Mirror Journalist John Cross Is The Latest To Have A Dig At Arsenal
The Sunday Supplement is a weekly show on Sky Sports and yesterday John Cross of the Daily Mirror was a guest. Personally I am not a fan of John Cross as he continually criticises Arsenal and yesterday was no different.
He started off by saying, “They’re not right are they. Yesterday was supposed to be the new dawn after selling Fabregas and Nasri. The new players are all installed, five in the squad, two starting, Arteta and Mertesacker starting. I thought Mertesacker played well but Arteta, rather like Arsenal, faded badly after starting well.”
Give them a chance for gods sake. It was there first game together and Arsenal’s first game for two weeks. What do these people expect? Miracles!
Cross then went on to say, “We saw all the old nerves come back, with just a slender 1-0 lead, after the break; the fans started getting edgy, a little bit restless. I think Arsenal have got an awful long way to go back. Arsene Wenger looked flat afterwards. Yes, they’ve done some rebuilding work, but they’ve not replaced the quality. Yes, they are irreplaceable and I think Arteta was a good buy and I think Mertesacker will be a good signing, but it says a lot when Szczesny was their best player.”
Well at least he thought that Arteta and Mertesacker were good signings. That’s good coming from him!
Cross was then asked about whether Arsenal had been cut adrift from the two Manchester clubs. He said, “I do, from a financial point of view. They can’t compete financially on that level. I think in previous campaigns with previous Wenger teams he’s built, he’s always developed the younger players who have them come through and taken Arsenal on to great success and then perhaps sold on. It’s six years now without a trophy for Arsenal and that in itself is a real pressure for Arsenal. I can’t see them being title contenders I’m afraid. They’re going to have to be content with some silverware this season and I don’t know if that’s going to be enough to appease the fans. But more importantly the standard for Arsene Wenger throughout his reign has been the top four. Now this season is the first time, I think, that is really under threat. That is the crux of the whole of Arsene Wenger’s managerial reign and that is most important for him.”
We could compete with United and City on and off the pitch, but it seems as though the current Arsenal board are not prepared to splash the cash. If a club like Arsenal offered Eden Hazard or Yann M’Vila a certain amount of money, but another club offered twice as much where would they go? We will never get those types of players unless we change our philosophy. Until we do we will always be behind the likes of City and United I’m afraid.
Yes we may not win the league this season Mr Cross, but we will certainly give it our best shot, and when we do win a trophy or two, hopefully sooner rather than later, I wonder if you and your newspaper will congratulate us. I doubt it!
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LoL, The Sunday Supplement, this show is shite, seriously these guys are just journalists who like football, why does anyone take them seriously, why does anyone believe they know more about football than you or I.
They are in the no abit more because of there contacts but when it comes down to general football knowledge I would take on any of these twats, I read so much crap in the papers that 75% of ends up being forgoton false information in 3 months time to no that these guys are not worth worrying about.
In a few months time they will move onto Tottenham or Liverpool, English journalists = negative bastards.
They are the reason England never perform in competitions, pre game the press will talk the England team up, post game they will run them down, what ever happened to supporting your country win lose or draw, that not in a journalists nature, there sad little men who no bugger all about bugger all they just have the power to write whatever they want and get away with it…….
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Arsenal should buy young and talented players and keep them when they come of age.
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as an asian i know well who piers morgan is,but not this john or whoever he is…..
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John cross? just ignore d loser guys.
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Im used to this now its been goin for long enough, we used to be dirty arsenal when we used to get alot of red cards during the viera days then we only bought foreigners and we only play pretty and cant keep a lead and blah blah blah da list goes on and on. I just hope at the end if the season we can let these idiots swallow their words and hang their heads and finally shut them up.
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we have been writen off every season for aslong as i can remember so whats new ? this squad was on the brink of greatness last season and thats with fab who managed 6 to 8 real cesc like displays and a nasri who started great but then offered nothing come crunch time, point is gooners on paper this squad is actually a hell of allot stronger than last season and fab and nasri’s contributions were minimal at times so why the hell cant we compete? weve done it for years without spending big money and we will again!
All the squad needs is confidence and we the fans can give it to them by just supporting no matter what happens, fans were great against swansea and united so lets keep backing this team and its sure to come good.
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Come on guys, I agree with John Cross! End of!!! ManU and City were just as jaded as we were coming back from international breaks but did they not both do a grand/stellar job on the opposition? U bet they did! Even Spurs went away and won by a greater margin! Our goal difference with Man U albeit at this early stage of the competition is a whopping 22! How can we ever make up the difference.
Simply put Arsene Wenger does not have a clue but who do we get to replace him? That’s the big Q 6 years without trophy and counting at this rate. I pray not!!!!
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Why does it seems that every media house in the Great Britian area hate Arsenal FC, stupid pundits should judge players at the end of the season not after one or two matches.
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im a life long arsenal fan, and this news reporter is 100% right, we have got big problems, the sooner we realise the sooner we can get over it.
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Can someone just explain the phenomenon at Arsenal:
How come we were able to afford the high salaries of quality players like Bergkamp, Pires, Ljundberg, Henry etc etc at Highbury and suddenly can’t do so anymore at the Emirates stadium, which was supposed to enable us to compete on a much greater scale than at Highbury!?!?!
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@get it ‘on with de goonerboy’
Shouldn’t you be writing in a homo blog? You deviant!!!
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Gunnersfan, U cannot afford the money anymore because u just built a stadium and u need to pay for your building loan. I believe ArsenalClub has done tremedously well in spite of the very difficult economic situation.OR would you rather pay high wages and later go into administration….?
