To make a bad weekend even worse, tragic news just dropped the Jose Antonio Reyes passed away after a car accident. A tragic loss of a young life. He was one of the most exciting ‘out of the blue’ signing from way back when and certainly an unsung hero of our invincibles era. Thoughts are prayers of everyone at Le Grove are with his family right now.
Onto football.
I took a pretty big swipe at our ailing manager yesterday, and many people felt I should focus more of my energy at the family running the show.
So let’s talk about what running a club with vision and purpose looks like. What better place to look than Spurs and Liverpool? (I know, it hurts so bad)
5 years ago, Arsenal had just finished the season in 3rd place. Spurs and Liverpool had finished 5th and 6th respectively. Neither team had broken 60 goals.
Arsenal were ahead of the game. We had built our stadium, we had better players, and we were still enjoying our superb run of Champions League football.
So what happened? As we wrote extensively at the time. The Kroenke family were happy to watch their fortune grow because they are real estate people. Sadly, they didn’t pay attention to the reality of what was going on pitch side. They couldn’t recognise the decline in the football, they didn’t understand what the influx of money was going to do to the competition in the league, and they only paid attention to the standard health metrics of the business… namely, that all financials were ticking upwards.
That said, here’s where so many fans get things brutally wrong. They’re not bloodsuckers. They have invested ample funds in Arsenal. We have had exactly the same chance at greatness as the rest of the teams around us. The single biggest failure of Arsenal was to keep Wenger on way beyond his sell-by date, the second biggest failure was on Ivan Gazidis for his cuck like behavior in not at the very least building an elite team around him. The third was the missed opportunities. Sign Sven Mislintat and Jurgen Klopp 5 years ago when we could have, we’re talking about a different Arsenal. We could have had Pep Guardiola. The list goes on.
Ivan didn’t have a real football vision for the club. He had some really nice platitudes that he’d parrot at the AGMs, but there was zero know-how for delivering his substanceless proclamations that we’d become like Bayern Munich (‘be like them’ isn’t really a vision).
No vision, no philosophy, no structure, and a bad manager was a recipe for criminal wastage… not just that, we had a placid fanbase that didn’t understand the damage their father like manager was doing (even now, people still talk about him like he’s an absent dad and it’s f*cking creepy).
Spurs and Liverpool didn’t have the same issues. They both embarked on a similar plan of attack. They hired in two managers that boasted vision, coaching skills, outrageous charisma, and absolute belief in the project they were taking on. A manager is step one, it’s always the simplest way to impact a club. Know what you want to do, then find people with the energy to deliver it.
Spurs wanted to bring through young players and coach them to elite levels. They wanted a core of British players that loved playing with each other and felt deep affinity to the manager and club (Arsene > Project Youth). They had a good crop of kids that blended in with very smart buys from around the globe. The football might not always be that technical, but the work ethic is a sight to behold. Their players are more than the sum of their parts, they are an uncompromising beast of a team.
Liverpool, it was simple, they wanted to play heavy metal football. Klopp made great strides in season one and slowly built players around his exciting vision. Power, pace, flair, aggression and warlike mentality from everyone was the absolute standard. No one has more fire than the manager, he’s someone they all love, and he loves them back.
Also, the fans knew what was coming, they bought into the energy and they saw actual progress on the pitch.
Both managers galvanised the fanbase.
‘But, but, but…’
The money, right? Stan K doesn’t invest, he’s a leech, he’s going to bring us down…
Not quite my friends. The Kroenke’s biggest weakness now is the one that’s going to sting them very badly moving forward. They didn’t take the time to understand what was going on at shop level. My guess is they haven’t wanted to be bothered because they’re making magic with The Rams. They don’t really get football, they’d like to succeed, but they’ve entrusted average people with the fortunes of the club, which was fine when elite average could get your top 4 every year, now the bar has shifted.
Arsenal has a net spend of €288m over the past 5 seasons. We’ve dropped almost €500m on players.
