12 Dec 2014 12:03:50
Rob - I am not having a go at you I am just stating their is reality and their is fantasy. The reality is we are never going to sign those players you are talking about in January and even in the summer the chances are slim. This time last year did anyone mention any of the players we signed this summer? Sanchez, Welbeck, Chambers? No. In January we have to be realistic, simple as that.

In terms of the players your talking about getting rid of all at once.

Arteta - He is first and foremost our captain. He is a leader both on and off the pitch and gives his all in every single game. He is the utmost professional on the ground and around the club. He mentors our young kids and dedicates much of his time out with game day to our club. He may not be as good as Alonso, Xavi or Modric but he is a great player to have in and around our club.

Monreal - He isn't the best of players of but he gives his all every game. He plays wherever he is told and does as good a job as possible. He is a flexible and dependable squad player with EPL experience. What more do you want in a squad player? Do you want every squad player to be a world beater?

I could go on about the plus's of the others too. At the end of the day I would love nothing more than to sign all those top players and integrate them into our team but it's just not going to happen so why ponder it continually?

A few other points about overhauling the whole squad at once are as follows:

A) These are human beings with contracts and families. They aren't going to just uproot their whole life at the whim of the club. These guys have kids at schools, wife's who are settled and things like that. By forcing players out it causes them to dig in, see out their contracts and bring the morale of the team down.

B) Why would anyone want to join us if we start shipping out loyal players due to a few indifferent performances? So we want to sign a squad player to add depth to our team but the player thinks 'why should I uproot my whole life when if I am not the best player on the park every chance I get the fans will call for my head?'. Would you leave safe employment to take a risky job when you have a family and bills to pay etc? Yes players must leave but you don't go selling half the squad with experience all a once.

C) What would it do for the harmony amongst our squad? Forcing out folk you have a relationship with in the dressing room all at once will cause problems in any environment. Players will be on edge worrying about their own performances every week because they might be next out the door. At the end of the day these are real people not pawns on a chessboard you can just throw aside anytime it suits.

Yes we need better players, yes we need investment and yes we need to get back on top but rebuilding is a gradual process. We have the building blocks in place already, we just need to add a few next year, keep the camaraderie in the squad high and keep the mentors aka Arteta to help our youth grow into top professionals.

Again Rob I'm not having a go at you I just want you to see is it isn't as easy as ship A, B and C out the door and replace them with X, Y and Z. There is many factors to consider.

1.) 12 Dec 2014
VDG- While I agree your view is the most realistic as were not playing football manager or Fifa. Everything you have stated is exactly what Mr Wenger himself thinks but there lies the Problem.

The top top Mangers are ruthless if you aren't up to scratch your gone. you surly can't feel sorry for professional footballers its the name of the game. its not as if their on minimum wage and with family's to feed and bills to pay. Most of them earn ridiculous money per week. So I don't think ill shed a tear for them if they have to uproot their familys.

Ferguson, Mourinho would not have players playing at 70% week in week out and let them get away with it. That's where the winning mentality comes from, at Arsenal when you lose a game there is no major panic sure there will always be next week or the week after.

If I went into my job and decided i'd slack off and my boss thought it was fine then i'd keep slacking off. its the same model at arsenal. the managers not responsible for results, neither or the player and neither is the board.

Until the players and Manager are made responsible for results nothing will change at Arsenal.

Point is if the players aren't good enough for the club their not good enough. As a huge arsenal fan like everyone else on this page we aspire to win major honours and with Monreal, flamini, and arteta in our side that just won't happen. if you want to be successful in this day and age in football you have to be ruthless and put the club ahead of everyone else. Real Madrid is an extreme take the di maria saga for instance but one thing is for sure there successful I know we can't compete with real with wage and fees be we must be as ruthless with under preforming players

2.) 12 Dec 2014
Strong post VDG - can't believe so many misinterpret what you are saying. Yes upgrade but just a few spots and make all the others better. No one is saying stand pat.

The discussion board probably disagrees on the amount of changes which is FairPlay but c'mon turn over the whole team and sign half of Saints - lol - not happening and wouldn't want it to.

3.) 12 Dec 2014
12 Dec 2014 16:13:16
Good post VDG.

4.) 12 Dec 2014
Lol red rooster, just ask a Liverpool fan if that's the way to go :p