Arsenal have always spent more than Spurs - a lot more on wages, a bit less on transfers (net). Personally I think the Spurs squad has been a little better than Arsenal's for four seasons now, but Wenger has made the difference through better tactics and coaching. I think AVB is the best coach we've had so we should finally get above you this year. However there is very little in it - over this and the last couple of seasons the points total is almost identical (Arsenal ahead by 3 points). If you picked a joint first XI, Bale would be a certainty and you could make a case for a Spurs or Arsenal player in most other positions.
Is it really that funny? Do you think Redknapp was a better coach than Wenger? If Wenger is better then that explains why Arsenal always got a few points more with about the same standard of squad.
Time to prove it, so no more excuses really. It's not like Arsenal have been great this season either. This season will show whether you have it or not. For us, it's always been top 4 with Wenger and it's looking like another top 4 again. Arsenal's in a groove, so the pressure is on you even more. We aren't going to gift top 4 to you, you'll have to keep your nerve and earn it.
I'm not making excuses, just observing that Wenger has made the difference. AVB and our squad still might not have what it takes. Overtaking a club with a much bigger budget and a much better recent record is never going to be easy.
And it's not just whether you can do it over 1 season, but if you can CONSISTENTLY do it. Anything can always happen in football, there might be that odd season where you finish above us, but can you do it over a long period of time rather than just 1 season? So even if you did finish above us for this 1 season, it still wouldn't mean you have overtaken us, when you finish above us on a regular basis as we have to you, that's when you can come start talking about a new power shift and having overtaken the Arsenal. One season doesn't count.
To be honest, we don't have a big budget either. The only player we've bought at a high price lately was Carzorla, and that was after we made loads of money on Fabs, RVP and to a lesser extent Song, but Song still went for around £15m. Our budget range is around £8m-£12m and around £14m for our bigger budget players. Gone are the days when we buy the really top players.
Agree entirely. In the first 14 years of my life Spurs finished above Arsenal 12 times - then you won the double. But it took another five years for you to really get well ahead of us and even after that the early 80s were neck and neck. But then you had 20 years when we were not even close.
Dont forget we've got Wilshere and Ramsey coming back from long spells out, Sagna had a broken leg as well. Pololski, Cazorla and Giroud are in their first season in the PL. Monreal has just joined us. So thats 6 of our squad who should improve a lot with more experience in the league so I think we will pull away from you in the near future. All we need is to find another top striker and we could be challenging higher up the table next year (but Im not a Liverpool fan so dont think we will win the league)
I don't like the term "power shift", you could argue that if we finished above you then it's a power shift from you being the dominant team to it being very even but I don't think it really reflects what's happened. "Power erosion" is what I'd use to describe the change since your last trophy. Realistically I don't think us finishing above you would cause any great shift, we've been closing you down for awhile because it takes time and if we finish above you we won't be speeding off and leaving you on the horizon, I'd expect it to remain close for a few years regardless of who gets the majority of the bragging rights.
John Hartson is quoted today as saying he thinks Bale will want to test himself against the best, regardless of whether Spurs finish in the top four or not
I don't think Bale leaving the Prem (jokes aside) for a foreign league would be a good idea, for anyone. Why would we want the best of talent to leave the Prem? As Arsenal fans we should be more understanding than most, as a lot of our players have left for foreign pastures. I'm sure a lot of neutrals would agree that having a strong powerful Arsenal challenging Man U is much better than the one we see today. Football for me is entertainment, seeing the best players is that for me. Having a weaker Spurs will just make things worse. I want to see a strong rivalry between Arsenal and Spurs. I'm looking forward to the upcoming derby more than ever.
if he want's to win the Champions league,he would be better off going to Germany's Bayern or Dortmund
For the neutrals maybe, but I don't really want to see Bale helping the spuds to win. I'd rather see them lose, which without him, they almost certainly would be. I don't really want to see him playing for Utd or Chelsea either as they are our rivals. As much as I enjoy seeing great players in the Prem, it's wholly partisan and completely biased towards Arsenal, but I want to see Bale leave the Spuds for a foreign team. Unless he signs for Arsenal of course
They don't have the financial clout of Real or Utd. Although if we made a bid for Gotze in the summer again, then they might be tempted to use some of that cash to make a bid for Bale ?
21-year-old Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen rejected a new contract with Ajax. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...al-Eriksen-set-summer-exit.html#axzz2KcklE81V Worth a bid from us. Should be well within our means and fits Wenger's profile. Would be a great link up with Wilshere and Cazorla.
Mmmmmmm....is that the same Hartson who's still bitter cos he failed a medical with us cos he was a tub of lard? so all you've proved is Hartson is as much as a tart as you
