Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man's world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man's world
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It's a rich man's world.
How fitting this song is to both this week, and the transfer season in general for Arsenal FC. These seven days, touted (quite rightly) as being the most important in recent history for the club, are governed by one thing and one thing only - money. We fans, and the club too, have learnt a valuable lesson - the world and its people, especially those who play football, answer only to money. Most do anyway. Samir Nasri (or Cashri, whichever way you have it) moved away for that very reason. The facade of being disrespected by fans and wanting to win trophies is a poor, poor justification. This from a player who in effect had dismissed City's millions only last year.
I am not here to say that Nasri is a cr*p player who should have been sold ASAP. Those are different (*looks sideways at Almunia*). Nasri has been great for the club. But only at times, it must be said. Out of the 3 years (27 playing months) he was here, he performed exceptionally for only four months. That's about 12.5% of his time at the Emirates. It must also be added that when push came to shove last season and Arsenal needed a hero, he all but disappeared. His individual brilliance will be missed (that Porto goal was something else), but it isn't something that cannot be replaced. We have Gervinho, Chamberlain and Miyaichi to do just that. While going, he used the fans, insulting them for "disrespecting" him and then not even mentioning them when they cheered him on against Liverpool. Showed his class there, didn't he? And also, 25 million is a great price for a player with just one year on his contract and four good months. Of course, when you're being offered around 200k a week, the decision to leave becomes very easy. The chapter called Samir Nasri, then, is officially closed.
The fact that worries me right now is our pay structure. What star player is going to join the club when he knows he will never get over a 100k unless he is absolutely legendary? On the other hand, we have players like Bendtner on 52k, Diaby on 60k and Almunia on 50k! The club says that this averages out the wages, and prevents jealousy! What? Give me a break. Jealousy can be good. If you're a guy earning 10k a week, and you see a van Persie or a Wilshere earning much much more, you want to get there yourself, and work harder for it. THAT encourages competition and also attracts star players to the club. It is unbelievable that the club does not see the simple logic behind wage structures at other clubs.
An article came out on Sunday saying that Wenger was apparently at loggerheads with the board, and he himself wanted to break the wage structure to buy star players, but the board wouldn't let him. All they wanted were some average signings to pacify the fans. Out of nowhere, Arsenal found the time and necessity to send an email to the journalist saying that nothing of the sort had happened and to contact the club for confirmation before posting information such as this. That just sounds bizarre. Everyday, thousands of news stories break out, most of which are made up. Why then did the club take such pains to clarify this story? Conspiracy theories beckon, but I will resist.
To me, it seems plausible. Yes, in all probability the journalist was misinformed by his source. Maybe he even made it up. But it all seems very likely to me. Probably this is because I am a big Wenger supporter and because I do believe that all the board members are thinking about is filling their own pockets. With Silent Stan not willing to speak, we outsiders can have no clue of what's going on inside. He (Stan) is starting to irritate me with this silence. I can do with the strong, silent type, but this guy is something else. He is silent, but so much so that one can't make out what he wants with the club. As @DarrenArsenal1 said on Twitter, why invest 700m pounds in a club and then not do anything about it? The whole thing is weird.
Arseblog is reporting we are in for a defender from the Premier League. Now that hardly counts as news, considering that the whole summer we have been after a defender, but still it somehow excites me. I wonder how AW plans to splash the 100m pounds we have from various sources, including apartment sales, transfer proceeds accounts and player sales. Wenger with money is still a frightening concept, and I would love to see that side of him.
Any signing, it must be accepted, depends on one match - certainly the pivot of this decisive week, and maybe even of the season. The second leg against Udinese, where we hold a 1-0 advantage (which I think is a good one to hold), is worth 25m pounds in revenue. That is big, big money. Our budget for the year depends on the Champions League, and we better make sure we qualify. I do believe we have enough fire power to score a goal, and it will be difficult for Udinese to go through then. Just hope I didn't curse it there!
My only worry is what happens if they score an early goal. We lack creativity, and that will certainly be the case tonight, unless Ramsey regains some of his form, along with Walcott and Arshavin. Our midfield is struggling right now, and with Bendtner asking to be left out of the squad and Chamakh a non-entity, we have just the one striker in van Persie. God only knows what happens when he is injured. Joel Campbell, anyone?
However, with the match so close, one cannot indulge in such negative, outrageous thoughts. Straight to my predicted line up then:
Chezza;
Sagna, JD, Vermaelen, Traore;
Song, Ramsey;
Walcott, Rosicky, Gervinho;
van Persie.
Arshavin might play if Rosicky is not deemed fit enough, with another possibility in that situation being Ramsey being pushed forward with Frimpong partnering Song. I wouldn't mind the latter, actually.
With everything that this match is worth, I do think that we as fans must get behind the team, as we always have been in the previous three matches. The atmosphere at the Emirates has been great, and will definitely help our home form. This game is in Italy, however, but considering our brilliant record against Italian teams, I am confident. The lads can get a good result, and I am already dreaming that along with the match report we announce the signings of Kaka, Hazard and Cahill. Now you may say I'm a dreamer, but I like to think I'm not the only one.
We do not need Nasri to be there tomorrow. All we need are players who feel proud to wear the red and white, proud to carry the cannon. This is the time when new heroes and born, and we already have a cult in Emmanuel Frimpong. We need some of our players to step up, and play with all their heart and spirit. I'm positive that they will. And when they do, we will be ready to sing our hearts out for them.
Tonight, we go there to win!
