Welcome Laurent, And I’m Sad ‘Holic Pound Could Win
Jul 7th, 2010 by 'holic
Well there can surely be no doubt about the biggest footballing surprise of the day. Arsenal announced the signing of Lorient centre-half, Laurent Koscielny, this afternoon. I really didn’t see that one coming!
I see around the web there is already a fair spread of ‘experts’ passing opinion about a quality player, or a cheap option so typical of Arsenal. I will wait for the evidence of my own eyes, I think. Actually I did watch one of the games between Lorient and Bordeaux this season, but my attention, not surprisingly, was elsewhere.
Whilst I was really happy about the signing of Marouane Chamakh I really can’t say any more than if this player has been recommended by Gilles Grimandi and vetted by Arsene Wenger and the staff, then he stands a good chance of being a more than useful addition to the squad.
The fee has also attracted some comments. Depending on what you read it is reported as being between eight and ten million pounds. I suspect that number is actually euros and will contain staged payments dependent upon appearances and caps, etc.. We’ll never know, so it really isn’t worth arguing about.
Anyway, welcome to Arsenal Laurent. See you at Barnet on Saturday week.
Second Gunner Involved In World Cup Final?
Considering I am ninety minutes away from collecting on Spain winning the World Cup I cannot begin to tell you how surprised I was to find myself a staunch German supporter tonight.
It is only with the benefit of hindsight that I am starting to accept that Spain probably just about edged the contest. However, how ironic was it that for all that possession they were dependent on a good old-fashioned header from a corner to finally get on the scoresheet.
I am hoping that Cesc was not involved purely as a precaution after his reported training ground injury, and that he may figure on Sunday against Robin van Persie’s Dutch team. At this precise moment I am hoping that the best team wins, but that is how I felt about this evening’s game until I saw Cesc was not playing.
There is no hiding the fact that this Spanish side has not played with the positivity and flair that marked their European Championship success. It wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Netherlands frustrate them and create opportunities to win it at the other end. Fingers crossed.
Now I am going to take a few days rest. I have a surprise long weekend coming up, which hopefully will include sitting around a decent screen on Sunday with a Guinness or two. I hope to be back next Monday with my thoughts on the game, and the six new signings that Arsenal will make between now and then.
Have a great weekend, ‘holics.
137 Responses to “Welcome Laurent, And I’m Sad ‘Holic Pound Could Win”
6X please. To toast the arrival of the new bloke from Brisbane Road.
I thought that gag might have come later, Steve đ
On the ball tonight. Up the O’s……
New guy compilation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtqa-Hl2cLI
Also , we need a pet name for him.
Good stuff Holic.
Holic, you can obviously see that the holicsâs opinions about the Cesc saga, from Cescâs point of view and his behavior are very different. Iâd love to get your take on Cescâs behavior and would love for you to have a post about it (and now is the perfect time after the WC is over, isnât it ) ?
About the final itself, I predict Robben will cause a lot of problems for Capdevilla. Think about 60-40 to the Spanish but you never know, really hope Robin triumphs on Sunday.
OK, Snir. A Cesc piece for you next week, after the Final.
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Thanks Holic, I really haven’t seen a topic with so many different opinions for a long time, some feel betrayed by him, some feel sympathy for him, some understand him etc… But there is a wide range of opinions about his behavior following his transfer request.
Evening Holic’
Holland v Spain it is then, Oranje v orange growers should make for a juicy final. (sorry for the repost)
I actually had my money on Spain too, (pre tournament bet) but now that Holland are there, you know who I’ll be cheering for. It was quite a party here last night with Holland progressing, the streets are dead tonight though, a nationwide hangover I think.
Here’s to Sunday, Hup Holland Hup!
A pint of Bavaria for me please sir.
Cheers.
These days, even octopus’s have a better football knowledge than us. Maybe it is time for a break after all. Roll on Sunday
Must admit I know very little about our new signing. But I knew very little about Tommy V before he arrived. Apart from reading all of the top experts who said he was not tall enough or good enough for the Premier League. Shows exactly how much they know and exactly why I have complete faith in the manager.
Steve T – I think it was Trev who said that he had a quick glimpse of AW’s office and he had TONS of statistical sheets and videos of players from teams we’ve never heard of. I take it Koscielny is one of those signings :). In Arsene we trust. All we now need is a good keeper (Schwarzer?) a backup for Song and another CB, and of course Joe Cole can only be a bonus :).
Steve T.
Most of the British media, “experts” and analists (not a typo, cos they’re full of shit) know pretty much bugger all about football beyond their borders, proven beyond a doubt by their predictions at this years WC.
Not sure why so many are making a fuss about Joe Cole. Is he really what Arsenal need?
H2H – I’m not making a fuss at all, but he can only be a bonus, he can’t harm the squad… A nice player on the bench. In anyway no matter what he won’t have a place in the 11 cause the team will most probably be Song, Diaby, Cesc, Arshavin, RVP, Chamakh. Even Nasri won’t get a first 11…
Snir, apologies, when I said fuss I didn’t mean to single you out., I’ve seen many posts regarding him as some kind of wonder swoop. But if what you are saying is true then wouldn’t that make him a massive waste of money?
I know he’s a so called free transfer, but nothing in footy is for free and don’t forget, this is a guy who turned down a 100K per week deal at the Chav’s.
What do you think his wage demands would be?
I personally think that could actually “harm” the rest of the squad.
H2H – I expect Eduardo to leave and maybe Rosicky as well. Joe Cole could bolster our bench (that would miss 2 players if they do leave) and most importantly he could be one of the 8 HG players.
Thinking of it, the bench next year will be scary – GK, CB, Gibbs?, Eboue, Nasri, J. Cole/Ramsey/Wilshere, Bendtner/Walcott.
Those are some good options on the bench, and most importantly the team will have an added dimension with Chamakh – Air play! I expect a lot of heading goals next season cause of Chamakh.
`Holic you’re pushing it with your anti-Spain report đ
Honestly they were in control thoughout and it was impressive to watch. And it’s hard to argue against Del Bosque team’s selection this time…
And we have 2 players in the final! How many CSKA London & United players in the semi-finals? That’s right. 0.
@Snir: team harmony matters more than having big names on the bench imho and I don’t see Joe Cole paying it nicer than Diarra if he’s benched. If we get him, it as to be as a replacement for Rosicki for example.
I may be wrong (happens all the time) but I thought that HG, Home Grown I assume, rule wasn’t going to happen because it wasn’t in line with European law?
