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PL Everton Vs Arsenal 22/10/2017 Sky Sports 1:30pm

Who will win?


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Makingtrax

Worships in the house of Wenger 🙏
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This discussion was set off because we disagree how a manager should be judged. You hold we should judge achievements conmensuarate to spending power, I hold we should judge against self-imposed goals and targets.

I think we're pretty much in agreement. You still seem more focused on Wenger's pre-2014 work, and I certainly won't disparage what he's achieved in that period. He did a phenomenal job.

Were I think we, respectfully, disagree is to what extent we are able to compete for the league now. I've set out my reasons for believing the club, Wenger included, at present considers us to have the means to realistically aim for 85 points and also why 75 points has generally satisfied the board as a minimum requirement. Personally, I believe the club is capable of hitting 85 points right now, though I don't think it'll happen under Wenger.

Ultimately the insiders are in the best position to judge, and they've publicly stated that we aim to compete for the league right now. 75 points is no longer good enough. I'm taking them at their word and will judge them by their standards.
If you want to judge him using different criteria that is, to use your own words, your affair.

P.S. If you won't take Wenger's word for it, how about Ivan's? He even partially takes on board your point about spending.



EDIT: This one is even better.
Let's say you're right and the board's target is really 85 points.

They already know that for 20 years they've had Wenger in charge and the team has been pretty much been around the top 4, in the CL and winning FA Cups for fun.

They also know that since the oligarchs arrived with unlimited spending, Arsenal haven't had a sniff of a title.

So what do they do . . . spend even less than last year and keep Wenger?That makes no sense. That smacks of a board happy as they are.

Still think Gazidis and the board are full of bluster and nothing more. Wenger is a safe option. He has a track record of finishing high and winning trophies without breaking the bank.
 

Makingtrax

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Wenger always gets until May to turn things around though. Which was my point. You were saying Koeman deserved to be sacked for his results and money spent. I pointed, then provided, results showing they were hardly better than Wenger's the year prior yet his failing are judged completely different in your eyes.

What is ridiculous is that I apparently need to point out that Koeman easily had the hardest first 9 games of the season and he was sacked as a result. 5 of his first 9 games were vs England's top 6. I was never saying Koeman should not have but I fail to see how he performed any different than Arséne. Wenger was just lucky they didnt all come at the start of the season.
Been watching Arsenal for years and the one thing I would say is that Wenger hasn't been lucky at much at all. Whether it's injuries, refereeing decisions, his own players making **** passes or drawing Barca and Bayern in the 1st round of the knockout stages.

So if he gets away with not playing all the difficult teams in a row then that's something.

But your argument still doesn't wash. Koeman hasn't been in charge that long (no previous form with Everton), the owners have bust a gut to find that amount of money and he's taken them into the relegation zone.

If Wenger had had all those games in a row, he would have 4 points more, which would be 10th, the board know his track record for coming good over a 20 year period and would have stuck with him.

There's no double standards here, you're reaching.
 

Toast

Established Member
Let's say you're right and the board's target is really 85 points.

They already know that for 20 years they've had Wenger in charge and the team has been pretty much been around the top 4, in the CL and winning FA Cups for fun.

They also know that since the oligarchs arrived with unlimited spending, Arsenal haven't had a sniff of a title.

So what do they do . . . spend even less than last year and keep Wenger?That makes no sense. That smacks of a board happy as they are.

Still think Gazidis and the board are full of bluster and nothing more. Wenger is a safe option. He has a track record of finishing high and winning trophies without breaking the bank.

Alternatively, (part of) the board was actually opposed to giving Wenger an extension, but Kroenke overruled them because Wenger doesn't miss his minimum targets. That would fit with Ornstein's report that Wenger's future was decided in a private meeting with Kroenke, who then informed the board.

Wenger, as always, is the person responsible for transfers. If he decided not to spend the money available to him that's hardly an excuse. Though it must be said that this summer Wenger was hampered in his transfer business by the utter incompetence of Gazidis re: the wage bill (which itself is a problem of Wenger's making).

