Written by Mr H on Tuesday, 30 August 2011 08:34

A very quick piece today, life tends to disrupt thoughts.

After the result on Sunday, it seems as though Arsenal have become incredibly active on the transfer market. There are reports of a new forward in that South Korean chap, Park Kim Il something or other, as well as a Brazilian left back and a German centre back. Those seem like more concrete rumours, while there are a few reports linking us with Arteta and Benayoun.. After the result, the Board have realized that this time is more lightweight than a feather cart made of feathers.

Did Wenger maybe, MAYBE, MAYBE¸ force their hand by sending out a team without any strategy, deliberately, just to get spanked and to show the board in very real terms the need for new players?

There have been more than a few reports coming out of the various blog sites of a potential split between Wenger and the board. This coupled with Brady’s remarks concerning Wenger’s transfer targets and the boards lack of desire to fund the necessary finance to acquire such targets. If this is the case, then perhaps the seemingly illogical point made previously gets more legs on which to stand. Wenger does know the team is more bantam weight than an anorexic rooster starting a fight with a rabid pit bull cross chicken raping puppy (funny vid, search it u tube), and he has set targets to reinforce the squad, however the board feels that it is good enough to secure a top 4 finish and therefore secure another year of profitability. This move would have shown in no uncertain terms that this is not the case and that the team without reinforcement would struggle to make the top 4, therefore forcing the board to release the funds.
While a lot of fans gripe about the perceived penny pinching nature of our Manager, maybe he is getting stick for merely doing the best with what the board has made available to him. Now, with that result, it seems that the purse strings have been loosened.

It’s just a thought.

No matter what you think, it does seem as though we are going to get a few more new faces, and if that is the final result of the game on Sunday, then maybe if we’d lost by more, we could have seen Messi come through the door... Yeah right!!!!

Either which way, the only way this team will succeed in these dark day, is if we the fans do what we expect them, the players to do, and that is to do our part in supporting this club with as much heart as we expect them to play with, and with as much fight as we expect them to play with. We can’t expect them to fight if we don’t and that is not to say we should fight with each other, but with the enemy and the enemy is every other team in the league, and everything else that is not Arsenal. We need to unite and drive this team forward.

In other words

VICTORIA CONCORDIA CRESCIT

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Comments (33)

• 31-Aug-2011 18:24 | | MeanLean
  

  Has hard as it has been this summer and our last match was bloody hard. I am actually quite excited to see how this new Arsenal performs.
  
  With the new signings as well as the youngsters coming through (Ryo, Frimpster etc) we have a very fresh squad.
  
  I hope they all gel fast and we get back to winning games.
  
  VCC

• 31-Aug-2011 18:29 | | PSL
  

  Quite an idiotic thought.

• 31-Aug-2011 18:35 | | inno  - MAN as Arsenal's SAlvation
  

  I agree that wenger has the team soundly beaten at an opportune time for transfers.

• 31-Aug-2011 18:36 | | Sharivan
  

  I actually agreed that I did suspect that AW deliberately put a weakened team to show that he needs to invest in players

• 31-Aug-2011 18:46 | | Skitzs
  

  Well I agree w most off u. May b that was aw plan to show how much reinforcement the team needs. But we still need a m fielder to create some sparks

• 31-Aug-2011 18:49 | | Ian  - Still need a creative midfielder
  

  If you look back at Wengers signings over 5 to 10 years, you will see he has spent a reasonable amount of money on individuals (e.g. Arshavin, Wiltord, Reyes, Francis, Walcott etc etc). Admittedly not all of them a success!
  
  The point is they were all received 20% (ish) less than the highest paid in the Premier League.
  
  Wenger has always had the pot of money to buy players (read the annual accounts if you can). But it is obvious the board were not prepared to pay the high wages that Chelsea, ManU etc were.
  
  Hence, we see Cole, Clichy, Nasri, Viera, Henry, Overmars etc all leaving for more money (and who can blame them).
  
  I bet that when the accounts come out, there will be an explanation as to why the wages structure / budget has been flexed, stretched and hopefully snapped.

• 31-Aug-2011 18:51 | | Man United Killa
  

  We have shown intent but I am not sure if we should be done yet.Some areas need strengthening if we are seroiusly thinking about being contenders.Creative midfield player,defensive midfield player is still lacking.
  Lets not raise expectatioins too much.Windows is almost closed and we still havent finished stregthening.But I hope this squad can keep the fire burning until January at least.There's is much to be done to get this squad up to par with a standard trophy winning team.

