Did we do good business last summer?

[HairSprayGooners]

You can't be serious. Wenger had to face Chelsea, United and City at their peak, outspending him 10 or 11 times. And Leicester beat every other top 6 side in their winning run, except Arsenal who beat them home and away. They're not as good now as that Kante, Mahrez side and we're three places below them.

The teams you're mentioning were never at their peak at the same time... youre missing out so many factors with what you're saying.

What youre saying is largely irrelevant in the big picture actually. Not sure why it has to be gone over every single day.

 

[Macho]

Don’t like having a go at our greatest manager but the nonsense you and others have been spouting has been unbearable.

Quoted for truth. Wenger is without a doubt our greatest manager but Jesus Christ

We actually got laughed at when Wenger said top 4 was a trophy - because teams were not going for it like we were at the time.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Yeah it’s a real shame we only signed Pepe, Tierney, Martinelli and Saliba onto one year contracts isn’t it. Absolutely no long term prospects there.

Simpletons.

Well you have to judge it by how much it helped our season, you don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future.

 

[rich 1990]

I said at the time it was a 9 out of 10 window. I'd probably drop it to a 7 as i thought Pepe would produce a lot more and, i said it then too, for it to have been a top window we need a centre back better than David Luiz and who was here for this season.

Still counts as a good window though as Tierney has proved as good as we thought he'd be, Martinelli is a superstar and Peps has shown enough to indicate he'll come good next year. Don't know much about Saliba

Even if we'd sign Van Dijk and Messi, Emery would have turned them to cat piss anyway. These long term solutions will prove very valuable from the coming season onwards under a proper manager.

 

[Makingtrax]

Kibble is perfect for puppies. Steak would probably come straight out all over the carpet I should have said rump steak, not fillet. I ain't that stupid, or rich. He may have been deficient in iron because he seems livelier on it. 3 times a week with his normal 'Lily's Kitchen' tin food.

Man, got to give it to you. You're some doggy dad.

 

[Makingtrax]

The teams you're mentioning were never at their peak at the same time... youre missing out so many factors with what you're saying.

What youre saying is largely irrelevant in the big picture actually. Not sure why it has to be gone over every single day.

Somebody said the Premier League is getting harder. That's the discussion. It isn't gone over everyday. I believe it's an excuse to justify a poor transfer window and our worst position for 25 years.

If you've got something to contribute, say it, else stop being arsy and pretending you know 'so many factors' but aren't prepared to mention them lol.

 

[krengon]

Last two years have been two of the easiest top 4 races.. It's only hard if you look at names and marketing instead of the actual quality...

 

[HairSprayGooners]

Somebody said the Premier League is getting harder. That's the discussion. It isn't gone over everyday. I believe it's an excuse to justify a poor transfer window and our worst position for 25 years.

If you've got something to contribute, say it, else stop being arsy and pretending you know 'so many factors' but aren't prepared to mention them lol.

The premier league is a lot harder than it used to be. That's down to smaller teams now being able to spend 20-30M on a single player. So naturally teams will be better and have better quality. You dont get many whipping boys in the PL anymore.

You now have teams like Wolves and Leicester who are very difficult to beat. Next season the league will probably be the most difficult it has ever been.

The transfer window wasn't poor, the manager was poor. Its not difficult to understand.

 

[say yes]

Well you have to judge it by how much it helped our season, you don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future.

I disagree. The question was whether we did good business, and our business was based around signing young players onto long-term contracts.

If you weren’t allowed to judge signings by what you expect to happen in the future then nobody would be allowed to praise or criticise any signings we make.

 

[kraphtous]

Only Arsenal fans consider a transfer window a success after finishing 3 positions below compared to the previous year.

 

[say yes]

Only Arsenal fans consider a transfer window a success after finishing 3 positions below compared to the previous year.

Do you think our squad is stronger or weaker following that window?

Do you think Pepe, Tierney, Martinelli, Saliba, Ceballos and Luiz have any future prospects at the club?

And do you think selling Iwobi for £35m was bad business?

 

[kraphtous]

Do you think our squad is stronger or weaker following that window?

Do you think Pepe, Tierney, Martinelli, Saliba, Ceballos and Luiz have any future prospects at the club?

And do you think selling Iwobi for £35m was bad business?