Liverpool, a team everyone calls cheque book these days, has a net spend over 5 years of… €204m! €84m less than Arsenal! Their outlay over 5 years is €710m, but 50% of that has come in the last two seasons because… the vision they implemented started reaping financial rewards!
Spurs success, as much as it pains me, is even more staggering. Their net spend sits at €42m over 5 years. Think about that, we’re out here crying that poor old Emery only had €83m to spend last summer! Spurs total player expenditure over a 5 year period has been €328m. (Numbers sources from Transfermarkt)
Wages paints an even starker picture. Liverpool has spent £990m on player wages (Swiss Ramble sourced) over 5 years, with Arsenal right up behind them having dropped a STAGGERING £975m. Spurs, a team in the Champions League final, having just built a new stadium, have spent £576m!
Let me put this into a harsher light… Spurs wage bill is actually £18m lower than ours was FIVE YEARS AGO.
Our weak leadership has consistently thrown their hands up and said we can’t compete because of money. As you all know, we’ve been saying that’s a loser mindset. The best thinkers always find a way to at least get themselves into the mixer. Atleti, Dortmund, Ajax to name but a few.
Luckily for Arsenal, all is not lost.
I have very little faith that current leadership is going to fix this mess. The vision for the club is meek at best, I don’t understand the action plan, and there’s no timeline against it. The shift we made this year is at least there’s now a loose idea of how a football club should be run, the problem is I’m not sure we have the expertise to deliver, even to the ‘proud’ part of it.
We’re going to feel the brute force of how a well-intentioned structure will always fail when average people are attached to its success. Arsenal is littered with people that don’t know what they’re doing, don’t understand the values of the club, and will ultimately fail. Also, please don’t think I mean that about everyone, the club is also full of a lot of absolute heroes who love the club and want to make it better.
There is hope. We are an institution, we are London based, we generate tremendous revenue streams, we have class, values and integrity… and we are a beautiful sleeping giant. When the Kroenke’s finally wake up, pull the wool from their eyes and take positive action by making people truly accountable for something exciting, we’ll be able to make the climb back up to the top.
… but what we can’t keep doing as fans is continue to celebrate average. We can’t keep groaning that it’s impossible to attain greatness. We can’t have such embarrassingly low standards.
Strong leadership shouldn’t be hard to find with the resources we have available. An exciting vision isn’t that hard to formulate if you are talented and ambitious. Moving Arsenal up a level in every department should be low hanging fruit.
… I just don’t think the reality has kicked in with those that own Arsenal.
Today is a dark day for Arsenal. Two teams that five years ago were in much worse positions commercially, financially and on the pitch are in the final of a trophy we’re not even good enough to qualify for.
The exec leadership can either lie down and accept it, or they can pull their finger out and get a little more serious about implementing an exciting vision for the future of our great club.
Let’s see where this summer goes, but for now, let’s all hide in a box and pray the worst doesn’t happen this evening.
x
TR7
Thank you.
Marko
Agree with that.
Especially as someone who ‘loves’ the club.
He knew what financial situation we were in and that he had a massive hand in it.
You think a £50 Million budget, £10 Million is no joke.
From the Kroenkes’ perspective, the situation now is that Arsenal’s asset value has declined because of lower Europa and PL revenues, in both relative and absolute terms, in a market in which the majority of PL clubs have seen their revenues and asset values appreciate.
The question is what should they do about this state of affairs: accept the situation as inevitable and just confine themselves to cutting costs?
Or take a risk by injecting funds in order to obtain better players to attain Top 4 revenues, which will see their asset (Arsenal FC) appreciate again?
Marc
I’m not asking you to do anything. I’m saying dont expect change while you line their pockets and attend as often as you can.
For the record. If I were not tied up I still would not attend. The place has no soul. We sold it when we left Highbury. Same as new Wembley. Just a glass door, corporate office block masquerading as a football stadium. These places sicken me.