• 31-Aug-2011 19:01 | | Ian  - One last thing
  

  Before the 'Why did it take so long to get started' starts, just think in this...
  
  We bought Per Mertesacker for £8m ish, and he had 1 year left on his contract and that took 3 days to close...
  
  We sold Nasri for £25m, and he had 1 year left on his contract, and that took 3 months to close
  
  The manager, the board etc were all busy making sure we got our pound of flesh for our players (Nasri, Fabregas, Clichy etc)
  
  Painful for the fans, the manager, the board and the players alike
  
  Just move on and accept it - Wengers black book was opened as soon as the board agreed to increase the wage bill.

• 31-Aug-2011 19:03 | | ne  - huu
  

  yeah and boo the board

• 31-Aug-2011 19:12 | | Red n White life
  

  Times are hard 4 gooners seems like ery where u look there's someone there to kick us, agree arsene left it late but for fuck sake who is selling their best players these days when our suspended and injured players return with the new additions we will have a better squad.
  
  If the board are putting arsene under pressure not to spend they need a slap rising ticket prices continous champions league money tv money imaging real estate and two billionaires pay the bloody mOney stan!!!

• 31-Aug-2011 19:20 | | john  - what a shame
  

  its been underwhelming Mr H to be honest. It appears we`re not buying a midfielder. Benayoun on loan.(an improvement on the dross we have) Its a shame,a joke and as you said Mr H, the aim is to secure profitability and a top 4 place. I hope we dont, and i dont think we will. Take that anyway you want. i wont accept the boards ambition as you and others clearly do. Europa league , here we come. 3 out of the last 6 seasons, Arsenal (the board) have taken in more than has been taken out in transfers. says it all.

• 31-Aug-2011 19:27 | | GoonerLad
  

  Stan paid he's money for the shares, none left in the pot.He will want the team to do well but not gonna put hand in to big kitty to fund salaries. Stan wont pay stupid salaries that don't make good business sense. He'll bring talented young players with a hunger for success. It's longterm thing with him silently lining up for the kill. He's not gonna bring immediate success but he will home in on it.

• 31-Aug-2011 20:06 | | dkgooner  - Defensive MF?
  

  Agree on the creative midfielder. Gervinho looks like a straight swap for Nasri but Cesc not replaced - suppose Jack could step up but Ramsey not actually looking good enough as yet. But then he's young and needs more time. Diaby? Inconsistent and very injury prone.
  But defensive MF? Why? Do you not rate Song or Pingpong, MUK?
  (And why do our DMFs names end in "ong" - is it a condition of the job?)

• 31-Aug-2011 21:00 | | Man United Killa
  

  dkg...haha.."ong" good spot?You're an observant man ei?
  Now to your question.I am not sure of Frimpong yet and IMO, Song will be a better backup than starter...But I will say that I fully understand your point.I feel that unnecessary fouls and going missing when the going gets tough is a sign of inexperience.I feel both will benefit from a more experienced DM.

• 31-Aug-2011 21:02 | | Man United Killa
  

  Is Arteta really joining?I am not sure how I feel about him.

• 31-Aug-2011 22:11 | | MeanLean
  

  I like Arteta, a good player. Very good on his day but I must admit, I really wanted one player on that next level above.
  
  We shall see

• 31-Aug-2011 23:14 | | BigDave
  

  After the Mata debacle, wonder whether we leave it to the last moment to prevent the bottomless pockets of ¢IT£H and ¢H£L$KI gazumping us!

• 01-Sep-2011 00:08 | | mr h
  

  well... after all that, 4 players in 2 days. 5 since the loss, at 8 goals, I guess that's 1.6 players per goal...
  
  Overall not bad business... glad we got Arteta, he may not be Hazard or Cesc, however, he is a whole lot more than the nothing we had yesterday...

• 01-Sep-2011 00:12 | | Man United Killa  - Well' see seems like best thing to say
  

  I guess you said all i wanted to say..We shall see!I am not a big fan of Wenger's transfer policies for most part but I have to give some credit where its due.He has showed at least that he was not prepared to let the window shut without a creative midfielder.God knows we need it.Nice move by him.
  Oh how I would have loved to see a another creative midfielder plus another DM.But it's a good start to a transition from Boys to Men.

