The Ultimate Soccer Thread 2012-2013 Vol. 3 Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga etc

[trunks206]

The whole self-financing...it's like a gift and a curse. But I also do forget that FFP is kicking in next season.
Who do think if worth promoting from within?

I dont know I dont have much faith in FFP to be honest. City singed a what 10 year £400m year shirt naming deal? Clubs will somehow find a way around it, unless UEFA takes a stand.

The increases in revenue for CL team this season (~15%, http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7877647/clubs-get-champions-league-prize-money-raise) isnt much and although the EPL TV revenue would be WAAAY up with the new contract that was signed (up 70% and that is not including the oversea deals, http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-06-13/markets/32207642_1_richard-scudamore-bskyb-soccer-league) but its all relative. It isnt like La Liga where the big clubs get a huge difference in the TV deal allocation, so player transfers and wages will just continue to become more and more inflated when competing for signings with teams within England.


As for promoting from within I want to see Frimpong make it, he a warrior and gives 110% for the badge and that what we need with all the players jumping ship for greener pastures in the last year.

Same can be said for Nico passion for the club as he's a Gooner through and through plus hes looked good at RB the times he's been given a chance there (some in preseason this year plus at home to United last season) Although Jenkinson is a Gooner aswell I dont think he is anywhere need ready right now. Our wingers on his side currently (Theo and Gervinho) are poor technically so our fullbacks need to provide a threat down the flank (thus why we get counter attacked so easy) and it was painful watching Jenkinson with the ball at his feet on Sunday, but he does have the ability to put in a good cross if given space.

Miquel should take Squillaci's place as 5th choice CB.

There seems to be high hopes fo 16 y/o Serge Gnabry as hes been practicing with the first team and was taken to Germany for preseason but thats alot to ask for him at that age.

Having said all that I know it not feasible given our squad numbers but I would really want all the players mentioned above to get a loan on an EPL team because playing day in and day out will be much better in the long run.

Sorry for the double post but I want to address something Arsenal related. What's the general consensus with the Gooners regarding Arsene Wenger? Do you want him gone, do you still like him? Approaching 8 years since your last meaningful trophy, consistently selling your top players instead of spending to improve the squad. I realize they did that last year with the Arteta, Mertesacker, etc signings but I'm talking about a world class player (Podolski and Giroud? Enhh). When do you say enough is enough? I'm not entirely sure of the owner situation at Arsenal but I do remember them giving Arsene quite a bit of money to work with in their transfer budget. I just want to know what Arsenal fans are thinking here.

lolwat? Sorry bud I think you've got the wrong club and manager . Arsené has done a hell of a club under the restrictions we're under in paying off a new stadium and being self sufficient imo. He loves the club more than anyone else and I feel bad for him that so many players he's taken from nowhere and put faith in have jumped ship (RVP. Song, Nasri and to an extent Cesc. But Cesc was always headed back to Barca one day) As I said earlier I have my doubts in the effectiveness of FFP but the timing couldnt be better for Arsenal in terms of decreasing the the spending power of our rivals and our own revenue increasing as many of the undervalued commercial deals that we sign to secure funding for the Emirates come up for renewal in 2014 soi if FFP has any influence on the way clubs throw their financial weight around people will see what a good manager Arsené is again.

