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Originally Posted by demonrail666

Not sure Arsenal came close to bankruptcy in recent years.

It's hard to know what to think of them at the moment though. They can't compete financially with Chelsea or Man City and they're still probably slightly behind Man U and Liverpool, making their consistent qualification for the CL a real feat, and something Wenger should rightly be praised for. But at the same time there's a perception that they could be doing even better, if only Wenger would sort their defence out and show some willingness to evolve tactically.

You can see why the owners love him. He keeps them within budget while traditionally guaranteeing CL football each year. The disconnect now is with him and the fans, who seem to think he's been in the job too long, and whose ideas are now out of date. I think they'd welcome Klopp's style of play and personal dynamism, so long as they also saw signs of improvement.

Liverpool sacking Rodgers would be far too knee-jerk, IMO. He's not as good as the previous season suggests but still a very good young manager in charge of a team in a similar position as MU, ie a 'giant' that can no longer compete financially with the 'new money' clubs. Suarez made them look better than they were and it's now fair to say the Balotelli gamble didn't come off, and his signings generally haven't been great. Fact is though, whoever's in charge there, they're no longer in a position to attract the best players, or hold onto those that (like Suarez) had for a while passed under the mega-clubs' radar.

But that just puts them in the same position as about 99% of clubs right now (including Dortmund, Arsenal, and even MU).

oh shit sorry i fucked up my sentence and didn't inject dortmund as the new subject when i started talking about low morale and bankruptcy (i've added an edit now). what i meant to say was, i don't know how arsenal's regular mediocrity compares to dortmund's current dire straits-- they're evidently in crisis, even if that hasn't shown up at the CL yet.

but thanks for that very enlightening reply regardless.

just one thing to mention/ask about: a couple of years ago when i was looking into arsenal (they still had gervinho and they had brought on cazorla and then i think didn't have podolski yet) there was this talk that wenger was sitting on a pile of money unwilling to spend it. wonder if that has changed or is he totally priced out by the petrodollars at this point.

balotelli-- poor fucker! i feel sorry for him now, but then again he has his megamillions and a house with a name. so i really don't feel so sorry. but it has to wound his ego. he used to be so good! seriously.

as for briging on klopp to either arsenal or liverpool it would be a huge switch from their wannabe tikitaka approach and more in line with your english traditions so the fans might love him, but i wonder how long it would take to take it all apart and implement his system. total reverse course.

but at this point, i'll be totally honest, i don't know what to think of him-- how much of the current debacle is his own doing? today/yesterday the club president (or chairman of the board or whatever) gave some speech to shareholders saying the players had to get their shit together-- basically laying the blame on them. but is it the players? or is it that people have figured out klopp's schemes and neutralized them?