Arsenal FC a very promising story

[BigAdz]

Holding looks like a tremendous acquisition for AFC to me as does Elneny.

Does anyone seriously think that Stones is worth £45M more than Holding or Pogba is worth £85M more than Elneny?

On the other hand do people really want AW to pay €50M for Mustafi who is probably only slightly better than Gabriel, or €60M for Lacazette, both of whom are more than likely being pitched at double their true worth? Furthermore they will be hard to move on if they don't come good due to the length of contract and salary package.

The transfer market is not an easy game for clubs that aren't being staked by billionaires.

Surely the point isn't that they weren't good deals, it's that they are starting players for a team with title aspirations and they aren't good enough to help them compete for it. Arsenal got a good deal on Elneny and he looks good for £5-7m, United overpaid for Pogba. But United are going to have one of the best players in the world playing in CM all season and Arsenal are going to have someone who is good. And they're going to come up against better teams and they're going to get beat, because good players can't compete with world class players. I'm sure Holding is good, and £1-2m is great business, but in a few months he's going to have Messi, Suarez, Neyamr, Ronaldo, Ibra, Lewandowski etc to deal with, and as good as he his for sub £5m he's going to get smashed by them.

This transfer market isn't going to suddenly go back to like it was a few years ago and Arsene will be able to snipe world class players for cheap prices. If they drop points to Watford they could be 8 points behind 3 teams they are competing with. They've got an uphill battle to achieve the absolute minimum everyone expects of them and if they miss CL they have well and truly fucked it. Cos you ain't United and you ain't gunna be able to attract world class talent even if you wanted to and you ain't gunna pay em £250k a week. This is why the fans are so irate now, because once you've been left behind it's a long, expensive battle back.

I like Arsene and the way he goes about his business, but you can't give teams with a lot more resources and better players a head start.

I take your points on board, but Arsenal are not going to follow Leeds and Portsmouth down the khazi beyond the U-bend having over-extended their resources chasing the rainbow, and any "fans" who are demanding a policy of "spend spend spend and damn the consequences" are simply fooling themselves and disdainfully creating a whipping-boy out of the best manager that AFC has ever had and who has earned more than his fair share of respect.

Ill try to offer a balanced Arsene view given Im a long term admirer from up North ( Sheffield Wednesday fan)

He deserves a lot of respect for what he has done and achieved historically with Arsenal and certainly has/had any eye for a good player Henry .Viera ,Dennis ,Overmars ,Cole, Petit , and Ljunberg etc

Its also true outsiders looking in do not always know the true situation at Arsenal director level  (same is said of any large organisation ) however if he has got money to spend  I cant help but feel he has become ridiculously stubborn ,to the  point where he refuses to go for a top notch player on principal.

Last year in January , Arsenal were second to Leicester and had a perfect opportunity to buy " a Bale " in the transfer widow and push for the title and actually bought nobody .  Why ?

I really admire you and other Arsenal fans Ralph for constantly defending your manager but even the most ardent of fans patience must be now wearing thin ?

In Arsene we trust......but for how long  ?

Some nice sentiment here Fraser, but that's all it is.

Look at the names you note as good buys, all circa 15 years ago. That says it all. The man is past it. He is on record as saying he wouldn't know what to do if he retired, so is clearly there fore the wrong reasons and is now costing us titles.

Lets remember we could have bought Higuain and Suarez if we hadn't been such idiots. All this BS, about "who do we buy?" is a red herring. We have the money, and 99% of footballers will chase the dollar. End of.

As for the last bit, a few gave up years ago, but slowly but surely the rest are seeing the light. There is nothing left to trust.  Even those who have admirably stood by him are struggling to look anything other than desperate with some of their counter arguments.

Its sad, but change is needed or nothing will change.

[TightEnd]

ok?

ludogerets is in bulgaria, near the black sea

Click to see full-size image.

[Karabiner]

Excellent draw for Arsenal and all the diehard supporters.

Possibly disappointing for "WOB"s and much of the football media as failure suits their narrative better.

[TightEnd]

what does "WOBs" mean?

thanks

[Karabiner]

what does "WOBs" mean?

thanks

Wenger Out Brigade.

You're welcome

[FUN4FRASER]

Holding looks like a tremendous acquisition for AFC to me as does Elneny.

Does anyone seriously think that Stones is worth £45M more than Holding or Pogba is worth £85M more than Elneny?

On the other hand do people really want AW to pay €50M for Mustafi who is probably only slightly better than Gabriel, or €60M for Lacazette, both of whom are more than likely being pitched at double their true worth? Furthermore they will be hard to move on if they don't come good due to the length of contract and salary package.

The transfer market is not an easy game for clubs that aren't being staked by billionaires.

Surely the point isn't that they weren't good deals, it's that they are starting players for a team with title aspirations and they aren't good enough to help them compete for it. Arsenal got a good deal on Elneny and he looks good for £5-7m, United overpaid for Pogba. But United are going to have one of the best players in the world playing in CM all season and Arsenal are going to have someone who is good. And they're going to come up against better teams and they're going to get beat, because good players can't compete with world class players. I'm sure Holding is good, and £1-2m is great business, but in a few months he's going to have Messi, Suarez, Neyamr, Ronaldo, Ibra, Lewandowski etc to deal with, and as good as he his for sub £5m he's going to get smashed by them.

