I have often had this debate with fellow Arsenal fans, we develop our teams and the manager is rightly proud of that, but are we genuinely saving money by farming our teams?
Let’s look at some of our kids against some of our ready mades, let’s take three of each in Wengers era.
Ready mades
Nasri, Arshavin, Vermaelen total cost to buy say £33mil But ready to play and making and immediate impact on the team, paying back their investment from the off.
Paid for academy kids
Walcott, Ramsey, Denilson total cost £17 million, time taken to make the first team? Denilson 3 years, Theo 2 years and Ramsey still waiting. Are they making an impact? You judge, what are their salaries compared to the three above them? Not far off if Theo is on £60k a week. Add up there salaries for the years they take to make the first team and I suspect we could have bought three ready mades for the same price and not gone through the pain of watching them screw up in games.
True Academy kids that cost us nothing
Jack Wilshere, Jay Emmanuel Thomas, Henri Lansbury, now they did actually come through the ranks, I would like to see them used and given the chances Cesc was, remember when Cesc broke into the first team, he was Ok, but he didn’t look as good as Wilshere, and he didn’t get loaned out, so if the boss wants to perservere with kids, I would be happy if he did it with those three.
Early Wenger purchases
Henry, Pires and Freddie total cost £21.5 million, payback, ha, ha, you tell me! How long? 9 years and ready from day one. (well almost and there was a bunch of ‘player of the year’ and ‘golden boots’ in that little lot, not to mention second in ‘World player of the year’)
So to summise I think we need a few more ready mades, we have too many academy kids that are just not up to the fight, it wouldn’t take much to remedy.
Every successful Wenger team had a lot of bought players in it, even the invincibles had only two that were academy kids, Parlour and Cole, Parlour was a sub and Cole and Clichy swapped, you may say Clichy was a kid and he was, but he still cost us £200k from Cannes.
The same with the double winning side of 1998 and the double winning side of 2002 apart from Anelka (500k), most of them were signings, you see for me that’s what football is about, buying players, winning games, lifting trophies, we aren’t in property development and we aren’t a bank, football is an institution, fans spend the money, management buys players, teams win trophies.
If the clubs want to make a stand against spending vast sums and prudently running clubs then perhaps they should look at the offensive money they pay their players and staff.
How many of you lot could afford to buy your girlfriend a Ferrari at 21? How many of you lot could afford to buy a Ferrari period?
One of Arsenal’s greatest ever heroes, Charlie George, who scored the winner in the 1971 Cup final – that was the subject of my art ‘O’ level, he couldn’t have afforded a Ferrari at the peak of his career.
So what I’m saying is, if you want to champion not spending huge sums of money on players that could win us the league, start championing the huge sums that you are paying to average players that aren’t (winning us the league).
Onto today, 3 points and nothing else will do, and to be honest 3 points against Hull is nothing less than I would expect, we need to get a good performance in because Villa won’t be so easy, so I hope he fields a team today that has the next game in mind.
Never mind playing your favourites Arsene, try this side.
Fabianski
Eboue Gallas Vermaelen Traore
Ramsey Song Nasri
Arshavin
Walcott Vela
I said Fabianski because Almunia is really not very good, he has had too many chances and it’s way past time when even Wenger can see that.
I would put Eboue in for Sagna as I think Sagna has lost something and I would put Ramsey on because when he plays a good game, it’s better and more influential that Denilson and Diaby when they decide to have a good game.
Up top I have Arshavin in the hole, his preferred position and let Theo and Vela rip, up top.
I know many of you can give me the example of how Flamini turned out in his last season, and I agree, he did, but we had to suffer at least 3 shit years waiting for that one good season, all I’m saying is we shouldn’t have to wait, get someone in that’s good now. I’m sure Denilson and Diaby will come good one day, but playing them both at the same time now, well it doesn’t work does it.
Finally, all those great teams and trophy years, Wenger bought them, not me, he can do it again, even mix it up, and he still has January to do something, come on Arsene!
Have a great day today Grovers, I expect a big win today and a message for Martin O’Neil.
