OK, he’s signed two players.
I know he’s signed two players.
Arsene signed Nasri and Ramsey.
Two promising kids.
Vela is back from loan.
Make that three promising kids.
I’ve realised that this summer’s transfer window is a misnomer.
It’s not a window. In my scheme of things, a window is quite a big thing. You can open your curtains and see a lot. You can open the window and let in fresh air, pets, flatmates, neighbours, takeaway deliveries, birds, wasps, burglars. You can let the world in through a window.
Unfortunately, this is not a window.It’s too small to be called a window.
To me it’s more like a letter box. I’d call it a slit.
That’s the bad news. The transfer window is really just a little slit, a few days at the end of August. The deals you’ve been reading about will probably happen after August 11.
On Wednesday morning a friend said, “I’ve given up on him signing a centre half. I’m flummoxed.”
I still think Arsene will sign two experienced players in the transfer slit.
He’s playing a waiting game to save money. He’ll wait till prices drop.
Saving money is what Arsenal FC is all about. Saving money is in Arsenal’s DNA. In 1960 they could have signed the most exciting player in Europe, Denis Law. He wanted to play for Arsenal. But they sent assistant manager Ron Greenwood to talk to the Scot, who was playing for Bill Shankly’s Huddersfield. Law signed for Manchester City, then Torino, then Manchester United.
His friend Joe Baker played for Arsenal in a side that never won a trophy because it was nowhere near good enough to win a trophy.That was a waste of a centre forward with phenomenal pace, skill and shooting ability.
They let Liam Brady’s contract expire and he left and they didn’t replace him. They let Frank Stapleton go to Manchester United in the same way two years later and didn’t replace him either. The directors, in their wisdom, decided that, with Liverpool at their peak, they could spend a lot of money and still not win the title, so they decided to make sure they didn’t win the title by not spending and not competing.That attitude continued and did not change until David Dein joined the board in 1983.
In those days you had to win the title. You had to be champions to play in the European Cup.