WOAB Right now I think with Chelsea banned from the transfer market and United having Ole as manager the owner should think about putting some cash into the club. Putting in £100 Million so that we can spend £150 Million. That doesn’t mean go out and offer £80 Million for Zaha, but to be able to still try and get targets like Upamecano etc who can help us get UCL football and also have a longterm future as valuable players and assets. He won’t though. Obviously. I’ve never really wanted an owner’s money or thought we needed it, but the… Read more »
As an aside, I would think, that if the Kroenkes (and therefore Raoul) decided to go the low cost/youth route, then two things follow:
1) Edu is not really the ideal candidate for Technical Director. We’d need someone like Over,ars, who is used to working in a youth-dominated club
2) Emery is probably the Head Coach they need. You would need more of a developmental manager used to working with young and inexperienced players.
Someone was saying here today that if the guys down the street win today, Arsenal might sit up. People here said no……no big reactions are to be expected. But I have been thinking ever since. What else could make the season ticket holders bitter than the constant thought that CL trophy is down there with our beautiful cousins? Those sissies would make enough noise about it and such noises could be good for the health of those regular guys at the ground who make this decline possible through their inactions. So may the best thing happen to us tonight! That… Read more »
***2) Emery is NOT the Head Coach they need
Marko, Gattuso was doing that to stick it to Ivan… and he has 30 years in management left.
Wenger needed that retirement cash
Cesc,
You won’t be surprised to hear that I agree with you.
Perpetual,dependence on a sugar-daddy owner is bad.
But sometimes an owner needs to invest to accumulate.
This is such a time.
Stan’s not going to put in 100 million of his own money that’s not going to happen. But Raul should do is go look we didn’t get champions league but we need you to compensate for that. We’ll continue to go for the targets we had in mind for champions league football and we’ll sell the players that we planned on selling anyway but we need something from them this summer otherwise we’ll slip away even further. No one’s asking for a warchest but rather that Stan actually gets involved in some way this summer
‘Wenger needed that retirement cash’
Sarcasm doesn’t always come across on here.
I presume this was you being sarcastic?
Words on a blog
Good posts.
Football is a speculative sport.
Stan doesn’t seem to accept this.
WOAB
Completely agree.
Speculate to accumulate.
That’s what he has to do now.
Right now Arsenal are losing money in terms of turnover going down each year with the loss of UCL football.
Our squad has the lowest value of the top 6.
Putting £100 Million in the club, allowing £150 Million to be smartly used could reverse both those things in 2 years.
He can’t just sit back and watch his asset appreciate anymore. English fans are not like American fans. I thought last year would have taught him that.
Cesc,
A man gets accustomed to a certain standard of living…..
Words on a Blog
“But sometimes an owner needs to invest to accumulate.This is such a time.”
I said tbis 15 years ago lol
Great post Pedro. What a depressing perspective. To your points, this isn’t really on the distant owners, but we seemed to have missed the boat on what player valuations would do in the past few years. So much more money to be had with investing in the right players. £40-40M on the right players is a lot, and maybe would’ve forced the owners to dip into their pockets now and again a few years back. But spent on younger up and comers, that could later be flipped for £60-80M. Speculating on the right players in the £5-25M bracket a few… Read more »
Redtruth,
You did say it 5 years ago; I know.
Used to read the comments, without ever commenting myself.
WOAB The only good thing is there seems to be plenty of interest from billionaires to buy football clubs. If we have another bad yer and finish 6th/7th you might get someone come along who wants a massive football team and thinks Kroenke might sell up while he can still make £700 Million – £1 Billion on his asset. That it is too much like hard work and with the LA Rams flying anyway… But then again he is renowned for not selling. Basically over the last 10 years Arsenal have continually turned left when they should have gone right.… Read more »
If Stan doesn’t do something we’ll be a mid table team.
Losing to the likes of Wolves, Leicester and Everton will be the norm as they have better players than us at the moment.
