Official Gooners Thread - A New Hope

[Boycey]

Arsenal do have 60K every week, in a stadium not yet paid for

They have controllable debts and refuse to risk their future for short term success, most intelligent Arsenal fans understand that.

By the way Koscielni, Arshavin and Denilson could be switched into that team pretty easily and raise the cost by €30 mill

So less than 1 Ferdinand, interesting.

Yeah one Ferdinand or one Torres or maybe both in a three year spell, add a decent goalie and bobs your uncle you would win more and still be able to comfortably service the relatively small (by current standards) debt thats the whole point I'm making.

[gerry]

your probably right, only half listening to it as i trying to do my GL team

[muppet]

Pretty sure too I could cobble together a fairly competitive United team too was a similiar amount of money

You've missed the point, that is the Arsenal's 1st choice XI not a fairly competitive side or in Man U terms less than a Berbatov and Anderson combined or a Ferdinand and Bebe combined or a Rooney and Valencia combined or a Carrick, Nani and Hargreaves combined.

Oh and the average age of that Arsenal side is about 23.

You have missed the point, Arsenal are a big club, 60,000 every week, dearest seats in premier league, money in the bank, hey you even got your own rich yank on the board. If the manager splashed the cash an odd time to supplement the obvious talent at his disposal they'd undoubtable be serious contenders for the league/cl but most years they come up short and the same stuff gets trotted out - "Arsenal play the best football" "outr team only cost four and sixpence".

United are a big club they (used to)  fork out money when required, its what big teams do. Barcelona for all the homegrown talent they have they still forked out for Ibra, Villa and Mascherano in last couple of years.

By the way Koscielni, Arshavin and Denilson could be switched into that team pretty easily and raise the cost by €30 mill

And how are the finances of those clubs?

The most fascinating thing about the frenzy in the transfer market is that football has learned absolutely nothing from the world financial crisis.

Arsenal have behaved sensibly and don't rely on the whims of wealthy (paper or political wealth in some cases) owners (yet!).

[muppet]

There you go, a Japanese schoolboy signed and immediately loaned to Feyenoord. Probably cost dinner for two at a sushi bar.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/ryo-miyaichi-completes-move-to-arsenal

[ONeill]

Arsenal do have 60K every week, in a stadium not yet paid for

They have controllable debts and refuse to risk their future for short term success, most intelligent Arsenal fans understand that.

By the way Koscielni, Arshavin and Denilson could be switched into that team pretty easily and raise the cost by €30 mill

So less than 1 Ferdinand, interesting.

Yeah one Ferdinand or one Torres or maybe both in a three year spell, add a decent goalie and bobs your uncle you would win more and still be able to comfortably service the relatively small (by current standards) debt thats the whole point I'm making.

It's just not the Arsenal/Wenger way. I know it's hard for other sides to fathom, especially those who win things like Chelsea or Utd, but Arsenal fans take immense pride that the club go about their finances the proper way. Today Chelsea reported another 70m loss for the previous year, yet go out and spend that again today. That's the way they want to run their ship and it'll probably win them trophies. But there's just something cheap in that.

Look at the current Arsenal squad - how many were bought from Premier League rivals? Fergie and Chelsea raid their direct competitors (Rooney, Berba, Ferdinand, Valencia, Van Der, Carrick, Cole, Anelka, Lampard etc etc). Wenger doesn't do that as he takes no pride in buying ready made players from their own league. Again, it has brought them trophies but personally I take pride in being an Arsenal supporter as they're unique from the rest. And they play football.

[screenexile]

Fair enough O'Neill but I do havea big gripe with a lot of Arsenal fans about "The Wenger Way". As a Blackburn fan and having Big Sam for a while I got the typical "oh are you not annoyed at the way he plays football blah blah blah" after Sambagoes and makes a nuisance of himself and bustles and kicks the Arsenal defenders. The point I like to make is that all of the Arsenal fans who espouse "The Wenger Way" did not become Arsenal supporters during Wengers reign. Rather when George "Boring Boring Arsenal" Graham was in charge. . . in other words get off yer feckin high horse lads!!!

Having said that I have a lot of respect for what Arsenal have become but don't be giving out lectures about other teams style of play when that is what Arsenal were built on . . . and also win a few trophies before getting holier than thou with everyone else!!!

Rant Over!!

[ONeill]

Fair enough O'Neill but I do havea big gripe with a lot of Arsenal fans about "The Wenger Way". As a Blackburn fan and having Big Sam for a while I got the typical "oh are you not annoyed at the way he plays football blah blah blah" after Sambagoes and makes a nuisance of himself and bustles and kicks the Arsenal defenders. The point I like to make is that all of the Arsenal fans who espouse "The Wenger Way" did not become Arsenal supporters during Wengers reign. Rather when George "Boring Boring Arsenal" Graham was in charge. . . in other words get off yer feckin high horse lads!!!

