I thought about the wisdom of placing this conundrum before you pals and indeed before our game tonight. If we have a resounding victory, as we should, then I suspect it could affect some responses were I to post this thread tomorrow. So if you were Eden Hazard or indeed Yann M'Vila or any of our targets and assuming you had to make up your mind today ( not January ) why would you chose to up your roots and come over to Arsenal? Would your decision take into account the current form of our team or would you look feel you could contribute, be part of a new generation of winning Gunners and look to the future? Over to you pals. Eden too, if you're reading this
No decision needed for months. I'd watch with interest to see how the team transforms from bloody awful to xxxxx?
Lets put it this way, would you go and work for a business that is on the way down and struggling in the current economic climate, or work for a business thriving and get paid loads of money for it. Footballers are not sentimental anymore and most pick a place based on success and money. A typical example of this is Fabs and Nasri. Both you could tell loved the club and the manager but still moved on for success and money. If you don't get success then no one apart from ok players will want to play for you. In answer, NO. Eden Hazard would not like to come to us, a club CLEARLY on the way down and will not see proper success in the foreseeable future.....
Yeah of course we're still a big club playing in the most watched league in the world. It's the perfect oppurtunity for him to make a name for himself.
Good thread and I have 2 responses: 1. I think Arsenal will always be a bigger club that Lille so attracting him to the Emirates shouldn't be too difficult. However, this is irrelevant because: 2. It's Lille who own him and they do not want to sell (a fact lost on the likes of Barca but this is Arsenal and we behave properly)
What fellow gunners seem to forget is that we are not the only big club in the premiership or Europe. Hazard is pretty much hot property and i can see the likes of Chelsea, Man U, Man City (rediculous i know), PSG (Big money men now) and a host of German and Italian clubs coming in for him. Im sorry but we are not going through a blip but going through a proper tough period that might last longer than we expect. You think we are the only ones who know this? Eden Hazard will surely know this. The only person who doesn't is Wenger, the deluded old coot....
Well I'd look at Arsenal and think "Here's a team where I can make a difference. They have young players like Szczesny, Walcott and Wilshere who are all very exciting. They have a great stadium, history and footballing style. It's a challenge, I could go to Real Madrid and be in the first team for a year or two before being replaced if I want but that's too easy. They're in bad shape, but it's not something unfixable. The club is in good shape financially and they are only a few players away. Wait, Madrid will pay me £300k a week? Get lost Arsene."
I will come to Arsenal, because he will be guaranteed a start. Look at Berbatov, as good as he is he could not even get near Manure starting 11. Apart from Rooney in that team, no one is guaranteed a start...... In our team, don't know what you need to do to be banished into the reserves..... I just don't know...... I think that is the complacency.... I guess that is the debate for another day.... Lack of quality in depth, or lack of quality full stop!
I think the Arsene Wenger-originated wages policy should be binned. Then we should get Silencio ( Silent Stan ) and the board to organise sufficient funding and if it takes 150K or more to bring in a top player then so be it. Bring in someone more capable on the commercial front too and you won't have to worry about FFP rules if you show enough of a bottom line. Get a defensive strategy in place along with a defensive coach. In addition, retire Pat Rice as he wanted to go anyway and bring in someone who would fulfill a Mike Phelan role, someone who can call strategy and leave the water bottles to Arsene. Then perhaps, Eden and the rest will come.
Basically, get Dennis Bergkamp in as Assistant Manager, Keown as defensive coach and split Gazidis' role in two. Put him in charge of commercial success but let him nowhere near the football.
Or perhaps just split Gazidis himself anyway but yes, please keep him away from football. Just let him be the club's bookkeeper. That should do it PS - I meant trainee bookkeeper
If I were Eden Hazard, I wouldn't choose Arsenal and would think very carefully about where to go next. Lille (they are successful btw) already pay him pretty handsomely and if I were him, I'd wait to see what comes along. At the age of 20/21 it looks like he already has. Lillle aren't a small club where you can just walk in and take what you want and he woulld have gone by now if he considered them to be beneath him. To get him would take throwing a lot of cash at him or being a club that can offer a chance to win trophies. Arsenal don't seem to be in a position to offer either of those although you can afford to meet the outrageous demands of a Championship club for a kid that had a good season in league 1 (he may prove to be worth it in the long run, but at the moment, there's only 4 league positions between seller and buyer!). Right now though, Hazard is way out of your league.
At the moment he would join Newcastle if he wants CL football. Look we need to wait and see to come with proper answers for these questions. Also never play down just how highly rated Wenger is in France. Players always want to play for his team. Hazard has also talked about wanting to play for us. Lets hope we get CL to get players like this.
Not sure the pay cap is Wenger's policy, we had one in place when GG was manager please log in to view this image
Just that I read somewhere and I think it also came out in the last AST meeting that Arsene sets the wages policy. Anyway, it sucks ......
