Tag Archives: Arsenal

Alexis Sanchez GONE – Some thoughts

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The Robert Pires quotes

Over the weekend, Arsenal legend Bobby Pires has come out with some interesting quotes about how happy Alexis Sanchez was in London and that he is leaving because Arsenal could not match his ambition.

“Alexis wanted to stay at Arsenal. I have not talked to him, but what I see, what I smell, is that he was very good in London, very good in Arsenal. What Alexis wanted was for Arsenal to spend money on other players.”

These quotes will, as usual, lead some to come out and abuse the Frenchman. Unacceptable.

However, these quotes from Pires do need to be taken with a pinch of salt, as the first thing Pires says is “I have not talked to him”.

Therefore, this is no more than Pires’ opinion on the matter, that he thinks (not that he knows) that Sanchez is leaving because Arsenal would not spend money on other players. That they could not match his ambition.

Alexis Sanchez’s ambition

Robert Pires is right in the fact that Arsenal failed to match Alexis Sanchez’s ambition, but not in the way he, or others, probably think.

The move has nothing to do with trophies, nothing to do with signing players, and everything to do with pound, shilling and pence.

Sanchez, like so many others before him, left for the money.

If he wanted success, he would have gone to Bayern Munich last summer, or Manchester City this window. But he picked Manchester United.

He went for £450k a week, £15m in his own pocket as a signing on fee, and an additional £12m for his agent. That is why he left.

“He has gone to Manchester United to win trophies. To play Champions League football” is the line being put out by many.

It is almost like people have forgotten that in the 3 years he was at Arsenal, Sanchez has won two FA Cups.

OK, it might not be the league title, but Manchester United have been no closer to winning the league than Arsenal in that time.

In fact, since Sir Alex Ferguson left, Manchester United have failed to finish above Arsenal.

They will, of course, finish above Arsenal this year but, 12 points behind Manchester City, they are not in the title race.

Had Sanchez joined Manchester United instead of Arsenal back in 2014, he would have a FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League medal in his locker.

It will be hilarious come the end of the season if Arsenal finish with a trophy (or two) and Manchester United, and Alexis Sanchez, finish potless.

Sanchez moving to win things? He is moving for the money.

Selling to a rival

After Robin van Persie we were told that we would “not sell to a rival again”.

Whilst it is frustrating that we are losing Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United, to then label Arsene Wenger a “liar” is childish.

What would you prefer? Arsenal to not be swapping Sanchez for Mkhitaryan? To let his contract go to zero and then join Manchester United for nothing? So at least we can say that we “did not sell Sanchez to a rival”.

Arsenal are getting a good deal.

No one is bigger than The Arsenal

From Brady to Henry, top players have left Arsenal in the past. Alexis Sanchez is not the first to make the move from London to Manchester, and will not be the last.

He is not even the best player to have left Arsenal for Manchester United.

No player is bigger then the club. Last I looked, it was not Alexis FC, it was Arsenal FC. THE Arsenal Football Club.

Keenos

Mkhitaryan for Sanchez straight swap a “good deal”?

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But we could have got £60million for him in the summer is a common complaint upon hearing that we are about to swap Alexis Sanchez for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with no cash exchanging hands.

A lot of people are looking at it as we are then getting no money for Sanchez, and therefore it is a bad deal as we could have got £60m in the summer.

Whilst they are not getting any money for Sanchez, what they are getting is a player that Manchester United were happy spending £37.8m on 18 months ago.

When you consider Alexis Sanchez is available on a free in just 5 months, the fact Arsenal are getting a £40m player in a straight swap is as good as Arsenal getting £40m for him.

But we could have got £60m for him in the summer, you still cry. And you are correct.

But had we sold Sanchez in the summer, we would have had to have bought a replacement. And every club in Europe would have known that:

  1. We had £60m to burn
  2. That we were desperate

All of that £60m, and maybe more, would have been invested in his replacement.

So in reality, Arsenal would not have been getting £60m for Sanchez, but swapping Sanchez for whoever his replacement is.

On deadline day, for example, Arsenal bid £90m for Thomas Lemar.

Would spending £30 and swapping Lemar for Sanchez be a good deal? No.

Another player is Julian Draxler. I imagine had we pushed for him, we would have been able to get him for similar to what we sold Sanchez for. So the £60m we got in for Sanchez would have been given straight to PSG for Draxler.

Julian Draxler is a very good player, but is he worth £60m? Would that price have been inflated due to the Sanchez cash? Possibly.