*trying to convince myself to be happy
we miss RvP so much tho, only if he was still playing. fucking friendly, fuck chellini
Okay guys…
Diaby/TV my MOM
thanks for the company…
Will tune in back late at Le-grove tomorrow,after my return from my farmhouse…to cheer westham…
thank god we won…
lets now win next against villa,inshallah
C`mon arsenal….
http://goal.com/en/news/9/england/2009/06/19/1335372/goalcom-analysis-what-the-experts-say-on-thomas-vermaelens
here’s for a good laugh mates
Diaby has had 2 good games in a row. Hope he’s fit for Villa!
He keeps the ball so well compared to everyone else.
Gooby, Chillieni challenge was clean. it actually looked like the injury was sustained when he fell and twisted his ankle.
ok pat but i still hate cheillini
What a great second half !! I thought the whole team did well especially diaby,TV
Let’s concentrate now , the game against villa is crucial !!
Nice one gooby !
Thoughts on the Game
Firstly not happy with the starting 3 in midfield
Thought Denilson saved the team being booed off at half time. I thought we were very poor in the opening 45
What a free-kick, fucking awesome
It was never a pen, and I hate everything about Silvestre, but you could give 10 pens in every game if you play by those rules.
Diaby who I dont really rate was MOTM for me. A great performance all round by him. Good to see. Well done Abou
Good to see Eduardo back on the score sheet although he tried his best to miss it
Ramsey really impressed me, I think he is a future Arsenal Great.
Eboue is our best RB at the moment. Thought he had a great game
Vermaelen had another great game. what a signing. Heart of a Lion.
Happy with the result. It was not vintage but given our injuries I would happily have taken 3 points in that game and that is what we got.
Need to push on now and take 3 off Villa.
Well Done Arsenal.
Hughes sacked , Mancini in .
Btw, I’ve been saying that I hope Heskey plays against us and not Carew.
He came on today and got the winner.
Anyone know how Villa played? Silvestre will have a hard time against their wingers.
Yeap, the Italians are coming.
Traore will be back for Villa Pat, so won’t be an issue! Otherwise I’d play Eboue left back
Pat, traore should be back for villa but this doesn’t reassure me though
patthegooner you were right about the midfield three, i was completely wrong, apologies!
Still a standard 3-0 win, couple more would’ve been nice, as would goals for vela or theo, but decent enough overally. villa will be a proper test though
Gooner Traore in his last couple of games has looked like our best left back imo! Clichy will have trouble getting his place back if he continues that sort of form.
traoré’s advantage is height and strengh. good addition to the team, he also is a warior
TV motm for me.he along with song are the by far the most consistent performers in out team.
diaby as everybody said improves as the match progresses.
eduardo i dont think was bad at all,he was involved in almost all our forward moves in first half.
nasri too had a great game,he was our only creative spark in first half.
anyways i think our performance improved dramatically after ramsey enter the field.
and i found that all young lads ramsey,vela,walcott perform much better when there is no pressure.they dont have winners mentality YET.
Maybe you’re right but can he maintain his level? we’ll find out next week .
anyone knows when rosicky should be back ?
Yeah I agree Gooby, neither Clichy nor Gibbs could have coped physically with either Kuyt or Torres the way that Traore did last weekend. I see all three left backs as pretty similar, but the difference is that Traore is also big and strong
we won’t see sicky until new year at least
Should be back in training this week Gooner, though not sure if he’ll be fully fit to play Villa
check this out
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1716/champions-league/2009/12/18/1695412/italy-v-england-30-cultural-differences-between-italy
Eduardo’s pirouette was a thing of beauty though. Shame he has no right foot!
I think all three are back in training this week actually, Bendtner, Rosicky, and Traore, but Bendtner is very unlikely to be fit for the weekend, or more or less definitely not, Rosicky has a slight chance, Traore should be ok. Guessing dependent on how long they’ve been out, how long it’ll take to get them fit to play. Clichy in training soon too but not fit to play for a few weeks
A no need for apologies, I hoped I would be wrong on that one,
Happy with the result though, it was a potential bannana skin but a moment of brilliance from denilson led us to 3 points.
Diaby though….Brilliant, and that is coming from someone who does not rate him
I thought we were always comfortable, even if we’d gone in at 1-0, or Almunia hadn’t saved the pen, thought we’d always get the goals in the end.
I agree, Diaby was superb today, as was Song. Hopefully given Eduardo some confidence back, he looked sharper, even though not back to his best just yet. Line up in a week will be interesting in terms of whoever starts opposite Nasri on the other flank.
