Yesterday the football world received some incredibly good news.
By Walter Broeckx
And by this good news I don’t mean us sending Porto back home with a 5-0 defeat in their bag. That is some very good news for Arsenal and maybe also for the football world in general but you can’t expect fans of Chelsea or MIOU to jump up in joy for our magnificent performance.
No, the good news came from Madrid. Where the local team also known as Real, (a team who seem to get money from all sorts of strange places which are only spoken about in a whisper), could not qualify for the next round of the Champions League.
In fact they haven’t reached the quarter finals for something like five seasons.
We all remember last summer when the whole transfer market wend mad after Real decided to splash the cash they had or even didn’t have. We all heard the enormous sums of money paid for Ronaldo, Kaka and others.
Where the money came from was not very clear but these things are brushed under the carpet by most of the main stream media, with talk of “sales of shirts”, as if somehow one might sell eight million Christiano Ronaldo shirts.
Indeed how a club with such an amount of debt could afford those players was not a questions that was raised by the main stream media. They just loved the headlines which sold them newspapers or brought visitors to their sites.
I know Tony named them Real Mad after this and mad is the only correct way to describe what they did.
With all those players they thought they would be unbeatable. This was going to be the best bought team in history. Nobody could be able to stop the combined forces of Kaka, considered the worlds best midfielder, and Ronaldo, considered the worlds best striker after Messi.
And in the beginning the started very well. But then came some cracks. A few defeats in La Liga. And most of all the total embarrassment came in the copa del rey where Real Mad lost to a 3rd division team, Alcorcon, over two games. The first was a 4-0 defeat and in the return leg they could only win with 1-0. So if you want to speak of humiliation, this was one.
But in La Liga they don’t do to bad but considering the amount of money spent they should have been celebrating the title by now.
Yesterday in the Champions League Lyon proved to good for Madrid. The multi millions spent on players to ensure that they were able to win the Champions League final in their own stadium are wasted. The old football lesson that you are not guaranteed anything just because you just put the 11 best players of the world in one team is a very true wisdom.
11 stars does not equal success. You do need people who do the dirty work for the stars.
So one can imagine the laughter around the world by those who don’t like the idea of spending beyond your means to buy all those superstars. And I must admit I had some malicious pleasure last night in seeing Ronaldo walking off the field with tears in his eyes… yeah I admit I sometimes have a bad character.
For The Arsenal this means one thing. After the unbeaten season we started building a team from almost zero under the guidance of our manager. And in that time we have managed always to do better than Real Madrid. Madrid are deep in debt, but the tax payer in Spain will pay for it as usual. Our debt is a mortgage on the Emirates and we pay it back like a good father or mother does for his home.
Yes the fans in Madrid can see players like Kaka and Ronaldo but in a few weeks time they will be seeing us playing who ever we may have to play in the next round and Kaka and Ronaldo will be sitting in their comfortable chairs eating their hearts out.
So once again we are doing better than Real Mad, we have a young team with stars for the future, we play exciting football. Do you want to give up our current situation for the Madrid situation? I would not. And I am sure that a lot of Madrid fans today will be asking themselves : how is this possible? They promised us heaven on earth and we are out even before it really begins.
Arsenal is still in it, as we have always been in recently years despite us building a team and not buying a team. So let us just continue on the road we are walking. Enjoy what we see on the playing field and cherish our young players who are now already stars for us and who will be stars in world football in the next decade. Thank God for the way our club is run by our manager.
It’s good to be a Gooner.
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Or not.
As the case may be.
You look at the lyon team that beat Real you wil realise that its better to have a team than a collection of stars. we buy Nasri £10, they buy kaka £65 and at the end they boooo him. its realy funny
Good article, couldn’t agree more.
Don’t expect the iZombies to learn anything frome the Real Mad’s defeat as yet. Not while ManIOU trashed the old girl AC (or is it WC?) Millan. They are far too busy rabidly jostling for position to lick S Alex F-word’s ass to notice.
Real Mad though, did not learn from the debacle of the 1st galactico. Hopefully, they would have learnt from yesterday’s turn-over, beaten as they were by a team built with about 25% – 30% of €260M Valentino spent in just one summer.
what rubbish??i think i started calling them real mads, and ur giving the credits to tony??? well ok, but let me tell u, loserfool is my innovation.