That lack of spending in no way means, however, that the board is happy with achieving 75 points. The evidence on that is very clear. The board can't spend on players if Wenger doesn't want to spend. That's simply not how our club is structured. It then makes no sense to relate a lack of spending to a lack of ambition of the board. The board made the money available and that's all they could do.

I agree with you that Wenger is a very poor choice for a team aiming to hit 85 points. Nevertheless, that is undeniably our target.
 

Makingtrax

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Alternatively, (part of) the board was actually opposed to giving Wenger an extension, but Kroenke overruled them because Wenger doesn't miss his minimum targets. That would fit with Ornstein's report that Wenger's future was decided in a private meeting with Kroenke, who then informed the board.

Wenger, as always, is the person responsible for transfers. If he decided not to spend the money available to him that's hardly an excuse. Though it must be said that this summer Wenger was hampered in his transfer business by the utter incompetence of Gazidis re: the wage bill (which itself is a problem of Wenger's making).

That lack of spending in no way means, however, that the board is happy with achieving 75 points. The evidence on that is very clear. The board can't spend on players if Wenger doesn't want to spend. That's simply not how our club is structured. It then makes no sense to relate a lack of spending to a lack of ambition of the board. The board made the money available and that's all they could do.

I agree with you that Wenger is a very poor choice for a team aiming to hit 85 points. Nevertheless, that is undeniably our aim.
So the board has a target of 85 points but no clear plan of how to achieve it, are divided in their appointment of manager, unable to spend allocated money, and have lied to the public (Gazidis, "If you look across the world of football, you won't find a better manager than Arsène Wenger").

In addition, you're suggesting that an aging manager in last chance saloon, who desperately wants to win the league to go out on a high like SAF, has turned down the chance to strengthen his squad, telling the board he doesn't need their money. And clearly doesn't understand why Chelsea, City and United have won 12 out of the last 13 seasons.

That's a horror story of a totally dysfunctional board and an unintelligent manager. Just hoping that's a product of your imagination. :lol:
 

Fallout

Active Member
it's PR **** for gazidis and the board to admit that 4th is the extent of our ambition. from a business POV, it would be impossible to justify our ticket prices, and it would also make recruitment of world class players impossible. and also large portions of the fanbase would be seething.

actions speak louder than words. if 1st was the true target, wenger would have been gone long ago. even though i think a better manager can do more with our resources, i dont feel the board care much about whether we are 1st or 4th.
 

Toast

Established Member
So the board has a target of 85 points but no clear plan of how to achieve it, are divided in their appointment of manager, unable to spend allocated money, and have lied to the public (Gazidis, "If you look across the world of football, you won't find a better manager than Arséne Wenger").

In addition, you're suggesting that an aging manager in last chance saloon, who desperately wants to win the league to go out on a high like SAF, has turned down the chance to strengthen his squad, telling the board he doesn't need their money. And clearly doesn't understand why Chelsea, City and United have won 12 out of the last 13 seasons.

That's a horror story of a totally dysfunctional board and an unintelligent manager. Just hoping that's a product of your imagination. :lol:

The club is a dysfunctional mess. That's hardly a secret. Still, they target 85 points and so that target is what they will be judged by.

For what it's worth, I think Wenger tried his best to strengthen the squad this summer, but the unintended consequences of maintaining a socialist wage bill for so long coupled with Gazidis' incompetence may very well have prevented us from adding any more big wages (and hence top players) this summer. This is backed up by the fact that Wenger desperately tried to sell players we wouldn't sell under 'normal' circumstances, e.g. Mustafi, Chambers, Giroud in addition to attempting a clearout of the deadwood.
 

YeahBee

Terrible hot takes
Been watching Arsenal for years and the one thing I would say is that Wenger hasn't been lucky at much at all. Whether it's injuries, refereeing decisions, his own players making **** passes or drawing Barca and Bayern in the 1st round of the knockout stages.

