By Bootoomee
And so it begins, the 2014/15 Premier league season. Thank goodness, the long wait is finally over. We now have some football to take our attention away from the mind-numbingly ridiculous pastime known as “transfer speculation”. Kudos to Mr Tony Attwood for his valiant effort to help us make a good sense of it all with humour by consolidating all the crap being peddled each day by those ‘in the know’ into brilliant mocking articles.
The general consensus amongst Gooners is that this current transfer window is their least stressful in a long time but I’d be telling a big lie if I say the same. No transfer window has ever been stressful for me. How people get stressed on matters that are not of life and death or even concerned with their physical and economic well-being is beyond my comprehension. Why folks would be stressed about how a club that they are paying meaningful parts of their paltry income to support is not using such funds to buy the services of millionaires to be paid on weekly basis what most of them earn in years, is beyond my comprehension.
After parting with over £2,000 for season ticket, shirts etc (which is about 10% of the income of many after tax and all the other mandatory deductions), we must then pull our hair out as the club’s management takes toooooooo long to spend that fucking money. If the club’s management think that a player that we want is demanding £30,000 per week more than what he deserves, we go up in arms. JUST PAY HIM THE WHAT HE WANTS! We literally scream. Well, except for me and a very small minority of Gooners and footy fans everywhere. On the hand, when the club increased ticket prices by 3% after freezing it for years, the same people who want us to pay players whatever they want were up in arms. Apparently, they just realised the value of money and how little of it they have and are willing to part with.
The shit that footy fans say!
Nonetheless and whatever ones’ persuasion on the issue of the club’s spending, this has been a very good summer. Only one important first teamer left and we replaced him with the player benching him in their national team. The same player has fitted in perfectly into our system. We have added one of the best attacking talents in the world and a warrior of a player; the sort that you need in those battles that we sometimes look timid in. Most of his efforts in his first Premier league game did not come to fruition but like a true warrior, he just kept fighting and fighting. The rest of the league will not know what hit them after he has gelled fully with the rest of his team mates.
We got another English teenager and he came with the sort of price tag that they usually do. I am not happy about the price at all but it is not the fault of the young man and I don’t hold it against him. On the field of play, however, he has been beyond impressive, especially for his age. He has been so good that we are not really missing our new vice-captain and world cup winning BFG! We’ve also got, as a back up, a world cup goalkeeper! Missing the goalie, whose heroics (especially against Liverpool and for the shootout against Wigan) won us the FA cup is not looking like a problem at all. And we got our new goalie at a bargain too; I like that very much!
As was the case last season, the club has done a great job by keeping the core of the one from the previous season and have added valuable talents. The manager has been making his usual nuanced comments about adding players which is like a Rorschach test: every fan hears whatever they want him to mean. Many believe that we are still going to sign players and we might but it is unlikely, so it is time that people curb their expectations and support the team that we HAVE and not denigrate any of them in anticipation of the ones that we hope to get.
If you scan around the web and look at Arsenal fan sites, you’ll come across 3 main memes:
- We need a MONSTER defensive midfielder; followed by how crap Arteta is. (They seldom use the word crap but I think you get my point)
- We need a WORLD CLASS striker; followed by how crap Giroud is. (This is more literal)
- We need another central defender of high calibre as Vermaelen is now gone. The reason why Vermaelen left is ALWAYS ignored.
These three are all valid desires and it is always a good thing to have as many good players as possible. When spoilt for choice, team selection headache is the sort that team managers must prefer (I assume as I have never managed a football team before in my life). The problem, of course, is the kind of shit that Arsenal fans spout as they make the aforementioned demands.
Need for a MONSTER defensive Midfielder: This is now a religious truism in Goonersphere. The reason why this position is mythical in Arsenal setting has been explained to death by many here on Untold Arsenal, Positively Arsenal and a few other blogs but like most things religious, rationality and evidence be damned. I read this piece detailing why we don’t really need a DM with facts and stats. It was followed by comments agreeing with the facts and stats BUT with most still dogmatically demanding a ‘monster’ DM.
A great point in the Community Shield victory over Man City was when our little Spaniard magician came to make a block inside our 18 yard box as a City attacker was about to shoot. Football, at least the sort that Arsenal play, is too fluid for a ‘monster’ defensive midfielder acting as a Wall of China, using his monster might to stop all opposition attacks from getting anywhere near our final 3rd. To be honest, it is a tantalising thing to have; the problem is that it is a myth. Unfortunately, people love nice sounding myths.
You can’t make a request for your ‘monster’ DM (or MDM for short) without letting the world know that 1. Arteta is slow, 2. Arteta is meek (unlike those aggressive mythical MDMs), and 3. Arteta is old, and 4. We suffered those heavy away defeats to our rivals because we lacked a MDM. It is important to rubbish our captain as much as possible without actually calling him insulting names. In this respect, he is really, really lucky compared to Giroud.
Well, Arsenal fans in all their fickle glory can say whatever they want about Arteta but the person that really matters just gave him the biggest and most deserved vote of confidence by naming him captain. It gives me enormous satisfaction to read comments like:
“Now that Wenger has named Arteta captain, that mean he will be continue to be a first teamer and he is unlike to sign a MDM” followed by abuse of the manager.
