I think I have been saying something like this for a while, and being ripped for it. But, hopefully, if more people start to recognize it, we can fix it.
Offical match day thread
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I think I have been saying something like this for a while, and being ripped for it. But, hopefully, if more people start to recognize it, we can fix it.
The problem isn't merely spending money, it's the distribution of resources and how you use that money. Spending aimlessly for the sake of it gets you nowhere. And, as always, timing is everything in football. The board and senior management are absolutely responsible for this.
We were told the whole point of moving to The Emirates was for a greater future. To compete with the best in the world. That we pay premium prices for a premium product. Fast forward to 2020 and absolutely none of those things are true. And although some external factors have played their part, a lot of it - as I explained above in an earlier post - has been self-sabotage. These are the broken promises.
The Summer of 2015 where we only spent £10m on Cech is a classic example. We had the opportunity to really demonstrate our ambition, but were the only club from all the European leagues to not sign an outfield player. Had we made a couple of additions, we could, and probably would, have won the league that year instead of Leicester. But we didn't. That responsibility is on the board.
Then we go from one end of the spectrum to the other end of the spectrum. Pepe.
I said at the time that £72m for Pepe seemed very excessive given our transfer budget - and considering we had other areas that needed strengthening, this was hugely risky if he didn't hit the ground running. It has proven to be a massive risk and he hasn't hit the ground running. We could have signed Hakim Ziyech for less than half of that price, whilst having additional money to reinforce our midfield or defence properly. What do we do instead? Sign David Luiz for £8m who has not been a shrewd acquisition like some anticipated.
You've proved my point with the wages of certain players - it reeks of desperation, rather than a clear, coherent strategy.
Let's not even get started on the lack of funds we didn't get from player sales for our star players which, if we'd reinvested right, would have helped us.
This is all on the upper echelons of the club. Bad recruitment + bad decisions = wasted money.
Now look at where we are. 9th in the league and out of the Europe's second-tier competition.
Liverpool fans forced Hodgson out the club don't forget. And were calling for Rodgers head the season after he nearly won them the league. I'm sorry, but any other fanbase would be pissed off too. As they should be.
You say Arsenal fans have no right to be aggrieved. You couldn't be further from the truth.
Under Wenger at least - the money was spent where he wanted to spend it. So you cant blame the board for that.
Since Raul (which is only a year) it's now between the coach and technical director to decide what players we go for.
This is a total strawman argument. Had we bought the right players we would have been successful - NO ****. We could also have bought another 4-5 Elnenys and ended up in a worse scenario.
Arsenal signed Minislat in an attempt to improve some of these things but it didnt work out. They also Sign Raul Sahlelli (a guy who won 8 titles and 3 Champions Leagues at technical director at Barca) - They are clearly trying.
I'm sorry but if your argument really just boils down to the fact we made some bad decisions. (many of which are actually the managers fault) - thats not really an argument at all.
Our fans are poor. We need to make a little more effort to make the Emirates a fortress. It should be loud it should be intimidating. Go on any other board and ask what they think of Arsenal support?
We really hav'nt had it soo bad and the team deserve better IMO.
I kind of agree apart from the Liverpool fans not booing ... they were ****ing awful to the Roy Hodgson team tbf
Wenger certainly had a more prominent role in transfers than Emery/Arteta. But it wasn't just his responsibility. It was the board too. Baring in mind it was Ivan Gazidis who was pushing to sign Mustafi due to his high-ranking statistics on StatDNA, despite Wenger being reluctant in wanting to bring him to the club. So yes, I can blame the board for spending money senselessly. They are more culpable than you are suggesting.
Raul's been in his position for over 2 years now actually. Which is plenty of time to judge him. And Raul still has a huge part to play in the negotiation process of signing players, so it is his partially his responsibility.
It is not the coach's responsibility any longer. The director and head of football relations are the primary people in charge of transfers. The coach may have a say, but his role is to get the best out of the players given to him. Hence why Arteta is a coach and not a manager.
I'm sorry, Bear, but you are COMPLETELY missing the point. The point is they didn't act when it was necessary. They were not proactive when it was necessary. And they were happy to rest on their laurels, instead of showing ambition.
Then when they did need to show ambition, although they did spend, they did not utilise the money wisely.
It's like going from one extreme to the other.
Mislintat didn't work out because the new structure we've adopted meant his powers became diluted. He felt he had no choice but to go. As for Sanllehi, he has no practical experience in the footballing world. He has contacts with certain agents which allows us to speak to certain players - and the club felt this was a better way of signing players (compared to before where we didn't speak to particular agents e.g. Mendes).
I am personally not sure if this is the right approach. Time will tell, but so far, I've been unimpressed.
I don't understand how the lack of coherent strategy, leadership and direction does not bother you. Wenger had to go - undoubtedly. But that does not mean he was the root cause of all our problems.
Well, I completely disagree with you and think that you need to factor in the wider context of the last few years to explain why the atmosphere has been dross.
Look if a Club doesnt win the league that's because they didnt do things perfectly right. Like if every decision our board & manager had made over the last few years was correct.. we would be winning the league! Its easy in hindsight to say .. you should have done this or that.. I bet Man City fans can give 5-6 different things they feel their board and manager should have done differently this term.(but in truth they are still second in the league, just beat Madrid in the Champions League and overall they have more to be happy than sad about)
Claiming the atmosphere is poor because the board have not made every correct decision is just dumb. The atmosphere at the Emirates has NEVER been amazing (except a rare few games), Highbury was known for being quiet - Our fans on the whole are in my opinion not the best and I think most neutral fans would agree with me.
