What club in other leagues can Arsenal be compared to?

There are a massive number of Arsenal fans here in the U.S. (they are always calling in on the Football Show on Sirius) and probably the world. It is a club that has not won the most or even second most national championships, nor have they won many, if any European championships.

What club are they similar to in other leagues? Are they like Roma or Lazio in Italy? Are they like Atlético Madrid or Athletic Bilbao or Valencia in Spain? Are they like Borussia Mönchengladbach or Borussia Dortmund in Germany? Just wondering.

Tbh! there is not a club out there like us, or even close. Would like to hear what others think though?

Maybe Schalke who have a tendency to shoot themselves into the leg and implode at the worst of times, while they have rare glimpses of astonishing greatness at times, too. The only drawback is that Schalke are still hunting their first Bundesliga title, while Arsenal did win the league not too long ago. But wouldn't the nickname for Schalke, "Champion of the Hearts" ("Meister der Herzen") qualify for Arsenal, too?

Sevilla/Valencia/Napoli/Roma/Leverkusen/Schalke/Benfica/Porto

Any 2nd tier club from top leagues out there

Marseille in Ligue 1

I think Arsenal are a bit unique. You don't see second tire teams constantly achieve the levels of competition in CL as Arsenal did constantly for years now. Also, with the economic problems gone, Arsenal should pick up a PL trophy soon.

eelir wrote:I think Arsenal are a bit unique. You don't see second tire teams constantly achieve the levels of competition in CL as Arsenal did constantly for years now. Also, with the economic problems gone, Arsenal should pick up a PL trophy soon.

I find much to agree in this post.

We have been, and are, one of the biggest and most successful clubs in England. However, we have hit a glass ceiling.

We had financial constraints for a decade. But what we learned and did, to fight with our hands tied in those years - they are things we need not do any more, but we refuse to unlearn. We refuse to stand up and take our place among the elite domestically and in Europe. I believe that is as much down to the manager, and it kills me a little to say that.

That's why we have a frustrating repetition of mistakes year after year. That's why we aren't 15 points clear on top of the league this season.

With that context, I don't find us comparable with any of the clubs mentioned in the earlier posts in this thread.

rwo power wrote:Maybe Schalke who have a tendency to shoot themselves into the leg and implode at the worst of times, while they have rare glimpses of astonishing greatness at times, too. The only drawback is that Schalke are still hunting their first Bundesliga title, while Arsenal did win the league not too long ago. But wouldn't the nickname for Schalke, "Champion of the Hearts" ("Meister der Herzen") qualify for Arsenal, too?

No. Just no.

As a Dortmund man, I refuse point blank to agree with this assessment.

probably villareal not right now, but under pellegrini a couple of years back. right now its difficult to find a match. definitely not atletico, largely because of playing style. but i think one can say atleti under simeone have been a bit more successful, in large part due to the league and ucl final appearance they had....playing style and image, i'd say maybe pellegrini's villareal, in large part due to playing style and the way both managers approached games

titosantill wrote:probably villareal not right now, but under pellegrini a couple of years back. right now its difficult to find a match. definitely not atletico, largely because of playing style. but i think one can say atleti under simeone have been a bit more successful, in large part due to the league and ucl final appearance they had....playing style and image, i'd say maybe pellegrini's villareal, in large part due to playing style and the way both managers approached games

Atletico is much better, independent of style, it's not even close.

i agree with that, which is why i said definitely not atleti. what simeone has done with that side since he got there is nothing short of amazing, considering they weren't even a consistent europa league side

Valencia when Emery was coaching them.

Roma and pre-Simeone Atletico. Huge budget, huge fan base, no results.

THat's BS, BC.

We had great results till about 10 years back.

Then we had no budget - remember the banter era when player sales was the largest contributor to our budget, apart from sky high ticket prices?

Now PL teams all have huge budgets. And we did start picking up trophies in the last couple of years. Granted, we are not winning the league yet - but that might well change this year. And we were on top of the league for a record number of days just 2 seasons back, before we fell apart in the last 3 months due to injuries.

