will have hard time against the middle of the table that will play with five in the back and tackle hard, pound for pound.
Win a title? You think? With what sort of budget? You are going to give Arsenal 200M, are you?
You are economically illiterate, and you think running a club is like playing on your toy screen and clicking buttons! Scroll, scroll… buy Lamar for 45 or 55… win the EPL and CL! Ha! Ha! No wonder you are all a bunch of unappreciative children.
Lacazette for 50M? Sead for just his salary? You know that Wenger managed this magic of what could have been $100M with just half of it, right? You also know that this squad is suddenly much stronger that last year, right? You know that it lost several of the weaker players, right? (Did you even bother to read the original post by the main author?)
Wenger is now sitting on another 50M or so for January. He wants only the best players, as there is not point in getting another Ox, etc. Might PSG come in for Sanchez, who is eligible for the CL? Barca? Wenger can sell to either for 25M plus, and he could ask for a player in return. Why would he give Sanchez to ManCity this season? It was a brilliant baiting game, and ManCity could only have played if it could offer good enough player in return.
another 4th place junkie hoping that his period of cold turkey is over … much stronger? who knows whether a disgruntled Sanchez plus an untested lacazette will produce a better attack than last year and while I have hopes for kolasinac its already clear there will be teething issues with him … but the point is we are not fighting last year’s battles we are in this year’s EPL against teams that have strengthened over the summer and it was wingers job to bring real quality to two key areas where we have clearly fallen behind in midfield and central defence .. Wenger failed and we won’t be competing for the title and with a squad which carries obvious downside risks this kind of panglossian idiocy is unhelpful
Great comments and what I esp like (and so rarely happens with most who write) is that you provide chapter and verse reasons for your post. Agree with every word. As to Pierre, well I have heard everything now. If he is optimistic about the catastrophe that our club is these days, he probably thinks it has been dry in Houston and surrounding areas recently. ( I do not make light of this awful tragedy either).
If you look at it, this was all about words, actions and results. We had a lot of words about spending millions of pounds – MBappe, Lemar, massive wage increases for Ozil, Sanchez, Ox. Actions – we got in Lacazette, which was more luck than judgement, and has been the story of all our major signings – Ozil and Sanchez as well. Results – a profit on the transfer window for Kroenke, the only club in the premier league to do this, apart from Swansea. This tells us where our priorities lie, and where our money is going, ladies and gentlemen.
The contract have been down before it got to 12 months to go, when a player refuses to sign is that the managers fault?
Good analysis again, it is not a disaster yet, wait until we play Chelsea oil and see.
This article is a poor attempt at optimism. The fact is that nobody on the team wants to play for Wenger or Arsenal anymore. The players are fed up with the incompetence of the entire club. Arsenal are the biggest joke in Europe and have lost all respect they have had historically. The only way for Arsenal to succeed is to sell the club to a new owner who cares about the Arsenal brand. Arsenal may get relegated simply due to the fact that the players do not want to be there and don’t trust Wenger anymore.
from Mauritius – you guys tell me – we are challenging for trophies right – then investment needed – removing players who are not willing to play for arsenal must go right – bringing new players is a necessity not a luxury – how we will perform from now is the question to address – two defeats too much too earlier
Really? Nobody wants to play for Wenger? Just a couple of months ago after FA cup everyone was talking about how the team came together to play and win for Arsene. Much of the same after the CS win against Chelsea. Now because of 1 loss suddenly nobody want to play for him? Come on man. Even Lacazette stated last week that he came to AFC BECAUSE of Arsene, at least in part.
Fact is, Wenger is here. He’s the manager for the forseable future. Nothing fans do will change that. The only way that will change is if Arsenal are in serious collapse and in danger of relegation. I would NOT say that 2 losses (one very bad loss at Anfield) is collapse. It’s 3 games into the season.
Let’s see how they respond and what happens.
Sure there is plenty to be negative about. But this team finished 5th last year and have only gotten better with the additions of Lacazette and Kolasinac. Now with the call ups of NM, and other academy youngsters, the return of Wilshire and removal of some cancers; we are a bit better. There is nothing to say that the team cannot coalesce and unite and make a charge.
