By Tony Attwood
Arsenal have not won a major trophy for 350 weeks (give or take). Liverpool have not won a major trophy for 3 weeks (ditto).
As we know (because the media keep telling us) winning is everything. Trophies are everything. And yes, because I have been at matches like the League Cup final against Birmingham, and I have watched us in a cup semi-final at Wembley lose to Tottenham, I know how much I want us to win something.
But the contrast with Liverpool’s situation just now is one that throws a highlight on this point. As matters stand Liverpool have won a trophy by beating a second division club in the last second. Not that the manner of the victory or the opposition really matters. They did it, and it is in the record books. We have to acknowledge that they have done something we have not done for a number of years.
Against that point, they are currently 12 points below fourth spot and so quite unlikely to qualify for the Champions League next season. They will play in the Europa, due to that Cup win. (At least I think that is how the rules go).
Arsenal on the other hand will win nothing this season, but look quite likely to qualify for the Champions League next season, continuing a staggering run of appearances under Mr Wenger – a run which I believe is only equalled by Man U and Real Mad.
Of course everything that can go wrong has a chance of going wrong, so I am not counting chickens, but just on the balance of probability I would suggest we will qualify along with either Tottenham, Chelsea or Newcastle.
And that leads me back to the question: would you prefer to have the League Cup on display or the two long runs of excellent results we have seen this season, after a poor start, which has led us to probable European Champions League entry again?
Additionally, if we do qualify, it will be on the back of a set of wonderful displays including the now sometimes forgotten 7-1 victory at home to Blackburn, and all the games that have followed. Plus that run of 8 league matches unbeaten which included the 3-5 victory at Chelsea.
But I think there is more to this comparison. Liverpool sold big and bought big last summer, and I am not 100% convinced they got it right. Looking at their displays of late I would not have confidence that this team can drive forwards to greater things, and I think they need to buy more just to keep up with the top clubs. But with Arsenal (and of course I know, I am hopelessly biased, so comparison is difficult) there is now so much light at the end of the tunnel I can’t see the tunnel any more. (That is not to say we won’t buy more, but I don’t think that we desperately have to buy).
I think particularly of…
- The re-birth of Rosicky
- The brilliant full back partnership of Vermaelen and Koscielny (would anyone care to recall some of the things said about Koscielny last season?)
- The excellence of Arteta in holding things together – it looked like a panic last minute buy but it was a staggering buy. If this is panic buying please can we have more of it this summer?
- The end of the endless cries to spend £25m on a new goalkeeper. Sitting in block 99 (upper tier to the right of the north bank goal) I get a fine perspective of goalkeeping activities and I have been stunned this season by Szczensy.
- The emergence of Oxland-Chamberlain. What a staggering player!
- The emergence of Ryo – from the little I have seen this season on TV. Can we really play four wingers in every game? We need to with Theo, Ryo, Ox and Gervinho
- The backups at full back. Of course we know that no matter how many full backs you have you can run out of full backs, but when I have seen Santos, Jenkinson, and Coquelin they have looked fine, fine players. Coquelin in particular looks a dream player to me – just as he did when he appeared for the first time in our Austrian training camp.
- The emergence of our reserves such as Miquel, Ozyakup and Yennaris – plus the mountain of players out on loan. History tells us that every year one or two will come through to stun us.
- Jack
- Robin
- And beyond players, the growth in marketing. Of course it is easier to read the playing staff than the marketing plan, but I wouldn’t mind betting that our marketing growth in the next 18 months will be greater than any other club, with us taking Japan, India, China and Malaysia by storm.
To me this is an extraordinarily exciting situation. Of course next season, as this, as last, we have to battle against the financially doped Man City and Chelsea. Will they abide by Uefa’s financial regulations? I doubt it very much. I suspect their view is that they are too powerful to be refused entry into the Champions League in two years time. So we have to compete with that.