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all of these craps will only make us stronger….
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So Kaan says John Cross is right! I do not know what Kaan’s ‘life long Arsenal fan’ phrase adds to the agreement with Cross. Kaan, let us hear from you how you would go about solving the supposed problems that you agree with. What is important for me as a Gooner is that when fans comment on problems, they supply solutions. Coming up with solutions, for me certainly, shows me whether one is pukka or a faux fan. I love my team and I detest criticism without justification. We have had it rough from the media, but when fans talk without reason then it gets to me
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The answer to the ‘John Cross conundrum’ seems to be this. Yes- he is right about Arsenal’s inabilty to compete now! But a few seasons ago we could. What has changed? It’s nothing to do with Arsenal or their finances. It is about the effects of the new money of others. As AW said today– financial doping by the big five plus a growing number of privately owned clubs prepared to spend big– some new ones in Russia, a new one in Spain and France –adds up to an inflated market with these teams hoovering up the good players into massive squads. Liverpool have found a way to join in. Will QPR be the next- or Dohar or MLS? As things stand- the clubs aforementioned will spend a billion more than Arsenal over the next 10 years on transfers and wages. The ‘old rich’ clubs did precisely that over the past 10 years. Count the true costs of the the ManU squads over the last 10 years for example. The opulent over-payments and wastage are staggering –and Fergie gets knighted! By that criterion, AW should be deified for what he has done on as quarter as much! Just don’t expect Cross or Samuel or the other mercenaries to add decorum and balance to the proceedings. They are fantasists- obsessed by money. Stoke has spent a bob or two and now it’s ‘good ole Stoke–welcome to the club! They are spineless fish. Don’t buy it– it stinks when you fry it!! The media bends the truth like a black hole bends space. Stick to the net if you want balance and it is the only place you will find the truth about anything.
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it is really painful to see my Arsenal being destroyed by its own directives.
And Wenger might be the guy caught in between but his tactics remain really poor.
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The fact is even if Arsenal offer higher wages they will never compete with Man City, Chelsea or even United who have the highest revenue stream of any sports team in the world. Fans seem to think it’s a simple case of better management at the rival clubs but it’s not down to that. Add to that the TV revenue generated by Barca and Real having their own TV deals and Arsenal are well down the list in terms of spending power. The good thing is that the youngsters are some of the best in the world and i still see Arsenal as superior to Spurs or Liverpool. It all depends on Financial Fair Play. There is going to be a battle between the clubs with billionaire funding and FIFA at some point over the next 12 months which will determine where the power lies. This is no exaggeration, if Man City are allowed to basically ignore the FIFA FFP regulations they will be saying to the world FIFA no longer has the authority to govern football, the power is now with 4 or 5 clubs, not including Arsenal. As much as i am suspicious of FIFA that would be a very sad day for football.
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@toby. Excellent comment, would’ve given it 10 thumbs up if allowed to.
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Reading an article from a journalist who has never played soccer is like trying to tell the time by looking at the ‘second hand’ of the Clock.
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@ Lekan Daramola
because arsenal built a new stadium – sorry to say but your argument holds no substance mate.
Don’t you realize that arsenal have increased their turnover by MILLIONS since the move from highbury and the debt is to be paid off long term? Surely you know the club is making profits yearly and are one of the richest clubs in the world!?
Good example for this year: Approx 60 million for player sales (fab, nasri, eboue, clichy etc) – Approx 40 million for players bought = £20 million PROFIT!!!
Surely some of the profits can be set aside to INCREASE the wage structure. Or should we lose key players again because we can’t remain competitive on this front?
OR perhaps AW should go down in wages so that it can be allocated to increase the wage structure.
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I can’t say what exactly players required in terms of wages and what was available according to the clubs’ income but i can tell you this. Arsenal are run by the laws of FFP, namely income matches expenditure. You say income exceeds expenditure but if they’re not putting that profit into paying off the loans which come with interest they are very silly. In my opinion as a long-term fan if the right players aren’t available i’m happy to see the money go to pay off the debts and improve the long-term prospects of the club. Eden Hazard, for example, wasn’t available this summer. Man City and Chelsea are run according to no financial rules and are free to pay whatever wages they want to pay. United are probably also playing by the rules but happen to have a much larger income stream than any of their rivals so they can justifiably pay higher wages.
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so let’s say you bought your perfect house, which obviously has interest and puts you in debt. you gonna wait till you pay off ALL your debt before you buy a car or use money to go on vacation etc?? get real mate.
as I said, surely SOME of the profits can be set aside to INCREASE the wage structure. this is not only for attracting quality players to the club but also to RETAIN our key players.
and the point is: we could afford offer the high wages of bergkamp, henry, pires etc at highbury and can’t do so anymore at the Emirates, where the club is generating more revenue.
It is truly a phenomenon.
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oh and perhaps all those fans with loans at credit institutions should wait and pay off all their OWN debts before buying the high priced arsenal season tickets, arsenal merchandise etc. not to mention helping arsenal pay off it’s stadium debt as well.
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That’s all fair but we don’t know the truth. Mata went to Chelsea because they offered higher wages, Nasri went to Man City because they offered higher wages, did anyone go to Liverpool or Tottenham because they offered higher wages ? Face facts, both Chelsea and Man City can offer 50k more per week than whatever Arsenal offer. I’m going to sleep now here in China, luckily ESPN are showing the game after it finishes but that’s still 4:30am.
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