Well, fuck yeah! And here is why! Wenger has always rewarded competence and loyalty and no one is more deserving than Mikel Arteta. He already captained us to 2 silverwares and he will captain us to more.
Need for a WORLD CLASS Striker: This is not new. No transfer demands list will ever be taken seriously if it does not include “a world class striker”. Arsenal particularly need this type of striker because….well, we all know that that Giroud is useless. Crapping on Giroud is a favourite pastime of far too many Gooners and it is often embarrassing to read, especially when you have fans of other teams writing stuff like this:
“sammy lee (Liverpool): Just read that Giroud has 40 goals in 100 games for Arsenal. That is pretty good. Does he get more stick than he deserves? Just the fact that he has played 100 games in 2 seasons is pretty outstanding considering Van Persie played 194 games in 8 seasons…Van Persie scored 96 goals, a higher average, but he did get fire in his boots in that last one. Giroud still has time to do that too and is only 27. Not long until Wenger has developed another player from good to great in Giroud. I think he will be one to look out for this season.” (TeamTalk YourSay- main page)
Aren’t our fans the most fickle in the world? Wanna find out? Go to the Arsenal Fan TV channel on Youtube and be amazed. The prevailing meme is ALWAYS based on whatever result the team just got and about how individual players performed – match by match! Robbie, the owner of the channel will pose questions to his interviewees in a manner that brings out their fickle worst. Another observer put together a mash up video of the regulars in their fickle glory and it was a beauty to watch. I regret not downloading the video before Robbie ran crying to Youtube to take it down because it gloriously showed how ridiculous he and his crappy ‘TV’channel are. The highlight of the video was a middle aged man literally crying about how useless Giroud was after a match and then singing “Nah na na na Giroud” a few clips later (after another match). Fickle fucker!
Need for Another Good Central Defender to Replace Vermaelen: This makes sense when you consider the fact that we just lost a good player. It’s ‘logical’ to just go ahead and replace him with a like for like defender. The issue that is always ignored by those clamouring for this, however, is why we lost our captain in the first place. The sort of central defender that is being requested is not going to sit on the bench as Vermaelen as just made clear, a sentiment that Gooners kinda, ironically, unanimously agree with.
So, why the request? We have 3 central defenders presently with Monreal being gently introduced into the position for emergency situations. One or 2 of our u-21s can be used for further cover in the extreme cases. The sort of defender that will be willing to sit on the bench and only be called upon once in a while is not likely to be any good, so what’s the point? Chambers will happily sit on the bench when Per returns. He will happily do this for the next couple of years but from what we have seen of him, he will get lots of opportunities when the games start coming fast and rotation becomes mandatory.
It has been a great transfer window for Arsenal and we have started the season better than we have in years. The team’s performance against Crystal Palace is far below what we all know they are capable of but let’s remember that we only got a scoreless draw against Sunderland 2 years ago and we lost 1-3 to Aston Villa (irrespective of the reasons) last year. This has been our best start to the league in 5 years. I don’t give a flying fuck about how jaded our performance was. We got the 3 points and I know that our boys are going to get better. I know that they are way better that what we saw on Saturday so I am not worried at all. I am just grateful that we did not lose any point.
The manager is keeping an open mind on recruitment and I intend to do the same. If he signs the mythical MDM; gets Falcao and Cavani to leave their respective mega rich clubs for us and at the same time gets a world class defender to warm our bench before the window closes, GREAT! If a less desirable combination of these or indeed none at all happened, I hope that our fans can appreciate what we have and carry on supporting the team without second guessing the players and their manager.
I did something that I have never done before in my life on Saturday morning before the Palace game: I gambled. Paddy Power advertised the odds of Arsenal winning the league as 20/1 (from 6/1). If it was a marketing ploy on their part, it worked as I felt so insulted by the odds that I decided to punish them by collecting £210 with a tenner bet if my team pull it off. I am never betting again but my faith in this team is too strong to let this kind of insult slide. I don’t know if we are going to win the league or any other trophy for that matter but I am ready to battle anyone who thinks that we are out of any competition before a ball is even kicked. My hope is that I do more of those battles with the media and opposition fans and not my fellow Gooners.
Here is to a successful 2014/45 season; let’s all unite behind our darling Arsenal and keep the faith!
———
The books
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
F*ck, what a good read Bootoomee, you covered everything very well that I have got nothing to add! 🙂 Brilliant.
Hear, hear
Agree with every word and sentiment
Same sentiment as the writer. We should forget about the huge lost that we suffered. Forget about the signing of DM. Fans who supported the Gunners long enough will remember that Man United beat us 6-1 in 2001, and pinned the blame on the poor Stepanovs. Who were in team that day? Vieira, Henry, Pires, and Wiltord. And they basically under-performed. Compared the team that lost this match and the make-up team when we lost 8-2 (including a missed penalty – had the penalty gone in we would be 1-1 behind instead of 3-0 later), which one caused more humiliation? What happened to the former team? They went on to clinch the title and second double in 2002, with a very similar personnel. Another 2 years later, they created the Immortal Status of the Arsenal. Moral of my story – while we remembered the losses, what we need to do is to stay behind the Team, regardless of the on-field result. Of course there are times where constructive criticisms are welcome. However, when the Season starts, the only right thing is to back the team up. Whatever that were not right in the season, the manager would sort it out, or get himself sorted out.