But just be thankful we have Mr Wenger. Because of him, and all he has done, young players of brilliance queue up to come to our club, when they could go to any club. OK, sometimes we lose them to the obscenity of Man City’s wealth, but that’s how it goes at the moment.
To return just for a second to last night – what fans occasionally forget is that Arsenal and Everton’s role could have been reversed. They could have signed a manager with the vision and ability to take them to the very top. They could have had a board with the foresight to build a state-of-the-art stadium ahead of the rest, and a youth system to die for. We could have been confined to the mid-table mediocrity into which the club sank after the 1971 Double season, and which was our lot under Swindin and Wright in the 1950s and 1960s.
Last night we had 62% of the possession, and 14 goal attempts to Everton’s 7. We restricted Everton to 1 shot on target.
Shall I repeat that? One shot on target.
That is what I call domination. And to answer my own question: I would much sooner be in Arsenal’s position today than Liverpool, even though they have a nice shiny pot to polish.
At a moment like this it is important not to crow at the misfortune of others
Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football. Have your name in the book as an official sponsor. Updated information here
The day when Fulham tried to take over Arsenal – the full story in “Making the Arsenal”
We’re on Twitter @UntoldArsenal
deluded aresenal,you play great football but win nothing,so what you are saying if you dont win a trophie for the next six years you will be happy??
Kenny got his spending totally wrong.
I know he’s a club legend over there,but if a manager of another club spent as much as he did only to see the club struggling in 7th spot,they be considered an out and out failure.
Much,much rather be where we are.
i did love this article and yes we have now a great team we need to reinforce it carefully because i don’t want to loose any young talent : ramsey-wilshere-OX – jenkinson- Scezeney – Frimpong- walcott do i count more ? 😀 Koscienly performance this year was more than great but don’t forget we have Per Merteasacker how isn’t bad for a defender coming from outside EPL look at Koscienly now and last year Per isn’t that bad i am glad we have goooood defenders now and each one has a special trait : a goal scoring machine : TV
a roster in the back and SOLID Defender : Koscienly
a very very smart defender who read well the game : Mertesacker
and good sub : Djourou (i hope he find back his form )and Miquel ( still young)
Cheers Gooners i wish us i hope by the end of the season a St Totteringham Day 😀
as a lfc fan i feel keeny needs to go ASAP even if he wins the FA cup ,his buys have been shocking and his tactics have been mind boggling poor,
Arsenal play good football but you need to be winning trophies
The best is yet to come.i love your site
Marco- whose sour grapes are you counting? Don’t disgrace a respected Arsenal blog like this with your presence.
The question as to the choice of CL entry or a KO Cup and a part in the Europa trophy is for me a no-brainer. Not only for financial reasons but also for sheer prestige, participation in Eorope’s major Cup competition is the initial target of every team in the EPL.
Of course, it’s very nice for fans to have their occasion at Wembley, see a Cup held aloft but at the end of the day the aftermath is nothing compared to the anticipation of progress in the CL. The monetary returns plus the attraction of top class players to join Clubs regularly entered in the CL simply cannot be over-estimated. 😆
despite their heavy spending ,it is obvious that the reds are way below the gooners.They might have won the league cup but that does not prove their strength considering they did not have a strong opposition in the finals
I feel Liverpool’s main problem is a lack of goalscoring threat. Suarez is a great provider of chances, but appears to lack confidence when actually in front of goal. Downing can provide great crosses, but not goals. Kuyt has an astounding work ethic, and will get some, but is not a goal machine. Gerrard can and does score, but he’s past his prime. Even King Kenny doesn’t have confidence in his Geordie striker. They will have to buy this summer, and goal scorers are very expensive.
Arsenal haven’t won a trophy, that’s true, but the football is almost always fantastic to watch. Our failure to score as many as perhaps we should guarantees excitement. I don’t get the trophy, I don’t get to hold it I do get to watch the games and there’s no team I’d rather watch, especially now we’ve added a never say die attitude.