Kroenke might be one of the richest men in the world, but look at all of his teams he is the primary owner of: Avalanche, Broncos, Rapids, Nuggets, and St. Louis Rams....what do they have in common? Now some are in sports with salary caps so there are limits, but the Rams and Broncos don't operate on a salary cap and even still don't spend the most or near the most in the NFL....now Ursmanov (the Russian you're talking about) seems to be all about being ambitious and wants the board to stop selling off top talent. On the flipside though spending something like 40mill and flipping it to 200+ mill in transfers is GREAT business, now that doesn't always equate to results on the field which is frustrating for us fans.
But neither of these people have the money of Man City's owners...which straight up manipulate the current system. Plus having money doesn't guarantee your owner will build a winner, you have to have a strategy. When FFP comes in, people won't be knocking Arsenal for this, as every player has a price. Even Messi or C Ronaldo, getting 20+mill for an injury prone 29yr old one his final yr who refuses to resign, and who had a career year he'll never duplicate again is smart....if anyone wouldn't do that deal they're banking on diminishing assets and losing out on cashing in on his prime value (it just sucks he went to ManU but they were the only ones who met the asking price).
Now that being said, Arsenal are a big club and should have won SOMETHING in the last 7 years, and I don't always agree with Arsene's philosophy of usually only buying pre pubescent teens but it has paid tremendous dividends in the business sense. Just because you're a big club doesn't give you any entitlement to win a trophy, but they need to reinvest the money in intelligent buys and good players, regardless of nationality bias. Santi is a good example of that, and if I'm a big club in good financial status I'd be raiding Spain of a lot of its young talent b/c half those teams are underwater, even the CL clubs aside from Real and Barca (who are not even in a good financial state tbh). Sports is a business, and honestly a lot of the owners aren't in it to win as cynical as that is...I hope Ursmanov gets more say and gets the board to spend more b/c they can afford to...Cesc wanted to go back to Barca (he was great for us but eventually it was gonna happen, City offered Clichy money they simply weren't willing to match, Nasri as well, and Song is going to be a benchwarmer (that kind of tells you where his head is, although he';; get trophies since he's a part of the team there), and honestly Walcott is a good player but he's not the second coming, he's extremely one dimensional and can be taken out of games completely....and that money has been used to acquire new talent (which we can debate whether or not it'll work out as I'm realllly skeptical of Giroud and Podolski to a degree). They're probably not going to compete for a titile this yr either if we're being real, but that's just where we are at the moment.

Great post and agree with most of if but that last line is the problem isnt it?

RVP, our captain, came out and called us unambitious before he ****** off to United, Ashley Cole as he was holding the CL trophy said "Now no-one can say anything to me. This is the reason I came here." and that lesbian Nasri voiced the same sentiment after his team won the league. The Club's pride was at a low,but it looked like the board were giving Wenger the funds to spend wisely on very good players (not that big of a deal as we were positive what +£30m from player sales last summer?) to build a much stronger squad only a month ago (Podolski, Giroud, and Cazorla for ~£35m) and now we are on the verge of losing our 3 top performers from the season prior. Again I'm just frustrated for thinking things were different this window.

They still have about 3 days to sort things out and I still have faith in Arsené and I'll be backing the team to seriously compete /win something 1000% once the window closes regardless of who is here and who leaves but man we're looking at an uphill climb if this team doesn't gel fast.

 

[mastamind89]

I saw him a few times with Cal Odyssey and paired with what I've seen of him via stream since he left for Europe I'll second the above.

He's technically gifted for sure but I remember his instincts and understanding of the game were something we're just not used to seeing in U.S. youth soccer. Just seemed like a very intelligent player at a young age.

Keep an eye out for more Odyssey kids leaving for Europe, that club is the lone good thing about central California.

Thanks man, very good to know. Info like this is what makes me so optimistic about the future of US soccer. Any other clubs/academies worth looking into?

/quote]

Appreciate the replies, fellas. I admit I don't follow the ins and outs of Arsenal's front office so I just wanted to see what the opinion from the regular Gooner was. Rarely do find a squad in a top market fail to keep their star players happy. On the business end, Wenger really has done a solid job of reselling his talent. He bought Fabregas, Adebayor, Van Persie, Kolo Toure, Henry, Overmars, Petit, Vieira, Song, and Anelka for £32.8m and sold them for £162.3m. Very impressive.

But as I mentioned earlier, Wenger's been with Arsenal for what, 16 or 17 years now? The second half of his tenure has been disappointing. Arsenal hasn't finished top 2 in the tables since 04-05, no trophies since 05 and CL appearances is all you have to show for in the last 7-8 years?

****, at least you're in better hands than Liverpool.

AW gets a lot of ****. Yes he has made some mistakes but who hasn't. I think he has a done a great job with the limited resources available to him. I remember reading that our net spend was -£30 million...City was £300mil Hopefully by the end of the window, things will be on a very positive note.
There's a good chance Theo is just trying to force our hand. His agent has pushed aside contract talks twice before and 3 days before the window closes this is coming out..

 

[jesus saved edwin]

El Clásico second leg of the Supercopa de España is tomorow at the Santiago Bernabéu. I just thought I'd give a reminder.

It's 3-2 on agg. goals Barca. A draw is good enough for Barca to win it.

It's worth noting that Puyol suffered a cheekbone injury, but is expected to still be playing in the match, so don't be surprised if he comes in as a second half sub wearing a face protector.

