Values – Page 5 – Bergkampesque

Arsenal best-11 players in 2013-14, if we had kept all Wenger Gems

July 9, 2013July 9, 2013TotalArsenal

The Torture Window has once again presented us with a few twists and turns. It looks like we will not get Higuain until RM have signed a marquee striker themselves this summer, and this could take a long time.

Los Blancos are still smarting from losing out on Neymar, and the Brazilian’s stellar performances during that made-up tournament last month, as well as Ronaldo’s comment that he wished Neymar had come to his current employer, will only have rubbed more salt into the wound.

They are under pressure from the fans to add new players to the squad, and there is little chance they will let Higuain go before they have contracted a top quality replacement. With Cavani almost certainly going to the Eifel Tower Oilers, they will struggle to find a player of the required calibre to help them beat Barcelona to the title next season. Their next target is likely to be a man with occasional cannibalistic tendencies, whom Arsenal happen to be interested in as well….or was that a smoke-screen? I certainly hope so…

It is all very tiring and who knows how it all will end this summer. Buying experienced, ready-to-go quality players from the top, and sub-top, European clubs is proving to be very hard.

What is also frustrating is that Arsenal could have been in a very different position right now. If we had only been able to keep hold of our star players over the last seven years and had added on average a new £15m player every year, we would have had a very strong team right now.

Arsene could have focussed this summer in getting an experienced GK as back-up for our young and promising Pole between poles, and buy one or two players to add depth to the squad. Job done!

The 2013-2014 Arsenal Team could have looked like this:

A great mixture of self-developed youth players/Wenger-gems and newly bought, experienced players. The seven added experienced/quality players over the last seven years are Mertesacker, Sagna, Koscielny, Cazorla, Podolski, Arteta and TV, and if we had also kept Song, Clichy and Nasri, and we add the likes of Ramsey, Ox, TV, Rosicky etc, we would have had not just a very strong first team, but a more than decent bench as well.

We all know that the club were not in a position to hold on to most of our top players over the last seven years. However, going forward, we appear to be in a strong position to both keep hold of our top players and add quality every year. All we need is patience…

But there appears to be now a lack of time and patience to allow Wenger to build another top quality team bottom upwards and by adding a few typical Wenger gems; and I believe that even Arsene himself does not have the patience any more, and possibly time, to do so.

So, it is all about adding a number of players who will add quality to the wider squad and Arsene’s first choice eleven, in order for us to properly compete for silverware next season.

Of course I welcome this, but the above first eleven and wider squad show us what sort of team we could have had right now.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Thierry Henry: Player-Coach?

July 6, 2013July 6, 2013TotalArsenal

Yesterday’s announcement that the 39 year old Ryan Giggs will become a player-coach for MU with immediate effect, made me thinks once again about our need to have and retain experienced winners, who also embody the core values and traditions of the club, at Arsenal.

I know that virtually everybody agrees that Bergkamp should join the coaching staff at Arsenal as soon as possible. We will have to wait and see whether this will happen.

However, there is another legend who would fit the bill perfectly, and like Ryan Giggs, he is still playing: Thierry Henry. Henry is a young chicken compared to Giggs, having only lived for a mere 35 years until now. And our all-time leading scorer with 228 goals has played not that many games less than the fantastic Welshman either (at least with regard to his on-field actions, we can only say that he was a fantastic footballer). Giggs played 1009 matches (including Internationals) and Henry 861.

TH14 has won virtually everything a modern footballer can win. The World Cup, the European Championship, the PL, Ligue 1, La Liga, the CL, and many, many cups and individual awards. He also loves Arsenal and sees the only part that matters in North London as his spiritual football home.

I am a big believer in the master-apprentice model of learning, especially in sports. As Arsenal likes to develop their own talents – often bought at a young age and therefore still totally mouldable – I reckon it is paramount to have a number of (former) masters in all disciplines at the club. Bould is doing a great job in getting the best out of our defenders and defensively minded midfielders at the moment, for example.

At MU they tend to keep hold of their veteran stars, although Van Nistelrooy, Stam and Beckham might tell us differently. However, the likes of Gibbs, Scholes and to a lesser extent Ferdinand are good examples of Masters who can guide, by word AND by action, the club’s youngsters to their full potential.

It saddens me a bit that the club (had to?) let go all our recent heroes, with the exception of the Iceman, although even he was not retained in a coaching capacity. What would Vieira have done for the likes of Ramsey, Frimpong, Wilshere, Coquelin, Diaby and even Arteta? His coaching, whether still as a player or as one of Arsene’s staff, would have been of great value to our promising talents.

Pires and possibly Ljungberg could also have played a great coaching role. All these players have been there and done it, love the club, and would still live and breathe the principles and values of total/Wenger football, as well as what the club stands for. And there are of course more legends who would fit the bill.

It is fantastic to see Freddie back at the club in an ambassadorial role now. And it would be great if we could add either Dennis or Thierry, or ideally both(!), as well.

Dennis would be a great coach and the thought of Bould-Wenger-Bergkamp on the bench would just be awesome. He is qualified and has gained management/coaching experience at one of the greatest clubs in football history, Ajax. Would we find it hard to attract the likes of Higuain, Jovetic etc, if they knew they would be working with the Dutch Master directly? Possibly less so.

