Edu: Sporting Director … or high-priced bagman?
Daz around here I’m in the minority on Raya in that I see him as an upgrade. Everything is just much calmer in possessin when the ball gets to our penalty area. Which is the point when you’re a possession team.
Jury is out on Havertz. Like his qualities but he has not imposed himself. And I still haven’t seen anyone who is a perfect left 8 as an internal solution.
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Daz one a dollar for dollar basis, Arteta sweats his squad. Look at where he has spent the most money. It’s always on the field. That’s how you measure asset utilisation. Not by picking one offs. We too often take the micro versus micro view on how we are run or how we perform.
Only big ticket that doesn’t play is Partey, who’s always injured.
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So we're just ignoring the 30m he spent on Ramsdale in order to suit your argument?
Vieira was quite expensive too.
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Daz I’m not ignoring it. I know he bought a goalie and then 2 years later when the guy he originally wanted became available, went back for him. Let me explain why that deal doesn’t bother me (again)
- We went back for the keeper we originally wanted. So clear story here. It is not a whimsical purchase. It’s a long term target
- We needed a goalie anyway. The best alternative to this deal would’ve been to either a) risk a season with Hein/Okwonkwo or b) buy a sub keeper now, who would’ve cost us money anyway, probably £10-25m - that we likely would’ve had to book immediately.
- The Raya money doesn’t reflect on our balance sheet until next year, at which point the Ramsdale money would be off.
So those saying he’s wasted money are so far off the mark it’s not funny. Seriously.
OK so we are in agreement that in this case, they actually did spend money on a player and then toss him aside. Goodo.
Claudius it's only not wasted money if (a) Ramsdale doesn't lose value when we sell him and (b) you believe Raya is a meaningful upgrade on him.
I know you disagree on the second point but I certainly don't see the upgrade as things stand.
The thing with Raya and Ramsdale is that it's been a big hassle for at best a small margin. I think we'll lose money on Ramsdale too. Then there are our efforts this season to integrate Havertz. With Timber's unfortunate injury on top, last summer's business didn't do enough for us. We'll need to have closer to a 75% strike rate next time round, while also finding the right sales. It's a difficult job.
We bought mostly good buys to be honest, but its disingenuous to pretend everything is part of the plan and we didn't waste any money or discarded any players. Bottomline is we should have made better use of our money.
Clrnc Bottomline is we should have made better use of our money.
Why is this the bottom line? I genuinely don't get it. You ignore every other club's bad signings, then nit-pick at our business based on nonsense trash ideas that mean nothing, like net spend, while completely ignoring our absolutely massive improvement on the pitch. I just don't understand what it is you guys want.
How is net spend "nonsense trash that means nothing" unless you have infinite money?
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Clrnc I think if that had been your bottom line rather than "we should have made better use of our money" - a criticism any fan could make of any football team and is totally subjective anyway as everyone here will have different opinions on each investment we make - the conversation would probably have ended there.
I'm not saying you're wrong to say it, but you could apply that statement to any transfer window Arsenal have ever had, literally any one, and you'd be right. Except in the summer we signed Jens Lehmann for a million notes and then became Invincibles.
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RocktheCasbah actually, I've just remembered the 1990 summer where we signed Anders Limpar, Dave Seaman and FA Cup winning Andy Linighan for £3m and almost went invincible in winning the league title, so I reckon you might have to throw that one in too.
Oh jesus the old mans replying to himself now. ARE YOU OK GRANDAD?
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Qwiss lol, I'm sweet as a nut mate, thank you - it's the rest of you who've got problems...
Don Pacifico and that’s fine. It’s not a 100 metre race. There is no clear cut criterion for who is better or worse. I perceive Raya to be better. You don’t. Not stressed
I think Daz's point is that whether Raya is better or not is irrelevant to the statement that Arteta doesn't buy players and discard them. Every manager who discards a player does so because he thinks someone else is better.