 

[jada2001retro]

Love that Arsenal beating Barcelona is their biggest accomplishment since 2005.
Never thought that highly of Walcott but he was starting to put the pieces together. Not sure what his purpose would be at Man Ciy but with Aguero out for a month, I guess he'll have a role.
Far as Clint Dempsey goes, Liverpool seems like a realistic option even though they just got Sahin. Dempsey-Gerrard-Sahin as the starting midfield in the 4-3-3 would be a great look for them. I assume that would be the end of Charlie Adam at Mersyside (there's been rumors of him leaving anyway) so you'll still have Lucas, Henderson, Allen to rotate. Offense could be stronger. Rodgers said Downing might have to reinvent himself and become a LB to stick with the squad. Either way, Raheem Sterling looked pretty good against Man City on the weekend but still, I'm sure L'pool fans would want a quality, established winger.

Please...

I don't care who has been better in the previous years, but you Chelski fans should NEVER talk anything bad about Arsenal with that lack of history you have.

13 league titles to 4?

10 FA cups to 7?

Chelsea will always be Arsenal's *****.

 

[mastamind89]

trunks206

Thanks for the links. Right now, all we can really do is wait and see what happens next year. We'll see how solid it is, what loop holes there are..if any.
I'm looking forward to Frimpongs return, he has a lot of potential.
I liked what I seen from Nico and Miquel so far. Nico looks strong and will be a problem when gains some experience.
Jenks isn't at the point where he can offer a good contribution to the offense. Coquelin looked a lot better at that position, overall than Jenks. Can't wait for Sagna to come back.

I expect great things from Gnarby, he looks really good and so does Eisfeld.

​

The NextGen series starts today. Arsenal is playing today and I believe City plays tomorrow.
http://www.nextgenseries.com/Clubs/Arsenal
http://www.nextgenseries.com/Clubs/Manchester-City-FC

 

[eiddyfouw]

I don't have much faith in FFP, because the FA still makes BOATLOADS of cash off clubs like City and Chelsea (btw, QPR also has new rich owners who are going to pump money in over a 5 year period; don't forget that Reading was recently bought by a Russian who will also pump money in- not to Abramovich level, but to a certain extent).

The only big clubs that are screwed by FFA in the FA is Chelsea and City.

Believe it or not, even with United's debt situation, the club itself generates extrodinary revenue and solid profits, which IF, it had normal sane owners, would reduce the debt significantly.

 

[jesus saved edwin]

I'm watching this weeks Revista De La Liga and Guillem Balague was asked about Jesús Navas and Arsenal being interested in signing him and he said he didn't see this happening as Navas is committed to Sevilla.

 

[lyonbc1]

The whole self-financing...it's like a gift and a curse. But I also do forget that FFP is kicking in next season.
Who do think if worth promoting from within?

I dont know I dont have much faith in FFP to be honest. City singed a what 10 year £400m year shirt naming deal? Clubs will somehow find a way around it, unless UEFA takes a stand.

The increases in revenue for CL team this season (~15%, http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7877647/clubs-get-champions-league-prize-money-raise) isnt much and although the EPL TV revenue would be WAAAY up with the new contract that was signed (up 70% and that is not including the oversea deals, http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-06-13/markets/32207642_1_richard-scudamore-bskyb-soccer-league) but its all relative. It isnt like La Liga where the big clubs get a huge difference in the TV deal allocation, so player transfers and wages will just continue to become more and more inflated when competing for signings with teams within England.


As for promoting from within I want to see Frimpong make it, he a warrior and gives 110% for the badge and that what we need with all the players jumping ship for greener pastures in the last year.

Same can be said for Nico passion for the club as he's a Gooner through and through plus hes looked good at RB the times he's been given a chance there (some in preseason this year plus at home to United last season) Although Jenkinson is a Gooner aswell I dont think he is anywhere need ready right now. Our wingers on his side currently (Theo and Gervinho) are poor technically so our fullbacks need to provide a threat down the flank (thus why we get counter attacked so easy) and it was painful watching Jenkinson with the ball at his feet on Sunday, but he does have the ability to put in a good cross if given space.

Miquel should take Squillaci's place as 5th choice CB.

There seems to be high hopes fo 16 y/o Serge Gnabry as hes been practicing with the first team and was taken to Germany for preseason but thats alot to ask for him at that age.

Having said all that I know it not feasible given our squad numbers but I would really want all the players mentioned above to get a loan on an EPL team because playing day in and day out will be much better in the long run.