Having said that I have a lot of respect for what Arsenal have become but don't be giving out lectures about other teams style of play when that is what Arsenal were built on . . . and also win a few trophies before getting holier than thou with everyone else!!!

Rant Over!!

But Wenger has been there and done that. He has won 2 doubles, gone another season unbeaten, reached the final of the Champions League and Uefa Cup, won countless FA Cups and played scintillating football. He has dismantled the Invincibles and in the last 5 years has attempted to recreate some form of Dutch total football squad but it hasn't quite worked out as you cannot compete with the millions others spend.

I understand what you're saying about the Big Sam/Arsenal fans gripe and I'm also embarrassed by the whinging. Adams, Bould, Winterburn, Dixon and Keown were no total-footballers!!

[SLIGONIAN]

With bolton buying wheater and arsenal short on CB with vermaelen injured why did ye not sign Gary cahill? Think thats a mistake tbh.

[Dinny Breen]

Fair enough O'Neill but I do havea big gripe with a lot of Arsenal fans about "The Wenger Way". As a Blackburn fan and having Big Sam for a while I got the typical "oh are you not annoyed at the way he plays football blah blah blah" after Sambagoes and makes a nuisance of himself and bustles and kicks the Arsenal defenders. The point I like to make is that all of the Arsenal fans who espouse "The Wenger Way" did not become Arsenal supporters during Wengers reign. Rather when George "Boring Boring Arsenal" Graham was in charge. . . in other words get off yer feckin high horse lads!!!

Having said that I have a lot of respect for what Arsenal have become but don't be giving out lectures about other teams style of play when that is what Arsenal were built on . . . and also win a few trophies before getting holier than thou with everyone else!!!

Rant Over!!

In fairness Screenexile The Arsenal have always run their club in a very old fashion proper way and when Wenger arrived he bought into that culture, Arsenal were always financially prudent but he brought a way playing football that was more pass and move than physical and direct, I suppose some of the Johnny come latelys would espouse this wheneve lack of trophies are mentioned but Arsenal over the last 100 years have always been there or thereabouts and have generally picked up one or two trophies per decade. The football at Arsenal played always depended on the managers philosophy (to me only West Ham and Man United have true cultures of playing pas and move), something that is still important to West Ham fans whereas Man United fans just care about trophies these days and seem oblivious to the more direct football they are playing (getting results but sh*t to watch).

Would love to see Bould in the centre of the Arsenal defence now and trust me he wasn't what you called as tidy footballer...

[Dinny Breen]

With bolton buying wheater and arsenal short on CB with vermaelen injured why did ye not sign Gary cahill? Think thats a mistake tbh.

Would Cahill make a difference, he currently plays in a defence that has conceded more goals than Arsenal's, he's English so inflated transfer price. All conjecture but imho certainly not a mistake..

[DuffleKing]

Look at the current Arsenal squad - how many were bought from Premier League rivals? Fergie and Chelsea raid their direct competitors (Rooney, Berba, Ferdinand, Valencia, Van Der, Carrick, Cole, Anelka, Lampard etc etc). Wenger doesn't do that as he takes no pride in buying ready made players from their own league. Again, it has brought them trophies but personally I take pride in being an Arsenal supporter as they're unique from the rest. And they play football.

Wenger doesn't buy from direct competitors because he cannot compete financially. that's no disgrace but its certainly not dictated by some higher moral compass.

Has this approach brought them trophies? AW's trophy winning years were built on a back 5 that he inherited and internationals that he bought like petit, viera, overmars, henry, etc (even though they all improved at arsenal).

Has the era of harvesting europe's best kids in a bid to nurture them produced trophies? not so far.

[ross4life]

Fair enough O'Neill but I do havea big gripe with a lot of Arsenal fans about "The Wenger Way". As a Blackburn fan and having Big Sam for a while I got the typical "oh are you not annoyed at the way he plays football blah blah blah" after Sambagoes and makes a nuisance of himself and bustles and kicks the Arsenal defenders. The point I like to make is that all of the Arsenal fans who espouse "The Wenger Way" did not become Arsenal supporters during Wengers reign. Rather when George "Boring Boring Arsenal" Graham was in charge. . . in other words get off yer feckin high horse lads!!!

Having said that I have a lot of respect for what Arsenal have become but don't be giving out lectures about other teams style of play when that is what Arsenal were built on . . . and also win a few trophies before getting holier than thou with everyone else!!!

Rant Over!!

In fairness Screenexile The Arsenal have always run their club in a very old fashion proper way and when Wenger arrived he bought into that culture, Arsenal were always financially prudent but he brought a way playing football that was more pass and move than physical and direct, I suppose some of the Johnny come latelys would espouse this wheneve lack of trophies are mentioned but Arsenal over the last 100 years have always been there or thereabouts and have generally picked up one or two trophies per decade. The football at Arsenal played always depended on the managers philosophy (to me only West Ham and Man United have true cultures of playing pas and move), something that is still important to West Ham fans whereas Man United fans just care about trophies these days and seem oblivious to the more direct football they are playing (getting results but sh*t to watch).