Still think that he would want an extortiant amount of wages to be a bench player, you do know he’s pretty injury prone too right?
ps Home Grown in Holland has a totally different meaning. đ
Matt, if Joe Cole signs, I think he knows he won’t be a starter, no chance in the world he’ll get in before AA or anyone else for that matter, so if he signs he should come with the right attitude to sit on the bench.
One more thing, you sound surprised that Spain were in control. That is one which is a sure bet. They always control the game and the possession. Nothing new there, more of the usual đ
Unrelated topic, but hard to resist inserting it into the conversation:
It seems that Barcelona has significant cash flow problems. They are seeking a E 150MM loan to pay wages, and intend to impose austerity measures. The primary reason is that their media rights partner MediaPro, has filed for bankruptcy. This is a 7 year contract worth E 1B that runs through 2013. Barcelona has received assurances they will get paid, but they are only verbal. Given the general state of the Spanish economy, and this specific event impacting Barcelona.
It would be fiscally reckless for them to pursue Fabregas given this situation. I’d say Cesc-mate.
FT link below
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/904f522e-8921-11df-8ecd-00144feab49a.html
H2H- I’m pretty sure the rule will be in place this season, but if someone knows better than that please say so…
RVP is pretty much injury prone and we put all our hopes for a title in him, don’t we đ ? I’m really indifferent if he joins or not, if not then OK and if he does then cool. No big deal in that signing at all. The more important stuff is another CB,GK and a backup for Song cause our middle was really breached when he was injured.
If we don’t get a Song backup I reckon AW will put Diaby in the Song role when Song’s unavailable and Nasri in Diaby’s spot against lower teams (kind of like when he puts Eboue in right back for Sagna at home for lower teams) and Denilson/Eastmond when playing against tougher teams.
Barcelona seeks loan to help pay players
Barcelona, the Spanish football giants whose players will make up the bulk of Spainâs team in Wednesdayâs World Cup semi-final against Germany, are seeking a âŹ150m loan to help pay player and staff wages.
The move was announced by new Barcelona president Sandro Rosell who took up his post last week, on the clubâs website.
Mr Rosell also expressed concerns about money the club is owed by its TV rights partner.
âWe found the club in debt and with cashflow tensions but weâre sorting that out,â Mr Rosell said, adding that the situation would be resolved in the next few days.
âThe club isnât bankrupt. This week weâll have everything in place to impose a policy of austerity to be able to make savings in unnecessary areas and meet very important commitments such as paying the wages of our players, coaches and employeesâ.
The credit request was sought by the previous Barcelona board, âknowing that there werenât sufficient resourcesâ, Mr Rosell added. The difference in the new boardâs loan negotiations was that their predecessors factored in an increase in the club membership fee, whereas Mr Rosell does not intend to demand that increase.
He also announced said the sale of one of the clubâs players, Dmitro Chygrynskiy, for âŹ15m, had been motivated by financial needs as well as football considerations.
Mr Rosell also said he was concerned about the clubâs TV rights contract with Mediapro, which last month announced it was seeking bankruptcy protection over a dispute with a pay-TV company. The seven-year contract, worth âŹ1bn, runs until 2013.
âWe have spoken to representatives of Mediapro about their situation because everyone believes that they are in receivership,â Mr Rosell said.
The clubâs website reported the president saying he had been given assurances by Mediapro that the money would be paid. But the site said that unlike its rivals Real Madrid, Barcelona had only âa verbal guarantee of paymentâ.
Barcelona is one of the biggest spending clubs in Europe, its members expecting successive club presidents to achieve success by attracting some of the worldâs best players.
Like all European clubs, it faces greater scrutiny of its finances by Uefa, Europeâs governing body, which is bringing in new rules tightening up on how much clubs can spend in relation to their income.
In May, Barcelona paid Valencia âŹ40m for David Villa, the Spanish striker who is the leading scorer in the World Cup, and wants to bring Arsenalâs highly-valued Cesc Fabregas to the Nou Camp.
Last week, the club claimed to be the worldâs biggest sports team by revenues, saying sales for the 12 months to June 30 rose 16 per cent to âŹ445.5m. It said net income was âŹ9m.
Well then Snir, we’ll just agree that a GK, CB and DM should be top of the list then.
Sorry for the volley of emails. Just some excitement generated from Barcelona directed schadenfreude
H2H – Agreed ! đ
How do you think AW will play in games that Song’s unavailable and we don’t get a backup for him this offseason?
The Joe Cole saga is a bit of a mystery. I really rate Cole and had heard from trusted sources that he was at the ground having a medical before the world cup. I can not see him signing for any club to sit on the bench. He will want to play and will want a central role. I can only imagine that if he comes here that it would be to fill the role Cesc has, which may account for the delay. But it all appears to have gone very quiet.
I agree totally re a new CM, DM and GK. I have heard Melo’s name banded about again in various media sources. I thought he looked a great player but clearly has a screw lose.
Snir, I don’t think AW will play in any of the games that Song will miss, surely we’re not that desperate. đ
Seriously though, I think signing a back up for Song is a must this offseason, it doesn’t have to be a superstar, just a solid player. I’m not gonna play the speculation game at who we might sign or who may be available, I just hope that Wenger and the board adress the “problem areas” that us fans have so plainly been able to identify over the previous campaigns. The last thing we all want is another what if season, so close yet so far.
Found this AW interview in a Kenyan newspaper of all places: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/InsidePage.php?id=2000013371&cid=38&story=One-On-One%20with%20Wenger
My favorite bit:
APIDI: Are we likely to see an invincible team again bearing in mind that you have gone a couple of seasons without a trophy?
WENGER: This could be the season that we start getting trophies. Another invincible team is seen coming if not this season.
If there is one player I’d want at Arsenal from the WC it’s either Arevalo or Diego Perez from Uruguay. Both EXCELLENT defensive midfielders.
We do have a nickname for our new signing. .Kos – read – chaos. I like đ
Anyone know much about that Gosling kid who is available on a free? Sounds pretty versatile, and the price is right.. good addition to Arsenal squad?
Too many Gosling quality kids in our team jt.
jt. From the brief footage I’ve seen of him, Gosling looks like a decent player, he made a few appearances from the bench for the Toffies last season.
I don’t think he’ll have much trouble finding a new team. Moyes must be pretty peeved that the club let one of his young starlets slip away.
Gosling is injured with a bad knee and is out for a further 4 months. He’d fit right in! Not sure we’d need him with Ramsay due back in that time frame too.
Matt. Has that interview been authenticated? Sounds a bit dodgey to me.
@ Steve T: I agree about the interview. Seems unlike Wenger to me. Like this for example: “Manuel Almunia Rivero is a talented goalkeeper. In training, he is superb, the only problem is that he gets nervous on big matches, thereby making silly mistakes. After the World Cup, we will be making an announcement on goalkeeping.” Wenger NEVER says anything negative about his players in public. It’s also missing Wenger’s usual touch of humor and wit.