This transfer market isn't going to suddenly go back to like it was a few years ago and Arsene will be able to snipe world class players for cheap prices. If they drop points to Watford they could be 8 points behind 3 teams they are competing with. They've got an uphill battle to achieve the absolute minimum everyone expects of them and if they miss CL they have well and truly fucked it. Cos you ain't United and you ain't gunna be able to attract world class talent even if you wanted to and you ain't gunna pay em £250k a week. This is why the fans are so irate now, because once you've been left behind it's a long, expensive battle back.

I like Arsene and the way he goes about his business, but you can't give teams with a lot more resources and better players a head start.

I take your points on board, but Arsenal are not going to follow Leeds and Portsmouth down the khazi beyond the U-bend having over-extended their resources chasing the rainbow, and any "fans" who are demanding a policy of "spend spend spend and damn the consequences" are simply fooling themselves and disdainfully creating a whipping-boy out of the best manager that AFC has ever had and who has earned more than his fair share of respect.

Ill try to offer a balanced Arsene view given Im a long term admirer from up North ( Sheffield Wednesday fan)

He deserves a lot of respect for what he has done and achieved historically with Arsenal and certainly has/had any eye for a good player Henry .Viera ,Dennis ,Overmars ,Cole, Petit , and Ljunberg etc

Its also true outsiders looking in do not always know the true situation at Arsenal director level  (same is said of any large organisation ) however if he has got money to spend  I cant help but feel he has become ridiculously stubborn ,to the  point where he refuses to go for a top notch player on principal.

Last year in January , Arsenal were second to Leicester and had a perfect opportunity to buy " a Bale " in the transfer widow and push for the title and actually bought nobody .  Why ?

I really admire you and other Arsenal fans Ralph for constantly defending your manager but even the most ardent of fans patience must be now wearing thin ?

In Arsene we trust......but for how long  ?

Some nice sentiment here Fraser, but that's all it is.

Look at the names you note as good buys, all circa 15 years ago. That says it all. The man is past it. He is on record as saying he wouldn't know what to do if he retired, so is clearly there fore the wrong reasons and is now costing us titles.

Lets remember we could have bought Higuain and Suarez if we hadn't been such idiots. All this BS, about "who do we buy?" is a red herring. We have the money, and 99% of footballers will chase the dollar. End of.

As for the last bit, a few gave up years ago, but slowly but surely the rest are seeing the light. There is nothing left to trust.  Even those who have admirably stood by him are struggling to look anything other than desperate with some of their counter arguments.

Its sad, but change is needed or nothing will change.

I agree the Suarez thing was totally ridiculous , was it $40 mill and a pound ?  trying to be clever and missed one of the best goalscorers in the world

I guess change is inevitable in the near future , just hope hes remembered fondly

[BigAdz]

Excellent draw for Arsenal and all the diehard supporters.

Possibly disappointing for "WOB"s and much of the football media as failure suits their narrative better.

It's a nice draw. Should see us finish second and get knocked out in the next round. Shock.

I wonder. Can you be a WOB and still be a die-hard  Arsenal supporter, or does the fact you no longer  believe in the manager mean you no longer support the club you have supported all your life, as the statement suggests?

[buzzharvey22]

Excellent draw for Arsenal and all the diehard supporters.

Possibly disappointing for "WOB"s and much of the football media as failure suits their narrative better.

It's a nice draw. Should see us finish second and get knocked out in the next round. Shock.

I wonder. Can you be a WOB and still be a die-hard  Arsenal supporter, or does the fact you no longer  believe in the manager mean you no longer support the club you have supported all your life, as the statement suggests?

Hasn't stopped me being a Sunderland supporter for the last 14 years.

[muckthenuts]

Reports coming in that Mustafi will be an Arsenal player tomorrow as well! That's amazing news if so.

Never heard of the striker before and he comes from a pretty crappy team, but anyone is better than nobody at the moment.

Edit: He looks very handy on youtube. But then again so did Andre Santos

[nirvana]

Arsenal's slightly admirable frugality and 'success' during the stadium building era is now replaced by the worse kind of capitalist management. No ambition except insofar as it relates to filling the boards pockets and a corporate stooge type manager who thinks he's some kind of miracle man but lacks any spark, originality, innovative spirit and ability to motivate. Swap them for the glazers tomorrow if I could

[Karabiner]

Excellent draw for Arsenal and all the diehard supporters.

Possibly disappointing for "WOB"s and much of the football media as failure suits their narrative better.

It's a nice draw. Should see us finish second and get knocked out in the next round. Shock.

I wonder. Can you be a WOB and still be a die-hard  Arsenal supporter, or does the fact you no longer  believe in the manager mean you no longer support the club you have supported all your life, as the statement suggests?

If you want the team to do badly in order to get a change of manager I do not consider you a supporter at all.

Supporters support the team through good times and bad.

I have never suggested that anyone was a better fan than anyone else just that true supporters support the team come what may.

[Marky147]

Adz wants Wonga gone, but I'm pretty sure he still wants them winning every game, and to make sure they get at least 4th place every season

[horseplayer]

The mustafI that played for valencia not at that price

The one who played for Germany probably yes

Valencia been a mess for a while so bit unfair to judge him to harshly there. Perez not top drawer but 17 million is a fair price for a good player who seems to be improving at 27.

[BigAdz]

Adz wants Wonga gone, but I'm pretty sure he still wants them winning every game, and to make sure they get at least 4th place every season

The voice of reason sums it up.

Come 3 o clock, I'm still cheering them on but can at least recognise our weaknesses.

It's the fact I care so much that gets me so angry about the situation.

Not a supporter. What utter tosh....

[TightEnd]

with coverage like this, feels like AW is damend if he does, damned if doesn't

Click to see full-size image.