Bar Leno, Bellerin, Auba and Lacazette our squad is very very poor quality wise.
Gattuso was doing that to stick it to Ivan
Not taking a few million? Some burn that
One (small) factor to consider is in the past, whilemhe was only a majority owner, and locked in dispute for control with Usmanov, he had no incentive to inject funds in the business, as Usmanov would have effectively had a free ride in reaping any benefits of a Kroenke investment. At the time, an agreement between Kroenke and Usmanov on anything Arsenal, let alone a proportionate cash injection, would have been unthinkable. Now Kroenke owns the whole shebang, he just might feel a little differently about Arsenal’s absolute and relative decline. I don’t know much about his American sports franchises,… Read more »
Cesc,
Yeah, he could just think the whole thing is too expensive, and too much trouble, remote, ultra-competitive unlike his US assets and just sell up for a profit to a Qatari (shudder to think of a PSG mark 2) or an Emirati (don’t mind, tend to be methodical as well as generous) sheik, or alternatively an ambitious US based sports group like Fenway….
Marko, he’s principled and smart. He’s made the fans love him even more, and hate Ivan a little bit extra.
Proper power move.
Speculate to accumulate. Someone needs to tell the people owning and running Arsenal that good players and good football brings in sponsorship. Competing and actually being successful makes more money than middling along doing nothing. Even as I write this I realize that they can’t necessarily throw money at the problem because of that overblown wage bill. Stan could pump in 50 million or 100 million but we still need to rid the club of overpaid wank players anyway. Not just cause they need to fuck off from the club but because the wage structure is needs to be lowered… Read more »
Big Weng strutting about a hotel full of Spud fans in Arsenal trackies is levels of banter. Go full-kit wanker Arsene, for old times sake
Pedro you say some things sometimes that really confound. Gattuso is gone that “power” move is about as powerful as a slap from a midget with a nub for a dick. He’s gone Ivan is still there. If Ivan signs more players like Piatek they won’t hate as much
Someone should tell Arsene it’s pretty embarrassing to be seen as an Arsenal fan these days. Really the last few years. Especially today especially in Madrid.
Hey Y’all.. Good Post Pedro. Can’t argue against any of that.. Really tragic and sad new regarding Reyes. Think one thing many need to consider on here..is Stan is 71 yrs old.. He is moving into that phase of his life where he is setting up his son for succession. So can’t see him selling and effectively Josh is running the bulk of his businesses. Stan more interested in LA obviously because he lives there and it involves a massive infrastructure improvement which is kind of his thing. so most of his time will be spent there. So Josh is… Read more »
Words on a Blog The club did invest 15 years ago but it was in the stadium and not in team. I have no objection when that decision was taken because at that time we needed a new stadium fit for 21st Century. Highbury was too small for the number of supporters who wanted to watch Arsenal. However, three very poor decisions were made afterwards. 1. Dein advised Kroenke about the possibility of buying Arsenal 2.Dein then sold his shareholding to Usmanov 3.Wenger was retained for 10 years beyond his sell by date. The reality is that the Board were… Read more »
That’s all we can hold out for, Kroenke Jr sees Arsenal as his now. Daddy has the Rams now I can make a name for myself here.
Here’s hoping.
With American sports you can’t just pump ownership money into the squad. There are salary caps except really in baseball but I don’t think Kroenke owns a baseball team. Maybe the idea of pumping money into a squad to have those player assets appreciate and garner value is too foreign for Stan. Hopefully Josh gets it
You would think someone like Sanllehi will be trying to get his hands on as much money as possible.
He’s not adverse to spending big and making the most of finances.
Quote from Pedro
Marc, our team psychologist is a guy called Dave Priestly, when he left Saracens, they stopped choking, and we’ve been getting progressively worse since he joined.
Quote from Marko
We should bin the physiologist now?
@Marko
Do you know that a psychologist and a physiologist are two separate jobs and titles?
