By Walter Broeckx
Even in the darkest hours we have faced in the last years as Arsenal supporters, on Untold we have never stopped supporting the club, the manager and the players. All of them.
Many a article has been written asking the fans to do the same. Support them at the games and in blogs and in the social media. We have said that the only way forward is to get behind the club, the manager and the players.
Of course players can have bad games and we can acknowledge that. But questioning a player’s loyalty for a bad performance, abusing him directly on social media, saying a player is not good enough to wear the shirt, wishing him all kind of diseases or to break his legs is over the top… that is ludicrous.
But the people who abused all and everyone after every blip brushed it away. The players should compete and entertain them and then they would see if they would support them a bit. But first the player should show something. The players had to earn it as they said. Us Untolders have always thought that if we would get behind them, the players would give us something back.
Some said that the players are highly paid professionals and that they shouldn’t be influenced by such abuse or by non-support from the fans. I said players are not robots and they are in fact human and thus just like anyone else need to feel the support of their superiors but in this case also the support of the fans. Being a footballer is not like any other 9 to 5 job. Not many of us have fans who cheer us on in our 9 to 5 job. Well as far as I know I have none. But in football you have thousands if not millions who support you ….or who attack you.
Now with the current situation where Arsenal after 20 games is top of the league and after having beaten Tottenham in the FA cup last weekend we notice that the support is really back.
And even Arsène Wenger has spoken about it on Arsenal.com. In Wengerians speak he said that he “believes his Arsenal team has reconnected with the supporters again this season.”
I also noticed a very noisy stadium when watching the game on my TV last Saturday. And to quote Wenger further on Arsenal.com they said that he was delighted with the passion the fans showed and added that it could be important for his side’s hope of success.
In the words used on Arsenal.com he said:
“I feel it and what is happening is there is a connection again between the team and the fans,” he said.
“They look to be on the same wavelength and that was not the case last season and to get that back is very important.
“To have that strength at home will be vital until the end of the season.”
Notice how he speaks of the home fans and doesn’t speak about the away fans. Because we all know that the away fans have shown a lot of passion over the past seasons. They have stood behind the team in the most awful moments and when the team let us down, our away support didn’t let us down.
Untold has been asking people who go to the Emirates to replicate the away supporters at our home ground. And I know many have done just that. But as I could witness myself on the occasions I could make it to the Emirates way too many just sit there with the expression on their face: OK, show me first something to get excited about and then maybe I will give you a little bit of support.
Yet each time when the Emirates was rocking and fully behind the team we have got some amazing results. Remember our matches against Barcelona when the crowd lifted the team. Or like against Milan. Or yes in the last league games against our neighbours like the 5-2’s we produced. When we went behind early in the game but how the crowd got behind the players and not on their back.
It proved to be the difference at the end of the day.
This might sound as another article in the ‘we told you so’ category. And of course it is. I once said that by getting behind the team you invest yourself in the team and in the performance of the players on the pitch. It is hard work for you as a supporter yourself. I remember being almost soaking wet after a match from the shouting and singing I did. But when you then win the game you feel it as intense as the players I think.
The risk is that when you still lose after having committed yourself like that you will feel the loss even harder. But that is the risk you take when you start to support a team. No team will win all their matches. And sometimes we have to accept defeat.
But now with the way the season is going there is no more hiding yourself if you want to call yourself a supporter. The players have shown over the last calendar year 2013 that they are willing to give it all despite being hit once again by lots of injuries. Now it is time for us supporters to show that we are willing to give all our support to these players. Even when things turn bad for a while. Maybe our support can make the difference and lift the team when the going gets tough.
The message from players over the past years each time when the Emirates was rocking was clear if you did care to listen. And now the message from the manager is also clear. The only way to get somewhere is when we do it together.
Forget the transfer window and let it not overshadow our support. The most important thing is to start each match and take the 3 points. That is what matters now. Not who we might buy or who we missed out on. That will not win us points on the field. The players who we have can win us points on the field. And we as supporters can help them out.
We can trust the players that they will do their job and give it all. So why don’t we do our job and support, support and support.
