27 Jun 2019 16:15:52
To be honest, I’m enjoying the drama of this summer, our limited budget and the uncertainty of improvement. That sounds absurd, I know, and I want us to challenge for trophies every season. But here are my thoughts, which no one has asked for.
The cash has gotten crazy. Despicably so. Funds suggested for Neymar or Joao Felix or whomever are just bonkers and so drastically removed from what we the fans live and what we know, I am sort of pleased that we're not involved. €20m for Nkunku. Sorry, who?
Paradoxically, I am also not disappointed because maybe it prompts action or involvement from Arsenal’s billionaire investor owner, who isn’t in sports to win trophies. But what happens if, on his watch, his asset depreciates in value?
I’m also sort of glad to see the club reap what it has sown. We were promised that, after belt-tightening for Ashburton Grove, we would be able to compete with the deepest of pockets. So we made do, and were treated to some beautiful football, some great youth signings and some dubious veteran acquisitions. Now it appears that the structure of management degraded and was maybe only protected from exposure due to Arsene’s brilliance. Or maybe I’ve got that wrong and our problems come from a failure to grow after Arsene’s departure and without his stewardship. In any event, the problems come from our own failures, and we need to live with our mistakes, hopefully fix them and move on. Absurd wage structures, lack of proper management structure, we are reaping what we’ve sown.
But still, it’s our club, and I’ll take the bad with the good. Growth can come from this, and we’ll still have beautiful moments and, hopefully, some great successes not far down the road.
27 Jun 2019 21:27:54
Just getting back to the forum after a long break. Like your post here: it needed saying. Kroenke's assets could fall quickly in the modern Prem and then it will be twist or stick for hi. Hopefully he will twist and sell out to someone who wants to win. The fundamentals of the club are good. We can come back like Liverpool with just a little investment and a sorted management structure.
27 Jun 2019 21:51:03
I'm not sure the fundamentals of the club are good anymore yyc mate, since moving to the Emirates everything about the club seems to have changed and it's difficult to name anything that's been for the better.
The old guard that carried the old Arsenal values have all sold they're shares and left the club now and when we left Highbury we seemed to leave our true desire to be the absolute best team in England behind.
Financially we are weak our playing staff are poor our behind the scenes people running the club seems to be lost and our manager seems to lack the ability to organise his team.
Personally I think we are a mess but it's far from an unfixable mess we just need someone to come in and set new standards and demand much much more from everyone involved at the club.
27 Jun 2019 23:08:58
Very true 62 - I think the club has problems. Big problems from board to back room staff and starting 11 to the squad and from our lack of funds to losing money as a business. Our wages and contract mgt is a disaster. Don’t get me started on the defence and manager. we don’t have an identity or a strategy nor do we have the people or foundation to deliver it. I don’t think the board has the desire or ambition to compete either. Wenger was in a mess and had to go but he also needed a strong board or partner to keep pushing him but he covered over the cracks as we sold jewels and replaced with cheap cut glass or fakes. The board had their dream person until he lost his way and couldn’t get out. So much wrong but a big clear out and reset can get us back to greatness and to be fair Wenger left the talent pool coming through in a good position.
Fingers crossed we change soon.
28 Jun 2019 05:36:27
You make some good points and I would strongly agree with your idea that it was Arsene shielding us from the worst of the board's mismanagement.
The upside of this is that with the introduction of Freddie and Edu into the club's hierarchy, we may be able to transition into a club that can introduce youth into the system with maximum benefit - as we did during the peak of Wenger's years of leadership. I would gladly return to this setup if we could carefully manage our funds and spend only when we could pinpoint a top player to slot right into the team.
28 Jun 2019 08:37:07
Impossible I know but I'd gladly return to Highbury, for all the supposed benefits of moving to the Emirates appart from being able to charge a lot more people an awful lot more money to watch a game I don't see a single benefit that has come from the move, in fact less genuinely passionate fans probably get to attend games now than at Highbury and the Emirates atmosphere is far from adrenaline filled even when we are wining.
The club like Arsene himself forgot to pack the footballing ambition and passion when making the move and became property and profit people before football people.
I'm not sure the old guard would have sold up or Stan been interested in Arsenal if it we were still at Highbury and I don't think Arsene would have become distracted from football and engrossed in the business and property side of things either and who knows he might well have never lost his edge as Fergie never did.
28 Jun 2019 15:19:16
While I understand the sentiments expressed, I hate to break it to you all. Arsene Wenger was part of the problem, not the solution.
He, along with Gazidis have set us back about 5 years with their decision making: Xhaka instead of Kante, Mustafi for £35M, giving Ozil £350K per week, allowing our best players to wind down their contracts and walk away for free.
Now our wage bill is so full of overpaid average players that we may be stuck with them. FFP means we can't ask Kroenke to throw money at the problem.
While I would like another owner, he bought into a self sustaining business model, and if we used our massive revenue's efficiently we wouldn't be in this mess and would have much more money to spend.
28 Jun 2019 16:19:51
Yes "fundamentals" - I wasn't clear Gunner 62. I agree with you 100%. It all seems a bit plastic compared to Highbury days and the he management of the club at the moment is a shambles. Those fundamentals are terrible. The fundamentals I meant were the size of the fanbase, its historic place as a big club - the big club - in London. And at the moment it still has huge revenue. I'm hoping that'll see us through until Kroenke decides he's had enough and real football leadership comes in. God willing that is sooner, not later.