A lot has been said over recent weeks on the topic of this expert Russian player, in fact lots of Gooners have been getting rather frustrated and angry over events, I have not, I just though I'd explain my philosophy on this.
Arshavin is a great player, if he signs great, if he doesn't we'll make do with what we've got, either way I'm not going to start throwing tantrums if a transfer falls through for whatever reason.
There has been a lot of bull peddled in the media on this matter, that's hardly a surprise is it. Arsenal wants Arshavin at as low a price as possible, Zenit want as much money as possible, while Arshavin wants as much money as he can get and doesn't care about the transfer fee, throw into this a bit of Russian and English stubbornness then you have a recipe for a protracted saga.
Everyone has their own vested interests as to what is leaked in the media, so please don't get surprised when the stories do not all add up, also don't blow a gasket, the different stories are designed in order to get different people what they want, the question is can they all meet in the middle before the transfer window shuts? The only way to find out is to wait to see if he does sign, so ignore the speculation, relax, and let's see, it's really not worth losing any energy in the process.
11 comments:
If I'm honest, 1979, I am not convinced that Arshavin should have been our priority in this transfer window. Still, I'd rather we get him over leaving the transfer window empty-handed.
But I'd sooner we spent similar money to bring in two players to make us more solid. Players that have fight and graft in their game.
I look at our next opponent, Everton, and I see a team that has a few players that fit the description above. Yes, Everton have no fit forwards that should worry us. But they have a better midfield and defense than us. I think we will struggle to win the battle in midfield and create chances.
I'm impressed by Cahill, Arteta and Fellaini in midfield. And Hibbert, Yobo, Lescott, Jagielka and Baines are all solid defenders. We'll be lucky to get any change out of them based on our recent performances.
I'm not feeling confident about this trip to Goodison.
I couldn't give a shite about Arshavin. A couple of good performances for Zenit in the UEFA cup, and one or two for Russia, don't make you "great".
We have Eboue already. Who could easily look good for Atletico Madrid and the Ivory Coast.
Also agree with Rhino about Everton. A draw would be ok up there, a win fantastic. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose, but I hope Everton are concentrating on the FA Cup game against Liverpool.
Agree. Tough game.
Moyes has done a great job with them with relatively little resources.
Impressed by Jagielka and Baines at full back, solid centre backs and hard working with a that bit of quality in midfield.
I remember the brilliant Eduardo goals from last year at Goodison, we'll need to be as sharp to get as good a result this time round.
I agree with Rhino i would have been happier if we had gone for 2/3 players with same money to bolster the team.Also i'm browned off that arshavin is the only player we've looked at?we have enough atacking m/f ,Vela for 1 yet he says he not ready but for the last 2yrs been playing in spain and has broken into the mexican national side!Everytime he comes on and Nasri switches to center we create chances when before we only created frustrated fans,so what makes a player ready??.We have been found wanting and with our lack of squad depth i not very hopeful this season especially after cardiff game.
What is also puzzling(stated in previous posts)is at highbury wenger brought in players every time and no mention of youth side but since leaving the transfer side has gone to a virtual nil and he concentrates on youth so is there something to hide if so inform the fans so our expectations won't be so high ,as stated by the board moving to emirates will make us competitive in the transfer market and serious challenge for honours for which there is none except for a c/l spot!!!
Don't think we need Arshavin, and don't care anymore. He'll be off to Barcelona in a season if we signed him anyway.
What is starting to bother me is the sheer differentness of how we go about running a club. How the do we expect to continually behave differently in terms of funding the team and still compete with the Top 3?
I ama fully-paid up member of the SPending Money DOesn't Guarantee Success club, but when you look at the stats on this very informative blog, it does make me question how great we would have been if we had spent slightly more;
http://www.transferleague.co.uk/
Money doesn;t guarantee success, but if you like at Utd the only thing we do differently is commit to spending money on quality. Could we have had their trophy record over the last decade if we had spent more to get Ronaldo, Ribery, Alonso etc...
Don't know the answer, but its bothering me.
One last thing, look at the stats on the "Comparisons" tab. We are spending a net £8m less a season since moving to the Emirates. In fact we have made a £11m profit on transfers in the last 3 years.
It is beginning to look like mismanagement not to invest in the team.
I guess we are only having this debate again because it remains a fundamentally good question.
However, the point that everyone has to get their heads round is that signing footballers is not a straight cause = effect issue.
