- Apr 23, 2014
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There is no quick process for this unfortunately.
Step one is to remain in the Champion's League so that we can maintain a level of revenue that allows us to pay more in wages. Because step two is keeping hold of our best players.
We aren't (and won't be for a long time, if ever) in a position where we can afford to spend high transfer fees and be exposed to minimal impact if that high value transfer doesn't come off. Not that spending big is a guarantee of success anyway.
Our incoming transfer success ratio is pretty good. The real problem is not being able to hold on to our better players over the last decade or so and then generally wasting the transfer money we've received from selling our better players. But just imagine if Carrick hadn't gone and we'd signed Berbatov. And then we'd signed Modric and Bale etc.
If can continue to qualify for the Champion's League then we are in a stronger position to hold on to our better players as we continue to add to the squad.
In the short term it's about risk appetite. Do we pay our first team players higher wages knowing that if we did fail to qualify for the Champion's League we could be in trouble?
Personally I'd like to see us take a bit more of a risk, starting with getting Alderweireld and Rose pinned down to new contracts. Incoming transfers are always a bit of a lottery and it's going to be hard for us to guarantee a first team improvement with a new transfer. So the key to success is maintaining the quality of the existing team whilst purchasing new players and waiting for one of them new transfers to improve the first team.
Lastly, patience is also key. The fact is we are more than good enough to win the League and FA Cup now but we could improve our team by 10% and it probably still wouldn't be good enough to win the Premier League or Champion's League unless one or more of the classically "stronger" teams underperformed that season too.
Step one is to remain in the Champion's League so that we can maintain a level of revenue that allows us to pay more in wages. Because step two is keeping hold of our best players.
We aren't (and won't be for a long time, if ever) in a position where we can afford to spend high transfer fees and be exposed to minimal impact if that high value transfer doesn't come off. Not that spending big is a guarantee of success anyway.
Our incoming transfer success ratio is pretty good. The real problem is not being able to hold on to our better players over the last decade or so and then generally wasting the transfer money we've received from selling our better players. But just imagine if Carrick hadn't gone and we'd signed Berbatov. And then we'd signed Modric and Bale etc.
If can continue to qualify for the Champion's League then we are in a stronger position to hold on to our better players as we continue to add to the squad.
In the short term it's about risk appetite. Do we pay our first team players higher wages knowing that if we did fail to qualify for the Champion's League we could be in trouble?
Personally I'd like to see us take a bit more of a risk, starting with getting Alderweireld and Rose pinned down to new contracts. Incoming transfers are always a bit of a lottery and it's going to be hard for us to guarantee a first team improvement with a new transfer. So the key to success is maintaining the quality of the existing team whilst purchasing new players and waiting for one of them new transfers to improve the first team.
Lastly, patience is also key. The fact is we are more than good enough to win the League and FA Cup now but we could improve our team by 10% and it probably still wouldn't be good enough to win the Premier League or Champion's League unless one or more of the classically "stronger" teams underperformed that season too.