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Arsenal CEO 'not happy' with season

Roar Guru
12th April, 2015
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1504 Reads

With the biggest trophies set to elude Arsenal again, chief executive Ivan Gazidis is admittedly “not happy” with this season so far.

And Gazidis fears the Gunners and their usual top four rivals will find it harder in future just to maintain a perennial presence in the Champions League qualification places, believing the surge in the television cash will make the Premier League even more competitive.

Arsenal have not won the league since 2004 but have been propelled to second this season with their first eight-game winning run since that title triumph. Earlier setbacks, though, contributed to Chelsea holding a commanding lead.

And Arsenal’s shortcomings were exposed in Europe again with a round of 16 elimination in the Champions League, which the Gunners have never won.

Asked to assess this season, Gazidis said: “We are not happy but we are going to keep pushing to the end and see how far we can go.”

The season could still end in silverware by defending the FA Cup, which produced Arsenal’s first title in nine years last May, but that competition’s status has diminished.

The talk for the past decade from Arsenal’s leadership – particularly during the costly process of building the Emirates Stadium – has been that they are on the verge of clicking and matching the success enjoyed between 1998 and 2004 again.

“We are happy with the way the squad has developed and we are very focused how we can make a positive end to the season,” Gazidis said.

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“It’s a relatively young squad so it will continue to improve.”

More than $A234 million was spent on players in the past two years, largely on attacking players Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

“We were trying to put the jigsaws into the right places at the beginning of the season. I think everyone can see those pieces are now beginning to fit.”

But even Manchester City discovered that heavy spending does not offer a guaranteed path to glory, with the Abu Dhabi-owned club set to fail to defend a Premier League title again.

And Southampton have been the surprise package of the campaign, sitting in fifth place despite seeing many of stars prised away by clubs like Arsenal in the offseason.

“I think the league is going to get more and more competitive,” Gazidis said, “You are going to see more Southamptons, more challenger teams coming in because revenue has gone up.”

A 70 per cent leap in domestic TV rights to more than $A10 billion for the three seasons starting in 2016-17 could see even the bottom-placed finishers earn $A180 million in broadcast revenue. The champions could rake in more than $A260 million.

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