Evidently it‘s weaker, we finished 5th that season and were the 3rd best team for most of the season.

Tierney was an excellent signing, Martinelli seems like a great prospect for the future but hasn‘t helped us much this season. Saliba hasn‘t played a game for us, so don‘t know if he‘s a good signing or not.

Pepe, I like because I‘m a sucker for technical/silky players, but 72m on him was a really bad decision, it‘s money wasted considering his output. He‘s one of the reasons why we don‘t have money to spend on improving the squad. Hopefully turns it around next season.

Ceballos was a flop for 90% of the season, and it reflects on the table.

Luiz is atrocious. Terrible signing.

Selling Iwobi for that amount was fantastic, not replacing him at all was bad business.

 

[Lady_Gooner]

For me 1/10. Ramsey should’ve got a new long term deal. Would’ve contributed to far more goals than lacazette

 

[BigPoppaPump]

I disagree. The question was whether we did good business, and our business was based around signing young players onto long-term contracts.

If you weren’t allowed to judge signings by what you expect to happen in the future then nobody would be allowed to praise or criticise any signings we make.

But then you can say any transfer is a good one because we don’t know how it will turn out. I’m judging it based on how the transfer window helped us in the following season, after actually seeing if the transfer improves us.

Tierney is the only one who really improved us and he was injured pretty much all season so that’s disappointing too.

 

[Makingtrax]

The premier league is a lot harder than it used to be. That's down to smaller teams now being able to spend 20-30M on a single player. So naturally teams will be better and have better quality. You dont get many whipping boys in the PL anymore.

You now have teams like Wolves and Leicester who are very difficult to beat. Next season the league will probably be the most difficult it has ever been.

The transfer window wasn't poor, the manager was poor. Its not difficult to understand.

You're just repeating yourself. Leicester was a lot harder to beat 5 years ago than they are today. Wolves are 7th on 50+ points, a few years ago Burnley was 7th on 50+ points. These lower teams cycle up and down and have done for years. They don't have the money to challenge the top teams consistently.

The top 4 teams are still 1-4. Sp**s and Arsenal have declined considerably if you look at their metrics and two other teams have just taken their place.

If you have some actual evidence that the league is getting harder, lets see it. Otherwise my conclusion is that we have performed badly this year, in the main due some poor buys in a transfer window that did not address the issues with the squad. The mistakes being made by certain players carried on across all 3 managers this year.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

You're just repeating yourself. Leicester was a lot harder to beat 5 years ago than they are today. Wolves are 7th on 50+ points, a few years ago Burnley was 7th on 50+ points. These lower teams cycle up and down and have done for years. They don't have the money to challenge the top teams consistently.

The top 4 teams are still 1-4. Sp**s and Arsenal have declined considerably if you look at their metrics and two other teams have just taken their place.

If you have some actual evidence that the league is getting harder, lets see it. Otherwise my conclusion is that we have performed badly this year, in the main due some poor buys in a transfer window that did not address the issues with the squad. The mistakes being made by certain players carried on across all 3 managers this year.

Why were they harder to beat 5 years ago? Because they won the title? That isn't great logic. Wolves are 7th, doesn't mean they're not difficult to beat. Leicester have a stronger team and better manager than 5 years ago.

Before Klopp came in you pretty much just had Chelsea and City as the teams who were challenging for the title. United were still transitioning etc. Now Liverpool are a 90+ point a season outfit, City are always going to be strong, Chelsea are once again becoming a force after a season without being able to spend.

Use your eyes and watch football, the league has become way more competitive for the top 8 spots, which means it will be harder to get into the top 4. So it has become harder.... We are talking about spending £30M on Gabriel and £45M on Partey but many people aren't giving us a hope for the top 6 let alone the top 4. That alone should tell you the league is harder.

I think the only reason you're against that narrative is because your cocktail sausage is still firmly slipped up Arsène's bottom. You don't want to believe it was easier for him to get top 4 when he was manager. But in truth it was, because the teams around us weren't good enough.

With TV money small teams can buy one or two star players and said player(s) can win them a game, whereas a few years ago that wasn't possible.

Ask me to give you evidence all you want, but anything I show or say to you won't be taken on board because of your opinion. Just the way you are.

