It doesn't have to be 'panic buys' though.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
Some main targets, followed by a few back up options as part of a coherent and planned strategy, would be acceptable.
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It doesn't have to be 'panic buys' though.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
Some main targets, followed by a few back up options as part of a coherent and planned strategy, would be acceptable.
Sorry for banging on about Guendouzi and Saliba but I have read again this morning that the former scored again last night for Marseille and is said to be becoming a natural leader in the midfield.
It is becoming apparent that Arteta has a great knack of falling out with players and he just moves them on. What a shambles.
Arteta and Edu are literally killing this club.
#wengerin
Bang on all you like, totally agree with thisQuote:
Originally Posted by Chippy
Me too :good:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
At least we now have the £180m spending spree in the summer to look forward to:
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...k-Neves-latest
Still banging on about Isak ffs.Quote:
And it appears as though Arteta will have the full backing from owner Stan Kroenke to make the changes he wants in the summer.
The Sun claim that Arteta will have a £180million available to spend on drastically improving his squad.
Two strikers could well be signed with both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Alexander Isak strongly linked with moves to the Emirates.
And Ruben Neves is named as Arsenal's preferred option in midfield, with the Portuguese talisman said to be valued at £45m.
No point buying a player that is less than an average striker
Even so, £160mill is a decent investment if it happens.
Still too late, but a lot of problems can be solved by £120mill.
Two strikers won't be cheap, so that would eat up a big chunk of the £80mill war chest.
Then you need a midfielder, is that possible in this market? Two strikers and a midfielder on a budget of £40mill?
I suppose if we sold a few more players we could increase that £20mill to £20mill.
Plenty of players available on loan too, so we wouldn't necessarily have to blow the whole £10mill in one window.
I can buy my season ticket with confidence now.
:haha::haha:Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
The only hope is that Arteta has gotten rid of the dead wood specifically to bring them back for next season. Both Madrid and Milan are looking at Saliba. Can't really blame him if he goes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
Anyone who thinks throwing money will solve the problems this joke of a manager has caused this club is clearly living in la la land.Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
Or please correct me, is money now the cure for people battling with deep seated inferiority complex issues??
The best transfer we can make is getting rid of this dunce of a manager. No set of new players can cure his malignant stupidity. We are destined for 8th or lower again this season. I doubt we will score another 20 goals before this season ends
I don't think anyone thinks that :shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by 21_GOONER_SALUTE
This £180m is just a lure to encourage season ticket renewals.
I read that we are still paying some of Auba's wages till the summer. :lol:
Feels a bit like our fiancée has called it off, we've let them keep the ring and agreed to keep paying the instalments for it. Have some dignity, man!
Perhaps...but I would prefer to wait and see. Aside from the striker situation, we look in decent shape for the 17 EPL games left. We need to be lucky with injuries/suspensions, but the aim at the beginning of the season was Europa league and I think 8th or lower is pessimistic. Like I said, we all know that a culture shift was needed at our club, and whether or not we think that Arteta is too hard line over 'problem' players, I have some sympathy with wanting to avaoid a situation where our main man was de-stabilising squad unity. It's not difficult to imagine that the relationship with Auba soured as much because he was unsuited to our system and unhappy as much as a pure disciplinary thing. Its also easy to imagine Kroenke saying that he was not going to be bounced into a situation where we paid over the odds for a stop gap.Quote:
Originally Posted by Globalgunner
We will see. The manager has taken a gamble here, and will be judged on its outcome. If it works, then we will be in good shape to kick on in the Summer...
The main target should be extending Saka's contract. He has 18 month's left. Surely we cannot make the same mistake with him?Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
Well all the "pundits" are already talking about Saka running down his contract (which is bullshit) but yes we must sort out an extension ASAP.
What's the incentive for him to stay? Seriously. I'd love to imagine it's loyalty and gratitude for the club giving him his big break, but is that the way players think (or are permitted to think by their agents) these days? I think we can rule that fanciful possibility out. Which leaves ambition, of which this club has none. Money, we can't compete with any serious rival due to decades of working towards being second rate. Trophies and medals? Nope. The London scene? That seems more realistic than any other. Maybe he'll stay because he doesn't fancy Manchester or Liverpool.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chippy
We could AT LEAST give him a generous five year contract but add a get out clause. Win, win for both player and club. 👍🏻Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Not really worried about Saka - he’s an Arsenal lad, he has a starring role in the team and he’s getting to do it alongside his friends - all this Liverpool noise just looks like classic agent leverage to me.
I doubt anyone will ever come out and say it, but I do wonder if this [Saka’s contract renewal] might have contributed in some small part to the urgency to get Auba out of the club? When your highest earner is on £350k/wk, the numbers being discussed suddenly start to look a lot different…
Well we've gone from 'aiming for top four' to 'aiming for Europa league'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Surely they have managed Saka's expectations along with the other players to nullify any real need for or sense of - actual achievement?
