Still waiting, still patient

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The Cleash

It’s 18 days since I last peered over the blogging parapet. The last time I did there were very few bullets whizzing over my head. Now there’s a full-blown barrage, though I must confess, I’m not sure who is firing at who.

Until someone valued at £10m+ comes in – a big signing, if you will – then the mood will remain as glum as it has become. 18 days ago, my blog was about Nasri, Clichy and Fabregas. This one is too. Nothing’s really moved on.

You could look at the potential exit of Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy in two ways, I suppose. The first would be to regard it as an exodus; a red flag, a dark portent. There are plenty taking that route. The second would be to see it as the coming together of three unfortunate scenarios, all at the same time. Of course, it’s much more pleasant to think of it being the latter.

Looking at the second of those, we have Fabregas, who has long harboured a desire to return to Barcelona. We have Clichy, who has refused to sign a new contract, and we have Nasri, who is acting the giddy goat, partly over money, but perhaps not entirely. That’s football I suppose.

Fabregas would be the real loss. His tenacity, vision and technique are second to none. Unless he is carrying an injury, he is a remarkably consistent footballer. He’s been the lynchpin of this side for a long time. But he wants to ‘go home’.

Nasri is an excellent footballer, a tough fighter, but he is not the finished product. He’s not worth £150,000+ a week, if you ask me. I’d say that even if we could afford to pay those wages. Incidentally, we can’t, at least not without an immediate upsurge in wages across the board.

Clichy divides opinion. He gives his all, he’s quick, he’s a very decent left-back. But he’s not as good a defender as his three long-term predecessors at Arsenal (Sansom, Winterburn and Cole). He is prone to error and his crossing could be better. But at the same time, he is currently better than Kieran Gibbs, he’s better than Enrique (who we have been linked to, not that I should be making much of that), and for a club on a limited budget, which we are compared to some, do we really want to be spending £15m on a new left-back?

Still, the consensus is that that deal is done.

Back to the original scenario though: Players who do not earn as much as some of their peers are easier to keep happy if the team they are playing in has been successful. As our groundhog seasons merge into one, you can see why things have come to a head. From a wages perspective, we are struggling to offer what other teams can offer. Maybe, like the fans, some players have tired of waiting for the promised land. This scenario is not much fun to contemplate.

Until the futures of these three players are sorted though, we’re in for a bit of turbulence.

Overall though, we’re hardly staring down the barrel at the Champions League qualifiers. There’s time – plenty of time.

Jim

Arsenal since about 1979. Thick, thin and all that.

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Tim Casey

    As far as wages are concerned Arsenal are one of the three highest payers in the premier league. fab will probably leave. I expect Clichy and Nasri to sign new contracts.
    Wenger is currently negotiating to buy 4 or 5 fantastic player, he realizes after all the board members, cash in and made millions of pounds, the gloves are off!! this includes our Chairman hillwood who only had 1% and made 2 million pounds, and lady nina Bracewell-Smith who made 123 million, who is now complaning about the board, she’s no lady. You must remember Arsenal are a very big club and there are many investors who would like to buy the club. Don’t believe the media they have no idea what wenger and Arsenal plans are. Arsenal are going to have a fantastic team next seaon. Keep the faith!!

  2. Jeff

    dark days

  3. VIP Player

    You say don’t believe the media but then again we must believe you when you say Arsenal are going to have a fantastic team next season.  Unless you’re Wenger how do you know that? Our wages are high because we pay crap players too much, why do you think we can’t get rid of Denilson? He’s earning too much for a fringe player and nobody values him at that level apart from Wenger which really gives you an indication of the alternate reality Wenger is living in.  Arsenal should be paying fringe players less and top players more like we used to before project youth started then fringe players compete and work their way up and get rewarded for that, but what incentive have any of the players in the current team had? Nobody competing for your place, you play shit one week you’re in the team the next week and the next, plus your being paid handsomely anyway.  Wenger needs a reality check.  With 5 of the current team wanting out and obviously have no faith in Wenger you’re asking us to keep the faith? Lol When I see top quality signings maybe I will have faith and not before. PS. Gervinho doesn’t meet that criteria.

  4. Tim Casey

    VIP PLayer, I accept many of your points, particularly average players being overpaid. what i mean by  ‘ the gloves are off’ is that wenger insisted on the new stadium, and accepted, there would be less money available for new players for several years. However after the board agreed the the self sustaining model, the club only spends what it earns. the first opportunity they had. The major shareholders sold out and made a lot of money, particularly due to the asset value the new stadium generated. Wenger could not go public, but he was taken for a ride by the sharehoiders including the chairman.Wenger did hie best knowing many of the players were not good enough!Wenger is very professional. Now he will spend whatever is required, the new owner cannot allow the club, to decline further. he has spent alot of money and cannot accept failure. As I stated earlier watch the space,many of our best players will stay. And you will see great players arriving particularly in defence.

  5. Anonymous

    Tim, a direct quote from Gazidis :
    ‘Did we sepdn all the money we had available last season?The answer is we haven’t.We spend when we feel we have a need to spend, with the manager’s judgement.’

    Wenger has not been taken for a ride by anyone. The fact is he believed the players he had were good enough (despite all the evidence to the contrary) & refused to spend money to plug the gaps that he desperately needed to.
    We didn’t win the easiest league title that was ever available to be won because of Wenger’s stubbornness & no other reason.

    We needed to make a big statement as soon as the transfer window opened. We haven’t & that’s why there’s so much doom & gloom. 

    I admire your optimism to a certain extent but any Arsenal fan who claims to be as certain as you are that we will have a great team next season is frankly just deluded. There is simply no evidence at the minute to back up that claim; none.

  6. Anonymous

    Tim, a direct quote from Gazidis :
    ‘Did we sepdn all the money we had available last season?The answer is we haven’t.We spend when we feel we have a need to spend, with the manager’s judgement.’

    Wenger has not been taken for a ride by anyone. The fact is he believed the players he had were good enough (despite all the evidence to the contrary) & refused to spend money to plug the gaps that he desperately needed to.
    We didn’t win the easiest league title that was ever available to be won because of Wenger’s stubbornness & no other reason.

    We needed to make a big statement as soon as the transfer window opened. We haven’t & that’s why there’s so much doom & gloom. 

    I admire your optimism to a certain extent but any Arsenal fan who claims to be as certain as you are that we will have a great team next season is frankly just deluded. There is simply no evidence at the minute to back up that claim; none.

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