I hope to see Mustafi and Chambers really up their game after being put on the market. Mustafi needs to get back to that guy he was in first three months at Arsenal. Chambers gets a shot now, lets hope he digs deep and surprises allot of people. I like Chambers size, he is physically perfect for the role, I hope he becomes an intelligent beast. With the right drilling we could have a decent back-line. CM is a concern, I think we may need to try someone we haven’t previously tried, get imaginative. Iwobi, Adelaide, Kolasinac, Monreal, Welbeck, Debuchy, Beilik, Chambers, I would start looking at these guys and see if one of them can surprisingly pair very well with a current CM player.
Xhaka I would drop for a couple of games, same goes for Ozil, and I would do a few more but we can’t be making too many changes at once. We have a home game next so I’d say those two will be the first names on the team-sheet. Though, I would rather those two get dropped so to try and build on our work rate, then introduce them to a team that is pushing and charging.
I am happy enough that we’re clearing up a bit of space, we needed to do this well before now, but better late than never. We still have to clear out some more, next summer and the one after I expect Arsenal to look a whole lot different.
Yes lets all live in HOPE because that all Wenger has left the Fans with.
F A Cup 2017
and also perhaps the fifth or six best team in the EPL.
Arsenal has the best revenue at the gates.
Stadium debt almost gone.
Future look bring for a new manager to come and spend about 100M with ease, while inheriting some great players many good players.
Besides, with pockets smaller than the big three, Arsenal have done well to stay in the races.
how much they pay you? Season tickets have already been renewed
Apart from failure to sign more players the major problem is wenger playing players out of position. Kola is a very good left back but his played at central defence or benched, bellerin left wing , starting welbeck ahead of lacazzette and so on . How are those players suppose to perform at their best.
If you think this transfer window was a success, if you think we’re going to win any big trophy with this squad, if you think we are doing well as a club, then you are a joke & you need to get real. This club needs Jesus!! Wenger needs to go like yesterday, he should have been the 1st transfer out & he should have taken Gazidis with him as we (fans) deal with Kroenke(since he is the biggest problem).
And this kind of thinking is EXACTLY why they keep getting away with it season after season..
Keep polishing that turd if you will with your rose coloured glasses on but if you should wake up then maybe you can actually do something to help our club now and in the future;
Please do something, THE TIME IS NOW!
SHARE AND ENGAGE>
OnlineGooner Wenger Out Protest Forum:
hTeeTeePee://www.onlinegooner.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38888&start=3360
Wenger/Kroenke Out Justgiving Page:
hTeeTeePeeS://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/chris-butler-2
Good luck with that. We protested last season and the guy got a 2 year extension.
Let’s face it, it was never in our hands to begin with. The power has been and will remain with Stan and the board for as long as he is in the driving seat. Mthe man refuses to sell his shares because he is sitting on a gold mine.
It will take some miracle or act of God to shift him from that seat.
Bull.
Stan ain’t gonna sack him nor the board unless pressure is put on him and the board by the fans. So get up , stand up , or …
Pray tell us who will replace Wenger?
And, how much money would the new manager get to spend, and who is giving us this money?
(Over at Chelksi, the owner has lent the team 1B. It seems most good managers run that team… over at ManU, they have enough money to keep a failing Rooney at steroid wages for several years. ManCity has an oil terminal next the club… PSG, just got a panicking Qatari govt to help them buy Neymar for 200M Euros…)
As an Arsenal fan, I want Aresen Wenger to fail. Alexis Sanchez may not be playing for Arsenal again, he might go on strike. It’s Embarrassing.
You’re not an Arsenal fan. No tru Arsenal fan can say that nonsense
A proper Arsenal fan would back the team through hell or high-water.
You lot whinge, and are joined by “news” overstating things… because they know the Arsenal fan base are gullible.
Admin, I assume you posted this article as a bit of a laugh after having a few beers. Too funny for words.
Pierre? Is that really his name? The insanity he writes makes him sound suspiciously as if his REAL name is Arsene!
A PR attempt from Arsenal FC
Or John Ibrahim
A good read from the standard:
hTeeTeePee://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/jason-cowley-arsene-wenger-s-willful-blindness-is-leading-arsenal-into-the-abyss-a3625051.html%3famp
Obviously, replace ‘hTeeTeePee’ at the head of the link;)
What’s your surname Pierre ?
Kroenke ?
The only way “keep your star players” was a tick in the box is if you got them to believe in your future and sign a new contract. Simply failing to move them on because Lemar doesn’t want to play for a Europa league can not be considered a success. And losing them for free next season when a replacement will cost 150 million is bad business.