Don't fall into the trap that the agents and sharks want you to fall into. I dislike this idea of having to manage/massage players' expectations. When it comes to top performers this is true in a general sense - a club is subject to market forces, and players need to see a good trajectory, but this is no different to what should be the overall approach of the club. Transfer disappointment aside, we have seen nothing to suggest that this isn't the club's and the manager's aim. As soon as we start focussing on the need to match individual players' ambitions we lose team focus and start being affected by outside noise. The formula is simple. Progress on the pitch. Following early mistalkes by Arteta, we have seen what can be achieved by a young team that buys into the manager's philosophy. I for one am not unhappy with getting rid of players who consider themselves more important with the club, and the direction we have chosen is not one that lends itself to focussing on keeping individual superstars happy.Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
Saka is a star, but has been made by a club and manager willing to give him a key role and I can't see him being unhappy with where he is at. The club's resonsibility is to tie him into a contract that reflects his further potential, not to reward him for what he has done so far. Progress will mean us achieving the aim that we had at the beginning of the season - European football - and we do this, I have no concerns about him agreeing a new contract.
You have the right idea about what football ought to be and what it used to be. But isn't today's football primarily about the trap that agents and sharks want you to fall into? Are players still individuals with a talent and a connection to the club? Or are they investment vehicles for wealthy individuals, be those agents, owners, shareholders, and themselves? You know what they say, it's not personal, it's just business.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
When was the last contract managed fully to the club's advantage? After Anelka and Overmars I'm coming up with a blank. Other than a few duds we dumped on the gypos when they had more money than sense, what was the last big transfer out where it felt like the buyer was in pain? Not saying it didn't happen, just can't think of anything and it's a rarity nonetheless. What did we get for van Persie, the guy who won the title for Utd the following year?Quote:
Originally Posted by Chippy
True, maybe, but IMHO if we are to progress a fundamental and joined up agenda for creating a cohesive team - which is what we saw in our best bits prior to January the we need to be brave and focus on this - rather than worrying primarily about individuals. From where I sit, this is what Arteta is trying to do...Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
https://dailycannon.com/2022/02/saka...act-extension/Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
Doesnt look like Saka is staying then. We aint getting top four this season.
Players have too much power, they know it and they take the piss. I'm not commenting on Saka, but in general.
Why can't we have a notice period in football like in any other job? We kind of do, it's called requesting a transfer. But players don't do this now. They string things out and play one club against the next. Make demands of the club, like a top 4 finish, or guarantees to sign more players. It's smart business, but cancerous for the cohesion of the clubs and long term planning. Every contract has become a gateway to the next early contract negotiation. Why can't we have contracts that run their course and aren't modified until the contract expires? Isn't that what a contract is? You can alway negotiate the next contract in advance, but it shouldn't kick in until the current contract has been honoured.
It'd be simple. Every new contract comes with a 1 year notice period. That notice must be served before a transfer can be authorised. The players will have to say, yep, I'm off, I'm breaking my contract and that's that. They leave at the end of the notice period regardless of any transfer they might secure, unless they withdraw the notice with the club's agreement. They pay compensation for breach of contract. Job done.
Otherwise call it something else, like a dodgy handshake or a favour. Because it's not a real contract if you can keep blackmailing the club and breaking the contract with no penalty.
And we're not even talking about players in reality. We're talking about business suits at the clubs dealing with business suits at the agency. The player is just the asset being traded.
Before Bosman it was tipped too far in the club's favour. Now it has tipped to the other extreme. Is there nobody left in the game who still values the game and isn't focused solely on the cash who could step up and suggest a reasonable compromise? Of course then you'd have the players moaning about how they are "slaves".
I agree - and the only option left is to try to be the club where players can make a name for themselves, play decent football and therefore commit for the medium term. For all of the criticism of Arsenal, this is clearly what we are now tring to do. The club realises that it needs to try to achieve CL football to keep its best players - which is the imperative, given that we are competing with Clubs with unlimited resources. Its a vicious circle, really because money alone won't buy the best players with the committment to the cause required. Top 4 is a necessity, but we are starting where we are.
It also has to be a longer term play. I think that the club realises that CL qualification this season is an outside bet - the true aim was more incremental - Europa league and push on from there.
TBH until January we were doing a pretty good job of being THE club where upcoming young talent would want to come to help us push on, and while the Auba situation may have set this back a little, for me this has not changed.
The link Chippy has posted above is the kind of crap piece that means nothing (no disrepect to him intended here). Why - because (a) it states the bleeding obvious - lack of CL football will obviously make signing the likes of Saka on to a long term contract more difficult, and (b) is utterly reductive. The reality is that if we continue to show real progress, narrowly missing out on CL places will not automatically mean we can't keep Saka or anyone else. What these players need to see is a plan; stability; and evidence that if we are not already in it, we have a decent chance of getting CL next year. Plus ça change.