Diaby was superb at Burnley as well imo. He has that drive that all our midfielders lack and he seems like someone who can control the tempo of a game.
Yeah Pat, Diaby has actually been very good all season im, or at least still effective, even when his touch and passing has been off. He’s an important player, and will be doubly important when song is away.
if bendy is ready for the pompey game, that’s great news for us.
with him and diaby on the field along with song vermy and traoré we’ll have a decent amount of strengh in the side
it was a good a game and pleasure blogging on le grove today.
i m off, catch u later.
A Diaby has been good all season?….interesting
Yeah Metal, he gives us drive and physicality going forward. Imo his missing against Sunderland was a big loss, and Chelsea at home. Without him in the midfield we’re lacking something
Sure A maybe it’s something 2 do with Wenger’s team and player selection what we’re missing is not Diaby trust me it’s Fabregas and more 2 the point VP not Diaby never.
Not happy with Shitty Sacking Sparky
I thought he was doing a great job
Against Chelsea and Sunderland we missed him imo Metal, even though he’s frustrating at times, he gives us something in the midfield that noone else does.
I dunno pat, for someone like him to keep his job at a place like City he’d have to overachieve. It would be a push for someone like him to meet the ambitions of City’s owners, he’s still learning his trade as manager, he’s never won anything in his managerial career, and isn’t high profile at all.
With mancini in there they have someone high profile, who will be able to attract high profile players more, and they’ll respect him more too.
Though I wouldn’t say Highes has done a really bad job at City, I don’t disagree with the decision from a City point of view
What exactly does he bring 2 the team great finisher no question infact superb finisher imo but what else his movement is poor first touch is poor vison is poor positioning is poor what could he have brought against Chelsea who BTW most of the game sat back
Marks
Almunia: 6 Great save on the penalty, but he should not have started. You simply cant reward poor form with the captains armband and a gauranteed start
Eboue: 8 Thought he had a great game
Gallas: 7 Solid
Vermaelen: 8 Great game…..again
Silvestre: 5 never a penalty so wont get on his back for that, but I hate seeing him in an Arsenal shirt. Wenger hopes he signs a new deal. I hope he fucks off
Denilson: 6 Great goal but not a lot past that
Song: 6 Eratic passing but breaks up play well
Diaby: 9 MOTM best game in a red and white shirt for a long time
Nasri: 6.5 could have seen red, but at least he did not get bullied by the northern thugs
Eduardo: 7 looked a little bit sharper
Arshavin: 6.5 not bad not great
subs
Ramsey: 7 really impressed me
Theo: 6 better in 20 mins that he did midweek but still need more from him
Vela: 6 not enough time to make an impression
strength and drive metal. He wins the ball back alot and holds his own against bit physical players, or anyone harrying in the midfield. With teams that sit back with two banks of four or a four and a five he can break through as well as break up play, and it makes a big difference at times.
pat you can’t give Almunia a 6 just because he shouldn’t have started!! I didn’t want him to start, but imo marks for today would be
Almunia 8
Eboue 7
Gallas 7
Vermaelen 7
Silvestre 6
Song 8
Denilson 7
Diaby 8
Nasri 7
Arshavin 7
Eduardo 7
I was being sarcastic about Hughes
I think with a decent coach, they could do some damage in the 2nd half of the season with those players
Fair point A I can see what you’re saying but I dont agree that he has been good all season the fact is he has been garbage giving the ball away is what he is notorious for.
Metal he’s been good for us but not good in terms of his performance at times. Effective though even when playing poorly
Not sure how we would cope with Villa.
Nah I gave him 6 as he did not have a lot to do, so a just above average is a fair reflection of his performance
6 is a fair score in my books
A disagree whole heartily but this is one of those moments where I have 2 realize it is you’re opinion I have mine and we just gonna have 2 leave it like that.
Think Arsenal should forfeit this match based on the comments they could not have deserved this win..as Arsenal are an honest team (mid table according to BBK)we need to forfeit at least the goals of Diaby and Denilson: they are such shit. Agree with David @ 18:18 and 18: 14 comments. And of course I agree with Geoff (**drives a hot car and services the Fortune 500 after all): Song was terrible as was Denilson and Diaby..christ the whole fuckin team is awful..all together now: —–!
