Feel better?

Breathe in…  exhale… breathe in… exhale…

Now, un-clinch your wringing hands, clap in time, and say it with me: “We love you Arsenal, we do.  We love you Arsenal, we do. We love you Arsenal, we do, ohhh Arsenal we love you!”  Repeat until you stop worrying about the season ahead.

I love Arsenal and I do trust Arsene Wenger.  Maybe I can have this faith because I never played Football Manager, I don’t play Dungeons and Dragons for football fans (fantasy football), and I don’t play any sports on my computers.  Those games are *ahem* simulations, folks.  In real life, Arsene Wenger is arguably the most successful manager Arsenal have ever had.

Moreover, there’s this voyeuristic quality to Arsenal fans right now.  We look at what every other team is doing and want to compare ourselves to them.  That’s unhealthy and only invites a fat tick like Usmanov to jump on board, satisfy your desire to be like Chelsea for a few years while slowly draining the blood from the team.

And to what end?  Chelsea have spent something like £800m in order to win 3 real trophies.  Last season, in fact, they won exactly the same number of trophies that Arsenal won: ZERO.  They have the highest wage bill of any team in the world, they pay ridiculous transfer fees to get players in, they sit those players on the bench to rot, they take huge losses when re-selling, and they have the world’s most classless fans. Is that the kind of team you really want to support?

It’s telling that Jose Mourinho was so desperate for kudos that he counted Milk Cups and Charity Shields when he held up his infamous “6 finger salute” to Roman Abramovich.  He had to, everyone, everywhere knows that £800m Milk Cups don’t make you a big club.  It’s a truly sad day when you have the likes of John Terry and Frank Lampard beating up teenagers and taking their Milk money then celebrating as if they had just won the Champions League.  Honestly, why shouldn’t they celebrate like that?  They’ll never win the Champions League, so I guess, like Tottenham, the best they can manage is to win a 5 game tournament against 3rd division teams and Arsenal’s youth team.  No, Chelsea will always be the second best club in London.

Same too with Manchester City.  They can buy all the Robinho’s in the world, they will always be the second best team in Manchester.  Their new owner is so out of touch he believes that they will be in the Champions League next season.  How?  By finishing 4th?  No. Fucking. Way. They have a better shot at winning the FA Cup than finishing 4th.  But of course he thinks that, what does he know about football?  He’s an oil guy, a guy who buys property, and Manchester City is now one of his properties.  A toy for him to play around with.  Tellingly, Al-Fahim has said “I’m the new Abramovich” which means “I’m here to meddle in this thing you all call ‘football’ and see if I can’t buy myself a Champions League trophy.”  Well, like Abramovich he’s got a harsh lesson coming; you cannot buy respect or success.

Finally, who cares if Bobblekopf went to Man U?  It’s another £30m that the club cannot afford, that they had to spend to keep their prawn sandwich fans with their unrealistic expectations in line, and that Tottenham will probably never see.  The player himself is a tremendous talent but a horrible teammate.  I can’t wait to see him dress down Ronaldo.  Oh, it will happen, mark my words.

No, I’d rather have Arsene Wenger and Arsenal FC.  The only thing I have to overcome to fully support this team is my own ego.  My ego tells me that I might know better than Arsene and thus second guess why he didn’t land Alonso.  My ego tells me that I know better than he does when it comes to Eboue, Vela, Nasri, or any others on the team.  It’s my ego, and I suggest, your ego that needs to be put to bed.  This is the team we have, this is the manager we have, these are the owners we have, and you are the fans.  Get behind the team or go support Chelsea: London’s second best football team.

“We love you Arsenal, we do…”

P.S. Kevin Keegan has reportedly tucked tail between his legs and ducked out of the Newcastle spotlight for the second time.  I believe I called it two days ago: relegation is looming now for Newcastle.

0 comments

  1. Very well written. Its all true what you’ve written but then again the fans didn’t want a 50 M signing, what everyone wanted was to wenger spend 8 or 10 M and bring in an eduardo or a sagna into midfield.

    We know le boss knows all, but isn’t there a VERY real need for a midfielder?

    We all love arsenal, its been 3 years since a trohpy and has anyone run away? No! Its because we love the club, the players, the manager and the red & white. But just tell me this, what if at the end season we lose the title by 3 points in a game where cesc and diaby (as usual) were both injured and had denilson & eboue partnering in the centre and now wouldn’t you at that very time be willing to pay 30 million pounds for that midfielder we all have been desperate for?

  2. For we are the greatest Team! The world has ever seen!!!

    Spot on mate, I want to see Man U get 120 million worth of attack on at one go – Rooney, Berbatov, Ronaldo and Tevez!! Its going to be one hell of a juggling act to get the balance right.

    One other thing I only care about Arsenal players and until they are signed as such, I couldnt care whether they the next whoever, if they not playing for our club they obviously not good enough. The players (youngsters included) are who I love and support. And while its not a complete argument – would you rather have a player that has been with the club 4 years waiting for their chance of a run out in the team, to prove his worth and thank the manager for his faith, or a player of the same age that has come in for a heavily inflated price tag and expects to be the next best thing cos the media tells us so!

