Hi-C
08-19-2012, 05:49 PM
After Off-Season Departures, Arsenal Opens to Familiar Script
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044385580457759 9043378961270.html?mod=googlenews_wsj (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443855804577599043378961270.html?m od=googlenews_wsj)
This time, it was Van Persie, the club captain and player of the year in the Premier League, and Song, a stalwart defensive midfielder. Last season, it was Cesc Fabregas, another club captain; Samir Nasri, the star attacking midfielder; and Gael Clichy, the French international leftback. In 2009, out went central defender Kolo Toure (another captain: Do we see a pattern here?) and center forward Emmanuel Adebayor, the second-leading goal scorer the year before.
For Arsenal fans, it has become a way of life. Their club is, in some ways, a farm team for the competition. In fact, following the transfer of Song to Barcelona on Saturday the total value of all players the Catalans have taken from Arsenal since 2000 now stands at around $185 million. You could argue that, after Barcelona's vaunted La Masia youth academy, Arsenal is its biggest source of talent, having dispatched seven players to the Camp Nou in that time.
And while this may be acceptable for many, when you're Arsenal and you boast the second-highest attendance in the Premier League and the fifth-highest revenues of any club in the world, well, it can be as hard to stomach as it is to explain. Particularly when the Gunners make sizeable profits every year.
It's not the kind of thing you want to get used to, but it's nothing new. Look back through the years and you'll find folks like Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva (2008), Thierry Henry (2007), Ashley Cole (2006), Patrick Vieira (2005) and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (2004).
All bona fide starters, all much-loved, all gone when they still had gas in the tank, as evidenced by the fact that most went on to achieve success elsewhere.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044385580457759 9043378961270.html?mod=googlenews_wsj (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443855804577599043378961270.html?m od=googlenews_wsj)
This time, it was Van Persie, the club captain and player of the year in the Premier League, and Song, a stalwart defensive midfielder. Last season, it was Cesc Fabregas, another club captain; Samir Nasri, the star attacking midfielder; and Gael Clichy, the French international leftback. In 2009, out went central defender Kolo Toure (another captain: Do we see a pattern here?) and center forward Emmanuel Adebayor, the second-leading goal scorer the year before.
For Arsenal fans, it has become a way of life. Their club is, in some ways, a farm team for the competition. In fact, following the transfer of Song to Barcelona on Saturday the total value of all players the Catalans have taken from Arsenal since 2000 now stands at around $185 million. You could argue that, after Barcelona's vaunted La Masia youth academy, Arsenal is its biggest source of talent, having dispatched seven players to the Camp Nou in that time.
And while this may be acceptable for many, when you're Arsenal and you boast the second-highest attendance in the Premier League and the fifth-highest revenues of any club in the world, well, it can be as hard to stomach as it is to explain. Particularly when the Gunners make sizeable profits every year.
It's not the kind of thing you want to get used to, but it's nothing new. Look back through the years and you'll find folks like Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva (2008), Thierry Henry (2007), Ashley Cole (2006), Patrick Vieira (2005) and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (2004).
All bona fide starters, all much-loved, all gone when they still had gas in the tank, as evidenced by the fact that most went on to achieve success elsewhere.