Steve T & Joshua: No idea really. The home page looks like a legit Kenyan newspaper but who knows? Some of it sounds fishy I agree but perhaps he was taken off guard and with a bit of embellishment or mistranslation…
“WENGER: What? (shocked) My condolences. To Arsenal fans, keep on supporting Arsenal, another invincible team is on the way. And please, do not commit suicide.”
that just sounds… doesnt sound like something you’d respond to a suicide?
‘Holic – I read all of your posts, as always. You get so many comments now that I can’t keep up.
I slightly differ on Spain – I think they’re similar to two years ago – possession football, getting the odd chance. Torres’s fitness is a difference, but if he’s the scorer in a 1-0 over Holland, then even that will look the same.
good read ‘Holic. I still hate spain! hope Van persie whoops their arses. That Kenyan interview looks authentic, it’s appearing on a whole page in the standard today. Starndard media may not be saints but they do their digging. They even have a photo on the interview.
just on BBC Radio 5 live – Spain play like us (trying to walk it into the net) but our passing is better – which is what I was thinking- the difference was that our defence was leakier than Spains
mind you I can see the point – how many of our goals last year were scored by our defence with the attack battering against opposition defence without scoring!!
But the classic 5 live finish to the item – ‘well is AW responsible for the way his team play?’ ………..
Would love a Guinness please barman
Doesn’t anybody drink any more in these comments?
As it’s early, I’ll have a Canadian breakfast (Molson Ex) please.
Guys… you’re missing the trick; if you celebrate Spain’s win then you’ll REALLY annoy the Catalans!
Last night on the TV was hilarious. After the game they did the usual crowd scenes at all the major cities around Spain. Barcelona was conspicuous by it’s absence!
I know the goal was scored by Barca’s captain, and the team is full of them all gobbing off… but the Barca fans in general (therefore Snr Rosell etc) are not jumping for joy.
Viva Espana! Or Hup Holland… I don’t care.
@ Gooneraside. If you’re offering I’ll have a San Miguel Extra Reserva please.
holic, have you seen the racist shite yer man from Legroan is spouting today. Cunt reckons he is speaking for all Arsenal fans as usual and calling for Cesc to go, along with his usual spa ‘s wish list. Can’t you call the cunt out for all of us.
‘Holic – no more postings till AFTER the world cup final?
Sheez, you’d think it was the close season đ
leave the keys to the bar with me – I’ll keep the riff raff out.
Enjoy your break.
Regarding Koscielny, it’s nice to see another blogger not getting carried away. He may not be a marquee signing costing a ridiculous sum, but Wenger has obviously done his homework on him. We have to remember that we were in a similar situation with Vermaelen last season. If a relatively unknown, ‘cheap’ signing did it for us then, I have every faith Koscielny will do it for us this time around.
@Matt: Kenyan newspapers occasionally like to have a bit of fun. Usually it’s an April Fools Day article (one year they claimed the Kenyan government was going to make Mount Kenya taller than Mount Kilimanjaro by adding dirt to it), but I wouldn’t put it past them. Of course, I also wouldn’t put it past them to add a bit of extra embellishment here and there to a legit interview to make it a bit more sensational.
Regardless of whether it’s true or not, Sky, The Sun, and the like are picking it up.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6251949,00.html
Everyone, the article in the Kenyan newspaper is not correct..
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsene-wenger-interview-a-clarification
Arsenal Football Club would like to clarify that quotes attributed to Arsène Wenger today in a Kenyan newspaper are not correct. Arsène Wenger did not grant a one-on-one interview to the newspaper and have kindly asked all media not to attribute any quotes from this source to him.
Well there’s a shock………
And somewhere in Kenya, a team of sports writers are having a royal laugh…
I had my doubts about that interview too. Good call Steve T.
I have never seen someone whine more than Le grove… I have NEVER seen him say anything positive. What a negative person, why does he do that to himself ? Is that fun to him being so negative????
Snir.
I’ve been to many Arsenal blogs, some good, some not so good. I currently only visit Arseblog (daily fix) and of course this excellent forum, mainly due to the fact that they are mostly positive and always twinged with humour.
If I wanted to read pieces from twats moaning about our beloved Gunners I’d visit a Spurs site. As my dear ol’ mum said; “if you don’t like it, ignore it”, that’s why to this day I refuse to acknowledge the exsistance of Man Utd.
@Snir: Le Groan is an anti-arsenal blog, they federate all the “fans” openly wishing for our demise so that they can be proven right. Even on MU boards you will be scolded for calling AW a pedophile but on Le Groan you will be cheered whereas being too positive will get you censored, edited or banned, and of course copiously insulted.
Arsenal has the lion’s hare of football bloggers in the UK (well over 50% of football blogs are Arsenal blogs). It’s a cutthroat market and they’re gnerating controversy in order to get hits. As despicable as they appear this is what problogger and other blogger advice sites are recommending. Same goes for Miles Palmer, his direct access was cutoff so if he wants to maintain his traffic level his obvious recourse was to generate controversy.
It’s not specific to Arsenal, it’s the same in all succesful blogging markets.
The other bit to consider is that internet boards put you in contact with the crazies, the ones you see talking to themselves and acting weirdly on the streets or in the shops or the weirdo neighbour. In the real world you simply avoid them but on boards there isn’t much you can do.
When someone consistently posts 100+ times a day the same things over and over again, generally the community bans them and very quickly if it goes against the community’s beliefs & goals. Mostly they congregate in places where there is no moderation (like Gunnerblog’s board). But they can also be useful, Le Groan tolerates a handful of loonies because their excesses have people react and comment in the hope of balancing the board.
The Le Groan guys know what they are doing, they see it as a business and they are reasonably successful so far considering the massive number of abandonned Arsenal blogs.
There isn’t one big Barca blog that has mentioned the 150 mils loan yet. Maybe they need a few more days to deal with the shock…
Interesting stuff, Matt, cheers. Business is business.
It’s all about who you want to attract. Le grove attracts people who are negative and want to complain all the time (at least from my limited observations of that site). This fine establishment and Arseblog attract people who are more positive and are willing to have courteous debate. Taking the positive approach builds community and trust. I know which style I’m attracted to.
Nikolarse:
“If a relatively unknown, âcheapâ signing did it for us then, I have every faith Koscielny will do it for us this time around.”
And not forgetting Sagna before TV.
Don’t like the rumours suggesting Clichy could leave. He had a dip in form this year after his injury but I like him, always gives 100%.
