A later than normal blog today. Only had 8 pints last night but feeling rotten today. Not been the same since I got I’ll just over a month ago…
Today’s Arsenal news is that 3 more games have had their kick off times announced.
I get bored of saying this, but I feel I need to. Sky do not care about match going fans.
The Wolves game kicking off at 7:30pm with the last train home to London at 9:37pm.
It is a good 15-20 minute walk from Molineux to Wolverhampton station, so anyone planning to get the train will have to leave on 80 minutes.
All well and good Sky preaching sustainability, but then they schedule games at a time where fans are forced to use the least sustainable method of transport to get to and from the game. As always, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher et al will be silent on the matter.
Bukayo Saka has pulled out of the England squad due to injury. He basically turned up, handed over some sauce and went home.
I imagine, like Gabriel, it is more precautionary. If these were proper games Saka would have been fit to play.
Having international friendlies with just 10 games to go in the season is nonsensical. FIFA and UEFA really need to look at themselves.
Not really much else happening in the world. I will grab another coffee and see if I can get my day going.
Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.
Keenos
Arsenal fans – heading out to Munich for the Champions League? Grab yourself a new bottle opener.
Our retro kit bottle openers can be added to your keys, put in your wallet/phone case. No issues getting through airport security. Perfect for Euro aways!https://t.co/lBkFuWS5xapic.twitter.com/H39nZoUvzf
Those Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City fans complaining should actually drive their anger towards those in-charge of their clubs for running them so poorly. The rules are their, they all signed up to them, and the losses they made would have put their existence in danger had it not been for the rules.
Everton have been one of the worst run clubs in the league since Farhad Moshiri took over. He acted like a Russian Oligarch but he didn’t have those Ruble’s.
So keen to impress when he first bought the club (and show Arsenal what we were missing out in), he quickly made Everton one of the highest spending teams in the league. But it was recruitment without thought and almost all the big money signings flopped.
As Everton tumbled down the table, they could not finance the huge wages and, with the Moshiri money drying up, lost £373m from 2018-21. They tried to blame Covid but in reality the issue was they were spending uncontrollably.
In fact, #EFC £373m losses over the last three years are by far the worst in the Premier League, around £150m more than the next highest losses, which were made by #CFC £222m. All clubs have been adversely impacted by the COVID pandemic, but Everton’s deficit is striking. pic.twitter.com/siBtqSH1yI
Covid or PSR is not the reason Everton are financially screwed. It is all because they are poorly run. Their fans should be grateful for PSR as the rules curtailed their uncontrolled spending. If it was not for PSR, I am sure Everton would have entered administration.
Nottingham Forest are another club that are poorly run.
Since gaining promotion back to the Premier League in 2022, they have signed 47 players.
Forest fans will point to out that they lost of a lot of players when gaining promotion to the Premier League. This just highlights how poor they were run.
Their promotion was secured by having a squad of loan players and others on short-term contracts. The management of the club were not looking long-term.
And since returning to the Premier League, the transfer philosophy has been the same – 12 of the 47 players have been loan deals, and many others (Lingard, Shelvey) came in on huge money and short term deals.
Compare the way Nottingham Forest have acted on promotion to the likes of Brighton and Brentford. The later two have solid recruitment plans in place and are not looking to fast-track themselves based on overspending in the short-term.
And this is my biggest issue about fans who criticise PSR.
Forest and Everton fans make claims such as “PSR exists to protect the top 6”. This is simply not true.
The real beneficiaries of PSR are all clubs who are run well, and spend within their means. Aston Villa, West Ham, Brentford, Brighton and others. All of these are very well run clubs who have had some level of success in recent years (with 3 of the 4 having European football as a reward).
PSR also exists to give an advantage to someone like Luton Town who, upon promotion, have kept a tight reign on their finances. Why should Nottingham Forest gain an advantage over those teams around them purely because they have an owner who is happy putting the future of the club at risk?
Leicester City were once one of the best run clubs in England.
They recruited well, buying players from across Europe that no-one else was looking at, and were rewarded in 2016 with the league title. But since the death of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and the impact of Covid on the King Power International Group, they have struggled financially.
For those that do not know, King Power International Group are a Thai travel retail group whose main business is operated duty free shops. When Covid hit, air travel dramatically dropped which hit the company hard.
Leicester’s biggest issue is that after winning the league, Leicester dramatically increased their spending with an expectation that they would remain a top 8 team, and continue to reap the rewards of European football and finishing in that position.
From 2019/20 – 2021/22, Leicester lost £191m, including a huge £92.5m in 2021/22. They have still not yet published their 2022/23 accounts (when they finished 18th in the Premier League).
It is quite clear that they were spending too much and were in an unsustainable situation. I expect their 2022/23 loss to be north of £100m. Again, their fans will blame PSR but it is not the rules’ fault that they were making huge losses.
One thing I find hilarious is fans blaming PSR for their clubs not spending.,
I see West Ham fans saying PSR is the reason they are not spending big. But 2-years ago that blame was on their owners. Literally nothing has changed in that time, they have just decided to direct their anger elsewhere.
West Ham do not spend as much as someone like Arsenal because they are not as big. They do not have our revenues. And they have owners that run a tight ship to ensure their is a club for the future.
Another to pipe up is Newcastle United.
After one season finishing top 4, their fans got arrogant and thought they have made it. They have since tumbled to 10th and are pointing the fingers at the Premier League.
Restrictions on spending is not why Newcastle have struggled this season.
Since coming under new ownership and under the guise of Eddie Howe, Newcastle have spent in excess of £300m on new players. The problem is not that they have not spent a lot of money, but they have bought some very average players.
