Pack your bags Roy

[Lecter]

Insua was a diabolical defender and thats what his job was.

So is Konchesky

Have you been watching him this season?

He makes Riise look like Cabrini (and thats saying something because Riise was **** as well)

[Taxi]

So is Konchesky, who has been woeful at the back. The thing is, we paid £5m for him and he isn't an improvement.

Thats a fair point, although I do think that he is an improvement, I dont think its £5m worth.

[Craig_H]

How many overpriced players did we have when we came close to winning the league? How many over priced players did Arsenal have when they've been winning League titles?

Chelsea as a rule of thumb have spent over the odds early when Roman took over. In the last 2-3 yrs who from the lot they bought are over priced?

They will buy experienced players but not for stupid money.

The same happened with David Ortiz for Red Sox. He was getting old but wanted a 3 yr contract for $10m a year. They just renewed his contract for $12.5m for a yr cos that's far better than paying him $30m over 3 yrs when he wont be performing at the same level for three yrs.

When we 'came close' to winning it - so we didnt win it then.

And if Arsenal had won it this side of Istanbul, i'd agree with you. Sadly they havent though.

[kemm1]

Take a look at the two teams who win the title and tell me if they have 'overpriced' players or not.

The best players are, as a rule, 'overpriced' and it's always been this way.

And as i said, to win titles, you need a mixture of youth and experience. For example, someone like Diego Forlan or Diego Milito, both top class players, but we wouldnt be in for them because of their age. Dismissing players of such quality, purely down to age, is wrong IMO.

No it's not. Expensive players like Milito at their age are finishing touches when a team has the capability of winning the League and Champions League, there is no point in us signing those types of players now. Building a strong foundation with the backbone of talented youth is the way to go.

[Craig_H]

No it's not. Expensive players like Milito at their age are finishing touches when a team has the capability of winning the League and Champions League, there is no point in us signing those types of players now. Building a strong foundation with the backbone of talented youth is the way to go.

Ok then, we'll put out a team of kids and win stuff. Because it's worked so well for Arsenal.

[kemm1]

When we 'came close' to winning it - so we didnt win it then.

And if Arsenal had won it this side of Istanbul, i'd agree with you. Sadly they havent though.

Wenger had the opportunity to sign Eto'o to complete his team and he chose not to, that's his stubborness but the general principles are correct.

[kemm1]

Ok then, we'll put out a team of kids and win stuff. Because it's worked so well for Arsenal.

See my last comment

[Craig_H]

Wenger had the opportunity to sign Eto'o to complete his team and he chose not to, that's his stubborness but the general principles are correct.

I'm sure the Arsenal fans have plenty of time to think about how correct it is. After all, they've not had to waste any time celebrating winning anything.

[destinydude]

When we 'came close' to winning it - so we didnt win it then.

And if Arsenal had won it this side of Istanbul, i'd agree with you. Sadly they havent though.

Eh?

We didn't win the League that season not because we didn't have a good enough team. The problem lay else where.

And Arsenal post Istanbul spent close to ZERO net and it is highly unthinkable that you'd even compare them to the situation I was talking about.

You don't always have to pay over the top to acquire players for a winning team. The team we had in 08-09 was good enough to win on the evidence of what we saw that year. While we didn't win it, it isn't because we didn't pay OTT for a players services.

[Craig_H]

See my last comment

Your last comment is 'the general principles are correct' - as if that proves it out of hand It doesnt. It's your opinion, i disagree. And all the sides who win things, have older players and leaders in them. Arsenal have no leaders and are known for adopting the 'youth' approach - they win **** all.

I know what side of the debate is backed up by evidence and which isnt.

[Craig_H]

Eh?

We didn't win the League that season not because we didn't have a good enough team. The problem lay else where.

And Arsenal post Istanbul spent close to ZERO net and it is highly unthinkable that you'd even compare them to the situation I was talking about.

You don't always have to pay over the top to acquire players for a winning team. The team we had in 08-09 was good enough to win on the evidence of what we saw that year. While we didn't win it, it isn't because we didn't pay OTT for a players services.

Evidently it wasnt good enough.

The best players are overpriced, 90% of the time. That is basically a fact, give or take a little on the percentage.

[kemm1]

Your last comment is 'the general principles are correct' - as if that proves it out of hand It doesnt. It's your opinion, i disagree. And all the sides who win things, have older players and leaders in them. Arsenal have no leaders and are known for adopting the 'youth' approach - they win **** all.

I know what side of the debate is backed up by evidence and which isnt.

You're still mising my point and try and explain again another time, I'm off to do some house work before my missus shouts at me again.

[Craig_H]

You're still mising my point and try and explain again another time, I'm off to do some house work before my missus shouts at me again.

I'm not missing your point, but you back it up with we 'nearly' won the league - whatever the ins and outs of it, the fact is we didnt win it. Arsenal's youth/stingy spending approach doesnt win it. Chelsea overpaid for most of their players, they win the title. United spent £90m on 3 of their key players, they win the league.

As i've said, i'm going on the evidence that's available, and it seems to back up what i'm saying.

The best players out there are nearly always overpriced - they're in high demand and wherever there's high demand, prices will soar. Why would a selling club sell a top class player for 'what he is worth' when there's likely to be an auction or premium which sends the price sky-high?

As i said before, Ronaldo wasnt worth £80m, but that's the premium you have to pay. It's always been the case, with rare exceptions, the world's best players cost big money.

[destinydude]

I'm sure the Arsenal fans have plenty of time to think about how correct it is. After all, they've not had to waste any time celebrating winning anything.

Oh **** off with your gullible BS Craig. Arsenal/Arsene chose not to spend or pay OTT because he thinks it's more important to clear the debts off now and try to win things with the squad he has at his disposal.

The way they've brought down their debts to £200m now is very very impressible.

Winning is good when you have money, but if you are planning to borrow money to win and then you struggle to pay off later you end up like Portsmouth.

Their fans aren't the happiest of chaps right now but in the next 3-4 yrs they'll have **** loads to spend on players and zero debts. All of them will then be thanking Wenger for the work and sacrifices he put in while spending nothing and yet maintaining their team in the UCL places every single yr.

[danperkins]

I'm still trying to work out how we came to give Aquilani to Juve for free and paid them £4.5m for Poulsen.

Can you imagine their faces in the board room, "we'd like to let you have our £20m midfielder for nothing, and by the way can we purchase Poulsen off you for £4.5m please".

They were probably spitting coffee out of their mouths at this stage kicking each other under the desk wondering if it was a windup.