Why Choose Arsenal? That’s Why.
By Ian Jenkinson.
Much has been said and written of the Suarez saga. And things went into hyper drive on Tuesday after Suarez broke his silence by giving an insightful interview to two newspapers indicating his clear desire to no longer wear the Liverpool Jersey. Liverpool fans understandably went nuts. Even my close friends who are Liverpool fans and who have defended Suarez all summer have turned on him.
Of course last season we had our own version of Suarezgate with RVPgate and it wasn’t pretty. I remember really giving RVP the benefit of the doubt and hoped that everything I had read about his desire to leave was not true. His silence was deafening and then one day – boom. He made a statement on his personal website to say he wanted to leave Arsenal. It all sounds so familiar this season with Suarez doesn’t it? Yet we find ourselves on the other side of the coin. That at least makes it a pleasant change.
What pans out over the next 3 to 4 weeks is uncertain. Many people believe it is only a matter of time before he signs for Arsenal and many others believe that he will end up in sunny Madrid. I don’t have a crystal ball so I don’t know where he will go. One thing that I would be fairly confident in saying is that he won’t play for Liverpool again. How could he? He couldn’t.
But the reason I decided to write this article was not to talk about who Suarez will go to or what the clause in his contract actually means etc. but rather the side show that has formed alongside the will he/won’t he media frenzy. I talk of the debate that has raged through the internet forums and blogs which has gotten many pundits and ex-players involved also. The “My daddy is bigger than your daddy” debate of who is the bigger club.
I don’t want to raise that debate again (but fear I may) as there is never going to be a winner. The Liverpool fans will all say Liverpool is the bigger club and the Arsenal fans will say the opposite obviously. But what gets to me is the idiotic argument as to why one club is bigger than the other but more on that later.
For me, both clubs are massive clubs. Liverpool is a club steeped in tradition and glory; they have a massive fan base and have had some of the greatest players ever to grace the game play for them. They have won the English League title 18 times, the European Cup 5 times (something us Arsenal fans can only dream of for now) and have had much success in domestic cups to boot (15 in total I think).
Arsenal obviously is a club also steeped in tradition and is a club that I am deeply proud to be a supporter of. Arsenal has also had great success with 13 league titles, 10 FA Cups, a couple of league cups and to be fair, a modest record with regards to winning European trophies. They are also the only team in modern history who have gone an entire season unbeaten, a feat that I boast about like it was a trophy in itself (actually I think they got a special gold Premier League trophy for that particular feat didn’t they?). And of course they hold the record for the longest unbeaten run of 49 games. Not to be taken lightly.
But it’s not those successes I want to focus on for both clubs, because for me they are irrelevant to today’s players. Despite the great successes I mention above, very few trophies have been won recently by either club. And when I say recently I mean over the past 2-3 seasons, because that is all that is relevant to most of both crops of today’s players as they were involved in those seasons.
My point is this, Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005. But there is no comparison between then and now. Liverpool fans use the fact that they have won the Champions League (and we haven’t) as one of the reasons why Suarez should not sign for us. But of the Liverpool playing staff from 2005 only Steven Gerrard remains, everyone else is either gone or retired, there is a different management team (a few times over) and the club has even changed ownership, it’s almost a different club!
“I’ve had the same sweeping brush for 15 years, it’s only had 7 new heads and 6 new handles.” If you catch my drift?
Champions League winning Liverpool of 2005 are not in the same bracket as Liverpool of 2013, they shouldn’t and can’t be linked. Just like the Arsenal Invincibles of 2004 shouldn’t be linked with the Arsenal of 2013.
It’s true that Arsenal hasn’t won anything over the same period, but clubs change. It’s how they change and improve that’s important, as you will see. Let me explain.
Suarez doesn’t care if Liverpool won the CL in 2005, he doesn’t care that they’ve won it 5 times. All he cares about is now. Suarez joined Liverpool in the January transfer window in the 2010/2011 season. He has played two and a half seasons for them. In his short time there he has had two managers and has seen the club finish 6th, 8th and 7th. Hardly inspiring is it? All of this while the club has spent massive amounts of money surrounding Suarez with decidedly average players. £75,000,000 on Carroll, Henderson and Downing to mention but a few.
I mention all this merely to try and step inside Suarez’s head and see what he sees in Liverpool. In the time he has been there they haven’t moved forward at all, neither on the pitch (even with his talent and goals added) nor off it. The stadium is still small for a Premier League/European stadium (a great traditional stadium, I’ve been in it recently and enjoyed it a lot) but the club seems to have somewhat stagnated. And Suarez knows this. This is despite Liverpool throwing money about in attempts to improve matters.
There will also be the added financial pressure and restrictions if Liverpool decides to go ahead with plans to extend Anfield. If Liverpool couldn’t manage success or Champions League qualification after spending all that money then why would Suarez believe that they can do it going forward with these restrictions hanging over the club?
Arsenal haven’t won a trophy in 8 years. Did anybody know that? So what, but Arsenal didn’t have the luxury of spending £75,000,000 on three players (until now). Nope they were busy building for the future. They couldn’t inject huge amounts of cash into the team like others around them yet they still managed to hold on to their Champions League place. They clung on for dear life. It was important that they did and they deserved it. And no, Champions League qualification is not a trophy but it attracts players. Evidently. Would Suarez swop his solitary Carling Cup medal for three seasons playing Champions League football. I think he would.
Besides, in those 8 years with a bit of luck Arsenal could have had a trophy or two, it’s not as though we were doing nothing on the pitch. We lost three finals in those 8 years by 1 goal. It could so easily have been different. It isn’t, so we have to listen to the idiotic argument of 8 years without a trophy as another reason for a player not signing for us? It makes me smile.
The reality is that Arsenal has done more as a club in those 8 years than most clubs could only hope for in 20 years. If you took a snapshot of Arsenal in 2006 and compare it with Arsenal of 2013 you will see how much the club has grown. Arsenal is now a different animal. Take the same snapshot with Liverpool and not much has changed. In fact you could argue that they’ve actually regressed.
Of course Arsenal’s 8 year success story hasn’t been measured in trophies but we have been busy doing the pre trophy work. The sowing of the seeds if you like. We have been building to be in a position to self-sufficiently afford the likes of Suarez to add to the already fantastic crop of players who have grown with the club over the past number of years. We have been waiting a long time for these transfer stories and to put together the final pieces of the squad jigsaw. Whether we get Suarez or not I am delighted that Arsenal are even talking this language. We deserve it.
Suarez is about to enter the pinnacle of his career (26-30), all he sees at Liverpool during those four years is a struggle to get them to 4th place (Brendan Rogers own words only a few weeks ago were that the challenge is to get Champions League Qualification. How do you think Suarez feels hearing that?). I think Suarez is open minded to a move to Arsenal because he feels that if Arsenal adds his quality and one or two more to the squad that they can be genuine contenders. And I agree with him.
In other words he feels that Liverpool + Suarez = a scrap for 4th place but Arsenal + Suarez = potential for trophies. And I don’t think that Liverpool can argue with that. Man for man over the past three seasons Arsenal have been a better team and squad and finished well above Liverpool (securing CL every season) despite Liverpool outspending us astronomically.
In Suarez’s world, Liverpool has only existed for 2 and a half seasons and they have not been very good.
The question of who is the bigger club is a silly one because where do you measure from? Do you mean right now? Or do you pick a certain time in history? Or is it over the entire course of history? The question has many answers and in many ways is immeasurable.