Follow me on Twitter @goonernish
Must be funny
In the rich man's world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man's world
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It's a rich man's world.
How fitting this song is to both this week, and the transfer season in general for Arsenal FC. These seven days, touted (quite rightly) as being the most important in recent history for the club, are governed by one thing and one thing only - money. We fans, and the club too, have learnt a valuable lesson - the world and its people, especially those who play football, answer only to money. Most do anyway. Samir Nasri (or Cashri, whichever way you have it) moved away for that very reason. The facade of being disrespected by fans and wanting to win trophies is a poor, poor justification. This from a player who in effect had dismissed City's millions only last year.
I am not here to say that Nasri is a cr*p player who should have been sold ASAP. Those are different (*looks sideways at Almunia*). Nasri has been great for the club. But only at times, it must be said. Out of the 3 years (27 playing months) he was here, he performed exceptionally for only four months. That's about 12.5% of his time at the Emirates. It must also be added that when push came to shove last season and Arsenal needed a hero, he all but disappeared. His individual brilliance will be missed (that Porto goal was something else), but it isn't something that cannot be replaced. We have Gervinho, Chamberlain and Miyaichi to do just that. While going, he used the fans, insulting them for "disrespecting" him and then not even mentioning them when they cheered him on against Liverpool. Showed his class there, didn't he? And also, 25 million is a great price for a player with just one year on his contract and four good months. Of course, when you're being offered around 200k a week, the decision to leave becomes very easy. The chapter called Samir Nasri, then, is officially closed.
The fact that worries me right now is our pay structure. What star player is going to join the club when he knows he will never get over a 100k unless he is absolutely legendary? On the other hand, we have players like Bendtner on 52k, Diaby on 60k and Almunia on 50k! The club says that this averages out the wages, and prevents jealousy! What? Give me a break. Jealousy can be good. If you're a guy earning 10k a week, and you see a van Persie or a Wilshere earning much much more, you want to get there yourself, and work harder for it. THAT encourages competition and also attracts star players to the club. It is unbelievable that the club does not see the simple logic behind wage structures at other clubs.
An article came out on Sunday saying that Wenger was apparently at loggerheads with the board, and he himself wanted to break the wage structure to buy star players, but the board wouldn't let him. All they wanted were some average signings to pacify the fans. Out of nowhere, Arsenal found the time and necessity to send an email to the journalist saying that nothing of the sort had happened and to contact the club for confirmation before posting information such as this. That just sounds bizarre. Everyday, thousands of news stories break out, most of which are made up. Why then did the club take such pains to clarify this story? Conspiracy theories beckon, but I will resist.
To me, it seems plausible. Yes, in all probability the journalist was misinformed by his source. Maybe he even made it up. But it all seems very likely to me. Probably this is because I am a big Wenger supporter and because I do believe that all the board members are thinking about is filling their own pockets. With Silent Stan not willing to speak, we outsiders can have no clue of what's going on inside. He (Stan) is starting to irritate me with this silence. I can do with the strong, silent type, but this guy is something else. He is silent, but so much so that one can't make out what he wants with the club. As @DarrenArsenal1 said on Twitter, why invest 700m pounds in a club and then not do anything about it? The whole thing is weird.
Arseblog is reporting we are in for a defender from the Premier League. Now that hardly counts as news, considering that the whole summer we have been after a defender, but still it somehow excites me. I wonder how AW plans to splash the 100m pounds we have from various sources, including apartment sales, transfer proceeds accounts and player sales. Wenger with money is still a frightening concept, and I would love to see that side of him.
Any signing, it must be accepted, depends on one match - certainly the pivot of this decisive week, and maybe even of the season. The second leg against Udinese, where we hold a 1-0 advantage (which I think is a good one to hold), is worth 25m pounds in revenue. That is big, big money. Our budget for the year depends on the Champions League, and we better make sure we qualify. I do believe we have enough fire power to score a goal, and it will be difficult for Udinese to go through then. Just hope I didn't curse it there!
My only worry is what happens if they score an early goal. We lack creativity, and that will certainly be the case tonight, unless Ramsey regains some of his form, along with Walcott and Arshavin. Our midfield is struggling right now, and with Bendtner asking to be left out of the squad and Chamakh a non-entity, we have just the one striker in van Persie. God only knows what happens when he is injured. Joel Campbell, anyone?
However, with the match so close, one cannot indulge in such negative, outrageous thoughts. Straight to my predicted line up then:
Chezza;
Sagna, JD, Vermaelen, Traore;
Song, Ramsey;
Walcott, Rosicky, Gervinho;
van Persie.
Arshavin might play if Rosicky is not deemed fit enough, with another possibility in that situation being Ramsey being pushed forward with Frimpong partnering Song. I wouldn't mind the latter, actually.
With everything that this match is worth, I do think that we as fans must get behind the team, as we always have been in the previous three matches. The atmosphere at the Emirates has been great, and will definitely help our home form. This game is in Italy, however, but considering our brilliant record against Italian teams, I am confident. The lads can get a good result, and I am already dreaming that along with the match report we announce the signings of Kaka, Hazard and Cahill. Now you may say I'm a dreamer, but I like to think I'm not the only one.
We do not need Nasri to be there tomorrow. All we need are players who feel proud to wear the red and white, proud to carry the cannon. This is the time when new heroes and born, and we already have a cult in Emmanuel Frimpong. We need some of our players to step up, and play with all their heart and spirit. I'm positive that they will. And when they do, we will be ready to sing our hearts out for them.
Tonight, we go there to win!
Follow me on Twitter @goonernish
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