Ivan Gazidis - an open letter
This is a letter left for us in the comments section by one of our fellow Addict readers that we thought was worthy of additional exposure:
Dear Mr. Gazidis
Before I begin, please let me state that I am in no way the type of person who has a knee jerk reaction to a football match result. However, the concerns I am about to reveal have been simmering for a while and I suspect many other Arsenal fans feel the same, some even more so.
Firstly, I am a great admirer of the way Arsene Wenger has operated under the financial constraints placed upon him due to the move to the new stadium. To have consistently delivered champions league football as a result of this has to be admired.
Although the role you now occupy is newly created, the player transfer & contract negotiations segment was performed by Mr. David Dein for a number of years until his departure in 2007. He oversaw the successful conversion of our old stadium to an all-seater in late 1994. He gave an interview in a newspaper, in which he said “we have a world class stadium – now we need a team to play in it”. Subsequently, he played a huge part in not only bringing in world class players (Bergkamp, Vieira, Henry, Pires) but also in keeping them at the club. He delivered on his statement.
Your tenure so far has brought in players like Arshavin and Vermaelen, and we are ever so grateful for the important part you played in recruiting them. However, the following points are causing the fans some anxiety, and although I do not expect you to divulge answers to each and every one, I do hope that you will take them on board and consider their implications.
• The number one goalkeeper (Manuel Almunia) has made some grave errors of judgement, particularly in the big games, and his record in coming out for crosses and making match defining saves is somewhat few and far between (I can only think of Manchester United away in the Champions League last season). He has cost the side points (both Manchester United games this season), and our perception of him is that he does not instill confidence in our defenders. With both Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone having done better than Almunia in the games they have played, is it not ideal for the manager to give them a chance seeing as our current goalkeeper is not making a positive difference?
• Our player options up front have been decimated with multiple injuries, yet no reinforcements have been brought in, even on loan to just cover for the amount of time that the injuries will take to recover (namely the absence of Robin van Persie). Why are we constantly told that there is money to spend (“up to £30m on one player if Arsene so chooses” – quoted from Peter Hill-Wood) but when there are options to bring in one player on loan (Klaas Jan-Huntelaar) we still stick to our depleted resources, the folly of which was laid bare last Sunday when we created chances but had no one to put them away
• The impression I get is that the defensive side of our game is lacking in that we do not know how to play when the opposition has the ball. If Arsene cannot adequately address this on the training pitch himself, would it not be prudent to bring in a defensive coach who can? We did employ Martin Keown in 2005-06 to do such a thing, and the result was that we did not concede one goal in 6 Champions League knockout games involving Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal.
• I do not advocate a laissez faire attitude to transfer spending, but without requisite investment in our squad at times which require for it to happen, we run the risk of being left behind. By all means, if the young players are maturing and fulfilling their potential then all is well and good, but competition for places is a good thing in that it eradicates complacency and makes the players try harder. What really rankles with us is that Manchester United no longer have the services of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, with Chelsea’s ageing squad a year older, but the games in which we have played them this season have showed no signs of us catching them up in terms of ability to challenge them. This is not acceptable as one of the things Arsene has said is that the team will mature with experience, something we (the fans) have not yet seen. If we were to play either of these sides in the Champions League this season, then it is not inconceivable that our team will get humiliated once more.
• With a majority of fans skeptical about our chances to challenge for (let alone win) the remaining two competitions that we are involved in, there is a huge risk that many will vote with their feet and simply refuse to renew their season tickets for next season. When they already pay the highest prices in the whole of the division, and with the constant selling of the future that Wenger always falls back on, with no player investment or big name players that we can look to when games like last Sunday are going against us, then you really cannot blame them. We pay the wages of these players, but when you realize that the performances of players like Almunia and Denilson will not see them replaced in the starting eleven, then it appears that Wenger is more concerned with protecting their morale than trying to get our club at a competitive level.