But this post is about the simply phenomenal Thierry Henry. Just imagine him working with Ox, Theo, Giroud, Podolski, Cazorla, Gnabry, Eisfeld, and hopefully HIguain and/or Jovetic on a constant, no time-constrains basis: it would be an absolute dream for these players and also for us. The Master would work his socks off to get them to reach their full, very promising potential, and make our club successful again.

It would also be nice that he himself could play now and again (mostly as a substitute), just to show the others how it is done in practice. He is not as fast or athletic as he used to be, but he makes up for this with his technique and experience, and if Giggs can do at 39, then surely Thierry can do it at 35.

Bring him back Arsene; we cannot have too many masters at our great club!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Gazidis set out ambitious lines in June, but will he and Arsene deliver?

June 29, 2013June 29, 2013TotalArsenal

So June is almost over; without any doubt, the hardest month for those of us who are addicted to club football. Whilst still suffering from non-action cold turkey, we are straightaway bombarded with transfer gossip, both of players coming to us and some of our players wanting to leave.

The Terror/Torture Window officially opens on Monday 1^st July, and let’s hope we will move from being ‘close’ to signing players to actually reading ‘signature announcements’ on Arsenal.com anytime soon.

Seldom or never does the word ‘close’ get abused more than during the Transfer Window. Whole armies of journalists and blog writers rely on it for producing endless articles that attract thousands of hits. However close Arsenal appear to be to signing a player, it is seldom or never close enough for comfort. Only a few weeks ago, we were ‘very close to signing Jovetic’…. I rest my case!

I wrote in the last post that the TW is not for the faint-hearted and there will be many more twists and turns. We could end up disappointed or ‘totally over the moon’, and I have no doubt that Gazidis and Wenger are feeling the pressure to deliver. Although Arsenal have, apparently, a war chest of £70m or more, it will still find it hard to compete with those who have limitless funds and don’t live by normal capitalist financial principles, or sporting morals.

The club will also need to demonstrate to their transfer targets real ambition to move things up now – that we are ready to win silverware again. It is one thing to convince the likes of Giroud, Mertesacker and Podolski to come to Arsenal, but once we start to target players already playing for top clubs the ‘sales pitch’ will have to change, especially if we don’t want to attract the typical mercenaries.

Looking back at June, we can pull a few conclusions:

The club has made it clear it has entered a new phase now: there will be significant funds available for player purchases from now on: apparently as much as £70m every season;
Despite the press trying their best to tell us some of our players want to leave Arsenal, our boys have remained loyal to the club and kept a low profile since the season has finished;
We are continuously linked with a different, better calibre of players – so called Super Quality – this summer;
The club is trying to make space in the squad, by letting go of those players who are deemed as ‘surplus to requirement’.

In more than one way, the month of June has been one of over-promise: bigger funds available, no core players will leave, and the targeting of big, established players; and all of this on the basis that we are now (financially) ready to compete for silverware again. This is a very good, but risky, thing to do.

What’s been interesting, is that Gazidis has done most if not all of the talking – of setting out the strategic lines of the club – and this includes announcing that Wenger is expected to sign a new contract any time soon.

Yet, Arsene has been very quiet recently. Of course, he is on holiday at the moment and will resume his duties for the club any time soon – with the first friendly in just over two weeks. But it will be interesting to see what Arsene has to say when he returns from his leave.

The problem with over-promising – something we are not used to from Arsenal in recent years – is that expectations will soar accordingly. Now, I reckon Gazidis is a clever man, who knows all about the risk of over-promising. So, it must be part of a well thought-out strategy to convince all stakeholders, including we the fans, as well as our transfer targets, that the club is ready to make the final step up now.

During the next month, we will see to a large extent whether Gazidis and Wenger can deliver on their promises. Let’s hope they will.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

If Arsenal sign Higuain and Fellaini, Cesc will have to make the decision of his life!

June 28, 2013June 28, 2013TotalArsenal

Watching Spain’s game against Italy yesterday, I just could not understand why del Bosque did not start with Cesc, let alone bring him on as a substitute. Spain lacked their usual dominance in midfield and, especially in the first half, Italy produced a number of quick counterattacks which easily could have led to the Italians taking the lead. Had Balotelli played yesterday, the Italians would have been one, two or even three nil up at half time.

Spain did not maintain their usual high tempo, in terms of chasing the ball and passing it round, and no doubt Cesc would have led by example in order to turns things round for them. A year ago, Spain embarrassed the Italians in the final of the European Championship by utterly dominating them, but this time round they were never superior and could only beat them by just about being better at converting spot kicks.

Fabregas, would you believe it, is 26 now, and it looks like he is still playing third fiddle to Iniesta and Xavi. He is now entering the very best years of his career, and as he is everything but a mercenary, he will need to make a big decision about what to do next. Our former El Capitan is a romantic who not only wants to win silverware but also enter the realms of football immortality. If things continue as they have been going over the last few years, Cesc is not going to make it past the threshold.