K-man = next tommy V baby
I would not be surprised if Clichy went. I would hate to see him go but I do feel that Gibbs is definitely the future. I think he is an outstanding prospect and that would be the only reason we would let Clichy go. I did think last season when Gibbs got his chance that if he had not been injured that Clichy would have struggled to get back in.
I agree completely with Steve T re: Clichy v Gibbs, I don’t think Clichy would have remained first choice had Gibbs not had his metatarsal kicked to bits. The only thing that would be a bit worrying is that if Clichy goes then we wouldn’t really have much cover for left-back since I don’t rate Traore that much.
whats wrong with having 2 really really good left backs?
Clichys form dipped as he had a pretty bad back injury didnt he? and he was carrying it for a while too i believe? The latter part of last season he started to look like the Clichy of old. And now with Gibbs on his coat tails hel have to keep it up or be dropped. And then if he needs a rest at least wel be save enough with gibbs
Matt, 150 million isnt that bad, is it? Or am I missing something? Arent our loans in the range of 200 mi?
Sajit,
Yes but ours were for bricks and mortar meaning we would reap the benefits their loan is to pay the staff wages massive difference, That moneys going straight out of the club for no reward !
With the others on the clichy Gibbs debate I love clichy but if there’s one position we would be relatively in weakens with a first reamer leaving it would be at left back!! Young Gibbs has the lot and will become an Arsenal and England regular, And to be honest it will be nice to have a sprinkling of English players in or around the first team,
“un weakened even” sorry on my phone and it bloody substitutes words and sayings !!!
Holland are nice, and Holland can stop you, from scoring all the goals you’d like to. So if you think that mans offside, if you think that mans offside, pass it to Van Persie oh how could I
If it’s not Villa or Fabregas, then its the Dutch that can bring us together.
To the tune of The Smiths – Ask
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMY4W0l4peY
@Sajit: I’ve read a lot about it and I’m back to my original position: Barca is a club in good shape financially.
– They have ended the fiscal year (June 2010) with a profit. That’s the third time in a row despite having to pay huge bonuses to the players for their fantastic season in 2009.
– It’s a good move to restructure their debt: they’re exchanging short-term commitments for a long-term loan just when interest rates are at the lowest in decades. So depending how they spend it of course, they’ll end up with the same level of debt with a much more manageable repayment schedule.
– It’s part of Rosell’s political posturing. Sandra Rosell hates Laporta to the point of having written a book against him. Coming in and painting the situation in the darkest possible shade is a way to at the same time belittle Laporta’s (hugely successful) legacy and put himself in the position of savior in a couple of years from now.
– The collapse of Mediapro could be a blow to Barca (who are without a bank collateral). They had a contract to play Barca 100+ mils a year in TV rights until 2013. Barca will probably get most of the money they’re owed but no one knows yet how big the gap will be. Having cash on hand just in case is a wise move. Still it’s a huge warning sign in the sense that there’s no chance they will get the same insane proportion of the TV rights revenue when these are renegotiated in 2013. The remaining 16 clubs in la Liga are all in very poor financial shape and they will fight tooth and nail to get a bigger slice of the cake. Unless they want to play in a 2 teams league, Fake Madrid and Barca will have to bow and accept a smaller share of the rights.
Anyway today Barca have the means to buy Cesc at the price we would be ready to sell, we have absolutely no reason to cave in.
HELL NO!
There is simply no way Clichy will be sold nor should he. Not only because he is fully committed and faithful to the club but he is years ahead of Gibbs on the pitch. If anything we’ve learned our lesson with Cashley, we won’t let one of the top players at his position in the world leave just at the time he is about to reach his peek.
Gibbs is far from being at the level Clichy was when he took over from Cole and with his injury he won’t be match fit before the winter and will get back to the level he was last season probably towards the end of this season. Same thing for Rambo btw, he’ll be lucky if at some point this season he plays like he did before the injury.
If we want to win something this season it has to be with Clichy in the team. With Gibbs and Traore we will fall short again, there’s not the shadow of a doubt.
On the other hand I have the feeling Arshavin is on his way out. He doesn’t defend and his offensive contributions (goals and assists) are barely above those of Diaby and Denilson.
Now if you take into consideration his pretentious and stupid PR and the fact he is a mercenary, I think his days at Arsenal are numbered any way you look at it.
Finally I have a sad news for Holloway2Holland as Paul the psychic octopus is predicting a win for Spain.
I do too but who am I next to Paul…
Evening All.
I see that Paul the physcic octopuss has backed Spain to win the final, good news for Oranje as the EC final is the last prediction he got wrong.
‘Holic, stick a few squid on it, you might incrase the ‘holic pound.
Hup Holland Hup.
I must of been typing as you posted Matt.
Gibbs is far closer to Clichy than he was to Cole at the same stage, As I say I love Clichys passion and will to win he’s just suspect postionally and cannot cross a ball for toffee and With the signing of Chamkah who will thrive with decent balls into the area Gibbs is far better equiped as he was a winger to provide those IMO, All I’m saying is if he was to leave it would do far less damage than say cesc or VP, Traore I agree is most defo not a leftback, It would have Wengers blueprint all over it get a good few years service and sell at a major profit whilst bringing through the next talent,
Matt, they might generate profit but it’s lack of cash flow that’s killing them. That lack of cash flow is making them ask for loans so they can pay things, there will come a time when they won’t have money to pay all kinds of suppliers and they will sue them for that money.
@Matt: “Itâs a good move to restructure their debt: theyâre exchanging short-term commitments for a long-term loan just when interest rates are at the lowest in decades.”
I can certainly see what you mean and that it sounds like a very good idea. But the loan is being used to pay wages, i.e. running costs. And whichever way you put it, using loans to pay running costs means that you have spent more money than you have earned and that you are in serious trouble. They won’t go bust tomorrow, but they will have to tighten their belts or increase their income significantly.
And as for being profitable – ManU have posted profits for years and years, so how come their mountain of debt has doubled in just three of four years or whatever? They may be in the black for operating profits due to some fancy bookkeeping trickery, but for the past few years they haven’t even been able to pay the interests on their loans. And besides, making âŹ8m of profit from a âŹ450m turnover is practically nothing. It’s not even 2%, and this in a year where they won absolutely everything. Yes, there are higher bonuses for the players for winning, but they must have budgeted for that except for perhaps winning the CL. And, more importantly, their debt increased by far more than âŹ8m (and by all accounts they still haven’t paid the money they owe us for Hleb – which in itself is just about what they made in “profit”) so can you really say that they made a proper profit?
