If you want to know about how supposedly non-competitive German football is, both HSV and Schalke with be in BL2 next season. Outside of Bayern, the league is massively competitive.
Exactly! We were the club that built success organically, and then Chelsea went from bankruptcy to spend 1bn and took away titles our elite group had a good chance of winning. That inflation was also what caused Man U to build a mega squad - peaking around 2008 We couldn't reasonably compete with any of that - we were the ones who got screwed.
That was our whole long-term strategy. It’s why the board sold to Stan. It’s why we built Emirates. We wanted to expand but to operate within our means. Then Chelsea happened, and they literally bought the league. It had a domino effect that was capped off by City being taken over by owners who play with monopoly money who gave the likes of Wayne Bridge, a left back, £100k per week, which is around the same as the top attackers in the league made at the time. Wayne.Bridge! They messed up the league so badly that people expect clubs to pay players “market” prices despite recognizing that many in the market are playing with unlimited money. It’s not fair and hasn’t been for a long time.
I'm passed the notion of it being our divine right to be big and consistent challengers. I started supporting this club in the oil money era so all I've ever known is arsenal being 1 step away. These days we're a mile away. I checked out after Wenger left and it was the appointment of Arteta that drew my attention back. The idea of an arsenal player steering the ship intrigued me and I've genuinely enjoyed following them this season despite how poor we've been in spells. I love watching the young players and I believe with more time Arteta can turn us into a top-4 challenger. But he truly has inherited a bizzare mix match of players that were assembled with no clear vision.
I didn't watch the Everton match, but I just saw the highlights. All I'll say is I'm ready for Ceballos to go.