My gut feeling is that Liverpool will do everything they can not to sell Suarez to Arsenal and will at the first opportunity sell him to any non-English club who is willing to take him. If Madrid sign Bale for the scandalous money being spoken about on top of their current summer spending they will have already spent roughly £140,000,000. Would they be able to afford Suarez for £40-50 million on top of that? Would they be allowed?
I can give or take Suarez at Arsenal, if he comes he comes, if he doesn’t he doesn’t but this article was an answer to all the people out there, ex-players et al who are indignant at the mere thought that a Liverpool star would dare to want to sign for “lowly” Arsenal despite the glaring signs that Suarez (or any quality player) would have a better chance of success at today’s Arsenal rather than today’s Liverpool.
Arsenal is a fantastic club with a great tradition and a magnificent future ahead and Luis Suarez would be very lucky to be a part of it.
Why Choose Arsenal?
That’s why.
Recent posts
- Arsenal to play the Court of Arbitration in Sport in Champs League knock out stage.
- Life with a positive bias. Ref Review 2012/13: West Ham United
- How Arsenal can win the Premier League this Season
Arsenal Anniversaries: 9 August
- 9 August 1914: Joe Mercer born
- 9 August 1944: George Armstrong born
- 9 August 1990: Death of Joe Mercer, on his birthday
- 9 August 1997: Overmars, Petit and Grimandi all start their first game
- 9 August 2011: Ryo Miyaichi is granted a work permit
The books…
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal FC: crowd behaviour at the early matches
Your article is not very well thought out!
Liverpool have won something in the last 2 to 3 years. ARSENAL have NOT……….
So I understand your a GUNNER but get your facts right. LFC has won more than ARSENAL in the recent years. SO based on your article LFC is the bigger club.
ANY WAY lets see what happens at the end of this season. AND what happens with your attempt to ENTER the champions league, your not in it yet LOL.
OK
completely deluded.so much its not even funny,but sad.you have my sympathies
🙂 Amazing article!
John, thank you for your detailed and well-reasoned comment. The author gave us a couple of thousand words of debate and argument, and you gave us, oh, hang on let me count, no argument, no logic, no debate, just abuse. I am a little reminded of the official response to Galileo and Copernicus. The world is flat, anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded. The end.
Very well thought out and well written article. I think that the mass % of Liverpool fans would agree with your sentiments, its the minority who I feel continue with their blinkered approach to Liverpool FC.
I personally don’t see him coming to Arsenal, and if he did we will all be going through the same thing next year as he pushes for a move to Madrid. Do we want to go through that again? I for one do not.
I’m not 100% sure if Wenger is playing us along here but I think we missed a big trick with Higuain going to Napoli. If we hadn’t have dillied and dallied we would have got a proven international class striker for a reasonable price. Now the clock is ticking and the only quality player we seem to be going for comes with an abundance of baggage and his club are blocking any move anway. I think if Liverpool keep Suarez and we stay with our current squad they will catch us. Wenger, despite making vast steps in taking the club forward, is letting the team go stale
What a refreshing article, brilliantly articulated and absolutely spot on. Thank you!
Ian, I am not quite sure what you are saying here. The article admits fully that Liverpool has won things of late and Arsenal not. And that Liverpool has won more championships and Champions League titles than Arsenal. But the article says in what I thought was a most clear and well-argued way, that in the mind of the player, this is not the key issue. It is not how much Liverpool has won, but the chances of playing in the Champions League this season that is the key.
I felt that the sudden chorus of “bigger club” comments was orchestrated by the club. As we know from analyses done on a number of sites there are more Liverpool supporting pundits on the main TV and radio channels than those supporting any other club, and none of them did the “bigger club” story during the early part of the negotiation, but then suddenly as a man joined in together. I suspect it was an orchestrated campaign to divert attention from the real fact – the fact that playing in the Champs League now is more important to the player.
I can’t believe you wasted so much time – and Christ, evidently this took a LOT of time – publishing an article with such unfortunately-timed topical irrelevance or basis in reality.
But good man, if it feels cathartic for you, then get it off your chest.
Brilliant article, I was engulfed whilst reading this.
I like your point about Triggers broom, I have actually used this once or twice with Liverpool fans and also to describe the Arsenal squad compared with a few seasons ago.
Arsenal are a big club but not one of Europes elite. Arsenal have never even been champions of Europe, says it all. Why is Arsenals future rosey? Weve been hearing that for 5 or 6 years and nothing has changed, Arsenal still havnt won a bean.
Great, coherent article. You speak the truth !
Nicely thought out and written.
I have been quite astonished that Dixon and Wright have publicly stated that Suarez would be better off staying at Liverpool! I would love to know if those quotes were taken out of context, and if not – what the reasoning behind the statements are. I totally agree that a move to Arsenal would definitely be a step up for Suarez, I can’t see any other way of looking at it…
I really don’t buy your argument that Arsenal not winning a trophy in 8 years is a redundant point. You say they’ve lost 3 finals in that period by one goal but fail to mention Liverpool have don the exact same: champions league (07) league cup (05) and F.A. cup (2012).
You say Liverpool have stagnated in recent years – well you could definitely say the same for Arsenal. Not challenging for the title for years and barely challenging for a trophy could definitely be said to be stagnating. Yes they’ve spent a lot less than Liverpool but to me that just shows a total lack of ambition.
You say joining Arsenal would mean a title challenge but Liverpool finished closer to Arsenal last season then Arsenal did to United…
The fact remains that Luis Suarez was happy to go to Littlepool knowing they were not in the champions league.
In my opinion its a bit late to cry ‘foul’ now.
As you say Suarez is only interested in the present and therefore he wants to sign for a Champions league club.
Seemingly when he signed for Liverpool he wasn’t interested in the then present. So he has had a change of reality – tough! He signed a contract with Litterpool who have shown him 100% loyalty despite his shameful behaviour.
As for Arsenal and the anti Arsenal brigade, they can dam us if we sign him and dam us if we don’t sign him. However if Liverpool do decide to refuse to sell him to any club than it lets us of the hook as it shuts up the anti Arsenal Brigade.
However if Littlepool sell him to another club how the anti Arsenal brigade will scoff at Arsenal!
If Littlepool sell him to Real madness then they may not get their money considering that the spuds are still owed 12 million and no doubt other clubs are owed millions so littlepool will be at the tail end of the list of clubs really mad owe money to.
In reality I don’t think Littlepool can afford to sell Suarez to a Spanish club.
I never wanted to make any comment abut this Suarez saga, but your write up is too good to pass. I don’t know if Liverpool will keep and un happy player who will not give his best to the club and then cost very little at the en of the season, but one thing I do know is that Brenden Rodgers had a contract with Swansea yet he left for the chance to manage a big club. More recently, David Moyes abandoned Everton for the chance to manage Man.U. My question is why blame Suarez for wanting to add to his CV? Arteta may not have won the champions league but he took a pay cut for the opportunity to play against the best in Europe – this is the dream of every footballer and winning the CL is only the icing on the cake.
In our local papers there are so many comments from fans about Liverpool ; that this is their year (every year); how everybody has to kow tow to their presumed greatness or how every player wants to join them .
Doesn’t help that ESPN/FOX have in they employ a hawkish ex-Liverpool player to try to perpetuate this delusion .
