Tag Archives: Manchester City

Mansour’s millions the difference for Manchester City

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Looking at this mornings league table, Arsenal still sit top of the league. 2 points ahead of Chelsea, 3 points ahead of Manchester City. There is still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about our title chances.

Yes, we might have conceded 6 against Manchester City, but it was one of those freak games where every shot on target went in. There were 13 shots on target in the entire game, and 9 goals. City had a converted 6 of their 7 shots on target. It was a freak result.

City deserved to run out winners, despite Arsenal having 2 goals chalked off incorrectly and being denied a blatant penalty. To point to those 3 referring decision as the reason Arsenal lost would be in denial of the overall performance. City seemingly being able to go forward and score highlights why they are averaging over 4 goals a game at home and have now scored in 58 consecutive games at the Etihad Stadium. Their home form in the league this season reads: Played 8, Won 8, Scored 35, Conceded 5. That last one was Conceded 2 before yesterday. With home form like that, City have to be everyone’s favourites for the title.

The difference between the two sides could be seen on the substitutes bench. £129m worth of talent on the bench. Arsenal’s starting line up cost just £97m and cost of their entire match day squad £140. When you take into account that £42.5m of those totals was Mesut Ozil, it shows just how far behind we are in City. Yes, we have money to spend, and should be spending more than it, but City, with their now settled side and spending money like it is going out of fashion, we should not be too downhearted.

When it comes to finance, what Manchester City spend is staggering. They have a wage bill £60m more than Arsenal’s. The majority of their squad is on £100k+ a week. Arsenal meanwhile have just 3 players over this figure. With Arsenal having a reported £100m sitting in the bank, were we to try to compete with Manchester City in terms of wages and transfer fees, this money would not go very far at all. Last year, we made a profit of just £6.7m. A £60m blackhole in wages would see us start to run up massive losses. Manchester City, remember, lost £97m in 2011/12.

Last summer, having finished 2nd to Manchester United in the league, and having made horrendous losses, Manchester City went out and spent £90m. They spent more on defensive midfielder’s than we did on Mesut Ozil. It highlights the financial strength they have that they were able to go out and buy long-term Arsenal target Stevan Jovetic for £22m without really needing him. It was perhaps and example of them signing a player who they do not need just to ensure other Premier League sides signing him.

Now I do not have an issue with Manchester City’s grotesque spending. If a man has billions of plans, who are we to tell him how to spend it. Remember, we did not moan in the late 1990’s when Danny Fiszman was bank rolling us – albeit on a smaller scale – enabling us to build the 1998, and eventually the invincible sides. What the financial difference does show is how much of a challenge winning the Premier League is for Arsenal. With both Manchester City and Chelsea having an endless pot of gold. Arsenal could go and spend the £100m they have sitting their, but Chelsea and Manchester City would then respond by spending £150m. Do we keep chasing them? Do we spend the most we can and still finish 2nd/3rd and say ‘at least we tried’ or do we spend sensibly, on the right players, and hope things, at one point, will become fairer?

The last option is we Alisher Usmanov. He is supposedly willing to put in similar amounts of money into the club as Sheikh Mansour and Roman Abramovich. Do we move to demanding to be bank rolled by an oligarch, with a questionable background, or do we say ‘We are Arsenal, we do things in the right way’. Having a sole owner leaves us in a precarious position. Yes, they could be and Abaramovich or Mansour, but they could also change the name of the club, change the club’s colours, or do anything they want…People have differing opinions, both are valid.

A few final points, Per Mertesacker showing he is the real captain of the side bollocking Mesut Ozil. It is a none story and as Wenger was quoted as saying;

“That is the Germans, they will sort that out between themselves.”

They are probably sitting around Per’s house this morning sharing a bratwurst. The second point is the laughable banner in the Manchester City ground ‘Manchester thanks you Sheikh Mansour’. A sign, perhaps, of a club who’s fans have sold out to modern football.

After 3 games in 6 days, travelling to both Naples and Manchester, Arsenal now have a 9 day break before the Chelsea game. It is time to rest the legs, re group and ensure we come out fighting once more. A defeat to Chelsea could see us truly enter a downward spiral, and if Spurs win their next two games, the gap that looked so large just a few games ago will be down to just 2. Let’s back the time.

Keenos

Are Arsenal genuine title contenders?

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They say the league table does not lie. Those that are high in the league are there because they deserve it. Those near the bottom are also there due to their own performance. Over the season, a poor referring decision here or there has no bearing on where you are in the league table. Yes it might be the difference between 13th and 14th, but it has very little to do with a club being 20th against mid-table.

The league table does not lie.

Many will argue, however, that you should not look at the league table until 10 games in. Teams positions can be artificially inflated due to playing poor teams, likewise a good side can find themselves near the bottom after getting a cruel set of opening fixtures. It is best not to read too much into the early season table.

Taking both of these into account, should we be getting excited that we currently top the league? Can we be considered genuine title contenders? Or have we just had a nice early run of fixtures.

Firstly, let’s look at the table. We are top (I do enjoy saying that) – and the rest of the top 6 are made up of Tottenham, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton. It might only be early day’s in the season, but the usual suspects are already congregating at the top. The only side missing is Manchester United, but they have had the hardest start, with away games against both Liverpool and Manchester City, and a home match against Chelsea.

At the bottom of the table, it is a similar story. Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Norwich, Cardiff & West Hame occupy the bottom 6. If I were a betting man, I would put my house on the 3 relegated sides coming from those 6 teams. Again, despite it being early doors, the league table is not lying.

