Long read: Summer transfer budget of £30m

by .

I heard through the grapevine; the vintage producing sort, that the Arsenal transfer budget next summer isn’t going to be what many of us had hoped for in the face of oligarchical cash rivers from seemingly flowing in from everywhere. The figure, similar to the number the AST is predicting, is closer to £30-40m, versus the £100m+ we were all hoping for with the new commercial deals about to drop.

Leaning into the Le Grove community, TR7 did some back-of-a-fag-packet numbers, and landed roughly on the number I’ve offered up.

‘As per unaudited 6 month financial statement ending Nov 2017, we had a cash reserve of 160M out of which 23M is in what AFC calls debt service reserve account, basically amount earmarked for stadium debt servicing. That leaves us with 137 M.

We spent around 70M in summer, so that’s 67M remaining. Now if we assume Arsenal’s net cash outflow from operating, investing and financing activities in FY 2018 and FY 2019 is similar to what it was in FY 2017, expect another 40M outflow from that kitty of 67M and we are left with cash balance in the range of 25-30M come March 2019.’

Let’s be honest here, that sort of money isn’t going to get us anywhere, but there are obvious reasons for the lack of cash.

Firstly, our wage bill is pushing £210m. That’s a staggering sum of money when you consider we’re not in the Champions League. That’s about £50m more than Atleti, x3 that of Dortmund, and £85m more than Spurs! Hoffenheim’s average salary is about £820k a year (£20m total)! If we don’t land Champions League, which is highly likely (and the appraisal of many at the club), we’re going to have to find some money to make up for the lack of elite goings on in our euro endeavours. Here are a few ideas.

Contract Rebels:

First idea would be to lose expensive players off the wage bill. Lucky for us, there are a number of names who will be moving on next summer.

Ramsey £5.7m
WELBZ £3.6m
Cech £5.2m
Monreal £3.4,
Lichtsteiner £4.6m

That’s a cool £22.5m back in coffers straight away. The issue here is at least 2 of the above players are going to need expensive replacements. Our left back position is incredibly weak, and we’re certainly missing an Aaron Ramsey like figure who can lead the press, that maybe has more technical ability than the Welshman. Left backs are hard to come by and if we’re sniffing around players like Chilwell or Sessegnon, we’re looking at mega cash. Finding a backup keeper doesn’t have to be expensive, and good scouting should unearth someone suitable. Lichtsteiner and Welbeck could be internal promotions (AMN, Nketiah and Reiss). Ideally, I’d love to throw £40m at Pepe, but maybe we can plug that gap with a loan for Dembele (Kike Marin still thinks this is a thing)?

The Transfer List:

For a variety of reasons, the players on the list below seem ripe for moving on.

  • Kos £4.7m
  • Kolasinac £6.2m
  • Mikhi £4.7m
  • Perez £4.1m
  • Jenks £2m
  • Chambers £2m

£33.2m in wages could be captured here if you can sell or come to a deal on buying out their final years.

Sell our ‘big’ names:

  • Mustafi £4.7m £30m
  • Xhaka £5.2m £60m
  • Bellerin £5.2m £50m

Ok, ok, slim pickings here. Maybe I’m being aggressive with the fees. But for me, Bellerin is one of the best young right backs in the world and he’s got some of that Barca DNA, surely we can land a big fee for him? I’ve seen the spreadsheet virgins selling world class stats that Xhaka is, in fact, better than Jorginho. Well, the Brazilian cost Chelsea £57m. If Xhaka genuinely is that fucking amazing, don’t you think we could find better value for the sort of system we need to play? Couldn’t we find someone who is more mobile, can concentrate for a full 90minutes and give us more power (will Guendouzi eventually move him on)? I mean, I’d hope so. Mustafi cost us a fortune, it’s wishful thinking that we can recoup his fee back, but always remember, Spurs sold Bentaleb for £20m. #AnythingIsPossible

You could even include Ramsey in this section. I’m sure his agent was chipper about his client’s prospects 2 months ago, but now he’s stinking out north London and the Welsh team. He has zero form to speak of. If clubs are weighing up £200k a week, they’ll be sending scouts to check out how he’s playing and I doubt they’d be impressed. Will he really waste the next 7 months of his life picking up 10minutes here and there? He’s 28 in December. I’m totally making physiological assumptions based on parked cars, but if you don’t play regular football for a year, and you’re naturally injury prone, won’t that make you a big risk next season? Physios, let me know the deal.

Reshape our pay structure to be meritocratic:

The club is still reeling from the generous contracts Wenger dished out because he believed in the contradiction of sporting socialism. Arsenal have never used leverage in their dealings with Euro agents. Now we have a set of contract gurus who will fully adopt the dark arts.