Having said that , the idea of Suarez joining us doesn’t appeal to me .Hope all this is just a hoax meant to destabilise them !
Balanced article however I would point out the the £75M you refer to being spent was in fact a net spend of circa -£15M as we sold Torres, Babbel & Mascherano
Total Spent £80,450,000 Sold £85,600,000 -£5,150,000
Ian,
Your response is not very well thought out!
Liverpool have won a solitary League Cup in the last 2 to 3 years. Although ARSENAL have NOT, do you honestly think any player would choose a team for League Cups? Especially a player from overseas who had probably never heard of it until he played in it.
So I understand your a SCOUSE but get your facts right. AFC have been closer to winning the competitions players care about more than LIVERPOOL in the recent years. SO based on this AFC is the bigger club.
ANY WAY lets see what happens at the end of this season. AND what happens with your attempt to ENTER the champions league………..ooops, oh yeah, your not in it! LOL.
Liverpool are done the Fact 1 player is holding the club to ransom proved this
Tony
the argument was so 1 sided and poor,i didnt think i needed to point out the flaws and contradictions to anyone.but ill keep this short.
If arsenal had any hope of challenging for trophies,Van Persie wouldnt have asked to leave.Or Fabregas.Or Nasri.
Im not for a second saying Liverpool are a bigger club,nor take notice of anyone who does.That also includes anyone who thinks Arsenal are the bigger/better club at the moment,which the author is basing this whole article on.which is completely hypocritical.He mightnt have spelled it out,but thats what was implied.he just doesnt realise it.pity.
Wherever Suarez ends up, he has done his club an immense amount of damage, I wonder if they will recover stability as well as we did eventually after us losing so many top players, the same could be said for Spurs ability to recover. One thing seems clear, he no longer wants to be at Liverpool. A cut price move to Real may well happen, (I would not rule out Chelsea either if they dont get Shrek) but do Liverpool really want cut price? Seem to remember we had a similar option with Juve for RVP.
Suarez is like the recent ver of Jose, you get a couple maybe great years , then it seems serious trouble, I hope we consider that if we really are serious about signing him, or indeed get the opportunity which according to Liverpool’s owner, we will not.
As for the bigger club, the past is the past but Liverpool now find themselves in a similar position to us, up against teams with resources they cannot realistically compete against but I think we are further down the road of finding a way to compete than they are, if not there yet.
On another issue, isnt the media saturated with Liverpool people! Guess I always knew that, but these recent events have really bought it home. All kinds of ex players being wheeled out on an almost hourly basis!
There is absolutely no way Suarez will be joining Arsenal. Have you idiots not seen JW Henry’s comments that Liverpool won’t sell him no matter what Arsenal bid.
And Arsenal are a small club compared to the Reds. Even in the last 8 years when, by our statndards we have been poor and we almost went out of existence because of the previous American cowboy owners, we have still managed to win more than you lot;
A Champions League , FA Cup and Carling Cup. Christ, you can’t even win the Emirates Cup!!
“Besides, in those 8 years with a bit of luck Arsenal could have had a trophy or two, it’s not as though we were doing nothing on the pitch.”
Ian Jenkinson,
How dare you mention LUCK?
Oh, you are going to get now. Just wait and see 🙂
I think the author has put forward a good argument as to why LS would want to join Arsenal and the comemnts about whoa re the biggest club are well put. But there is one major flaw in the article and that is that at no time did Liverpool FC state that Arsenal were a smaller club, they mearly stated that they saw it as a sideways step and not a forward step. Their beleif is that Liverpool have just a good a chance as Arsenal as being in the CL next season (14/15).
liverpool fans realise they arent in the top tier of clubs at present.top players have left for better teams recently.
arsenal fans accepted van p,nasri and fabregas leaving for better teams.but cant see the wood for the trees.they are in the 2nd tier,along with liverpool and spurs.just hope they realise that soon.
Ian,
How come your manager’s target for this season is to get top 4 and not to win the League Cup? Wouldn’t that imply that he thinks that ECL qualification is superior to winning the League cup?
We have qualified for the last 16 campaigns, you have only won one league cup in 3 years. I think I’ll go with your manager’s verdict on this.
The above article is a very one dimensional view to look at why players would prefer Aesenal to Liverpool. So let me just give some counter arguments:
1. Arsenal is a feeder club while Liverpool is not.You guys may not like it but its a fact. Down the years your board has become accustomed to selling their best players to domestic and European rivals in return for profit. While you may argue that the likes of Van Persie, Nasri, Clichy, Fabregas, Adebayor forced their way out, its eventually the board that signed their transfers. The situation has accentuated to such an extent that mediocre players like Walcott can hold the club to ransom for improved pay packets. On the other hand Liverpool has never been seen by players as a selling club or a stepping stone to Real Madrid, Manchester City, or United. Yes we have lost quality players like Torres, Alonso, Mascherano but in all these cases the club sold them on their won terms in one way or the other. Never has Liverpool been bullied by a player into selling them to another club.
2. You claim to have excellent finances in place but you fail to realize that a club actually needs to invest in players to take the next step. You proudly boast of your record of qualifying 16 consecutive times in the Champions League places. I ask why not win one for a change or atleast threaten to. Today everyone knows that the best Arsenal can do in CL is to reach the round of 16 and get knocked out by some half decent team. Gooners will complain about the tough opponents and unfair luck. Players of the class of Suarez deserve to win the Champions League not merely play in it, thats why everyone wants him to wait for Real and not Arsenal.During your record time in CL, bankrupt clubs like Dortmund have managed to reach the finals of European competitions without spending like crazy, why not try to be like them. Heck even clubs like Shaktar Donetsk or Malaga have managed go further in the CL in the “recent seasons”.
A player is evaluated on the basis of the number of trophies/ cups he has won in his career. Arsenal may be marginally ahead of Liverpool in the current footballing climate, but how long do you think they can sustain it without investing in players and always looking for cheap bargains.
Has the cheek to call others a broken record. Now go and out your head back in the oven,there’s a good chap!
2nd tier? We could be lower than that when this season has finished.
John you are forgetting that 4th place is a trophy. So that’s 8 trophies in 8 years.
Arsenal Fans, make no mistake, a trophy is a trophy, especially these days when so many big clubs are competing! I am pretty sure you will be more than happy to win anything at this given moment…Despite not being in CL, Liverpool is a much bigger and supported club than Arsenal would ever be! Arsenal need at least another 5 top players to compete! Liverpool are in a building process and not a selling club like Arsenal! Just take a look at our form since Jan window. We have added to this and looking to bring in at least another 3 top quality players…what has Arsenal done? All talk from Wenger and bitterness from their Fans…MArk my word, Liverpool and Spurs will finish ahead of Arsenal this coming season!
shockandawe,
After seeing Higuain in two matches at the Emirates cup, I don’t feel too bad that we missed out on him. I totally rate Giroud ahead of him; in terms of ability and more because he is already gelled with our team.
Secondly, our management did not dilly-dally. Real Madrid chose to whore the player to the highest bidder after agreeing a fee with Arsenal. Let us not carry on with this talking point. It is not fair.
I agree with everything else in your comment.
Your article is very much on point. The fact that we earn more through our cash inflow and still able to be playing in champions league show it all and only a fool will think that Liverpool is bigger than Arsenal by looking at the History of trophies that can’t hold water as at now! Now all that is remaining for our board is to make the resources that we have count and not let the top 4 status slip away as we try to challenge for the title tho i doubt this.