  3. But just tell me this, what if at the end season we lose the title by 3 points in a game where cesc and diaby (as usual) were both injured and had denilson & eboue partnering in the centre and now wouldn’t you at that very time be willing to pay 30 million pounds for that midfielder we all have been desperate for?

    Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and if any manager had that option of a crystal ball there would be no excitement or unpredictable enjoyment in sport.
    on the flip side, what if it was the 30 million pound signing that got injured and we lost the game because of that, or better yet what if it was because of that 30 million pound signing XXX that Diaby, Denilson and Ramsey didnt play more than 3 games between them and then when Cesc and XXX get injured Diaby and Denilson are not match sharp and lose us the game!!! I could go on with variables but its just not worth it.

    The only time I might moan about the signing is when Cesc, Diaby, Denilson, Eboue, Rosicky, Nasri , and Walcott are all injured and we have to rely on a youth team midfield

  4. It really sadden my heart that ARSENE WENGER couldn’t fill our squad with an experience defensive mid-fielder. We can still go on ahead to do our bext this season, even without a new face on the squad, i am sure that our current gooners will make the premiership and europe hell. Here we comes gooners.

  5. True word…. True word….. Well said. Fuck chelsea, man u and dem Abu wataever fucks. Hmm…. name sounds like “ABOU DIABY ” watever, fuck dem all. Gunners till d end.

  6. Thats one of the best posts i have read. Very well written. Thick and thin, I’m with Arsenal all the way.

  7. I agree with Kuma. I wasn’t looking for Kaka or Robinho. I was just looking for a quality veteran to add the central midfield mix.

    I would never want Arsenal to be a toy of some wealthy individual but I would like to see Korenke have more of a say. I think he is an astutue businessman who has a certain level of class, and he also has a history of success in running a sports franchise.

  8. WE LOVE U ARSENAL!!!!!!!! WE DO…

    This is a fantastic article… we got to post it in all the sites who have been so critical on Wenger…

  9. Problem with signing an “experienced” midfielder is that he plays at the expense of one of these kids coming through. How do you get experience? BY PLAYING. Look at the day Denilson had on Saturday. If we had splashed some money for an experienced midfielder, Denilson would have been on the bench. These kids have been with the program long enough that they deserve a chance. What is the point of having a world class youth program if they aren’t going to make it to the first team? Surely it’s not to provide players for Blackburn, Middlesborough and Birmingham? Le Boss knows what he’s doing.

    Either way, it’s too late now. Time to get behind the team and the players that are here or go find another team. Whining will help nothing at this point.

  10. Well written as usual Timothy but a few points I would like to address:

    1) Money can’t buy respect, but it can buy success. Chelsea is living proof of that.

    2) One look at our starting eleven says it all when we see the names of Walcott, Eboue and Denilson appearing on the game day board. Let’s face facts, none of these players would be core starters on the top 50 club teams in the world. They all share the same trait which should immediately disqualify them for being starters today, inconsistency.

    Denilson and Walcott have an excuse, they are 20 and 19 respectively and I have no doubt they will be stars in the next 2 -3 years barring serious injuries or total loss of confidence. No, I am not a “Wagonist”, but what is Eboue’s excuse. he is 25 and has been in the first team for almost 4 years and has played regularly the past 2 seasons and going into his 3rd.

    Wenger has no excuse for knowing he has a weak squad, has money and yet failed to improve the obvious deficiencies. Some people might disagree with me, but clubs owe it to their fans to put out the best possible product on the field within financial restraints. Without the fans the club has nothing, we are the ones who attend the games and purchase their merchandise. TV money helps, but without the fans there is no TV money.

    3)No, I am not asking for Ronaldo, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Villa, Torres or Robinho, just get me a Corluka, Alonso, Freitel, Kompany or De La Red, all players ranging from 6 – 15 mill.

    At this point, I would rather see Ramsey being ushered in the squad over Eboue and Denilson because of his upside, makes fewer mistakes and has a lot of grit. By having weak links on a team this puts great stress on the other players because they can’t afford to have a bad night and also places greater demand on these players when injuries occur.

    Let’s all hold hands and pray to the almighty Fab and Nasri do not get injured or worn down by the reliance now placed on them, for without them we have no chance of glory.

  11. Hey Carib… I think you’ve made some really good points here but I’m still going to disagree about a few things:.

    Money doesn’t win championships, it gives you a better shot at them but it’s no guarantee. The New York Knicks haven’t won squat despite having the largest payroll in the history of basketball. Similarly, Chelsea didn’t win anything last year despite having spent £800m. In fact, Arsenal were almost as close to both championships as Chelsea were.

    With Walcott, Rambo and Wilshere I think the boss is actually afraid of putting too much pressure on them too soon. The last time he did that Jermaine Pennant went nuts.

    I won’t argue with you about Eboue, because, well, because I really dislike him. I’d rather we play 10 men some times.

    I do agree with you about the fans, though, why do you think I wrote my piece?

    (holding hands and mumbling prayer)

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