I apologise if I have overstepped the mark in my criticisms, but these are valid concerns for us Arsenal fans. Please can you ensure that these are relayed back to Arsene Wenger, and that the trust of the fans is seen not to be taken for granted.
Many thanks for your time in reading this.
DA
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Reader Comments (25)
That should do it. :rollseyes:
WOW
as good and accurate a letter as i have read for a while, and is does not involve the sack wenger line which is a relief!!
as the letter says we can see the problem and make good enough suggestions for the answers, but the management seem unable to do the same.
on the website today we were very very close to signing a player on the last day of the transfer window this sort of news really pisses me off as there are 31 days in jan , so we do not need to rely on the first day in feb
any clues to who it was!!!
as for sunday result no idea how it will turn out but hope Almunia saves a penalty for his own career!!
is this actually from mr gazidis because it seems to sound alot like what i have read on this website recently!
also if it is then i think he would have sent it to wenger before the window ended doesnt make sense to send it out now.
lol never mind miread it good opinion though!!
god i cant spellx MISREAD
I've heard it was Sorenson from Stoke, but because they didn't wrap up the deal for Berovic from Pompy till late in the day the deal couldn't go through in time.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't loan deals still be done outside the window???
Absolutley Spot on, as a season ticket holder and have seen have immense sucess in the last 15 years and some disppointing results, but i cannot see a light at the end of this tunnel unless something happens and soon.
Excellent! You are right for what you are saying,totally agree with you but who will consider your analysis!No one!AW need to aproched by Hood and the boad so that he undergo on pressure!HE SHOULD BE RECOGNISED FOR WHAT HE DID BUT PUNISHED FOR WHAT IS DOING NOW!
And the players who plyayed badley at the game should not get chance to play the next match!
For Example of AlexF can't play Denilson,Aluminia and Rosicky after poor performance showed last week!!Players should fight for their places notb just a place for granted!
Excellent! You are right for what you are saying,totally agree with you but who will consider your analysis!No one!AW need to aproched by Hood and the boad so that he undergo on pressure!HE SHOULD BE RECOGNISED FOR WHAT HE DID BUT PUNISHED FOR WHAT IS DOING NOW!
And the players who plyayed badley at the game should not get chance to play the next match!
For Example of AlexF can't play Denilson,Aluminia and Rosicky after poor performance showed last week!!Players should fight for their places notb just a place for granted!
Alan s - loan deals within the same division cannot be done outside of the transfer window. Also, interestingly enough, I think that if you load a player to a team in another country I think that has to be for a season, not 6 months.. Don't quote me on that though..
PS: What a stupid letter.. Honestly, why does every Tom Dick and Harry think they know the first thing about how a club is run?! Just let them get on with it and thank your lucky stars that we had the pleasure of watching the greats play in red and white over the last 10 years or so. Ask any gooner, would you rather be in our position or Spurs'?
Of course I want Arsenal to win everything, but win or lose I support the team and back the manager to do what's best. Stop throwing your toys out the pram every time we lose a game!
Good letter and say's everything the fans are pleading for. But will it have any effect? I don't think so. What we need is regime change. Can we borrow Tony Blair and George Bush for a weekend?
good letter. i dont think you overstepped anything. polite and accurate. GO GUNNERS!!
The board are right behind Arsene. He is already thinking about adding to the squad. His targets seem to be up and coming players not established ones. Money has been spent lengthening contracts of existing players. Some of whom may not really be worth the money. Arsene wants to build teams so his approach wont change. Fans who are not happy with the situation will have to like or lump it.
This letter shd be read by AW. It highlights the frustrations of the fans the last five years.As GG said why did he change the policy that was so successful pre 2005. What is he trying to prove. At any other club he would have been told to fo but not at Arsenal.
Hopefully he would read this and act accordngly.For starters dont play chelsea at thier own game. Park the bus.It is anti soccer but it helps to win matches. Cut out the stupid marathon passing and go back to henry's time . Two/three/four passes and shoot.
