A Revolution at Arsenal? Certainly, but at what cost?

 

 

 

• Arsenal’s squad and the two clubs with the most valuable players in the Premier League
• Arsenal enter the 4th Revolution as we see what makes Arteta so different

By Nitram

Following on from Tony’s excellent article ‘Arsenal enter the 4th Revolution as we see what makes Arteta so different’, which examines the enormous strides Arsenal have made under Arteta;s ‘revolution’, I thought I’d take a look at some of the financial numbers that lie behind this revolution, and ask whether we are getting value for money, or is Arteta actually a failure, as some are claiming.

On my trawls around the nooks and crannies of the interweb, I have seen lots of claims that Arteta is not quite the revolutionary we may think he is. In fact, given the amount of money he has spent on players, the lack of a title is proof positive that he is in fact a complete failure.

The question is, do ‘they’, his critics, have a point? 

I thought the best way to judge this would be to compare what Arteta has achieved over his first 5 years at Arsenal, to what Pep Guardiola achieved over his first five years at Manchester City, and crucially, what it cost them, because that is the stick with which they seem to keep beating Arteta.

First off let’s look at what Arteta has achieved at Arsenal.

He joined Arsenal in December 2019 taking over from Unai Emery, who had just lead us to a 5th place finish in season 18/19. Arsenal finished 8th in Arteta’s first (half) season, and of course won the FA Cup. But I am actually going to pretty much ignore the FA Cup, because everything I read from his detractors suggests that ‘that doesn’t count’. Only the big one’s count. The PL and CL and as neither won the CL in their first 5 years that just leaves the Premiership, so we’ll focus on that.

So, regarding the Premiership then, Arsenal’s previous four finishes prior to Arteta’s arrival were 2nd, 5th, 6th, 5th. 

Let’s look at Arteta’s all-important spending:

Arteta’s first transfer window was the summer of 2020 during which he spent €66m. Over the next four summers, which includes this current one, Arteta’s five-year spend has reached €577 million. 

Yes, a lot of money, but the question is, have we got value for money?

Well, as we all know, since Arteta’s arrival we have finished 8th – 8th – 5th – 2nd – 2nd meaning Arteta’s €577m spend has seen us rise from 8th to 2nd, which includes all the dramatic improvements in all parameters as covered by Tony in his previous articles.

I think that is a pretty decent return in itself, especially when you look at what certain other teams have got for their money.  But I digress.

As I said, I thought the best way to give Arteta’s achievements a little bit of perspective is to compare his first five years with that of the maestro himself, Pep Guardiola. 

Let’s look at what Pep achieved over his first five years, and then what it cost him.

Pep joined Manchester City in February 2016 taking over from Manuel Pellegrini, who had just led them to a second-place finish in season 2014/15. Man City finished fourth in Pep’s first (half) season. 

Man City’s previous four finishes were 1st, 2nd,1st, 2nd.

So, the first thing to say was that Pep took over a Man City team that was a much better team than the Arsenal team handed to Arteta. But what did he achieve? Well, he finished his first half-season in fourth spot, then up to third, then back to where they were, at the top, a position he has since managed to hang on to till today.

But we are just talking about those first five years, and what both managers got for their money in those five years.

So what Pep achieved in reality was to take Manchester City back to where they were three years earlier.

But now here’s the thing, how does Pep’s spending compare with Arteta’s?

Pep’s first transfer window was the summer of 2016 over which he spent €165m Over the next four summers, Peps five-year spend reached €540m.  Again a lot of money, and in fact an almost identical spend to Arteta’s. 

So, for pretty much the same amount of money, Arteta has taken Arsenal from well outside the top four to second, and Pep has re-established Manchester City as the best team in the Premier League. I think both managers have performed miracles, in different ways. Both mangers have indeed got value for money.

But, having said that, there is a difference, and it’s a massive difference, and I think it confirms that what Arteta has achieved,  It is in fact extraordinary, even though it is actually the stick with which his detractors love to beat him.  It is the ‘spend’.

Pep took over a team that was already a top-2 team. As I said above, in the four seasons prior to his arrival they finished 1st, 2nd, 1st, 2nd. But this is the thing, they had already been spending absolutely enormous amounts of money, in fact, an incredible €651,000,000 over the previous nine years. That means by the end of Pep’s 3rd season when he got them back to the top, Man City had spent over ONE BILLION POUNDS on players over 11 years. 

In the nine years preceding Arteta’s arrival, Arsenal’s spend was €337m, giving an equivalent 11 year spend of €527m. Half of Manchester City’s spend!!!

Okay, we all know Man City’s spending has dropped. They are in fact trading Rolls Royces for Rolls Royces. I fully expect Arsenal’s spend to drop similarly over the next few seasons as they hopefully start trading Rolls for Rolls. But the point is we have been playing catch up to a club that spent ONE BILLION POUNDS on players over a decade and a bit to get them to the top.

And it is , Manchester City, and only Manchester City, that has stopped Arteta from achieving in his first five seasons, exactly the same as Guardiola did in his first five seasons, except Arteta did it at at a club that was in a far worse place when he arrived than the one Pep arrived at.

I’m not picking on Guardiola in particular as what he has achieved at Manchester City is remarkable. He is a fantastic coach. But let us not pretend he has achieved what he has achieved on a budget. Over his first five years he spent the same half a billion pounds as Arteta has, but on a team that had already had hundreds of of millions spent on it.

In fact Pep took Man City’s spending well above A BILLION in 11 years. Not only that but he took over a team that had already won the league twice, and been runners-up twice, in the previous five seasons. Arteta took over a team that had had half the money spent on it that Manchester City had, was languishing well outside the top four, and hadn’t won the league for 13 years.

Yes of course the ultimate goal is to win the Premier League, and thereafter the Champions League, but as Tony says, what Arteta is doing at Arsenal is remarkable, and I don’t think it is an exaggeration to call it a revolution. 

The problem is the team standing in the way still has Pep at its helm and, of course, still has unlimited funds, should they ever need them. So the next step is going to be extremely difficult. But if we do manage to win the league this season against such formidable opponents, it could be the greatest, or maybe the second greatest, achievement in Arsenal’s great history.

Note: All amounts are Nett.