da esoccer bet： While as recently as just over 12 months ago it would have been unreal to imagine Arsenal in such a precarious position where they’re fighting for both Champions League football and their future success beyond the next two seasons. But it has quickly come down to the fact that any slip up and failure to recover in the league could see the club in a situation where they’d struggle to regain a foothold in Europe’s elite competition and for the domestic title.
da dobrowin： The truth is, there is potentially so much riding on Arsenal making it into the Champions League next season, part of which stems from the fact the club need to hold on to captain Robin van Persie and hold a strong hand in rebuilding the squad. With the club sitting outside the top four in the league and the teams above them looking stronger and far more consistent, it is looking more and more likely that Arsenal are about to experience their first season under Wenger where they have not qualified for the Champions League. Even after their impressive 7-1 win over Blackburn on the weekend, there is still doubt as to whether the club are able to use that result as a springboard to launch a genuine attack on the top four. However, for once this season things are starting to look bright for the Gunners, with the return of many long-term injury absentees and the fact their top four rivals are heading into a tough patch of games. But with Arsenal there are too many false dawns and the Sunderland game on the weekend and the response against Tottenham at the end of the month will be an indication of how likely Arsenal are to getting fourth place.
Aside from the importance of extending van Persie’s contract beyond next season, it is vital from a financial standpoint that the club are in a good position to get maximum revenue and start to look like rivals of Manchester United and Liverpool rather than showing the huge difference in what they’re currently receiving. With new majority shareholder Stan Kroenke now at the club, it is likely Arsenal will look to pick up sponsorship partners a little closer to home for the American. But with the lack of star power at the club and the team’s on-field performances patchy at best, it will become increasingly difficult to negotiate deals that are favourable to Arsenal’s long-term financial stability. We’ve already seen the problems that have arisen due to the poor deals the club made during the move from Highbury to the Emirates. At the time they would have seemed a good idea, especially with the club relying on revenue from the Highbury Square properties, but fans are paying for those mistakes and miscalculations five years on through the increase in season ticket prices. The fact that Arsene Wenger also comments on the fact that the club need to make a profit every season suggests the club are way behind where they need to be on the revenue front.
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We’ve already seen how difficult Liverpool have found it to re-gain their position as a regular in the Champions League. A number of managerial changes and the ambitious spending of last summer has done little to shift Liverpool into the top bracket in the league on a permanent basis. With a numbers of factors currently holding Arsenal back in the transfer market and restricting them to players who often do not help the club progress to the next level, how much more difficult will Arsene Wenger, or whomever the manager may be, find it to help the club recover? Arsenal do not have the same brand power that Liverpool or Manchester United have, meaning once again they are limited in where they can shop. The Champions League has been extremely significant financially for club and as an incentive for players looking to sign with Arsenal, but that luxury might not be there if the club don’t recover this this season.
There have been far too many mistakes at the hands of both the manager and the board at Arsenal. Handing out big contracts to players in the hope they’d come good and stay loyal has significantly backfired; the club are now struggling to move on those players which is, in turn, taking big chunks out of the wage bill.
If Arsenal had not made it into the Champions League perhaps two seasons ago then the future would not look as bleak. But the failure to fully recover from the loss in the Carling Cup Final and the running down of key players’ contracts means qualifying for the competition is vitally important for a club who could struggle to stay afloat.
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