Memo to The World
By: Inara | April 30th, 2007
Memo to Rich, Thieving Clubs
To: Barcelona, Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Valencia, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Tottenham, Sevilla, Arsenal, Roma, and PSG
From: Jean-Michel Aulas, Lyon Supremo
Subject: GO AWAY
Urgency: GO AWAY RIGHT NOW, PLEASE!
To Rich, Thieving Clubs (See above list):
I am sick and tired of you poaching my best players every time the transfer window opens because you’re too lazy to develop your own. Excuse me, but we’re the ones who found them first in obscure clubs like Guingamp, Vasco, and Vitesse Arnhem. And then we spent another few years training them to be the best.
I can’t even go an entire day without hearing about interest in my players. Of my 26 man squad, only two haven’t been linked with a move away in the past few weeks. Just two. I have no choice but to spend all day reassuring the world that my players aren’t going anywhere while also being forced to increase their salaries entirely too often. Like every hour on the f***ing hour.
But I’m a man who lives in the real world. I know that at the end of the day, Lyon is a small fish in a big European pond. But just because we’re small doesn’t mean we want a small bank account.
So complain all you want about the high prices I place on my players, but I have every right to overrate them and say they are worth 38 million. You offer unfair salaries that you know I can’t match – do you honestly think I’ll take it sitting down?
I have to defend my club. Lyon is not a garage sale where you can walk in and get cheap deals on whatever you’d like. If you want my players so badly, then you have to pay for it.
But the fact that Lyon has been able to keep going irrespective of who is sold, all at massive profit, with no decline in performance and with new, raw talent, is a lesson that you would do well to learn.
You hate me because I stand my ground against you, but at the end of the day, my attitude to all clubs looking at my players should be “**** you, pay me,” which is exactly what I adhere to.
So Just. Go. Away.
Love and Kisses,
Me.
Category: 
Tags: AC Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Jean-Michel Aulas, Just for Fun, Juventus, Lyon, Manchester United, PSG, Roma, Sevilla, Tottenham, Transfers, ValenciaSubscribe
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Comments
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LOL. Good luck stopping them. The only thing Lyon can do is get rich themselves by winning the Champions League, etc
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United States
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That’s the fun of supporting a small club like Lyon.
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United States -
Thanks for not including Liverpool in that bunch, but I think those days might be over.
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United States -
I thought about Liverpool, but I don’t think they’ve been linked with any Lyon players. If they have, then I’ll be sure to update the list.
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United States -
See losing players is never nay fun, but then again i do enjoy the fact that lyon is linked with so many players and that they have such a good youth academy. it balances out, but i think we do need to hold on to the players we have in order to win the champions league, while adding some more experience to the team that does not throw off the chemistry we already have.
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United States -
It’s a delicate balance between deciding which players should stay and which ones should leave. For me, personally, Essien was expendable but Diarra wasn’t as much (I adore Jeremy but he isn’t at Djilla’s level just yet).
In terms of senior players, Malouda and Juninho are very important because they are such an integral part of Lyon’s system. Tiago is less so but I don’t think there is anyone with his qualities that Lyon could afford, so economically, it’s prudent to keep him. The same with Fred.
Benzema and Clerc should be kept. As for Ben Arfa – I personally think that he has more potential than Benzema or Nasri, but he is low on maturity, which is really hurting his development as a player.
And…Lyon’s 4-3-3 just doesn’t suit him. He plays best as a support striker in a 4-3-1-2 or in a 4-4-2 (like Kaka and Totti). He’s not naturally a LW. Unfortunately, Houllier won’t experiment, so unless Ben Arfa leaves Lyon, I don’t think we’ll ever see the depth of his talent.
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United States -
I agree and disagree Inara. I disagree that Ben Arfa has more potential then Benzema and Nasri, otherwise he would have been in the NT before them. On the other hand, he is oddly similar to Nasri in his style of play. Nasri has adapted to being on the wing, and Ben Arfa will have to as well because he will never cut it as a striker because of his slight frame. That being said, is seems ideal to me that lyon plays a 4-3-3, because that gives him the ability to play as a wide striker, so he needs to learn how to be a wide player. His potential may be greater as a hole man or central attacking midfielder, but those kind of positions are not given to 20 year olds, so learn your trade on the wing first.
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United States -
[...] Aulas has hit back, saying that Houllier is under contract. Bad enough that everyone wants to steal his players, but now the FFF wants to steal his [...]
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United States
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