I also still wonder how they can have a cash-flow problem if they are in such fine shape. Season ticket renewals should have provided a rather fine lump of cash as well as membership renewals and they still sell loads of shirts and other stuff even though it’s the off-season. They just shouldn’t have any such problems.
They are not about to collapse tomorrow, but they are at the Shit Creek General Store looking for a bargain deal on a paddle.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/reserves-news/premier-reserve-league
How is this possible ???
Didn’t AFC disband the reserve team???
Now thinking of it, Rossel and his no. 2 flew all the way to SA to meet with AW, Gazidis and Darren Dein. Why ??? They say they want a quick decision, yes or no, why waste the flight to SA if they’ve already heard a no? Can’t they offer what they to offer on the phone???
It’s either they’re going to SA for different reasons and meeting with AW on the way or it’s either that the situation isn’t THAT clear and there could be an offer that’ll be accepted.
@Snir: Because of the WC there’s only a big month left to sort out transfers and they need to move on quickly if they can’t get Cesc. In SA they can meet every player agent and every manager, that’s the best place to be to do some transfer business until next week.
Matt, do you know anything about the reserve league thing? AFC just released the schedule but then again we’ve been informed that there won’t be a reserve team next season…
@Chippy: I think you forgot how people were raving about Clichy at the time. And he’s not only a decent crosser but much more importantly for our style of play he’s an excellent dribbler and can easily get past his man something Gibbs has yet to learn.
Gibbsy will come good, scratch that: excellent, one day but not this season because he’s yet to play after a six month injury layoff. At the moment and for quite a while Traore will be our second choice left back. I’ve observed for a long time that every time player gets injured for a couple of months or more, it takes him at least the same time to come back to a competitive level after his return. Gibbs will not be competitive until early Spring next year. And I’m pretty sure you are not advocating for Traore to be our first choice LB up to the winter… And with the arrival of the Koss it would be a big risk to revamp the entire left side of our defense at once.
If we are to win something we need to keep the team together for at least a couple more seasons before we promote the youths.
@Snir: The problem was that the reserves were not playing enough games (something like 10 per season). With the new format they’ll play closer to 25 games per season which is more what a real league feels like.
The club is trying to find solutions on how to handle youngsters best until they reach a level that is competitive at the top of the premiership and CL. There are exceptions but for the majority of players that happens around 22-24 and it requires the players to play competitively until then.
The best solution would be to “own” a small club in a foreign league, unfortunately regulations prevent it from happening. We tried in the past with a club from Belgium (whose name escapes me) and were told to back off, verboten!
Because we did not have many youngsters before and no money for transfers, we had enough spots in the first team for them to be introduced. But now with the quality of our team the new generation cannot have the same opportunities at first-team football as Cesc, Song, Denilson, Diaby, Senderos etc.
So the current thinking seems to be: a competitive reserve league before being loaned for a couple of seasons and a first-team spot in the end (be it starter or back-up).
@Lars: They certainly should tighten their belt, which they announced they were doing. There isn’t much room to increase the income besides finally getting a shirt sponsor (the home market is saturated, TV rights share can’t stay so disproportionate etc) but they can easily slash costs organically because their wage bill is gigantic and their academy is producing more and more excellent players. Villa better keep banging them goals because he is paid probably 5 times more than Pedro for example. Same thing for Yaya, he probably costs them 3 times more than Busquets.
You can read the Swiss Ramble on Barca here: http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-can-barcelona-afford-cesc-fabregas.html
He added a couple of very informative comments about the Barca loan in his article before last (“what is the point of the FA?”). From far the very best blog about football finances.
ManU is a totally different story. The Glazer family are bloodsuckers and they couldn’t care less about leaving smoldering ashes once they leave. Do you know that even today you can get a MU season ticket (you will be told you are on the waiting list and a few days later, “miraculously” you will get your season ticket)? 16% boxes were unsold last season, probably much more this one. They are definitively the most likely candidate to drop from the top 3. Rednose’s magic may delay it for a few years more but the writing is on the wall.
Matt, the Swiss Rambler said that if Fabregas doesn’t end up in Barcelona it’s not gonna be a finance issue cause in the end they generate a revenue.
That’s right, they do. But unfortunately they need to generate a better cash-flow status cause they do end up with a 9 Million profit but that’s at the end of the year… Lots of times they end up short on cash and can’t pay things they need to play cause of lack of cash flow.
There is no way in the world even if their finances aren’t shit that their financial state is in good shape like you said earlier. It might not be shit, but it’s not in good shape.
If MediaPro indeed goes tits up and they don’t get their TV rights or the payments are delayed for a long while they could be in trouble. But they have the best academy in the world in the weakest european top league, they can easily survive an austerity period. As the Swiss Rambler says, worst case they can sell Messi for 200mils to Merc Citeh and the problem is solved.
Barca are not at all in the same boat as Liverpool or Manchester United. If suddenly they stopped receiving TV rights money they’ll have no escape from immediate bankruptcy.
Last thing about the cash flow, they pay their players twice a year so that’s a lot of money to get out at once. If they paid them monthly instead they would have needed the loan.
Anyway the loan does not change the conclusion: they can pay what we would accept for Cesc. The loan and the dark financial picture painted by Sandra are none of our concern.
Sorry I meant “they might not have needed the loan”
To be fair I forgot to mention another hurdle for Barca: the Spanish austerity plan scraps the tax advantage that Spanish clubs had over us. That will make it more difficult for them to reduce their wage bill.
But that’s for Barca’s (and Fake Madrid’s) to deal with in the future. For now they still can cough up 60 millions. Let’s squeeze them and make them squeal and whine either way.
Last one I swear (tell me if I bore you ;): yesterday Le Groan posted an anti-Cesc post: 1000 comments. Today it was a pro-Arsenal post: 500 comments.
Sad but business-savvy.
Sorry to raise a very serious issue here folks but I believe there is a bit of colour favouritism going on here
Yes I speak of Paul the octopus
Following a very detailed analysis (OK 3 cognacs) of those results, I have come to a clear conclusion
Paul has 2 favourite colours Red and Yellow
This is why , in a choice of 2 boxes , he has always selected Germany over the opposition, then Spain against Holland
It clearly would have been better to have a double-blind octopus to do this …..
Morning
Xavi “Blah,blah, bloody, blah.” Has Xavi been giving Cesc the eye in the showers?
T- ossell ( or whatever he’s called) claims to be on the way to SA to meet AW – etc – I dont believe this piece of garbage for one millisecond – what a load of bollox! i thought the other twat laporta was thick but this guy takes the biscuit!
More importantly – has any one got any ideas of a song for our new unpronouncible centre back!
Last thing about the cash flow, they pay their players twice a year so thatâs a lot of money to get out at once.
