George Walker
After watching the game against Man United on Saturday, it is quite clear that Arsenal are no longer capable of competing with the top teams in the country on a regular basis. Of course, this is something we Gooners have known for several years. It hasn’t just crept up on us overnight, but the issue is not that we are not competing; it is that we should be competing.
Arsenal are known throughout world football for their extortionate ticket prices - something Gooners will undoubtedly have noticed when they see their bank statements. This generates what is the highest match-day revenue in the Premier League, something which should stand us in good stead for competing with the best. And ultimately, whatever Uncle Ivan tells us about our poor sponsorship deals and lack of exposure abroad etc, Arsenal are the second-richest club in the Premier League and, as we know all too well, there is a very strong correlation between money and success in football. So why is Arsenal's league position not matching up with their financial position?
One of the reasons for this is the club's well-publicised financial conservatism, demonstrated by the board's insistence on keeping a rainy-day fund of £40-50m in case we do not qualify for the Champions League and gain the much-celebrated fourth-place trophy. This is particularly the case when it comes to what we spend on transfer fees, which is way below what is now spent by other 'big' clubs. The major issue with this is that AW has never been willing to spend more than £15m on any one player since his arrival in England, but whilst £15m would have bought you a world-class player 15 years ago, it now only buys you a relatively good player (in most cases), which means that, over time, the quality of our squad has deteriorated.
But what irks me most as a Gooner is that our overall spend over the last eight seasons has not been that much lower than that of United, although their success has been much greater. The reason our overall spend is so high is our wage bill, which is one of the biggest around. Although we refuse to offer our top players the same money as United (as demonstrated by our reluctance to meet Walcott's wage demands), we still offer many mediocre players very high wages. This means that when we do want to splash out big on a top player, we find that much of the money has been spent on keeping dead wood like Djourou, Squillaci, Denilson and Bendtner at the club much longer than we should have (if they should ever have arrived at all).
There are some positives, as it seems the club is looking to address this issue with attempts to show the likes of Squilllaci, Denilson and Bendnter the door in the summer. One can only hope that, over the next few seasons, Arsenal can make their spending more efficient across all areas and finally allow Arsenal fans to see the success that the ticket prices demand.
One last word on a certain Dutchman. Although I don't like to mention ex-players it is hard to discuss Saturday's game without mention of him and his non-celebration (to celebrate or not to celebrate; that is the question!). I personally believe that although he was right not to celebrate, it is something which should be expected after all the club did for him, and that no Gooners should now bow down to his great gratitude for it. I still feel betrayed by him and I was glad to hear him incur the wrath of the travelling Gooners who were fantastic as always - yet again showing that even though things on the pitch are not what they should be, us Gooners are still the most loyal in the land.