Whoever is managing Barcelona next season, they are unlikely to give Cesc a dominant role in their team. Despite Xavi turning 34 in January next year, it is unlikely that he will be benched on a regular basis any time soon. With other talent coming through and new signings arriving – where, for example, will Naymar play next season? – Cesc could face another spell on the fringes of the team. And immortality is, unfortunately for him, not one of the fringe benefits.

I have always said Cesc went too early. I understand why he went two years ago, but it was nevertheless the wrong thing to do. He became a chairman’s gift to the fans, who maybe wanted him, but did not seem to love, or even need, him.

Now, I know we are all not sleeping comfortably at the moment, as we seem to be waiting for an eternity to see the Higuain signing confirmed. But Terry Mancini Hair Transplant’s mate has said it is a done deal, so he’ll be a Gunner anytime soon! 😀

These things take time, and it was obvious that the appointment of Ancelotti would be used to further increase the pressure on Arsenal to improve our final offer for the Argentine. However, I expect him to be announced as one of us by Monday or Tuesday.

I am also convinced we will get a high quality DM, who can play footie as well, this summer. The links with Fellaini remain reasonably strong, but who knows who we’ll get this summer.

But, surely if it is Fellaini – or another high calibre defensive midfielder – Cesc would have to make the biggest decision in his footballing life. With a midfield/attack line up of Fellaini and Jack as our combined DMs/DM-B2B, Cazorla and Theo on the wings and Higuain up-front, the Home of Football would not be complete without Cesc playing in the hole for us next season.

This would be the team that would suit his talents to the max; it would finally provide him with the platform on which he can shine and cook with Fabregas.

This summer’s Terror Window will not be for the faint-hearted, as there will be many twists and turns, but there is real potential now to strengthen the team properly, and although the above scenario is a big dream, it could well happen.

Two quality signings and who knows, Cesc might decide to return to where he is wanted, needed AND loved by (almost) all.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

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All ingredients for success are here, just a certain Dutchman is missing

June 25, 2013June 26, 2013TotalArsenal

Arsenal's 'Russian Dolls of Evolution' — Arsenal’s ‘Russian Dolls of Evolution’

The 25^th of June 1988 – exactly 25 years ago – was a very special day for Dutch football. On that day, Holland won the European Championship in Germany by beating Russia by two goals to nil. Gullit had scored a goal worthy of a final, but the one that Van Basten scored was simply sublime, or I should say, other-worldly/ from a different planet. One that will be remembered forever, and not just in Holland.

I remember that day really well. Living in a medium sized town along the German border, we had already celebrated our semi-final victory over Germany, by driving our cars, bikes, motorbikes, scooters, etc along the local German border road. It was a brilliant sight: for a few kilometres, there was nothing but one thick, slow moving line of beeping, shouting, singing, Oranje supporters – all trying their hardest to let the Germans know that we had beaten them.

Many of us did not care that much about the final at that moment in time: overcoming the Germans on their own soil was far more important than winning the Euros back then. But on the day of the final, every Dutchman who cared at least a little bit about football was desperate to win, so we could finally lift a trophy.

After the (almost) golden years of the seventies, in which Holland reached the final of the World Cup twice in succession, the Dutch entered a seemingly eternal period of darkness, when they did not qualify for the 1982 and 1986 World Cup Finals.

But Holland stuck to its philosophy of how the game should be played, and finally it paid off. The master of Total Football, Rinus Michels, had a second stint at the national manager job, and Holland were lucky that a number of world class talents, such as Koeman, Van Breukelen, Rijkaard, Van Basten and Gullit all came to the fore around the same time. The rest is history.

Although Arsenal did not suffer a dark period as bad as the Dutch National Team did in the early to mid-eighties, it is fair to say that we have been going through challenging times since the completion of the new stadium.

But just like the Dutch, Arsenal stuck to their long-term philosophy of how to play football (and how to run the club properly), and there are strong signs now that Arsenal will enter a new period of success. Even Johan Cruijff has been singing the praises about how Arsenal football club is being managed, and that is saying something. Somebody ones said that Dutch society revolves around three ‘JCs’: Jesus Christ, John Calvin and Johan Cruijff, and there is more than a bit of truth in this! 😛

But, as 17 Highbury Terrace often likes to put it: all planets need to line up favourably for Arsenal in order to win silverware again; and in my view, this is starting to be the case now.

Gazidis believes Wenger will sign a new contract and the club is entering a number of new and improved commercial deals. There is a good group of players who have learned to work for each other and grind out results when needed, and who also have learned to spread responsibility throughout the team. There is a good mixture of early twenties promising talents and a group of quality, experienced, and hungry for success, mid to late twenties players. The club does no longer have to let players go to balance the books and has now enough funds to attract quality players, year on year. Early signs with regards to the club adding a few quality players to the team are more than promising.

So, almost all ingredients are here to make the next step to winning silverware in style again, and hopefully consistently so. But for me, things are not complete until Bergkamp returns to his real Home of Football. Dennis would be the perfect bridge between Arsene’s vision and the on-field execution of it. He would be the super-mentor who would enable the likes of Cazorla, Wilshere, Ox etc to get the very best out of themselves. Together with Bould, he would also be the best long term guarantee that Wenger’s vision and work will be carried on once he decides to leave.

