Than…why are you still here, posting? An Arsenal forum…
1 Like
Nah Today is special.
Out with my sis before her marriage.
I am spending money so I am cranking
You have this in common with Arsene
5 Likes
The mental gymnastics some people perform to find ways to support Arsene will always baffle me. I can hold him in high regard and call him the clubs greatest manager whilst also calling him out on his bullshit and acknowledging the myriad of failures.
Some people can’t separate themselves from their undying love and devotion to all things Wenger.
5 Likes
No we wouldn’t.
1 Like
I wonder if Arsene felt overwhelmed by the market and how clubs were operating for big players when he bought the likes of Xhaka, Mustafi et al? He was pro-StatDNA, had his scouts, had his own thoughts on the profile of player he wanted and maybe confused everything when actually scoping on the players we did.
His immediate use of Xhaka as more of an AM was baffling and makes me think he bought into something he didn’t truly believe in. I feel like he misconstrued his ideas and the evidence the stats company we’re throwing at him and ultimately ended up with a player that wasn’t truly in the thoughts of what he wanted. Hence the odd approach of playing him as an advanced CM.
The pressure as well in the league, top 4 wasn’t an easy position to attain as it once was, so the pressure, for whatever reason, to spend may have mounted.
From 2014? onwards, we ended up with a mish-mash of players that didn’t really represent what I think Arsene had at heart, but more of a representation of the ‘modern’ line of thinking when it comes to acquiring players nowadays (stats and analytics). I think he got caught out trying to be smart with it rather than going with his gut or doing whatever he/transfer lads did when hoovering the talent we did post-Emirates build.
1 Like
Such as believing Arsene himself and the board member who said he accepted being given a low transfer budget time and again?
3 Likes
Its documented that from 2013 the renewed sponsorship deals allowed greater spending.
The signing from 2015 onwards were just poor. Although he did try to get Mbappe, Vardy. Both Mustafi and Perez were second or third choices. And to this day I’m sure Perez wasn’t a Wenger signing. He only played in the league cup, played pretty well, then afterwards Wenger is complaining he’s too 1 footed. Which indicates a battle over control of transfers.
He started the first game after his signing against Southampton in the League. You all are going to interpret facts like how you see fit and it fits your narrative, but do keep it factual.
1 Like
Don’t argue with the absolute champ of mental gymnastics. The Toddler is broken.
1 Like
Yeah that’s just how it goes. People will spin the narrative anyway they see fit because they’re so desperate to perpetuate this myth that the team assembled in the later Wenger years was the product of this great behind the scenes struggle.
Wenger was a staunch believer in the manager role and would have walked out of Arsenal the moment his autonomy over transfers was compromised.
But people will do anything to better the picture they paint of Wenger doing the most with the least when he spent a lot and assembled a horribly imbalanced and poorly coached squad in the end.
1 Like
i dont understand how you can’t look at this situation with nuance.
I know there is one thing this club is great at - propaganda. And this was more of the same.
2 Likes
Well that’s that then 
The name fits perfectly
1 Like
I don’t remember that but yes he started a grand total of 2 league games. And Wenger publically complained about him. When does that ever happen?
1 Like
Hehe. I don’t really care about your agenda. Perez had 2 starts and was subbed in another 9 games in the League. Keep it factual.
1 Like
One last point…The other disingenuous part of Wenger’s financial spin is that he essentially omits completely the effects of his wage policy. In the period we were pleading poverty on transfers, we had a wage bill that was similar to that of United and consistently beyond Liverpool. If you dig up the data, we probably spent like 150m pounds more on wages than Liverpool in the 2006-2014 period, whereas they spent 150m pounds more on transfers. Our wage bill wasn’t high because we paid stars, it was high because Wenger insisted on paying everybody above a certain level (the socialist ideal), so you end up with all sorts of shit players on like 60k a week, which was a lot back then.
It was really a combination of leaving money on the sidelines and deploying the money we did use very poorly. And again it went back to Wenger’s romantic ideals.
5 Likes
That is assuming it was Wenger’s job to negotiate wages which it was not.
You guys are bunch of professionals and you lot keep making it out like Wenger was the only employee at Arsenal. It’s juvenile talks.
There is no evidence of wages being decided by Wenger.
Also in terms of wage bills, we have had one of largest employee base compared to other clubs. 3 times the amount Spurs employed.
From my recollection there’s was higher some years
2006-2007
-
- Arsenal - £89.7m (£82.9m)
- Liverpool - £77.6m (£68.9m)
2007-08
Arsenal - 100
Liverpool - 80
10/11
Wenger openly acknowledged in interviews at the time that he broadly set the wage policy for the club, setting out bands for his players. I’m sure others handled the actual negotiations and contracts.
1 Like