Evening everyone.
The North London derby is looming large and, truth be told, never have I fancied our chances slimmer.
Tottenham present the polar opposite to Arsenal right now. We haven't lost any leaders this pre-season and seem content to pile the pressure on those left. Tottenham is about to lose Bale and they have known that for a long time now. In order to avoid the fans dissatisfaction and a gaping hole in the team that's, let's be brutally honest, played good football last season, Tottenham strengthened significantly. Sure, they will get a wad of cash for Bale all in one payment, but nobody can accuse them of not bringing players in and seating on their asses, waiting for this wonderful money.
They have searched far and wide for players they wanted and when they did find those, went an extra mile to secure the deal. I haven't heard of one Tottenham deal, that fell through this summer. You can understand, when Wenger says it's a risk to have so many new faces, but it's much better, than having none. Even the Bale transfer seemed to have served it's cause. Tottenham may have received a bit less money, that they wanted, but it nonetheless is a huge pile. It's a goddamn transfer record for a player, whose abilities are nowhere near the transfer fee paid for him. Just look at the (now) second- and third highest fees ever paid. Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinadine Zidane top the chart. These are great players, there's no denial that, and I can believe they are worth every eurocent paid for them, but is Bale all that special? No. Plain and simple. His abilities are way below those of Ronaldo and Zidane.
And still Tottenham received all that money. I'd say, they've gotten rid of Bale in a very smart way. The player wanted to leave, obviously, but they showed him, the transfer is only going to happen when and if it suits the football club he plays for. They saved their dignity, got an unhappy player off their hands for a huge fee and even accomplished one more goal with this transfer. There will, of course, be some of you, who'll say it's a far-fetched and most unlikely goal, but I still think it's possible. They have delayed the transfer till the last possible moment, so that we won't be able to complete our deals, concerning Di Maria, Benzema, Ozil, Kaka or whomever the hell we're after, in time (for a new season or for the derby, I'll leave it to you).
Tottenham, as I've already said, brought in quality players to not only replace Bale but also to breath a new life into the other areas of the pitch. And to my mind, they have achieved both targets. Their manager, financial director, president, majority shareholder, board of directors and what-not have shown real desire to succeed, they have shown, just how ambitious they are and you know, what I think? They will be successful. If not this year, then definitely next. That is, if no one counter-acts their will and determination.
If all of this sounds like I'm fan of what they are doing, that's because I am. Don't get me wrong here, I don't want them to be successful, especially at our expense, and I will never want to. But because their model, plan or whatever speak of an ambitious club, that is ready to go to any lengths to be successful, I can't help but be amazed.
I have long since accepted that hating Tottenham is part and parcel of being an Arsenal fan. But, maybe because I was neither born, nor raised in London, or even England, I have never truly hated Tottenham. I know, it's a line, for which many of Arsenal fans will have my head for, but I never treated Tottenham any worse, than Man Utd or Man City. That's not to say, I like these clubs, hell no, but I just don't think Tottenham gave me more reasons to hate them. I don't like both clubs from Manchester, because one of them keeps beating us across all competitions and the other is nothing more, than a bag full of it's owner's money, unable to achieve anything, yet boasting their ambition and strength all the same. I truly hate Barcelona, because they have beaten us twice in the knockout stages of the CL and once in the final of the same competition. I'll never forgive them this defeat, when we've done so much to ensure we reach this final for the first time in our history.
But I don't hate Tottenham. For me, they're just another club from the Premier League and my hatred is only aimed at them truly, when they get the better of us in a one-off encounter. It's short-lived, but being an Arsenal fan, I have accepted the rules of the game and never wished Tottenham to be successful at our expense. But it doesn't go beyond that.
The way we hadled this summer, no one can say, we are ambitious and want to win things. We were content to plough on with the players we have and it took a fully-fledged injury crisis for the manager to see that our numbers are short. And when he saw that, he brought in Flamini. That's just great. We are relying on old pals to get us over the line. All that's left, is to call in Henry, Lehmann and Pires and say we are not short number-wise anymore.
Words cannot express, how much I want this club to be successful. I watched Chelsea raise the Champions League cup and I was on the brink of tears. They've been changing managers, like no one's business, but, before that season, they have never ended up below the second spot in the league since 2003, winning all kinds of cups in the process. Then, in the same season they have finished sixth, with an interim manager, they won the FA cup and the Champions League. I watched all of this and one question was occupying my mind: "What will it take for us to be that successful?"