Okay Critic! By royal ordinance from, and on behalf of, Sir Tony of Untold Arsenal, Let it be known by all & Sundry that the person, heretofore referred to as “critic”, is hereby officially credited with creating the alias – “loserfool”. lol!!
Old Perez used to say that the easiest way to make money was on the biggest transfers. Beckham wasn’t the best footballer in the world, but he was the most marketable. And apparently he made millions on Zidane……
1. It’s not just shirts that sell. It’s global commercial deals, including media where they negotiate their own deal, unlike our communal rights set up. It’s tours to the Far East in the summer. Apparently Real can make £10m profit from one of those….galacticos are key to that.
2. In general, their transfer deals are spread through 4 years, although you may need the bailiffs to get the fourth payment from them. So they probably spent Euro 65m last summer and will pay the same for 4 years. If you know better, I’ll bow to you as I’m making assumptions I don’t possess proof.
3. Real Madrid are the best sports marketers in the football world. Whether they are the best football team right now is quite another matter.
Yes, like you, I laughed out loud. But I must say I thought Milan were awful last night. Like a bunch of aging circus acts with no pride in their performance. Ronaldinho was like an aging prima donna, not tracking back and too slow on the ball. Beckham showed pride and I think he was really hurt that he couldn’t start, after his colleagues played like that at a place close to his heart. He was in tears at the end. I think he felt shame…….
Would it cheeky to suggest a goalkeeping exchange in the summer to maintain links with the spanish nation and to afford their matador with the chance to play in a proper football team for a few years??
Money well spent!
It’s like chelski spending £700m+ for 2-titles,or £30m Berbatov who can’t even get double figures,lol!
Karma is a bitch!
Yes, yet more evidence, as if we needed any, of the potential for disaster inherent in the “buy, buy, buy” model. Luckily Real Madrid’s debts are written off by the Spanish government.
I saw a headline for one of Le Grove’s articles today where they nominate Nasri as most improved player. All well and good. They say Song isnt considered because he did his improving last year. Well, I dont know about that, it seems they are just trying desperately not to name him as the most improved player because if that was the case did they name him most improved last season? Oh well. They also say Diaby was in the running as well. Then they go on to say Denilson should be replaced this summer because he hasn’t yet made it as a top class player, ignoring the fact that Song, Diaby and Nasri are all older than Denilson and that they probably said the same things about at least Song and Diaby before. We need a new midfielder, they say blah blah blah. Unbelievable. They honestly dont see the inherent contradictions and hypocrisy in their writing. They honestly believe what they are saying. If they had been listened to before then Song, Nasri and Diaby would probably all have been replaced by now and we’d probably have inferior players playing for us. But now they are right as far as Denilson is concerned. It is scary that there are people out there of such limited common sense.
The only thing scarier is how many people agree with them and fail to see the basic fact that they have been wrong over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over, and yet still think their next prediction will be right and prove to everyone that yes, they do know more about football than Arsene Wenger. The other night, before the Porto game, they even said that Song shouldnt play because Porto bypass midfield therefore it wouldnt be his type of game. Hilarious.
My goodness.
By the way,FLAMONEY was sh!t lastnight.
Rhys – good points about Milan. AW doesnt look so silly now for allowing Flamini to leave. He looked distinctly average last night, and at times seemed overwhelmed by it all. Meanwhile Song and Diaby go from strength to strength to……..
Real Madrid since 2006, according to Sid Lowe at The Guardian today:
*five managers
*€441m spent on players
*no titles
while according to Bloomberg, 10 March:
*Real sells fewer jerseys than Chelsea and Liverpool for “cultural reasons”
*attendance at the Bernabeu fell by 7.8% percent this season compared to last (what with unemployment in Spain touching 20%, times are hard), average gate dropped from 73,157 to 67,461
*loss vs Lyon could mean Real forgo $82m in prize money, sponsorships
*TV rights of €422m will form 33% of Real’s income this year (€1.1bn TV contract runs to 2013)
Denilson right now isent the best midfielder in the world but soon his time will come,where he proves everyone wrong and shows his Arsenal champions league winning material…please gooners KEEP THE FAITH
Lol, Paul. This blog is humourous, but Le Grove is another kind of humour.
Actually I think Eboue is the most improved player, after being the most unimproved last season, and being the most improved the season before.