I think your article is good but hinges on optimism. I start on my last point of the article to answer my first (hopefully this will make sense). At the end you insinuate that supporters, media and ex players are saying why move to a ‘lowly’ Arsenal. There I think is where your mindset is flawed, I don’t believe anyone has insinuated that, I believe the term is ‘sidestep’. Now this could still be argued that the clubs are not on an equal footing and my clubs bigger than your club, but I don’t think anybody is insinuating Arsenal aren’t good enough they are just questioning Suarez’s motives.
LFC know they have under preformed but we also know in the last 6 – 7 years we have went through 3 different ownership’s, 4 different managers and legal battles that could have potentially made us bankrupt. Now like you I prefer to be the optimist and believe that we are now stable and a team on the up, we made some great signings in January and have now done our business early to be focused on the new season. Most Arsenal supporters would like to believe that they have passed a storm financially and are now in a position to compete at a higher level but I know there are a lot of Arsenal fans asking now where the intent is? when everyone around you is strengthening, why have’t we?
Arsenal are a fantastic side that I have much respect for, I have lost a lot of respect for your manager over the last month but that a bit besides the point. However its quite clear to most that you struggled to reach 4th place last season, everyone else has strengthened their squad and there’s only 8 days left until the start of the season. Apart from Suarez showing the entire world what a money grabbing, disrespecting, liar he is, I am very happy with my clubs progress for the top 4. Suarez whether he is happy or not will need to play at a high standard because this is a World Cup year, Sturridge and Coutinho look very impressive and we have added more depth and more attacking options. Can you say the same about your own clubs ambitions for the next season? you have a great team but are you lacking depth, your defense is struggling with injuries and you are lacking a 20+ goal a season striker. I can only wish you good luck for the new season and lets see where we all end up at the end?
Matt you are delusional like all you gooners. The only reason why suarez wants to go to Arsenal is because he really and truly wants RM, but they don’t even need him, so Arsenal are the only ones who have expressed interest. Personally i would sell him, especially to Arsholenal for 55mill because the reality is they ain’t going to win anything and may just finish top 4 next year, a very big may??? And then i’ll be falling over with laughetr when suarez wants to jump ship again! Then wanger will get sacked for underachieving and you’ll carry on not attracting big players, especially smart ones. Then your existing good players will leave, like Nasri, RVP, Fabregas etc etc etc. LOL!!!!!!!!!
An interesting and balanced article. I’ve followed Liverpool for about 55 years through thick and thin – mostly thin lately!
Arsenal are a fantastic club which I’ve admired for the last decade or so. They’ve not won Champion’s League trophies but Liverpool have never gone a season unbeaten (as far as I know). It is irritating seeing fans from both sides disparaging the clubs; players come and go but the clubs will survive.
As a barrister of thirty plus years call I found the Evra affair intriguing; there was more to it than met the eye and Evra was far from blameless, although Liverpool were misguided in their support for Suarez.
The biting incident was, perhaps, a cynical attempt by Suarez to put in place an attempt to leave Liverpool, something which had succeeded with Ajax. The Liverpool hierarchy did not condone Suarez’s actions in this instance.
With respect, I feel that Arsenal were in error in bidding the sum of £1 over the so-called escape clause in Suarez’s contract. It was misguided and merely served to be seen as an attempt to ‘rub Liverpool’s nose in it’. I think that it has had the effect of putting up the backs of the owners of Liverpool. In my opinion it has lowered the reputation of Arsenal (as I say, a great club) as it indicates that they had been tapping up (and yes, I know, others, including Liverpool, have done the same; it doesn’t make it right!).
From a legal point of view I’ve read as much of the information as is available regarding the alleged clause. If it is the standard form contract then there is a clause which states that the contract is the ‘whole agreement’. This means, in effect, that generally oral evidence of variations to what appears in the contract may not be relied upon. Suarez is stuck with the written word whether he likes it or not and he would be wasting his time to try and challenge it. I make no comment on whether more was said between him and his manager; who knows what platitudes are bandied around in cases of delicate egos.
Legally, I don’t think that Liverpool can be forced to let him go and the owners, or at least one of them, indicate that such will not happen, at least in this transfer window. What happens in January is anyone’s guess.
It is a shame for Arsenal if they fall between a number of stools in their transfer dealings this summer – I much prefer to see them do well than some of the other teams in the top echelons (to which Liverpool aspire).
I understand that it will cost Liverpool much to have an asset such as Suarez unhappily at the club for perhaps a year but I must say that my heart sings to know that it may be Liverpool, in its American owners, which has said to a petulant overpaid talent that he cannot, unilaterally, vary his contract. It maybe that he will go, I hold no candle for him but it is refreshing to see a club standing up to the demands of its main asset, at least for however long it lasts.
Finally, a question/thought.
If, as has been suggested, Suarez does sign for Arsenal on £150,000 per week, where does that leave their salary policy and how will the other players feel about it? Just a question, I’ve no idea what the answer is.
Please forgive the length of this muse; it’s been helped along by a decent red wine. Good luck to both clubs.
Well said gunner xcpt d most troublin fact; dat d player knew all dis b4 signing an xtended contract nd tellin d whole world dat he would stay-put even if liverpool did not qualify 4 CL. And i believd he wasnt coaxed 2 sign, was he? U can probably (choose) 2 undastnd y lfc fans fill pissd off!
John,
Fab left for his dream team (I’m pretty certain Liverpoo both gained and lost a few players in the past for the same reason)
Nasri left for money (100%).
RvP left because he thought he was bigger than the club.
As the article says, in the very recent past Arsenal have been and still are closer to winning trophies. Failed but closer. I don’t really understand how any supporter whose team didn’t get into the CL can argue otherwise.
@John
Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea are in the top tier, i.e. realistic chance of being League Champions.
Arsenal, and I hate to say it, Spurs are in the next tier of Champions League qualification hopefuls.
Liverpool are in the tier below them, along with the other Europa League Contenders.
Only Liverpool fans think they are on the same level that Arsenal and Spurs currently occupy.
Ian, would you like a drink, mate?
This is what I think of when Liverpool is mentioned. After waiting 18 ( go on count ’em!) years to see Arsenal win the league ,this will always bring tears to my eyes !
In the years since Liverpool won the league (1990 ), I quit the government service , got married ,started my practice , became the proud father 3 children .
Arsenal in the meantime won 4 1st division/ EPL titles ,
5 Fa cups and 1 League cup . Included in that lot is 2 league & cup doubles as well as a Fa & League cup double .
My cup surely runneth over !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAZK5PpOZOQ
The main thing is the present for Suarez. One club is looking to add to their Champions league squad by buying a £40 million pound player and the other is buying up rejects to possibly try and get into the Europa league the following season. As an employee looking for future career prospects, what would you chose?
The Champions League is all that matter to modern footballers. Liverpool can’t offer it and Suarez thinks they won’t be able to at the end of next season. Thus he wants out. If he regards Arsenal as his dream move it is only because he hopes that performances in the C.L. will entice other clubs to come in for him so he can have his dream move to RM, Barcelona or AC Milan. Given the money PSG and Monaco are throwing around I’m sure either of them will be a dream move too.
Brickfields Gunners (@2.09pm),
You sir, are an inspiration to fans like me.
Joe absolutely no need to apologise. An excellent response, and I think I’d go along with all you have said. The £1 over offer looked to me like a bit of retaliation. I think someone at Arsenal had their nose put out by the first round of negotiations and so did that most un-Arsenal thing.