And then compare to the two players mentioned above to Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Are they actually any better?

Mkhitaryan has had a tough 18 months in England, but he would not be the first free-spirited attacking talent to struggle under Jose Mourinho.

For me, he is on a similar level to Julian Draxler. Actually I would say he is better than Draxler as people still talk about the German as having potential, whilst Mkhitaryan is proven.

Then compare Mkhitaryan to Lemar.

One is a player who has had one good season, and struggled this, the other was quality in Germany over a number of years.

So Lemar would have cost us an additional £30m on top of what we got in for Sanchez, and he is not as good as the player we ended up getting.

Had we sold Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City for £40m and then bought Mkhitaryan from Manchester United for £40m, you would probably all be happy.

Now lets chuck Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang into the mix- a deal for £53m is moving closer.

We could end up with a situation where we get both Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan in, with Sanchez leaving, and a net spend of just £53m.

Let’s go back to the alternative deal in the summer of Lemar in, Sanchez out, and a net spend of £30m.

So for an additional £23m on top of what we were willing to spend in the summer, we are getting a Sanchez replacement and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Is the deal a good deal for Arsenal? Yes.

Ps: in their last season together at Dormund, the pair scored62 goals between them.

Keenos

When wanting Wenger Out turns nasty

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The majority reading this will want Arsene Wenger to go. Some will say they have wanted him out for years, others merely weeks. Some define their football “lives” by wanting him to go, classing themselves as WOBs, others just feel he is not the right man for the club, but will happily celebrate the success.

Over the years, I have never had an issue with people wanting Wenger to leave or stay. Both sides of the centralist position have valid arguments.

Some people “boycott whilst he is still in charge”, others never actually went to games previously and pretend to boycott just so that they can make a point. One clown even declared this summer that he was boycotting, and has then been to every game this season. Odd.

You are entitled to support (or not support) the team how you feel. But up to a point. There are some things that I feel are frankly disgraceful:

1. Wanting Arsenal to fail – It is Arsenal FC, not Arsene FC. You should want the team to win, no matter your view on the manager. People say they want Arsenal out as he will not win us the league, then also say that they would hate us to win the league as they do not want him to stay. You can not have it both ways.

If you found yourself cheering the Bournemouth winning, delighted that Nottingham Forest beat us, or hoping that we lose every game, then you are not an Arsenal supporter. You just have an anti-Arsene agenda.

Support the team, not the regime.

2. Wanting Wenger to become ill – Everyone has had someone affected by cancer. It is not nice to watch a loved one contracted the killer disease, and then their lives slowly deteriorate. There are people out their wishing that Arsene Wenger gets cancer, or other terminal illnesses like AIDs.

Wenger is a father, an (ex) husband. It is not big, nor clever to do this. In fact, it is down right disgusting, vile behaviour.

3. Comparing Wenger to murderous dictators – I have seen people compare Wenger to the likes of Adolf Hitler and Robert Mugabe. These are men who have killed millions for no reason then they were “different” to themselves. Comparing Wenger, a football manager, to people that have committed genocide. OK.

4. Wanting Wenger to die – Alongside the illness, people want Wenger to die. This is just odd, that they want to see Wenger in a coffin.

Again, he is a father to a teenage daughter. Wanting him to die, because you are annoyed we lost to Bournemouth. Yeh. Alright then.

5. Calling Wenger a “kiddie fiddler” – The lowest of the low. Spurs fans have spent years calling Arsene Wenger a paedophile. Punches have been thrown over this. And now some fans have started to call him a nonce, a kiddie fiddler, all because we finished 5th.

That highlights how classless some of our fans are. Calling a manager a child sex offender, all because you are upset that we are not challenging for the league.

I do feel for the fans who go down this route. They must live truly sad, insignificant lives. Karma will catch up with them.

Calling for any of the above is just attention seeking. It is for a few RTs, follows or likes on a Facebook page. For me, if you do any of the above, you are not only a sub-par Arsenal fan, you are a sub-par human being.

By all means, want Wenger Out. Demand him to go. Protest against him. But as soon as you begin wishing cancer on him, or calling him a kiddie fiddler, you lose a lot of validity, and a lot of backing.

The last protest against Arsene Wenger was marred by a fake video going viral of fans singing that they wished Wenger was dead. This devalued any sort of message from the protest.

Demand Wenger Out, but keep it classy guys.

Keenos