Tag Archives: Liverpool

Study finds Arsenal have “cheapest tickets in Premier League”

1 Reply

I hate the BBC’s Price of Football.

it does not give a fair reflection of the actual price of football, and is often used by lazy journalists to bash Arsenal for season ticket prices.

My biggest gripe is that it ignores that Arsenal fans get 26 matches for their season ticket cost, whilst every other Premier League club get just 19. That is 35% more games. It is unfair to compare them.

You would not expect Arsenal to have equal season ticket prices to Tottenham, Chelsea or Liverpool when they get 35% more games.

When you break it down per game, Arsenal cheapest season ticket is actually cheaper than those previously 2 mentioned clubs.

What is also ignored is that you can pay just £26 for tickets to Arsenal games.

A Fulham fan recently did a study on ticket prices.

They picked “behind the goal” tickets and looked into the cheapest and most expensive. A seat behind the goal for Category C games at Arsenal is the cheapest ticket in the Premier League.

At £26, Arsenal’s cheapest ticket behind the goal is half the price of one for Chelsea. It is something that the media would not talk about as it would not get the hits, clicks and advertising revenue.

I have always been a fan of the way Arsenal categorise games.

The lesser games are Cat C, providing a cheap opportunity for people to go to games. The big games are Cat A.

It suits those who are happy to go to any game just to watch The Arsenal no matter the opponent. Anyone who pays game by game for every match pays an average prices. The only fans who are “punished” are those who decide only to go to the big games – Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City.

I am always of the opinion that you can not really moan about Cat A prices if you do not want to go to Cat C games. Go to both and the prices average out. Go to just Cat A and it is clear you only have an interest in big games.

Of course, the argument is easily (and rightly) made that Cat A is too expensive.

The research by the Fulham fan shows that Arsenal’s most expensive “behind the goal” ticket is £90 – although this is upper tier. The most expensive lower tier “behind the goal” ticket is £64.

I am all for reducing ticket prices. They are across the board, not only at Arsenal or in the Premier League but down through the leagues.

For example Arsenal’s £26 is just £4 more than it would cost to pay on the gate to stand behind the goal at a Colchester United game in League Two.

My personal opinion has always been that the Cat A ticket prices subsidise Cat C, the League Cup, etc. That without Cat A, you could then not have the cheap Cat C tickets. And if someone only wants to go to Cat A games; that is their problem.

Manchester United do not have category tickets. Prices are the same no matter the opponent – £36. An Arsenal fan, on average, would pay £40 a ticket behind the goal if they went to every Premier League game. A difference of just £4.

So you could (and many do) make the argument that Arsenal should scrap category pricing and just charge a stand price for all games – in this case $30 to sit behind the goal in the lower tier.

Personally I would rather keep our system, have Cat A, B & C and offer the cheapest adult tickets behind the goal in the Premier League.

Keenos

4312 for The Arsenal is not “too defensive”

Leave a reply

Arsenal’s best performance this season came against Chelsea. A 2-0 victory in a game that The Gunners dominated.

The formation we played in that match was 4312. It is a formation we have played numerous times since; and one which Unai Emery has come in for some stick for.

Fans wrongly claim that we are playing 3 defensive midfielders. Lucas Torreira Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi. They are not all defensive midfielders.

Gunners Town recently spoke to a Lorient fan about Arsenal target Alexis Claude Maurice. During the discussion they talked about Guendouzi, who signed from Lorient last summer.

They expressed surprise at Arsenal fans labelling Guendouzi as a defensive or holding midfielder, as he has only ever been box-to-box growing up and was utilised in an attacking free role last season in French Ligue 2.

And that is the truth, Guendouzi does not play as a defensive midfielder. He is more box to box. A proper central midfielder. Like what Patrick Vieira was.

It seems in many fans mind, you are either an attacking midfielder (Mesut Ozil) or a defensive midfielder (Claude Makelele). There is nothing in between. But there is, and that is where Guendouzi sits.