Our household is both a Liverpool and Arsenal supporting household so there is many a debate on these issues, however from the Liverpool point of view I’m not sure I understand how the author believes Arsenal are in a better position to win or challenge for trophies than Liverpool? You haven’t won anything recently mute point broken record, but you then haven’t added to your squad who hasn’t won anything to improve your chances. I fully agree that in a business sense Arsenal are light years ahead of Liverpool at the moment with regards to revenue and shiny stadium. But with regard to anything else Arsenal as well as Liverpool have both been distinctly average the last few seasons. I am hoping that now with a bit of stability Liverpool can finally push on and make our way up the table but with regards to Arsenal if you can’t get the one or two players you need to push on then I’m afraid your in the same boat as us and will have your fingers crossed for the season ahead
What else of a reason do the pool need? Suarez himself had said that he want a step up in his career and the step up is ARSENAL, for the dis-grunted Liverpool fans who cannot accept this, who are you, are you is Suarez, are you is Suarez left leg, mind or whichever is Suarez body part, the point is he himself had said it-it is a step up, in respect to Liverpool it is not much but ‘a’.
Plus for the displeased Liverpool fans who cannot accept this-why are you blaming or start to bash Arsenal ? the one who deserve it is SUAREZ (or he is not deserve provided Rodgers and the Board is not man of the word – provided that they had said that last season would be the deciding year – but who know the truth and I don’t care one bit.
Felderkirk – may I ask, why then did you bother to spend 10 minutes reading it? And if you did not, why are you replying to an article you have not read?
I really dont see where liver…. fans and the their boss get the balls to say that they will qualify for ECL next season.Arsenal is not their rivals.let them think of challenging with Swansea and Everton.ARSENAL is only thinking of challenging with the blues,MANU and Man city.
@ Bootoomee – You flatter me much , kind sir .
I leave you with the latest patient’s charter from the medical division of UA .
The Code of Ethical Behavior for Patients
1. Do not expect your doctor to share your discomfort.
Involvement with the patient’s suffering might cause him to lose valuable scientific objectivity.
2. Be cheerful at all times.
Your doctor leads a busy and trying life and requires all the gentleness and reassurance he can get.
3. Try to suffer from the disease for which you are being treated.
Remember that your doctor has a professional reputation to uphold.
4. Do not complain if the treatment fails to bring relief.
You must believe that your doctor has achieved a deep insight into the true nature of your illness, which transcends any mere permanent disability you may have experienced.
5. Never ask your doctor to explain what he is doing or why he is doing it.
It is presumptuous to assume that such profound matters could be explained in terms that you would understand.
6. Submit to novel experimental treatment readily.
Though the surgery may not benefit you directly, the resulting research paper will surely be of widespread interest.
7. Pay your medical bills promptly and willingly.
You should consider it a privilege to contribute, however modestly, to the well-being of physicians and other humanitarians.
8. Do not suffer from ailments that you cannot afford.
It is sheer arrogance to contract illnesses that are beyond your means.
9. Never reveal any of the shortcomings that have come to light in the course of treatment by your doctor.
The patient-doctor relationship is a privileged one, and you have a sacred duty to protect him from exposure.
10. Never die while in your doctor’s presence or under his direct care.
This will only cause him needless inconvenience and embarrassment.
From-
http://www.ahajokes.com/med040.html
I do like the article but I have to say clubs history doesn’t count much in modern football.
PLAYER’S and clubs are more keen to the the money side than anything else.
CHAMPION league football at big stadium around Europe sure is a big incentive for a player. Suarez want to play in big stages too so he want to join us simply Liverpool cannot provide that.
Suarez may or may not join because I do suspect there are other clubs like Chelsea awaiting the right time. Either way is hard to say that Suarez play for Liverpool again.
Brendan Rogers is trying to build a team for future. Very good and respectable idea. Question is how do you keep the squad without losing important players ???
It seems to me the management in Liverpool they haven’t a plan.If any single player want to leave there is no much they can do.But there is one thing they can do and that is to call Mr Arsene Wenger and ask him how the hell did he coup after selling unwillingly stars after stars.
After all is not only Suarez that comes with baggage I learn that young managers too have shortcomings.
If they are friting for one player as such Immagine if they have been in our shoes
Jimbob, as of now – Suarez does not say that he want to win it, all he want is to “PLAY IN THE CHAMPION LEAGUE” and that all. And if ever he do want to win it then the very least little things that ones need is to be in the position to play in it.
I believe a critical part of the discussion might also include the machinations of the monied classes in and around our two beloved clubs.
Both clubs have had a change of ownership. And though ours has been a mixed blessing what with the ongoing aggressive tactics of Mr. Usmanov and the understated ownership of Mr. Kroenke, at least we have built a stadium and our cautiously optimistic over our future.
Liverpool have truly suffered through the nightmare situation of Mr. Gilette and Mr. Hicks and though Mr. Henry is bringing in some stability now, the turmoil has meant that their new stadium project is well where it is.
Class article.this is y we come to untold arsenal………….
Liverpool won’t sell us Suarez
Next year is their year afterall!! 🙂
Suarez is a vile character, but, LFC fans are equally deluded. Last year they grinned at the RvP situation, I recall a similar joyous outrage amongst their fans with Nasri & Cesc debacle. If memory serves me right they also concluded prior to the 2011/12 season kicki off LFC will finish above us with King Kenny at the helm. Debates ensured between myself and LFC supporters, many proclaiming Arsenal are just a selling club whom lack ambition and deep pockets necessary get the required player, only last week a LFC fan scoffed at the Suarez link. LFC fans still regard themselves as the mighty and champions elect to the PL/CL. Youtube the video demonstrations showing LFC taking to streets demanding their club be sold off the Americans so they can compete with the Chavz, they did they same again only this time against the Americans owners. Everyone has witnessed the continuous fall of LFC even to the disbelief of their fans.
Arsenal have spent most of their resources building/paying off a new state of the art stadium at the same time as finishing above Liverpool every year, and still keeping their Champions league place, while Liverpool have slipped down the table, being overtaken by Spurs, despite having plenty to spend.
The League cup Liverpool are so proud of is a competition which Arsenal have traditionally used to train their kids and give game time/experience to their fringe players. I think Liverpool would gladly swap it for Champions League nights. Arsenal already have.
What can Arsenal offer a player that Liverpool can’t? Champions league football* (I know Arsenal have to play a qualifier), but they’ve got more chance of it this season with Arsenal than with Liverpool.
What can Liverpool offer a player that Arsenal can’t? Trophies? I don’t think you’ll find too many people who would argue that Liverpool currently have a much better chance of winning a trophy than Arsenal do. They’re both still hanging on to the coat tails of much richer clubs.
Firstly, respect to Liverpool for not just rolling over and selling a top player to a rival, think there is a lesson for some in there.
