Tomkins wrote:Yet when someone asks how much you spent on your house, you don't add all the houses you've ever bought together, do you?
If you own a £220,000 house, you don't say £470,000 because you add the £90,000 starter home and the £160,000 step up. That would be moronic.
Yes it would.
Tomkins wrote:You simply cannot add Rafa having spent £5.8m on Sissoko to the £18m on Mascherano, because the two were never part of the same set-up; one was bought and sold for a profit, and as with a house, the money reinvested in a step-up. If Sissoko isn't bought and then sold, Mascherano probably doesn't arrive.
Is that really too tough to grasp?
No it isn't.
This thread is interesting because it shows at the thread starter how you can pick some numbers and defend those as something good. You can even get a bit arrogant and condescending like Tomkins in those questions.
Similarly someone could insist and defend another set of numbers is the right one to use. He might even get to the point of being condescending.
I just preffer not focusing on numbers and watch how many top class players surrounded Gerrard 5 years ago, and how many now. Remembering what were the expectations in 2005 and what are the expectations now.
Trying to bring always the positive facts as Tomkins does won't give the criticism needed to improve. But bringing always a negative view on Rafa's reign as people like Jamie do, won't allow you to analyse the situation with perspective neither. If you look always the negative you might even reach to the point of thinking that with anyone else, things would be better done.
For me there have been progress. For me we could have spent our money better. And also much worse. For me it's obvious we're competing against powerful economies like Chelsea's and Man U's, and for me it's obvious now the people's expectations are the league. Progress there is. Fast enough? absolutely debatable.