The Iceman’s return might not happen this season, but it will happen rather sooner than later, of that I have no doubt. And I know I am not the only one who cannot wait till the day he does.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

The best of the Iceman in eight minutes:

RVP’s departure: Can we finally say it was a blessing in disguise?

June 23, 2013June 23, 2013TotalArsenal

No one ever believed that RVP’s treachery would end up benefiting the team, but we are here now.

Nobody likes to admit it, but Van Persie’s departure from Arsenal last year was one of the lowest points in any Gooner’s season. It doesn’t help that he left to one of our fiercest rivals and helped them win the league, scoring in both our encounters with them. That said, his departure may just have bucked a trend that may have been standing between Arsenal and silverware for many years.

At some point in the season, Arsene said that RVP’s departure was a positive because it facilitated a sharing of goals around the team. That statement barely scratches the surface. You see, during the Invincibles era, Thierry Henry was undoubtedly our talisman. However the team did not rely on him. Sure, having him in the team meant that there was an easy path to three points, but that did not mean that the team would crumble in his absence. On top of that, the team was not built around him, in the sense that Thierry had the luxury of playing anywhere across the front, but that did not come at the expense of another player. Nobody was ever asked to perform a role that was not in their nature just so that Thierry could express himself.

In that squad, everyone played their game and Arsene found a balance of players who complemented each other to produce the kind of results that they did. Even their style of play wasn’t just to hit the ball to Henry and wait for him to score, as tempting as that was. Thierry thrived off the team and not the other way round. Vieira and Parlour would command the midfield, Bergkamp would dazzle and create, and so on and so forth. I hesitate to say that we had ‘leaders’ on the pitch because that is not my point. This all changed after these players left.

After the invincible season, Wenger changed tactics. He decided that from then henceforth, he would build a team around one player. First it was (obviously) Henry: in the 2005-2006 season he virtually carried the team. Then he left, and it was Cesc’s turn: this was even more shocking given his age and experience levels. He proved everyone wrong and made the team tick for many seasons, to the point where an injury to him spelled doom for the team. Then he left and for a season, passed the baton to RVP. During the 2011-12 season, he literally singlehandedly dragged us to 3rd spot.

It doesn’t matter how good a player is, these tactics do not work.

Relying on one player means that you create a dependency mentality in the squad. Not only that, more often than not to accommodate this player, others are sacrificed or moved around to find the balance that best suits that player. Look at how Rosicky was played on the flanks to enable Cesc to have that free role in the middle. At Man utd, look at the fate that befell Rooney when RVP arrived. Even the mighty Barca have felt the negative effects of this.

Last season, though, we were left in a position where we did not have a clear talisman. This meant that everyone had to step up. In the end, Walcott finished as our top scorer, Santi as our best player, even though Wilshere was widely expected to take this honour, and had he been fully fit throughout, it would have been near impossible to distinguish between the two. All of a sudden, players’ positions in the team weren’t guaranteed and big names, such as the skipper, were dropped from the starting-11. These were moves which were unthinkable in previous seasons. The consequence is that we finally (after years of despair) have a proper defence.

It is good we had the season we had last year, because now everyone knows what everyone in the team can do. This means, that even if we bring in top players the squad will not place any pressure on them. Now everyone knows that Santi, Theo and Poldi are scorers, so a new striker will not have to shoulder the goal scoring burden alone. It has created an atmosphere where each player has a greater desire to contribute to the team, as they know that the platform is there. It also ensures that everyone gives 110% on the pitch rather than hide behind another player’s brilliance, because the focus is now on each and every one of them.

We now, after a long time, can truly say we have a team. No one ever believed that RVP’s treachery would end up benefiting the team, but we are here now. Football is a team sport and therefore we should never encourage the influence of certain individuals to determine the direction of the team, otherwise we ruin the essence of the game. Can you name one player that Bayern depends on?

Written by: Marcus.

TR7, TV5, BS3: Three leaders on the field Arsenal cannot afford to lose

June 11, 2013June 11, 2013TotalArsenal

Will we finally see our little Mozart direct play again? — Rosicky’s drive and experiences have been invaluable at times this season

It’s been a while since I delivered a post, partly due to the fact that the season is over but mostly due to my ever increasingly hectic schedule. So I felt I should write about what’s been on my mind lately.

Like all Gooners worldwide, it’s going to be a very long month and a half before I get to see my beloved Arsenal play. This is because I can feel that a wind of change will blow our way, and 2013-14 is going to be a season when the respect we have lost over the years will be taken back. For now, though, the transfer season is here and rumours have been flying left, right and centre regarding potential arrivals and departures. Nothing new there.

I have to admit the suspense which comes with waiting to see what moves Le boss will make in the market, is killing me. On a positive note, though, the preseason trip to Asia, the emirates cup and the friendly against city, will afford us a chance to see what the new faces will bring to the squad – and against proper opposition, I might add (the latter competitions more so).

A few days ago, phase one of getting rid of the dead wood in the squad commenced with the confirmation that the contracts of Arshavin, Denilson and Squillaci have ran out, and they have been released by the club. There are still a quite a few names missing from this list, but I digress from my subject matter.