Our schedule in January is nothing short of outrageous.
Thats great except ofcoarse for the minor problem that David didnt make a comment @ 18:18.
Wanker.
Fair dos Metal!
David Jan isn’t bad at all, apart from the very end which is a bit of a fucker, going into the start of feb
Yeah February I meant to say is make or break.
We also have that CL game away to Porto.
Id go for a draw to be honest. Or early goal..
February is a scary month, but atleast we have the easiest run in towards the end of the season
A
I agree, Diaby was superb today, as was Song.
——————————————–
yes superb compared to a 5 year old kinder- garden kid, keep aiming this low A im sure we will win the EPL , …in your dreams
before the end of next century …
your praise of mediocrity and the long term solutions, is just so far off the mark you might as well be on mars ..
the 2 above have no long term future at the club they are just not good enough at this stage in there careers , the sooner you fess up to it, the less egg that will land on your face .
yes we are good enough to beat hull ‘away’ ..
WOW … im impressed ! A WIN !
i expected it , and by a greater margin .
We could never play for the draw David! Always gotta go to score a goal, but I wouldn’t mind a score draw away in Porto.
End of Jan start of Feb is the big period, Villa away, Utd home, Chelsea away, Liverpool home, but after that tough period we’ve got the FA Cup before Porto, so we can hopefully rest players. Jan itself is relatively ok, if Song only misses three games, which would be Bolton home and away and Everton at home, then I reckon we’ll be absolutely fine.
grovers, I just came from San Francisco and saw my first arsenal game. Absolutely unbelievable. 3-0 to the arenal! and btw, Phil Brown and Stephen Hunt can fuck off forever
Denilson, Diaby, Eboue, Vermaelen, Arshavin and to some extent Arshavin played wonderfully. Diaby had his one good game out of 8, but let us hope he breaks that habit and finds some consistency. Denilson’s goal was absolutely crucial and he really has some good pace to boss around the midfield…some extra concentration would do him wonders, and perhaps could morph into more of a CM then a CDM. Vela looked good coming on, Ramsey wasnt half bad, but Walcott needs to step up his finishing. I know we were 3-0 but come on man. He had 2 chances and should hace bagged both of them. Well played gooners…and oh yeah, ALMUNIA!!!!!
I think that Hull made it quite a difficult game for us, they defended well in the first half.
each of our three goals were of the highest quality that any team would have struggled to prevent.
great win
ofcos every win is great, but with that midfield i had doubts
song impresses me this season, he has come good in my book
denilson…nice goal but still too average
diaby is like an on/off switch, you never know if he’s gonna fuck up or do a nice move
still…it’s party tonight
goooooo gunners!!
Watching the team in real life, it seems that in build up play, they often rely on the defense making a mistake or getting lucky with a pass, instead of trying to create something rational. Atleast that was the case in the 1st half
“In England, the financial situation overall is very poor. That is why it won’t be a busy market
It just shows that scoring on set pieces is extremely important.
Where’s that from David? In yesterday’s press conference he said Europe rather than England
I took it off Goal.com
Im not so sure what the difference is seeing that England may be in Europe?
Also teams are skint…except Chelsea.
team to play villa??
———–Almunia———–
sagna—Gallas–Verm—Traore
——–Song—–Diaby——-
————Cesc————-
Nasri——-Arsh——-Eduardo
Good on ya Luke….
Nice to hear you had a great day. I’ve taken a few to Highbury and the Emirates for their first visits. Every single one if them has found it magical…win lose or draw
good win…we’re not clicking yet, but we have come a long way from last season…MOTM for me was almunia…3points in the bag…this is looking promising…
manciteh whats to say…the whole club is fast becoming more like harrods than a football club..never liked hughes..still the way they got rid of him must leave citeh fans with a bitter taste…Rafa’s next he’ll be out by christmas…
hull..nough said…
Let us see how we are going cope up with Villa. I hope, Arsene plays the football based on opposition strengths and weakness rather than just our plan A.
Villa is a very vibrant team. We need to have very defensive minded Full backs.
Diaby has had 2 great performances. In terms of natural talent, he has it in abundance.
Hope he plays like this against Villa.