Shoot any rebound into goal. As i write I am trying to stop myself taering my own hair out due to last weekend's beating. Another humiliation and i will have lay off Arsenal until AW is moved out.
Hahahaha.. what a joke.. ' I am not one to have a knee jerk reaction after a match' followed by endless lines of exactly that.. intertwined with wahhhhh, waaaaaah, Manchester Utd beat us, waaaaaaaah. The fact that you attempt to discuss tactical matters with Gazidis (something he will never have ANY say in..) shows your somplete lack of understanding.. Waaaaaaaaaah waaaaaaaaaaaaah. Yes it was polite and well put forward, but that doesnt cover the fact that it was whiny and extremely speculative.
Thanks for playing!
Mr Gazidis should not be reading this article/letter. He should be making an appointment with Mr Capello and saying..."After the world cup, you don't want to be dealing with the likes of John Terry and his trouser snake...how about trying to make the biggest club in the biggest city in Europe the Champions of Europe? Come to Arsenal and M Wenger can take up the French National Team role when Mr Domenech is sacked in July!"
Now this would prove Arsenal had a plan B! Also this might just persuade Arshavin and Fabregas to stay. With those two, Van Persie, Vermaelen and a couple of Capello imports and a Capello style winning mentality, we might just be competing with the best again!
Chris, you are officially dead to me.
Interesting and mainly sensible points but a load of pretentious nonsense to suggest it should be a letter to Mr.Gazadis.Absolute rubbish to suggest that a supporter(possibly)must be entitled to tell the club who should be played,who should be dropped and what the buying and selling moves should be.Stick to Championship manager and dont ever believe that you have any right whatsoever to have an imput into the running of the club.Dont give it the old one about paying for your seson ticket cos if you dont like it just clear off and let one of the enormous waiting list replace youThe .Sky money might matter to the club but sure as hell yours doesnt.
Huntelaar can't get into the Real squad. Why should Arsenal buy him? If you were building the best club side in the world- would you spent 15m on a good average mid-twenty year old? Is he world class-no! Is he going to be world class-no! Is he a future Henri- no! During the summer, Muppets were naming everybody. I had to laugh at the Cana suggestion. If AW does not buy there is a good reason for it. Play a game with yourself. Try and work out which one of loads of reasons it is. It is good fun-- honest!! But I have to nudge you into the right direction and suggest that most world class players are either not available or bad value for money. Only fools bother with those.
I tend to agree with Arshavin. 5.7 guy trying to get into 6.4, 6.7 defense.
Remember the humiliation by ManU in the CL 2008/09, no improvements.. when we realize Arsenal's comment about goal rate, our defense has produced more goals than offense. the goals came against average teams..
Since last 4 years we havent had such a bad record against the top four teams...
The naievity that AW relates to the players should be directed at himself for believing that this group of players are good enough to win anything.
His downfall is in the stubborn belief that he is always right all the time.
You cant fool all of the people all of the time.
Totally agree with the well put out letter, but, I think MONEY is the reason for the last minute deal - just like lastminute.com. It's all about money so as they can get the best cheap deal!!! Last sunday Arsenal was just lightweight and that was enough to say that we needed reinforcement but somehow it would have been too late to add to the squad as it would have taken the new player time to get used to play therefore not a quick solution. I wish arsenal good luck and hope they get something at chelski, Come on U Gooners!!!!
I agree with alot of the comments! One thing that really bothers me is that Wenger
has his hands tied when it comes to the funds. The reason Hillwool-over our eyes
says that he has 30 million available to spend is to keep us fans quite! I say lets put the pressure on the Board and get them out and let Usmanov & Dean take over the club they both love Arsenal and want our team to compete at the highest level. Gazedes is not that great! he got Arsharvi? I doubt it that was wenger and Vermaleen although a great player i think a keown/adams type player would have shored up the defence and definately a world class keeper and a solid midfielder along side Song/Fabregas.
i hate arsenal..arsene was cheated..dont waste your money for watching arsenal
wanker is a delusional dickhead...along with his in arsene we trust supporters