• The Arsenal

  • Official: Mikel Arteta is the new Arsenal manager.

Coombs i mean in building those squads. so DoF at one of La Liga's 2 biggest teams, he brought in Alves and Pique. And then built around Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, etc who all came from the academy.

Arsenal fans constantly complain about Arteta signing defenders. Here is a quick factoid. Pep/Txiki have spent €450m on defenders since joning City. I'll list them for you... Angelino, Danilo, Ake, Mendy, Cancelo, Laporte, Stones, Dias, Porro, Akanji, Walker - in addition to already having guys like Kompany and Otamendi on the books. Maybe Arteta and Txiki ARE a match made in heaven.

      Claudius perfect. We need to build around our academy products as well. He's got vision, clout, connections, respect, and title winning pedigree. What else do you want in a sporting director? Maybe he can help us bribe and blackmail referees, too.

          Coombs all well and good if you suddenly pop out Biscuits, Xavi, Iniesta and the wee man. Other than that, academy yields are generally very low at the top clubs

              Claudius we already have our versions, just need to build a properly balanced squad around them. More importantly, we need someone who's word matters to people, who's experience and track record demands respect, who can say that he knows what it looks and feels like to get to the top. Someone who can ring up anyone from any club and have their full attention, and who can walk into a negotiation and not get steamrolled like Edu has. We also need another football man in the Executive team. It can't just be lawyers and nepobabies.

                Claudius Yeah I'm not sure where any of this comes from. I guess I've seen a few comments to the effect that Arteta's had a larger say on targets than Edu has.

                  Claudius I just look at the prices we pay for our players, the result of extension negotiations, and the prices we receive on our outgoings. Coupled with the historical and recent reports of his waning influence within the club, a reasonable conclusion to draw might be that he's not doing anything to blow anyone away. I've been suspicious of his overall ability to move well in the market since Sanllehi days, and it seems Arteta has gotten the better of him on that front over the years. His track record is pretty poor, to be fair. He's charismatic and likeable, but does he actually get what needs doing done?

                  There's a reason that "what do edu do?" was a thing. You say that it's all behind the scenes, but surely the evidence of that would be visible somewhere. You ask what Bergiristain has done, but he's got the proof in his pudding. Edu, not so much. He's good a spending Kroenke's money, I'll give him that.

                      Coombs I am struggling to reconcile any of this with him being offered a promotion to a CeO role of a more complex structure and a 3x pay bump.

                          Claudius some people interview well. Fake it til you make it (or get horrendously found out).

                          On a side-note, easy to forget that Edu was something like 3rd/4th choice for the job here. Wonder if the way the role is structured meant that sporting director has little real influence at the club and that's why we couldn't attract higher profile candidates? Pure speculation on my part of course.

                            Coombs I just look at the prices we pay for our players, the result of extension negotiations

                            Coombs You ask what Bergiristain has done, but he's got the proof in his pudding.

                            I'm struggling to see why this is a stick to beat Edu with. I think we've done well to hold, extend and tie down some of our key players in recent years. Whether that is down to Arteta's vision or Edu's management is up for debate, but Edu got the deals over the line and I don't think anyone considers we're being ripped off with the extensions we've signed.

                            The salaries of the likes of Jesus and Havertz on the other hand, well that's perhaps a different story....

                            And Begiristain point - without meaning to knock either him or Guardiola for the sake of it, they've both built careers and benefitted from a ridiculously talented pool of players coming through during their spell at Barcelona and then moving to the richest club in the richest league with almost unlimited resources and still a desire to circumvent the rules despite their massive competitive advantage. I've got an extremely sweet tooth but even that pudding is too much for me to stomach.

                                  Tam I can’t see how our fans can beat down on a club servant like Edu and then pine for a guy like Txiki who has had nothing but good fortune his whole career. Beggars belief

                                    Weird to see someone big up Edu and at the same time talk down Txiki.

                                    Probably the same people who kept saying Arteta is a far better manager than Pep and Klopp etc and is an innovator of the game

                                      Clrnc has ANYONE here ever said that?

                                      I've been pro Arteta for longer than pretty much 99% of posters here and not even I would venture that opinion. Stop making things up.

                                          RocktheCasbah That he's the best manager in the world would imply that he's better than Pep and Klopp - although not far better. Not saying you've said this.

                                              Weird to see someone care about any potential criticism of one of the architects of 115 charges.

                                              But to address your point, it's entirely possible to talk up Edu, talk down Begiristain, and also accept Begiristain is still the more competent in the role.