As for why Suarez would want to come here, I cannot imagine. There are only a few short weeks to strengthen, wenger has made the signing he wants , an injury prone kid from the French second division who used to deliver mail. Looks like nobody else coming. As for strikers, plans A, B! C and D have failed, mainly due to a manager under pressure from the board but who did not want to sign anyway, despite all around us strengthening. But still, I am buzzing, I was in a pub in Camden last night with 50 year old arsenal fans with a spring in their step. Why you ask? Because time is running out on wengers tenure, he is not capable of strengthening this team, but the CEO has stated in public that any lack of spending this summer is down to wenger alone, the money is there. He has cleared out near on 30 players, saved 400kpw wages, has a one hundred million kitty but still he will not spend on our weak squad. The good news is, he won’t spend properly this summer either. The even better news, when things start to go wrong in September at the latest, there will be 40000 singing wenger out. The sponsors will not like that, and wenger will not be getting his new deal. Our owner, who I believe is about to sell anyway will as usual, do very little, but the fact is, us true, old school fans after this summer will be able to tip the momentum and get this loser out. He will have nowhere to hide. I cannot wait, it will be done by Xmas at the latest. What a present that will be! Then, when we have a united team, a proper manager not afraid to strengthen, with tactical awareness, not afraid to delegate, when we have a united fanbase, then you can thank us old boys. Mines a pint of pale.
Why chose Spuds instead of Arsenal? That’s what I’ll be wondering if all those players Spuds have bought propel them above us.
Dennis Brady:
The few on here would still back our geriatric board & manager if we were fighting relegation !
Within a month everyone bar a handful will become ‘AAA’s’ to them.
Whilst they’re reading this The spuds are about to announce Etienne Capoue as their next signing with further reports staying as Madrid may not be able to stump up with the payment Levy insists.
You are right. This is heading for a historic season for Arsenal FC.
Yeah, and mine’s a pint of disbelief at your negativity.
Come on Arsenal!
Hey, I have a spring in my step and I’m 56!
Unbelievable how many experts we have that know how to run the club.
Bitches.
Sorry. But you make me sick.
Thank you all very much for taking the time to comment.
I am going to reply to some comments but first let me say this. As rival football clubs go i don’t mind Liverpool, as i mentioned above all my friends are Liverpool fans and we enjoy banter amongst each other. I think both sets of fans have a great relationship but the nonsense that has been spewed by Liverpool fans over the last month on the internet has saddened me. That is why i wrote the article.
@ Ian 1:06pm
I wanted to see who would be the first to mention Liverpool’s Carling Cup win (which is acknowledged in the article). And congratulations on that win but let me give that cup win a bit of perspective. The prize money for winning the 2011/2012 Carling cup was in the region of £100k (reported). Making the qualification rounds in the Champions League alone gets you £2.1 million. You get £8.6 million for making the group stages. £1 million for every win and £500k for a draw. A draw in the Champions League is worth 5 Carling Cup wins financially. So Arsenal’s last two CL campaigns and the one coming will have earned the club in the region of £53 million while Liverpool won £100k and a Cup. And Liverpool spent in excess of £100 million to boot for that. No wonder Rogers is desperate to keep Suarez to get 4th spot.
@ James Brooke
I don’t know how you can say Arsenal have stagnated in the past 8 years. We went from being in the top 20 richest clubs in the world to being 4th. We have built a state of the art stadium and have done it all with our own money. If that is stagnating then we must have two different understandings of the word. Also Arsenal have not shown a lack of ambition, they simply could not afford to buy the players needed while we were doing all this building. And i never said that we would be title challengers i said that there would be better potential for trophies.
A small point, but there is no real comparison between the Suarez and Van Persie situations.
Van Persie gave notice in good time that he would not EXTEND his contract with one year left.
@ Chris J
For me it is not about the nett spend. Bottom line is that Liverpool spent massive amounts of money on very average players. At least when a player didn’t work out at Arsenal over the past few seasons we hadn’t spend big money on them. Liverpool could have done so much more with that cash is my point.
@ Bazza
I never once said that LFC (the club) said we were a smaller club. I said that LFC fans and ex-players have said this.
@ Ian 1:06pm
On your point 1. I agree that Arsenal have let players go but it is a fact that so have Liverpool. Alonso, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Torres, Meirelles etc all left Liverpool of their own accord recently did they not? And maybe Suarez this season too. And the point i am making is that Arsenal are no longer in a position to have to sell any of their big players. And on your point 2. Yes we do need to reinvest, we already have so far with Giroud, Cazorla and Podolski (and Arteta, Mertesacker before them) as well as tying down a core of the side to contracts. With regards to investment this summer, there are still 3 weeks left of the window.
@ JayLFC and @ Joe (and a lot of others, both Liverpool and Arsenal fans).
Thank you for your thought out responses, i enjoyed reading them. I hope both clubs do well next season. I hope Liverpool get 4th (at the expense of Spurs!) and we go higher in the table.
@ Dennis Brady
You wouldn’t give me this weekend’s lotto numbers would you? Always baffles me when our own fans want us to fail.
I am disappointed with the constant joy that the negative contributors continue to exhibit. When the disgraced double talking xenophobic half gooner (who claims to be double the gooner of anyone else) chances his arm to write on this site, it is an indication of the confidence felt amongst the worst of the AAA that they can score a point against the manager/team/board or club.
It’s funny to see Liverpool fans so out of touch..
Get real and show us a new Anfield before you start speaking of ambition.
Any rationale employee would go for a paymaster who offers growth and opportunity. Who cares about the past records?
bjtgooner:
Hello little sausage.
Just to correct you little sausage, I have never claimed ‘to be double the gooner of anyone else’.
I had this username since 1998 after we managed our second double, hence doublegooner.
I suggest you come up with some better ideas to defend the manager & owner as the rage towards them is likely to be greater than you ever imagined.
Perhaps you’d like to explain what ‘chances his arm’ means ?
I think when anyone comes here & writes anything critical of the board or the Manager it greatly unsettles you.
If it wasn’t written here do you pretend there isn’t concern, unrest, serious criticism out there ?
They same way a few of you here cannot understand the criticism equally many fail to understand the blind support.
I know many people who have supported the club for over 40 years who have turned against the way the club is run. I’m sure this is mirrored by many many more.
Ian J, this club are failing now without the assistance of any of my wishes I regret to say, but some of want a change and for very good reasons. This manager was once great but is now only interested in hoarding cash and gambling on kids. There are plenty of broke clubs that would want such a manager, I suggest he joins one of them. Steve, I am not claiming to know how to run such a club as ours, but even I would not go into the season and a vital qualifier with only two fit central defenders and a single striker, especially with our resources. If anyone can give me an explanation on this, we are all fans and I am all ears believe me, but all I can think is that our manager is either sulking in some way at pressure to spend, or he has a deep aversion to spending money. Our owner is no better, but I do feel sorry for some of the board who are stuck between wenger and stan, not a good place to be. Unless wenger does something spectacular in the next three weeks, he will be in the eyes of most fans guilty of negligence. Some like myself have backed him thinking he is working on diminished resources, but now we know he is not, and believe me, he’ll hath no fury like an old fan who has been lied to by those he trusted. And there are many many more without me. Nothing between now and the start of self, wenger is history, nobody will be left to defend him. D Day for us is coming, and wenger has bought it about himself. After that, lets carry on the revolution and persuade stan it just is not worth it when he can take 20000 a share.
Double Gooner, right on the mark, especially your last sentence.
What possible difference does it make to Suarez whether AFC or Liverpool are the bigger Club or historically whether one has more trophies than the other? The only fact that matters currently is that Liverpool will not play in the CL this season but AFC very likely will. IF Liverpool won’t sell him to AFC and he has burnt his bridges there (as it now seems)then his fate is out of his hands. He may end up having NO takers once the TW deadline arrives….therefore, he is trying desperately to get LFC to sell him, ideally to a CL Club….that is his motivation….and Liverpool’s dilemma.