This brings me on to Arsenal. Top of the league on goal difference. Some might argue that we are only there due to a favourable run of games – out of our 5 games, only 2 have been away, both of which were against 18th and 20th in the league; and the 3 home games, Spurs, Aston Villa & Stoke, we would expect to win (Although we lost to Aston Villa). We have had a very comfortable start to the season. But is it any harder than others?

In terms of playing ‘each other’ in the sides in the top 6, Spurs have played 1 other (Arsenal away), Manchester City 1 (Manchester United home), Liverpool 1 (Manchester United home), Chelsea 2 (Manchester United & Everton away) and Everton 1 (Chelsea away).

The stand out team is Manchester United. They have already had 3 very tricky games in the 1st 5 games. Other than that, every other side has had a similar run of hard games, with every side playing another at least once, bar Chelsea who have played twice.

Therefore, it is easy to make an argument that the league table does not lie. What it shows is that it is tight at the top. 3 points between 1st and 6th. Whilst it might take another half dozen games before Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool can be considered as true title contenders, the signs are good for the Gunners. With a favourable run of games coming up, it is not inconceivable that we could still be top after the 1st 10 games. And then we will have to be considered contenders.

Whilst you can not win the title after the first 10 games, you can certainly rule yourself out of the race by too many early dropped points. All we can do is take it one game at a time.

Keep the faith, and keep supporting the team.

Keenos

Are foreign fans clueless?

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Over the years, foreign fans throughout the Premier League have got a raw deal. They have been accused of not being real fans. Not understanding the passion for the game. Not having the same loyalty as English based fans. They have been derided and often, when it comes to a debate via a message board, the common response is ‘Your opinion means nothing as you are not from England.’

Whilst in the past, these points could have been valid, is it still the case that foreign fans of Premier League clubs can still be labeled as clueless, not having loyalty, not being bandwagon jumpers and lacking passion?

When you look at The Arsenal tour of Asia this summer, the atmosphere within the stadiums was incredible. Louder than the Emirates during most of the games. And non-stop. Yes, some argued that those same fans would turn up in their Manchester City shirts if it was Manchester City playing, or their Chelsea shirts if Chelsea were playing, but surely these fans would be in the minority. Surely now, with the globalisation of football, a foreign fan should be considered as an equal to their English counterpart?

These days, a lot of foreign fans have not just jumped on the bandwagon of the Premier League. There are genuine fans out there that have supported us since pre-teens, just like many fans in England would have started their proper support of the club around the age of 10. Is a 22 year old Arsenal fans who has supported Arsenal since 10 any different to an English Arsenal fan that has supported since 10?

Yes, they might not get the passion of the stadium, of the match going fan, but having been in a few bars throughout the world where Arsenal have been playing, they are as passionate as the stadium. To label them as anything as passionless is disgraceful. Would you label the Twelve Pins or The George or the Gunners as passionless on a game day?

I follow two people who highlight the passion of fans not in England. The first is @LordHillWood, a ex-pat living in Poland. The stories he tells of the Polish Arsenal fans shows anything but a lack of passion. The way they get to the pub early to ‘decorate’ it. The chucking out of Spurs fans. It shows real passion. Not just from the ex-pats but also from the Polish born fans. The second is @SSGooner, a Malaysian fan. Again, there is no lack of passion. from him when it comes to game day, with each match brilliantly planned.

I also speak to  few Australian fans. They always seem to be awake when Arsenal are playing. Always watching them game. Even if it is 3am in the morning. How about that for commitment? When you see some English-based fans barely even being able to get out of bed for a 12.45 ko, or ducking out on a European game due to a hard day at work or its a little cold, these foreign fans seem to be able to wake up and watch the games, no matter the consequence of sleep deprivation for the next day.

Then we come to the knowledge of the fans. This is somewhere where the foreign fans and English fan are more then equal. In fact, some would argue tha many foreign fans are more knowledgable, as they actually study the game, whilst the Englishman turns up, watch’s the game drunk, then continues to drink.

Two little stories. One is of a friend who went to Ethiopia on a business trip recently. Upon his cab driver discovering he was an Arsenal fan, he was then lectured for half an hour, by the Ethiopian cabbie, on what Arsene Wenger was doing wrong, how he should be sacked, and questioning why we had not signed anyone. From the sounds of it, he was spot on. Had it been a black cab driver in London, nothing would have been mentioned. It was a clear that there was not a knowledge gap.

The second little story is of a friend at the game. Behind him was two American’s discussing the game. Whilst they did use frustrating American terminology, their knowledge was impeccable. Even as far as talking about how Sagna was only playing at centre back in an emergency, that the young lad at right back was Arsenal through and through, and whilst good going forward, was often found out in defence.

They then went on a 10 minute discussion about the bench. Gnarby. Zelalem. Akpom. Had the been talking in cockney accents, it would have been normal. But in their American accents, it just showed to my friend how football was a truly global game.

With Facebook bringing fans together from around the world to discuss games. Twitter providing instant information. All 38 league games being available online. British newspaper’s being available online throughout the world. Add in podcasts and blogs -this blog gets a lot of readers from Scandanvia, there is plenty of information available throughout the world to educate the foreign fans, to whet there appetite.

Are we now in a time when foreign fans can no longer be labelled clueless, but are in fact the footballing intellectual equals of those from England?

Keenos