Examples aplenty already. Lucas Torreira has changed the way we play, an immense signing, and he’s earning just £3.4m a year. Guendouzi is offering more than Jenks ever has and he’s earning £1.3m a year. Our #1 keeper is earning £2.6m p/a, that’s less than Almunia, and he’s already done more for us! I think we can let the Mikhi issue slide. We took a fee for the piano playing white elephant and needed a player who’d done it before. You can’t win them all.

Anyway, already you can see than Huss and Raul are trying to rebalance the way we pay players. I would imagine they pitch the city, the training facilities, the stadium and the chance to grow your career to the next level and don’t worry about offering premium wages. No doubt there are pay bumps, just not the 1000% ones we’ve been doling out for the last 10 years.

Rework the budgets

One of the most ridiculous things Ivan Gazidis allowed Wenger to do was take his combined yearly budget; which was salary and transfer fees, and spunk it all on bloated contracts leaving nothing for purchases. Arsenal should be operating a lower wage bill so they can spend more on players to bring in.

The strategy, it seems, is a Dortmund+ model. Buy in the cream of European youth (low wages), blended with some elite experience (reasonable wages).

Develop them, earn some success, sell the stars at x10, buy in even better youth, build even more success, grow commercials with the end game of not needing to be a selling club.

Jurgen Klopp recently spoke of why he was pleased about the Mane deal.

“It shows the change the club has made in the last few years. A few seasons ago players at the peak of their careers thought they had to leave the club to take the next step but now the boys believe they can achieve their ambitions here.”

The only players who want to end their careers at Arsenal are those aren’t wanted elsewhere or know that we’re the best deal in town. I think we need to be realistic about where Arsenal are and where we want to be. We’re not going to be Champions League finalists anytime soon, but we want to buy in players who want to achieve that. Up the ambition, up the talent, build a side over time that can eventually afford to keep elite talent around because we’re challenging.

Spend according to future earnings:

Stan K tends to live in a vacuum of one season at a time when it comes to Arseanl spending. If he wanted to, we could spend against 3 seasons worth of Premier League money and it wouldn’t be a big deal. That’s speculating, and if you can say anything for sure, it’s that Arsenal haven’t speculated well for years and it’s cost us big time. You only have to look back to the time we baulked on Suarez for £55m, only to see him go the next summer for £70m, or the Hig, who we shit the bed at over £30m, only to see him go to Juve for a monster £80m. There is value in speculating when you find talent. De Ligt and De Jong spring to mind as two that’ll have 12-year careers at the top, why couldn’t we sign them? Two players who’d absolutely have sell-on value.

Concluding thoughts:

This post isn’t suggesting we sell the whole squad, it’s merely offering up ideas of how we can aggressively free up money this summer, restructure our wage bill, and bring in a new batch of highly capable players that will build on what we’ve already done.

That, I’d imagine, is the Arsenal 5-year plan.

See you in the comments.

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DM

DM

DM

2

Peter

in the mix

DM

Tr4phy

Bankz

bankz is here for the Tr4phy again

Boomslang

Here

peter

4th

grooveydaddy

Too late

Pierre

Stroller “Tony Adams was interviewed last week by a National Newspaper. He made it clear in the article that he was not personally an Arsenal fan, but playing for them was a job.However, he went on to confirm that both his children were Arsenal fans and he would be taking them to watch Arsenal play Fulham at Craven Cottage .He then went on to distinguish Arsenal Supporters of old who had a close affinity with the club whatever the result with the new breed of fan who are only interested in the result and winning trophies .When I read many… Read more »

grooveydaddy

£90 mill for Xhaka + Mustafi??

On what planet?

David Smith

What a mess Wenger ,Ivan, Stan and even the likes of Dick Law have left us.
Allowing wenger unfettered meddling in all areas.
History will judge they squandered the opportunity of a decent competitive advantage over most teams due to many factors, but in no small part, to one mans ego.

Jamie

Again with this ‘we spent £70m in the summer’ therefore we have x amount of cash remaining in the bank crap.

News flash: clubs don’t pay full whack up front for every player they purchase.

Why is this silly myth repeated constantly?

grooveydaddy

Also we get Wenger and his cronies off the books as well, right?

That’s got be £12 million or more in the kitty?

How are severance payments accounted for? Were we, in effect, paying their salaries this year?