Would love to see Bould in the centre of the Arsenal defence now and trust me he wasn't what you called as tidy footballer...

So you prefer this tippy tappy poor man barca stuff now over the George "Boring Boring Arsenal" Graham stuff that won league titles?

[muppet]

Look at the current Arsenal squad - how many were bought from Premier League rivals? Fergie and Chelsea raid their direct competitors (Rooney, Berba, Ferdinand, Valencia, Van Der, Carrick, Cole, Anelka, Lampard etc etc). Wenger doesn't do that as he takes no pride in buying ready made players from their own league. Again, it has brought them trophies but personally I take pride in being an Arsenal supporter as they're unique from the rest. And they play football.

Wenger doesn't buy from direct competitors because he cannot compete financially. that's no disgrace but its certainly not dictated by some higher moral compass.

Has this approach brought them trophies? AW's trophy winning years were built on a back 5 that he inherited and internationals that he bought like petit, viera, overmars, henry, etc (even though they all improved at arsenal).

Has the era of harvesting europe's best kids in a bid to nurture them produced trophies? not so far.

Lauren, Keown, Toure and Cole were the back four that started the Invincibles season and Sol Campbell was also a key member.

[muppet]

Fair enough O'Neill but I do havea big gripe with a lot of Arsenal fans about "The Wenger Way". As a Blackburn fan and having Big Sam for a while I got the typical "oh are you not annoyed at the way he plays football blah blah blah" after Sambagoes and makes a nuisance of himself and bustles and kicks the Arsenal defenders. The point I like to make is that all of the Arsenal fans who espouse "The Wenger Way" did not become Arsenal supporters during Wengers reign. Rather when George "Boring Boring Arsenal" Graham was in charge. . . in other words get off yer feckin high horse lads!!!

Having said that I have a lot of respect for what Arsenal have become but don't be giving out lectures about other teams style of play when that is what Arsenal were built on . . . and also win a few trophies before getting holier than thou with everyone else!!!

Rant Over!!

In fairness Screenexile The Arsenal have always run their club in a very old fashion proper way and when Wenger arrived he bought into that culture, Arsenal were always financially prudent but he brought a way playing football that was more pass and move than physical and direct, I suppose some of the Johnny come latelys would espouse this wheneve lack of trophies are mentioned but Arsenal over the last 100 years have always been there or thereabouts and have generally picked up one or two trophies per decade. The football at Arsenal played always depended on the managers philosophy (to me only West Ham and Man United have true cultures of playing pas and move), something that is still important to West Ham fans whereas Man United fans just care about trophies these days and seem oblivious to the more direct football they are playing (getting results but sh*t to watch).

Would love to see Bould in the centre of the Arsenal defence now and trust me he wasn't what you called as tidy footballer...

So you prefer this tippy tappy poor man barca stuff now over the George "Boring Boring Arsenal" Graham stuff that won league titles?

Would you prefer to win the league for 5 years and then go broke with the Glaziers or would you prefer a sustainable financial model?

[Boycey]

Fair enough O'Neill but I do havea big gripe with a lot of Arsenal fans about "The Wenger Way". As a Blackburn fan and having Big Sam for a while I got the typical "oh are you not annoyed at the way he plays football blah blah blah" after Sambagoes and makes a nuisance of himself and bustles and kicks the Arsenal defenders. The point I like to make is that all of the Arsenal fans who espouse "The Wenger Way" did not become Arsenal supporters during Wengers reign. Rather when George "Boring Boring Arsenal" Graham was in charge. . . in other words get off yer feckin high horse lads!!!

Having said that I have a lot of respect for what Arsenal have become but don't be giving out lectures about other teams style of play when that is what Arsenal were built on . . . and also win a few trophies before getting holier than thou with everyone else!!!

Rant Over!!

In fairness Screenexile The Arsenal have always run their club in a very old fashion proper way and when Wenger arrived he bought into that culture, Arsenal were always financially prudent but he brought a way playing football that was more pass and move than physical and direct, I suppose some of the Johnny come latelys would espouse this wheneve lack of trophies are mentioned but Arsenal over the last 100 years have always been there or thereabouts and have generally picked up one or two trophies per decade. The football at Arsenal played always depended on the managers philosophy (to me only West Ham and Man United have true cultures of playing pas and move), something that is still important to West Ham fans whereas Man United fans just care about trophies these days and seem oblivious to the more direct football they are playing (getting results but sh*t to watch).

Would love to see Bould in the centre of the Arsenal defence now and trust me he wasn't what you called as tidy footballer...

So you prefer this tippy tappy poor man barca stuff now over the George "Boring Boring Arsenal" Graham stuff that won league titles?

Would you prefer to win the league for 5 years and then go broke with the Glaziers or would you prefer a sustainable financial model?

Two completely seperate issues United are winning trophies in spite of the Glazers not because of them.