I know what you mean, but we took last season by 1 point. A bad refereeing decision here, or an injury to a key player there, and we would have been ****ed. So while it's nice to keep calling them delusional, they weren't far wrong (they're still delusional though ). Given the improvements they've made, and given the utter absence of improvements we've made, I don't see any reason for optimism. Talk of Cabaye and Flamini isn't doing much to change my mind either because they wouldn't improve our first-11.
Let's be honest, they have spent well this window and we have not, that's the situation at the moment. They have cause for optimism. The window is not closed yet though.
All good things come to an end. Spurs were way better than Arsenal through the 60s and then you suddenly won the double
It is bound to happen at some point, we will need a miracle now to get the type of quality additions that will improve our squad at this late stage. If we had some of the players spuds got in this transfer window, I would not be worried about finishing higher than our neighbours, would be looking at rolling back the Wenger glory years..... and be optimistic of winning the lot. That sadly is a distant memory. I overheard some old gooner at lunch, saying he reckons Wenger has dementia, I am inclined to agree with him.
Spurs have spent reasonably well this Window. They certainly have a bigger/better squad than us but I still think our first choice 11 is a better team. Saldado is a decent edition but he's not a 'World Class' forward. For me he's no better than Giroud or Podolski. I feel the same way about all the players they have added. I would not be massively excited about Arsenal signing any of them. For me I want a Suarez/Rooney/Ozil/Gundogan quality signing. That's what our squad needs, a Couple of World Class players would push us on a level.
I think the spuds have done well to bolster their squad, but as you say the players they have signed are not world class. Paulinho is a quality addition though and would get into most PL teams. For the money they have spent though, something like ninety million, I don't really think they've got great value for money. It remains to be seen what comes of this window though, if we don't sign anybody other than Cabaye and Flamini, then we won't have done much better. But if we can pull off signing somebody like Di Maria, Ozil or Benzema then I think the wait will be worth it and we'll have improved better than the Spuds have.
Piskie, what is your deffinitiion of "World Class"...players that would get into an all star 11? For me, Paulinho and Soldado playing for Brazil and Spain is proof they are World Class.
Well Saldado has been third/forth choice for Spain when everyone has been fit and Brazil are hardly the team they used to be. Both good players but for me neither are World Class. I would'nt put Paulinho up their with Xavi, Fabregas, Ozil, Pirlo - That's 'World Class' Just as I would'nt put Saldado in with.. RVP, Ibrahimovic, Suarez, Cavani, Falcao Rooney.. It's all just opinion though.
Pretty much spot on, but they are quality additions nevertheless. But if you're comparing squads, then neither do we have world class players, but some quality players. Our last world class player was RVP, and the closest we have to that is Cazorla, but he would probably be benched at most top european teams such as Barca, Bayern etc. Then we have a gap of quality between Cazorla and the next player we have. That next player would probably be Wilshere.
That's fair enough, I was going to say I think the players we have signed are on a level with yours. So they may not be World class if you rate them against the players you have listed, but then I don't think Ramsey and Wilshire are world class either. Cazorla is quality though. for me there is litle difference between him and Mata other than consistancy.
Paulinho and Soldado are definitely quality additions, Lamela looks like a great little player too. The others are a bit average to be honest. But Spurs have done well to strengthen in the face of losing Bale. I think you've spent a **** load of cash to do it though and it remains to be seen what sort of outfit you'll be post-Bale.
As i said he is close. Mata is another quality midfielder and close to Cazorla in terms of quality but just shy of world class. World class are those at the top of their respective areas at a consistently high level. Players like Ronaldo, Xavi, Lahm, Vidic, Neuer, RVP etc.
Why are you so worried about the money they've spent? What is clear is they've strengthened significantly to a level that makes them a consistent threat. What i'm interested is about us stengthening our team, but what we seem to be doing is banging on about finances. Is Arsenal an under cover accountancy firm? The last time I checked is they were a top European footballing institution.
Well, we probably could have got Suarez if we'd tabled a 1OOm bid, but that would have been vastly overinflated and not worth the money, so finances are part of the equation. I happen to think Spurs have spent over the odds for the players they've bought and it remains to be seen whether they become a 'consistent threat'
£100 Million would be madness. But at £50 Million .. he could still be a good buy. How much difference would a 30+ goals/15 assist a Season man add to this team? Quite a big difference, maybe even enough to mount a serious title run.
For me it's that. I think World-class has to mean that they would walk into the starting 11 of anyteam in the world. So I think Suarez, Bale and RVP are the clear standouts from the Prem. I'd call the likes of Rooney, for instance, top-class, but not quite world class. But everyone has their own definition I guess.
We don't really know whats happened behind the scenes, whether they've inflated the price or it's been incompetence from our side, my guess it would be a bit of both. As for Suarez, he wasn't the only player available in this window and sticking all your eggs in a very problematic basket was always going to be risky. As for Spurs, we will have to wait and see how these "over priced" players do in the season. We still have a few days left to get some strengthening done, but they've put themselves under way too much pressure, leaving it this late in the day.
Whoever thought the forty million plus one pound bid was water tight made a serious **** up and you're right we shouldn't have put all our eggs in one 'problematic basket' as you rightly call it, especially as we had already agreed personal terms with Higuian. There's something amiss at Arsenal with our negotiating team - out of practice maybe ? But on a serious note this window should have been the one where we put right what had been glaring out to be addressed over the last few years. There's still a few days to go and the busiest and most exciting time of any window is always at the end, so I'm reserving judgement until it closes, if we can get Di Maria then it will be a transfer that blows Lamela, Paulinho, Chadli, Soldado out of the water, a truly world class player and exactly the sort of player we should be buying. If though we just end up with a couple of free signings, then somebody has to go and be replaced with a person who can get the deals done.
