I refuse to engage anyone who repeatedly lists Hargreaves along with Rio and Berbatov as major assets that need/ed replacing. Rio is still at the club and Berbatov despite doing well was never a vital part of the team. Our lack of spending relative to Citeh and Chelsea has cost us hugely. We now have only won the league 4 out of 6 times and those 2 losses were by huge margins too. Seriously, the next time you type Hargreaves - I'm putting you on ignore. It is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever come across including Neave and Cling Wrap, to discuss someone who played a bit part role in one season at the club as a major asset. You should seek out help and perhaps buy a helmet.
I think what jitty is trying to explain, and pretty poorly is that, we have seen unprecedented transfer fee (and wage) inflation since 2005. Ronaldo cost 12M pounds, Nani 14M, Robben 12M when they all moved. All of them were under long contracts. The equivalent players today are costing 30M+.
I agree and that is fine, but inflation only works when people pay the prices being asked. When we don't play that game and go and get a Cheech or a Smalling or a Young or a Kagawa we insulate ourselves from the inflated market. It is all well and good to say Young is cheap in today's market but despite that, he's much better than some guys who have gone for more than him. Same can be said for Cheech - better player than Carroll. Kagawa if we get him for anything under than 15M is a steal. Players of that ilk TODAY are going for 25M or more. The defender that Smalling will be in 2-3 years is worth a great deal more than what he cost. Evans in our team right now imo should command a Rio-esque fee.
This. You accuse me of being stupid then post this? When you don't play the game you become arsenal. This is all fine - but the obvious counter argument is that the team has declined in quality year on year since the Glazer's announced this policy. Now - Ferguson may make it work - but he certainly never has achieved this before - as the figures clearly show.
Well any sensible comparison needs to include wages. Oezil was not cheap - IIRC he was on 100k net. A good comparison would be Nasri - similar position - same market - and a player you were in for who went for 170kp/w plus 25m Its easy to say that the Youngs and the Kagawa's are great buys and will work out - Arsenal have also proven you can do that time after time. But my bet is that if you do not also pursue the mixed strategy - ultimately your squad will not be competitive with the guys who are buying a Yaya every year. This is precisely why Utd peaked right around the Moscow era. I don't think ferguson's track record shows you can develop talent fast enough not to buy in the elite names. He has never taken this approach until after Berba.
Not gonna splice - busy at work (supposed to be anyway ) - I'll address them in points. What I mean to say is that if we don't play the game -- ie, instead of buying groceries at inflated prices and make our own electricity etc, we'll be less affected by inflation than people who depend on the traditional means of supplying themselves. We might become Arsenal, but we haven't because our wage structure is better and we can keep our best players rather than sell them on. Regardless --- I think it is clear that we're going to go after an individual deal and if that happens we'd be more than able to compete. I think what is clear to me and should be to you is that we cannot right now even HOPE to compete with Chelsea or Citeh in the arms race. We've got to build with synergy and with a long-term view. Us trying to build a squad the way they do would be dangerous. It usually leads to situations like Sevilla, Leeds or Portsmouth.
Could you explain what how this chart is calculated? The dashed lines I understand (I think) but I'm not sure what the bottom lines are showing.
I think the bottom lines are showing the same(or similar) data although I'm not sure (it would help if I knew what MSq£ meant). In reality though it only serves to confuse and befuddle. I think the chart would be better if the bottom half was chopped off.
