- The Arsenal team and the responsibility of supporters
- After the first six games, we can be fairly sure what the final table will look like
By Tony Attwood
Although of course we primarily focus on Arsenal, it is always interesting to establish just what the tiny totts donw the road are doing, especially when we are faced with ceaseless criticism about Arsenal in the media and on the blogs. And so we might take a glance at Tottenham’s pre-season, just for a moment.
In so doing, we find that yes, they were undefeated in their first five summer friendlies, beating Reading 2-0 and Arsenal 1-0. But then, on the other hand, they drew with Wycombe of League One (who have just been beaten at home by Stockport) and Luton Town, now also lurking in League One.
In their other two games, they drew with Newcastle and then lost to Bayern Munich. And perhaps that is excusable; after all Bayern are a strong team. Except that Tottenham lost that one 4-0, and it was their last game before the SuperCup Final on Wednesday against PSG. I could say “good luck with that one” but I wouldn’t mean it, in terms of either side.
Moving on, Liverpool have had the sort of pre-season they would have hoped for, although with a real quirk in it of playing Athletic Bilbao twice on the same day for reasons that have not become clear to me, although I’m sure everyone else knows.. But they won all their games except a 2-4 home defeat to Milan, which is odd since Milan came eighth in the Italian leasgue last season.
Liverpool have signed eight players – the big signings being Hugo Ekitike from Frankfurt for £69m, Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth for £5m plus Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen for £29.5m. Although please do note that all prices are approximate as different sources quote different amounts, and some quote in Euros some in Pounds and my calculator is not always at its best first thing in the morning.
Manchester City have also brought in six players for fees, but none at the cost of those Liverpool players. Tijani Reijnders cost £55m from Milan, and three players cost in the £30m to £36m bracket, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Checki and James Trafford.
Moving down the chart however, we come to Chelsea, who have brought in eight players for between £10m and £55m.
This wholesale purchasing of more players than can actually be fitted into the team or even the “25” seems to be the approach of Chelsea, and indeed they’ve been doing it for some time. They have paid for nine new players this summer, the top price being for Joao Pedro at £50m from Brighton.
But even so Chelea are at least at the moment not the top spendings, for the latest figures seem to be Liverpool – £267m. Chelsea – £240.2m. Manchester United £207m, Arsenal – £192.6m. Manchester City – £153.4m.
At the other end of the chart, Newcastle have spent money on just one player, while Fulham are also still just showing one player bought and four released, and one out on loan. Their argument is that they have a good young squad and don’t need all of this transfer malarky. Besides, they have just spent an utter fortune on their new restaurant overlooking the Thames, which is apparently the most expensive restaurant in London – although Untold hasn’t received an offer of a table there yet.
Newcastle United seem to be in turmoil despite their name having bought in only one player and being worried about FFP, while Tottenham have splashed money on five men – the most expensive being Mohammed Kudus at £55m from West Ham.
Which then indeed does make one wonder about West Ham. They have spent money on just two players: Todibo from Nice for £35mk, and Diouf from Savlia Prague and Mads Hermansen from Leicester for about £18m each, along with three free transfers from Celtic, Southampton and Newcastle. On the other hand, they have sold Mo Kudus to Tottenham for £55m.
Now, as we know and have mentioned many times, West Ham got their ground for free from the state, while selling of Upton Park, and so they don’t have the normal costs of paying for a new ground over 25 years., They also finished 14th in the league last time around. OK, they were not threatened by relegation, and indeed probably won’t be this year as it seems quite likely that relegation has lost its threat to established clubs what with the three that come up then going down again at the end of the campaign.
But one might have thought that, having finished 14th last time around with the fourth worst goal difference in the league, they might have put a bit more effort into the transfer malarky. But seemingly not. However I am sure they know what they are doing.