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The Goon Thread

skyfarer said:
I think it's pretty obvious that City are rolling out the carpet for Guardiola this summer (considering their ex-Barca backroom), or possibly Mourinho since he fits them so well and will add to their publicity even further. I can't see Utd going for Mourinho's tendency to change clubs after 3 years, while Roman isn't about to apologize and take him back, and PSG's league is too low-key for Mourinho. Mancini is simply not glamorous enough a name for City.

Think Arsenal are going to win this one, though I'm hoping City will hold out for the draw. But it's not important what happens there as long as we win ourselves and keep looking up. :)
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I'm pretty sure Mourinho and Abramovich have a good relationship to this day. Man U or Man C might just be too tempting for him though..
 
Theo Walcott has finally committed his future to Arsenal after agreeing terms on a new four-and-a-half-year contract, Goal.com can reveal.

Walcott and his representatives held a final round of talks, which included manager Arsene Wenger and chief executive Ivan Gazidis, at the club's London Colney training base on Wednesday, where the 23-year-old accepted the offer of a £30,000-a-week pay rise.

Under the new agreement that runs until the summer of 2017, the England international's salary will climb to around £90,000-a-week, which will be bolstered by top-up bonuses and a multi-million pound signing-on fee.

Walcott had indicated his desire to stay at the Emirates Stadium after being verbally offered the improved package by Arsenal during fruitful discussions over the last fortnight.

He has also been encouraged that Wenger has lived up to his promise of giving him opportunities to play in his favourite centre-forward role.

Walcott has started Arsenal's last five matches up front, scoring four goals, including a hat-trick against Saudi Sportswashing Machine. Despite being regularly overlooked by Wenger in the first three months of the season, he leads the club's scoring charts with 14 goals.

Walcott's preference has always been to stay at the club, where he is popular both among staff and with the other players.

Arsenal are confident they will be able to announce Walcott's new contract imminently, which will then allow Wenger to concentrate on reinforcing Arsenal's squad.

The manager has set his sights on acquiring a senior striker from Spain, with David Villa and Adrian Lopez his top two targets.

Securing Walcott's future will be a huge boost to Arsenal after tying fellow Brits Jack Wheelchair, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey and Carl Jenkinson to new five-year deals shortly before Christmas.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2013/01/09/3660650/walcott-agrees-new-four-and-a-half-year-arsenal-deal
 
And their fans think their wage structure is holding them back, while at the same time they're being ripped off by the board on ticket prices.
 
onlyme said:
Walcott must have a blinding agent if the figures are correct.
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i dunno, seems a simple argument for me

compared to the rest of their squad thats probably a fair price, he's been as influential as cazorla, podolski, vermaelen et al, why shouldn't he be paid the same, he is their top scorer after all
 
I actually read an article comparing Wenger's belief in an "egalitarian" wage structure to United's. At Utd, Rooney might earn over ten times the salary of a fringe player (or 100x that of a Zeki Fryers), but at Arse the squad players will get something like 60k compared to 100k for a key player. That's why their total wage bill is not far off United's at all, despite having a lower top cap. It's a purposeful thing based on Wenger's personal philosophies....perhaps that's why he prefers working with younger players rather than older stars, who might want to be rewarded on a substantially different planet to their younger days and lesser players. (Note also that huge wages for kids also helps Wenger keep poaching the most promising youngsters, who - surprise! - tend to be more likely to develop into the best players, which then helps keep up Wenger's reputation for developing kids. That's not to say he isn't a great coach.)

I think we're around the middle - our basic wages are not outrageous especially for youngsters but seniority and bonuses mean you can still end up with a high overall, and a few of our biggest stars like Bale are near 100k/week by most reports.

***

Btw, I've been watching Schalke's CL games to check out Holtby, and I'm actually struck by how Schalke seem to pass and move faster than Arsenal. Within our league Arse are perhaps the team that emulates or at least tries to emulate Barca's one-touch style the most, but they actually seem to take extra touches and dawdle on the ball in comparison to Schalke, who flow through the opposition half.

That's not to say Schalke get everything right (they don't have quite the Barca level of technical precision to pull off one-touch in the final third without allowing more turnover opportunities), but I think it says something for the Bundesliga's technical qualities, esp considering Schalke's iffy form and position this season. I often think that technically cultured players tend to stand out more in the PL than in La Liga or the Bundesliga; the likes of Mata, Silva, Cazorla - not to mention Michu, probably player of the season so far - find it difficult to break into Spain's starting XI or La Liga's Big Two, but look amazing over here.

