Investing in the right players and not afraid to spend money, doing everything right and they won’t dissappear like Leicester.
Kick on.
Biggest problem Leicester had was that title winning side being dismantled by City and Chelsea and following season Ranieri wasn’t really backed either with the club having a negative net spend.
Doubt many of this group at Arsenal will want to leave never mind be persuaded by the so called bigger clubs and they’ve got a pretty young squad they can move forward with other than Xhaka and maybe Partey.
Arsenal are a much bigger club than Leicester. They won a few titles under Wenger, and he upgraded the club from top to bottom, culminating in leading them into a new stadium. They were one of the early adopters on that, while years later we have been paying to upgrade our stadium, and Man Utd will have a large bill coming soon too.
Wenger managed them on a limited budget while they got the stadium done, but he kept them in the Champions League - I forget the number, but it was many years in a row.
Post-Wenger they had a blip, and for a few years they were just below the top bracket.
They have a young manager in Arteta who they like, because they have backed him in the market. I don’t know how much debt they have because of it, but it is probably sustainable, and they have done well.
They are a good candidate to win the league this year, but as things stand I would still probably back Man City to do it. But winning it year after year is hard, so Arsenal might benefit.
After this season Arsenal will not slip away like Leicester, who I consider to now be a mid table club. Arsenal will be there or thereabouts for the foreseeable future. Their squad is getting bigger now, and the quality is getting deeper, which will help them to fight in the Champions League and the Premier League.
The Premier League is getting so competitive that it is not a forgone conclusion that Arsenal will stay in the top four, but it certainly looks like they will be fighting for that, for years to come.
Leicester’s success was less out of the blue than most viewed it as. It’s very similar to what we’re seeing with Newcastle this year - a team who ended the previous season on an impressive run of form (9 wins out of their last 11 pulling them from certain to be relegated to comfortably midtable). They didnt really improve the following year, they just sustained that form. The difference with them and newcastle is Leicester didnt have anyone setting the pace that Arsenal and City are so they were able to win the league with what would more typically only a 3rd or 4th placed tally of points.
Arsenal’s form is far more comparable to us in 18-19. They took a step back to identify what had gone wrong, took targeted steps to right them and then were patient to allow it to build to fruition. By this year they had put enough of the pieces together that the progress you could only previously see under the covers was now clear in terms of results. They arent as good as we were when we first broke out, but if anything that gives them more wiggle room in sustaining this form because they have obvious places where they can still meaningfully improve . Imagine what they might be like next year if they find an actual RB, not a converted CB and replace Xaka with someone like Enzo.
1 Like
They might collapse under conduct charges at this rate 
Gonna stick my neck out and say Arsenal won’t win the league.
2 Likes
Police refuse to name the suspect.
They did say he had a big nose,blonde hair and a Brazilian accent.
Ahhhh… so it won’t be Richarlison then…
As he has got an absolutely Humongous nose :0)
Arsenal going very well so far. On course for deep into the 90s points. The next couple of weeks will show more, as they have some tough fixtures coming up.
I want Liverpool to win, and if not, I almost want to bin it off.
But Arsenal, a proper historic club, are preferable to the sports washers at Man City.
4 Likes
The arse talking to Brighton about signing Trossard.
Do they have any criteria?
Player who is on a free or €100m, plays more right, or more on the left, is 20ish or closer to his 30’s?
In last days they sound like a kid playing FM, on it’s way to win the title (or at least having a highly successful season, considering the season’s objectives) and then suddenly seduced by absolutely everything that moves on the market.
I guess time will tell whether they are us in 2018-19/2019-20, on the verge of success based on a good system, or just Leicester in 2015-16, a flash in the pan.
1 Like
I would say more of a Leicester.
The long road they took with the development of the likes of Saliba, Martinelli, Saka and Odegaard and the level of investment into the likes of Jesus, Ramsdale or Partey, players of required quality, in positions they genuinely needed strengthening, suggests to me that this Arsenal side is much more than a flash in the pan. That said, they still haven’t won the title, so it’s early to talk about them as a team of winners.
One question mark hanging over them is Saka’s future - if he extends, it will be a clear message to his teammates in the least that he believes in the long-term project.
Well, the long road they have taken might be a blind alley. We shall see.
Yeah, it’s still too early to say. And the alternatives to Arsenal are… Stomach churning, to say the least.
1 Like
Correct. I can’t stand Arteta but at least Arsenal are a proper club.
There are no guarantees in football, but Arsenal are much bigger than Leicester and would be more equipped to possibly keep a high level.
They’re the youngest side in the league. Managed to clean the first team squad a lot, change the culture/way of playing and are now getting results.
It’s a surprise if they win it this year, but then it would make the following season more interesting, especially after a few years of City and Liverpool (hitting levels almost like Barca and Real a decade ago).
2 Likes