They have over £150m spent on Anthony Gordon, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento, Chris Wood and Matt Target. These are all mid-table Premier League players. None would get a look in at a “Big 6” club.
Their fans will claim that “they have bought poorly but they should be allowed to spend to get out of the trouble they created”. And this is how poorly run clubs behave – instead of trying to improve how you spend, you just continue spending poorly in the hope you get it right.
As for Manchester City, certain fans do not seem to get their head around the fact that Everton and Nottingham Forest have plead guilty to their charges, whilst Manchester City are appealing them. That is why City have not yet been handed a punishment.
Think in the real world. You are caught speeding once. You accept you are speeding, pay your fine and take the points.
I have been caught speeding 115 times, but I have challenged each and every single charge. I have not pled guilty and am appealing my punishment.
You do not have a case to be heard as you have pled guilty, I am awaiting my day in court as I have appealed. I am still going through the process, whilst your process is over.
It is not unfair that I have not yet been punished and you have, despite less charges. You pled guilty, I did not. It really is this simple.
A final thought on this is when fans point out clubs net spend. It is not obvious that the more you generate in income, the more you can spend (and the less reliant you are on having to make a profit in transfer windows?)
The best run clubs do not rely on having to sell players to fund their next batch of transfers. That is done through the difference between revenue and expenditure. Poorly run clubs need to sell to buy because they are not making enough revenue outside of players sales to buy new players organically.
Fans need to upskill themselves in how process works, and stop blaming the Premier League and “Big 6” for their owners running their clubs into the ground.
Yesterday it was announced that Takehiro Tomiyasu would be following Ben White in signing a new contract. But everything was not as clear cut as the White deal.
Tomiyasu had signed on until 2026, representing a 2 year deal, or a year extension on his current ones. This led to a lot of scratched heads.
My first thought was “has he actually signed a new deal, or is this Arsenal triggering a one-year extension clause”. As it turns out, this was a completely new deal which Tomiyasu was happy to agree.
As time went on, it transpired that the new 2-year deal included a further year option for Arsenal, so in essence it was a new 3-year contract. This is still extremely short for a 25-year-old to agree to.
After more reflection, I came up with two reasons why this deal happened.
The first is it shows where Arsenal are as a club right now. Players want to sign on that dotted line. They want to be involved in the Mikel Arteta journey. So even though the length of the contract was not favourable, Tomiyasu would rather give another 1-2 years to The Arsenal then turn down the deal, leave in the summer and join someone like Aston Villa or Newcastle.
The second is Tomiyasu himself.
On signing his contract, Tomi said: “I am so happy to extend my contract because Arsenal is the best club in the world. It’s a dream to play for this club, so I’m happy.
“When I’m on the pitch I feel the love and energy from the supporters. We are connected a lot so I want to give them something back. I am playing for Arsenal, and this means I’m playing for the Arsenal supporters. That’s why I dedicate my life to this club and the supporters.
“I want to give them something back. The connection between players and supporters is a different level and that makes it more special.”
The first part of his statement shows that he has bought into Arteta’s project and where Arsenal are right now. The second shows that he feels that he owes the club and fans something following his injury issues.
Since joining the club in 2021, he has suffered 4 major injuries that have led him to miss over 40 games for The Arsenal. He clearly feels some sort of guilt over that, and wants to repay the club and fans for sticking by him.
The new deal means that he probably gets another 2-years at the club to show that he can stay fit. And we know that if he keeps fit he can be a big part of our future. If he does not stay fit, Arsenal have not invested too much into him, will trigger the extension in 2026 and sell him.
At 25-years-old, Tomiyasu is also not in “last contract” terrority.
I imagine the money he will be in will be in and around £100k a week. Not many clubs in England or Europe would pay him (or others) that. And if he leaves at 27, he will still be young enough to get another 5-year deal elsewhere.
In the past, we have seen clubs – including Arsenal – offer 5-year deals to players with Tomiyasu’s injury record. And in that 5-years we rarely see them play and are stuck with them until their contract runs down. At least with this deal with can release for free after 2 more seasons, or extend that deal and try and get a fee for him.
It is not very often that you see a player agree to less favourable terms. The 2-year deal is completely in Arsenal’s favour. But this just shows that Tomi wants to be part of Arsenal’s future and repay the fans for their support.
Other news for yesterday is that the Munich away tickets have been announced.
We should get around 3,700, so I am not sure why the club are starting them at 50+ credits. What is odd is that they then advertise all the way down to 10+. They usually advertise down to where they think they will sell out so not sure why they start at 50+ if they predict it will go to 10+.
There can not be more than 3,000 with 30+, and this is further highlighted that once it goes down in 10s below 40+.
The last bit of news is that some places are linking us to a move for Juventus’s Adrien Rabiot. It is a deal I can not see happening.
Whilst his contract does run out at the end of the year, he will certainly not be “free” as his mum will demand inflated wages, a huge signing on fee and a big wad of cash for herself.
Rabiot turns 29 in April and I feel he is a wasted talent – he has never fulfilled his potential.
There has always been a feeling that one-day it might click for him. But at his old age now, those times are running out. He does have the physical and technical ability to play deep into his late 30s at a high level, but I think the time for us sniffing around someone like Rabiot it gone.
Better to buy someone younger, hungrier, who does not have a troublesome history.
Enjoy your Thursday.
Keenos
Arsenal fans – heading out to Munich for the Champions League? Grab yourself a new bottle opener.
Our retro kit bottle openers can be added to your keys, put in your wallet/phone case. No issues getting through airport security. Perfect for Euro aways!https://t.co/lBkFuWS5xapic.twitter.com/H39nZoUvzf
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 