Win, Lose or Draw, We Are Arsenal!
@Kurt,
Well said.
Like golf,football is a very humbling game.
Let us never take anything for granted.
AL,
I am glad but not surprised that you like it. It is a very long piece and Tony was worried that many might not want to read it to the end. I am happy to see that the first 4 commenters have not complained about its length.
Thanks!
Kurt,
Well said!
We all should get behind the team!
Amazing article Boo. Wait to be crucified for telling them we dont need a monster DM. Dont you know that is sacrilege?
Nice write Bootoomee.
As you stated – we all should get behind the team – and, if I may add to your later comment – let the manager sort out the transfers he needs.
Nice write up…..
Mahdain,
Funny you say that. Did you read the linked article on that section? Its comment section is one of the funniest I have ever seen. You can just go through for giggles 🙂
It is indeed sacrilege to suggest that a monster DM is not mandatory.
bjtgooner,
We can be called a lot of things here on Untold but fickle is not one of them. We support our players and we trust the manager to his job without any harassment.
I’m glad you like it my friend.
There you have it again Bootoomee. As candid as ever.
Like you, I don’t bet but for people who do, I think the fear of losing money is more responsible for their desire to have ‘faultless’ team than the love for their club. At least for them, winning always is guaranteed…or almost. So it could be life and death for them.
I was glad when I heard that most betting people (here in Nigeria) lost a great deal on the Community shield bet because they rooted for Man$hity.
I agree totally with you on TV, Arteta and Giroud. And I don’t think AW would ever be good enough for some people even if he wins 5 trophies in 1 season.
I think the fickle ones have 100% perfection in their personal lives. Their world is different from ours mere mortals.
Absolutely spot on. Nothing to add. It’s a great privilege to be a gooner. For life. Cant imagine rooting for another club. Whoever the boss signs (or doesn’t sign) we are unrepentant, irrevocably, red-blooded, rampaging gooners! Wether we win the league or we don’t, we are gooners.
F*cking brilliantly written Bootoomee!
Too long? I could have read a bit more of that 😉
Agree with the sentiments. We have the core of a team that had most points in 2013, was top of the league most in 2013-2014 and only fell apart because of injuries of our top players. The team is good enough we just need to get behind them and support them
I’m not sure, but I think the slagging of Arteta began after the home game against Chelsea, when afterwards, that beautiful sculpture of a man who represents all that is good and ethical in the world of football, mr. Mourinho, stated he instructed his players to “leave Arteta alone, because he’s slow, and will only pass the ball sideways or backwards” or something (if this was Wikipedia, an exact quotation might be needed).
The press swallowed it, as, it would seem, a large part of the arsenal faithfull.
It’s a real shame there wasn’t a “ref review” for that game though, because having watched it, I was quite sure that two Chelsea players should have received a red card for fouls on……Arteta.
Mourinho not only effectively diverted attention away from those fouls, but even gave a section of our fans (please stop with the whole AAA/AKB-thing, it’s very 2012 and has outlived it’s usefulness IMO) a new scapegoat.
I’m very happy the ref reviews are back. Thanks, Walter.
Walter,
Thanks.
I get mad a lot from reading the crap written about Arsenal in the media but nothing pisses me off more than our fickle, know-it-all but actually ignorant fans and their constant whining.
Damilare,
I am not a betting man but putting Arsenal, the current FA cup and Charity shield holders at 20/1 is an insult that I couldn’t let go. It was only a £10 though and it isn’t happening again.
We,re on our way, time to forget everything else but Arsenal. Let the others do their thing, in their own way, be Arsenal, be like Arsenal, a glowing example in this somewhat opaque world we live in.
Omerta,
If you are not comfortable with AAA/AKB tags then don’t use them. As a proud AKB, I have no problem with my tag and those who don’t want to be called AAA should stop antagonising the same club that they claim to support. I understand your discomfort but the solution might be you just ignoring us rabble rousers 🙂
Talking about Mourhino, I’d rather go for personal accountability here. If Mourhino had said the same about Cazorla would the same fans be against him (Cazorla)? I think that people who act like this are like hyenas who gang up on the players who need their support the most. Shouldn’t we all (Gooners) have rallied round our then vice-captain instead of latching unto the taunts of the odious one?
Arsenal fans can often be bigger opponents to the team and its manager than the media and our rivals.
@Bootoomee,
Thanks for the advice. Ignoring those tags might be the best solution for me, as I don’t fit in either category, and even if I did, I wouldn’t be comfortable with it. I am just an Arsenal fan.
I have no idea whether Mourinho speaking about Cazorla would have any effect. But when I went to the Emirates cup, I saw vendors selling T-shirts outside with “specialist in failure” on them with Mourinho’s face etc. It made me sad. Somehow, what he says is important, it seems. I don’t agree with that.