It is becoming obvious that this is going to be a summer where the squad will be virtually overhauled, where more than 5 players will leave and roughly the same number brought in. Call it my 6th sense but I think that’s why the club has packed our preseason like that. Wenger has the ins and outs in mind and wants the new faces to have proper preparation before our new campaign begins. And people wonder why they call him Le Prof.

The main reason for this post though lies more with the outs than the ins. Like I said earlier, the rumour mill is going wild as expected with TV5, Poldi, Rosicky, Gervinho, Koscielny, Wilshere and Sagna all being linked with exits from the clubs. Some of the names on here are ridiculous, or rather, are unacceptable to the Gunners faithful. Wilshere, Poldi and Kos being the three. With some, the fans smile inside and hope that the predictions and links by the media come to fruition: a certain Ivorian comes to mind. Finally there are those who split opinion and this is my reason for writing this post. Obviously I am referring to TV5, Rosicky and Sagna.

It is of no debate that, by their standards, these three had less than stellar seasons. With Rosicky and Sagna injury was to blame and weirdly enough, these two were able to pick themselves up and finish strongly. With TV5, I can’t really tell you why. Some say it is the pressure of being made skipper but ultimately, only he can tell us what changed to cause this loss of form. I won’t dwell on that, however.

As is expected, there is a section of fans AND media which is calling for their heads. More so because they know that in this transfer window, Wenger has the financial capability to replace them. I am here to prove to you that this would be a mistake. A massive one at that.

Axing these three players would not only be insanely myopic, but would have an effect on the team that these critics don’t seem to see. These three are the longest serving Gunners we have. Not only that, they are the most experienced, and at their best are undoubtedly world class.

If you don’t believe me, ask yourself why despite the poor season Vermaelen has had, he is still being linked to the likes of Barcelona. These players have not only football but Arsenal football experience, which is part of a balance that would see us win a trophy next season, if Wenger played his cards right. There is always talk of Wilshere, Walcott, the Ox as the spine of the team, but take away the three mentioned and see the adverse effect it would have on the team.

Their experience is what guides us. These are players who are leaders on the field. How many times has TV5, a defender, scored a winning goal that awarded us 3 crucial points? When we are under pressure, which three players are you assured will remain calm and pull us across the finish line? With the exception of Jack, it is these three. They are also mentors to the younger players and even Jack in all his glory I’m sure would attest to the guidance he has received from Rosicky. In the away tie vs Bayern, Rosicky ran our midfield. Sagna was part of that incredible back four. This is a game that many would have choked. Just ask Barca players.

I am going to come out and make a very bold statement that is sure to cause some debate.

If we sell these three, no matter who we replace them with, there is an 70% chance that we will not win anything next season. At least not yet.

I say this because you cannot replace their experience at Arsenal, the EPL and as footballers in general. They know the workings of the club and league in and out and are core of experience that we need to build around in order to achieve success. Thankfully, Le boss seems to agree with me and is working to ensure that they stay firmly put as we prepare to mount a serious title challenge next term.

I will leave you with something to ponder on. Form is temporary, but class is permanent.

Written by: Marcus.

Please note: posts on BK tend to come out in the evenings, but sometimes at different times of the day. If you would like to be made aware of a new post coming out, you can sign up for email alerts. See right side of blog and enter your details in ‘Follow blog via email’. TotalArsenal.

Keeping Sagna, TV and Koz is paramount – time to show our class!

June 5, 2013June 5, 2013TotalArsenal

I have been reading ‘What money can’t buy’ by Michael J. Sandel, a normally rather dry and far too serious book for the football blogging world. It explores the moral limits of market thinking, and one of the subjects it covers has always intrigued me: intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation in people. This, in my view, is a subject of great importance to Arsenal football club.

Sandel gives a number of interesting examples of how money sometimes kills something that is far more important than free market transactions: moral responsibility and intrinsic motivation.

I would like to highlight two of these, and please bear with me as the link with Arsenal will be made eventually.

The first one is with regards to ‘donation day’ at a high school in Israel. During this day students go door-to-door to collect money for charity. An experiment was done by a couple of economists to determine the effect of financial incentives on the students’ motivation. The students were divided into three groups: one group was given a brief motivational speech about the importance of the cause and sent on its way; the second and third group were given the same speech but also offered a monetary reward based on the amount they collected – 1% and 10% respectively. The rewards would not be deducted from the charitable donations; they would come from a separate source.

The unpaid students collected 55% more in donations than those who were offered 1%; and 9% more than those offered 10%.

The second one is regarding a location for storing Switzerland’s nuclear waste. One location designated as a potential nuclear waste site was the small mountain village of Wolfenschiessen, in central Switzerland. Economist surveyed the residents before an official referendum was due, and 51% said they would accept the waste site being built in their community. Their sense of duty for the greater good appeared to be bigger than the concerns about the risks.

The economists than offered a financial incentive: what if the Swiss parliament proposed to build the nuclear waste facility in their community and offered to compensate each resident with an annual monetary payment – a considerable amount: how many would then favour it?

The result: support went down from 51% to 25% and increasing the monetary payment did not make any difference.

These examples show two things to me: people are motivated by things like wanting to do good, public duty, and pride; money is not always the one and only factor when trying to achieve the best possible outcome/ changing people’s behaviour.

