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We knew what they'd do this summer...

On June 19, Arsenal CEO, Ivan Gazidis convened the annual meeting with various Arsenal supporters’ clubs. What follows is a transcript of his response to a particular question put to him by compère Tom Watt.

"What kind of summer do we have in store? What are your realistic ambitions for next season?"

Gazidis: "I’ve stood here many times before you, in more difficult times and talked about what we’re trying to do and at times it’s been quite difficult to explain that. But I hope that you begin to see the different parts coming together. So you think about this summer and it’s not just about signing players, but it’s about developing the club not just for next season, to push us forward and ensure we’re at the top level again in 5, 10, 15 years’ time. So we’re starting to do works on the other side of the stadium, in club level, one of the rooms is being rebuilt. So it makes the environment more comfortable for club level, but also enables us to continue to be strong in our commercial revenues, sponsorships and so on.

"We’re doing redeveloping work at Hale End, with our Academy, what is going on there is unreal. We’ve completely rebuilt that, in 5 years’ time that is going to be unrecognisable from what it is now. It’s a fantastic facility for 8-10 year olds and then at London Colney, we’ve got 18 months or two years of very hard work there. We’re rebuilding the academy building, renovating the first team site. And then you’re also talking about the personnel to drive the changes. At Academy level, we’ve been making a really serious investment and producing those homegrown players.

"Then obviously, the thing everyone wants to talk about, is what’s happening at the tip of the iceberg with the first team and we’ve built quietly and without a lot of fanfare a good and deep squad. Now this summer is quite a delicate one for us, because it’s easy to improve when you’ve got obvious weaknesses, but I feel we’ve got a very good and strong squad across all positions. We’ve got a very healthy age profile, it’s a young squad and we’re in great contract positions as well, lots of long contracts, not too many people we have many issues with contract wise.

"The challenge for us, and what a great challenge to have, is how you improve that. You’re right, we have to do that but it’s actually not very easy when you’ve got a very good squad. Because when you bring somebody in, you’re pushing somebody else down, so you’ve got to be sure that when you add someone, you’re really raising the level of the squad. That’s our challenge this summer and I’m convinced we’ll be up to it, as we have been for the last couple of years."


http://tinyurl.com/nng6nly

The warning signs were there for all to see.

posted on 3/9/15

Isn't our issue at the moment conversion rate not chances created, we've only converted 2%, but we seem to have the most shots on goal,
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i think it was motd where there was a stat that we have created 54 chances but only scored 1 goal plus 2 og's.

posted on 3/9/15

comment by DaStuDogg (U9291)
posted 22 minutes ago
comment by BIGIRISHGOONER (U8171)
posted 34 minutes ago
A quick, channel-running CF with good hold-up play and ball skills that can bring others into play and score 20 a season isn't really that much of an ask?

Now I'll be honest, I'm not one of these people who watches EVERY match from EVERY league on EVERY channel.
But that seems like a pretty outstanding singing to me - not a basic one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I can understand your point, but I think what he's saying is that having a good all-round, athletic striker could actually stretch teams and create more space and passing opportunities for our midfielders, which, in turn, could increase the quality of chances we create for our attackers - helping the striker and the team in general to score more.

The best example of this was Adebayor. His conversion rate of clear cut opportunities was actually pretty abysmal, but the fact that his athleticism, constant running, and aerial threat meant the team functioned better as a whole - making it easier to create chances for him, which resulted in him scoring 30 goals for us despite pretty poor finishing on his part.

He was never considered a 20-30 goal a season striker before that season, but playing the part in our system that he did allowed him and the rest of the team to flourish.

I don't think Giroud's a bad striker by any means - I think he's very good at what he does - but I'm not sure his style is suiting the players around him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I get what you mean – but is Ade a good example of this?
He was certainly, big and strong, brought players into the game and ran the channels brilliantly.
But he’s only broken 20 in a season once ( he was unplayable that year )
Was that really a case of that particular player suiting that particular system?
Or was it a right place right time one off season?
I think sometimes people ( general, not specific ) don’t actually realise how hard it is to score goals at a decent level.
I’ve been hearing for years about how “ a decent striker would score 30 goals a season playing in this Arsenal team “ but it’s really not that simple.
If we bring someone in who runs the channels, holds the ball up and brings other people into play and scores 20 - we'll still hear about how we need a 30 goal a season striker.

posted on 3/9/15

If we bring someone in who runs the channels, holds the ball up and brings other people into play and scores 20 - we'll still hear about how we need a 30 goal a season striker.
_____________