Pierre

Pedro Our wage bill is 5th highest in the prem so let’s stop this pretence that our wage bill is holding us back …..it’s not or at least it shouldn’t be. We have spent 22.5 million net per season for the last 2 seasons…..it’s not a level playing field and hasn’t been for the last 12 years and it is even more difficult to compete for the title than ever….. Arsenal fans are gradually seeing the reality of the situation and will soon turn their anger to the owner as the gap widens year on year ….. Arsenal Fans are… Read more »

Trap

Pierre Well said about the wages,on one hand it’s a problem considering the quality of the squad and then it’s a positive because we can challenge some of th top clubs, Gambon and cescappeal spoke about this a while back, if we adopt a very effective and aggressive transfer recruitment as well as clear out we could be as good as Borrussia Dortmund/ Atletico Madrid with the wage bill of Bayern Munich/ Manutd. On exits I’d say we can get 40-45m for granit Xhaka,statiscally he’s better than most pl central midfielders even with his error prone style but offensively he… Read more »

Trap

Pierre Well said about the wages,on one hand it’s a problem considering the quality of the squad and then it’s a positive because we can challenge some of th top clubs, Gambon and cescappeal spoke about this a while back, if we adopt a very effective and aggressive transfer recruitment as well as clear out we could be as good as Borrussia Dortmund/ Atletico Madrid with the wage bill of Bayern Munich/ Manutd. On exits I’d say we can get 40-45m for granit Xhaka,statiscally he’s better than most pl central midfielders even with his error prone style but offensively he… Read more »

Confidentgoner

Pierre,

You are getting it twisted.

This is nothing to do with the owner. The funds were there all along but for years were used to pad contracts of average players. Add to that poor scouting over many years, then you can explain our decline.

This falls on the head of one man and the guys who work for him. Wenger. Yes, his boss actually works for him. He interviewed him!

The new team have a tough job getting us back to being a formidable team again. It will take tough decisions and tough love.

Emiratesstroller

Pedro First of all Arsenal have not published their accounts since the interim in November last year. We have not seen published final accounts. Second as I wrote last week the club offloaded in previous financial year a huge number of highly paid players e.g. Sanchez, Walcott, Mertesacker, Debuchy, Giroud,Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gabriel, Gibbs,Szczesny,Cazorla, Campbell, Wilshire Whilst everyone focuses on the huge cost of Ozil’s salary the hike is still no more than the combined wages of Mertesacker and Sanchez. You make a comparison between Arsenal and Tottenham who play in Champions League. There is absolutely no comparison in financial terms between… Read more »

Pierre

Could it be possible that our players are not quite so bad as le grovellers are alluding to.
You can almost smell the stench of negativity emanating from the comments section towards the Arsenal players…

Pierre

Confidentgooner
Do yo think the money spent to ,as you say to “pad the wages” would have been enough to compete with the hundreds of millions (possible billion) spent by city,Chelsea and united over the last 14 years.

gonsterous

Pierre

it’s not about us having very bad players, it’s about us not having quality players in crucial areas, specifically, the wings and CAM. We have too many players claiming to play CM. We don’t have a single natural winger.

Left testicle

Those figures can’t be right. Wenger said he would leave the club in a better state than when he joined?!

Pierre

Confidentgooner
Though I do think our recruitment and scouting over that period was poor …especially since the sale of rvp.

Cesc Appeal

It’s going to take some time to get this squad competitive, you have to remember Mislintat, Sanllehi and Emery are countering years and years of incompetent squad building and a total wastage of funds which is coming back to bite us now. Not only did we blow more money on fees and wages than we had before, we got worse, both those things mean we have less money and somehow actually ended up with an unbalanced squad that, as of Emery taking over had no CDM, had no wingers, had a past it GK and no real alternative, had a… Read more »

Left testicle

Don’t show AC Milan those figures.

Pierre

Depends what you call competitive…league title ..forget it for at least 5 years,maybe more.

We are already competitive regarding top 4 and cup comps.

Emiratesstroller

Pierre

Read my last post on previous thread covering Tony Adams interview in National Newspaper last week.

He makes a distinction between “traditional supporters” who supported club
whatever the results and the “current crop of fans” who follow the brand so long as it wins major trophies.Otherwise they are habitual moaners.

Marko

It’s absurd really you did an article on a flawed comment by TR7 to some stoke fear in the fanbase. Transfer fees aren’t paid upfront and as for the idea that our cash reserves are continually being wittled down and/or never replenished and therefore we’re down to about 30 million is ridiculous. I mean we’ve had about 150/160 million cash reserves being talked about now for about 10 years.

Marko

Pierre on another windup today. If it’s not another pointless Ozil comment or a thinly veiled Emery swipe/rim job of Wenger it’s back to moaning about other fans. Throw in an odd comment about how old he is and how he plays golf occasionally and you have just about everything he’s said the last number of years.