In the premier league we have gradually started to accept that spending lots of money on fees and salaries is the only way for clubs to be able to keep hold of their players and attract new ones. At Arsenal, we have had a number of players who left us because they simply could earn more money somewhere else and, to some extent, because they believed they had a better chance of winning silverware at their new clubs.

A football career is relatively short and players will want to maximise their income as much as possible. Although most players who left Arsenal recently were already multi-millionaires, I understand and respect that, however mercenary of them, they left Arsenal in order to better themselves. And if Van Judas had not deceived us so much with his faked love for the club and ‘I am a Gunner-for-life’ rubbish, I would already have forgiven him.

However, there is something else in football too and this has to do with pride, with the desire to leave something behind for generations, with becoming football-immortal. The pockets of Adebayor, Nasri, Van Judas, etc might be bursting with shiny gold coins, and they can even show a medal to their friends and family, but immortal they are now very unlikely to become. Bergkamp is immortal, Henry is immortal, Adams is immortal, etc, and not just at Arsenal: speak to any football fan in the UK, or even Europe, and they will eulogise along with you about the sheer brilliance of these players.

I am not naïve and realise the club operated back then in a different economic reality compared to recent years, and I also realise that we have once again entered a new phase, in which we ought to be able to compete better with the largest clubs in Europe, as well as the all-over Europe mushrooming oil-funded clubs, both in terms of attracting top talent AND paying them market-rate wages.

But this will not be enough, and we only have to look at Man City to realise that, in order to achieve a period of sustained success, much more is required than an expensively assembled team of top footballers.

We need a large number of players with not just technical and tactical qualities, but also an intrinsic desire to give their all for the club, and remain loyal: to want to win and take Arsenal to the very top again.

Arsenal has history and class; we are a club with strong values and principles and enormous pride. We now have a great stadium, play CL-football year after year, and (still) have a great reputation.

But it is important that our players, new and established, feel at home at Arsenal; that they, as well as potential new signings, recognise and appreciate our class and history. It is also important they believe they can win silverware with Arsenal; that we are not an in-between stop towards bigger and better things: that we are the final destination, the football Walhalla!

For that, the club’s management needs to (further) develop and promote an ambitious vision which the players buy in to. There also needs to be a fair and yet (at least fairly) competitive wage structure, and there needs to be a healthy dose of courage and bullishness to invest money in new, quality players, if and when required. And the club also needs to stick to its values and principles.

For me, it is paramount to keep hold of all our key players; and this includes those that reach the mature footballing years.

How can we expect our players to develop loyalty and remain intrinsically motivated to give their all, and want to win silverware at Arsenal, if the club does not look after those players who have been given their all for us?!

I understand why the club had to let go the likes of Pires, Vieira, Gilberto, Henry and Ljungberg, Toure and Clichy, etc in the last seven/eight years, but it is now time to show that we do look after our players and reward them for their loyalty and hard work at the club. Arsenal need to offer their players – young and established – (a sense of) continuity and proper care, and it needs to start with the likes of Rosicky, Vermaelen and Sagna.

Players will always have to be able to make the grade and remain good enough for Arsenal of course.

But if we want our players to properly care for Arsenal and go the extra mile, they will have to feel the same from the club.

Enough now of the cashing in on established, older players who still have a lot to give to our club, and whose experience, hunger and loyalty are of great importance if we want to win silverware again, as well as keeping hold of our big, younger talents.

Let’s offer Sagna a fair and multi-year contract; let’s tell Vermaelen he is part of the team and we’ll do everything to get him back to his best; let’s tell Koz he is part of Arsenal long term plans and he is going nowhere; and let’s show all our players the club continues to have real ambition to be the top club in England and Europe.

It will give us a competitive edge against the Oilers for years to come.

“We become just by doing just, temperate dy doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.” Aristotle.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Van Gaal – Klopp – Wenger: The good guys haven’t lost yet!

May 7, 2013May 7, 2013TotalArsenal

Call me a romantic fool as much as you like, but football should never be totally ruled by money. It saddens me that clubs like Everton, Villa, Newcastle United, West Ham, Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and many, many more will probably not win the title in the next twenty to thirty years; they have not got a snowball’s chance in hell, unless they find an oligarch or other rich benefactor.

It makes me think of Leonard Cohen’s song ‘Everybody Knows’:

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

You could argue, as a Gooner, I should not be too upset about this at all. We are in a very good position, financially as well as from a sporting point of view, as a next round of CL-participation is once again within our reach. The stadium debt is under control and the club generates the fourth highest turnover in Europe: all ingredients are there to compete sensibly and yet effectively with the old fellow giants, MU and Liverpool, as well as the oil-funded nouveau riche, in the foreseeable future.

But I would much rather prefer proper competition, and as per Red Arse’s recent fantastic posts, there is little reason to be hopeful that FFP will increase the chances of other English clubs winning the EPL or CL in future.

It does indeed feel that the war is over and the good guys have lost. Unless, another English/Welsh club can find itself a very rich, money-no-object, benefactor, or the Oilers get bored with their plaything, the top-four over the next ten to twenty years will almost constantly be occupied by Arsenal, Chelsea, MU and MC.