Failing to convince Sanchez to sign a new contract and failing to sell him when he refused and replace him by a Lemar or Draxler can only be seen as a failure and a risk.
Very successful, £23m profit LOL
I would classify Ramsey, Xhaka, Coquelin, Bellerin and Monreal among the deadwoods. Do not forget that 50% of a team strength during a game should be at defence and mid-field. It is on this area we should have strengthened the team.
Negativity comes from “fanz” and sensationalist British press…
The worst fans in the EPL are from Arsenal. Too many of us are entitled, economically illiterate, and down right arrogant.
Boss got rid of players who did do enough for the club, even getting 35M for the Ox! Ha! Ha! What a brilliant sell that was. It made his ultimate desire to keep Sanchez an easy one. To get Sanchez, ManCity had to cough up much more… by January, if we are not in the running for the top four (as all the negative Nancy “fanz” will tell you) the Wenger will sell Sanchez to PSG or who ever want to cough up the cash.
The current attack of Sanchez, Giroud and Ozil are among the best two or three in the EPL.
Without moaning, sorry, uninspiring Ox, that space will be occupied by another yet to be dumped British player. But, one better than Ox.
As Lacazette noted, good things take a bit of patience.
This was a good window for Arsenal, but it is better to think that other teams will underestimate us.
Now, where are the real Arsenal fans? (The silly ones want to ban me! Ha! Ha!)
Are you on drugs JJPawn?
No. Just economically literate. You?
JJPawn!!! Yes I agree 100% with what you stated. You know what’s really funny? The “fans” they are declaring the season over and that Arsenal are in “disaster mode” after only 3 games.
Remember where Chelsea was last year at this time? They had just been embarrassed by Arsenal 3-0. They were in a seeming free fall after finishing 11thr the year before. Conte sold a ton of dead weight, changed tactics, and they went on a massive run and won the PL!!
Chelsea were well worse off the previous year and worse off last year at a similar time, and they won.
Keep calm people. AFC will be fine. And if they are, you’ll see Alexis re-sign, Ozil too and add some talent the next summer.
Now is not the time for panic.
I just wondered as you keep coming out with such inane and insane rubbish
Pray tell me what this “rubbish” is.
A good critic can get the facts and tell us what it means.
A bad one just mouths of to make Arsenal Great Again, but has no details!
economically literate .. in the way George Osbourne is I think
And stagnation and decline comes from people like you who lack the intelligence to know when something is terribly wrong with the club they claim to support.
You refer to patience.
You refer to “real fans”
How many more years do you think he needs to build a new team?
five years?
or ten?
Has thirteen years of being allowed to make the same mistakes not enough?
With reference to your comments about the attacking players of Arsenal
Sanchez – wants to leave, doesn’t want to be here have you not noticed?
Ozil – a pedestrian carried by the team.
Giroud – a player with a good attitude but hardly going to win the league for us.
And it was a rubbish window over seen by a dinosaur who simply repeats the same mistakes over and over and over again.
People won’t ask to ban you, they will just laugh at you..
Arsenal cannot win the League. Got that? Do you even know why that is nearly impossible? It is called cold, hard, cash.
You can have an odd year, when Arsenal came second, and Leicester came first, but the trend is clear: Man U, Man City, Chelksi are the standard for money and wins. Liverpool needs to continue to perform and build to live up to its historical size, and maybe it will join the top four, maybe not.
Arsenal might have a chance into the top four with Sanchez at even 75%… that is why Wenger is not willing to sell him on. If ManCity wanted Sanchez, they could have bit 100M in July, and then Arsenal would have used that cash to rebuild the mid-field and back three.
What ManCity tried to do was weaken a dangerous rival. It has succeed by making the Arsenal fan base of complicit in the ManCity propaganda game. That is the kind of tactics Maurinho and Pep are engaged in. To be at the top, they need the richest teams, and also undermine rival teams.
Naive Arsenal fans attack their own manager! What a bunch of nitwits.
How come Spuds were able to challenge until the last few games last season and the season before Leicester seemed to do well?
They got lucky.
Spuds have home grown talents.
Leicester was one off in a year most teams at the top were weak, including Arsenal.
With his French players helping France to a World Cup, the home grown model was tried by Wenger, to help British football. His first batch became entitled and brash: Theo, Ramsay, Ox…
The next generation of British players emerged elsewhere.