@Marco
Mate, dont pretend that you wouldnt swap positions with us. Typical Liverpool fan.
The order of achievement goes like this:
Winning Premier League
Winning Champions League
Top 4 Finish
Winning FA Cup
Winning League Cup
The fact of the matter is, is you even win both cups and finish 7th, nobody across europe will see you as a big club, or a threat. Which is exactly what liverpool are not. They are no longer a big club, or a threat, and they havent been for 20 years.
League finish determinds how good you are. and liverpool are clearly not very good, and I cannot remember the last time they were.
deluded? thats funny coming from a racistpool fun. if you call winning the carling cup successful season after spending over 100
million on useless players and trying so had to justify it by continuously playing them, then good. But remember, the money you got for winning the cup wont even pay for Gerrards salary for a month FACT. look youve outspent Arsenal, Chealsea, Manu and even Mancity this season. WELL DONE FOR WINNING THE CARLING CUP
Leaving aside the cheerleading (and lets not get too carried away, there is still a chance we will finish 5th, this latest version of Arsenal is notoriously shaky uner pressure!) Lets look very briefly at how things stand. We are third,a mile off top of the table. Liverpool are seventh (or whatever) a mile of us. In other words, neither is in with a prayer of winning, or even competing for the leage. That is what every fan wants at the start of the year, so both clubs have failed there.
But, for the last decade, 3rd has, to paraphrase, become the new 1st, because of champions league football. Which makes our position far more exciting that Liverpools.
But lets go a bit deeper. WHY are we all so excited about champions league footbal. Well, we are told, it brings in money. Why are we all so happy to bring in Money? Well to buy good players I here you answer. Why do we want to bring good players? To compete at the top level of course. Why do we want to compete at the top level? Well, to win trophies of course!!!! But wait a second, isn’t that what Liverpool have just done?
The Arsenal debate has become a very complex one, but this is at the heart of it. Every year for what seems like eternity, we struggle to make it into the final two CL places, and we breathe a sigh of relief. But what are we so excited about? For me it is because it heralds the summer when ‘Arsene will finally get it right again’. So that next year we will start winning trophies again. For me, getting a top 4 position is great, but ONLY because it gives us a better chance to win something the following year. There have been many many years in our clubs magnificant history, pre champions league football, when we finished 4th, but these years fade away into bland obscurity into memory. And rightly so. Because finishing 4th of itself is nothing. Unless it is a stepping stone to greater success.
So thats the answer. If we are finishing top 4 this year, just so that we can finish top 4 next year, then Liverpool are in a far better position that us. Because they have given their fans something to remember, memories of a glory that simply will not fade with time (and believe me, a thrilling League Cup win is something that never leaves you, as much as any other trophy win. Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1. 1987. End of debate).
But if we finish 3rd this year, and it heralds a new dawn for Arrenal after the woeful imcompetant floundering of the last 7 years, then Arsenal are in a better position by far.
Alan alan dont forget they’ve won the finals wiff penalties against a 2d div team
Playing in CL every year more important than local cup trophies.
If we not playing in CL, best players and best youngsters never come to us. Arteta join us because he will never played in CL with Everton.
And, money for CL is very important, money is not everything, but with a lot of extra money you can compete to the other elite club.
The other thing is CL will attract more sponsors.
About Asian players, now is become more important, because Europe football teams now desperatly looking for Asian fans. It was big big market, big big money.
I hope Ryo will be our best player, because he will make us win in Japan market. The other selling point in Japan market is Wenger. And we still have Inamoto, oney day he will help us in Japan.
I hope Wenger can find one or two good young players from China, if we can make superstars from China, it will be massive for Arsenal.
At anfield it seemed that Liverpool matched Arsenal in every department …. actually outplayed could also be used but RVP is an exceptional talent … At the emirates again Liverpool and Arsenal were very close a red card meant the pressure paid and Liverpool got all 3 points ..
