The crew from the sports network broke down what went wrong for the team in their loss to the team from the other side of the country. 1:45. The decision-makers of the club made a bigger decision than whether or not to release Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January. In his opinion, the attitude of the club&s London Colney training base had become a problem. The combination of his consistent goal return and infectious personality has made him one of the best strikers in the league. He was guilty of too many indiscretions. Sources insist there was no big bust-up or one particularly egregious violation of the rules, but the catalyst for the departure to Barcelona was that Arteta felt his behavior was threatening the cultural reset he is intent on delivering. The gamble was that by selling a player who had 92 goals in 163 matches for the club, they would weaken a young group not flush with goal- scoring options. According to sources, the goal for the club in the next two decades was to return to European football and get into the playoffs. The scale of the rebuild taking place features a ruthless purge of a once-bloated squad, paying peripheral or troublesome players to leave while shipping others out on loan. By the end of January, the club was in a position to play in the playoffs, and so the situation of the player asked a bigger question. The longer-term rebuild or the short-term push for qualification is more important. You can watch the FC daily on the US version of the network.
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A compromise was possible. During the winter window of the 2016-17 season, Diego Costa and Antonio Conte were at odds, but the pair patched their differences up in time to win the title. Arteta felt that the work he had done at the club in creating a more professional environment would be compromised by continuing to make exceptions for players who have been stripped of their club captaincy.
When he was asked about his former strike partner in April, he said he was not friends with him. People don't know Pierre-Emerick. They know the person.
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Arteta was able to work with Pierre-Emerick. The manager thought that the latter was now the dominant personality. When the opportunity came to ship him out late in the window, the club acted quickly, paying up a large portion of his contract.
It was a big call because of a reluctance to rush into signing a replacement with no preferred option. Instead, the squad was streamlined to reflect the one-game-a-week programme ahead for the rest of the season, leaving the club with a small, inexperienced squad.
A run of six defeats in the final 12 games of the season meant that Spurs ran out of steam and ended up six points behind fourth-place Arsenal. Even with three games left, the advantage was surrendered by the team after poor defeats. On the final day of the season, Spurs were pipped by two points despite a win over Everton.
After signing a new contract a few weeks ago, Arteta still believes that the team is on the right track. The inquest begins when the assessment is analysed.
Did they blow it? Is Arteta right when he said that the team exceeded expectations this season, climbing three places in the table from last year, earning eight points more, and changing the squad in a way that provides foundations for future success?
The plan for the upcoming season was for qualification for European competition and a push for the top four. This summer will be a test of that calculation, with new ownership at Manchester United, new managers at Manchester City, and new Saudi-backed wealth at Spurs. There was a pre-existing pressure that influenced the approach to the campaign.
Arteta said on Friday that it was night and day if you saw the wages. We had 28 players and then you end up with 19 players in the squad.
In the summer of 2019, the director of the club described a wage bill on a Europa League budget. The wage bill for the club in June of 2016 was about $225 million, and in June of 2020 it was about $244 million.
Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Willian, and Pierre-Emerick were all given large payoffs to leave. According to sources, some players got as much as 90 percent of the outstanding sum left on their contract.
The first English club to ask their players to take a pay cut in April 2020 was Arsenal, who missed out on European football for the first time in 25 years. 55 non-playing staff members were made redundant and swathes of their global scouting network were cut. The price of tickets will go up 4% next season.
Arteta signed a three-year contract extension with the club.
The measures were designed to reflect the more modest status of the club after five years without revenue. According to sources, the club were concerned about their compliance with FFP regulations.
The club's matchday revenue had fallen as games were played behind closed doors. Although their commercial income remained largely level, the smallest of the Big Six for the same period is Manchester City, with a total income of 272m.
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Eddie Nketiah, Lacazette and Mohamed Elneny were among the players whose contract renewal decisions were deferred until the end of the season. The club spent a club-record 72 million dollars to sign Nicolas Pepe from Lille in the summer of 2019.
According to sources, Lille were prepared to accept the fee in annual instalments over five years whereas Palace wanted the fee paid in full.
In response to fan protests over the failed European Super League project, the club committed a further 140 million dollars last summer.
The pressure on Arteta to work with a smaller, younger group was made worse by the combination of all these factors. Senior figures at the club did not believe that the club would be able to play in the playoffs.
In January, there were deals being explored by the club. Senior figures at the club have played down reports that multiple offers were made for Dusan Vlahovic.
According to sources, the Gunners had a bad feeling about the deal as the representatives of the 21-year-old took a long time to reply to initial inquiries. The strong suspicion is that the plan was always to move to Juventus and that other clubs were used as a smokescreen.
The January window is something that is always wary of. They were reluctant to pursue an option that didn't fit Arteta's vision due to the wider FFP picture. It's obvious that Spurs ended up edging past their rivals with the help of two key January signings: Dejan Kulusevski from Italy and Rodrigo Bentancur from Argentina.
The three-year FFP cycle moves on with a new season, and with Europa League football back on the agenda, will look to make a number of new signings this summer. According to sources, the club wants two forwards, one of whom is versatile enough to play on the flank. Gabriel Jesus, who is valued at around 55 million dollars, and Paulo Dybala, who is available on a free transfer this summer, are among those under consideration.
If money allows, they would like to sign a centre-back and a full-back to cover for Youri Tielemans.
There will be multiple outgoings once again as Arteta continues his overhaul, while behind the scenes a cultural review is taking place in conjunction with an external consulting firm.
They were not prepared to risk everything for the playoffs, even though they were in the midst of filming a documentary. The club believes that next season they will be stronger regardless and that stabilizing the financial position can deliver more sustained success in the long term. It feels like a major sporting gamble because of the competitive nature of the league.
As it is, a season framed as "All or Nothing" ends instead with something. The stakes are high for everyone at the club next season because of the pragmatic view of their own progress.
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