One treat the mental aspect, the other is in charge of the body.
Yep Cesc… People keep saying Stan wasn’t at the final in Baku.. But Josh was .. that should pretty much tell you who is going to make things happen if it’s going to happen.
Not sure about Kane starting coming back from injury.
“People keep saying Stan wasn’t at the final in Baku.. But Josh was .. ”
Hope he felt like a fucking idiot
Pool: Allison, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Mane, Firmino.
Spuds: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Winks, Sissoko, Eriksen, Son, Alli, Kane
When Randy Lerner bought Aston Villa, he thought that he was buying a big club that could easily reach the top and reap the reward of Champion’s League football. Unless there is a hard reset at Arsenal, Josh Kroenke could be in for the same nasty surprise with Arsenal. All the newcomers will make the league more and more competitive. Some of the newcomers will be able to flex more financial muscle that he could ever muster. Others seem to have a clear strategy and people to execute. In a few years, Arsenal could be cut adrift and left without… Read more »
How must you feel if you’re Lucas Moura and you’re benched for the final after what he did against Ajax
Cc
Absolute quality
@Pedro,
It is a good political move by Gattuso to leave on his term. That leaves the door open for him to make a triumphant return.
However his tenure has not been a great success neither on or off the pitch. He is a prickly character whom a lot of Italian football supporters don’t seem to really appreciate.
However right now Gazidis is the guy in charge. Until his demise all Gattuso can do is media-snipe from the side.
I of course meant the psychologist Valentin. Thanks for the correction. I also meant Kenny Lala too earlier when I mistakenly said Kenny Sala. And of course when you said Eboue had aids you meant he doesn’t have aids. And Steve Rowley wasn’t back at Arsenal when you said that he was. Phew now that all that’s cleared up
Being linked with all the bargain basement players now….
Oh dearie dearie me…
CC_
Agreed. Hope Josh was humiliated. Anyhow.. off to the pub… Whatever the outcome at least I will be properly numb.
Come on you reds….
In the name of all things good and just in the world, Klopp if you fuck this final up…
Hopefully, a desire to be part of the European league, if/when it happens, might make the Kroenkes reassess things.
As it stands they will be left behind this lucrative venture
The longer the Kroenkes have been at the club, and the greater the control they assumed, the worse things have got on the pitch.
As far as I can see BBC website has not yet announced the teams. Le Grove well ahead even in a game we have no direct interest in. BBC probably have 50+ out there. What the fuck are they doing to earn their publicly funded salaries?
David Smith
‘The longer the Kroenkes have been at the club, and the greater the control they assumed, the worse things have got on the pitch.’
.. And there is the rub
West Ham sell Lucas for 2 m
From 19m in 3 years
Dear Jurgen,
Not a big deal, its just Football itself thats riding on you’re shoulders.
Side note hoping the Arya Stark ink job looks solid, now go slay those fucking white walkers.
Anyway!
Spurs cannot win the champions league.
It will give them the bragging rights until we win it, which looks as likely as a smooth and orderly brexit the way things are going.
Liverpool are slight – only slight–favourites.
Poch looking calm. Klopp looking tetchy.
Imagine yourself as an equity investor who invests in stocks of various sectors -power, chemical, FMCG etc. If you don’t have much clue about say chemical sector but you are reasonably sure about long term prospects of the sector ,what are you going to do ? You are very likely to simply park a part of your fund in various stocks of chemical sector for long term without fiddling too much with the parked money with the belief that in the long term you will ultimately make money on the investment made despite a few hiccups along the way. You… Read more »
‘Poch looking calm. Klopp looking tetchy’
Nor surprised.
Pochettino has nothing to lose. He has spent nothing this year and is going to be lauded regardless of the result tonight, hammering aside.
Klopp really needs to win something, he’s spent a fair amount (I know the whole net thing) and now he needs to have something to show for it. He can’t bottle 6 finals either.