 

[Makingtrax]

Why were they harder to beat 5 years ago? Because they won the title? That isn't great logic. Wolves are 7th, doesn't mean they're not difficult to beat. Leicester have a stronger team and better manager than 5 years ago.

Just opinion, no stats or reasoning.

Before Klopp came in you pretty much just had Chelsea and City as the teams who were challenging for the title. United were still transitioning etc. Now Liverpool are a 90+ point a season outfit, City are always going to be strong, Chelsea are once again becoming a force after a season without being able to spend.

Nothing to do with our transfer business or the league getting harder.

Use your eyes and watch football, the league has become way more competitive for the top 8 spots, which means it will be harder to get into the top 4. So it has become harder....

Arrogance, no substance.

I think the only reason you're against that narrative is because your cocktail sausage is still firmly slipped up Arsène's bottom.

Insults. And poor at that.

With TV money small teams can buy one or two star players and said player(s) can win them a game, whereas a few years ago that wasn't possible.

They always could buy one or two star players since TV money first came in. TV money has not been as effective in the last few years because player prices have outstripped it significantly.

Ask me to give you evidence all you want, but anything I show or say to you won't be taken on board because of your opinion.

You haven't shown me anything, lol

What a terrible post. SMH

 

[Makingtrax]

Why is this forum going down hill so much? It's not Reddit ffs. If people think the league is getting harder and that's why we're not performing so well, rather than poor transfer business, why can't there be a debate with reason and statistics to get your teeth into. 'Use your eyes' is playground stuff. And insults are everywhere.

Banter about Bum Squads and Usual suspects is all fine as long as there's some decent debate in there as well.

Terrible terrible stuff in this thread.

 

[Riou]

People who voted yes, know their stuff and understand football isn't always a short term game...they see that even though we had a difficult season (for reasons not to do with our transfers really) we signed some players with bags of potential that could see us easily get back in the Champions League soon.

People who voted no, clearly aren't over Arsène leaving and are using anything they can to prove that we were wrong to move on from him...even though we had clearly reached a point of no return with him and were obviously right to do so, they just can't get over themselves sadly...and although we got his replacement wrong in Emery, he doesn't mean we weren't right to change...sometimes when something is broken (which this team was under Bog Wengz in the end) it takes time to completely heal, we look on the right track now though.

Simples!

 

[HairSprayGooners]

@Makingtrax You shouldn't need stats to see that a lot of teams are stronger now. But if you really want some stats to dig into...

Wolves 1-1 United
City 0-2 Wolves
Arsenal 1-1 Wolves
Wolves 3-2 City
United 0-0 Wolves
Sp**s 2-3 Wolves
Wolves 3-1 Arsenal
Wolves 2-1 United
Chelsea 1-1 Wolves
Sp**s 1-3 Wolves
Wolves 2-1 Chelsea
Arsenal 1-1 Wolves
United 1-1 Wolves
Wolves 1-1 City

These are Wolves positive results over the past two seasons against the usual "top" sides in the league.

They've taken points in 14 games against top teams in two seasons. Wolves coming into the league has quite clearly made things harder as they keep taking points off the top teams.

In the year they came up Swansea, West Brom and Stoke went down. Are you telling me the league stayed the same/got easier with Wolves coming up and those dross teams going down? No, it obviously got harder as Wolves have proven over the past 2 seasons.

They have financial backing and sign quality players, agent led may I add. They also have a top manager and seem to be going deep into the Europa league.

Leicester City won the title on a pretty poor point total for a title win, since then they have improved their team overall and have a much better manager for the future. Up until lockdown they were nailed on for top 4, they had a lot of injuries after lockdown and ultimately couldn't get back up to speed.

Leicester City are another example of why the league is harder, another team who take points off the big sides.

You also have the added factor of their being a "big 6" now and not just a top 4 who are seen as the best 4 teams in England.

Sp**s, Chelsea, United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are all now going to be fighting for the top 4 spots. It wasn't like this in say 2010 when Arsenal were regularly making top 4. The season could start but you kind of knew who would make the top 4 as the gulf in class was way too big.

In short, Liverpool are better, City are better, United are finally getting better, Chelsea are always there, Sp**s are always going to be top 6, Leicester and Wolves will continue to get better. That alone should show you that the league is harder, because this wasn't the case 8+ years ago.