But even within the top-four there is a battle raging and it is all to do with the meaning of money. And Arsenal run a considerable risk of coming close, but seldom or never be able to put their well deserving hands on meaningful silverware, whilst still remaining in the elite group of four (or maybe five, if Liverpool can work themselves back up again).

A similar battle is taking place in other European countries.

In Spain the war is definitely over as Barcelona and Real Madrid have managed to get the lion-share of all the TV money that is generated by La Liga, and these two clubs will simply continue to cream off any talents that might develop at all the other Spanish clubs. It looked for a while that Malaga, funded by oil-money, might be able to join them in the fight for Spanish silverware, but that ship seems to have sailed now as well.

In Germany, the competition appears to be fairer with five different Bundesliga winners over the last ten years, even though Bayern Munich are the most powerful club, both historically and financially. But this might all change now, as only Bayern seem to be able to keep hold of their top players, whilst all other German clubs watch their top talents being creamed off by the Spanish, Italian and English top-clubs or, even worse for local competition, by FC Hollywood themselves. The purchase of Gotze (and possibly Lewandowski) by Bayern from Dortmund is clear evidence of this. Although, it is fair to say that Dortmund do the same to their domestic rivals to some extent as well.

And let’s not talk about the Italian competition: a total shambles in recent years.

Nous versus the power of money: Ajax vs PSV Eindhoven

I grew up in The Netherlands were the competition was mainly dominated for a long time by just two clubs: Ajax and PSV, with Feyenoord now and again winning a title as well. The former was, and still is, almost always looking to play a form of total football and build teams predominantly on the best ‘outputs’ of their youth development scheme, whilst the Philips sponsored and, until recently, generally richer ‘Eindhovenaren’ preferred to buy the best from the Dutch league and whoever they could afford and attract from abroad.

Although I have never supported either Ajax or PSV – Roda JC is my boyhood club – I always felt more affinity with the Ajax model of managing a club and wanting to be successful. It has led to better, more attractive football, more success/silverware, and also more respect across the world. Ajax played some of the best football ever seen and produced an incredible number of phenomenally good footballers over the decades. And nothing is more attractive and laudable than beautiful winning football.

And I believe, it’s me growing up with both models of football which has made me divide most, if not all, successful football in either the Ajax-model: total football, home-grown players, and based around sensible club management; or the PSV-model: classic football – either more attack focussed or defence focussed – mainly externally purchased players, and based around financial power/dominance within the local league.

With the arrival of oligarchs in the UK and across Europe, the ‘PSV-model’ has become more dominant recently. Chelsea and ManCity have forced themselves into the top four and onto silverware by buying the best players and paying through the nose for them, and the same is happening now in France and Russia. And I am sure more is to come.

Add to those, the might of the traditionally rich and powerful, and ‘PSV-alike’, clubs: Manchester United in the UK, Bayern in Germany, and Real Madrid in Spain, and you can see that the clubs who are less rich but try to win things with football nous and bottom-up development of talents are suffering at the moment.

There is a growing unease, especially here in the UK, that the ‘Ajax-modelled’ clubs are fighting a losing battle, and that the only way to compete is by (out) spending big: fighting fire with fire. For that we would need our existing two main shareholders to dig deep into their considerable pockets or get somebody else in who is prepared to bring in the big guns and knock the arrogant Mancs of their throne.

I personally hope it will not come to that, and there is good reason to remain optimistic. Just like Van Gaal did with Ajax in the nineties, and to some extent Arsene did with Arsenal in the last decade, Jurgen Klopp is showing us all again that with real football nous, the (financial) Giants – old or new – can still be beaten. And this should give hope to Arsenal, and the likes of Swansea and Liverpool who are going down a similar path as us.

The key principle here is to play a form of total football that can conquer all, and in which individual players become less important than the system of football and the team as a whole. Everybody knows their role(s) within the team and can be replaced without much or any loss in quality. The system of (total) football is so good that the whole of the team becomes a lot more than the sum of all individual players.

Van Gaal mastered this principle as no other in the mid-nineties, when his Ajax won the CL with a team of youngsters and good but definitely not established, great players (except for veteran Rijkaard). This was the team that beat start-studded Milan twice on the way to CL glory in ‘95: Van de Sar, Reiziger, Blind, Rijkaard, F. de Boer, Seedorf, George, Davids, R. de Boer, Litmanen and Overmars. Overmars and Davids were 22, and Seedorf and Kluivert (who came on as a substitute and scored the only goal of the final) were both under 20. Van Gaal almost did it again the year after but Ajax lost against Juventus in the CL final on penalties (the nemesis of Dutch football).

We all know how Arsene slowly but steadily build and bought together the Invincilbes, and how he has been investing a lot in developing his teams bottom-upwards, through focussing on young and promising players and developing them into top players, over the last eight years or so. He showed the rest of the UK, and to some extent Europe, that you do not need to buy established top quality players in order to compete. However, he was not able to hold on to his best home-grown players in recent years, and this has cost us dearly. And the desperation for Silverware is increasing rapidly year on year…

And then finally, there is Dortmund who under Klopp’s expert guidance are playing a new and exciting brand of total football and who, until now, appear to be immune to losing a quality player every season. For Klopp, individual players are not above the club or the system of his football, and if a player really wants to leave, he can do so. Klopp seems to find like-for-like, or sometimes even better, replacements with relative ease. Two Bundesliga titles in three year, one cup (and one double), and now in the final of the CL after beaten the Galacticos in style: some achievement!