Trap

So for the names that have been touted on the net have been promising and considerably affordable, besides fees are paid in installments Defenders ezri konsa 15m,gianluca Mancini 25m,Joachim Andersen 30m,mario hermoso 35m, junior firpo 45m,nico tagliafico 10m. Midfielders weigl 45m,nico barella 40m,almiron 15m,fornals 20m,havertz 40m Wingers pepe 27m, Dembele( Barcelona are looking to offload him on loan so as to avoid paying bvb 40m euros, so lets 60m after his loan) Btw 30m is laughable , in the summer we were touted to have only 50m we went on to spend 20m more plus a 90m bid for Dembele… Read more »

Pierre

Stroller
Have passed comment on your post earlier…

“Habitual moaners” ..sounds about right.

Wallace

Marko

“It’s absurd really you did an article on a flawed comment by TR7 to some stoke fear in the fanbase. Transfer fees aren’t paid upfront and as for the idea that our cash reserves are continually being wittled down and/or never replenished and therefore we’re down to about 30 million is ridiculous. ”

ach, agreeing with Marko… wtf.

Ivan

We have unbalanced squad but it is far from garbage some represent here. Best proof for it is last game. Difference in quality bailed us out. Im not saying its ideal or really good, but it should be good enough as a platform to build on it. We lacked more in menagerial structure than in anything else. I know its highly poplular to blame all on Wenger and by no means i wont apologise for him, but he was merely a cog in badly assembled machine. Whole Wenger interviewed Gazidis story is prime example why all went wrong. Lesser the… Read more »

UTarse

You couldn’t make up some of the contradictory shit this twat comes up with. Take a bow Lil p. You and that village idiot the 12-year-old really do try hard.

Emiratesstroller

According to Transfermarkt our outgoing transfers for season 2017/8 [last financial year] was £109.98 million if you discount notional transaction for Sanchez.

The cost of incoming transfers in same period was £106.97 million excluding
notional spend on Mkhitaryan.

So Arsenal made actually a notional profit on its transfer business of £3.01 Million. There was no net spend last season.

Marko

ach, agreeing with Marko… wtf.

Come over to the dark side Wallace. You’re more agreeing with common sense though

gambon

The maths that gets you to £30m transfer budget is so far off its frankly ridiculous.

We had £160m cash 12 months ago, so you just discount cash flow and transfer spending from last summer?

Pedro, thats like saying to work out how much cash you have personally, you take your salary from November 2017 and discount 18 months of mortgage payments.

Im sure youre doing well for yourself, but i’d be willing to bet you dont earn 18x your outgoings per month.

Let me know if you want some real analysis on our budget and I’ll do it.

gambon

Emirates

I disagree that we have no players to sell in order to generate funds.

I think you will see Ospina, Mustafi, Chambers, Kolasinac, Elneny and possibly Ramsey (jan) all leave the club.

That would be about £70m IMO

Dissenter

Pierre
You’ve become the biggest habitual moaner around these parts.
Have a word with your self in front of a cracked mirror
.
What are you always trying to start shite?

Emiratesstroller

I have just reviewed published final accounts for year ending 31st May 2017. I have not looked at interim accounts, because these do not always show a clear picture of what is being spent or earned throughout financial period. For example our bank balance is always significantly reduced in interim accounts. The last official audited account registered with Companies House showed a bank balance of £180.1 Million. Arsenal made a debt service provision of £35.9 million and there was an outstanding transfer balance of £42.7 million. So the net bank balance as of 31st May 2017 was £101.6 million factoring… Read more »

Marko

Let me know if you want some real analysis on our budget and I’ll do it.

Do it gambon you work in the financial sector. Thing is even if you did my guess is that it’d still be a little off but nowhere near the 30 million that’s being touted. It’s almost like the aforementioned figures only include money being spent and not money coming in.

Bamford10

I would sell Mustafi and Xhaka to raise money, but I wouldn’t sell Bellerin. Bellerina has his flaws but he is good enough that we should hold onto him, I think.

