Written by Guest Blog : armourysquare
You know, it just is not fair that a club with such a stature as Arsenal has not won a trophy since the FA Cup in 2005. Since 2006, Arsenal have managed a mere top 4 finish. Lets not take away the fact that a top 4 finish in the Barclays Premier League is something which is seriously difficult to do, and is indeed worth applauding, but seriously as an Arsenal Fan is that what I would want to see? A team which plays “Beautiful Football,” which a neutral would love to watch deserves a bit more , don’t you think?
Now lets see what Arsene Wenger has done for the club. Yes, he gave the green light to build the massive 60,000 seater Emirates Stadium, knowing fully that the club would be restricted in the finance department in years to come. And quite frankly it did :
Lets take a look at the transfers Wenger has done in 2006 :
PLAYER FROM FEE
Song Bastia £1,000,000
Denilson Sao Paulo £3,400,000
PLAYER TO FEE
Cygan Villareal £2,000,000
Stokes Sunderland £2,000,000
Lauren Portsmouth £500,000
Larsson Birmingham £1,000,000
Muamba Birmingham £4,000,000
Aliadiere Middlesbrough. £1,500,000
Henry Barcelona £16,100,000
Now just consider this year. He has brought in players worth 4.4 ml pounds and let go of players worth 27.1 ml pounds. Now that is a massive difference of 22.7 ml pounds. So eventually he saved, season per season, slowly working his way through the debts of Arsenal and brought it to this stage.
In the forthcoming years, he let go Hleb, Flamini e.t.c (although these 2 wanted to leave ) and he brought in players like Sagna, Nasri, Arshavin, Eduardo e.t.c. What did he sacrifice, he sacrificed that thing which all Arsenal Fans want and desire most : T-R-O-P-H-I-E-S. By seeing neighbours Chelsea, rivals Manchester United year-after- year take away the competition of the Premier League, we fans probably feel depressed. Now it is true that Wenger has really acted like a miser these past few years (well we can’t blame him can we ? ), and we can’t do much about it. But this summer, after Mr Gazidis has stated :
“When I spoke to you last year we had about £120million of debt on Highbury Square and I remember a lot of the questions revolved around that and our property development activity,” he said.
“We have put a lot of focus behind that and I am pleased to announce that Highbury Square is now debt-free. So now every sale of an apartment at Highbury Square is generating profits for the Club that come back in and are available for reinvestment.
“The other thing that has happened has been Queensland Road on the south side of the Stadium. The affordable housing part of that development has been sold to a developer so we are entirely debt-free on the property side.
“It means that sales on the remaining property developments that we have in and around the south side of the stadium will be pure profit to the Club that will come into the group and be available for use.”
More – over he has also stated, as it is in Arsenal.com :
“We’re now coming to a period, with Highbury Square coming to its completion and some of our other property developments bearing fruit, where the financial health of the Club is secure,” explained the Chief Executive.
“That does not mean we have unlimited resources, but it does mean we have sufficient funds to invest. As always we’ll only do this on our timescale, on the basis of our manager’s assessments and not those of the media.
“We have the youngest squad in the Premier League and we need to translate that potential into results. To the extent that the manager thinks it’s necessary, we will use our resources to supplement the squad intelligently so that we can take that vital step forward.
“For the most part we’re now in the healthy position that almost all of our young players are under long-term contracts and their futures are secure, as well as their possible transfer values being protected. One or two players are coming to the end of their contracts – William Gallas, for example.
“Whatever happens, Arsène has identified the fact that the defence has been an issue for us this year, so it’s not difficult to imagine that that’s an area we’re focused on in this transfer window.”
Now Mr. Gazidis, has actually stated that Arsene Wenger admits that the defence is an issue to be looked into. So my simple question to him is, why has he not strengthened the defence? It is really sad to see that we are just a few players away from a Treble-winning team. And no, I am not exaggerating! Lets face it, we have a superb attack, with the new addition of Chamakh, and the original quality of Robin Van Persie. Our midfield is of a high stature and quality – Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin, Alex Song e.t.c And even our defense is strong, provided all our players are fit. But simple, they are not, they just can’t always be fit! They are human-beings also, so it is not exactly logical that each of them shall be fit for every single match of the season.