Oh dear the Spurs are buying lots of players, and we haven’t yet. This must mean that they are going to rush past us (just like they haven’t in all the previous seasons when they’ve changed players or got a new manager).
No doubt those who suffer nightmares over the comings up the road also swallow the usual spin that we were beaten in a race to sign them, or that we were rejected by the players.
I am waiting for A. Stewart to copy line by line of this article and write a long winding thesis on it.
On current standings Arsenal is far better club than Liverpool but it just begs the question how did liverpool drop so fast. From CL winner to languishing in Europa league for such a long time. The last time they were in CL was in 09/10 season, and there isn’t any indication that they will compete for CL this year or next. Maybe this recent history is what suarez is concerned about, as pointed in the article. But we cannot deny the fact that up untill now Arsenal is the only CL club interested in suarez. If he had the chance, and if RM were genuinely interested, Suarez would certainly prefer RM. As of now, he has two choices – stay in liverpool or leave for Arsenal.
First off, great article. Think anyone will see the logic in choosing Arsenal over Liverpool; champions league football, stability(financially or otherwise), playing more attractive football, Arsenal have been fighting at the top end in last 15 years or so while for Liverpool its more towards mid table, their managing director Ian Ayre said they don’t expect to play champions league football in the next 3 years, the reasons are too many to mention.
But I just cant help but notice the double standards by the English media. While I have always been clear that I don’t mind if Suarez signs for Arsenal or doesn’t, I have come to the conclusion many people in England don’t want to see him play for us. And no, the majority of these aren’t Arsenal fans. There are 3 high-profile players who are all agitating for a move away from their current clubs right now; Suarez, Rooney & Bale. But the transfer that has been debated, forensically examined and dismissed as not making any sense is Suarez to Arsenal. Everyone; pundits, players current & past, anyone who is inclined to be opposed to the move has been asked for their opinion and all have given their reasons why he shouldn’t join Arsenal. Fair enough, but when RvP was being courted by united I dont remember the media going into over-drive like this seeking everyone’s opinion on why the move shouldn’t happen. The wisdom in trying to sign Suarez has been questioned, if not ridiculed, from all angles, while RvP’s move was not, even though he was injury prone and presented a huge gamble after having performed for only one season in 8. Also the morals of united publicly courting the captain of a rival club were not questioned.
I wasn’t aware of all these terms of endearment reserved for Arsenal that are now springing up from nowhere, being used to describe Arsenal in the media. I’m seeing terms such as ‘Arsenal who pride themselves in being a classy club’, ‘a club which has maintained high standards’, ‘ Arsenal who intend making Suarez give their side a nasty side which they lack'(we are finally getting recognition for being clean)…. all these terms are being used now simply because we risk ruining all that by signing Suarez. I didn’t realise we were regarded so highly.
Meanwhile, England’s best player is about to hand a transfer request to his club, if he hasn’t done so already. And this to join his current club’s biggest title rivals on paper. This is slipping under the radar while all the talk and focus is on how Arsenal shouldn’t sign Suarez.
For a player who is known to come with excess baggage, he’s already done some damage to our reputation whether he signs or not. Through no fault of his if I may add, but just by merely being associated with a bid for him, and the way its being reported. What have we done wrong, nothing. All we did was make a bid, just like chelsea have done for rooney. Arsenal have had their players raided by all their rivals in recent times but nothing was deemed wrong with that. But now the roles are reversed its supposed to be wrong. Arsenal will come out of all this as the bad guys. Sorry for a long post but I just had to say this.
@ AL
Well said, those are my sentiments exactly about the media’s view on Arsenal’s pursuit of Suarez. All we did was put a bid in and all of a sudden we lack class?? My take on the £40m+1 bid is simply that the clause (the magical clause) said bids over £40m would enable negotiations to start. Why would anybody bid more than was really necessary to trigger the clause? I wouldn’t be surprised if Arsenal bid £40m flat and were told by Liverpoll that the bid had to be over that so Arsenal rolled their eyes and said ok, how about £40m+1.
If you were at an auction for a car and you were the only person involved in the bidding and the bidding opened at 40k, your first bid is hardly going to be 50k is it?
Dennis Brady at 6:04 pm
I think you’ve have a few pints too many. I’m a Gooner of 54 years standing. The Wenger years have been the best I’ve ever witnessed. You, and the likes of you are people who simply fail to grasp the bigger picture. You have heard it a thousand times. We have built a new stadium. We have stabilised our finances. We are competing against Russian gangsters and Arab dictators who have ulterior, non-footballing motives for investing in the EPL. And yet some of us ‘deluded’ folk remain optimistic about the future. Don’t claim to speak for any kind of majority that is chomping at the bit to see the back of Wenger. There aren’t that many thick twits as you think…..
Dennis Brady at 6:04 pm
I think you’ve have a few pints too many. I’m a Gooner of 54 years standing. The Wenger years have been the best I’ve ever witnessed. You, and the likes of you are people who simply fail to grasp the bigger picture. You have heard it a thousand times. We have built a new stadium. We have stabilised our finances. We are competing against Russian gangsters and Arab dictators who have ulterior, non-footballing motives for investing in the EPL. And yet some of us ‘deluded’ folk remain optimistic about the future. Don’t claim to speak for any kind of majority that is chomping at the bit to see the back of Wenger. There aren’t that many thick twits as you think…..
AL,
I agree with you about the double standard. Just rid myself of guilt of hypocrisy, however, I have to say that many of the complaints about class are being made because of Suarez’s character and reputation. I agree that coming from Arsenal detractors, it is hypocritical as they never gave us any credit for being classy until now. But I feel like I have to make the clarification, especially as I have been particularly vocal on this point. While I hope we never sign Suarez, I have resigned myself to accept him if we do.
The notion that a move to Arsenal for Suarez is unworthy or not a step up for the player is too ridiculous to discuss.
Off topic: I have not been seeing your posts at Untold for a while. Hope all’s well with you.
@Bootoomee
Been away, you know how, kids and holidays, and that kind of thing. Thanks for asking. I have been following though. I know Suarez is not every fan’s cup of tea, and I don’t like his personality given what he’s done but if the manager feels he can do a job for us then I will accept that. Just like you say also.
@Ian Jenkinson
Absolutely. We’re the only ones bidding so it would have been crazy to offer anything other than a £1:)
A.Stewart not posted yet? This is gonna be a real long post, I wonder if it will fit on one page.
I’d like to see us submit a rebid and offer £40mil plus £2 but the offer only being valid if the deal is completed in 24 hours.
Dude, we need to just get this done before RM give up on Bale. Bid 51m, break the record and make (after massive Wenger dither) the statement. Boom shake up the Prem. Arsenal own record British transfer fee. Doesn’t matter and here’s why.
Arsenal are going to increase their revenue by more than £300m over the next 4 years. That does not include the £150m in the bank we already have.
In comparison Man Utd only have £71m in the bank (last available figures)
We can afford to buy Messi at £150m cash payment today all in one go and pay him £500k per week for 10 years without any financial trouble at all. We’d still have huge money to spend after that.When are people going to wake up and read the bloody financial report?
When are people going to understand that the new TV deal is worth £30m MORE per year than last year. That’s £30m to either burn, throw down a drain or spend on players. It’s free money – we can do what we want with it.When are people going to understand that the new Emirates deal is worth and ADDITIONAL £25m every year for 4 years.