But if you don’t have to pay any wages from January to June, how can you then have a cash-flow problem in July unless you’ve already spent the money that should have paid the wages? I mean, it’s not like the wages are an unforseen expense. This is to me the most remarkable thing about this whole deal – they must have budgeted for the wages, so why have they already spent all that money on other things?
ManU is a totally different story. The Glazer family are bloodsuckers and they couldnât care less about leaving smoldering ashes once they leave.
Absolutely, but my point is that “being profitable” is in itself in no way enough of a measure of financial health in the long term. By pointing at ManU I wanted to illustrate that even though you’re making a profit in the accounting sense you can be one step away from going belly-up, and I wouldn’t be that surprised if even Pompey showed profit right up until the shit hit the fan big time.
But they have the best academy in the world in the weakest european top league, they can easily survive an austerity period. As the Swiss Rambler says, worst case they can sell Messi for 200mils to Merc Citeh and the problem is solved.
The best academy? Perhaps. But problem solved with Messi sold? That is a rather dangerous assumption to make. No Messi may well mean less success in the Champions League (i.e. less income), diminished shirt sales and such – and then perhaps they’ll have to sell Villa as well, progress even less in the CL etc etc and then youäll have to sell someone else and progress even less and so on. Selling your most valuable asset for the sole purpose of survival is almost never a good idea.
And again, I’m not saying they are about to go out of business any time soon, but they do have problems and they may well find it very difficult to keep up in the coming years.
kevnal @ 93 – no rhymes as yet but, if it helps, a Polish friend tells me the name is pronounced “Koss – chel – na”. Good luck with that then.
Have been away from the computer for a day or so but, if anyone hasn’t seen them, there are some comic gems on the last two Arseblogs, including a negotiation between Sandra and Arsenal for Cesc. Brilliant.
Btw, haven’t any of them got men’s names?
On ManUre finances, they are only likely to get worse. Nigel Phillips, i think it was, of the Arsenal Supporters Trust, wrote an article a long time ago stating that the United business plan to cover their debt, was a 9% year-on-year increase in ticket prices, for the first 9 years of Glazer involvement.
In the 10th year, the PIK loans become repayable, and an increase of 15% has been factored in to cover that.
I’m afraid it takes a better mathematician than I, to calculate exactly what that does to the original price of a season ticket, but suffice to say that it is no surprise to hear that they are already readily available.
If anyone can be bothered, what percentage increase is that on the original price.? Any examples of start and end prices?
@Trev – From his interview on ATVO he was heard saying “My name is Laurent Koss- cel-ny” not chel.
Or maybe I didn’t catch it right with the french accent he had đ
@Trev: it depends, is it 9% of the original price or 9% of the current price each year? If it’s the former, it’s easy – just take 9% of the original price and multiply it by 9 and then you get the increase in punds and pennies, and then add 15% of the original price to get the total increase. In percent it would mean (9×9)+15 = 81+15 = 96%.
If it is an increase of nine percent of the current price each year, then the first year you’d have a price of 1.09 times the price. Assuming an initial price of ÂŁ100 the next year would be ÂŁ109. The year after that it’d be 109×1.09 = just under ÂŁ119 etc. Mathematically speaking, for the whole nine years you would just take the original price multiplied by 1.09 to the power of 9 = 2.17, and then multiply that by 1.15 for the final hike which would be very close to 2,50. This means that the total increase would be a whopping 150%.
In other words, if we assume a starting price of ÂŁ1000 it would in the first case mean a final price of ÂŁ1960 and in the second ÂŁ2500.
Explanation about powers: “x to the power of y”, sometimes written as x^y, means that you multiply x by itself y times, e.g. 2^4 = 2x2x2x2 = 16
Oh, and the game for third place at the WC is just about to start so mine’s a pint of Boddington’s!
Lars @ 98/99 – cheers for that. It is the latter case as I understand it, and I did know that year 3 would be 9% of 109% and so on, but that really makes my brain ache, so the formula is very helpful.
In any event, the final sum of ÂŁ2,500 or 2.5 times the start price is very interesting. I believe prices have roughly doubled, at the moment, compared to Glazer takeover day, so ManUre hold your breath and cross everything.
This does really make you appreciate what our board, for all their faults, and Arsene Wenger have achieved, and the model by which they have done it.
Greetings from the Netherlands.
Well, there’s just a few hours to go until the final kicks off and as you can imagine the hype has reached fever pitch, it’s all that anyone’s talking about, it’s like nothing else in the universe matters or exsists.
Orange everywhere, people have painted their houses, caravans, cars, bikes, also themselves and their kids orange, even the apples and bananas are Orange (well they’re not really, but how cool would that be?)
Granny’s, and women of other ages (even the one’s not painted orange) who normally wouldn’t know a football if it smacked them in the head are gabbing about the game, like they’d had a relationship with Johan Cruijf, (many might of had) explaining the benifits of the pragmatic approach, compared to the “total football” philosophy, I even thought I heard one of them explaining the offside rule, weirder still, I think she got it reasonably correct.
It’s a pretty sureal situation to find yourself in, but I must admit, it’s extreamly difficult to not get completly swept up by the whole euphoria.
Roll on 20:30 and whatever the outcome this has been an experience I’ll never forget.
Time to open the bar, there’s some serious drinking to be done before kick off.
Come on RvP (and the rest of course đ )
Hup Holland Hup!
Holloway2Holland: Thanks for the report, makes us feel like we’re there! Seriously I was in France in 98 and in Marseille when they won the CL in 93. Both times it was exactly like how you described. It’s always surprising to see grannies wave flags from their windows…
Actually I have even better memories from the quarters and semis, everyone was smiling on the street which is something absolutely surreal in Paris đ
So, Spain it is then… I can’t help but wonder if this in any way affects Fabregas in regards to wether he wants to stay with us or go to Barcelona.
Don’t think it will help Lars – those Barcelona cunts will now be unbearable.
Well, that was obvious.
I really hate Spain and Barca.
As if the month and a half of Cesc transfer saga wasn’t enough, wait till next week… Then it’ll really start. I really don’t know if he’ll stay or not. I’m sure this is what’s he’s thinking right now but I wonder if AW will stay tough and won’t cave in.
ARGHHHHHH!! I hate Spain!!!!
Feel sorry for Van Persie – never really got going in this tournament.
As for Spain – to hell with them and Barcelona.
ÂŁ60m – no less for Fabregas.
@Snir: totally agree about next week, expect the shit-storm from Barcelona to reach hurricane levels in the coming days.
No idea if it is true, but:
Wenger tells Barca to get lost
The Mirror has a similar story (not that I trust them too much either).