Now many Arsenal fans shall say that there is nobody available in the market, who can improve the quality of our defence. But let me point out 2 things to you. Firstly, the reason nobody is there in the market is that Arsenal are too slow to react to transfer situations. I mean, take our own Koscielny for example. His transfer was known to us well before it was completed, yet it took the club over a month to sign him. Consider if Koscielny got injured after Joe Cole tackled him, then we would be back to square 1, wouldn’t we? Secondly, the defence as a whole includes the goalkeeper, are you telling me that there is nobody in the world who can improve the quality of the current stock of ‘keepers’ we have?
You know, I ask you readers to consider something. Why am I writing this article? I could be better off playing some video-game, watching sportscentre, improving my knowledge about other stuff. But why am I writing this article? Simply, because I am sad that a club with so much potential, quality, sound financial planning and ethics does not win a single – damn trophy because of some simple, basic decisions.
I had read in an article that Mesut Ozil is linked with Arsenal, before the World Cup. Why couldn’t Wenger sign him? Today as of now, Samir Nasri is injured, he is out for a month with a knee-problem. Honestly would Ozil not be a good-option? After reports and reports coming everyday that Werder Bremen are ready to sell Ozil, could the club not bid £17 ml pounds, even though they were asking for £15 to assure us this deal! We signed Arshavin for £17 ml, and that took over a month. By this time, he would be an Arsenal player, and we would not have a hole in the midfield. Also, he could persuade Mertersacker to come over to North-London. Frankly, I will never know this answer, and that will make me even more pissed off at the club.
So, basically what I want to propose is that the club should come out and answer to the fans, what is its target. Every year you will hear either Gazidis or Wenger say that we want to win Trophies. But they never do, that is their target, but they never achieve it. On the other hand, to reduce the debt is also a target, and that is achieved. The latter is in no way a bad -thing. But for 5 years we have been reducing our debt, at least now let us spend on some quality players, especially in the goalie zone, and then again ‘start the curtailing our finance process.’ This way, all of us are happy. Its not that the club by spending £10-22 ml pounds more shall take a step backwards.
I got this article from uk.reuters.com, look at what it stated about our club debt, on February 26th, 2010 :
The club said on Friday pretax profit rose to 35.2 million pounds ($54 million) in the six months to November 30 from 24.5 million a year ago, boosted by proceeds from apartment sales at its Highbury Square development, where the club’s previous stadium was situated.
The club said the sale of 261 apartments during the period generated revenue of 96.6 million. 524 of the 655 apartments on the site have now been sold and the proceeds from the sales has been used to pay down debt, it added.
Arsenal said it cut its total net debt from 332.8 million pounds a year ago to 203.6 million pounds.
Arsenal said revenues in its football business also rose to 100.2 million pounds from 98.4 million on higher UEFA Champions League broadcasting payments.
The club said it would consider investing future surplus cash in club projects and infrastructure both in and around the Emirates Stadium.
Everything is in order, but then it isn’t. Every thing seems right, but they are not . Why ? If life was so simple, we would be leagues ahead of our rivals, but Wenger should understand that life is not that simple. Winning the league, he says is his priority, but honestly, you tell me has he taken any “great step” towards this so called objective. I completely respect that man, and sometimes out of pity, that he does not win anything I feel sorry and think he should resign. But he deserves something, at least 1 trophy. Sadly the limiting factor is “Arsene Wengers ego”, and until he takes care of it, it shall affect Gooners all around the globe….how much we beg, how much we shout , that man calls the cards, we can just talk…….just talk.
I shall end my article with “In Arsene we Trust”, but I ask you, do you think I mean it…do I actually mean it ?
***Thanks to armourysquare for submitting this article. Please be aware these are the views of the guest contributor and not those of Football-talk.co.uk***