Marko

Fact is that champions league football for next season will have a big say on our transfer budget as well as the new sponsorship deals kicking in. None of which leads me to believe that it’s anywhere near 30 million. That buys you an average player these days

Bamford10

Pierre “Arsenal fans are gradually seeing the reality of the situation and will soon turn their anger to the owner as the gap widens year on year.” This is what I like to call the defeatist view, which holds that we will never be able to compete on the basis of the self-sustaining model, i.e., that we will never be able to compete unless the owner dips into his own pockets. Pierre is advancing it, in part, because he seems to believe it, and in part because it allows him to defend Wenger’s “accomplishments” in his second ten years. “Wenger… Read more »

raptora

There has been noise of Arsenal parting ways with Mustafi for 2 summers now. Yesterday Alan Smith said: ‘It can’t be easy playing alongside Shkodran Mustafi in central defence, because the German is very erratic.And it would be no surprise if Arsenal made it their priority to sign a centre-back sooner rather than later.” I’m still not sure if Emery would go on and sell him this quickly. I mean he’d have been his manager for a full year in summer 2019, but Emery has already said that his biggest achievement and purpose is to make players better. Unlike Xhaka… Read more »

Guns of Hackney

Damn…peter has been hitting the pipe hard over the last couple of days.

£60m for Xhaka.
£50m for Bellerin.
£30m for Mustafi.

The Meth problem in the USA must have landed in nyc and Peter is front and centre.

Those valuations aren’t just aggressive…they are pipe hitting bat shit crazy.

Now I’ll read the whole post.

Receding Hairline

Pierre
You’ve become the biggest habitual moaner around these parts.
Have a word with your self in front of a cracked mirror

I was led to understand i was being childish yesterday for laughing at him. The guy spends his time here whipping up pity for the past manager and trying to downplay the impact of the new team. Yet i am supposed to engage him like he is an adult

Jamie

gambon – Do it please. I rate Pedro and his blog super highly, but every so often, I feel he drops a click-bait piece to get the comments section rolling. £30m transfer budget for the summer is so far off the mark, and Pedro is better than this. For starters, Arsenal FC have been banking operating profits for years, even without CL participation money (£20m last year, £55m the year before). Yet somehow, all the armchair accountants believe we’re running out of money. Anyone who tries to analyze our spending power without even mentioning how clubs write-down transfer fees over… Read more »

Guns of Hackney

Receding

…well, that’s how to wreck my day. I thought I was the biggest moaner on Le Grove…but it turns out to be lucky Pierre.

Thanks a lot! Day ruined.

Wallace

currently –

Bellerin, Mustafi, Xhaka, Lacazette – always play when fit
Leno, Holding, Torreira, Iwobi – becoming automatic choices

could add Monreal to the top group whenever he returns to fitness…

interesting that most of you still banging the Mustafi & Xhaka out drum.

Receding Hairline

As for what we have to spend no one really knows but even newly promoted teams spend more than 30m in a summer window, so unless we are saddled with a crippling debt no one is talking about, the figure of 30m is not one that can be easily swallowed.

Cesc Appeal

I really don’t understand why people engage these types at all, to be honest.

Their agendas are wrapped in clingfilm they are so transparent.

They are best ignored and they will just talk to themselves in their little circles of nostalgia, illogical denial and deflection all the while claiming they are the truly objective ones.

Sad little beasts. Leave them to it.

Receding Hairline

Wallace the fact they are playing does not mean they cannot be replaced. Playing them actually makes them assets we can sell, no one is going to offer you good money for a player doing nothing on your bench

GoH

You will need to take that up with Dissenter, he gave the moaning award not me

Cesc Appeal

Sokratis and Holding will be the go to pairing as the season goes on, I think.

Mustafi has got so many games out of necessity, either because of how weak we were in terms of CBs or due to injury.

He’s far too rash a player and like Xhaka he will cost us.

The volume of links to CBs all over the place suggest change is coming there.

I actually think Emery is pretty unhappy with most of this squad, or a lot of it anyway.

Guns of Hackney

Sell the whole stadium, team and merchandise shop to Waitrose.

Arsenal are taking up valuable retail space.

Marko

Emery has already said that his biggest achievement and purpose is to make players better. Nah his purpose is to improve us and to keep himself in a job and he’s not going to be able to do that if he keeps faith with the likes of Mustafi Ozil and Xhaka etc. I’ve always maintained it’s make or break seasons for some players to see if they can buy into what Emery wants and is trying to do and obviously players like Özil and Ramsey are failing miserably in that regard and Mustafi and a couple others too are set… Read more »

Bamford10

Wallace

Right, those players start, which is why they’d have a chance of fetching us something in the market. If the discussion is, “who could we sell in order to raise money for additional spending?”, then one is looking for players who are good enough that they will be valued fairly highly by other clubs, but not so good that they cannot be replaced. For me, both Mustafi and Xhaka fall into this category.

Receding Hairline

Marko i really don’t think Xhaka is going anywhere anytime soon. I know most of you are determined he has to leave, but i am yet to see anything suggesting that. Emery actually trusts him to do a job and by and large he has had a solid season so far.

The fact it has gone unacknowledged here does not make it untrue.