Sorry for the double post but I want to address something Arsenal related. What's the general consensus with the Gooners regarding Arsene Wenger? Do you want him gone, do you still like him? Approaching 8 years since your last meaningful trophy, consistently selling your top players instead of spending to improve the squad. I realize they did that last year with the Arteta, Mertesacker, etc signings but I'm talking about a world class player (Podolski and Giroud? Enhh). When do you say enough is enough? I'm not entirely sure of the owner situation at Arsenal but I do remember them giving Arsene quite a bit of money to work with in their transfer budget. I just want to know what Arsenal fans are thinking here.

lolwat? Sorry bud I think you've got the wrong club and manager . Arsené has done a hell of a club under the restrictions we're under in paying off a new stadium and being self sufficient imo. He loves the club more than anyone else and I feel bad for him that so many players he's taken from nowhere and put faith in have jumped ship (RVP. Song, Nasri and to an extent Cesc. But Cesc was always headed back to Barca one day) As I said earlier I have my doubts in the effectiveness of FFP but the timing couldnt be better for Arsenal in terms of decreasing the the spending power of our rivals and our own revenue increasing as many of the undervalued commercial deals that we sign to secure funding for the Emirates come up for renewal in 2014 soi if FFP has any influence on the way clubs throw their financial weight around people will see what a good manager Arsené is again.

Kroenke might be one of the richest men in the world, but look at all of his teams he is the primary owner of: Avalanche, Broncos, Rapids, Nuggets, and St. Louis Rams....what do they have in common? Now some are in sports with salary caps so there are limits, but the Rams and Broncos don't operate on a salary cap and even still don't spend the most or near the most in the NFL....now Ursmanov (the Russian you're talking about) seems to be all about being ambitious and wants the board to stop selling off top talent. On the flipside though spending something like 40mill and flipping it to 200+ mill in transfers is GREAT business, now that doesn't always equate to results on the field which is frustrating for us fans.
But neither of these people have the money of Man City's owners...which straight up manipulate the current system. Plus having money doesn't guarantee your owner will build a winner, you have to have a strategy. When FFP comes in, people won't be knocking Arsenal for this, as every player has a price. Even Messi or C Ronaldo, getting 20+mill for an injury prone 29yr old one his final yr who refuses to resign, and who had a career year he'll never duplicate again is smart....if anyone wouldn't do that deal they're banking on diminishing assets and losing out on cashing in on his prime value (it just sucks he went to ManU but they were the only ones who met the asking price).
Now that being said, Arsenal are a big club and should have won SOMETHING in the last 7 years, and I don't always agree with Arsene's philosophy of usually only buying pre pubescent teens but it has paid tremendous dividends in the business sense. Just because you're a big club doesn't give you any entitlement to win a trophy, but they need to reinvest the money in intelligent buys and good players, regardless of nationality bias. Santi is a good example of that, and if I'm a big club in good financial status I'd be raiding Spain of a lot of its young talent b/c half those teams are underwater, even the CL clubs aside from Real and Barca (who are not even in a good financial state tbh). Sports is a business, and honestly a lot of the owners aren't in it to win as cynical as that is...I hope Ursmanov gets more say and gets the board to spend more b/c they can afford to...Cesc wanted to go back to Barca (he was great for us but eventually it was gonna happen, City offered Clichy money they simply weren't willing to match, Nasri as well, and Song is going to be a benchwarmer (that kind of tells you where his head is, although he';; get trophies since he's a part of the team there), and honestly Walcott is a good player but he's not the second coming, he's extremely one dimensional and can be taken out of games completely....and that money has been used to acquire new talent (which we can debate whether or not it'll work out as I'm realllly skeptical of Giroud and Podolski to a degree). They're probably not going to compete for a titile this yr either if we're being real, but that's just where we are at the moment.

Great post and agree with most of if but that last line is the problem isnt it?

RVP, our captain, came out and called us unambitious before he ****** off to United, Ashley Cole as he was holding the CL trophy said "Now no-one can say anything to me. This is the reason I came here." and that lesbian Nasri voiced the same sentiment after his team won the league. The Club's pride was at a low,but it looked like the board were giving Wenger the funds to spend wisely on very good players (not that big of a deal as we were positive what +£30m from player sales last summer?) to build a much stronger squad only a month ago (Podolski, Giroud, and Cazorla for ~£35m) and now we are on the verge of losing our 3 top performers from the season prior. Again I'm just frustrated for thinking things were different this window.