Xhaka has also never really been an out and out defensive midfielder. In fact he struggled at Arsenal when he was the primary defensive midfielder.

For Borussia Mönchengladbach and Switzerland, he always played with someone behind him doing the bulk of the defensive work.

A hulk of a man, Xhaka did contribute to his sides defensively, but his man job was transitioning the ball from defence to attack with his excellent passing. He is not as box to box as Guendouzi, more a deep lying play maker. He certainly is not a defensive midfielder.

Lucas Torreira is the closest we have to a defensive midfielder, but even he is not a Makelele or Gilberto Silva.

The Uruguayan gets forward a lot more than someone who is simply a shied in front of a defence. And he is a much better passer and creator then people like Makelele, Gilberto or Fernandinho.

Whilst for Arsenal he is the deepest of the midfield 3, he is more than capable playing further forward. He is a talented guy.

The reality is, Emery is building a high energy midfield trio who can provide solid cover for the defence, but also push forward and press high.

Playing all 3 ensures that they can push forward backing up the front 3 when they press, knowing that one will still sit so that they are not all cut out with one ball through the midfield.

They also allow Hector Bellerin and Saed Kolasinac to bomb forward and provide extra cover for them.

I like the 12 upfront as well.

Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette both love dropping out wide. This then creates space in the middle for an attacking midfielder to bomb into. Aaron Ramsey would have been ideal for this role with his goal scoring record.

Back to the midfield, I can see us continuing to play 3 in the middle next season. It is why Emery is looking at the likes of Adrien Rabiot and Christopher Nkunku. If we play 3, we need 6.

If we secure both Frenchmen, it will enable us to cash in on Mohamed Elneny and, alongside Ainsley Maitland-Niles, we will have the midfielders we need to play the way Emery wants.

As for those who are still moaning about it being too defensive, let me ask you a question:

Is Liverpool’s midfield too defensive?

Liverpool also play a midfield 3. A trio combination of Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho.

Let’s compare their Premier League statistics to the lads at Arsenal:

Xhaka – 1885 minutes played – 3 Goals; 1 Aassist

Guendouzi – 1466 – 0G 0A

Torreira – 1790 – 2G 2A

 

Fabinho – 1096 – 1G 2A

Wijnaldum – 1774 – 1G 0A

Henderson – 1234 – 0G 0A

Keita – 970 – 0G 1A

Totals:

 

Arsenal midfield:

5140 minutes played

5 goals; 3 assists

Liverpool midfield:

5074 minutes played

2 goals; 3 assists

Yet no one is saying Liverpool’s midfield is “too defensive.”

The truth is, playing Xhaka, Torreira and Guendouzi is not too defensive. It is probably the only part of the Arsenal side that is solid and actually working at the moment.

Keenos

As Arsenal are changing, some fans also need to change

6 Replies

A great man once said “do you like Arsenal? Or just Arsenal with trophies”.

I was reminded by what Dennis Bergkamp said as I scrolled through social media on Monday following Sunday’s disappointing draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

It was like suddenly we were transported back 12 months ago, with the fan complaining, moaning and criticism that defined the end of the end of the Arsene Wenger era.

One comment I saw that really resonated with was that this Arsenal was the Arsenal they fell in love with. That their Arsenal “were a winning Arsenal not just making up the numbers”. This was amongst many tweets that I read they made me realise that some of our fans will never be happy unless we are winning trophies.

But it is not just trophies that they want. It is these trophies. The Premier League, the Champions League.

These same people complained that winning the FA Cup was not good enough. So it is not that they only love Arsenal with trophies; they love Arsenal with league titles.

We all spent 6 months or more (I saw one idiot saying he has been Wenger Out since 2001!). That change has come.

Arsene Wenger. GONE. Ivan Gazidis GONE. Majority of the coaching staff. GONE. And in his come Unai Emery, with his own staff, alongside Raul Sanllehi and Sven Mislintat. Change has happened, and Arsenal have moved forward.

But some of these fans have seemingly not moved forward. They demanded “Time to Change” but they have not changed themselves.