Samesong

I really don’t understand why people engage these types at all, to be honest.

Proper attention seekers aren’t they Cesc

Marko

interesting that most of you still banging the Mustafi & Xhaka out drum. It’s almost like you don’t watch Arsenal play. Also just because they start now that doesn’t really mean much because let’s be honest here if Xhaka and Mustafi didn’t play recently it would have been either Guendouzi the rookie or Elneny in midfield and Sokratis who was injured and who Pleuguelo or whatever his name is. Point is that you don’t make a case for the likes of Mustafi and Xhaka playing because our other options are so bad instead you improve our options. I’d hate to… Read more »

Wallace

Sokratis has had some niggling injuries, which maybe clouds things, but seems like Emery prefers Mustafi at the minute. slightly strange as the Greek looks more dependable from the outside.

Pierre

Bamford
I noticed that you are putting quotes to me in inverted commas imp!ying that I have said certain things when ,in fact, they are your interpretation of what I am saying ……

I would say that is the act of a man who is being dishonest.

raptora

“I do also believe that Xhaka is set for the exit next summer.” Sure but he’s been our captain in the recent games. Yeah, yeah, the 5 captains story is BS and all, but it still says a little something about his status in this team. I know Cech was slowly moved out also but every single time that Emery tried to not include Xhaka, eventually he ended up changing his mind. There is a long way to go and some players are probably right in the balance in his books. He’ll need a full year in order to make… Read more »

Pierre

Wallace
Looking at Sokratis play I would say that he is a player who takes time to gain full fitness but also loses his fitness fairly quickly.

At the weekend he didn’t look fit,hence the wrestling as he didn’t trust his recovery speed ….
When fully fit he would be a starter for me as he also is deceptively quick over the ground .

Alexanderhenry

Pedro If it’s true, a £30 million transfer budget is an absolute joke and it will probably make Arsenal one of the lowest net spenders in the PL next summer. Suggesting players to offload is all very well but if we don’t get top four some of those players might be ones we’d rather keep- a return to the bad old days You’re right however to point out that Stan doesn’t speculate and that it’s hurt us in the past. The thing is, footballing success and speculation need each other. Achieving one without the other is about as likely as… Read more »

Bamford10

Emirates You are doing a fair bit of moaning about this “new type of Arsenal supporter”. Could you say a bit more about what such a supporter is saying at the moment about the club, team and manager (versus what the traditional is saying)? That is, if I were to listen to one of these newfangled types this morning, what kinds of things would I hear him saying? If I were to listen to one of these old-school types this morning, what kinds of things would I hear him saying? I am asking because I think this might be interesting,… Read more »

Marko

Emery actually trusts him to do a job and by and large he has had a solid season so far. I’m not sure I’d agree with that entirely. Like I said he’s shown some improvements at times and was brilliant against Liverpool but there’s certain things he’s always going to do and there’s certain things that he’s never going to be capable of and I don’t think he’s trusted in that regard. And all the links to Weigl and Pelligrini and Barrella and Ndombele now and other CM’S there quite clearly not Ramsey replacements because he’s not a CM. Look… Read more »

Wallace

Marko “Point is that you don’t make a case for the likes of Mustafi and Xhaka playing because our other options are so bad instead you improve our options. I’d hate to think that considering how error prone and overall bad we are defensively that there’s still people out there who argue for keeping said bad and error prone players.” is it 16 or 17 unbeaten? I know we’ve looked ropy at times in a lot of those games, but also, we’ve only been outclassed by City. we held our own against Liverpool & Chelsea. and I’m intrigued by how… Read more »

Pierre

Guns
“…well, that’s how to wreck my day. I thought I was the biggest moaner on Le Grove…but it turns out to be lucky Pierre.”

we all know who the biggest moaner is don’t we (Marko)…..

Actually,I am very positive about the players ,except Ramsey…I tend to see the positive side to the players abilities whilst most on here see the negative.

Even with Ramsey it is only his lack of discipline that disappointed me and the previous managers insistence on playing him in centre mid.