Wenger still has new ideas to take this team forward. He is now seeing away to get good, unsatisfied players like Ozil and Sanchez, from the big clubs signed for big salaries. Sanchez has to chose between a 350K salary at Arsenal and whatever is offered elsewhere. Wenger can even give Sanchez a two year 400K salary, as he the Chilean is making only 160K now.
But, the problem is that the fan base has no memory or able to understand how economics of the big three clubs work, and how hard it is to compete with oil money and ManU’s size. Winning an EPL is not easy.
I can’t agree more. Am fed up with Arsenal fans moaning especially about the Sanchez issue. The same fans along with the hateful media would be the fast ones to slate Wenger for selling to a rival. Since all the media platforms misfired in predicting Sanchez situation, now they are fabricating stories that Sanchez will never play for us, he will go to city, blah blah blah. What we need to do is to get behind our team and hope that we recover. No tru Arsenal fan would want us to lose just to prove a point.
Right no, Kays.
If the Boss sold Sanchez, imagine the hoooooooooooooowls here. The sorry, Arsenal fan base are deluded, as most cannot understand that the big three control the game.
Same for crickets. Once India took to making their league the biggest, the weaker countries got weaker, and quickly too.
In the NFL, things are different. There tradition, institutions, and coaching do dominate most years. Money is influential, but most teams have more or less the same kitty, as the revenue is shared. A Wenger would win the NFL more often than the EPL.
Why so negative??!
How about the fact that our club , for ten years, has been used to cook Kronkes accounts so he can build his super stadium back home? As usual , our performance in the transfer market has ranged from pathetic half heartedness to farcical, then just embarrassing …. These are supposed to be seasoned businessman running our board!
In 2006 we got to the Champions League final after ten successful years….. What have we won since then?…. A few FA cups ( two of them against teams that aren’t in the Prem now). Is it a coincidence that a year later we had lost David Dein and gained Stan Kronke who couldn’t care less if we remained competitive as long as his ‘soccer club’ propped up his other ventures back home? What has happened to the club that attracted some of the worlds best players and gave us the Invincibles since our board made the swap fro David to Stan?
We have gone from frustrated to angry, embarrassed to saddened and now apathetic to the shrivelled corpse that was once a great club.
The best we can hope for this season is mid table and perhaps a relegation fight in the vain hope that those ruining our club move on to another profit making venture.
It’s sycophant like this writer that makes d board feel they r doing d right thing. We v all these players he made mention of yes but do we v confidence in them. The fans can see d hand writing on d wall to know we r either going on relegation or finish @ d bottom of d chain. Barcelona wants d head of their president because of vote of no confidence n I guess many of us football lovers know d storyline,if things go as planned by this time next week Barcelona will v a new president. So y can’t d fans want d head of greedy Kroenke, senile Wenger n mediocre board of directors. Apart from FA cup trophy when was d last time Arsenal won anything deserving of been called a world class club. Arsenal is delusional in been d pride of London please d fans should never raise that banner again, Chelsea they v won Champions League, Europa League even Tottenham that Arsenal pride in that they finish ahead of, came second in d last concluded season so what so we pride in I guess failure. Arsenal needs total overhauling, fighting spirit, winning mentality, a coach who instills discipline and manages d team, and above it all a new owner who loves d club n sport football n wants trophies in not just for his pocket or serving his other pet projects.
The question is how many such fans exist. I am interested in answers to two questions –
1. What is a success ful season for fans on this for – winning league, any cup, top 4, etc.
2. Are we capable of meeting that objective with the current team and manager
Admin, is it possible to have a poll on this.
Retain alexis and ozil without contracts is not a goal men…is just a bad desition and poor management…more in alexis case, when you show him the door, let him go but at the end u stop him because of, again, u failed with ur business…did u see alexis for chile yerterday? U would had watch a player completly devastated..he for sure hate wenger know, he would not have any interest in playing fot the team now…qnd dont blame him for that…blame wenger and arsenal board. U start talking about dont thinking in relegation…thats the point…u are ok with just a little. I dont want more “chalenging” for top four…i eant to chalenge for the epl..we were promised for a change. We dont get it, we all knew it because wenger is not cappable for that…but i beleaved rhat he will try at least…he didnt, more of the same, 3 pts out of 9…tottenham lost the same amout of matches in all last season, and they were 2nd…for what the f are u so “happy”?
If Sanchez and ozil don’t want to play for the club and all the rest of players are available , should try to play 4-3-3 formation.