This is his team, his buys, his image, lost 1 game all season in the league. Have to win.
@WE –
“A little thing but he was the first name that I ever got on an Arsenal jersey, the 04/05 blue away strip.”
Funny you should mention that as Reyes was the last name I ever had on a jersey. I can remember his debut like it was yesterday. Was so excited to see the guy play. What a player he was. R.I.P
Pedro Your piece reads like a grudging admission that Stan might, to some degree, be somewhat at fault. Man, he is the root cause of Arsenal’s decline and current predicament! I am not going to repeat all the evidence for that, evidence that has been accunulating since he took the reins. Instead, I want to talk about the misapprehensions you have about people like myself who have been warning about him for years. At no time have I said Stan should spend billions like Roman and the Sheikh. Indeed,to the contrary, Arsenal should remain as it always has, a self-sustaining… Read more »
Come on the scousers
Klopp seems to have that loser gene
Hand ball inside 25 seconds
Dissenter
Good timing.
Perfect start!
Yes !!
We need to stop carrying such large cash bank balances. The large balance is a statement of a lack of a vision.
The assets of a footballing company ought to be on the pitch.
Lovely stuff. I’ll have a piece of that. Well done, ref.
lol it wasn’t a penalty but who cares.
Lovely stuff
CC
I’m just nervous mate. Klopp has lost twice at this level
What was Cissoko thinking?
That’s the new rules if it hits your arm it’s a penalty.
No VAR in the final then?
Won’t rest until Liverpool are 4-0 up
Such a wank pen to concede, would be salty if it was an Arsenal player. Ref standards nave been bizarre across the tournament this season.
That said…..LOL
Mane is the key in this game.
Honestly we really ought to not gloat when Spuds lose tonight.
They’ve earned a massive amount of money and this final appearance will cost their drowning power for good players and commercial deals..
We shouldn’t gloat but we all know we can’t help it.
Ishola
You must need new glasses
It still seems to surreal to see Spuds playing a CL final.
I’m pinching myself silly right now. This cannot be true.
nice start. we do not wish the tiny totts to have bragging rights for a generation 😉
They must be stopped
What could possibly be the logic behind not using the VAR in the final ?
Mane saw the arm way the fuck out and played for it. You run the risk
Mane for me has significantly got much better this season.
lol Hillwood I couldn’t give a fuck in whether it was handball or not.
It looked very harsh that’s all.
Love it.
Hope the ref continues in this vein.
There is VAR
How bad was that main camera angle in the stadium in Baku?
Back in a proper stadium designed for football, much lower, closer main camera, and the speed and dynamism of the game is properly captured.
Didn’t the commentator just say they done their checks and it’s a penalty?
TR7 it is being used. Either the ref decided to not use it or they agreed it was a pen
Unpopular opinion but Salah is a cunt. Right up himself, and screams of one of these guys who’s totally different off camera
Humble Egyptian my nutsack
VAR agreed it was a penalty
Another goal and I can see this being a better score than Chelsea vs Arsenal
That was a very quick VAR check if there was one.
Usually they take longer than that.
Maybe the ref was very opinionated on it.
Love this ref so far.
Lucas Moura isn’t playing?
trippier as I said earlier is the weak link.
Ishola
The game was stooped for enough time to make a decision
Good job Liverpool got that pen.
They look lethargic and there for the taking.
Yea this looks like its being shot with a GoPro from Dover
Of course there is VAR
Of course they watched it
Of course they saw it hit the arm
Let’s be honest as CC said it was a dodgy pen.
The ball actually hit him just under the armpit and if there was contact with his arm it would have been a deflection from this area and it wasn’t intentional in a hundred years.
As said love this ref. Keep it up son.
Klopp was shitting his pants prior to kick off. The players were nervous too. That goal was a gift from the football gods !
Pochettino looking very worried now. Guess the game plan went out of the window.
Same ref who gave that joke pen for United against PSG this season
Liverpool need to step it up here