The last time Arsenal won a trophy the FA Cup Liverpool won the Champions league since that year Liverpool have won the FA Cup , Carling Cup , played in an additional Champions League final and this year are in the Semi’s of the FA Cup …
I believe Arsenal like Liverpool have fans that see the glass half full and a lot who see it half empty …personally winning trophies is what football is about in those terms and them terms only I believe Liverpool are in the better position ….
Arsenal no doubt…who said trophies are everything? btw media watch picked up your article. Dogface is gonna be mad lol 😛
Great positive article, I too am excited by the talent that we have. I cant’t wait for Ryo to come back and join forces with the likes of The Ox, Jack, Theo and Gervinho…Arteta has been an inspired signing….and as for Kosicelny and Rosicky…only second to RVP in my opinion.
The main test coming up is holding on to RVP..if we lose him than it will have a very negative impact on the young players that we have…but keep him, then next season promises to be treat.
lovin the article!
I don’t agree with what you are saying in any way. But can I ask, what is the point of being huge in China or JApan. What is the point of having more sponsors, excpet to have enought money to bring in good players. And surely the reason we bring in good players is to win trophies at the end of the day?
You’ve not mentioned the prospect of a come-backing Diaby. Somehow I have a feeling that he will come good for the team. But I still think we need 2 or 3 quality signings to replace some of the dross we don’t need in order to really compete with the very best.
Ong Bing makes a good point about the ability to attract players. Without Champions league it can be tough. There is also a huge loss of Revenue.
I will say this tho winning the FA cup would be a tough comparison and I would rather win the FA cup that merely qualify for Champions League. The league cup tho is a joke
So sorry for hte last comment. I meant to say I dont disagree, not dont agree. Apologies
Its hard to decide really. That’s because it depends on the goals of the Liverpool and Arsenal boards. If the goalposts are different you can’t compare. So…
If the goal was…
To win a trophy somehow – Liverpool
To get into CL somehow – Arsenal (as of now)
To balance the books – Arsenal(although Pool also have sold)
To promote more youth – I don’t know, although I’d lean towards us
To strengthen the squad – I’d say Arsenal (based on Pool’s bad English buys)
So if you look at those 5 major factors, I’d say Arsenal do look like they have had the better year.
The only crappy thing Arsenal have done for me this year is buying Park and letting him rot in his prime. I hope there is an explanation for this somewhere and that Park hasn’t been hung out to dry.
All the rest.. if we finish 3rd or 4th (if we dip) , I’m more than happy.
Top article. In terms of prestige, the league although nice to win,does not come near to the buzz of qualifying and playing against the best in Europe. Old dogface spent over £120m and was expected to not only challenge the EPL but also qualify easily for the champions league. Arsenal werent even expected to challenge for the league let alone finish in the top 5. And yet here we are have gone further than the mancs in Europe and sitting 3rd in the league above the Tiny’ Tots, Chelski and league cup winners Liverpool. I know wh
Top article. In terms of prestige, the league cup although nice to win,does not come near to the buzz of qualifying and playing against the best in Europe. Old dogface spent over £120m and was expected by his media chumps to not only challenge for the EPL but also qualify easily for the champions league. Arsenal werent even expected to challenge for the league let alone finish in the top 5. And yet here we are having gone further than the mancs in Europe and sitting 3rd in the league above the Tiny’ Tots, Chelski and league cup winners Liverpool. I know which position All Liverpool fans would rather be in.
IN ARSENE WE TRUST
Being that football = money and money seems to = football these days, I’d take whatever earns us the most. The sooner the club can become debt free and avoid interest charges, thus allowing more of our revenue to go on development, the better it will be.
Arsenal don’t need to make major signings, we just need to get it right (and get the luck) by keeping our best players fit at key times of the season. I’m hoping the positive signs we are seeing from RVP’s sustained period of fitness is a sign that someone, somewhere in the club has changed something which has resulted in less visits to the medics table.
