By Walter Broeckx
I found it rather amusing that in the past week or so we saw the usual resurgence of aaa posters at Untold. People claiming to know it all before it would happen and who said they were right because they had told us so. All this based on one defeat of course. And of course the aim of their attacks was Wenger.
Because Wenger hasn’t bought all those by the media linked players with Arsenal and so it was his fault and his alone that we lost to West Ham. FACT. Some added.
But what you also can read and what some explicit say is that there is only one trophy in English football anymore: the PL title. That is the only trophy. The League cup is still a trophy however. As it has been won by Chelsea and Man City the last years so they both had a PL-League cup double season.
But the FA cup? No the FA cup is no longer a trophy. And the same goes for the Community Shield. That is not a trophy. FACT.
It seems for some strange reason that once Arsenal wins a trophy it suddenly stops being a trophy. And they say that only the PL trophy really counts. And the league cup of course as long as we don’t win it.
Of course I know there are different way of measuring things. And I know that the PL title is more difficult and valuable than the League cup. But I can tell you that each and every team that has won the League cup, FA Cup, PL or Community Shield is having this win on their website under the header of ‘honours’. Every single club is taking pride of each of those wins. It IS a trophy. Each and every one is. Let me add myself for this time: FACT!
Now let us take a look at the last 8 English trophies that could have been won. And as I see the Community Shield as a part of the reward for the previous season I put it together with that season. Even though technically you could argue that this season Community Shield win was in fact the first trophy of the season that ends in 2016. But as there are four domestic trophies to be won I wanted to keep it with the four trophies in total per season.
Now if we look at it we see this:
| Season | League cup | FA cup | PL | C S |
| 2014 | Man City | Arsenal | Man City | Arsenal |
| 2015 | Chelsea | Arsenal | Chelsea | Arsenal |
And if we look at it in numbers and % we get this:
| Club | Number | Percentage |
| Man City | 2/8 | 25% |
| Chelsea | 2/8 | 25% |
| Arsenal | 4/8 | 50% |
No matter how you try to twist and turn it out of the last 8 possible English trophies that a team can win Arsenal has won 4 of them.
And that under a manager of whom some said that we would never win anything again as long as he is our manager. That same manager has now won as much trophies in England as the other two managers who have money at their disposal that we can only dream about.
And yet, we lose one match and out they come bemoaning the fact that Wenger is still in charge. And so we will never win….the PL as long as he is here.
Note the difference with let us say 18 months ago. Then they said: we will never win anything again. But as this has been found a ridiculous statement now they ignore those wins and just focus on one trophy. And the league cup as that still counts as it has been won by the money teams in the last two seasons.
And if we win the PL (and who knows the League cup also) they also will be discarded as real trophies by them and they will claim that we will never win the CL as long as Wenger is our manager. Each time we win something the trophy suddenly becomes of no importance and they want another trophy to win and as long as we don’t win that trophy they will throw their toys and our manager out of the pram.
This all reminds me of people who will never be satisfied. A bit like little children who both have a cookie but one kid just wants the cookie of the other kid because that cookie is sweeter he thinks. And then that kid throws himself on the floor, starts screaming and shouting and crying for the cookie the other kid is holding in his hands. And meanwhile forgetting that he himself has two cookies in his hands….
But isn’t it really sad that supporters who first said that they were no glory hunters but only wanted us to compete are always changing the goal posts? When we competed in the 2013-2014 season and were on top of the league longer than any team they shouted and cried that we didn’t win it. But we competed and won the FA cup and later on the CS.
Last season because of injuries and world cup hangovers we had a bad start but once the team was complete we won as many points as Chelsea. No we didn’t really compete during the season because of our bad start but we still won the FA cup for the second time in a row and won the CS also for a second time in a row.
But all that is immediately forgotten when we have one bad day. I really wonder how it must be to feel miserable each and every day because another kid has another cookie that you wanted. Instead of being happy with your own cookie they keep on moaning and bitching and hating. What a terrible way to walk through live.
I will just enjoy myself and feel happy about what we have realised and won. No need to feel unhappy at all if you ask me.
—————
Two anniversaries. The full list of anniversaries for the day is on the home page.
20 August 1977: Pat Jennings first game for Arsenal – a 0-1 defeat to Ipswich. Arsenal won only four out of the first ten games, but Jennings kept his place and played all 55 league, league cup and FA Cup matches that season.
20 August 1995: Arsenal 1 Middlesbrough 1. Bruce Rioch’s first game. Arsenal went seven games undefeated at the start of the season, but in the complete season won 17 of their 38 league games and scored just 49 league goals. 20 August 2003: Jermaine Pennant loaned for the season to Leeds Utd. He played 36 times for Leeds and scored 2 goals.
