I have an observation to make my friends. However before I begin, I would like to reiterate that while I have pointed to where I feel we have come up short in these past months, I am behind Arsene Wenger in this period of rebuilding. He has done well by us over the past 14-15 years and I believe we owe him an opportunity to take us back to the winning ways that characterised his first decade with us. Now back to my proposed discussion. Say I have £30K to blow on a new set of wheels. I work out which model I would like and then just prior to going down to the showroom, something in me says why not buy two cars for £15K each instead? However a car valued at £15K surely isn't going to be near the same class and quality of the car priced at £30K, is it? In terms of footballers, I imagine too that a player valued at £30M is going to be more special than any two or even three who are priced at anything between £10 to £15m each. It seems that thus far, the players under consideration to replace our departing midfielders are all in the sub £15m price range. The Juan Mata option once attractively standing at £17m if reports are correct, is no longer being pursued. As we all know bids for Jagielka, assuming he suits us and we want him have gone in well under the offer price. Sometimes I wonder if the financial prudence displayed by the management of our club has not been taken so far as to be detrimental to the club’s well-being. Paying a little over the perceived acceptable odds for a player could avert the disadvantage of not having suitable cover which could result in us failing to qualify for this season’s Champions League. Now that I venture would be a far greater cost to us than the extra few million being asked for certain players. Just take a look at our failure to land suitable cover in January this year. It certainly proved a costly saving or should that be indecision. Arsene's bold experiment has in recent years been just falling short of expectation. However I believe there are signs of magic and each year the size of that chest of magical tricks looks bigger. It's a shame that at this time, we should lose two key players in our lineup since had they stayed, we would have looked very formidable on paper and on the pitch but life goes on. The 50 to 60 million from the sale of Fabregas and Nasri should buy us some very attractive replacements which would give inspiration to both team and fan. So in these final two weeks of the transfer window, I wonder if the management of Arsenal would exercise financial prudence or be sufficiently far-sighted as to recognise that the small saving one makes today could prove to be the costly mistake that takes a long time to repair.
true 1 30 mil player is going to be better than 2 15 mil players, but if the 2 15 mil players solve 2 problems within our team, rather than greatly improving 1 problem/improving another area like buying say snidjer for 30 mil would make our midfield amazing, but signing say jags and a DM for 15 mil would make our team a whole lot better
I'd rather buy two £15m players to fill 2 gaps than buy one £30m player to fill one gap. The £30m player will make us excel in that area, but there is little point having a £30m player next to a £5m player, we'd be better off having two £17.5m players together.
Thank you Steevee. I would like to think the time was well spent my friend Mr Wright yes two players in key positions would make a lot of sense. Actually I had built that into my original thread but that made the post very long....... However we have lost a very creative player in Cesc Fabregas so I dare say that very position requires to be filled and capably. Last Saturday's absence of creativity I believe was testimony to that need.
Well Mr Head I suppose that depends on the abilities of those two £17.5 mil players...... How about a £26.5 mil player and an understudy with potential? 26.5 million roughly equals the asking price of 30 mil Euros for one Mr Hazard you see.
Similarly, you'd be a fool to spend £30,000 on a £15,000 car simply because you have to get to work in the morning.
Too right! Maybe this is what Wenger is looking for. Carrying on with the car analogy: it's worth remembering that a more expensive car is more likely to guzzle petrol and will cost more to insure, yet might not be particularly durable. Therefore, in a panicked rush you could spend all your money on a car with high running costs which could in turn break down an awful lot, reducing it's resale value and appeal to other buyers; all the while you are lumbered with an expensive pest which is eating up the money you need to rectify the position.
Yes but if getting to work that particular morning meant you'd pick up a cash bonus that would cover the extra £15,000 outlay - and then some, it's money well spent. As much as it burns me, the near £30m Ferguson paid for Rooney and Ferdinand was money well spent. The c£16m he spent on Ronaldo was genius .. bearing in mind Wenger was offered Ronaldo first but turned him down for being too expensive. But he spends around £12m on Chamberlain who has Division 1 experience, not even championship. He spent a similar amount on Walcott who only had Championship experience. Go figure.
A) A taxi would still be cheaper than wasting £15,000. Even then there are cheaper options B) In football there's no guarantee of success if you buy a player; Shevchenko didn't exactly improve Chelsea did he?
What Mr Head just said And well in respect of the cars Mr B, a more expensive car may also have up to date fuel-efficient technology, be safer and more secure thus lowering the cost of insurance. Indeed this is true for instance of the Mercedes CDI/Blue Efficiency engines which do all of the above, above and beyond my petrol-engined under 15k model. Touche amigo
Well true Mr B but then when he parades round Emirates Stadium, one hand on the EPL trophy, waving to the fans, it would all have been worth it Perhaps I need to get out a petition for Eden Hazard
The car example is crap because you don't need 2, but say the parts of the car are like the team, and you want to tune it up. Now, do you buy a £700 engine, or a £500 engine and a new set of tyres? I pick option B. And robin, I have hazard addiction as well. It's like every roadsign 'warning: hazard' makes me double take. I read it as hazarghd not hazard.