And we can draw hope from Die Schwarzgelben recent successes.

Now that we appear to be over the financial restraints of building the new football ground, Arsene, although in a more challenging domestic set-up than Klopp in terms of competition, should be able to hold on better to his players and start adding quality rather than having to find replacements with a limited budget.

Let’s hold on a bit longer and keep the Oligarchs away from our fine club: the home of football. The good guys have not lost, yet!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

We Need An Oligarch, Please!

April 29, 2013TotalArsenal

It may be time to revisit an old conundrum which has divided the fan base for some time, and it regards the very essence of our club. It is an overview of the club’s ownership, and how that affects each of us.

This is not a rant against the club, or its hierarchy, and neither does it come into the category of an ‘I told you so’ diatribe.

Whenever a train of thought regarding the way the club is organized is set out, it encourages a plethora of opinions each of which may be valid in its own right, but which has the effect of confusing the main thrust of the argument.

So, this is a personal musing about a matter that has caused much changing of my mind over the last few years.

Whenever the question is put to me, ‘Do you want Arsenal to win trophies?’ my instant and instinctive response is ‘Yes, of course I do’.

The follow up question is inevitably, ‘Can we do so without a greatly increased investment in quality players?’

Now therein lies the rub, because it is obvious that with all our main competitors, Man City, Man United and Chelsea continuing to spend heavily on the best players available, it would be impossible to win a trophy without Arsenal doing likewise. But if we hold true to our avowed preference for our club to be run on a sustainable model of financial prudence, how do we square these diametrically conflicting requirements?

So by a circuitous route we have arrived, at last, at a clear choice, which is, how do we fund such an investment, and more to the point, how did we arrive at this financial impasse, and should it matter to us, the fans?

When I was a child and started to support the Arsenal, I was not in the slightest bit interested in who owned the club, and how they found the money to run the club. This disinterest extended further than that – I did not know who the owners were, and neither did I care.

It carried on that way until fairly recently, when with access to the Internet and the all devouring media interest in the excruciating minutiae of every Premier League club, we all became aware in painful detail of every aspect of our club’s finances, and ownership, especially after the arrival of Abramovich and the Sheikhs who promptly changed the face of football.

Many fans have expressed the opinion that they would never want an alleged crook like Usmanov to take ownership of the club, and with that view have passively accepted that Arsenal will never be able to compete with the other ‘big’ clubs, but would be content to see us strive to compete and play ‘good football’.

That, if I am forced to admit it, is exactly where I placed myself too. Arsenal were far better than the other money grubbing teams, and we had too much class to follow Chelsea, and the Mancs down the path of mammon, taking ill gotten monies from such sources in order to further our football desires.

Then the thought struck me. This was giving up, and meekly accepting that we were resigning ourselves to a genteel descent into a ‘classy’ but ‘no hope’ future, as we watch the financially well endowed clubs competing for all the available trophies, while we are consigned to mid-table mediocrity. That cannot be right – that is not what Arsenal are all about – it’s not good enough.

The second thought to strike me, with a resounding clunk, is that Arsenal owe their presence in the current elite of football courtesy of Sir Henry Norris, who once owned the club, and not only wangled us into the old First Division by some seedy backroom deals which saw us shortly afterwards winning the First Division Championship, but was later banned as a director of any company, by the High Court, as a result of ‘accidentally’ and illegally taking money out of Arsenal.

So, perhaps our previous owners have not always been so classy and above reproach after all, have they? But thank goodness for Sir Henry!!

The fact is, I have gone full circle in my thinking, and have come to realize that I still don’t care who owns the club, and I still don’t really know who the present incumbent Stan Kroenke is, and what he is all about, or what his personal motives are.

One thing is crystal clear, he obviously does not love Arsenal the way I do, and seems to have very little interest in the club, other than as an investment vehicle, and rarely even watches Arsenal play.

What I also know is that I cannot bring myself to believe that any self made multi-billionaire is so pure that he should have my unquestioning support. The owners and the players will come and go, but my loyalty and support will never change, and my loyalty is to the club, and the team — not the owners, whoever they may be.

It seems to me, that FFP aside, the current oligarch clubs, or their owners, are so powerful that the only way to compete with them is to bring on our own oligarch, perhaps Usmanov, and if he provides us with the funds that will allow us to compete and win trophies, I am happy to join the fans of the other mega-rich clubs springing up all over Europe, and to metaphorically shrug my shoulders and think ‘bring it on!’

My view on Usmanov, is similar to my view on Kroenke, in that I do not know him any better than our current owner, and I suspect as a multi-billionaire he also has a chequered career behind him, but he is probably no better or worse than Sir Henry, and look what that naughty gentleman did for us, turning what was then a mediocre club into a magnificent club, and a hundred years later his legacy still lives on.

Come on you mighty Gunners – jump into the financial arena, and give us a level playing field!

Written by: Red Arse.