We’re on Twitter @UntoldArsenal
WOW ! Four out of eight ! And this does not even include the non -trophies of 4th and 3rd place !
I don’t mind ‘them’ being miserable (I lie- I like ‘them’ being miserable !), but I resent the fact that they come here to be miserable .
Why can’t they just go to where their kind normally congregate and find true joy with like minded miserable others ? Or is that an oxymoron ?
For those who want to add the CL on to the tropy list I can say that as no English team has even come close to winning it in the last seasons I thought it of no importance for English clubs to mention at the moment.
Brickfields
But that would eliminate appx.75% of the contributors here. This blog is sooooo negative ( and that includes myself sometimes)
Strange how these trophies always count in the list some of these crticcs when discussing their more venerated managers.
But we live in an age where cry babies make the biggest noise on the Internet when it comes to Arsenal, and a guy with clear anger management issues , it would seem in most areas of his life, but especially against Wenger and those who back him gets branded a Super Fan.
Then, there is another, an Arsenal supporter who spoke out at every opportunity to disrespect the new look England cricket outfit, mainly because they dropped his mate. This new cricket team have done rather well, making our Piers look a bit silly, so he has to revert to type and lay into Wenger.
Still, it’s the Internet, and everyone has a voice, including those who pretend to be something they are not.
Morning Walter. If I can maybe help with an observation. You are polar opposites, they are as obsessed with you as you are with them. They just Wenger as shit and will not have anything good said about him (extreme) you just see wenger good and will not even critique the great man, you make excuses like west ham were better prepared, they flew back from Romania in the early hours of Driday morning I believe and played a 16 yr old in midfield but still you would not critique the boss (extreme) you mirror one another’s behaviour really. Just some thoughts, I think you and Tony seem like really nice guys. I certainly would rather a pint with you than the other lot.
The community /charity shield is a nice no pressure friendly match. The F.A. cup is more important than the league one however the league and champion’s league are the pinnacle titles.
I sometimes wonder whether there is such a thing as the aaa. There will always be adverse comments on this and other sites bewailing the absence of early signings during Transfer Windows, tactics on the field of play, late introduction of substitutes, etc. We all have similar thoughts of this nature and Arsene Wenger is invariably the target of displeasure.
But I never seem to meet a paid-up member of the aaa. In fact I’ve met more supporters of the Flat Earth Society than those of the aaa.
While Untold continues to be a valuable forum for folk to let off steam on all sorts of topics, editorial care should be taken, IMO, not to attach over-importance to a body which in fact might not really exist.
The Comunity Shield has NEVER been a trophy, ever Walter. Please stop trying to claim it as such.
Arsenal could do with a couple more signings, the squad could be stronger, that doesn’t make me a Wenger hater, just a supporter who wants the best for my team. The defeat vs the Hammers was worrying, worrying because AW said the players were affected by all the pre-match title talk. They suggests they are a bit fragile, or complacent. Either way they shouldn’t be letting shit like that affect them.
Great article Walter.what u’ve been doing is actually great but some unfortunate sad souls cannot see what brings arsenal down for some couple of seasons past-the refs,the negative media stereotype and name it…
Been a regular reader of untold from my secondary school 1-ss1,and that was back in 2008 but a first time commenter.
Tony,Walter,Don McMahon-are u omg?,and the rest,more grease to ur elbows.
And to fellow positive untolders-Mandy,Sam and not forgetting Damilare-fellow Nigerians,the interesting Brickfields,Nicky and many special others-you know who u are,keep being yourselves.
Nicky,
My own thoughts exactly.
I have to confess that I’ve never knowingly met an actual aaa. How would I recognise one if I did? Is it branded onto their foreheads? Is there a secret hand shake or some other way of identification?
Perhaps there are meetings at South London pubs ( well away from The Emirates ) where there are discussions about spending “some fucking money”, how to get “Wenger out” and the relevance of the “fourth place trophy”.
If I ever do meet that mythical beast I would hand-cuff him/her and report straight to the UA blog police where I would demand my captive be neutralised.
nicky & Dex
I completely agree with you. No manager nowhere should ever be above criticism. Even Sir Alex wasn’t. And CS really is just a friendly. To emphasize its prominence only makes one look desperate.
In some countries the equivalent of the Community Shield is definitely seen as a real trophy. I think the point is that if any other team had won it rather than Arsenal it would have been given credit for it. It seems that as soon as Arsenal wins something it doesn’t count.