So if he gets away with not playing all the difficult teams in a row then that's something.

But your argument still doesn't wash. Koeman hasn't been in charge that long (no previous form with Everton), the owners have bust a gut to find that amount of money and he's taken them into the relegation zone.

If Wenger had had all those games in a row, he would have 4 points more, which would be 10th, the board know his track record for coming good over a 20 year period and would have stuck with him.

There's no double standards here, you're reaching.

why does it matter where we draw bayern/barca?

gotta beat them anyway to win
 

Mrs Bergkamp

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The club is a dysfunctional mess. That's hardly a secret. Still, they target 85 points and so that target is what they will be judged by.

For what it's worth, I think Wenger tried his best to strengthen the squad this summer, but the unintended consequences of maintaining a socialist wage bill for so long coupled with Gazidis' incompetence may very well have prevented us from adding any more big wages (and hence top players) this summer. This is backed up by the fact that Wenger desperately tried to sell players we wouldn't sell under 'normal' circumstances, e.g. Mustafi, Chambers, Giroud in addition to attempting a clearout of the deadwood.
This is where Abramovic comes good. Chelsea owe a company of his over £100m I believe. The loan will never be called in. Chelsea fringe players have also performed better leading to their higher sale prices while we sell cheaply or nor at all. The early Emirates years are still costly because we bought inferior players and had to pay them inflated wages to offset the lack of trophies. I think the socialist wage structure is slightly misleading-we held on to players we knew because we were too scared to take a chance on another and spend big. We can't shift these guys now,Walcott being the prime example. Wenger gambled on so many players coming good and lost out. We had a massive clear out of our academy and first team four? seasons ago and we still have so much dross. Commercially, Gazidis is a mess. For example,Huawei is a partner. Has anyone approached Apple? Why not buy out our deal with Emirates? Kronke doesn't seem to take much out of the club (£3m?),but he puts nothing in either. It took 10 years to get here. Hopefully,we can get out of this quicker.
 

Makingtrax

Worships in the house of Wenger 🙏
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This is where Abramovic comes good. Chelsea owe a company of his over £100m I believe. The loan will never be called in. Chelsea fringe players have also performed better leading to their higher sale prices while we sell cheaply or nor at all. The early Emirates years are still costly because we bought inferior players and had to pay them inflated wages to offset the lack of trophies. I think the socialist wage structure is slightly misleading-we held on to players we knew because we were too scared to take a chance on another and spend big. We can't shift these guys now,Walcott being the prime example. Wenger gambled on so many players coming good and lost out. We had a massive clear out of our academy and first team four? seasons ago and we still have so much dross. Commercially, Gazidis is a mess. For example,Huawei is a partner. Has anyone approached Apple? Why not buy out our deal with Emirates? Kronke doesn't seem to take much out of the club (£3m?),but he puts nothing in either. It took 10 years to get here. Hopefully,we can get out of this quicker.
Fordstam, Chelsea's holding company is in debt to Abramovic for £1.1bn
 

Makingtrax

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Thanks. I thought I saw that figure somewhere else on the forum but thought surely not.
That's about 1/8 of his savings. Doubt he'll miss it.

Just imagine if he asked for it back though. The club would probably just go into liquidation.

But the question is, how does a club like Arsenal who tries to run as a legitimate business compete with that.
 

Mrs Bergkamp

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That's about 1/8 of his savings. Doubt he'll miss it.

Just imagine if he asked for it back though. The club would probably just go into liquidation.

.
That's about 1/8 of his savings. Doubt he'll miss it.

Just imagine if he asked for it back though. The club would probably just go into liquidation.

But the question is, how does a club like Arsenal who tries to run as a legitimate business compete with that.
We can't compete with that. What we can do is take a chance on real talent eg we should gave bought Van der Sar after 2006 and we need to sell players who aren't right for us whilst they have some value.
 
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