And so farewell old friend; return at Christmas to weave your temptestuous torment over troubled souls, wreak havoc for one month and no more at that time. No Twenty-One Gun salute this time; no waving of flags to tumultuous cheers; no bunting will be hung. Expectations built upon a stray word have been crushed.
The transfer window of Summer 2012 has closed for Premier League clubs to reinforce their squads and Arsenal resisted the temptation to sign the cheque of hope. In truth the only excitement yesterday was in watching implosions and empty threats of how they would show their support for the club was deeper than that of the manager, seemingly the fact that he is an employee not a fan escaped their notice.
Too much notice was taken of what others were doing. The wafting chequebooks from north London to Manchester drove a frenzy, signing this player or that was consumed within a desperate charge towards signing anybody, somebody. The three arrivals of weeks ago, were pushed to one side like vaudevillians forgotten in a television age. Attention spans shifted beyond them. A club praised for acting early in the transfer window became derided for lack of incoming activity, the outgoings were as people hoped. Deadwood went but as is the case with driftwood, some remains as the waves gently lap onto the shore.
Nicklas Bendtner left, not good enough for northern English Premier League teams but sufficient for a northern ItalianSerie A team. That Juventus signed him on loan was amusing in some respects. The Dane was not first choice at Arsenal nor was he the first choice Arsenal striker for Juventus. Revenge for Brady was how one wag summed it up. Park Ju Young also left, that’s all that can be said. I wonder if Celta Vigo will be pursuing their interest beyond next summer; it is impossible to offer any opinion on that based on his Arsenal career.
Squillaci and Chamakh remain. The motivation for the former to move is minimal. At the tailend of his career, why should the French defender be concerned about playing time when the salary is still paid into his account each month. For the latter, the decision to remain is baffling. It is apparent that he will only play at Arsenal in the event of injury and that wait can only be damaging to his international aspirations which are already under threat.
Which leaves us with the first team squad; it is what it is. Personally I think it could have been strengthened but I have never made any secret of my view that every squad can be strengthened. The clubs which remain challenging for titles freshen their squad every summer, not with wholesale signings seen too frequently in also-rans but with judicious pruning.
Rumours of Arsenal talking to Chelsea about Michael Essien – his omission from their thrashing at the hands of Atletico Madrid gave them a rickety foundation upon which to build – suggest that the manager was minded to strengthen the midfield with defensive cover. Was there a genuine interest or is it imagined. Whatever the case, the words of Arsène at the time of Alex Song’s sale to Barcelona suggest a real concern about the centre of the park. Still, Jack Wilshere’s return before winter takes a grip will be like signing a new player, I am sure.
Likewise the return of Bacary Sagna in the same timescale. I understand how both absences led to the view that, along with the injury to Szczesny, we needed signings across the squad. Is that really the case though? I would argue not in goal unless the Pole’s absence is long-term. Do Arsenal need to sign a goalkeeper on a long-term contract to sit on the bench? Unless you believe that the current injury situation is tactical, the answer has to be no.
It strikes me similarly so with the defence. Arsenal have four international centre-backs which is what has always been demanded; beyond that, barrels are being scraped with youth more trusted than experience. At full-back, Jenkinson is rejected as inexperienced, like the derided Djourou, every mistake seized upon and matters well done, ignored.
If I had a genuine concern now, it is about the forward line. In this respect, we seem light. Podolski and Giroud are fine and upstanding players but dig deeper and we are struggling for cover, in my opinion. Arshavin is still at the club and could fill that role if needed but he is not a central striker by choice. Walcott has the desire but I made my view on him clear earlier this week. The manager obviously thinks that the quartet and Chamakh is sufficient. His judgement is on the line in that respect, as it is across the whole of the squad.
Fundamentally, the question is whether or not you believe this squad can challenge for the title. On paper, Manchester City ought to be crowned champions now but football is played on grass. We don’t know what injuries will take their toll on us or others; what suspensions will derail matches. The season is but two games old; it is too soon to judge. To write them off now is folly.
Do I believe that this team can win the title? I believe in the hope that they can win the title and that is the same belief I have every season.
’til Tomorrow.