About the AAA – this was definitely an organised force a few years ago when there was a concerted campaign to get fans to force Arsene Wenger out. There were banners, black bin bags, and other attempts to get fans to show anti Arsene feeling at matches. Probably the people who organised all that are still waiting in the wings for any chance to do the same things again.
It’s just that now the financial restrictions are over and we don’t have to sell our best players – something Arsene Wenger keeps pointing out – and can even buy a star a season, the opportunities for organised negativity are much fewer.
Although it’s good to win trophies (any will do), at “the end of the day” the only ones that really matter are the big two plus the FA cup. If we’re really going to claim bragging rights over these minor trophies then we are putting ourselves in a position of targeted ridicle by the likes of Chelsea & Spurs fans.
Be pleased to have won, but temper the hubris until we really achieve ( any time now probably).
Not to mention Fred and porter.
Fred,
Yes West Ham flew back on Friday morning. However they only took out the bare minimum of first team players they could in the first place and this included Jenkinson who in any case was ineligible for the Arsenal game so this argument is irrelevant or at best of little importance.
Brickfields,
More paradoxical than oxymoronic, I think. Although I’m happy to be corrected.
We’ve won 4 out of the 8.
Now that is OK in my book.
Much better than 0 from 8.
That’s a load of …cock..
A Young woman walks into a Chartered accountant’s office and tells him that she needs to file her Tax Returns.
The accountant says, “Before we begin, I’ll need to ask you a few questions.”
He gets her name, address, etc. And then asks, ”What’s your occupation?”
“I’m a prostitute,” she says. The accountant is taken aback and says, “That’s too gross. Let’s try to re-phrase that.”
The woman says, “OK, I’m a call girl.”
“No, that still won’t work. Need something more acceptable.”
They both think for a minute; then the woman says, “I’m a poultry farmer.”
The accountant asks, “What does poultry farming have to do with being a prostitute?”
“Well, I raised a thousand cocks last year.”
Chartered Acct: “Brilliant !!! Poultry Farmer it is!! And agricultural
income is tax free in our country.”
Of course it’s nice to win the charity shield. It’s a good day out for those who wish to go. However to place too much importance to it is wrong. Use it for what it is, take the opportunity to bed in the new signingsite if you have any.
para,
You forget that the 4 missed are really bigger than the 4 we won;)
There is no doubt that there was an organised movement, which peaked in vociferousness about two to three seasons ago, to remove Wenger and in general undermine the club. There were a variety of reasons for this but a major driving force behind the campaign had nothing to do with football – it was more to do with a hoped for aggressive takeover.
In that campaign, any dork who popped up who was prepared to complain about the club was encouraged (by the motivators) to do so.
The dorks included intelligent but ruthless and dishonest persons who pretended to be supporters, but were not – the asinine anti Arsenal Arsenal; the second group were the brain dead mouthpieces – the type who rejoice in causing any misery they can – the anti Arsenal Arsenal assholes. Bearing in mind both these main classifications of underminers I prefer the acronym aaaa!
Both types of aaaa rely for further support on the disbelieving and the disingenuous.
More recently, with the club achieving success and with the opportunity for the aggressive takeover declining, the aaaa have quietened – but – don’t be deceived – they are still waiting to re-emerge!
bjt,
Thanks for clarifying the difference between aaa and aaaa!
Why don’t you Wenger/Arsenal haters dry up & blow away!!!
I find it a little disappointing that people are told to go away because they have a differing but considered opinion on any subject surrounding The Arsenal.
I’m not sure why some people say the Community Shield does not count as a trophy
http://www.manutd.com/en/Club/Trophy-Room.aspx
http://www.chelseafc.com/the-club/history/style/trophy-cabinet.html
https://www.mcfc.co.uk/the-club/club-history#
http://www.liverpoolfc.com/history/honours
They all mention it as a trophy. If the ones above disagree I think you better email their PR team and mention it does not count.
Really? On a pro Wenger site, Wenger haters are told to go away and that’s disappointing?
If you include the ‘TinPot Cup’ then you can include the Charity Shield, but I’d prefer to exclude both of them. The PL and FA Cup are the only ones really worthy of merit. Basically by winning the FA Cup and getting a CL place we did better than any other (PL) team except the PL winner. Would I swap 3rd and an FA Cup win for a 2nd in the PL…. Hell No!
Of my 20 odd Gooner friends, only 1 is anti-Wenger. The rest of us all have issues with his management but we know that not only are there very very few managers anywhere near his level, but also a change of manager pretty much always results in a season or two of mediocrity (at best) before the new manage can fully make his changes. It’s different when you need to fight of relegation where team spirit and organisation are the only important requirements (whilst other teams break up and get relegated).