They are on to the next one. Criticising the players, already on the managers back. Moaning that the club did not spend enough money, and demanding Stan Kroenke to put in his billions or leave.

And it is billions that Kroenke would have to put in.

We have all read the stories about Manchester City and the £2.7bn investment that Sheikh Mansoor has put into the club. It is with that huge investment that has enabled Manchester City to have one of the strongest 25 man squads seen in the game.

Yesterday Arsenal looked short on the bench. On game changers. Manchester City’s starting XI was without Kevin de Bruyne, Vincent Kompany, Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus & Ilkay Gundogan. These 5 players would start for every Premier League side. And City brushed aside Manchester United 3-1 without them starting.

These fans who are moaning will not be happy until we win the title. City is what we need to match, need to beat, to win the title. I think anyone who would expect an owner to put in £2.7bn, to write it off, are completely unreasonable. There are two sides in world football doing this at the moment. City and PSG.

The fact that fans also think Kroenke has the spending power to compete shows how naive they are when it comes to business, and net worth.

Forbes estimate Kroenke to be worth $8.5bn (£6.5m). But this is net worth, this is not how much spare cash he has under his sofa.

This worth is tied up in hundreds of investments. From personal homes and ranches, to various sports clubs around the world. The recent buy out of Arsenal shares valued the club at £1.8bn. That is 27% of Kroenke’s net worth.

For Kroenke to be able to put up the kind of money Manchester City have spent, he would have to take huge loans against his businesses. Against Arsenal.

Would you be happy Kroenke mortgaging Arsenal further to the hilt to win a league title? I certainly wouldn’t.

Imagine the outcry if it was announced Kroenke was taking a £1bn loan out against Arsenal to spend on transfers, salaries and more. It is that kind of action that could make Arsenal the next Leeds or Portsmouth. Where you are in debt up to your eyeballs.

Matching Manchester City’s spending power is just not realistic.

“but Liverpool are challenging”.

You are right, Liverpool are unbeaten and just 2 points behind Manchester City after 12 games. But last season they finished 25 points behind them in 4th place.

They were also in 4th place the year before, 17 points behind champions Chelsea (and just 1 point ahead of Arsenal). So how about we judge if Liverpool have put up a title challenge once we are in the business end of the season.

Also, by putting Liverpool as the example of a side competing makes it even more silly that fans are already getting on the back of Emery.

Jurgen Klopp is in his 4th season at Liverpool. He has had 6 transfer windows. Spent over £380m. It we are going to compare Emery to Klopp, should we not give the Spaniard the same time the German has had before becoming critical?

In his 3 completed seasons at Liverpool, Klopp has led them to 8th, 4th & 4th with no trophies won. It is odd that the fans who are moaning that we currently sit 5th. That Arsenal without trophies is not the Arsenal they love; yet they praise a Liverpool side that has not won anything in a decade.

Most sensible fans would have known that it would take Emery more than 6 months and one transfer window to fix Arsenal.

We are still a left back, a centre back and 2 wingers short of being a side that would compete for second (and another £2.5bn off a team that could be champions).

Klopp has had the time to build Liverpool in his vision. He has spent big on the likes of Allison, Virgil van Dijk & Mo Salah. Arsenal will make these signings as time goes on. But we can not expect us to go out and spend £250m in one transfer window to immediately close the gap.

A final thought is right now fans will say but what about Leicester.

It is about time the fans realised that Leicester was a one off. And one of the main reasons they won the league was because of Manchester City’s failure.

Leicester won the league with 81 points. City got just 66 points that season.

To put that into perspective, Arsenal got just 3 points less (63) last season than City did in Leicester’s title winning season.

I am of the feeling that for teams to finish above City, you firstly need them to have a poor season. You could have a brilliant season, get 85+ points, and City will be near or above the 90 point mark.

Emery needs time. The new Arsenal regime need time.

If you are not willing to give the new management team time; or demand that we replicate Manchester City style spending, then you clearly do not love Arsenal. You only love Arsenal with trophies.

Keenos