———————————-
Today’s Arsenal anniversaries
- 6 January 1906: After losing 1-6 away to Bolton on Jan 1, Arsenal beat Sheffield U 5-1 at home.
- 6 January 1934 – Herbert Chapman died of pneumonia aged 55.
- 6 January 1938: Joe Hulme transferred to Huddersfield town
- 6 January 1951: Arsenal 0 Carlisle (of 3rd division north) 0. FA Cup 3rd round. Crowd 57932.
- 6 January 1971: Yeovil 0 Arsenal 3 FA Cup. It begins here.
- 6 January 2001: Carlisle 0 Arsenal 1 as Arsenal start on journey to the final.
- 6 January 2006: Patrick Cregg sold to Falkirk
- 6 January 2011: Wellington bought from Fluminese
- 6 January 2012: Henry returns for a short term loan.
You can see all the 2600 Arsenal anniversaries we have collected thus far on these four files
Personally, I think Untold have every right to say “I told you so”. Many on here have take =n a lot of stick from the AAA, nice the team and manager are proving we were right to back them through the bad times. The critics will say we have won nothing yet, but the turn around has been amazing. There is no doubt this team are good enough to win trophies, the doubt is whetehr they will be allowed to.
Great to see the Ems rocking, all the singing and all the scarves. The harmless and amusing antics of Szcz on twitter, TV with pennant and of course our new cult hero, Theo have offended some of the lillywhite variety but will help in connecting with the fans. I would imagine quite a few Spuds going into work today and getting “Theo’d”…and long may it all continue, but when it doesnt, we support them anyway
Easiest way to get support in today’s world: Instant Success!
Look at ManU, most of their “fans” have suddenly become critics after just half a season of failure. People can be short sighted, Arsenal’s Untold supporters may be more long term.
I only hope those Emirates faithful, of fickle disposition, will have absorbed the timely words of Arsene Wenger and will now act accordingly.
I have not forgotten the abuse directed at Denilson, Ramsey
etc in the past and I trust that 100% support for whoever wears the shirt will be the answer from now on.
@Sammy The Snake talk about it, I can not imagine the Manures say that Mike Shit Dean is a supporter of Everton!!! How many trophies have mike shit dean won for Manure?? Moyes blasted Webb and I have not even heard any Pr… from the FA criticizing Moyes at all or are the rules charged you guy’s know better probably 2014 have new rules all together. Le Prof is spot on, the home fans have been disgusting thankfully their back but they are never to be trusted as in bad times they disappear and come back just in good times, but the way fans wow I just love them in thick or thin they have been with the team.
So lets us be on stand by cause the refs are not on our side we need to fight hard and tough.
Lets keep the spirit. Go Gunners
I wonder how many people even know what AAA means. I have no clue myself. I do know it makes people who use it judgemental which is all well and good when qualified to do this, but I want to see credentials first. I also want to see AAA written in full so there is no vagueness about this umbrella term.
This used to be the best Arsenal site on the net besides Arsenal.com until the slew of stories aimed at besmirching Arsenal supporters while the author self-proclaims they are a much better supporters – without any evidence at all. The author never gives sources or names to these so called inferior supporters either.
Narcissistic personality disorder. Don’t look it up because realisation about yourself can be shocking.
When there are obvious problems with the tactics in a game, a lazy player, unstrengthened areas, the selling of top players, the buying of poached kids from other teams which have potential – who is more qualified to whine about it more than an Arsenal Supporter?
If a man whines about his wife’s cooking after she dishes up slop for years, is he REALLY a bad husband? Let’s say there was a one decent meal, does this mean all the subsequent slop after that cannot be whined about?
Why not label the husband disparagingly and criticise him without having had to eat that slop daily.
Some of those whining supporters save up for tickets and travel. They spend the entire day travelling too and when something disappoints them, they should voice it. There is nobody else I would rather hear it from.
@Nicky I have seen staunch supporters of Denilson, Ramsey and Bendtner labelled AAA on here. Be aware of ALL the facts before joining a conversation.
I personally know of no fan who criticised the team after one two or even three years of the mounting issues the club experienced on and off the pitch. Arsenal began losing vocal support for a reason. The management of the team on and off the field has not been good enough and hence we have failed to compete for top honours.
