How in blazes are our wages rising and we have worse players than before ? Yes, I do think money is not an issue competing with City and Chelsea. We beat City and Chelsea on the pitch this season, but more to the point our problems are self inflicted, we cannot blame other teams for the mistakes we keep making.
The first part of your sentence I disagree with, money is clearly an issue when competing with City and Chelsea. The second part I agree with, we beat them both last season, so we're not far off from being able to challenge them. The point about self inflicted wounds is spot on and this is why it's always been in our own hands to rectify. Last season, other than the 8-2 we were never played off the park, but instead lost most of the games we did due to our own errors. If we can get those right (and we did in large parts of the season) then we are in decent shape.
Disagree with that. I'd certainly say we can't compete when it comes to the media-hyped players such as Hazard, Neymar and co but it doesn't mean there's not a plethora of quality out there who are affordable. Newcastle are testement to finding gems so it can be done. I think most of us are in agreement that we needed 3 to 4 players to make a rock-solid starting 11. Maybe were we to get rid of some bit part players and sign an extra couple of squad players we'd have a team capable of challenging on all fronts. We've already signed Podolski for what I'd consider very cheap in the current market considering his quality so we're already on the right track. We can afford to spend some good money, just not ridiculous money. I don't think it's out of the realms of possibility to say we can splash another 20-30 million which I'd have hoped would be enough to sign the likes of M'Vila + one other. That would make me very happy. If we were to then sell our fringe players and replace them with some reliable squad players I'd be delighted. Sure, we may get priced out of the M'Vila deal but then there are plenty of talented replacements, Capoue and De Jong to name just a couple. Both established international players who'd definitely strengthen us. I know people want to see us flash the cash on a 'Hollywood' signing to show we can but, personally, I'd be far happier to see us invest wisely and strengthen across the board. It can and should be done as we certainly have the benjamins to do so. We just need to be creative people!
JJSB - I agree with your analysis completely. I have maintained by belief that we don't need to spend £30-40m on one player, why can't we spend £40m on 2 players ? You'd get 2 cracking players for that money if you don't buy English.
They're looking good arent they? Credit to the national squad who decided to invest in youth. A brave decision which is paying dividends. Ignoring the African market (or whom I know very little but don't doubt has quality within it) in Europe I'd also pay close attention to Belguim who appear to be churning out some great players. Obviously clearly Spain but we can't afford them... Happily France appears to be back on the up so maybe we're in luck there too!
The answer lies in qualified football coaching........... Most countries have 10,000 to 20,000 qualified - - - - - we have 2000 and some mums doing it. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/01/football-coach-shortage-england
Don't disagree with that, but the point was about us directly competing with City for players, which we cannot afford match.
The FA have only now accepted changing training methods for kids - over 20 years too late. I think Cym said Wales had made that change already - but I guess because England invented the game, their method of doing things must be the right way
No it wasn't. That quote "could" be taken as competing with them financially but, nobody ever said we could. What some of us have been saying is our lack of success on the pitch can't and shouldn't be blamed on us not being able to spend as much as the others - when most of our problems have been caused by ourselves.
Sorry mate, it was I'm in agreement that there are players who we can afford who can improve us, Podolski is a perfect example of that. But on that specific point about competing with City for players, there's no chance. They blow us out of the water financially. I also agree that the problems we faced last season were largely self inflicted. Which as I said all season, we're within our grasp to put right. Which for the most part we did and turned what was looking like a disasterous season into one where we finished 3rd. That's why I was never one calling for the manager to be sacked and players like Sagna and Walcott to be sold.
Of course they will blow anyone out of the water should they choose to. It's one of the main reasons why I wished they hadn't won the league as now they can back up their cash with trophies. However, I believe they're now at that stage where they can only buy silly players. By that I mean massively hyped knob-heads, much like Real did years ago with their Galacticos. We shouldn't be considering these players. Not only will we not be able to match the bottomless pit of that oil merchants but it's crazy to go for players who are so over-priced. There are some awesome players out there that can be snapped up with a bit of hard work. I say don't even bother try to compete with them. Snigger at the money they're wasting, snigger at the ego-battles between these arrogant owners and quietly build our own uber-squad. We've got the ground, we've got the facilities, we've got the history and we've even got money/Champion's League football. That's enough to sign almost anyone.