They still have about 3 days to sort things out and I still have faith in Arsené and I'll be backing the team to seriously compete /win something 1000% once the window closes regardless of who is here and who leaves but man we're looking at an uphill climb if this team doesn't gel fast.

Yep you're right that is the problem we're facing now sadly, but I dunno maybe being a Philly fan I have blind support for teams that disappoint me I hope they can bring in Navas if those rumors are true, and another thing is Arsene tends to buy youth with huge potential and a fair amount actually reach that (it just takes 3-4 yrs unfortunately)...I LOVE the Cazorla signing he's gonna be a beast for us, and hopefully he signs a couple of more offensive threats this window b/c I don't have confidence in Giroud too much and it'll take him a few months to adjust to the EPL anyways. I'm a little nervous b/c RvP's dominance masked a lot of flaws with them last year, and they won't have that cover this time around, they have to know the forwards aren't good enough right now, Santi's passes aren't gonna be any good if nobody can finish them off but man oh man RvP on the end of some of his passes would've been :x , but **** that traitor I'm still predicting a top 4 finish, and maybe higher if they get some reinforcements this window or in January

 

[jesus saved edwin]

• Wayne Rooney, 26, fears Manchester United are preparing to offload him for £40m. - Daily Mirror
• England winger Theo Walcott has rejected a new Arsenal contract and could be sold for £15m with Manchester City and Liverpool favourites to sign the 23-year-old. - The Times (subscription only)
• Former Chelsea strikers Didier Drogba, 34, and Nicolas Anelka, 33, could be sold by Shanghai Shenhua because of an escalating row among the Chinese club's shareholders. - Guardian
• Turkish club Fenerbache are preparing an £8m bid for Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, 29, and have enquired about his Portuguese team-mate Raul Meireles, 29. - Daily Mail
• Newcastle will only accept offers for Argentine defender Fabricio Coloccini, 30, Ivorian midfielder Cheick Tiote, 26, or French playmaker Yohan Cabaye, 26, if they are too good to turn down. - Independent
• Tottenham have been warned they may miss out on 22-year-old France international midfielder Yann M'Vila after having a £12m bid rejected earlier this summer. - Daily Telegraph
• Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas wants to sign 25-year-old Portugal midfielder Joao Moutinho from Porto and Russia striker Alan Dzagoev, 22, from CSKA Moscow, but could lose Jermain Defoe, 29, and Rafael van der Vaart, 29. - Daily Mirror
• German club Hamburg hope an offer of around £9m will be enough to tempt Tottenham to sell midfielder Van der Vaart. - Daily Mail
• Dimitar Berbatov's agent is due in Florence to secure the 31-year-old Bulgarian's switch from Manchester United to Fiorentina. - The Sun
• Stoke City manager Tony Pulis is hoping to revive his loan deal for Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone, 25. - Stoke Sentinel
• Swansea are to make a £2m bid for Crewe midfielder Ashley Westwood, 22. - Daily Mail
• Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert is considering a move for 30-year-old Southampton striker, and namesake, Rickie Lambert. - Daily Mirror
• SPL side Celtic are eyeing a move for Motherwell winger Chris Humphrey, 24, with Neil Lennon expecting to pay £200,000. - Daily Record
• QPR and West Brom are tracking Argentine Cristian Ansaldi, 25, who is currently on the books of Rubin Kazan. - The Sun
• Paul Lambert is paying £2.75m to take Middlesbrough left-back Joe Bennett, 22, to Aston Villa. - Daily Mail
• Fulham have made a £6.5m bid for Lyon striker Bafetimbi Gomis, 27, who was a target for Newcastle. - Daily Mail

 

[dlo13]

Javi Martinez to Bayern is finally done.

 

[demps]

Michael Bradley has a groin injury and will miss a month, including the US qualifiers against Jamaica.

 

[demps]

x2.