@roger s. so finishing 7th and winning the carling cup is the ultimate Goal for Liverpool now is it. We may not have won a trophy in the last 7years, but considering the transition we’ve had to go through in moving stadiums and having to replace world class players like Vieira, Henry, Llungberg , Pires etc whilst still qualifying for the CL on a tight budget has not been easy. Not many managers could have delivered such consistency during this time like Wenger. Don’t forget we could have won the league in that time if we had not lost Eduardo to the Birmingham thugs. So crow all you want about the odd lucky trophy won but it doesn’t hide the fact Liverpool are now in the 2nd Tier of the EPL whilst we are still amongst the ELITE having won more trophies in the last 15years than everyone but Manure (who by the way will win a 20th and last league title this season to overtake your mob) chew on that pal.
I think without a doubt, it’s Arsenal who are in a better position as a club. That’s not to knock Liverpool. But their trophy drought was never an issue highlighted by the media anyway. So they won a Carling Cup. Well done. But even their manager was forced to justify his position by saying much the same things as Arsenal fans, including on this site. That is that the league position alone doesn’t show whether he’s done a good job or not. It’s the overall position the club is in. In which he also included the new kit deal.
Fair enough. But Liverpool are nowhere near Arsenal’s position right now and it’s highly debatable that Dalglish has actually contributed positively to Liverpool’s growth as a club in his short time there. Liverpool have had 2 seasons now that the press has been predicting Arsenal will have for the past 4-5 years. They went bust. Had a bank sell them to their current owners so it’s not like they were doing a great job of managing themselves. The only thing Liverpool have done is sign a good shirt deal. Arsenal’s shirt deal is up for review in 2014, and Arsenal already have a new stadium which’ll take Liverpool about 400m to build. That sort of cash isn’t easy to raise and Arsenal’s so called lack of ambition..something that Hal also alludes to in his post (even if he doesn’t use the term) is actually the most ambitious strategy among current clubs. The stadium seems like an albatross sometimes, but it is a HUGE project and Arsenal have managed the transition well. It’s getting to the stage where we can take the next step. Getting in the CL may not suddenly make us win trophies NEXT SEASON. But just because it takes 5 seasons (which I dont think it will now) doesn’t mean its less ambitious a strategy. I think anyone who’d rather be in Liverpool’s current position than Arsenal’s has their blinkers on. Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool all want their new stadium and haven’t been able to make progress on it.
Have we lost sight of what’s important? Not really. Anyone who sees how Wenger takes defeats know he’s all about the football and about winning. But we have had to constantly update our strategy because when the stadium was planned there was no Abramovich, and now there are about 5 clubs who spend insane amounts. We’ve had to push our wages up as well to deal with that, and that might have also delayed our transition phase because we couldnt make/save as much money as originally planned. But the stadium is the key to becoming a top top club, and nothing about the project shows lack of ambition. The trophies will come. In fact they would have come except for the referees, but that’s another story.
English cups are not important at all (both of them are craps in the showcase). Good for practicing injured or young players.
But 7 years without a premier title and especially without a single cup in European Champions league in history is simply tooooo much for a club with such a budget and history.
@Marco
There’s only 1 Andy Carrol.
great post. broken down wonderfully including comments., we truly are in a fantastic position all round. no brainer. get third and summer will be very interesting indeed.
Arsenal are really coming to India? I read they are going to Hong Kong and China this July and was thinking of going to Hong Kong(I got a ticket to watch them at China when they played at Hangzhou Greentown but my customer was saying I am crazy and would not send me an invitation to visit China).
It would be great if they are visiting India anytime soon. I will be there.
Also at this moment I goto HongKong to watch as HongKong has on arrival free visa for Indians.
St. Totter………..
no need to add anything to this excellent post – here here! except that Marco appears to me to be a frustrated lfc fan – you did not answer the question Marco – rather lfc or arsenal over the last 5 years?