It was a nice piece you wrote, by the way, I’m sorry I didn’t mention that earlier.
Nice piece!
Often the most deranged and spiteful voices are the loudest as well as those with an agenda, sometimes hidden. I have never been very interested in posting on blogs but have come around over time to try and add more sense to the sensical. Sites like Untold and Positively Arsenal need all the help they can get in drowning out the stupid. So thank you. Here’s another interesting statistical take on Arteta v. other midfielders and the excellent job he does for Arsenal.
http://www.statsbomb.com/2014/07/is-sami-khedira-arsenals-answer-at-defensive-mid/
Also how Arteta has transformed his game over the years.
http://www.statsbomb.com/2014/08/gifolution-the-aging-of-mikel-arteta/
Watching Cesc playing for the blues knowing Arsenal had first refusal just makes me Steam. I hate that Chelsea always seem to get the number one pick and Arsenal gets the crumbs. I am not confident that Arsenal’s midfield options Tomas Rosicky,Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla, Mathieu Flamini, Abou Diaby, Francis Coquelin. Gedion Zelalem are equal to: Ramires, Cesc Fabrega, Eden Hazard, Oscar, John Mikel Obi, Andre Schurrle, Mohamed Salah, Nemanja Matic, Marco van Ginkel, William.
So far Wilshere has failed to live up to expectations while Cesc is a Proven World class to let him go to Chelsea when Arsenal had it within their power to intercept that transfer and bring Fabergas back is just stupid. I would even Sell Wilshere to get Fabergas back. And to go yet a 4th season with out a solid DM also makes me wonder what is going through wenger’s head. Everyone knows it is needed and has been needed for even longer then before the sale of Song (song was made into a solid DM and just as he if fit to fulfill the potential we sell him. Again STUPID.
It is no surprise Arsenal finish just short they make stupid transfer deals while our competition strengthen (Often with the players we are selling so not only do we need to fill the previous holes in the squad but also new holes created by the sale of key players. How can you build a squad if you keep having to replace what you had and never address the original problems. We had to go out and sign a right back and Central defender because of sales instead of going out and getting what we needed before them leaving. If we sell some of the Good but not great midfield options to get world class it is one thing but we sell our world class players to bring in unproven as replacements only Ozil was a great player but imagine Ozil and Cecs. WHY? not sign him It was just stupid. I am just fuming mad about Fabergas playing for Chelsea. Never mind the past deals with City. Even gong back to keeping Galas and selling Kolo Touré when keeping him and also going after Yaya Touré would have been a plus. City knew bringing in Kolo would help secure Yaya. the management at Arsenal are just stupid when it comes to transfers and after one game I am already looking forward to another embossment against the big clubs in the EPL we have not done enough to win the league and What good does it do to be in the CL if your not going to pend that CL money to build a squad capable of Winning the CL. We finished in the top 4 every season but fail to use that position to push forward. I do not know what it is going to take for things to change. I am not a Wenger out fan (as who would be better having to go out and find a new manager would only add to the problems just like selling a key player instead of keeping your best and adding more) I hope I am wrong but I feel so far letting Fabergas go to Chelsea was a BAD BAD deal.
And I thought sanity was frowned upon at Ashburton.
Spot on once again. Definitely the best Arsenal blog on the web.
Touche’.
Well written article.
Let ‘s us all ignore these noise and distraction from these so called fans. they are plastic and most likely hasn’t played a soccer game in their life. what they knew is probably learnt from console or PC games, read media report and they build their judgement from YouTube or games.
Sad to say , most of them dun even know where is Emirates Stadium. They are contributing less than £100 to the club . Their voices does not deserve to be heard.
Omerta,
You are clearly a more civilised kind of Arsenal fan than I am. I find it easier to tolerate the media and rival fans having a pop at Arsenal than to see the AAA attacking us from within. I don’t take kindly to that lot. They give us all a bad name. Just Google the 3 words: Arsenal+fans+fickle and marvel at the result.
My greatest joy at the end of last season was not just because we won the FA cup but because we did and Mourhino ended his much exalted return to England empty handed. I absolutely love those T-shirts. Fuck Mourhino and after his classless comment about our manager, he deserves whatever Gooners do to him (other than violence, of course).
Gunnerdear,
Did you even read the article before posting?
Anyway thanks for making the point that the article is about (I think that you are on the wrong blog and thread though).
Far East Gooner,
I agree with your first paragraph but I cannot accept your second. I know lots of die-hard Gooners in my native Nigeria, many of them committed AKBs, who have only ever seen pictures of the Emirates and cannot afford to spend up to £100 on the club. They are more committed to the cause of the club than many of club level season ticket holders. As long as you are lending your voice to support our beloved club, I don’t care where you are and how much you spend, you are a great Gooner.
Thanks for your comment man.
@GunnerDear Press the ‘enter’ key sometimes!
I can’t really read what you wrote but it seems like you might just adding more entries to list of all the stupid things Arsenal fans say to prove Bootoome’s point?
Great piece, Boo.