This month Bendtner is the most improved, going from serial flop, to tip-top all in the space of three days.
we should have some Untold Gongs:
E.G.
Most hilarious post match comments from an opposition manager:
As ever in business, it’s a murky world. If my mates a painter, he’ll decorate my house for cheap. If Perez’s friend is the CEO of a major spanish bank, he gets money cheaply. That’s how he funds it, nothing too controversial. Such a large amount of debt is always risky, but Madrid are huge, and can service it no doubt.
I too enjoyed Madrid’s failure, though for their part, Lyon are basically the same but on a smaller scale. Bought their dominance of the league, lost last season and then tried to buy it again and it seemingly isn’t working. Though if we are fair and objective here, Madrid have had their best run of league results for 15 years. Europe is a knockout cup, so has a larger luck factor.
Just to play devil’s advocate 😉
Sorry but I gotta say that I thought Flamini did pretty well. Ran for 90mins, Got in some great positions, played three different positions (right midfield, holding midfield and right back) and was the only milan player to do any work all night. Half the milan team did’nt even try to pressure the opposition when they had the ball. Had at least one decent shot and he’s only bit parting there.
I think he did the wrong thing in leaving but I wouldnt have him back, especially as he left for the money and as we have better in our reserves now.
Anyway just saying
cheers
Dave
I read the Le Grove piece too and it left me confused. On the one hand, he was listing several “improved” players this season and, on the other hand he was saying Arsenal today, ought not to have the time nor the space for young, future stars because, among other things they lose us crucial games and they are prone to injuries.
Thus, by his confused logic we ought never to have bought any of the players nor allow them the playing time that would lead to their improvement at some later date. How does one square that.
Somewhere in the article he identified the Lyon keeper and one other Lyon player we should be coveting or making serious overtures to right away.
Methink Le Grove has never come to terms with the fact that Wenger had always preferred them young or unheralded (Anelka, Viera, Toure, Nasri, etc). Methink Le Grove never came to terms with the fact that Arsenal never had the money and never believed in throwing money at “made” and expensive football stars. He ought to give serious consideration to changing his allegiance to Tiny Tots where he can become Mr. Redknapp’s armchair scout.
Reading Le Grove and some of the stuff they have said about headlines generating hits (they changed some guys guest piece headline and there reason was that there headline generated hits) makes me think they are in it for the money and not the love!!
Maybe Tony can tell us if you can make money doing this.
Cant help myself I do read it even though I dont like it. I never read it after we loose –way to depressing
feel the love Dave:)
Just realised how bad the English was in my last post. Sorry I did not mean to offend!
I can’t think of any quotes for ‘Most hilarious post match comments from an opposition manager:’,
but I do have a candidate for ‘Most hilarious comment from an opposition manager:’
Harry Redknapp talking about TV5:
“I was recommended him as a left back (but we were strong in that position).”
“People who recommended him didn’t speak of him as a central defender,”
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Spurs-Harry-Redknapp-I-snubbed-chance-to-sign-Arsenal-s-Thomas-Vermaelen-article205601.html
I hated el galatico 1 and hate el galactico 11(god, do I hate them). I jumped for joy when Lyon scored the equalizing goal yesterday that my wife was surprised that such joy came from a gooner(it should have been 3 goals though). I have been educating her about the profligate spending in soccer, especially given the state of the world’s economy. Does Real Mad even have a youth system? Why have they not learnt from Barca who infuse an occasional buy(like our Lord), but constantly replenish the team thru development of players? They are hated even in Spain outside of Madrid.
Sometimes whenI’m alone, when nobody is around, I think I’m Cesc. Go figure.
Lol, Paul. This blog is humourous, but Le Grove is another kind of humour.
Actually I think Eboue is the most improved player, after being the most unimproved last season, and being the most improved the season before.
This month Bendtner is the most imp4oved, going from seroal flop, to tip-top all in the space of three days.
we should have some Untold Gongs:
E.G.
Most hilarious post match comments from an opposition manager:;
Sorry Walter, i don’t see how this is good news. This means that those Vultures are coming for Lord Wenger. There is no way we can let this happen, Arsene Wenger should never leave Arsenal, ever!!! In Arsene We Trust.
oh yeah Le Groan talk crap!
Walter, thanks again. Well said.
