Are We Still Better Than Spurs?

Yes I know, this is an Arsenal Blog, I am an Arsenal Supporter, as I assume you are too. Nevertheless a couple of days back this thought crossed my mind, I didn’t give it much thought at the time however, it was just after the Van Persie situation erupted and well there was bigger fish to fry. However the dust is beginning to settle (although by no means over!) and so I thought it was time to further ponder this thought.
Now the obvious answer from any Gooner would be Yes, Of course we are Better than those Scum down the road. I ain’t looking for the quick and easy answer and so wish to explore it to clarify, or to clarify this thought. I guess I have to start with looking at the first team squads, so to see on paper who is the best.

Arsenal:
Abou Diaby Bacary Sagna Per Mertesacker Thomas Vermaelen Laurent Koscielny Tomáš Rosický Mikel Arteta Park Chu-Young Robin van Persie André Santos Wojchiech Szczesny Theo Walcott Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Aaron Ramsey Alex Song Sébastien Squillaci Jack Wilshere Johan Djourou Łukasz Fabiański Andrei Arshavin Vito Mannone Carl Jenkinson Emmanuel Frimpong Gervinho Kieran Gibbs Marouane Chamakh Ryo Miyaichi Francis Coquelin Henri Lansbury Nicklas Bendtner Kyle Bartley Olivier Giroud Lukas Podolsk Carlos Vela
Spurs:
Heurelho Gomes Gareth Bale Younès Kaboul Tom Huddlestone Aaron Lennon Scott Parker Rafael van der Vaart William Gallas Luka Modrić Kyle Naughton Giovani dos Santos Jermain Defoe Sébastien Bassong Michael Dawson Carlo Cudicini Brad Friedel Danny Rose Ledley King Kyle Walker Jake Livermore Sandro Andros Townsend Benoît Assou-Ekotto Bongani Khumalo David Bentley Steven Pienaar Steven Caulker Jermaine Jenas Gylfi Sigurðsson Jan Vertonghen
So if we take it by departments.

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Goalkeeping: Szczesny v Friedel see’s an up and coming young keeper against possibility the most experienced keeper in the league. Neither are world-class, let’s be frank, but with Friedel hitting pension age soon one would have to say Szczesny is the better of the two, though little to separate.
Defence: An area which we have struggled in for a while now, with Spurs conceding less than we did last season, you might jump to the conclusion that their defence is better. However nobody could foresee the injuries that hit us last season and i felt had we been near full strength at the back last term things would have been a lot different. Next season’s back line should see no changes for us with a Sagna Koscielny Vermaelen Gibbs back four likely. Spurs have won the race to sign a potential Arsenal target in Vertonghen and he will no doubt replace King who was never really a permanent fixture in their side due to injuries. So a Walker Dawson Vertonghen Assou Akotto back four looks likely. With Steve Bould now our new assistant, and AVB now at he Spurs helm, what seems to be a fairly even department would seem to have swung in our favour. Or is that bias talking?
Midfield: Both Midfields at present are Top Class, any team boasting names like Wilshere Bale Song or Modric has got themselves a chance against anyone. However Modric looks to be heading on the way out, maybe Van der Vaart too, and despite adding ex Swansea player Siggi (not going to even attempt that one) we on paper have the best midfield in the Premier League. With the possibility of M’vila singing too, I can only think of one other team who can safely say they out class us in midfield. This one is ours.
Attack: With Adebayor now back at City, Spurs have sufficiently weaker attacking options, with just Defoe as their only out and out striker. We on the other hand, have Podolski, Giroud, Van Perise (Yes he is still here) Chamackh, Bentdner, Park and look set to add young prodigy Niang. No surprise here I’ve gone for Arsenal, simply because we out number them by six strikers to one!

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So yes on paper our team is better. Now onto disciplinary matters, Arsenal finished seventh on the Fair Play League Table, Spurs however finished second, so to their credit they are the fairer team! Oh and guess who was last on the Fair Play Table…… Stoke!
Finally, as I’m writing this at night at fit to fall asleep, Financial Matters. Arsenal are one of, if not, the Best run clubs in the world. We only spend what we earn and our selling of players usually involves a profit, which is essential for a business. Now some of you no doubt want to jump on the Uzbek bandwagon, and like Usmanov demand we pay over the odds for world-class player to compete with City. We should Not do this. Look here, do you notice how we want to sell our dead wood players such as Squillaci and Chamakh but can’t due to their high wages, well imagine if we were paying what City do. In a few years time City is going to go into ruin, because when they want to offload players, they can’t because of the huge wages they pay. Adebayor is on £220k a week! And they want him out! He has a long contract there, and as with the other mercenaries at City will very happily sit on the bench and collect his pay at the end of the week. It’s not just him, look at Santa Cruz, Bridge these players are still there and the only way they can get them out is on loan deals, and even then they pay some of the wage. Fair Play Rules might end up being the demise of City, as with the 25 man rule, there is going to be a lot of players at that club, not in the 25 man panel, still earning ludicrous amounts. So no, Arsenal should stick to their current policy,

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Although losing key players every year is no longer an option. I went looking o a few Spurs blogs yesterday out of curiosity, if not to troll, and by the looks of things they seem to be pretty well off. It was suggested by many that their balance of transfers over the last few seasons is plus £30 million, and add that the Modric money and who knows. They have their hearts set on players like Lloris and Adebayor, and in fairness they have the cash to sign them. Both clubs financially are doing brilliantly in business terms, but our extra revenue from the Emirates surely puts us in the driving seat.
So there you have, who knew the obvious answer, was in fact the right answer after all. Stupid Brain.

You Stay Classy Gooners…

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