I disagree that fans should just blindly cheer along when things are not right. I also have to laugh at the ‘i told you so’ nature of this article. It is a little early to call and even if we do go on to achieve success again it does not wash away the mistakes that have been made. There has been no steady build up of good decisions over 9 years that has finally led to a team that is competing.
I am still not convinced Wenger will ever again win a trophy, but I pray he does. As for support, Arsenal will ALWAYS have my support and I agree the fans in the stadium should be supportive and vocal no matter what. However don’t try and use the last year of really positive stuff from the manager and players to try and stifle opinions. You will never succeed in forcing your own views down others throats.
Still much for Arsenal to do but we are on the right track.
Arsenal1Again,
“when something disappoints them, they should voice it.”
But it’s not really supporting is it?
Going by your analagy, if the husband told his wife the food was crap, she would no longer be motivated to keep on trying whereas if he encouraged her, who knows what he’d be eating this time next year!
@Arsenal1Again,
I don’t care about the source. When things are not going too well on the field, abuse of ANY player who is giving of his best is a disgrace.
Kudos 2 u guys on Untold, just wana let u guys knw dat sum people are just born dumb no matter hw much effort u put up 2 enlighten dem dey will just act dumb. All facts,evidence,cases,history are daily posted @ d bottom of each article bt der dumbish nature will nt allow dem 2 read it all dey are after is nag,criticised,insult nd abuse. Bt anyway life will b so boring witout dem also. So in my world wen der is no active football I just look @ dem an laugh till water runs from my eyes. Good work 2 you guys( mean MEN @ Untold) keep it Up. We that knows. Value of ur hard spent time 2 give us your all just like d Arsenal team nd Manager. We take off our HAT 4 You.
@ Arsenal1Again
There’s nothing wrong with criticism; on the contrary, it can be very helpful. It’s a matter of how it’s expressed. In your analogy, the husband could have said “your food is crap”, which would have an uncertain effect but is a pathetic, abusive way to behave; or he could have framed the criticism more constructively, such as “have you considered improving it by …”.
The acronym “AAA” stands for “Anti-Arsenal Arsenal” and applies to fans who hurl abuse when things aren’t going well – destructive as opposed to constructive criticism, such as “Ramsey is shit”, “Denilson is useless”, “Bendtner is an idiot”, etc. That’s not criticism; it’s moronic abuse.
Thanks , Walter ,well written as usual . Arsenal and AW have my undivided support . Am an AKB for life .
To each his own – just stay the fuck out of my face you disgusting AAAA types !
As for the Elms to be rocking now , could it be that some of the older folk not attending games(sometimes selling their tickets) and rather going dancing and partying ,as well as attending non-league games to try their prawn sandwiches and cappucino ( I read about this somewhere !), really gives a positive vibe there ?
As for the wife’s cooking , all I can say is that she dishes food to me like she’s serving a god . Yes , its either a burnt offering or a bloody sacrifice !
@ Arsenal1Again
Your husband/wife analogy is very poor, I’m sorry. As far as I know, that relationship is legal, at least where I come from. Nothing binds you to take the “slop” every night, you can always divorce(or try cooking yourself). Is it a case of: ‘Until a trophy do us part’? Anyway, what qualifies you to brand arsenal’s performances slop?
@ Jayramfootball
“The management of the team on and off the field has not been good enough and hence we have failed to compete for top honours.”
So let’s see; not only do you not sound like Arsene Wenger’s number 1 fan, but you are actually in a position to assess how “good enough” the management of the team has been, on and off the field! Wow.
Someone might mistake you guys for critics. As for us, we are just supporters. I hope there is a difference.
Arsenal 1 Arsenal
So you have tried my wife’s cooking
@Wengerson
Fair enough – I should have said in my opinion and according to my expectation of what we should be achieving.
We have indeed failed to get close to top honours for a long period of time. I do not need to list the issues on and off the field over the last few years. They have been discussed at length. My point is that the dissatisfaction amongst some Arsenal fans did not develop overnight. It has built up over time and in my view is understandable.
I don’t get your critic/supporters point – it is possible to be both is it not? Plus, a critic can be both positive and negative. Sounds like I do not share your view of what a supporter is.
