Last year, Arsenal's vaulting ambitions unravelled in the space
of a catastrophic two-week period in February, when they lost the
League Cup final to Chelsea, slumped out of the FA Cup against
Blackburn and saw their Champions League hopes snuffed out by PSV
Eindhoven. This has prompted many to state that the Gunners are
doomed to forever be nearly-men unless they are prepared to splash
the cash as liberally as their title rivals.
"We don't believe in the benefactor model," Fiszman insisted.
"It is not a question of a one-time infusion of cash to buy player
x or player y. You actually then have salaries that are connected
to the players."
"What if they don't work out? Do you go and buy another two or
three players? Is there any end to it?
"So I think everybody, including Chelsea, knows there are limits.
Chelsea were not big spenders last summer certainly - they got our
old player Steven Sidwell on a free transfer.
"We believe in the end the self-sustaining model is the right one,
the one we have adopted and will continue adopting."
The overwhelming belief is that new Milan midfielder Mathieu
Flamini only left Arsenal for the money, but Fiszman refused to bad
mouth their former midfield gem.
"We made a substantial offer to Mathieu. It was considerable and in
line with our wage structure but he chose to go elsewhere.
"We wish him luck, thank him for what he has done for the club and
wish him all the best," he added, before insisting that the club's
strict wage structure is not that far removed from the other top
clubs.
"If you look at our total wage costs you will see they are
virtually the same as Manchester United and substantially more than
Liverpool," Fiszer continued.
"Of course we are all a little less than Chelsea who are in a world
of their own. But compared to Manchester United and Liverpool we
are good payers.
"We believe it is a team sport and we do well but we don't want the
disparity between the top and bottom earner being too big. It takes
11 people on the pitch to deliver."
Fiszman did, however, admit that last season was a massive
disappointment when one considers just how promising things still
looked going into the final stretch.
He said: "The football we played through the year created
expectations, and the fact we had a five-point lead (over United in
the Premier League) created even greater expectations so I think
everybody is sad and deflated."
"In the end that is what we all strive for. We can't win every year
and hopefully it will be our turn next year and for many years to
come."