Welback/iwobi. Laca/giroud. Walcott/nelson
Cazorla/wilshere. Xhaka/coq. Ramsey/elneny
Sead/mreal. Kos/merti. Musta/chamb. Bell/nile
Cech / Ospina
Pierre, you list all these options like these players are all actually good. It’s easy to throw names on a list. And it’s even easier to bring up Walcott’s goal tally as evidence he’s a great player.
I would request JJ Pawn and Pierre to come back with what they would call a successful 2017-2018 season for Arsenal given the team and manager. I think fans have a varying definition of success – winning the league, top 4,winning any trophy, top 6, financially prudent, develop youth, etc. Given their definition of success, some fans will definitely be happy. I am keen to know what the happy fans think we will be able to achieve this season.
Trophies:
CL–ManU, City, Chelsksi… maaaaaaaaaybe Liverpool, given history.
League title: ManU, City, Spurs…. organized, aggregate performance measure of the best teams in the league.
FA Cup: Arsenal, ManU, Chelski… situational, creative, opportunistic team that is motivated for the day.
TOP 4: ManU, Spurs, City, Liverpool, Arsenal…. (same as League Title)
Everything else from money to youth development determines the getting-to of titles.
Top 4 would require fan support at home. Whinging, entitled Arsenal fans are a poor support base. So, no even top four is out of reach due to the sorry “fanz.”
If the the fans made home game a fortified, not to be approached, keep-our-problems-at-home, citadel, then I can see top four, or even more. The team would gain in confidence and there there is enough talent in there without pressure from Champion’s League games, to win it all. It cannot happen as too many of the fans are ugly.
Wenger turned Henry from a winger to a world star striker people said how great he was and so now he trying to turn everyone else from their natural position to something else
Right now the bloke couldn’t turn on a light switch
Clever positively slanted article, but it neglects to point out we already had a wobbly defence, and defence is the key to a successful football team. So thinning out our defence probably wasn’t the brightest move from AW.
That said, if he proves me wrong I’ll be very happy.
Sorry to change the subject but I like to know your thoughts on referees in the Premier League. Go online and check out Select Referees Premier League-Wikipedia and you’ll be amazed to find that 95% of referees come from the north of England and not one from the south. In the past I’ve wrote to the PGMOL where I got no reply and also the Football Ombudsman who did have the decency to reply with “I see nothing sinister here” asking if this was fair practise, even though I pointed out they’ed all been appointed by the most corrupt, in my opinion, official ever to officiate in the Premier League. Mike Riley also from West Yorkshire once gave,10 penalties in 10 games to Ruud van Nistelroy whilst refereeing Manchester United in one season.
Click wind up
What an unbelievably short sighted article from one of the rapidly dimniishing AKB’s
Where was it written that Lacazette is world class?
World class players win things, world class players are regulars for their national teams. Lacazette cannot even displace the much maligned Olivier Giroud.
Muscle ? What muscle?
Its not about the Liverpool result – we all knew we were going to get our backsides kicked by them and that is the problem. We go into games expecting to lose and we more or less always do.
We should be talking about mounting a challenge for major trophies but instead we are competing with West Ham for the worst defence in the league.
I cannot believe the person who wrote this article cannot actually believe what he has written.
Therefore Oliver Giroud is world class, Mesut Ozil is world class, Per Merz, Alexis, Mustafi, etc
Arsenal is full of world class players COYGS!!!!
I agree with Pierre I cant wait to carry on watching Arsend wiping his nose on his sleeve and Vic sctatcings away on his sweaty shorts. Balldo staring blankly at the Men running all around in front of him some wondering why am I playing on this side of the pitch?
Alex Iwobi awkwardly looking as if he would be more suited in a Long John Silver eleven.
Sanchez and Ozill counting down the days when their 100 million pound talents can be bought for free.Yes what on earth are we all moaning about praise be the big game hunter Kroniik and praise be Ivan Clueless and Hip Hip to Chairman Kwick-fik.
Saying laca is world class is abit much, ligue 1 isn’t the best. Would have preferred lukaku all day long as he is proven. 92 mill bid for lemar 5 mins before he’s due to play. What are the playing at? Why wasn’t it done earlier ffs. Our stars might have stayed but alexis won’t be bothered now and ozil is the same. Counting down the days till they walk on a free and we rue keeping them on. 100 mill+ wasted all for Wenger pride. He is passed it and needs to go. Joke of a club atm and it annoys me no end. Don’t worry guys only another 2 seasons of obscurity.
doing the same thing and expecting different result this season? things may not get better right away after him. sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better. under Wenger it will never get better. #WengerOut
It’s people like yourself who are part of the problem at Arsenal. We have a manager that has no clue how to drill a defense, plays players out of position and benches key players for no reason.