Just back from the game fucking freezing,thought we had a good second half.I am so glad i go to the game and get behind the players,rather than spend time with those negative idiots on here match days.The comments on here about players are a fucking disgrace
Szczesny saved a 1v1 today and Brentford beat MK Dons 1-0
mad day….Alumina saves us….Diaby approached decent football….top corner free from denilson….and to top it all Hughes get the Spanish Archer!
united pool beaten also!
colonel out…going drinking
agreed Colonel a mad mad day in the premier…and in here at Le Grove too..it seems …been reading back…all i can say..in the heat of the moment
things happen…thats love for you…
laters all.. back to the beers, and congrats all Gooners….my guess we all be a happy bunch come may…
Ps! Song for President….
hey guys, i am coming to London next week and i have a few questions for anyone who can help me:
1. Does anyone know any gooner who has a spare ticket to the villa game, i have never been to London, and i have never seen Arsenal play, so this would be my ultimate!
2. If i don’t have a ticket, can i try buy from a tout, and if so what kind of price range would i be looking at?
3. I know i can’t get away tickets to the FA Cup clash between west ham and Arsenal, would it be advisable to try watch amongst the West Ham fans and pretend to be somewhat of a neutral?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Wiseman, email tickets@le-grove.co.uk
A few posy changes @ half time, plus Diaby’s height/strength helped pave the way for a good win in the end. Aston Villa will be a really tough game, & Diaby’s size will be a big help.
I said 2-3 months ago that Sparky Hughes was a dead man walking, footbal wise. Now he is just simply a dead man. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha you phuck’n cheating former Man United shit head
I have a message for mark Hughes, the former commandant of the Dirty Dozen. It starts with Good, and ends with ridence
MOTD in 10 minutes?
Nevermind, its on now
What a gr8 weekend. An arsenal win coupled with the sacking of a cunt named Hughes.
Bully boy tactics don’t make you a good manager you cunt. Walking into Wenger’s tech area and calling him a wanker, then against Chelsea in your very next game you walk into Ancelotti’s tech area again.
HOW DARE YOU? Your only claim to fame as a manager is being lucky enough to be in charge of a club that gets a big sugar daddy thats all. Crawl back to whatever hole you came out of, bastard.
Villa are unbeaten in 11 with 4 straight wins and 4 clean sheets in those 4 wins
all the better when we end that next weekend Pat
Villa is a very vibrant team. Creativity comes from the wings. Full backs and Wingers needs to do lot of defensive work and we have to force through midfield. Quite contrasting teams. We have a home advantage.
gg he will just go back to managing a bolton or blackburn .
he should of never for a minute thought he would be the manager in the long term ..
well of a team with money …
i mean …
like you said good ridden’s to bad rubbish , miserable looking cunt that he is
but id rather he stayed mancini could become a potential problem…
also lets see how long ade lasts there now !
he wont accept raw scrappy play from his strikers
ade da’ bench whore
ABOU DIABY WILL BE BETTER THAN PATRICK VIEIRA!!! Why do spit such drivel??? In his best season (2000-2001) Vieira only managed 8 goals in around 30 appearances. Diaby has already managed 5 goals and 5 assists and its still December, he is still 23 and has been injured for several spells already. If Diaby manages to find consistency, avoid injuries, and purse a defense balance to his game… this guy could be great. His decision making will need some improvement but thankfully… he has a unique mixture of technique and power/strength which you don’t normally find. If Diaby takes a greater role in the team we could really have a player on our hands. Denilson is another player who certainly has the ability but doesn’t take a greater role in the team. If he steps up to fight for his team (like the freekick today)…. he could be a great player for us. Along with the continued improvement of Ramsey and the UNTOUCHABLE ALEX SONG not to mention… Sir Cesc Fabregas…. we really have one hell of a midfield for the future. I haven’t even mentioned Nasri.
LPool to launch 5 million pound bid for Victor Moses
good day for the Arsenal today eh!
hughes is a manc cunt good fucking riddance
Morning all.
Hughes is a £10m richer Manc Cunt
booommmbastic
So yesterday, I demand a powerful winger. Geoff suggests Victor Moses (I had never heard of him). Today Pool are after him.
From now on, whisper Geoff!
good morning.
new post?
New post!
Test test
1Test test
quote someones comment