BRF, I don’t go in for predictions but I do think we are significantly stronger than them. Always a tough away fixture though. Like to see us open our scoring account.
I’m confident we are capable of taking 3…whether we will…
Thanks Dups for the link.
PG an alter ego is meant to be different
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
oh, we have game tomorrow, good luck lads
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
moan
That’s all I have to contribute today because I am not sure if it’s worth reading through 500 comments when a majority of the first 50 or so are already vomit-inducing for the most part.
I think we can take it Jonny, i think we could be very dangerous on the counterattack. West Brom moved the ball very quickly when they won the ball back against Liverpool on the opening day and within two passes where in against the back two.
lol im just a huge arsenal supporter! brilliant club! unlucky club as well, no one deserves a trophy more than arsene.
Well, it seems the idiots have done for any actual debate on football.
It’s the modern way, I suppose.
https://twitter.com/Agent_ITK
This is a hoot.
Poor old Brendon he really has been totally Rodgered by his board. He had better pray Suarez does not get injured.
So Aman, because I said the fact that we lost three players who contribute last season, I am one of the rasers? You can say I added oil to the fire, fair enough for that, but I haven’t said anything else other than that today.
Having enjoyed interesting posts and debates over the last few weeks, I was, somewhat, shocked at the bile and spite that has appeared today. It seems that all the doomers have been holding back until today, waiting for the inevitable, that we would not sign anyone else and then let loose.
Yes, Manshity bought 5 players yesterday for £40m, will that make them a better team?
AW says that he will only buy if he can find someone who is better than what he has already. Pretty logical that.
These people talk as though we had any choice about RVP. The moment he published that foolish statement, he was gone. There would have been no way that he could build the bridges he broke then. It is understandable that AW would find it difficult, if not impossible to work with him in the future.
AS far as Song is concerned, I have heard rumours of an incident which made it impossible for him to stay. What that incident was, I do not know, but we have seen it before at Arsenal, when Jay Boothroyd was sold after he threw his shirt when he was substituted.
Footballers are highly paid, and, not necessarily the most intelligent of people. There has to be an element of discipline, without which you will get what happened at Chel$ki, when it was the players, more than anyone else that got AVB the sack.
Buying expensive players does not result in success. Look how much money the scum have spent in recent years and how that has not given them that any success.
It is how players are trained and how they react with their colleagues that make the difference between an ordinary player and a good/great one. AW, as a renowned judge of character and ability, mst be expected to know what he sees and whether what he sees is of any use to us.
By the way, I thought that the essien story was a joke. He is over the hill and can barely get into the Che$ui team occasionally. Not for us.
Spurs dropped 2 more points at home today. I love seeing them suffer.
If we had offered RVP 200K/week instead of 130K/week it would have cost the club 3.5M extra per season. If we had offered Song 100K/week and Theo 100K/week it would have cost the club a total of less then 10M/season more then it is would currently be paying. For that 10M we would be one of the favorites to win the league and the fans and all the players would be doing cartwheels with joy about our summers business and the whole mood around the club would be completely different.
. Does anyone really believe that an extra 10M in wages would damage our clubs long term financial health especially when you consider that in the next couple of seasons we have a lot more then that coming off the wage bill when NB, Chamakh, and Squilly etc finish their contracts. The other thing to consider is that we could have made back far more then 10M in prize money if we won 1 trophy. Just moving 1 level further in the Champions league would easily mean getting that 10M extra in wages back with interest. In the end letting RVP and Song leave will probably end up costing us a lot more money then we saved, and thats not even counting the feel good factor for the fans and players.
You’ve said this before, Bill, and it doesn’t really get any more convincing with repetition.
If you were running the club, you’d be unlikely regard the pay of individual players in isolation. Arguably RvP (on the occasions when he was fit) was our best player. But for him, we are told, “it wasn’t about the money”. Song and Theo are both able footballers, but there’s no real case that they are significantly better (or more crucial) than many other members of the squad. So paying them above the odds would be a sure way of fomenting unrest.
You’re probably right that the “the whole mood around the club would be completely different” if your plan had been adopted. I suspect the mood would have been one of resentment amongst a significant number of equally deserving players.