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Transfer-news-Arsene-Wenger-rejected-the-chance-to-meet-with-Barcelona-in-South-Africa-to-discuss-the-transfer-of-Cesc-Fabregas-article522937.html
I’ve seen that too on David Astorga’s twitter…
David Astorga is a TF1 analyst (as is AW) and told viewers AW got pissed by thier illegal courting and destabilizing of Cesc and told them he’s not for sale.
https://twitter.com/telefoot_tf1/status/18217720262
http://twitter.com/TahsinOv
Well, this is was Cesc’s 2nd assist in 2nd final. Wow. I really want him to stay, we really have a chance to get something this season.
@Lars – Do you know where I can get a link to the sunday times’ piece on Cesc buying property in St. Albans? For some reason the sunday times’ website asks me to register…
Guys, it’s only 6 days to Barnet!!!!!! I can’t wait!!!
I think Fab just showed Del Bosque why he should have started more often this tournament. He created a lot for Spain today. He’s going to be quite a force for us this season (seeing that Wenger is in no mood to sell him to Barca).
Also, why do the Dutch give RvP so little support? He was working by himself up there for much of the game.
Joshua, I told you guys, it’s a Del Bosque conspiracy đ
He just didn’t want Cesc to raise his importance for Barca since he’s a Real Madrid man, otherwise there is no logical/possible reason to go 3 games without Cesc in the 14 ;).
I hate Mourinho, but from now on I’m his number 1 fan, just so he’ll make Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, but most importantly Pique cry after losing the Super Classico at the Nou Camp and stopping their dominance in Spain and make them lose out on some silverware!!! I hate them with all my heart.
After further checking, it was Xavi with the assist at the Euro 2008 final and not Cesc, but this was definitely Cesc.
@Snir – one of my patients is director of an estate agents, and i know he has good links with agents in St. Albans, it being the next town to me.
I will see what he can find out.
Hopefully that win and a month on the bench will satisfy Cesc’s trophy-lust for a year, while we actually start winning things again.
In the short time he was on he really looked good and did some good incisive things – we just cannot let him go yet.
Poor RvP got absolutely nothing to work with tonight, and looked completely pissed off by the end of it – especially with one greedy, diving, moaning, no end-product producing little twat by the name of Robben.
The whole thing looked like Arsenal v Blackburn to me. Sorry H2H but Holland were terrible – and I wanted them to win.
At least we can look forward to the proper stuff again now –
COME ON REDDDSSSS !!!
man shit shit shit fuck fuck fuckkkkkkkk……….. ahgggghhhhhhhhhhh no no no……….. but congrats holic u won some money i guess!
how awful was webb and inesta dived at least 4 times stupid idiot
@Trev – Thanks a lot.
Look at this – http://legendaire.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/wenger-tells-barca-to-get-lost-on-live-french-tv/
It says the sunday times had a piece today about Cesc buying a 2 Million property in Hertfordshire in St. Albans recently…
But I don’t know how reliable it is since it said AW told Barca to fuck off on live TV and he didn’t, he just praised him and didn’t talk at all about the transfer thing. I got it from a french arsenal supporter’s twitter page.
A thought – It was reported that we denied a chance to sign Stekelenburg. Why!?!? Maybe we’ll have a second chance? I’ve watched all of Holland’s games and he’s really impressed me.
My condolences to Holloway2Holland… More than ever Holland is the best team never to have won the WC!
The most amazing thing for me was that Webb had a good game considering the standards set by refs in this WC. A lot of yellow cards but honestly almost all of them were deserved. De Jong should even had been red carded. At last a decent Ingelander in the WC final!
Good news about Cesc but we already knew how Sandra’s approach was going to be received. Now it’s time to report them to UEFA for the tapping up.
@Snir: sorry man but objectively Spain were the best team of the tournament. All this Fabregas tapping up has left us with a bitter taste in the mouth but that should not detract from the reality. And it confirms a long-held theory of mine: the best European clubs would always win against the WC winners. Barcaspain just provided the confirmation.
@Matt: man i think u are wrong,…..Germany were the best team of the tournament they had a bad day against spain……spain didnt have penetration and just kept possesion in there half. on the other hand the germans had a killer instinct and awesome technique if only muller had been fit.
Spain are one of the most unworthy champions of the World Cup, shortly followed by the 2006 Italian team. They dived, played boring football and never had a plan B. Their only real tactical victory was against Germany in the semi-finals because they blocked the midfield with 5 players and played out a negative 1-0 draw. 9 goals in 7 matches just shows you how poor this Spanish side are. No doubt the world will throw all these plaudits on them but I’m so glad this World Cup is over. Hopefully Spain can find a new way to play, one which doesn’t induce viewers into comas
@Snir
Could have gone both ways with Del Bosque. If Fab had started and played brilliantly (as he would have), his value would be even further beyond the reach of Barca (whose finances are a bit weak at the moment), and AW would be even more determined to hold on to him. On the other side, he got a glimpse of what it’s like to sit on the bench and may give him second thoughts of wanting to go do that at Barca.
Joshua, either way, Del Bosque got it right in not raising his importance and in making him miserable :).
Matt, we’ve already had this arguement and I’m not gonna continue it, we’ll just have to agree to disagree cause in my view Spain really dissappointed me… I’m used to Barca (even though I hate them to death) that I watch every week hoping for their loss and I see them winning 4-5 (I know the defenses at the WC are much better but still).
Bottom line, you can think what you want, but Spain is the WC winner with the least goals of all time with 8(!!!!) goals in 7 matches. Obviously they’re gonna look better than their opponents but that’s because they have 85% possesion. When Arsenal go on passing opponents to death it’s normally called “Arsenal with no end product” and was often criticized even by Sagna at times. It’s exactly the same with Spain. It’s a lot because Del Bosque’s tactics who I already told you was lucky to be coaching a team with these players cause every other team wouldn’t have won ON THEIR OWN WITH NO COACH.
By the way, the Barca stuff didn’t make bitter and all that, I was rooting for them in 08 and probably I got spoiled cause that’s the performances I got used to and expected from the Spanish in this WC.
So, who should be in the England 30 for Brazil 2014 then?
No please don’t.