Bamford10

No, Pierre, I am not falsely attributing quotes to you. I am summarizing a particular way of thinking and putting it in quotes because I am representing the kind of thing this person would say. This is a standard literary device. No literate person would mistake what I am doing for the claim that you actually said this or that. If one such quote above is not your view, you might simply say, “no, that’s not my view, and this is why”. If I have accurately captured your view, however, you might acknowledge this. For example, I wrote above: “… Read more »

Bamford10

* the traditional supporter

Marko

Sure but he’s been our captain in the recent games. Yeah, yeah, the 5 captains story is BS and all, but it still says a little something about his status in this team Aaron Ramsey has also been a captain this season and what does that say about his status in this team. I get what you’re saying but I honestly think he’s not trusted and we’ll probably be looking to offload in the summer. It’s not that far fetched honestly. What I don’t get is why do some people seem to be so against that idea? Don’t people want… Read more »

Goobergooner

Definitely don’t agree with 30 mil for transfers, am with the view Marko Gambon and a few others here hold, even if I only understand the basics. But all in all Pedro, I think you’re post is on the right train of thought (apart from the transfer fees of xhaka and mustafi haha, but then who really knows these days). Our new team is definitely setting up as the English Dortmund or athleti. And I do agree we will be seeing an aggressive approach to our next few windows. The new backroom team including Emery seem to have plugged a… Read more »

Marko

is it 16 or 17 unbeaten? I know we’ve looked ropy at times in a lot of those games Certain types who love the whole xg stats tend to argue that it’s not sustainable what we’re doing but I tend to look at how we’ve been defending by and large over the last number of years with this group of players and it’s not speculative to suggest that we don’t defend nearly good enough and we need to improve in that area. It all depends on what you want for Arsenal football club really. Specifically you Wallace what do you… Read more »

Receding Hairline

What I don’t get is why do some people seem to be so against that idea?

Nobody is against the idea of better players, you are just too fixated on Xhaka for comfort and too sure he is leaving this summer when there is absolutely nothing going on right now that points to that

kc

17. Although you wouldn’t know it reading this doom and gloom blog.

Champagne charlie

The constant Xhaka noise is just that, he has the trust of his manager and is playing how he wants him to. There’s also a very talented guy right behind him looking for a start at every opportunity.

Concerning yourselves with that position at present is a waste of energy, it’s a pretty solid portion of the side relatively speaking. Xhaka/Torreira/Guendouzi is good depth of quality vs any other position on the pitch. Always looking for the incremental I swear, how about we sort out the ‘shit’ positions like LB, CB, LW/RW, CAM…..

steve

@Pierre

“and holds the record number of assists in the prem is shown so little respect on here…”

___

Erm no he doesn’t. Why are you lying? Giggs has most assists in premier league history. You just made something up hoping no one notices. Pathetic really.

Wallace

Marko “I get what you’re saying but I honestly think he’s not trusted” Emery played him at LB. I know he didn’t have much choice, but I thought that was quite telling. “I’d certainly rather someone like Ndombele or Weigl over Xhaka in our starting 11 or a much better CB than Mustafi in our back 4. Is it a question of change that people are afraid of or do people have genuine affection and a connection with some of the players?” has Weigl bulked up recently? good player, but him alongside Torreira would be the Prem’s first nine stone… Read more »

Pierre

Bamford With regard to your question for the “defeatist view” ( I would call it the realist view) I would say that with our transfer budget ,the 2 strikers of Aubamayang and Lacazette would be difficult to improve on …. Can we improve on Mhkitaryan and ozil with the budget that’s being touted…..debatable …I can tell you now ,iwobi and Welbeck will never be an improvement. Personally,I believe the manager should be pulling out all the stops to find a system/formation that will get the best out of the offensive players . He has played those 4 together only once… Read more »

Receding Hairline

I think the only thing here is Marko has some exotic names presently tickling his fancy he will love brought in, i guarantee you Xhaka would have been one of those names if he were not already here. I notice you have gone a bit quiet on Ndombele, you were almost beside yourself screaming his name over the summer

Marko

I won’t compare us to City because they’re just freaks these days but certainly nothing to suggest that we shouldn’t be competing with Liverpool and in their case it’s 12 goals conceded in 18 games 5 league goals to our 16 conceded. Maybe we need to think about proper investment in a CB (like Van Dijk) and improvements in CM.

Champagne charlie

Banford

Remember the numerous remarks you make about being harassed and name called etc? Well trying to play the smart arse card with Pierre, and calling him unintelligent and illiterate slyly is precisely the sort of stuff that gets you the attention you apparently dislike (as if there’s any such thing).

Also, he’s spot on to question you because you’re one of the most compelling on here at delivering a persons pov in the manner YOU want to, and not in the manner it is stated.

Marko

I notice you have gone a bit quiet on Ndombele

Probably because he’s been linked with City and he’d be too rich for our blood. As for the fancy names barb I’m merely noting the links to midfielders that are out there with regards to us

Receding Hairline

Lets sough out the fact we have no wingers either side of our talk, or that besides Bellerin our full back options are ageing or not good enough, or that our center back options look the weakest in the top six, lets sought that out before going on and on about Granit Xhaka.

