Our Squad.

Player recruitment
Player development
Contracts
Selling players.

The four things we have done badly to leave us here.
To compare once again with Liverpool, we were linked with Coutinho before and during his spell with Inter. One we didnt get him. 2, if we had it is doubtful we would have developed him well enough. We would have paid him a fortune, then either lost him on a free or sold him for £25m - even if we did get him to his best.

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 3 minutes ago
Player recruitment
Player development
Contracts
Selling players.

The four things we have done badly to leave us here.
To compare once again with Liverpool, we were linked with Coutinho before and during his spell with Inter. One we didnt get him. 2, if we had it is doubtful we would have developed him well enough. We would have paid him a fortune, then either lost him on a free or sold him for £25m - even if we did get him to his best.
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Spot on. And thats necessitated changes at all levels with new structures at board level down to coaching and buying, youth team players. And gone through a poor management appointment as well after that!

But who has been consistent in never getting blame they fully deserve? The players! The legacy players we still can't move! Thats why to an extent Arteta is trying so hard with them. To coach them and then they produce a performance like that in the first half against Leeds!

Arteta was only supposed to have blown his top, I would have thrown boots like Fergie at all them.

comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 11 minutes ago
comment by WB2 (Emery'll Get Me Killed) (U8276)
posted 1 hour, 33 minutes ago
comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 49 minutes ago
comment by WB2 (Emery'll Get Me Killed) (U8276)
posted 4 minutes ago
Difference is we all know Roman cares about his club as more than a business interest, so is happy to actually spend and blow HIS money on his football club. Whilst Stan is a greedy yank who's shaded money out of the club with BS fees. Stan don't even spend his own money of his US franchises. He damned sure ain't covering our losses out of his own pocket.

Not like he didn't MAKE a sh!t tonne off the club in all the years we never spent and sold off all our players. At most he's using THAT money. Paying for AFC himself, I ask ya. Whom are you and what you done with that Jenius bloke who knows better than to say a silly like that?
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My god do you support Arsenal?

When we sold those players do you know who owned us? Danny Fiszman.
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So we suddenly stopped selling players when Kronke bought the club did we? I never said the club never spent any money I said Stan ain't spent his. The Sheikh simply uses another company to whack untold sums of his own cash into City. No doubt Roman does the same.

This board has gone insane I swear. First Ozil should play, then we should sign Ozil up again to get ripped off some more. Now the corker that Stan Kronke has supposedly got passion for AFC all of a sudden and become some benevolent owner, charitably paying out of his pocket to support the club.

We REALLY need to get back to winning games. The last few years have utterly distorted reality for so many. Guys, just because Arsenal began to play badly, doesn't mean that up suddenly became down and white suddenly became black. As Ozil's presence and Stan's lack of real spending are STILL the negatives that they were, before we really went downhill. But ah I forgot, it was all Xhaka's fault wasn't it
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Yes we did stop selling players. In fact we kept them too long and let them walk away for free.

Just take Alexis for example. Man City offered £60m for him with only 12 months left instead we kept him and exchanged him for half the value for Mkhi with 6 months left!

Or Ramsey! Or your favourite Ozil!

Ozil given a huge contract because Arsene Wenger didn't want him to walk even though he was holding the club to ransom.

The reason why we are in this mess is because we gave bloated contracts to players who were not worth it and incapable of qualifying us for the Champions league.

We have spent a net c£100m a season for the last 4 years. In Wenger final season we spent c£37m on Xhaka, c£35m on Mustafi, c£47m on Lacazette. After that we spent c£55m on Auba, £72m on Pepe, £25m on Tierney, £30m on Torreira, £30m on Saliba, £25m on Leno, etc etc etc. and who have we sold of any value? Iwobi!

As dj pointed out our total spending is only c£25m behind Liverpool and you are blaming Kroenke? Our net spending is £160m more than them! My God! Unless you put the blame where it deserves how are we going to improve?
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We all known Pepe wasn't a big chunky layout. And sorrybbut year after year, window after window. We watch other teams sign the players we want, because we won't stump up the asking price. Always loballing on offers tryna over haggle because we don't want to spend. Kronke want 5-600. Mil of talent, but he only wants to pay 150-200 mil for it. THAT'S why we end up with a 35 mil Xhaka. You talk like 35 mil is some big money amount for a player these days. It's chump change if you're talking about established top flight talent.