Talking about losing with big numbers like 6-1, would anyone prefer to lose 5 games of 1-0 and a game of 1-1? Hell no.
It lose very bad but as long as they don’t sink, its just one match. We all know that after losing 3 or 4 goals, it might be better to conserve the energy for the next one rather than wasting loads of energy and risking injury risk to get 1 or 2 goals back.
As long as the spirit and psychology aren’t affected, its not such a huge problem
As for all the bad things peope say about Arteta, there’s only one thing that’s true… he’s getting old. His form dipped a bit at the end of last season but he played many many games so he should be quite exhausted. He’s done a great job and there’s no real problem from him. Plan for a replacement… he will be steping down (to the bench???), may be in two years? get a young player and prepare for that.
Giroud is a very good player. One does not win the French league by being rubbish. I do not believe he will become a legend but he is more than enough to be an important member at Arsenal. I think Arsenal did well against “physical low ranking” teams last year because of Giroud. He got the physical presence and the spirit against weaker players who play by the muscles. Against “big teams”, he got overwhelmed by numbers. He can take on any defender but 2 or 3 good defenders are too much for him.
The article brought out another great point. With all the defenders he needs to fight against, Giroud does not get injured!!! That’s why he could play so many games!!! He didn’t shy away from challenges but he did not get stretcher off.
The problem seems to be that he has a relatively narrow zone with his technique where he can consistantly deliver great touches. He can look silly when the ball isn’t at the best spot. People always remember those….
Who doesn’t welcome signings of legendary players but they are very expensive and do not come by two to three in a year.
We’ll need to wait.
Bootoomee,
Naw..I did not think that it was too long [but, I was the kid in school who read Anna Karenina and wanted more!]. I am right there with you. Excellent piece. Our fickle fans just form part of the feed back loop of negativity with the media, always criticising Arsenal.
They know more about football that our proven world class manager.
They know more about our finances that the Board.
Heck, they even know more about talent evaluation than our scouts!
@ Bootoomee – A MONSTER LIKE !
An AKB for life .
And fuck the AAAA !
I thought that I would look up the numbers for our Captain in the Crystal Palace game:
Passes – 99 [no they were not all backwards or side ways]
Forward passes – 73
Pass completion – 95%
Tackles won – 4
Interceptions – 2
Defensive errors – 0
He just quietly and effectively goes about his business.
The truth about knowledge –
http://meetville.com/images/quotes/Quotation-Auguste-De-Villiers-De-L-Isle-Adam-knowledge-man-Meetville-Quotes-85471.jpg
Great article Bootome. Is it very contradictory though to confess to a heartache watching Cesc’s pass to Schuurle last night?
Fantastic entry and 100% right.
Bootoomee, I understand your point on the £10 bet perfectly.
Your 1:50am response to Far East Gonner is perfect. I and millions of Arsenal fans in Nigeria and all over the world are your proof.
@Gunnerdear 12:22am, you used the word ‘stupid’ a lot. Take my advice: Go support chelsea and change your name to ‘Bluedear’ or ‘chelseadear’. Afterwards, you won’t sound stupid again with your type of comment here.
Tjekem 4:50am, nice stats you put up there about our captain. You dont see that in the media or with the pundits. So it’s useless for the fickle and AAA. 🙂
Great read Boo;passionate and clear, any chance you could start writing regularly this season for Untold?I’d certainly like to read more articles like this by you.
Cheers mate and thanks.
COYG!Aha and Amen
I love Fabregas, but bringing him would have been detrimental to the equilibrium of the team.
So Chelsea played Burnley, an they had tons of possession, but shots were 11 to 9 (on target 3 to 2) so let us not get overboard about Cesc and his team.
The formation played by Mourinho is designed to punish weak teams. I’ll add that Crystal Palace is far better than Burnley and has a competent goalkeeper.
Back to us, we were denied penalties galore, and we should have won 4-1; the lack of fluency on Saturday was due to constant fowling by Chamakh and company.
Bootoome
Brilliant Article, well said. I’ve been supporting Arsenal for 39 years and have seen this club blossom.
The club is like a rose, some see the beauty and some see just a flower?
just get diaby fit to play 15 epl matches especially against the top four and i can bet you that with this team, we must win the league with three matches to spare
I thought cesc ceased being an Arsenal player more than 3 years ago? Unless I’m missing something….
Ray
Good assessment of both games, and agree about fabregas. And also positive if Palace had been playing at home like burnley they would have ventured forward a little more, creating more space for us. Anyway, sure this, and your observations, won’t make sense to part of our supporters who are too keen on branding the club stupid.
A great passionate article! Yes some of our fans are extremely fickle, and way too influenced by the media. Agree with your point on the transfer window, and result against Palace. If we really do need more players, I am sure they are working on them at this very moment. So you think Ozil amounts to the crumbs Gunnerdear? I know of legions of Real fans plus World Cup winning coaches who disagree with you I also know Barca fans who do not rate Cesc as highly as you do these days. Let’s wait and see…..there may be reasons why wenger turned down first option and Chelsea took his cast off
As previously alluded to, I always thought that Flamini was the archetypal “Monster” DM. The fact that he is not playing very often I think shows that Wenger is approaching the challenge differently to the conventional wisdom.