That is what I am saying....Most on this forum what someone who scores you 30 goals a season....

comment by renoog (U4449)

posted on 3/9/15

And why not? We used to have quite a few of them under Wenger. The club should never stop looking for ways to improve. I don't see how wanting a 30 goal-a-season striker is unreasonable. I myself think we can cope without one but it sure would make it a lot easier to challenge for top honours if we did.

posted on 3/9/15

When people say 30 goals, are they talking about PL goals or all comps?

comment by renoog (U4449)

posted on 3/9/15

I was referring to all comps

posted on 3/9/15

comment by BIGIRISHGOONER (U8171)
posted 1 hour, 9 minutes ago
comment by DaStuDogg (U9291)
posted 22 minutes ago
comment by BIGIRISHGOONER (U8171)
posted 34 minutes ago
A quick, channel-running CF with good hold-up play and ball skills that can bring others into play and score 20 a season isn't really that much of an ask?

Now I'll be honest, I'm not one of these people who watches EVERY match from EVERY league on EVERY channel.
But that seems like a pretty outstanding singing to me - not a basic one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I can understand your point, but I think what he's saying is that having a good all-round, athletic striker could actually stretch teams and create more space and passing opportunities for our midfielders, which, in turn, could increase the quality of chances we create for our attackers - helping the striker and the team in general to score more.

The best example of this was Adebayor. His conversion rate of clear cut opportunities was actually pretty abysmal, but the fact that his athleticism, constant running, and aerial threat meant the team functioned better as a whole - making it easier to create chances for him, which resulted in him scoring 30 goals for us despite pretty poor finishing on his part.

He was never considered a 20-30 goal a season striker before that season, but playing the part in our system that he did allowed him and the rest of the team to flourish.

I don't think Giroud's a bad striker by any means - I think he's very good at what he does - but I'm not sure his style is suiting the players around him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I get what you mean – but is Ade a good example of this?
He was certainly, big and strong, brought players into the game and ran the channels brilliantly.
But he’s only broken 20 in a season once ( he was unplayable that year )
Was that really a case of that particular player suiting that particular system?
Or was it a right place right time one off season?
I think sometimes people ( general, not specific ) don’t actually realise how hard it is to score goals at a decent level.
I’ve been hearing for years about how “ a decent striker would score 30 goals a season playing in this Arsenal team “ but it’s really not that simple.
If we bring someone in who runs the channels, holds the ball up and brings other people into play and scores 20 - we'll still hear about how we need a 30 goal a season striker.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
I chose the Adebayor example as it's most relevant to Arsenal. He's a strange case though in the sense that he's almost notorious now for working hard to establish himself and/or earn a new contract, before dropping off massively.
He displayed a great attacking work-rate in the 2007/2008 season, but after signing a 100k+ p/w deal to ward off potential suitors, his style became so much more phlegmatic that he basically lost everything that had made him so effective.
Tottenham fans have criticised him for a similar nosedive in work-rate (he scored more than a goal every other game when on loan, yet this dropped to one in five when they officially signed him).

This being said, I don't think it's unreasonable for fans of a club that wants to compete on all-fronts, with some exceptional creative talent in midfield, to ask for a striker that can score 20+ league goals and maybe 30+ in all competitions, and it's natural that fans will want their team to continually strive to improve if possible.

posted on 3/9/15

comment by renoog (U4449)
posted 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
And why not? We used to have quite a few of them under Wenger. The club should never stop looking for ways to improve. I don't see how wanting a 30 goal-a-season striker is unreasonable. I myself think we can cope without one but it sure would make it a lot easier to challenge for top honours if we did.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry - reading back through I realise I essentially just copied this point completely!

posted on 3/9/15

"Some people may think, ‘Oh he hasn’t touched the ball for 15 minutes’ but you’re moving all the time, taking players and creating space for team-mates.

"That’s what strikers need to do at times, not just to always come for the ball and lay it off.

"You need to stretch teams, which will give our midfielders more space, more opportunities and more goals. That’s what you want in the team."

Theo Walcott.

posted on 3/9/15

renoog (U4449)
posted 1 hour, 48 minutes ago
And why not? We used to have quite a few of them under Wenger. The club should never stop looking for ways to improve. I don't see how wanting a 30 goal-a-season striker is unreasonable.

----------------------------------------

Wright and Henry aside, we've never really had a striker who will consistently score 30+ a season.
I'm pretty sure that they are the only 2 players to score 30 goals in a season for the club more than once.
As much as I'd love one, there aren't too many of them around and never have been.

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