Anyway forget that – its just been confirmed Walcott is out for AT LEAST 6 months and will miss the rest of the season and the World Cup… just terrible news and I really feel for the lad.
Terrible terrible news regarding Walcott.
Arsenal1Again and Jamramfootball, there are some serious errors of logic and consistency with your arguments, despite my agreement that positive criticism is justified when things aren’t going well:
1)The ¨evidence¨you demand of Tony is always there when we lose or draw….or even occasionally when we win.The supposed ¨supporters¨ come screaming and hurling abuse and name-calling, crying Wenger out etc. Take a look at the archives after the AV game and you’ll see it amply displayed.
2)The buying of ¨poached¨kids? Are you serious? It is clear you haven’t done your research but are simply parroting what you hear in the media, as this is one of their favourite lines. Those kids were EAGER to sign with us, had both their parents’ and agents’ full agreement and NEVER were offered a contract by their original Clubs so were NOT poached or bunged up. I think you’re confusing Fabregas, Cole, Nasri and company with our youth academy. Quit the mindless regurgitation of shite media hyperbole and start doing your homework before writing such nonsense.
3)A1A please do enlighten us, based on your great tactical nous, how Wenger has faltered in his managerial duties. I know you are a closet anti-Wengerian and so be it but we need hard evidence that your view has any merit. At the same time, please tell us what positions need strengthening, aside from the usual rant about strikers.
4)Most of the non-whining supporters spend as much if not more than the whiners BUT they come to support and cheer their heroes, regardless of the outcome. IF the entire team performs below par but wins, few complain, if the team performs superbly but ties or loses, the whiners moan but the rest accept it and get on with their lives.
5)AAA is an acronym for the above PERPETUAL whiners, for whom nothing is good enough at AFC and whose ingrained pessimism and negativism is a constant reminder that you can’t please everyone all the time and the AAA never.
6)Jamramfootball…..the Arsenal isn’t a religious movement where our failings need to be ¨washed away¨ but a Football Club whose purpose is to entertain their fans by performing the best they can under the circumstances.
You accuse the Club of mismanagement and state that we are where we are now because of what, divine intervention, luck, good referring, few injuries, deadwood suddenly sprouting leaves, the AAA’s whining to spend some money, Wenger precipitously listening to guys like you….what? Time to move on mate and join the rest of us who have let the past take care of itself….Your anti-Wenger bent is unwelcome in a blog that supports him and the team, unless you can give concrete and rational examples of where he has failed us miserably.
@ Arsenal1Again
AAA=complete pricks who never have anything good to say about Arsenal when things are going wrong.
For example when I was in Munich last year , i would say at least half of the travelling support for arsenal would have been happy to see Arsenal get smashed so that wenger would be sacked.
another example is the Villa home game game this season where lots of AAA supporters just couldn’t wait to boo their team when the game was going against Arsenal – nobody seemed to recognise the refereeing traversty Arsenal were up against that whole game.
another example is some knob from Legrunt who was tweeting on Sunday how he couldn’t wait to see roma play as Gervinho
was now a major star for them and was having a great season.i never saw this AAA do anything but abuse gervinho all last season as well as numerous fans at everygame.the AAA also even had a despicable song about Gervinho saying how shit he was.it was no surprise taht he was forced to leave by the supporters and no real surprise that without the constant barracking of his own teams supporters taht he is now showing exactly what wenger saw in him when he bought him. the list could go on but even now from where i sit at the emirates it seems Arsenal are only a couple of bad results away from the AAA coming out in force.
i have never booed my team ,or players and never will,that is what a true supporter should be !!!!!!!
@ Arsenal1Again
There are also a few who come on this site after every draw or loss to have a go at UA optimism.
they aren’t hard to find then but stay away for the rest of the season .
Well the AAA are having an annus horribilis as her majesty may say. Funny how some are now reduced to coming on here after a ref assisted draw against a team at the time in the top four.