Pool is one sh!tty example mate. Wasn't half that team there before Klopp arrived? Didn't they spend sh!t tonnes of money in the previous years? And didn't THEY when they needed defensive reinforcement, stump up to make VVD the most expensive CB ever (at the time)? When Klopp arrived Pool were in WAY better shape as a squad than us now.

Our owner AIN'T doing that. Our buying teams being told "You can't have a 60 mil CB because you want other players. Gotta keep em cheap and bargains. Liverpool and Chelsea's managers and buying team DON'T get told that sh!t every feckin window. Ours have and do. We need to spend ALOT on players. Utd needed CB " cough" 80 mil got one. We desperately needed CB and "Sign that kid and give him back for a year and take this washed up liability cos we can get him for pennies" THAT IS KRONKE! And you've sat watching it happen for years commenting on how we spend chump change all the time, like everyone else. All these people at the club haven't bought that way through choice. It's because that's what the owner is making them do.

Both us and Liverpool have spent over £400m in 5 years. Just £27m is the difference between spending big and "chump change"?
Ridiculous.

And when Klopp took over they were somewhere between 13th and 10th, with Henderson, Milner and Firmino the only important players then and now.

comment by WB2 (Emery'll Get Me Killed) (U8276)
posted 8 minutes ago

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We all known Pepe wasn't a big chunky layout. And sorrybbut year after year, window after window. We watch other teams sign the players we want, because we won't stump up the asking price. Always loballing on offers tryna over haggle because we don't want to spend. Kronke want 5-600. Mil of talent, but he only wants to pay 150-200 mil for it. THAT'S why we end up with a 35 mil Xhaka. You talk like 35 mil is some big money amount for a player these days. It's chump change if you're talking about established top flight talent.

Pool is one sh!tty example mate. Wasn't half that team there before Klopp arrived? Didn't they spend sh!t tonnes of money in the previous years? And didn't THEY when they needed defensive reinforcement, stump up to make VVD the most expensive CB ever (at the time)? When Klopp arrived Pool were in WAY better shape as a squad than us now.

Our owner AIN'T doing that. Our buying teams being told "You can't have a 60 mil CB because you want other players. Gotta keep em cheap and bargains. Liverpool and Chelsea's managers and buying team DON'T get told that sh!t every feckin window. Ours have and do. We need to spend ALOT on players. Utd needed CB " cough" 80 mil got one. We desperately needed CB and "Sign that kid and give him back for a year and take this washed up liability cos we can get him for pennies" THAT IS KRONKE! And you've sat watching it happen for years commenting on how we spend chump change all the time, like everyone else. All these people at the club haven't bought that way through choice. It's because that's what the owner is making them do.
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ffs. Most blame Kroenke for not interfering but according to you he is?

£35m+ fees were top whack when Xhaka/Mustafi were bought. It wasn't chump change and in fact its still top dollar even now!

And we spent £72m on Pepe. I don't see the relevance of how the transfer fee is to be paid. He will always cost £72m.

Dj has already given you the breakdown compared to the most successful club in the league and you just can't dismiss it with half backed knowledge. If you think its incorrect prove it with a proper analysis. But you know its right.

Its difficult to change your views but I did on Kroenke when confronted with actual facts.

And didn't THEY when they needed defensive reinforcement, stump up to make VVD the most expensive CB ever (at the time)?
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Their net spend that window was minus £40m

Or minus £90m depending on what you believe the Coutinho fee was.

When Klopp arrived Pool were in WAY better shape as a squad than us now.
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The season Klopp turned up, Liverpool finished 8th behind Southampton and West Ham. We finished second.

In the time between we have spent similar amounts. We have spent far more in terms of net.

The are now runaway leaders and we are 10th.

And it is investment that you think is the reason??

Arsenal is just one big causal loop diagram - the fault of one department is a cause of another ad infinitum and it all interlinks.

We have established our buying department is poor, but no sooner do we recognise this do we have acknowledge that net spend is similar to other, more competitive, teams.

So blame shoots over to coaching. I’ve said it before, I was really happy when we got Xhaka! Good player in Switzerland and Germany, but if a mix between Coquelin and Cazorla. With their injuries it seemed a great solution. Then like so many before him, and after, he turns out to be a waste. Yet we know this wasn’t always the case so it begs the question of what the hell was going on at Arsenal.

I do think things are in the up though, we have gotten rid of the fraud that was Gazadis and finally a manager who is modernising our tactics, coaching and fitness.