 

[mastamind89]

Ives Galarcep tweeted that Berbatov has signed with Juve,

 

[abovelegit1]

Kroenke might be one of the richest men in the world, but look at all of his teams he is the primary owner of: Avalanche, Broncos, Rapids, Nuggets, and St. Louis Rams....what do they have in common? Now some are in sports with salary caps so there are limits, but the Rams and Broncos don't operate on a salary cap and even still don't spend the most or near the most in the NFL....now Ursmanov (the Russian you're talking about) seems to be all about being ambitious and wants the board to stop selling off top talent. On the flipside though spending something like 40mill and flipping it to 200+ mill in transfers is GREAT business, now that doesn't always equate to results on the field which is frustrating for us fans.
But neither of these people have the money of Man City's owners...which straight up manipulate the current system. Plus having money doesn't guarantee your owner will build a winner, you have to have a strategy. When FFP comes in, people won't be knocking Arsenal for this, as every player has a price. Even Messi or C Ronaldo, getting 20+mill for an injury prone 29yr old one his final yr who refuses to resign, and who had a career year he'll never duplicate again is smart....if anyone wouldn't do that deal they're banking on diminishing assets and losing out on cashing in on his prime value (it just sucks he went to ManU but they were the only ones who met the asking price).
Now that being said, Arsenal are a big club and should have won SOMETHING in the last 7 years, and I don't always agree with Arsene's philosophy of usually only buying pre pubescent teens but it has paid tremendous dividends in the business sense. Just because you're a big club doesn't give you any entitlement to win a trophy, but they need to reinvest the money in intelligent buys and good players, regardless of nationality bias. Santi is a good example of that, and if I'm a big club in good financial status I'd be raiding Spain of a lot of its young talent b/c half those teams are underwater, even the CL clubs aside from Real and Barca (who are not even in a good financial state tbh). Sports is a business, and honestly a lot of the owners aren't in it to win as cynical as that is...I hope Ursmanov gets more say and gets the board to spend more b/c they can afford to...Cesc wanted to go back to Barca (he was great for us but eventually it was gonna happen, City offered Clichy money they simply weren't willing to match, Nasri as well, and Song is going to be a benchwarmer (that kind of tells you where his head is, although he';; get trophies since he's a part of the team there), and honestly Walcott is a good player but he's not the second coming, he's extremely one dimensional and can be taken out of games completely....and that money has been used to acquire new talent (which we can debate whether or not it'll work out as I'm realllly skeptical of Giroud and Podolski to a degree). They're probably not going to compete for a titile this yr either if we're being real, but that's just where we are at the moment.

Arsenal's business/football model is inherently flawed. Football clubs aren't purely businesses because the only objective of a business is to make money, while a football club's objectives include being as successful on the pitch as your resources allow. Arsene Wenger is an board/owner's dream because he can essentially guarantee lucrative CL football with minimal investment, all the while maintaining a high profit margin. I don't know if it's the board who puts spending limits on him, or if it's something Arsene holds himself to in an effort to build a team the "right way," but either way it's a problem. It's a shame because the latter is the most admirable approach, but for all Wenger's genius he just won't be able to get the results a club like Arsenal should demand. 7 years is a long time, after all.

Messi does not have a price btw, any offer would be flatly rejected. He's a transcendent talent, and will go down in the highest echelon of football greats, so the club will do anything to see him retire there. Maybe a private owner could be tempted to line his pockets by an unfathomable offer, but Barca and Madrid are public trusts, and only exist to win trophies and represent their cities & supporters. All profits go back into the club anyway, and it's not like there's another Messi you could buy. I'd say the same about Ronaldo, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him elsewhere years from now once his athleticism fades, and along comes a better option.

 

[jesus saved edwin]

Javi Martinez to Bayern is finally done.

Tremendous signing.

 

[eiddyfouw]

• Wayne Rooney, 26, fears Manchester United are preparing to offload him for £40m. - Daily Mirror

 

[lyonbc1]