Back tomorrow with a preview
The North London derby is looming large and, truth be told, never have I fancied our chances slimmer.
Tottenham present the polar opposite to Arsenal right now. We haven't lost any leaders this pre-season and seem content to pile the pressure on those left. Tottenham is about to lose Bale and they have known that for a long time now. In order to avoid the fans dissatisfaction and a gaping hole in the team that's, let's be brutally honest, played good football last season, Tottenham strengthened significantly. Sure, they will get a wad of cash for Bale all in one payment, but nobody can accuse them of not bringing players in and seating on their asses, waiting for this wonderful money.
They have searched far and wide for players they wanted and when they did find those, went an extra mile to secure the deal. I haven't heard of one Tottenham deal, that fell through this summer. You can understand, when Wenger says it's a risk to have so many new faces, but it's much better, than having none. Even the Bale transfer seemed to have served it's cause. Tottenham may have received a bit less money, that they wanted, but it nonetheless is a huge pile. It's a goddamn transfer record for a player, whose abilities are nowhere near the transfer fee paid for him. Just look at the (now) second- and third highest fees ever paid. Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinadine Zidane top the chart. These are great players, there's no denial that, and I can believe they are worth every eurocent paid for them, but is Bale all that special? No. Plain and simple. His abilities are way below those of Ronaldo and Zidane.
And still Tottenham received all that money. I'd say, they've gotten rid of Bale in a very smart way. The player wanted to leave, obviously, but they showed him, the transfer is only going to happen when and if it suits the football club he plays for. They saved their dignity, got an unhappy player off their hands for a huge fee and even accomplished one more goal with this transfer. There will, of course, be some of you, who'll say it's a far-fetched and most unlikely goal, but I still think it's possible. They have delayed the transfer till the last possible moment, so that we won't be able to complete our deals, concerning Di Maria, Benzema, Ozil, Kaka or whomever the hell we're after, in time (for a new season or for the derby, I'll leave it to you).
Tottenham, as I've already said, brought in quality players to not only replace Bale but also to breath a new life into the other areas of the pitch. And to my mind, they have achieved both targets. Their manager, financial director, president, majority shareholder, board of directors and what-not have shown real desire to succeed, they have shown, just how ambitious they are and you know, what I think? They will be successful. If not this year, then definitely next. That is, if no one counter-acts their will and determination.
If all of this sounds like I'm fan of what they are doing, that's because I am. Don't get me wrong here, I don't want them to be successful, especially at our expense, and I will never want to. But because their model, plan or whatever speak of an ambitious club, that is ready to go to any lengths to be successful, I can't help but be amazed.
I have long since accepted that hating Tottenham is part and parcel of being an Arsenal fan. But, maybe because I was neither born, nor raised in London, or even England, I have never truly hated Tottenham. I know, it's a line, for which many of Arsenal fans will have my head for, but I never treated Tottenham any worse, than Man Utd or Man City. That's not to say, I like these clubs, hell no, but I just don't think Tottenham gave me more reasons to hate them. I don't like both clubs from Manchester, because one of them keeps beating us across all competitions and the other is nothing more, than a bag full of it's owner's money, unable to achieve anything, yet boasting their ambition and strength all the same. I truly hate Barcelona, because they have beaten us twice in the knockout stages of the CL and once in the final of the same competition. I'll never forgive them this defeat, when we've done so much to ensure we reach this final for the first time in our history.
But I don't hate Tottenham. For me, they're just another club from the Premier League and my hatred is only aimed at them truly, when they get the better of us in a one-off encounter. It's short-lived, but being an Arsenal fan, I have accepted the rules of the game and never wished Tottenham to be successful at our expense. But it doesn't go beyond that.
The way we hadled this summer, no one can say, we are ambitious and want to win things. We were content to plough on with the players we have and it took a fully-fledged injury crisis for the manager to see that our numbers are short. And when he saw that, he brought in Flamini. That's just great. We are relying on old pals to get us over the line. All that's left, is to call in Henry, Lehmann and Pires and say we are not short number-wise anymore.
Words cannot express, how much I want this club to be successful. I watched Chelsea raise the Champions League cup and I was on the brink of tears. They've been changing managers, like no one's business, but, before that season, they have never ended up below the second spot in the league since 2003, winning all kinds of cups in the process. Then, in the same season they have finished sixth, with an interim manager, they won the FA cup and the Champions League. I watched all of this and one question was occupying my mind: "What will it take for us to be that successful?"
Back tomorrow with a preview
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