It is so much better to build, rather than buy trophies. I feel bad for Madrid fans (well, only those who were born into it, not those who jumped on the bandwagon in the Galactico era).
Also, I think Le Grove is good fun.
As Tony said before, with the team winning, they are losing their raison d’etre. I’m glad they are contradicting themselves, otherwise they wouldn’t be Gooners.
When the team wins the double, they might even be more positive than we are!
Finsbury – that is priceless.
Harry Redknapp on Spurs and Arsenal:
“The gap is closing. We’re trying to turn it around but it’s not easy. There’s not a million miles between the teams.
“I don’t think that there will be much of a gap at the end of the season.”
That’s about as logical as saying he had nothing to do with Portsmouth’s collapse.
@Clerkenwell Gooner
Madrid DID win the La Liga in 2007 and 2008…
Diaminedave – just on the issue of changing posts and headlines.
Headlines can have an effect on readership – if you look in Goonernews for example you are presented with 80 odd stories and you choose them by the headline.
Therefore as all our contributors here know, I do devise headlines in Untold. It is called in the trade being a “sub editor” and if I may say, something of an art in itself.
So I would never criticise that, because it is part of what I do in real life and every publication employs subs to do this work. Also there are some subs who are stunningly clever and deserve the credit (remember Supercallygoballistic Celticareatrocious)
But there is a completely separate issue with changing the text that someone has written in to a blog. I only do this when a person copies a text from another writer, and then I leave the opening few words and write OOOOOOOOOOOOPS after it and add an explanation.
What I am completely against, and which one or two blogs do indulge in, is the editor changing what a person writes in a blog. I find that awful, and I would be outraged if that happened to me. But some blogs find it funny – and they do have a huge audience, so each to his own.
In terms of making money… Blogs can make money from 3 sources.
First, the banner adverts, and Untold is going to change its design soon to start getting a better income in this way. As is plain to everyone I am a writer, not a designer, hence the odd look of this site.
Second, links. It is possible to get an income from links that appear in the text and elsewhere.
Third, unique product. We have one product: the most magnifico “Making the Arsenal” book. The copyright of that is owned by me, and the sales of the book do make a bit of money. A new book about newspapers and Arsenal in the present day is being written at the moment.
I obviously don’t make money out of Untold and do it for fun, but Untold does use some of my company’s web space, and so a little income back to the company is not a bad thing.
The biggest club-based blogs have a monthly readership of about 250,000, so we still have a way to go, and I think we will get there shortly.
Tony
Hey Tony..
Great idea about design.. I was about to write it to you soon.. I felt that if this site is designed in a better way and if you can get it up in google search, this site can really be a great hit.. This site would not only be visited by Arsenal faithfuls but also Arsenal haters who would like to score some points here.. But as you know more than me, I am just glad that you are redesigning the site..
PS: I would love to read that book about Arsenal in press, especially the modern ones..how they predicted doom and how they were proved wrong..
Sorry, I meant CL, the big cup, not title.
RM will probably win league this year too, but it’s their 10th CL win they’re searching for.
Thanks for the reply Tony. Personally I like your style here. Always lots of different issues touched on and with an intelligent perspective
all the best Dave
Can we stop promoting LG in this comment section.. every time you guy promoting them (talk about them – bad or good), some peoples get curious and WILL seek them out.. generating hits for them..
LG and ANR are nothing but a bunch hit seeking whores and shouldnt even associated or talk about here.. in UA.
>.>
Anonymous – total agreement about ANR, after all Myles Palmer isnt even an Arsenal fan. However the guys at Le Grove are dedicated Arsenal fans, no matter what you may think about their rather immature and confused views. There are plenty of fans of every club like that, I looked at a few Utd blogs earlier this season and they were full of “Fergie’s lost it, he MUST spend, we are falling behind, our players are crap”. It was unbelievable and if he gets it after 11 Championships and 2 European Cups then we shouldnt be surprised that Arsene gets it as well from people with little or no understanding for football finances, squad building, and team management. That is the trouble with the internet, it gives a rather large soapbox for anyone with an ax to grind, no matter how sensible or otherwise.
However, as I said, those guys are Arsenal fans. And because of it I have no problem with encouraging people to their site so they can make a few bob on site hits. One would hope that the more intelligent would laugh at much of the content there and realise how ridiculous most of it was.