Not sure how you managed to quote me with someone else's post...
That's some impressive ****e my friend
Bear. This is a disingenuous interpretation of what I am saying.
I am NOT saying that we should be winning the league every year or that it isn't a success if we don't win silverware. 'Success' for me is the whole club putting in the effort to TRY and be the best they can be. To show ambition. To try and improve every year. If I can see they are making the necessary steps to accelerate this process, then I, and no-one else, can complain.
I absolutely disagree with the 'hindsight' comment too - almost every single Arsenal fan was saying in 2015 that we needed a few extra outfield additions to the squad to have a competitive side when it was that Summer. We only signed Cech. A lot of people were unhappy after the window shut. Based on how that season went, we didn't need to know in hindsight that it was the wrong decision. It was clear at the time that it was the wrong decision. Because the club have historically made decisions like that which provided identical outcomes resulting from the lack of transfer activity. It isn't rocket science to figure this out.
Our fans at home grounds have seriously not been that different to most of the top sides in the division. When Liverpool aren't running rampant at Anfield, their crowd goes quiet. It's the same at Old Trafford. It's the same at Stamford Bridge.
This is not something that is solely unique to us.
****ing Mike Dean - what a complete ****.
Guendouzi getting booked for 'sarcasm'.
Guendouzi getting booked for 'sarcasm'.
Comfortable win in the end.
Mari looked very impressive albeit against a team in the third-tier.
Nelson did well. Martinelli's defensive contribution was great even if he didn't do much going forward.
Nketiah took his goal superbly, but I still feel like he needs to work on his touch and ball control.
Another impressive performance from Saka. Get his contract sorted asap!
Willock makes good runs in behind defences and carries the ball well, but his decision-making and composure in the final third needs to be refined.
Sokratis didn't really have too much to do. Which was surprising as he was an obvious weakness at right-back. Then again, they barely touched the ball in the 2nd half.
All in all, glad to see a comfortable win. Shame we didn't see more goals, but main thing is we're through.
Mari looked very impressive albeit against a team in the third-tier.
Nelson did well. Martinelli's defensive contribution was great even if he didn't do much going forward.
Nketiah took his goal superbly, but I still feel like he needs to work on his touch and ball control.
Another impressive performance from Saka. Get his contract sorted asap!
Willock makes good runs in behind defences and carries the ball well, but his decision-making and composure in the final third needs to be refined.
Sokratis didn't really have too much to do. Which was surprising as he was an obvious weakness at right-back. Then again, they barely touched the ball in the 2nd half.
All in all, glad to see a comfortable win. Shame we didn't see more goals, but main thing is we're through.
Decent result that and I liked the way we worked really hard to win the ball back even when we were 0-2 up, and stop any chance Pompy had from nicking a way back into the game.
As Brunel says, solid debut for Mari he looks very comfortable in there. I also though Luiz had a really good game, they look like they could be a decent pairing.
Saka is looking on fire. We need to get that lad signed up to a long contract.
As Brunel says, solid debut for Mari he looks very comfortable in there. I also though Luiz had a really good game, they look like they could be a decent pairing.
Saka is looking on fire. We need to get that lad signed up to a long contract.
Any draw would have been a tough one. Looking like a competition again
Agreed, however to have gotten a home draw would have been better.
It is a tough draw as Sheffield have been absolutely solid this season. They are the team who have most outdone expectations and should get a huge amount of credit for it.
But the reality is other than Newcastle all the other options are teams in contention at the top of the table.
I would have loved a home draw too though we just don’t perform the same away from home. It’s been the same for the last 3-4 seasons. Under Wenger I thought away games could turn into anything but didn’t have much hope in his final two seasons. Under Emery I expected to lose regardless of how we played or if we took the lead. Under Arteta I expect to draw.
At least if we draw we have good penalty takers!
Given the draw we could have had I think it’s a decent option. And a chance for the team to show they have some back bone.
After the way we exited the europa I expect the team to turn it on in the FA Cup. Under Wenger when we were messing up the rest of the season we owned the domestic cups. And I think Arteta is instilling some pride in the badge. So even though I doubt we will win the cup I think we will actually see our best performances for the rest of the season in this competition.
Note: if we actually believe 5th gets a CL spot and the teams above us continue to be **** in the league this may change as Arteta will definitely prioritise a CL spot over the cup.
But the reality is other than Newcastle all the other options are teams in contention at the top of the table.
I would have loved a home draw too though we just don’t perform the same away from home. It’s been the same for the last 3-4 seasons. Under Wenger I thought away games could turn into anything but didn’t have much hope in his final two seasons. Under Emery I expected to lose regardless of how we played or if we took the lead. Under Arteta I expect to draw.
At least if we draw we have good penalty takers!
Given the draw we could have had I think it’s a decent option. And a chance for the team to show they have some back bone.
After the way we exited the europa I expect the team to turn it on in the FA Cup. Under Wenger when we were messing up the rest of the season we owned the domestic cups. And I think Arteta is instilling some pride in the badge. So even though I doubt we will win the cup I think we will actually see our best performances for the rest of the season in this competition.
Note: if we actually believe 5th gets a CL spot and the teams above us continue to be **** in the league this may change as Arteta will definitely prioritise a CL spot over the cup.