Start doing the sums with Song, Theo and everybody else on their “level” being paid £100k and you begin to get a sense of the scale of the problem. If/when we are in a position to move the whole pay-scale upwards, then your argument may have more validity.
Apologies for the hit and run, but in my small corner of the world it’s time for all good citizens to be innocently asleep.
Merlot, everyone has tried to tell bill that. My gripe is that clubs who have no damn regard for money are the ones paying 200k per week, it is not the norm in football but somehow many have become convinced.
Question: until Chelsea came about who was paying these over the top wages?
Merlot
Everyone who follows the club along with Ivan have said we have to get rid of he flat wage scale ands the real. To do that is to add a top end. There reality is that adding a top end would not cost that much and might actually save money and it would certainly have improved our chances this season
No other team in the world has a flat wage like we do an they don’t have major issues with player resentment so why should we. In fact the player sells probably be happy to have a better team.
Do you really Helene e the squad is happy and cohesive with the current flat wage? Results and players departing certiaany argues against that
Mercy.
Looking forward to the game tomorrow.
Well today, over yonder.
Auto correct on my I phone comes up with strange words.
Paul.
3 points would be great. Another clean sheet and a couple of goals please. Podolski to open his arsenal account
True day, Bill. If last match was any indication, we will most probably see just that.
I see that Amy Lawrence has been hard at work again.
What a load of crap. From the silly desperate hack. Apparently players like Arteta Koscielny and Rosicky contributed fark all last season. With friends like these.
she doesn’t make the relative comparison between Liverpool and Arsenal when it comes to spending some farking money? Why not, they are only playing each other today! Total garbage, there is no D-fence for such poor hackery.
Today’s post
http://www.aclfarsenal.co.uk/?p=9411
Bill, good posts. There’s nothing like a good bit of revisionism and selective choice of facts from the usual suspects.
You are perfectly correct about the flat wage structure and the apparent lack of disruption at many other clubs where this is not instilled, not to mention the club management themselves stating very clearly that they need to move away from this egalitarian structure that has clearly not worked (in THEIR opinion, note).
Apparently the memo has still not got hrough to the self-anointed “faithfull” yet, so they’re still plugging the old party line.
Unfortunately, the corrective measures will take time to implement, longer if we continue to value short term gain over long term goals.
Likewise, despite direct quotes from Juve’s president, apparently only manusa were interested in RvP. I think what needs to be clarified there is that Juve weren’t prepared to pay what Manu were, THAT’S the real issue here. It’s not as if the player held all the cards, he’s approaching 30, wanted to move, has a less than stellar injury record (although I suspect that’s largely behind him now unfortunately for us).
The club dropped their rods, bent over and lubed up like all the good little apologists and took the money like the short sighted greedy fucks they are.
No pride, no self respect, no long-term vision of the damage, just drooling greed and cowardice.
Sorry, there’s ZERO excuse. Take a few bucks less, play the cards in your hand for a balanced outcome, not just maximum cash, and ensure it doesn’t cost you more in the long run than you made in the short term.
Nevertheless, have the manager and club done amazingly well under the circumstances so far?
Definitely! There are many examples of clubs who have built new stadiums and fallen through the floor, so to maintain where we are and have been is something unheard of.
Have the club and management made mistakes?
Of course, we’re all human, including Wenger for that matter, but that’s ok.
However, it IS time to start rectifying as many of those errors as we can, and the club seem to have begun to recognize that, even if some “supporters” haven’t.
The team is solid. Could it have been more than just solid? Maybe, but I do want to see Coquelin and a few others given a chance.
Today might be a day where Walcott can shine. Personally I don’t think he’s anywhere near capable of playing as a central striker anywhere other than at a long ball club, but he does have some very useful attributes against specific opposition, especially as a sub.
Today should be interesting. I hope Wenger goes with a similar front line, maybe with The Ox on the right instead of Gervinho?
I’ll be watching with some interest, but I still do have a very flat feeling of ambivalence I have to admit.
azzberg,
“So Aman, because I said the fact that we lost three players who contribute last season, I am one of the rasers?”
No you are most definitely NOT a RASER!
in the thick of battle you fought for the enemy…that, by the rules, makes u a doomer.
live with it.