@Prasanna: I doubt they are..no. There was that partnership with Tata Tea to unearth young talent…but that was it; they aren’t coming next year. It was just Munich who came in the German winter break. Will be awesome if they do come though.
Arsene wenger has kept arsenal competitive for past 7 years. That’s good enough for me. Final lap is down to luck sometimes and we don’t have that for last 7 years.
I think tony has a personal beef with liverpool. Just my opinion.
They have done fantastically well on commercial revenue side. I think they will be earning same amount of money as arsenal without the CL football, if arsenal qualifies for the CL otherwise more!! That’s good business.
Arsenal might in the future work on their commercial deals but that will be in future. Liverpool, without winning any major trophies and performing poorly in the league, have managed to attract wealthy sponsors.
Hal to answer the question you asked earlier.
I think Arsenal fans are excited about been in the champions league for a few reasons.
My personal reason is that financialy it keeps us afloat until 2014 when the shirt and kit deals can be renegotiated. Liverpools deals right now are worth approx 20 mill each a season more than our sponors pay us.
We seem to have been selling talent each summer to make money and once we reach the stage were the deals are renegotiated we can then stop selling keep our squad and compete financialy again.
And one thing I know for sure if AW had the cash to spend that daglish has spent we would be the best team on the planet ….certainly winning trophies.
@Hal
Fans have a spectrum of desires. Players also have desires. Lots of players dream of playing in Champions League. Some like winning Cups, doesn’t matter what kind. Some want to play in the World Cup. And supposedly, some just want a paycheck.
From a team psychology point of view, I think transfers always have the potential to do more harm than good. If players retire for whatever reason, they may need to be replaced. That is a good reason for a transfer. But to buy players just for the sake of buying them, is a poor reason. Of course, some of these teams with too much money have a purpose in buying players, they want to keep players away from other teams, or they want to drive the prices up. But in general, the fewer transfers a team uses, the better. Especially with a good youth system in place, as it is possible to see how the youth fit into the team on a psychological or talent basis, without spending lots of money just to get the chance.
With respect to the endless speculation by the media. I think that if some loud mouthed media outlet thinks that player XYZ is the one for Arsenal, by all means take your own money and go out and buy that player’s contract. You can then approach Wenger to see if he is interested in that player. And if Wenger isn’t interested, good luck trying to find someone else to sell him to.
Good article Tony. The positive thing that comes across is that the core of the Arsenal squad is a class act and as you rightly point out we have a large body of emerging super talent starting to break into the first team. In comparison, it is hard to think of any other club in as good a position for the future – certainly not Liverpool. While Chelsea & City etc will compete by buying heavily, they will not develop the same teamwork or team spirit. The future for Arsenal looks very exciting.
and very important a lot of our current players are not just players for the money but also care about Arsenal.
Our Gooner-Gunners (copyright Untold 😉 )
I never like the way Chelsea won the trophy in the past because it is simply kind of buying not a merit.Hence i never ever like Mourinio.Simply for me it is not football.I amjust an ordinary fan and i dont like at all this kind of buying trophy and parade it as they won it fairly and squarly.
When it comes to Liverpool winning it has differnt taste as they spend silly money for English players while they are balance book is very much in red.Yes they won trophy but at what cost ?
Will the club be able to continue survive in a long term ? will the trophy matter when the creditors knock the door ?
I smell Rangers thing…..Not to me.
The arsenal way is the arsenal way.In that to keep the house in order first and foremost is the motto.The underline message is clear “do not expect trophy “.Period
Arsenal the club do not have financial muscles that can make them compete with likes of chelsea or the manchesters.When members of the director board at times say we have money to spend it sound like there is plenty to spend but in reality it is just a show of bravado and nothing more.Hundreds of million in debt is not an easy.
I am an Arsenal fan and i like the responsible way of winning the trophy and not buying it irresponsibly.