So, it’s just 6 days to Barnet… Anyone else getting THIS excited? I’m positive this’ll be our year… Simply because we added a dimension to our attacking play – Heading from crosses or in other words – Marouane Chamakh!!! Whenever we get stuck and get breach the opponents’ defense, all we gotta do is cross it to Chamakh and he’ll do the rest :). And of course no Almunia at goal, so this is definitely our year đ
I stumbled across this and couldn’t help thinking it was Arsenal’s awful finish and the lack of control on the pitch during that run of games – we looked hopeless and helpless from after the Derby match and the 2 months he spent rehabing in Spain that made Cesc changed his mind and want to move to Barca this summer.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1231548/Cesc-Fabregas-In-revealing-interview-Arsenals-genius-reveals-sign-Barcelona-fight-overcome-demons-slur-haunts-him.html
Cesc doesn’t strike me as a dishonest lad and I really do believe his words in this interview that he sees the Arsenal captaincy with great pride and doesn’t want to fail here.
Something happened in the 2 months he was in Spain, no one knows what it was but one has to be blind and deaf to the tapping up he’s been experiencing even when holding his WC medal you could see Puyol talking shit!
The fact that he’s making a U-turn probably means AW has promised him a competetive team at Arsenal this season cause I really do believe Cesc would prefer winning silverware with Arsenal over Barca (for the time being) cause he’d be the number 1 man responsible for it and not another one in the squad (kind of like Henry at Arsenal and Henry as part of the 6 trophy squad at Barca) and Cesc strikes me as one who likes to step up to the challenge.
This interview just strengthens two things in my mind, 1 – That Cesc would love to be part of Arsenal honors and trust AW to deliver it perhaps even this season and 2 – That he was subjected to TOO much tapping up in Spain.
I dislike the attitude that consists in belittling winners.
@Snir: Del Bosque has won the CL twice and now the World Cup. If anything he’s the most successful coach in activity. You’ve taken a very strong stance against him and you have been proven wrong tonight because you have been conflating style and results. Perhaps it’s the right time to ask yourself if it could be possible it’s you who didn’t understand some of Del Bosque’s choices.
@Usama: Germany never looked like they could win against Spain and as usual one can either put it down to Del Bosque’s tactics and the quality of the spanish players or bad luck, the weather, heavy food, a missing player etc. The reality is they were inferior individually and as a team. The “no plan B” argument is spurious considering they won the world cup with plan A. They obviously did not need a plan B.
Matt.
This isn’t about Del Bosque personally, I’ve really started wondering if the big coaches in the game are deserved to be THAT big.
I assure you Del Bosque wouldn’t have won if he didn’t have the world’s best players.
I’m not belittling winners, vice versa, I’ve been the one that praised the Dutch for their play even though the whole media has been belittling them and prasing Spain for nothing.
You know what, maybe I’ve been disappointed by Spain cause I expected so much more. I recall their Euro 2008 performances and teams were playing exactly like that against them and they scored more than one.
I don’t get it why people have been so surprised and impressed by Spain when in fact in Euro 2008, they had the same amount of possesion and scored a whole lot more. If anything they look worse than how they looked in 08.
I just cannot agree to the idea that a midfield of Xavi and Iniesta and Villa up front will only score 8 goals in 7 games no matter how tough the defense they’re up against is.
You know what Matt, let me just say this. With this squad I expect Spain to win easily just like they did in 08. They won alright but they could have done it a lot easier.
Either way they won, but they could have done it easier for themselves and they should have given the fact their squad is miles away from every other squad (on paper) talentwise.
One last thing, maybe I’m being like this (disappointed and stuff) because I had so much expectations from Spain after watching La Liga every week and knowing how good they can be. I just didn’t see it coming from Spain.
It being lack of goals, they were the last squad I thought would score just 8 goals in the tournament. As I said, I don’t think a midfield containing Xavi and Iniesta and Villa up front can score only a goal a game no matter how narrow and tough the opposition is.
I know there is a lot of gooners out there with a lot to say about Cesc.
But how about this from Cesc. He remembered us during his celebration. Respect!
“All I can say is that this is for all the Arsenal players and fans, they are a world-class club. I am an Arsenal player and I am proud to be.”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football-world-cup/news/Xavi-hails-Spanish-dream-come-true/articleshow/6157318.cms
@Sajit – Where did you find this? Do you have any other site it’s on? I just find it hard to believe that Cesc would ever say that “they never thought they could make it” when he knows how strong Spain are.
Can you put another link with that interview with him, I don’t know how reliable the Indian times is…
And after that Kenyan interview with AW I find a lot of things hard to believe đ
Never mind, found it on Fifa.com.
So… he did say it… Proud of him. I know I for one am not holding anything against him and he hasn’t lost any of his status with me this offseason.
And obviously he still loves the club. This is NOT a transfer for money, if it was he would have been playing for City.
Congrats Cesc, party while you can and come back fresh for next season’s mission. It’s ours this time.
Cheers Snir
Times of India , directly quoted him, and though they arent 100% reliable they arent as bad as Sun (if you wanted a comparison đ ) they are one of the better papers in India..
————-
coming back to Cesc,.. he sure knows how to act with dignity and class.
He may have been tempted by the thought of joining Barca after being with the Catalonian Cunts for so long and also how we capitulated last season . but one thing is for sure – he loves the club and the fans.
No two ways about it.
He also loves the Arsenal way. The interview I put earlier in 125 comment shows it.
What actually moved me is what he said about RvP.
It is exactly what we need in our squad, now that Gallas is gone, it can be achieved.
“The first thing I had to do after the final whistle was go to Robin. Instead of celebrating with my friends, I wanted to talk to Robin, because I felt he deserved this as well.
“He has been injured a lot and if it wasn’t us he was playing against, it would have been different. But as happy as I was, I was also sad for him. He deserved it as well. He just told me congratulations and to enjoy the moment.
“I hope he has his chance again, because he is a great guy and a great leader. He has been really unlucky with injuries and I hope he can have his moment in four years or two years.”
Morning.
Slightly bleary eyed, but not bad considering celebrating winning the world cup. Probably the only chance to do that I’ll ever get!
Commiserations to H2H.
Cheers CG.
It was tough to lose out, hope you enjoyed your party.
The entire nation is suffering from a hangover, but most I spoke to were magmanamus in defeat. The whole of The Netherlands can be proud of what they acheved.
Ah well, back to the important stuff……
Come on you rip roaring Gunners!!!
@134 Sen yes I noticed Cesc go to RVP after and was heartened by it
Having reflected on the final, the two teams reminded me (not necessarily happy with this) of the way we played last year, in that
Holland playing like our team without a plan B when frustrated by the opposition (a frequent complaint of mine against AW last year) , and RWP was virtually never given the ball
and Spain playing like our team does against a tight and over-tackling defence, battering against the defensive wall and eventually wearing out the opposition due to one bit of class by Cesc (as he has done many times for us)
I was glad it didnt go to penalties
Webb had an unenviable job, and did it well enough – btw dont bleat about some tackling ‘cos one RWP was booked for a terrible tackle I hope its out of his system for the season