Perhaps Flamini will be saved for the tougher games?
@ Mandy Dodd
Mr Wenger already stated that the very reason why he was not exercising our first right of refusal was because he could not see where he was going to play Cesc, given that he had Ozil in his disposal. Given the financial considerations that the Club face, he saw no reason as to buying Cesc and kept the latter on the bench!
For the fans who still love Cesc, they are free to support Cesc as an individual player. For the Club supporters, they would know what to do in this kind of situation – They know that the Club is bigger than the Player!
Kurt @11.11
Well said.
I look forward to seeing a back heel from the F Word when defending his own area to Arsenal’s most dangerous player when Arsenal next play Gazprom. 🙂
–
Thanks Boo. Hope you enjoy the game tonight!
Bootoome
That fickle fans thing you suggest works with most teams. I randomly selected about ten Premier League teams and put them to the google fickle fans test and only Crystal Palace were positive. Even Chelsea & City failed. So it’s not only us.
As soon as Cesc made that first assist, I knew that the Cesc love-in by some in Goonersphere will start again.
Fabregas is no longer an Arsenal player, let it go. Sanchez also made a great assist on Saturday and Santi is every bit as creative as Cesc is. Let’s not forget that Ramsey’s goal scoring is now putting Cesc’s in the shade. Where assists are concerned, Ozil is superior based on their time playing in the same league. We have multiple players giving us whatever people are getting nostalgic over about Cesc.
I worshipped Fabregas when he was our player. I still like him and I would have been over-joyed to have him back BUT the man that I trust more than anyone else on this sort of matter thought otherwise and I am going with him.
Covetousness is the bane of most of us fans but the grass is NOT always greener on the other side.
oldgroover,
On any attribute you will find that virtually EVERYBODY is guilty of possession. Those linked with attributes, however, are those who have them more than the average person. Of course all fans are fickle. we are all human. But if we start scaling it, Arsenal fans win the fickle award hands down. That is how rival fans describe us and I have seen enough of shit that our fans spout to know that it is not a conspiracy.
You can go over to Arsenal Fan TV on Youtube to see things for yourself. Or Arsenal’s Yoursay page on Teamtalk
@Bootomee
That was a jolly good read. Too long? No! It had momentum. I read it like one hears a rant. I’m not sure if that was the intention. Anyway if you hold the sort of views I do there isn’t too much to disagree with. For me it’s about supporting the team. The criticism that Giroud gets is laughable most of the time. It isnt helped by ‘experts’ stating, as an example, the need for a “World Class Centre forward” (Gary Lineker on twitter yesterday) etc etc and AFC fans as interpretting that that as without a world class centre forward we will not win anything, therefore all is doom and gloom. Sanago is the recent recipient of much criticism. He needs our support not criticism.
That you don’t take things too seriously and can enjoy football is commendable but there are many others that can and do take it seriously. Actually, that you write on a blog means that you take different aspects of being a supporter just as serious as those that you are commenting upon. If everybody supported the club in the same way it would be pretty boring.
So far after the ins and outs effectively we have replaced Bendtner with Sanchez, now some one tell me how that is a transfer failure 🙂
I loved watching cesc play in our colours, and especialy loved his remark after making the move to emirates he was asked, “what is the difference you see in the new stadium” and his reply was “I need to hit the ball harder to get it to Thiery in emirates that in highbury” 🙂 now that is the kind of kid everyone loves seeing play. And Cesc left us , this first refusal is just that, so we refused. He left us , no need to think anything over.
Bootoomee
So we’re the ficklest. We’re number one!
Bootoomee, Another masterpiece from you. You really hit the nail squarely on the head once again. I too am hoping your articles will be appearing a lot more on this website. Keep up the good work. I wanna make two points from the comments section now. Living in Manhattan I have the opportunity to go to about 25 or 30 New York Yankee games each season. I saw my first Yankee game in 1964 when I was 8 years old. There are plenty of Yankee supporters worldwide who have never been to even one Yankee game in their lifetime. Fucking hell there are passionate Yankee fans who live in the Bronx within a couple of miles of Yankee stadium who have never seen even one live game. Tickets can be hard to obtain and can be a bit pricey. Many fans can’t go to games because of their economical status. Still I would never have the fucking balls or audacity to think I am a bigger Yankee fan than those people. Those People are as much of a Yankee fan as myself. That kind of thinking is just plain stupidity and is not showing common sense. My next point is about that fucking traitor Cese. Unlike Flamini and Sagna, He broke his contract and sulked like a child to get his move to his beloved Barcelona. Wenger built the team around him and the motherfucker didn’t care and off he went. Now he wants to come back and the Arsenal didn’t pick up the option to buy him back. Good, I’m happy we didn’t do it. We now have Ozil who in my opinion is better than him. It’s like if your wife leaves you cause money is tight and now wants to come back because you are now rolling in dough. The motherfucking little snot-nose traitor left us and let the door remain firmly shut forever to him. Fuck him and the Dutch douche-bag Van Persie where the sun doesn’t shine. I hope the Dutch asshole enjoys playing in the Champions League this season. Ha Ha Ha. That fucking asshole left the Arsenal because our club showed a lack of ambition according to him. I wonder how that is working out for him.