Our squad is still under construction and not European elite yet, unfortunately, but we are definitely better off than we have been in years (since 2007/08, to be precise). One can complain about why the construction of the squad is taking so long, but at the same time, replacing 7-8 players in the same season hasn't really worked out for any team. So the gradual approach to squad evolution is also partly justifiable.

srigooner wrote:THat's BS, BC.

We had great results till about 10 years back.

Then we had no budget - remember the banter era when player sales was the largest contributor to our budget, apart from sky high ticket prices?

Now PL teams all have huge budgets. And we did start picking up trophies in the last couple of years. Granted, we are not winning the league yet - but that might well change this year. And we were on top of the league for a record number of days just 2 seasons back, before we fell apart in the last 3 months due to injuries.

Our squad is still under construction and not European elite yet, unfortunately, but we are definitely better off than we have been in years (since 2007/08, to be precise). One can complain about why the construction of the squad is taking so long, but at the same time, replacing 7-8 players in the same season hasn't really worked out for any team. So the gradual approach to squad evolution is also partly justifiable.

I don't think the players are the problem, Wenger is, your mentality is destroyed, every year is the same formality, 4th place, round of 16 in the CL, maybe a domestic cup, no one even cares. You need a top hungry manager ASAP.

Unfortunate but true

Sri if you don't win this year you never will. Can you imagine the amount of spending next year when Chelsea, Liverpool, City and United will rebuild their squads? I'm sure Arsenal won't join, and they'll be left behind.

The fact of the matter is that it has been obvious for 3 years that Arsenal need a GK, CF and DM. Good job getting Cech, but you're still playing Flamini and Giroud. Arsenal does not aim for titles, only to be "good enough".

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Sri if you don't win this year you never will. Can you imagine the amount of spending next year when Chelsea, Liverpool, City and United will rebuild their squads? I'm sure Arsenal won't join, and they'll be left behind.

The fact of the matter is that it has been obvious for 3 years that Arsenal need a GK, CF and DM. Good job getting Cech, but you're still playing Flamini and Giroud. Arsenal does not aim for titles, only to be "good enough".

Yeah it's this year or never ( at least 10 years lol ) . A new cycle will begin next year. It's crazy how just having a great GK made the team better and more confident. Overall Giroud is ok but if someone like Higuain or even someone like Mandzukic was the starting CF the team would be more dangerous. Flamini Even Milan didn't start him in his prime lol . Wenger got lucky with Coquelin turning to be that good otherwise Flamini would have been a starter.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Sri if you don't win this year you never will. Can you imagine the amount of spending next year when Chelsea, Liverpool, City and United will rebuild their squads? I'm sure Arsenal won't join, and they'll be left behind.

The fact of the matter is that it has been obvious for 3 years that Arsenal need a GK, CF and DM. Good job getting Cech, but you're still playing Flamini and Giroud. Arsenal does not aim for titles, only to be "good enough".

That is exactly the criticism I have been levelling at Wenger for a few weeks now. I completely agree with you. But this is a question of ambitionsn of the management/manager.

That doesn't necessarily equate to 'no results' as you put it in the previous post. That was the part I was specifically reacting to, when I replied. We do have results in individual games, even the big ones - we don't have the consistency over a season to win something credible. And that was not going to happen overnight anyway. But to not win the title this year would be a completely Wenger thing to do - a la, highly likely.  

Well Roma also has results - but they have finished 2nd 11 times to their 2 titles.

Lyon!!! always close but no cigar!!!

They are basically Leverkusen with a better history (history in that case = not the last years obviously).

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Sri if you don't win this year you never will. Can you imagine the amount of spending next year when Chelsea, Liverpool, City and United will rebuild their squads? I'm sure Arsenal won't join, and they'll be left behind.

The fact of the matter is that it has been obvious for 3 years that Arsenal need a GK, CF and DM. Good job getting Cech, but you're still playing Flamini and Giroud. Arsenal does not aim for titles, only to be "good enough".

Im wondering, where are all these players that mancity, chelsea, man utd etc are going to buy? lol people say this shit every year the players just arnt there for these clubs to buy. The PL is as competitive as ever and that wont be changing for a long time until one of these clubs manage to find a young superstar like messi or ronaldo.