A no-brainer, really. In almost every respect Arsenal is better of. Self-sustaining, an ever developing squad with massive potential, playing at the highest European stage year in year out, huge untapped marketing potential, one of the best youth academies in the world.
The only point where I envy Liverpool is their Champions League trophy. I don’t care much about the League Cup, although of course if would have been nice if we had won it last year.
Hence, achievements in order of importance to me are:
– Champions League winner
– EPL champions
– EPL top four finish
– FA Cup winner
– Europa League winner
– League Cup winner
@Hal: “WHY are we all so excited about champions league footbal. Well, we are told, it brings in money. Blah blah blah”
Bull sh*t! We are excited about CL football because we have not won it yet. We have been very close, but not won it yet. We want to compete for that trophy in every year. We have beat the hell out of everyone (including Barca) in that league, but we have not won it yet. This is NOT the sole money issue. Your way of thinking proved you are a loser. If you are so desperate to have a cup, any cup to be “proud” of, like our dear Loserpool, I mind you that Arsenal have won the Emirates Cup couple of times until now. It is a “friendly cup” but at least we have beat the like of Paris St.German, AC Milan, Lyon and Atletico Mad to win it, not some second division teams.
@Alex: Your opinion is very similar to mine. As I said before, the best laugh I have ever had was when the morons on my TV channel keep claiming that Mouriclown is the best manager in the world. Even my 10 year old nephew could do better than that clown in “managing” Chelski in a football manager video game. I hacked the game for him so he got 100M every year to spend of course.
If “trophy” means “insane spending”, “getting into debt” or “inviting a mafia boss to buy the club” than NO. No, thank you very much but no!
I agree we quality young players, i agree we resourceful youth, however if we qualify for CL we need three top world class players to add to the squad
1. Attacking midfielder with killer passes, like Fabregas or Viera. RVP would have scored 100 goals if he had such a person in the middle of the park
2. We need Holding Mid equaling or superior to Song for Song may be injured, suspended
3. Another top class striker
With this we can be competitive like Barca, Real and can be Europe Champs
One thing that drives me crazy is no one has ever given credit to Wenger for one very large “trophy”: our new stadium. L’pool can win the mickey mouse cup every year, I’ll take the Emirates because it allows me compete on equal footing with clubs in England and any other country.
Our time is coming, the refs and other conspirators be damned. As had been pointed out in another article here, some of our commercial deals, such as our kit deal, were geared towards cash up front to help fund the building of the Emirates and are due to expire. The pure mercenary-types have left and the ones dedicated to the cause are finally finding their form (e.g. Rosicky). We have some top-class young players earning their stripes (Rambo, Ox, Ryo) and as Tony has pointed out, another group behind them (Coquelin, Ozyakup, Miguel, Afobe etc).
@KAOKORA, I don’t think we need 3 “world class” players, we probably only need one (an attacker). Wilshere, once he’s recovered from his injury, is certainly a world class player and we can rotate he, Diaby, Arteta and Song in the middle of the pitch. You can see two partnerships there: Song + Wilshere and Diaby + Arteta. I know we need them healthy but if Wenger rotates them and looks at some match-ups, we should manage well. Don’t forget a young lad like Coquelin will have to mix in the rotation at some point. We do need someone up front who can finish on a consistent basis to take a little pressure off RVP and prevent from other teams’ CBs from keying in only on him (I am really keeping my fingers crossed we get Podolski).
A long way to say, there is no way I will trade what we have with anything that ‘Pool has. Put another way, if we are able to put our best XI forward, I think any of them can play in ‘Pool. If ‘Pool puts their best XI forward, I am not sure I would be keen to put any of them into our lineup – maybe only Luis Enrique at LB and Kuyt as one of our attackers … maybe.
Why is this such an argument. Liverpool fans prioritise cups and should be happy they have won a cup. Arsenal fans prioritise getting into the champions league and hopefully will do that. We’re both winning!