If either of their new strikers show any promise, I'm sure £ity's Arab playboy owner will be along with his cheque-book soon enough
Being a point ahead of you is obviously no success to write home about. Ending up 3rd after our worst start to a season in more than half a century is pretty good though, especially as it ended up being crucial to staying in the CL.
The fact that you've had champs league revenue every year since the Jol era (well, about 15 consecutive years to be precise) whereas we've only had it once. The fact you've not invested that money into maintaining a squad good enough to compete at the top and instead have allowed 'little' spurs to creep up on you is a reflection of the underlying problems at arsenal.
And you suppose that those policies are there just to prove a point right? Nothing to do with perhaps moving to a new stadium or anything? Cool.
Resources: Money you generate, your income! Roughly 3 times that of Spurs. Management; How you spend it. The fact that Spurs have outspent you in the transfer market in recent years is the point. Where are you going? Answer, backwards.
Yes but it's not like you've not invested money into the squad at all, just not very wisely - arshavin, chamakh, gervinio, Mertesacker et al are brought in while nasri, cesc, cole, RVP etc are allowed to leave. You've had greater resources than us - obviously a lot if it has been ploughed back into the stadium, but your transfer business in recent years has been poor; quality has been replaced with substandard time and again which is why instead of competing for titles like in the first half of the wenger era you're now battling it out with us for 4th place. Or am I missing something?
Why do Arsenal fans always look at transfers and not wages, which is the far bigger expenditure? The figures for the 09/10 season, for example, had Arsenal's down at £110m to our £67m.
"Resources at your disposal", he said... meaning the resources you have available for use. Where are we going? Not backwards, and not forwards. We are actually pretty consistent at finishing 3rd/4th. It's not satisfactory, but also nothing to show a clear downward trend. We are not at a worse position than we were on 2006 or 2007, we should have been a mid table team by now according to the doom mongers. Even when RVP leaves I like our chances with this team more than the 2006/2007 or 2009/2010 season as an example.
Yeah we have an obvious problem with our deadwood. Most of those look likely to leave this season though.
Being consistent as you call it or standing still, not going backwards or forwards as you put it, will only result in decline. Other teams are moving forward, City, Spurs, and once again Chelsea, if you continue to 'tread water' (or tread on water bottles) to be more accurate, you will see these teams go past, the result? BACKWARDS!
How are Spurs and Chelsea moving forward? Spurs got in the CL a few seasons ago and now they're back to the regular Spursday shindig. Chelsea after consistently finishing 2nd or 1st in the league for a long time, this season finished 6th. (yes the CL win is huge, but over 38 games they showed they are substantially weaker than they used to be)
Gent....Arsenal have out spent spurs on wages by over £35m per season for a decade...even with our transfers you have still massively outspent spurs. I personally have no problem with this...like you said you chose to spend money you generate on wages...I think your wage to income ratio was approx 48% and ours was 53% - both very self sustaining etc. but arsenal are massively richer due to the CL and bigger ground.
And i suppose getting back to Spursday is moving forwards? Here's a more accurate portrayal of movements IMO: City + Man. Utd - Arsenal = Spurs = Newcastle + Chelsea - Liverpool - Everton = Villa - (= being status quo pretty much)
Yes there is, but by whom? Like I said every season since the Martin Jol era it was always "next" season that our supposed backwards trend would catch up to us and you would surpass us. It's not much of a trend if nothing has changed in 7 years now is it?