Kroenke might be one of the richest men in the world, but look at all of his teams he is the primary owner of: Avalanche, Broncos, Rapids, Nuggets, and St. Louis Rams....what do they have in common? Now some are in sports with salary caps so there are limits, but the Rams and Broncos don't operate on a salary cap and even still don't spend the most or near the most in the NFL....now Ursmanov (the Russian you're talking about) seems to be all about being ambitious and wants the board to stop selling off top talent. On the flipside though spending something like 40mill and flipping it to 200+ mill in transfers is GREAT business, now that doesn't always equate to results on the field which is frustrating for us fans.
But neither of these people have the money of Man City's owners...which straight up manipulate the current system. Plus having money doesn't guarantee your owner will build a winner, you have to have a strategy. When FFP comes in, people won't be knocking Arsenal for this, as every player has a price. Even Messi or C Ronaldo, getting 20+mill for an injury prone 29yr old one his final yr who refuses to resign, and who had a career year he'll never duplicate again is smart....if anyone wouldn't do that deal they're banking on diminishing assets and losing out on cashing in on his prime value (it just sucks he went to ManU but they were the only ones who met the asking price).
Now that being said, Arsenal are a big club and should have won SOMETHING in the last 7 years, and I don't always agree with Arsene's philosophy of usually only buying pre pubescent teens but it has paid tremendous dividends in the business sense. Just because you're a big club doesn't give you any entitlement to win a trophy, but they need to reinvest the money in intelligent buys and good players, regardless of nationality bias. Santi is a good example of that, and if I'm a big club in good financial status I'd be raiding Spain of a lot of its young talent b/c half those teams are underwater, even the CL clubs aside from Real and Barca (who are not even in a good financial state tbh). Sports is a business, and honestly a lot of the owners aren't in it to win as cynical as that is...I hope Ursmanov gets more say and gets the board to spend more b/c they can afford to...Cesc wanted to go back to Barca (he was great for us but eventually it was gonna happen, City offered Clichy money they simply weren't willing to match, Nasri as well, and Song is going to be a benchwarmer (that kind of tells you where his head is, although he';; get trophies since he's a part of the team there), and honestly Walcott is a good player but he's not the second coming, he's extremely one dimensional and can be taken out of games completely....and that money has been used to acquire new talent (which we can debate whether or not it'll work out as I'm realllly skeptical of Giroud and Podolski to a degree). They're probably not going to compete for a titile this yr either if we're being real, but that's just where we are at the moment.

Arsenal's business/football model is inherently flawed. Football clubs aren't purely businesses because the only objective of a business is to make money, while a football club's objectives include being as successful on the pitch as your resources allow. Arsene Wenger is an board/owner's dream because he can essentially guarantee lucrative CL football with minimal investment, all the while maintaining a high profit margin. I don't know if it's the board who puts spending limits on him, or if it's something Arsene holds himself to in an effort to build a team the "right way," but either way it's a problem. It's a shame because the latter is the most admirable approach, but for all Wenger's genius he just won't be able to get the results a club like Arsenal should demand. 7 years is a long time, after all.

Messi does not have a price btw, any offer would be flatly rejected. He's a transcendent talent, and will go down in the highest echelon of football greats, so the club will do anything to see him retire there. Maybe a private owner could be tempted to line his pockets by an unfathomable offer, but Barca and Madrid are public trusts, and only exist to win trophies and represent their cities & supporters. All profits go back into the club anyway, and it's not like there's another Messi you could buy. I'd say the same about Ronaldo, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him elsewhere years from now once his athleticism fades, and along comes a better option.

Eh, I'd argue your first point a bit, sports are a business first and foremost. Arsenal's business model is tremendous and even the football side is relatively good (ok not winning trophies for 7 yrs but they have always been and always will be very competitive with the best of the best)...and every team outside of City/Chelsea/United/Arsenal/Tottenham/Newcastle exist solely to stay in the Prem, and enjoy the revenue sharing that comes with it, not to try and win titles...Stoke City for example knows they can play like 6 dm's and hold the top teams to draws at home and try and beat on the minnows, it's how they stay up every year. Unless those clubs get a multi billionaire who pumps his money into the club they have no championship ambitions.

Arsenal's current model isn't "flawed" I would say they are staying within themselves and taking advantage of an inflated market to get more money for their players, they just are messing up by being so stingy with how they then reinvest the into new talent. Yes they haven't won trophies for a while and its unacceptable for a club of that stature, but getting to the CL every year isn't anything to sneeze at (probably would've done better if they didn't have to meet the Barca machine too)-....it's probably one of the best in the world from a business standpoint, the football has been strong just not elite championship level which is the problem thats so frustrating for us fans....they need to now (and should have) used more of the money to buy world class players from other clubs. Especially now that they're on track to pay off the Emirates lease and everything. Arsene's strategy is dated to a degree as he's an economist at heart, and the buying low and selling high thing is tough to do in a league where teams literally just throw crazy money that's so insane in every sense, simply to get the best players and have some just ride the pine....earlier in the 2000's and mid-late 90's his strategy was incredibly successful and I hope he will adjust it a bit to compete with these Big Oil football clubs (Chelsea, Man City, etc). in the current market. There's tons of american sports teams who are just in it to make money and keep their teams kind of competitive, if you want to call it that. Arsenal should open the pursestrings some though to get back to the elite level they're used to.

But I take back what I said about Messi and agree with you somewhat, he's a transcendent talent but if someone somehow offered say 700million then it'd be hard/stupid to say no but that's unrealistic.


