So I went on Twitter on Wednesday night, following the disappointing 0-0 draw to Bolton, and came across a rather interesting tweet by @JoshPillingg which read ‘would you rather win something and finish fifth? or go trophy less AGAIN and finish fourth?’. As usual I like to answer questions posted up about my team and tweeted back – go trophyless and finish fourth.
Now I know we’ve gone nearly 7 years without a trophy and the Arsenal faithful, players and the club itself would love to end the drought which has loomed over us since 2005, but if we were unable to secure Champions League football next season then it could have massive ramifications on our beloved club in general.
Although the poorly named Europa League is classified as European football, it doesn’t come anywhere close to the Champions League – the biggest European competition in the world. Now if we don’t manage to acquire this then I’m guessing a lot of our current players, namely Robin van Persie who has around 16-17 months left to run on his current contract, wouldn’t like to play on Thursday nights on Channel 5 or ITV4, thus consider his future. And I’m pretty confident in saying that our potential future targets wouldn’t like it either, therefore not being able to attract the big names. So in essence, in order to attract the top players, keep our stars and be considered a big boy club around Europe, finishing fourth over acquiring a trophy (unless it’s the Champions League cup itself) is an absolute necessity in my opinion.
As well as what I mentioned above, financially we stand to lose out on a helluva lot of cash. I know we don’t see it as much as we would like, but the income of being involved in the Champions League is vital for the stability of our club, despite what that skinhead Ivan Gazidis and the stingy board say. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail on how much we actually acquire, in terms of cash, by being apart of the Champions League, so I opted for the lazy option and found a page which explains the financials a lot better than I ever could (click HERE to view this document).
Ideally this season I would like us to a secure a top four spot and bag a trophy (FA Cup would do me). However, if you gave me the choice of ending our trophy drought and finishing fifth, thus playing on Thursday nights, or going one more season without silverware but attaining Champions League football, then I would always opt for the latter option, no questions asked.
What do you guys think on the matter? Leave us your thoughts and comments below.
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5th and win the champions league obviously!!! Then we go in te comp next year anyway!!!
I’m finding it hard to remember what big name actually gets signed for us. I question the argument that if we are out of champions league it will affect us attracting world class or big name talent. We don’t buy stars, we make them…at least that’s the quote I’ve heard a number of times. If it’s to attract the hottest young talent, then playing time still is a big factor. I don’t like it, but that seems the direction we have been on for some time now.
I think we need to win something whats one year without champions league , the players need the experience of winning also getting a first trophy at the emirates , hopefully we get both but i’d like a first trophy in 7 years then champions next year.
Then champions league winners lol I can dream.
It is vital, IMO, that we finish in the top 4 of the EPL in order to guarantee CL football next season. Otherwise I can see an exodus of our top stars as well as the distinct possibility that Wenger will also depart.
Without CL football and its financial reward, the attraction of signing for Arsenal by top class targets will be lost over the foreseeable future.
Why are the two things deemed mutually exclusive? What’s wrong with trying to do both?
FA Cup and 7th would be fine by me, we don’t buy big players so forget the attracting them bit.
Yeah, the only way I’d be happy with 5th place and a trophy is if the trophy is Champions League. The Champions league is vital for the stability of the club going forwards and it’s survival is most important to me. I fear that no champions league would be a slippery slope and could lead to disaster while we still have the stadium debts especially.
It is SO obvious that remaining in the Champions League and retaining our reputation as a European power is integral! I’m sorry but to argue otherwise is foolish. Do you honestly think we are the only team looking at the young special talents? There’s competition for every player.
People need to understand how much our global reputation has improved under Wenger and how important that is.
Yoh gunners wil be lost if dont qualify cl