Why oh why do they bother!

Alexander Hleb warned Arsenal last night that they will continue to lose many of their best players every year because of financial reasons. The Belarus midfield player left the Emirates Stadium to join Barcelona last summer because he was dissatisfied with the club’s contract offer, the same reason that Mathieu Flamini gave for leaving to play for AC Milan.

Robin van Persie has yet to agree to a new contract and Emmanuel Adebayor’s future is again in doubt even though he signed a new deal 12 months ago, with Hleb arguing that more departures are inevitable. Arsenal have the third highest wage bill in the Barclays Premier League after Chelsea and Manchester United but operate a strict structure, with Cesc Fàbregas at the apex.

“Arsenal have had a lot of problems this year,” Hleb said. “They have the same problem every year with players leaving. They have a great team, but at the end of the season players leave and the boss has to find a new team and buy new players. This is not easy.

“You know better than me why players leave. Finances are always an issue there, but you’d have to ask Arsenal and Arsène [Wenger, the manager]. A lot of the problem is to do with money. Players arrive at the club, have a good season and get a lot of better offers from other teams. A football life is short and, of course, you want to enjoy football, but together with this you need to earn money.” (Times Online)

So what can we deduce from these comments, other than the fact that Alexander Hleb is a football mercenary, well i think we can also deduce that some former Arsenal players can’t help giving their pennies worth, but who the hell is asking them for their f**king words of wisdom anyway?

As for Hleb, talented though he undoutedly was, he left the club in search of a bigger bank balance and i hope to god he got it because he sure as hell doesn’t get much of a look in when it comes to first team matters. So was that a clever move for you Mr. Hleb? “A football life is a short one” well in that case why did you waste a year of your career warming your arse on the Nou Camp bench having started just six La Liga games this season?

Mathieu ‘Traitor’ Flamini is another one who stuck his nose into this whole issue earlier in the season and guess what? He isn’t in the first team very often either so was that a good move for you either?

There is no doubting there are some financial issues to take care of at the club but if the current mode of operation exposes the money chasing attitudes of some players then i am all for it, hopefully we will see similar quotes from Emmanuel Adebayor next season as he finds himself alongside Flamster in the San Siro dugout!

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