Guess Theo’s injury gives them a ray of hope in their miserable existence
The AAAs are there still lurking in the background, fortunately the team has kept them quite by going on a good run. We don’t have to define who or what AAA is, you know who you are. I have never felt that someone out there could think or label me an AAA, I just don’t worry about it and there’s a reason for that. So those questioning or complaining about that term being in use here I say why do you feel the need to come out and question it or defend those that may be labelled AAA.
jayramfootball
How does one manage to have two avatars (your 1:55 and 7:24 posts)?. Thought your avatar tracks your email address, unless you have two separate email addresses you use to post here…..
Al, cannot speak for Jayram, but I have two as well, one computer I use has my real email address a .com, another I sometimes use I mistakenly entered my address as a .co.uk and it seems to remember that one so I have the price ledge of two avatars depending on which device I use
Supporting Arsenal is simple:
1-you have the right to criticize, but just when the wistle signals the start of the game, you have to give 100% just like what u want the players to do, and not boo them everytime they miss a ball.
2-when an obvious referee bias are shown in matches following others, a supporter should blam the ref not Wenger, he doesnt hold the wistle, and if he should overcome this anyway, in you opinion, then why put a ref in the first place.
3-Form is one of the most important aspects that helps a player perform, and a big part of this is to be supplied by the supporters, so dont blame a player when he miss, if all he thinks of is “if I miss this, they are gonna Boo me and blame me for it”.
4-watching Arsenal Spurs game in the FA, we can easily see how we started the game due to the absence of pressure on the team for whatever reason, this pressure should be eased by supporters. IF U WANT YOUR TEAM TO START THE GAME LIKE HELL, THEN START YOUR GAME CHEERINGS LIKE HELL!!!
5-If all you care about is trophies, try Real or Barca, they always win…
Ah, perhaps that’s it then. At least it kinda confirms what I suspected, that one has to be using two different email addresses. Cheers Mandy 🙂
Poor Theo, out because of idiotic referring again. The stupid thing is the one that did most damage didn’t even receive a card or stop the game for a foul…
No worries Al
I did notice one thing in the various pictures of Theo on the stretcher. He wasn’t in extreme pain.
Many years ago, I got a 2nd degree MCL tear in my right knee. The general description of any knee ligament tearing (including rupture), is that the knee swells up like a basketball and there is lots of pain. My knee didn’t swell and there was little pain. I actually did this twice (playing in the same tournament, playing for the same team, playing against the same team, in successive years). The second time, I was doing first aid for a team and one of their players was a small guy, who had broken his ankle. I carried him into the hospital in my arms, with a sprained knee.
And part of the problem with doing a scan (“properly”), is that you need to wait for the swelling to subside. We didn’t wait long for Theo’s scan. So maybe his knee is like mine, and didn’t swell much. Which means less time to wait until a person can do surgery, less scar tissue to break down, and maybe faster recovery. But I would guess the time being bandied about, is the typical ACL recovery time. So, Theo may come back a bit sooner.
If memory serves me correctly, Theo (and Melanie?) are expecting a baby. So Theo is likely to be spending more time at home than originally planned for. Probably not a bad thing. And Theo should at least be mobile by the time the baby comes along.
@Mandy 🙂
If these refs do not start giving our players more protection , Jack will be next. Over to you Roy hodgson, unless you think the likes of lampard, gerrard will have the legs and Milner and cleverly the ability to thrive in a Brazilian summer
Mandy,
And, one would hope that Gazidis would hopefully make a maximal stand and draw the line.
@Jayaram,”I should have said in my opinion and according to “”my expectation”” of what we should be achieving.”
Now thats your problem. “”my expectations””.
Hope you rather have a realistic expectations. May be then you’ll look back at these 8 years and realize it was not as bad you thought it was….
I had a girlfriend who when we would argue about something and her point is moot, she will start bringing out things from my past when I was naughty boy to attack me over cos she was being proved wrong. I hated it and thought it was a pathetic tack to take when I was proving my point.
You see that is what AAA do all the time, they are being proved wrong not just with our team but ‘other clubs’ that have changed managers recently from being top if the pile to mid table, and surely can see its not easy to just change and why when we have the best and always have?
Anyway when losing argument just bring out the ‘I am still cranky at all the barren years’ to deflect from the fact they wanted AW gone…
COYG!