• 01-Sep-2011 00:13 | | Man United Killa
  

  LOL..yep..I will boo the board in the next transfer window

• 01-Sep-2011 00:35 | | Omglol
  

  So after everything, they didnt even try to spend the money gain from sell. Pure profit again. Kroenke will drain us slow and painful. It would have been nice to spend bit more to get some fresh name in the club and get the team/fan spirit up. I liked Arteta a lot but whats the point of him in Arsenal now ? We really could have done better lot better. I hope Kroenke and the board choke on the money they got from this season.

• 01-Sep-2011 01:13 | | Man United Killa
  

  He might turn out to be quite a signing.At least we have two players who know how to score from free kicks a la Arteta and Park..God knows Van Persie is a world class striker but when is comes to free kicks he is better at hitting the post..for some strange reason...

• 01-Sep-2011 01:14 | | Man United Killa
  

  I agree!

• 01-Sep-2011 01:15 | | MeanLean
  

  Or blasting into row Z

• 01-Sep-2011 01:20 | | richie  - Board finally made to take notice?
  

  I think Song Billong (as some people seem to be very into the ong?) is right up there with the best the prem has to offer in the DM department. I see Frimpong as a great understudy to Alex Dimitre, especially when compared to the dearly departed Denilson. Both Arteta & Benayon are creative midfielders, and its to be hoped that between the 2 they can fill Cesc's place, until a real young replacement can be found. Unless of course Jack takes a hop step and a jump? It is definately not beyond Mr Wiltshire to do just that.
  
  I wonder if having seen several of his protégé exit in search of bigger dividens, unable to secure those dividens from our board, and then having sent out messages to the board in the shape of "never mind what we are offered we need players" "I expect Nasri to still be with us and I expect him to be professional" "I'll pick him to play in the CL play off" "We can't consider ourselves a big team if we sell both Cesc & Nasri" Only for the board to force through those sales. Then to see Kroenke's man in the mix Richard Laws fail to negociate any of the high profiles targets identified. Did Arsene Wenger throw his water bottle on the floor and force the board to finally take some notice?

• 01-Sep-2011 01:24 | | richie  - Wage bill & a certain black book.
  

  That very much seems to be the case.

• 01-Sep-2011 02:47 | | richie
  

  It should be remembered Cesc didn't actually play that often for us last year.

• 01-Sep-2011 02:51 | | richie  - To be or not to be a Gooner
  

  Does any real Gooner ever hope we don't qualifiy for CL next season?

• 01-Sep-2011 03:00 | | richie  - Chech our stats carefully
  

  Study the buys we made vs the sales; The board didn't spend much cash and the overall wage bill was lowered.

• 01-Sep-2011 08:46 | | Feeno
  

  Wenger has to keep some dough back to try and ensure resigning players nearly out of contract.
  
  Hopefully Benayoun is the stop gap til we can get Hazard or be back in for Goetze next year.
  
  Tho Ive not seen much just going on reports of the lad, you'd have thought that marvin Martin wouldnt have been out of Wengers grasp, must not be as good as being made out??

• 01-Sep-2011 11:36 | | GOONER FOREVER
  

  This thought did occur to me. To take on Manure high up on their pitch with your first eleven is a high risk strategy in itself. To employ these tactics with the players put out last Sunday was downright suicidal. Did AW deliberately use this ploy to starkly illustrate the paucity of the squad and to prod whoever into loosening the purse strings ? His body language spoke volumes.

• 01-Sep-2011 11:39 | | Den  - Lose to win
  

  Great piece I was wondering the same myself unlikely but you never know. Quite right too about fans we now must play our part we know we can OT was awesome support. Let's get our arsenal spirit back stops arguing with each other and show that we can be the best supporters around.
  
  Whatever happens We are the Arsenal and we are the best etc etc

• 01-Sep-2011 12:55 | | jd  - prem players
  

  Whatever you think about banayoun and arteta they are both at the peak of their careers and know the prem which is exactly what arsenal need. We never sign premier league players an then wonder why the players from league 1 can't handle the pace of the game or the physicality of teams like stoke. Arteta in particular will know how to concentrate for the full 90 and scrap to get a result.

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