Am I the only one who thought he owed it to Arsenal to stay for at least another season? Before this season when we got to see the real talent, I didn't actually rate the guy that much. Just another sorry case of being a footballer and showing a lack of commitment to his employers.
I feel more for the fans who showed a hell of a lot of patience with this guy only to be shat on like this.
Yes, the club appears to have less ambition than ours (or close to it), but those fans have stuck with h through quite alot
Am I the only one who thought he owed it to Arsenal to stay for at least another season? Before this season when we got to see the real talent, I didn't actually rate the guy that much. Just another sorry case of being a footballer and showing a lack of commitment to his employers.
I feel more for the fans who showed a hell of a lot of patience with this guy only to be shat on like this.
Yes, the club appears to have less ambition than ours (or close to it), but those fans have stuck with h through quite alot
Depends how this plays out. If he's going for the money then yeah, it's just the same old story about a greedy footballer. But, as the story indicates above, he's leaving because of an obvious disagreement with how the football club should move forward then I wouldn't blame him at all. The guy's got ambition and if one of the Arsenal hierarchy are making it clear they can't fulfill his ambitions then they're just shooting themselves in the foot.
RVP probably said "look, you've got a squad that might win something now if you open your cheque book, sign a couple of world class players. Oh, and pay me more while your at it."
AW & IG probably said "why buy players when we've got some great youngsters coming through? You watch in two years they'll be a match for anybody."
RVP "I want to win stuff now. My career is only so long. I'm off."
An so the cyclical story of Arsenal repeats itself.
I can sympathise with fans and RVP if they want a profitable club to spend a little more, but having seen what has happened to Cov I think I would rather take top 4 season after season than shooting for the stars, "going for it" recklessly and crashing and burning later. But being so close must be tantalising though...
RVP probably said "look, you've got a squad that might win something now if you open your cheque book, sign a couple of world class players. Oh, and pay me more while your at it."
AW & IG probably said "why buy players when we've got some great youngsters coming through? You watch in two years they'll be a match for anybody."
RVP "I want to win stuff now. My career is only so long. I'm off."
An so the cyclical story of Arsenal repeats itself.
I can sympathise with fans and RVP if they want a profitable club to spend a little more, but having seen what has happened to Cov I think I would rather take top 4 season after season than shooting for the stars, "going for it" recklessly and crashing and burning later. But being so close must be tantalising though...
They do have some good kids there, but if they lost a few of the lesser talented ones? They could easily afford to bring in a few better players. Quality of quantity. The wouldn't need to brake the bank either.
I agree they can probably spend a little more but I don't think Wenger and the board see it that way. It's easy to say, we'll pay RVP extra 'cos he's worth it and we'll get a couple of other stars in too. But once you break the pay structure all the players agents will start saying: you broke it for RVP why not my boy? And RVP is getting 25% extra, Johnny Squadplayer (or should that be Jean Player de Squad) wants 25% extra too. Paying stupid wages now is a quick route to future demise, as we know all too well.
van Persie is nearly 30 and at the end of his contract. They've already got some decent replacements in the shape of Giroud and Podolski, this is probably Arsenal's best chance to get a good transfer fee for him. If they were truly geniuses at the emirates then they would have sold him before the Euros, which saw his value drop by at least £5mn. Add to the mix that van Persie is extremely injury prone and was out of form even before he left for the Euros then he could be set to be the new Torres. Of course Arsenal could have a few more 20+ goal seasons from him but they would have to pay him for more than anyone else at the club and by the end of another contract he'll be the wrong side of 30. They probably wouldn't have chosen to sell him if his contract wasn't running down but they're probably going to get the better of the deal once he's sold, remember Vieira, Henry and Overmars?