And that sucks about Bradley, hope he comes back strong and can re-establish his place at Roma

 

[jesus saved edwin]

 

[jesus saved edwin]

This is Pepe's return match for Real Madrid. I'm curious to see what his return will do in this match.

Neither team player like they were expected to this Sunday, so let's see how they do together.

I'm still expecting a 1-1 draw or a 1-0 win for Barca.

 

[tomdiginson]

Lucas is out for three months with a thigh injury.

 

[mastamind89]

Julian Green http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club...ospects:-german-star-open-to-us-call_aid24441
Hope he plays for us but seems unlikely

 

[imasoleman18]

if drogba and anelka are sold

 

[abovelegit1]

Eh, I'd argue your first point a bit, sports are a business first and foremost. Arsenal's business model is tremendous and even the football side is relatively good (ok not winning trophies for 7 yrs but they have always been and always will be very competitive with the best of the best)...and every team outside of City/Chelsea/United/Arsenal/Tottenham/Newcastle exist solely to stay in the Prem, and enjoy the revenue sharing that comes with it, not to try and win titles...Stoke City for example knows they can play like 6 dm's and hold the top teams to draws at home and try and beat on the minnows, it's how they stay up every year. Unless those clubs get a multi billionaire who pumps his money into the club they have no championship ambitions.
Arsenal's current model isn't "flawed" I would say they are staying within themselves and taking advantage of an inflated market to get more money for their players, they just are messing up by being so stingy with how they then reinvest the into new talent. Yes they haven't won trophies for a while and its unacceptable for a club of that stature, but getting to the CL every year isn't anything to sneeze at (probably would've done better if they didn't have to meet the Barca machine too)-....it's probably one of the best in the world from a business standpoint, the football has been strong just not elite championship level which is the problem thats so frustrating for us fans....they need to now (and should have) used more of the money to buy world class players from other clubs. Especially now that they're on track to pay off the Emirates lease and everything. Arsene's strategy is dated to a degree as he's an economist at heart, and the buying low and selling high thing is tough to do in a league where teams literally just throw crazy money that's so insane in every sense, simply to get the best players and have some just ride the pine....earlier in the 2000's and mid-late 90's his strategy was incredibly successful and I hope he will adjust it a bit to compete with these Big Oil football clubs (Chelsea, Man City, etc). in the current market. There's tons of american sports teams who are just in it to make money and keep their teams kind of competitive, if you want to call it that. Arsenal should open the pursestrings some though to get back to the elite level they're used to.
But I take back what I said about Messi and agree with you somewhat, he's a transcendent talent but if someone somehow offered say 700million then it'd be hard/stupid to say no but that's unrealistic.
And that sucks about Bradley, hope he comes back strong and can re-establish his place at Roma

I didn't say every club tries to win titles, I said being as successful as possible according to the club's resources. And considering Arsenal's resources they indeed should have done better the past 7 years, which we both can agree on.

I say it's flawed because the current model does not and will not translate into real, tangible success on the pitch when one considers the competition. Though if there were titles for accounting they'd win every season. CL football every year is great and all, but that seems to be the height of their ambition. Is Arsenal a "big" club if it's not realistically competing for trophies? Are they really "messing up" in terms of reinvestment or is that all just part of the plan to keep the board happy and rich? And it's not just the buying of players that's the problem, it's offering competitive wages. Being unable to match financial muscle with the the big money clubs is understandable, but they can give themselves a better chance at truly competing by committing more of the club's own money which would further close the gap, and allow them to keep more of their best players. And maybe that means they'll see some red on the balance sheet, but I think supporters would say it's worth it.

Sounds crazy, but I have little doubt Barca would say no to 700 million. Seriously. What would they do with that fee? Invest in better players? Already have/had the best. Build a bigger stadium? Have the biggest. Pay off the debt? It's already being serviced. Invest in the academy? It's already world renowned. Build a new training centre? Just built a new state of the art facility. The cules would be in an uproar, and the socios would immediately vote out the responsible president. Just wouldn't happen.

 

[jesus saved edwin]

Official Barca starting 11: Valdés; Alves, Mascherano, Piqué, Adriano; Xavi, Sergio, Iniesta; Pedro, Messi, Alexis

Puyol won't be on the bench due to the cheekbone fracture, so he won't be playing most likely. I'm sure he's not happy over that.

 

[dlo13]

Julio Cesar to QPR. I guess Rob Green wasn't mediocre enough.