Receding Hairline

No wingers either side of our attack…dunno what i was writing up there

Wallace

“Specifically you Wallace what do you want from Arsenal football club?”

to be as succesful as possible, obviously. but we ain’t catching this current City squad, and Liverpool have been doing everything right for 18-24mths now. we have to be smart in our dealings, and also hope that City come back to the pack once Pep leaves if we are ever to have a shot at the title.

Receding Hairline

Probably because he’s been linked with City and he’d be too rich for our blood.

You read way too much into tabloid links

HighburyLegend

What the hell can we do with £30m ???

Kroenke can get the fuck off to America!!
Ozil can get the fuck off in China!!

And last but not least, I wish the worst to Mr wenger.
He definitely ruined our club by his inability to negociate players contracts.

raptora

Thing is that now in Torreira we have a fantastic player that is a great DM but the mofo also is great at passing the ball forward, he has good twists and turns and manages to win territory fast with the ball in his feet, he hit the bar vs B’mouth so he is going to contribute extremely positively in every phase of the game. He’s like a freaky mix between Kante and Casorla. Speaking in theory, what type of CM would be best next to him? A Matic/Nzonzi dude? A Doucoure/Bakayoko? A Cazorla/Cesc probably but for the more advanced… Read more »

Marko

has Weigl bulked up recently? good player, but him alongside Torreira would be the Prem’s first nine stone CM pairing.

Torreira has the shortest arse in the premier league and he’s one of the most tenacious and toughest in the league.

I’ve definitely got affection for Xhaka.

Well there you go

Uwot?

The idea that the club only has around £30 mill to spend next summer is quite frankly a load of bo*****ks!as a no of posters for various reasons have pointed out.The club pleading poverty is their way of trying to keep possible transfer fees down rather than screaming from the rooftops “ we’ve got loads of dosh”in the citeh/chav mound which obviously would be counrer productive.just as as a side note.our old chum & spud fan mike “ I’ll f** k the gooners”Dean has got the match on Sunday.No surprise from Riley & the Fa there then.we must be doing… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

Bamford 10

I referred to an interview of Tony Adams in a National Newspaper where he
made a distinction between current fans who are focussed on the club winning trophies and those in the past who were much more tribal and interested in supporting their local team.

When you read Le Grove you can see just how critical the current generation
are of the club, management, team and players.Expectations are different today.

Arsenal had in past some very good seasons, but also some poor ones as well.
Supporters were much more tolerant then than today.

Receding Hairline

I’ve definitely got affection for Xhaka.Well there you go

Why is having affection for Xhaka a bad thing might i ask??

Champagne charlie

“Well there you go”

Really? from the guy who has affection for literally every shiny name going?

You’re not a beacon of truth for imports Marko, your record is questionable at best. Fabinho and Keita is 100 mil you desperately called for remember, we’d be where with there current input?

Marko

Liverpool have been doing everything right for 18-24mths now. we have to be smart in our dealings,

So we’re in agreement then. But obviously I think keeping on error prone and bad defensive players wouldn’t be smart in our dealings.

For the record it’s not about randomly just picking up on Xhaka again it started with Mustafi but it’s more about the need to drastically improve our overall defensive performances these last few years and you can’t do that or even discuss it without bringing up error prone and defensive liabilities like Mustafi and Xhaka and Bellerin and Kolasinac.

Marko

Also not sure our CM options are completely comfortable. For one thing any sort of injury to Torreira and we’re fucked.

AFC1974

Player inflation (Transfer fees) and AW procrastination all but killed our chances of remaining competitive and relevant. Add to that, a socialist wage structure and a stubborn resistance to take on board ‘new’ thinking and support staff and we are where we are..

Marko

Really? from the guy who has affection for literally every shiny name going? You’re not a beacon of truth for imports Marko, your record is questionable at best. Fabinho and Keita is 100 mil you desperately called for remember, we’d be where with there current input? You’d be a fool to write off the likes of Naby Keita and Fabinho (links to PSG today) after what 4 months. You’d also be proper thick if you don’t think they would have improved us when you consider that Granit Xhaka starts for us. I dunno if you’re suggesting that he’s better I… Read more »

Receding Hairline

Also not sure our CM options are completely comfortable. For one thing any sort of injury to Torreira and we’re fucked. But you are so desperate to sell Xhaka and bring in someone who comes with guarantees of no injuries i guess?? For the record it’s not about randomly just picking up on Xhaka It is definitely about randomly picking on Xhaka, there are many players who have under performed in many games this season but you and your crew got Christmas early when Xhaka made a mistake against Wolves. I bet you watch Ndombele daily and can attest he… Read more »

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