I dont believe we are there yet, irrespective of the feeder club comments the truth is we have able replacements and other than Cesc Fabregas all the other players who were sold were replaceable.
Okay players like Henry and Vierra are not replaceable in the current market but their roles in the team were not as significant as that of Cesc so their departures never really said anything about the direction of the club.
Cesc leaving was a huge blow, best playmaker in the league by a country mile, had not even reached his peak and the team was built around him.That hurt Arsene and his pride.
van Persie as talented as he is I dont think he is the best striker in the league and I am of the belief he is replaceable however there are few things about the depatures of van Persie,Nasri,Cesc and Song.
1) 2 players have practically taken the 1st opportunity to join clubs were they know they will be squad players ie Cesc and Song
2) The other 2 have gone to direct rivals even though they were aware this would upset the fans and its a move generally frowned upon ie van Persie and Nasri.
Remember when Cesc left for Barca and everybody took turns to mock Cesc a number of people used van Persie as the type of guy who wouldnt spit in the fans face.A huge number believed that, he did appear to be a club man, what changed?What made him despise the club and Arsene to the extent of signing for united?
So do we now call Vermalean a loyal player, do the players even trust Arsene or worse still Gazardis.I know Ivan walked into a mess but he is hardly inspiring any sort of confidence that he can turn the ship around.
We know a lot of the huge clubs in England are checking on the progress of Jack Wilshere, hell even Barca porobably are.Another 3 seasons of the same mediocrity can you really see Jack sticking with the club.
It has nothing to do with being british, Gerrard wanted out, so did Rooney even with all the success united have had recently.Players are attracted to the direction a club is going to and that has given clubs like City an impetus in recent season.
Is this just a storm or are Arsenal sliding into a place soo dark they might never get back to the glory days?
At what point does Arsenal become a joke?
posted on 19/8/12
Is this just a storm or are Arsenal sliding into a place soo dark they might never get back to the glory days?
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You raise some valid and relevant point worthy of discussion. But the last sentence is incredibly overboard in my humble opinion...
The reality is money alks in the EPL these days, it talks perpetually and at break-neck volume and to compete without shelling out the eye watering wages and transfer fees the likes of Citteh, Chelsea, Utd etc is very, very difficult.
The signing of Cazorla, Giroud and Podolski were bold and very 'un-Arsenal' in terms of aggresive transfer strategy. That tells it's own story.
However, the club (I believe) have a longterm plan that for better or worse they are sticking to. The emerging FFP regulations are a minor obsession. We've seen no movement from UEFA currently, will we?
posted on 19/8/12
Arsenal won't win the league again under Wenger
posted on 19/8/12
Look mate, while I'm hardly happy with us losing key players and failing to win trophies, I think we all need to calm down. We have remained a top 4 team throughout the drought, and top 4 isn't exactly a dark place per se, it shows we are not far from really challenging. We just need a summer when we don't lose any key players and I reckon we can be contenders, and with a couple of additions this squad is still capable of success. I'm not reading too much into yesterday, I say give our new lads some time to settle, maybe bring in Sahin as well, and we'll be up there.
Keep the Faith, at least we're not Liverpool
posted on 19/8/12
jukeboxjunkie - Lowest common denominator (U10162)
I dont think its about Wengers coaching abilities, we know he makes mistakes but he is still a decent football manager.
The problem is the opposition keeps getting stronger City and Chelsea but Wenger thinks his principles will still work.
We can win a title or a cup, I believe thats possible.Imagine we win almost all our home games and do smash and grabs away from home like we did in the 2nd half of the season its possible to win the league even with the squad we have but no way Arsenal will ever dominate english football again with the attitude Wenger and the board have, that Im certain will never happen.
posted on 19/8/12
The trouble is money. We, at the moment, simply don't have enough of it to truly compete at the top level, despite what some people think - we couldn't afford to lose out on a £24m transfer fee for van Persie AND pay his wages for the season (around £5/6m) just in the hope that his performances would take us to heights we would be unable to reach without him and generating in excess of that £30m back in prize money.
When the stadium debt is completely cleared, and when we can renegotiate our appalling sponsorship deals (they are around a tenth of what United generate, I believe, and behind all the other top 6 clubs) then we will have more cash to play with.
Since the arrival of Kroenke, we're also doing a lot to tap into the Asian and African markets in order to increase global revenue. People say he has done nothing, but two consecutive Asia tours and the visit to Nigeria (where we will play our rearranged friendly next year) are raising our profile there.
posted on 19/8/12
At what point does Arsenal become a joke?
When we are in the same position as Liverpool and Spursday night football is an achievement
posted on 20/8/12
At what point does Arsenal become a joke?
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About 3 years ago.