We have potentially lost 100m by not selling Sanchez and Ozil and with prices going up, it will take a lot to replace them adequately next year. Instead, we have a manager who haggles for every penny when buying but is saying it’s ideal to have players in the last year of their contracts.
We are in desperate need of quality in defense and a holding midfielder but again, this hasn’t been addressed.
Why are we being charged the highest season ticket prices in the world but acting like a very small club. We virtually broke even this transfer window!
Success is relative to everyone’s own interpretation. We are not saying we have to win trophies but the way the club is being run and how the fans are being deceived and treated is completely unforgivable. There is no ambition from the board, no care shown from our owner and no tactical nous from our manager, all of these things results in the current regress of this once prestigious club. Yet the failure of this club is clear as daylight for anyone to see and still people choose to ignore this and defend the culpable men, who should all be held accountable. As RSH mentions above, some fans are oblivious to the obvious.
It is troubling when a club has the ability to deceive and brain-wash fans into thinking this way, you can only worry how they have institutionalised glorification and cultivated the ability to charm. Us fans who can see and are receptive to our current problems are not self entitled or in any way ungrateful, they have been and stuck with this club through these difficult years holding onto the same belief as those who still hold it now, but time and time again have we been let down, dismissed by the club and mistreated, and this is where the resentment stems from.
Get an Economics text and read up on supply and demand… you will see that Arsenal is not a top three team in England, and at the same time, the game has changed to make our team even more insignificant.
So, for the fan who cannot understand global change, it seems like it is the fault of the manager. Actually, it is the manager that has kept Arsenal relevant for 15 years or more, so that it is now a global brand too.
Of course, one of these fans can lend Arsenal a billion Euros, and then like Chelski, any manager decent can come in… and just win a title.
Only way i expect improvement iw if WENGER OUT.WENGER OUT……
Isn’t it amazing that you don’t see JJPawn when we lose or we sell ox
Hmmm I wond r who it really is a previous AKb with a name change
HAPPY that the Ox is sold for 35M!
That was a fantastic bit of salesmanship by the Boss, and Liverpool have themselves another whinging, entitle Britisher. We still have Ramsa and Theo to sell, anyone coming to buy? Wenger will talk them up hopefully, as with the Ox, and sell them.
JJPawn take down your posters of the old man and the tissues by your bedside and open your eyes to how other football clubs are run. You really do not have a good grasp of realitt.
Why are we going backwards against other teams who have less money?
And this is not even taking account of the old man picking players in the wrong position, picking players who do not want to lay for the club, playing with no DM’s and failing to positively motivate his players.
The club itself negotiates poor commercial deals, overpays average players and in a time of inflated prices cannot get good money for the players they sell. How are we doing well compared to say Spuds or Liverpool let alone the big financial three?
Please don’t acted blind to the truth.
Those 3 had not been doing their job. As a result, the deadwoods were growing for years.
I would like to ask the contributor, do you think we can challenge for the title with this squad?
Chelsea won the league and sign 6 players this season,for reenforcement and replacement….arsenal didn’t make top 4,and signed only two players to keep them on the bench,and neglected to sign holding midfielder and central midfielder, hoping on same player that fail to compete for league for years is a pity ……
In the bright side of our window we manage to keep hold of all our key players for this season. We also manage to improve in key areas like ST, LB, something weve always lacked. I think keeping hold of AS for another season is a key statement Arsene wanted to give it all one more time, as a fan, we should just support it whatever the outcome. We all know he will resign either way (winning title or not)
Quick question : WHAT THE F ARE YOU SMOKING???? ? ? ? I swear this article was written by AW? Or just a bloody troll? Because there is nooo way you believe the rubbish you just wrote? ? ? if the whole world can see it was a disaster of a widow by an incompetent team of amateurs way out of their depth, then I don’t see how only AW, the board and the clown that wasted our time with this crappy excuse, are the only ones that don’t see it? I bet you renewed your season ticket and a new top? LOOOOL it’s people like you that have allowed us to become such a failure of a football club.. Sorry to be rude but this article is ridiculous and is the last thing any of us want to read or hear