Wouldn't he choose a champions league club with Wenger (you know how much French players love him) as manager over Malaga? We can pay pretty high wages too.
The 50% high tax rate has screwed us alot. Thats why wages have gone up alot recently. And we havent moved with the times and upped our wages to compensate for this.
I'l point out the obvious counter argument that Beckford is only one case that you can't generalise from. Also he is slightly different as he was out of his depth in the prem and so maybe preferred being a big fish in a small pond. I also don't agree that it is the amount of money you get the determines how well motivated you are. Fabregas moved to Barcelona even though he took a pay cut for example!
I won't generalise from Beckford because he is only one person. Being a footballer is like any other job, you want to earn a lot of money, but it is also important for most people to be doing something significant too and be at the highest level of their profession. Most players talk about how important it is to be in the highest level they can be at if they are to move clubs, how many times have you seen a teams best players leave (or try to) when they fail european qualification or get relegated? Aguero, Torres, Pazzini, Modric, R.Johnson etc. If the point about money was true then it would not bother them as their contract ensures they get paid the same amount. No doubt there are exceptions to this as the example of Beckford demonstrates, however it would be wrong to label them all like that.
I think this argument is just going to go round and round as neither of us has the evidence to convince the other. Leave it there?
You are both right, players move for both reasons as evidenced by moves to Russia and Man city a few years ago. Some players also take a pay cut in order to play better football. The fact is Arsenal have had plenty of opportunities to buy players but we always dither. Wee could've got Arshavin BEFORE the World Cup (or was it the Euros) but waited until after and end up paying more. Felipe Melo would be a fantastic buy, great on the ground, tough, strong, fantastic dirty footballer, just what we need. Enrique we didn't bother going for. Inler looked a quality player, there are so many good deals we could've had but we didn't go for them. we would've had a terrific squad now had we made a few key purchases over the years. All we have now are kids that have not and will not fulfill their potential.
Glad we didnt get enrique. Would just be another average player we dont need (who cant improve). Leave those average players to liverpool where they belong
He looks pretty decent to me, a solid left back, defensively sound. Was he kack yesterday, I didn't watch match of the day ? I think that is half of our problem we try to buy defenders who can attack rather than defenders who can defend !!
He is decent. But he isnt going to improve imo. And he isnt good enough right now to play for a top side (are we a top side anymore??).
Santos did alright yesterday, he was culpable for the first goal as he was playing everyone onside- and a few times he made some stray passes. But overall he defended pretty well and won the ball back on numerous occasions. He's definitely a good addition to the squad.
I cant make up my mind. Maybe PNEawf is right. It seems like 4th is there for the taking, even with our poor team, if we have a competant manager who hasnt lost the plot.
For things to change we need to make changes. tactics is a good start, how to defend a lead and how to defend a goal.
The one thing I would definitely change is the zonal marking, I've never liked it - it gives the opposition to many options as they know what areas are going to be defended and which aren't. One ball into a unmarked zone and you've got trouble - as the goal against Blackburn demonstrated. I'd fully expect us to be working on defensive tactics this week. We've got to get it right, it's the one thing that's costing us. Going forward we are fine. If we can get the defending right, then we're back on track. Vermaelen coming back should help too.