You can never prove (and this is the bullshit in the Tevez saga at West Ham) that one player would, or would not, have made a difference.
You can also never say that one particular signing would, or would not, have made a difference.
You might be able to look back with hindsight and make sweeping assertions, but you can never tell at the time.
An easy example is Adebayor's missed chance against Cardiff. If that chance had fallen to Bendtner, and he had fluffed it, then we would all say "if only it had fallen to Ade or RVP, then we would have scored". That statement is the result of our belief that Bendntner is shite. "If only Arsene had spent £30m on a quality striker then we would bang in all those chances and win everything every year." etc etc
Whereas, in fact, the chance did fall to our quality £30m striker and he fluffed it as well.
The point, I guess, is the one I have been making time and again. The ability of a player is not as simple as his price tag. If we were fuckwits, then Arsene could easily have spent £200m on Denilson, Vela, Fabregas, Song, Clichy etc etc. Instead, we picked them up on the cheap because Arsene is the best talent scout in the business.
But that does not mean that we would have won a single more point if we had Alonso, Riberry or anyone else you care to mention.
Lastly, you have to remember that only one team has success at a time. Chelsea are going down the toilet after a net spend of £363m. Where is their long term future?
Man Utd's success is more about Ferguson's abilities as a manager than the size of the chequebook. They are only third on the net spend list.
With this arshavin saga going on like a bad case of crabs!i agree it is concerning that ,as far as we know,we not looking at anyone else when we need players to bolster a weak squad so to stop playing men who are not Arsenal standard.Hindsight is great but when you lose 3 players like Flamini,hleb and Rosicky(injured)and only get Nasri your going to see there something amiss?
I know money doesn't bring success but as mentioned in above reply we've not seriously competed in the transfer market since 2004 when the whole idea of the emirates move was just that to be able to bring in top quality players to blend with the young.
Maybe in the summer Wenger will take a long look at this season and bite his lip and say we do need a balance of experience and youth and spend WISELY so next season we can seriously compete for honours not just for a champ league spot!!
FOREVER-ARSENAL
EXILED-GOONER
As I said above, I don't believe spending money brings success and am not saying if we had signed Ribery we would have won the Champions League.
What I am saying is that Wenger is as good a manager as Ferguson, is as supported by his board and team as Ferguson, and has similar amounts of money to spend (similar being the operative term). But Arsenal have chosen not to.
Now I have had a quick look at those numbers again. Of the top 13 spenders in Perm history, the average spend per season was £6m up to 04/05 and £11.5m afterwards. In that same timeframe, which roughly equates to our move to the emirates, our per season spend has gone from £4.9m to £0.5m. We are the only club in the top 12 spenders to have reduced our spending.
To me that says this has been a clear commercial decision to reduce investment in the squad through transfers. Where that money has been used is unclear, but it has not been spent. We have generated higher profot in the same period than ever in our history.
Some people would say that in the same period we have seen a deterioration in quality of the squad.
My point is that although we may not have won more trophies, would there be the clear belief in fans that the team was not good enough?
Hello all. Anyone interested in discussing their preferred line up and formation for tonight?
Should we match Everton's 4-5-1 or have a go at them with 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1?
What would you like to see the manager do?
Full-time whistle has just gone.
Fucking pathetic again. I don't want to pick out a single person than Wenger.
The squad as it stands is not good enough. We knew in the summer that Eddy & Rosicky would be out, we sold Hleb, Gilberto and Diarra and signed Nasri & Ramsey. That is plain fucking inept.
Something at the club is not being made apparent to the fans, as in my mind there has been a clear decision to not spend money.
And it is showing. The manager stands and falls by the performances of his team. We are no longer Top 3, we are Top 6/7 and Everton/Villa are our equals.
I can take that as long as my fucking season ticket doesn't cost so fucking much.
If Wenger says anything about belief in his young squad/a little jaded/lacking a spark/ in his conference I am going to put a foot through my telly.
I am sorry but the negativity is getting beyond a joke now.
We just got a 1-1 draw away to a very solid Everton side who played with virtually their whole team behind the ball.
This Everton side did the same to Liverpool last weekend.
We created more than Everton, although our goal came late, it was well deserved on the balance of the game.
People have a point talking of the lack of cut from our midfield, nasri is currently the only attacking threat there.
However it was not 'dogshit' as some people say and it was not 'pathetic'. Some fucking perspective please.
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