Are the fickle Arsenal fans any worse than the fickle fans at any other club? Not being an Arsenal fan, I obviously don’t have a handle of the inner workings of Arsenal’s support in general but believe me I’ve met more than my fair share of moaning idiots at City games down the years. In many instances the moaning has reached a point where I’m scratching my head and wondering why they bother going to the matches. It’s not a new phenomenon borne out of the 2008 takeover either – when we were down amongst the dead mean in the third tier of English football during the 1998-99 season, while there was a great sense of camaraderie amongst our fans in general, there were still some nasty fall outs at several away games that season.
Gooner S,
I agree that we can’t all be the same. I just think that if we call ourselves SUPPORTERS then we should be doing just that and not harassing the people that we are supposed to be supporting as they do their jobs. I don’t advocate blind support to be clear but if there are going to be criticisms, they should be objective, evidence-based and followed by PRACTICAL solutions.
I’m glad that you enjoyed my rant. Yeah, I don’t mind it being called a rant 🙂
BILL FROM MANHATTAN,
Since the Dutch skunk left to “win trophies”, here is the scoreline:
Arsenal 2
Dutch skunk 2 minus Champions’ league football.
Yeah, fuck him right where the sun don’t shine.
I don’t habour that much misgivings against Fabregas but I find it irritating to see our fans wallowing in self-imposed misery because Arsene Wenger won’t bring back the player that we all adored but who left us when we most needed him.
Great read Boo, as usual.
A couple of points though.
1)Regarding your point about not getting stressed:
I like it when I get stressed, angry, ecstatic, etc. etc. over football. Why? Because it means there’s nothing much wrong in my other life. You know the one. Friends, family, work etc.
While that’s all rolling along nicely it’s football that stirs my passions. From my pathological hatred of the media to the down on the knees, screaming, head gone moments, when we score winners in the last minute.
But all that takes a back seat when, God forbid, events in that other World, the real world, take a turn for the worse.
At times such as those you have a different perspective.
But until then I reserve the right to be ridiculously, irrationally and emotionally un hinged regarding all things Arsenal 🙂
2) Fabregas.
I tend to side with BILL on this one. The man ‘agitated’ for a move, mid contract, big time. As BILL said, Wenger was building his team around him and at the same time he was putting a Barcelona shirt on in front of the Cameras. (And don’t tell me it was forced on him because I defy anyone, no matter how big, to get a Spurs shirt on me !! Well not without losing teeth, and lots and lots of blood) He screwed us over big time. Much the same as Judas did.
Never the less a great read, and as has already been suggested you should write more if you can.
Great read Bootoomee.
Like Walter, I have to say I could have read a LOT more.
Regarding fickle fans, I think a lot of them just like the attention, such as those on Arsenal Fan TV.
Plus it is the easiest thing in the World. It’s a win for them regardless of the result. If Arsenal do well, they will stake their claim to that victory, and if they don’t do well, they get to say I told you so.
I get the worries over Arteta, but i don’t get the Obsession with a monster. The ONLY thing Arteta lacks is some speed. Bu bring in Matic or whoever they call a World class DM instead of Arteta, and that Chelsea result still happens in my view. One player does not make a team and there are no perfect players (Dennis excepted of course 🙂 ) We lose something if we bring in someone other than Arteta. The key is to get that balance right, and keep the team in its best possible shape.
We’ve already seen a change in Arsenal’s formation this season so far. Whether that is to do with the absence of Ozil or something we’ll continue with, but I think it helps keep our midfield more cohesive and reduces the workload on Arteta. I think he has been really good in both the Shield and the opening game.
Both for defenders and for the ‘DM’ slot I would like to see two younger players brought in for the long term (unless we already have them in our youth ranks)
Lastly, Cesc. Paah.. Who cares? It’s funny how Chelsea are already being crowned champions and Cesc a success because they beat Burnley 3-1.
A reminder of how Cesc left us.
http://www.arsenalreport.com/ix/the-cesc-fabregas-transfer-saga-timeline-how-barca-got-what-they-wanted/
ENOUGH with the Cesc thing now!
Look, I love Cesc like most of us; BUT; he was the one who put us in a shit position back in 2011. His departure left us in a position where Nasri and eventually van Persie decided to leave as well. The person who’s been loyal through those hard times was Arsène. He rebuilt and dug us out of that crisis [because it was a crisis] without dropping out of the CL somehow and actually ended the trophy drought. The page has turned. We don’t crave for Cesc Fabregas anymore like we used to in those first 2 years after he left.
Yes, Fabregas would be a fantastic signing on the face of his ability. I wanted us to get him simply because he’s world class. But we don’t have a huge Cesc shaped hole in midfield anymore. The mix of Özil, Ramsey, Jack and Cazorla as our main AM options is one I have complete faith in.
I was happy that Wenger chose to prioritize our needs in other positions over re-signing Fabregas.
