Fishpie
AW: Well Robin, thank you for a fantastic season as both captain and striker; just superb. You are, I believe, the best striker in the world at the moment and it’s to your credit just how well you have done following some difficult seasons with injury.
RVP: Thank you Arsene. Thank you for your patience over the years. I hope I have, with the help of the team, at last paid you back.
AW: You have Robin and I hope we can continue to work together for a few years more.
RVP: So do I Arsene.
AW: Good. So how are you feeling about the future?
RVP: Well, I hope you agree that after eight years of playing for you and the Club and now as a senior player and captain of the team, I can speak directly and honestly to you.
AW : Yes, of course.
RVP: Ok, well..I have a clear and simple vision of my future. In it I am the Arsenal captain, I am being paid well to secure my family’s long term prospects and happiness, and most importantly as a player, I am holding the Premiership trophy above my head and I am clutching a Champion’s League medal in my hand. And you Arsene are once again rightly recognised not just as a great coach but as a winning coach too.
AW: I have the same vision Robin. I also believe together we can do it.
RVP: Ah well Arsene, with respect to you and all you have achieved, this is where we differ perhaps. Because Arsene, while it is my vision, I do not, like you, believe it can happen; at least, not the way things are at Arsenal at the moment.
AW: But Robin, we came third this season, better than last season, I have already bought Podolski to improve our chances, we have Jack to come back, we have more experience in the squad, we are making good progress, and I believe the squad, with you in it, is now ready to make a serious challenge.
RVP: I agree there is cause for optimism but, and this is where you and I must talk frankly Arsene, I am not going to sign my next contract, probably my final big contract, my final chance to win medals, without me being absolutely certain that we have enough quality in the squad to achieve the success that we have failed to achieve over the last 7 years. And I am sorry to say, even with Podolski coming here to improve our squad of strikers, I am not convinced we will have enough great players technically or enough players with a winning attitude elsewhere in the squad to mount and sustain a real challenge. In my view, we are short by 2 to 3 players of this type. And again to be frank, the most important thing for me Arsene is that you and I agree on this and that you have plans to buy more players to boost our immediate chances of success.
Perhaps Arsene you will allow me to put this into the context of what might be on offer to me personally in my new contract and hopefully this will convince you just how seriously I view this issue.
AW: Yes, please carry on
RVP: I have actually asked my agent to be flexible in his negotiation on the personal financial terms of any contract you are offering me. I have said to him that my preference is to stay at Arsenal even though the club cannot offer me the kind of terms that some other clubs may be prepared to. To be clear, I do want a better deal in keeping with my talent and he will negotiate on my behalf to secure one but I am just as keen to ensure I do not use up so much of the available budget that it stops the club from acquiring other players. This would be, for me, biting off my nose despite my face. I am a real Gooner and I want success for Arsenal. I don’t want to bleed the club dry. It is not why I joined the club. I am deeply conscious that I already earn the kind of money that most Arsenal fans can only dream of. And yet they pay large amounts of their income, year after year without trophy success, to come and support us. I believe Arsene, that you and I have had enough chances now over the last seven years to have tried to make a youth oriented approach work and both of us have run out of time for that strategy to work.
Frankly, I want what the fans want; a return to the club I joined, a club made up of the best experienced talent around, taking on the best teams around and beating them to the trophies.
Although I am not the coach, I have precise ideas of how we can make that happen and unless we see eye to eye on these things, I am regretfully prepared to uproot my very happy family from London and join another club which has a greater ambition to match my own.
AW: You speak passionately Robin. The responsible attitude to your own contract is comendable. I am the Manger of this club and it is my job to make the kind of decisions you are talking about but it is so refreshing for a player to see the bigger picture and you are so obviously sincere about this, I am happy to hear your ideas and will reflect on what you say.
RVP: Ok, my ideas are very simple. Essentially, with Poldolski coming and Jack returning, I am sure our offensive game will generate more goals from more players than last season. But we have to, for once and for all, resolve our defensive frailties. It is this aspect of the squad and the way we play that undermines our overall effectiveness. When I first joined Arsenal, our defensive know-how was the basis on which we could play great football. It provided a secure platform from which to attack. I believe it was effective because a), the defenders and midfielders knew as a group where to be in given situations and when to cover for each other, and b), our defence and midfield was made up of physically dominating players who actually loved defending.
For me to stay at Arsenal, I would like to see the club acquire another central defender who is physically imposing and a defensive/holding midfielder who loves winning the ball and considers this to be an art in itself. I also believe we need a new experienced second goalkeeper to challenge and cover for Schzesny and another left back who has greater defensive prowess to compete with Gibbs and Santos.