Every club in the PL seems to be picking through Ligue 1 right now since it's weakening outside PSG (and no doubt some footballers are worried about impending tax hikes), but I hope we look more towards Spain and Germany. Benat for example might be a good alternative to Moutinho, albeit without the undying love for AVB.
 
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skyfarer said:
I actually read an article comparing Wenger's belief in an "egalitarian" wage structure to United's. At Utd, Rooney might earn over ten times the salary of a fringe player (or 100x that of a Zeki Fryers), but at Arse the squad players will get something like 60k compared to 100k for a key player. That's why their total wage bill is not far off United's at all, despite having a lower top cap. It's a purposeful thing based on Wenger's personal philosophies....perhaps that's why he prefers working with younger players rather than older stars, who might want to be rewarded on a substantially different planet to their younger days and lesser players. (Note also that huge wages for kids also helps Wenger keep poaching the most promising youngsters, who - surprise! - tend to be more likely to develop into the best players, which then helps keep up Wenger's reputation for developing kids. That's not to say he isn't a great coach.)

I think we're around the middle - our basic wages are not outrageous especially for youngsters but seniority and bonuses mean you can still end up with a high overall, and a few of our biggest stars like Bale are near 100k/week by most reports.
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This was something Gallas complained about. The young players getting paid a lot before earning it.

It's strange, though. Arsenal didn't always have such a relatively low cap. Campbell was reported to be in 80-90k and Vieira and Henry both got 100k. This was when it was fairly rare, with only players like Keane, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Terry and Lampard on similar wages. In the same period Robbie Keane was supposed to be on our top wage at around 45-47k, with Davids joining him.

United are much stricter. Berbatov didn't join the top bracket even though his transfer fee was a record, with his wage reportedly 70-80k. Even after ten years at the club, they refused to move Wes Brown above the 50-55k tier.

In some ways, what is Walcott supposed to do. If he is already on 70k then its inevitable he will ask for an increase when negotiating a new contract.
 
skyfarer said:
I actually read an article comparing Wenger's belief in an "egalitarian" wage structure to United's. At Utd, Rooney might earn over ten times the salary of a fringe player (or 100x that of a Zeki Fryers), but at Arse the squad players will get something like 60k compared to 100k for a key player. That's why their total wage bill is not far off United's at all, despite having a lower top cap. It's a purposeful thing based on Wenger's personal philosophies....perhaps that's why he prefers working with younger players rather than older stars, who might want to be rewarded on a substantially different planet to their younger days and lesser players. (Note also that huge wages for kids also helps Wenger keep poaching the most promising youngsters, who - surprise! - tend to be more likely to develop into the best players, which then helps keep up Wenger's reputation for developing kids. That's not to say he isn't a great coach.)

I think we're around the middle - our basic wages are not outrageous especially for youngsters but seniority and bonuses mean you can still end up with a high overall, and a few of our biggest stars like Bale are near 100k/week by most reports.

***

Btw, I've been watching Schalke's CL games to check out Holtby, and I'm actually struck by how Schalke seem to pass and move faster than Arsenal. Within our league Arse are perhaps the team that emulates or at least tries to emulate Barca's one-touch style the most, but they actually seem to take extra touches and dawdle on the ball in comparison to Schalke, who flow through the opposition half.

That's not to say Schalke get everything right (they don't have quite the Barca level of technical precision to pull off one-touch in the final third without allowing more turnover opportunities), but I think it says something for the Bundesliga's technical qualities, esp considering Schalke's iffy form and position this season. I often think that technically cultured players tend to stand out more in the PL than in La Liga or the Bundesliga; the likes of Mata, Silva, Cazorla - not to mention Michu, probably player of the season so far - find it difficult to break into Spain's starting XI or La Liga's Big Two, but look amazing over here.

Every club in the PL seems to be picking through Ligue 1 right now since it's weakening outside PSG (and no doubt some footballers are worried about impending tax hikes), but I hope we look more towards Spain and Germany. Benat for example might be a good alternative to Moutinho, albeit without the undying love for AVB.
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i don't watch a huge amount of the gooners, but it does seem to me that they don't move the ball as well as they used to - maybe since two or three years, or possibly post Fabregas.

i used to watch them and, honestly, be pretty dejected about their ability to pass quickly but i really don't think they've done it that well that often recently. i think their style has evolved (or regressed) with the loss of the premium first team players.
 
Arsenal fans themselves will tell you that they're passing has been brick this season compared to other years.

I still think they'll find some good form from somewhere like they always seem to. I swear they won about 7 on the trot around the same time we started slumping last season.
 
haha wouldn't surprise anyone. But in game where City will be without Toure. Diaby would be crucial. He'll BOSS that midfield like he does when he plays allowing the likes of Cazorla, Wheelchair to work there magic.
 
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