And lastly, I kind of like that we refused him easy passage back to Arsenal. We are not a stepping stone, and you could see this as that kind of statement by Wenger. Of course, recently we welcomed players like Flamini and even Henry back, but in both those cases we didn’t pay a transfer fee.
Cesc Fabregas has betrayed us once, it didn’t work out for him and thought Arsenal were his easy backup. Well, he thought wrong.
But that’s alright. He’s now just another guy who must be defeated. We have licked and healed the wound he caused us last summer already. Bring it on.
Shard
Never seen that. Very illuminating.
Cesc seriously went down in my estimations when he left us and reading that reminds me as to why.
Also, as I recall our ever loving media did nothing but criticise us over it.
Jambug
Yeah. I’ve been in the ‘Fuck Fabregas’ camp ever since he left us. Now that he’s joined chelsea and Mourinho, I don’t see why any Arsenal fan should have any emotional attachment to him. That Cesc era is over.
We’re now seeing the new Arsenal. The Arsenal that won the FA Cup trophy and got the monkey off our backs. Something cesc, RVP and Nasri lacked the heart to do.
Shard
“Something cesc, RVP and Nasri lacked the heart to do.”
Spot on.
Jambug,
My friend, as you know I am a die-hard Gooner. My point in the article about people worrying over the club’s transfer business does not apply to you or even most around here. It is about those who act like toddlers in a toy store when it comes to player signing.
Maybe I am being unfair to toddlers: at least their tantrums can influence their parents to get them their desired toys. Fans whining about player acquisition on the other hand are just noise making and attention seeking irritants.
I just get really, really pissed every time I see Internet commenters listing players that their clubs should sign. It is a ridiculously pointless exercise that is only worsen by the abuse of clubs’ managements for carrying out their businesses their own way.
Bootoomee
I think I missed your point there, sorry my mistake.
Got tickets for the Besiktas 2nd leg. You going?
Jambug,
I won’t be able to make it this time but please keep letting me know. One of these days….
Bootoomee
Will do, but alas due to my ridiculous working pattern, allied to the availability of tickets, it’s a rare event indeed for me to get to the Ems.
But as you say, one day.
@bootoomee. are you a Nigerian? by the way cesc deserved what he get. I mean no returning to arsenal. it’s now another guy in Chelsea.
BILL FROM MANHATTEN
Myself, and especially Mrs Jambug are loving the ‘cut of you jib’ my friend.
The ever feisty Mrs Jambug says, let the Mother fuckers have our sloppy seconds 🙂
captain1936,
Born and raised.
So hold on a minute, if Wenger does sign a DM and a striker then perhaps those fans who were wanting both were right all along. I’m not sure fans who have wanted a new striker that is the equal to RVP, and a DM, and have been saying so for some seasons now, are fickle. It seems they are quite constant in their wishes.
If we don’t sign either then so be it. I’m sure Wenger will have his reasons.
All fans are fickle at some point in their following of a club. Of course you get lots of hotheads angry at certain players after a defeat, players they praised the week before, because most fans react to what they’ve seen in the preceding 90 minutes. A few days later when they’ve calmed down they often look at things more rationally. It’s called being passionate and we all are in different ways.
I don’t know where you get the statistics for Arsenal fans being the most fickle, not sure how you measure such a thing.
Also most Arsenal fans I know were unhappy at ticket price hikes when the club seemed to be standing still, now we have signed some of the best talent in the world those voices are quiet. Of course many of us can’t afford to go anyway but that’s modern football and hardly Arsenal’s fault.
@Omerta, well said re AAA and AKB. I support Arsenal first and whoever is managing them is merely a temporary guardian, admittedly a long one in Wenger’s case and a very good one, but once he’s gone his going will not diminish my support for the club. I respect what he’s done for Arsenal of course and will worry who will replace him but the club will go on as it has done, and would have done, with or without Wenger.
Chapman’s Ghost,
Here is Arsene Wenger on his transfer plans:
“Not at the moment, no. I have nothing special to add on that at the moment. Honestly, we are not close to signing anybody.”
Your insinuation that his signing more players will vindicate the noise making fans is mind-numbingly ridiculous. But you can hold on to it if it makes you happy.
I agree that there is no perfect way of measuring fickleness but if fans of most of the other teams collectively believe that Arsenal fans are the most fickle, then there must be something there. I know for a fact that fans of most other teams see Gooners as the most fickle. You take that anyway you want.
On the AKB/AAA issue: sure us AKBs are Wenger worshippers. As soon as he leaves Arsenal we are going to start supporting Tottenham. Talk about creating a strawman argument to give yourself a cheap victory!
@Bootoome, you know that most fans of other teams think Arsenal fans are fickle? Is that a fact? None of my friends who support other teams think our fans are fickle. I guess we have different friends!
No it’s not a fact, it’s just what you believe.
I’m not trying to win anything mate, you seem to be intensely sensitive.
I support Arsenal FC and have done for years. Whilst Wenger is manager I’ll support him too and then when he goes I’ll support the next manager. I acknowledge the great service he’s done for the club but time will usher us all into oblivion eventually. Let’s hope whoever comes next is his equal, or better if that’s possible.