That’s £25m we don’t spend now. Again we can burn that money, give it to a poor African and it wouldn’t make any difference to us whatsoever over what we already do now because it’s extra cash. If we don’t spend it it’s pointless.
So that’s £55m in additional money right there today. £55m on top of the £70m already widely touted as trasnfer spend. Infact if you add it to the £150m we have in the bank we will be by far the most cash rich club in the world.
Property over the next 2 years is going to bring in around £12m. Again that is ADDITIONAL money. We didn’t make that extra £12m 5 years ago but today it’s ours to spend.Wow – £30m + £25m + £12m = £62m. That money is what we will generate above what we did last year.
So we could spunk £70m plus £62m and it make not a jot of difference to our club’s finances. £132m – burn it in a big bonfire and it would not bankrupt us.
Now lets look at the new kit deal – reportedly a whopping £150-170m over 5 years starting next year.That’s an ADDITIONAL £22m minimum per season (old Nike deal was worth £8m a year, Puma equals a minimum of £30m per year).So again that’s money we can use. Add it to the guaranteed cash for next year and Arsenal will have and extra £84m next year to do what we want with it.
The idea that we have to worry about wages coming from the transfer fund is nonsense. It comes out of future revenue which I have just shown is going to grow by more than £75m for the next 4 years. We are rolling in money. We can outspend Man City and Chelsea and not fall foul of FFP.
@AL,
to be fair i listened to sky today and it was all about the fact that it doesnt make sense for rooney to be sold to chelsea. i think this press witch hunting is transferred agression
i think the first half of the post made much sense, it highlighted the fact that both teams have great history, but which counts for shit today. however thee 2nd prt tries to make arguments for arsenal being pbetter than liverpool now, in typical akb fashion. personally i think as a footballer, suarez can prefer arsenal because of higher probability of being in the champ league, only. i think the best way to look at it would be a sideways step, or at best a slightly oblique one. we may have the upper hand in qualifying, but if you asked me, i’d say we need to watch our backs, it may just be like zlatan leaving inter to barca to win the champ league, only for inter to pip barca to it
Doofus
Having trouble with your math today?
“£30m + £25m + £12m = £62m”
Nope, it equals £67m
Maybe I should go on a rant about you’re an idiot and stupid and what you’re saying is idiotic and stupid.
Georgaki, yes , there are many genuine fans with different opinions. And you are right about the forces we are up against, but that still does not explain why wenger has not strengthened our weakened squad this summer, we all know he can afford to , so please tell me, why doesn’t he? What sane manager with the money he has available would not have strengthened this summer? And by the way, another last minute panic buying spree of duds will not cut it either. If he does not buy in the next three weeks, when things go wrong with a squad without the numbers and quality to compete, nobody can now blame financial restrictions or ffp, the blame will be solely with wenger. Ivan Gazidis said wenger is held to account by the fans, this is a smart and measured guy who said that for a reason. If he does not buy, wait and see how the fans hold wenger to account. It will be legal, peaceful , and should not be aimed at the players, none of this is their fault, but wenger has nowhere to hide. His only hope is if the board over rule him, as they did the summer before last, despite wenger trying to scupper the arteta signing at the last minute, and as the board did with the Monreal signing which wenger was forced into. They have also in no uncertain terms told him to spend big this summer, hence the suarez illusion. The problem is, when the board,over rule him, wenger goes squealing to stan, who is just as,likely to back him as he is the board, not being a football man himself. Stan had to pay an unscheduled visit to sort out a board vs wenger transfer squabble the summer before last, when wenger refused to accept cesc and nasri were going, to the extent he refused to plan for their replacements to the extent he snatched defeat from,the jaws of victory over juan mata. Great forward thinking manager eh?? Will really miss him when he is gone and we have the likes of klopp or Laudrup
You are a star Mr Jenkinson! That was a delightful article, well written and balanced. Really enjoyable read on a quiet Saturday afternoon.
Cheers,
Sav from Australia
I can’t understand why this article is so difficult for Liverpool supporters to catch its core idea.
It is easy to see that Arsenal can provide what Suarez needs while Liverpool can’t. That’s why he wants to move to Emirates. Why do you keep talking about us not getting into Champions League where we haven’t seen your team in around 4 years in a row?
Steve E – my bad. Made an error. Apols. (See how easy it is to admit ones failings? Note I didn’t go on a rant to justify?)
But of course not a shred af AKB comment on why we don’t spend money that’s just sat in the balance sheet?
@ Sav
Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it!
Dennis Brady August 10, 2013 at 12:40 am
The problem I have with most of what you write is that it is ALL SPECULATION. You DO NOT know that Wenger was forced to buy Arteta or any other player. You serve up the same old guff about the Mata deal. If you could reference, support, justify, lets say just ONE of your statements, with a reliable source then I will join you in your anti-Wenger tirade…..
Dennis let me be specific. I have quoted you below:
“despite wenger trying to scupper the arteta signing at the last minute, and as the board did with the Monreal signing which wenger was forced into. They have also in no uncertain terms told him to spend big this summer, hence the suarez illusion. The problem is, when the board,over rule him, wenger goes squealing to stan, who is just as,likely to back him as he is the board, not being a football man himself. Stan had to pay an unscheduled visit to sort out a board vs wenger transfer squabble the summer before last, when wenger refused to accept cesc and nasri were going, to the extent he refused to plan for their replacements to the extent he snatched defeat from,the jaws of victory over juan mata”
Now, please tell me and others like me where you get you information from?
@ Georgaki-Pyrovolitis
Spot on. There are so many people out there who say that Wenger has done this or didn’t do that when they have absolutely no back up to it at all. Either they just make it up or they heard it through a mate of a mate of a mate who heard somebody say it in a pub once and pass it on as gospel. And there are so many examples of this. The truth is none of us have a clue what happens with transfer decisions or what Wenger actually says or doesn’t say behind closed doors.
It’s actually embarrassing that people repeat these “stories” without a shred of evidence.
It is laughable when people claim Wenger was forced to buy a certain player or made panic buys. Anyone who has taken the time to read about him would know he watches a minimum two matches on tv per day via his all singing all dancing satellite tv subscription paid for by the club. This is among other snippets and specially compiled videos. He spends his spare time engulfed in football and not just locally but watching matches from leagues around the world. When it comes to knowledge of players worldwide, Wenger is second to none. His shortlist of potential targets must be bigger than most teams entire squads, to which there would obviously be an order of preference so to claim panic buys as though he just bought whatever he could see at the time is as I said at the start – just laughable.
Dennis Brady: you want us to fail so badly but really I think you are just all hot under the collar. If we win the league then you couldn’t, wouldn’t and shouldn’t celebrate or even just feel joy like us!
That to me us saddest of all, like stuck in your own private hell, wow.
I feel sorry for you man…
Dennis Brady,
After the way you have spoken about the team so far, if you are to celebrate any of our wins and successes this season you should be ashamed of yourself. You are not a man.
One thing I don’t understand is why Liverpool fans want to keep hold of Suarez, 40 million for him could have gone a long way in strengthening their current squad. And let’s face it, none of the signings they have made so far are enough to close to gap they have with the top 4 clubs. Keeping hold of Suarez and bragging about it sounds like crazy thing to do when even if he’s committed to your club there’s a high chance of him being a clown and getting himself suspended for stupid reasons.