I’d desperately like to see AW use his substitutes better and stand on the line shouting for OX or Theo to get to the by-line but there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re moving in the right direction and I’ll be happy at the end of the season as long as we do better in the PL than last season.
porter, very few of the negative comments here are actually ‘considered’ and even the ones that are, have usually only been partially considered. So often comments make no allowance for the possibility that a player is carrying a knock so is on the bench or that player X (or his manager) has personal issues with 2 of our players (or the club) so that there’s zero chance of him joining and the squad having the required team spirit, or that player Y will not join a club where he’s likely to be 2nd choice to our existing vastly under-rated player in that position. The screaming for big names to ‘cover for’ Coquelin is amazing. Yes it would be good (necessary even?) to have cover for him if he gets injured but some of the names thrown around as ‘must haves’ are ridiculous, and when Coquelin has a bad game (like Matic did last W/End) he’ll get slaughtered because he didn’t cost 25m……
I see the phrase ‘big picture’ thrown about by many negative commenters and have to say that they’re usually the ones that completely miss the ‘big picture’.
So genuinely ‘considered’ opinion is always welcome.
@ bjtgooner – August 20, 2015 at 10:15 am – Ahh ,yes , bjtgooner , I remember those days very fondly; the Untold wall stood firm then and oh ! How we led many of ‘them’ on a wild goose chase and never to be heard of again .
Some of them have tried to sneak back again under different guises , by we ain’t fooled ! Soon it will be culling time again !
http://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=ksm0793
I Wonder how the reaction would have been if we would have lost the CS. Then it would have been all hate and vitriol aimed at Wenger for “missing out on a trophy”…
Stupid people coming on here and behaving in character are a lot like idiotic people at the movie theater who smoke , talk incessantly , use their phones and general disturb other viewers . And YOU feel hurt ?
Really ?
http://www.gocomics.com/wumo/2015/08/11
@Walter
I have come to the conclusion that some Arsenal supporters are so entrenched in their views (whatever they are) that now they will not change them. It has got too personal for them and has gone on for too long. I wonder what we will all discuss after Arsene Wenger has retired? In my view, it is only then that I think Wenger will get the credit he deserves.
The Community Shield or the “Super Cup” as it is known in many other top European Football Nations is considered and celebrated as a competitive trophy so much that just this week Athletic Bilbao defeated Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup and celebrated with a HUGE parade. It was their first competitive trophy after 31 years.
So saying that this kind of trophy is just a pre-season warm-up friendly game is nonsense.
A photographer, who was also a confirmed atheist, decided to go into the woods to get photos of the fall foliage. It was a beautiful day: Fall colors, birds chirping, babbling brook, and a gentle breeze rustling the leaves.
While snapping shots, the photographer heard a noise behind him, and whirled around to see a huge bear coming through the bushes.
He dropped his camera and ran. And kept running and running… and looking behind him, he noticed the bear was gaining on him! He was so scared that tears came to his eyes. He ran faster, but the bear was closing in on him. He ran faster yet, and tripped over a root. Rolling over onto his back, the man saw the bear rise to his full height and raise a huge paw… and the atheist cried out, “Oh, God, no!”
And everything stopped. The birds stopped chirping. The brook stopped babbling. The gentle breeze stopped. And the bear froze with his paw in the air. And the man heard a booming voice say, “Young man. For years you’ve doubted my very existence, but now that your life is in peril you call my name to help you. Why should I do so?”
And the man thought for a moment, and said, “Yes, you are right. If you are God, then it would be hypocritical of me to become a Christian at this point in my life. But, do you think that you could at least make the bear a Christian for today?” And the booming voice was quiet for a moment and then said, “Done.”
And everything started again. The birds chirping, brook babbling, and gentle breeze rustling the leaves. And the bear slowly lowered his paw. Then the bear put his paws together, and bowed his massive head and said, “Dear Lord, please bless this food we are about to eat.”
Walter
Excellent article.
It feels really funny that when Arsenal wins back to back FA cups it turns out to be that FA cup is a no trophy. While reality is that FA cup is considered to be the most coveted and prestigious English trophy since older times.
The irony of the AAA is that they fail to realize that Arsenal has been finishing top 4 since Wenger has joined.
which in itself is a remarkable achievement.
I would ask the AAA why Liverpool the most successful English Club of the 20th century is dying to finish in top 4 since the last 15 years and failed to do so most of the times since the turn of the century.
If you ask a Liverpool or a Spurs fan to swap the position Arsenal have achieved in the last 15 years with there club have won they will take it within a blink of an eye.
Walter
No one gives a fuck about the Community Shield. What it does do though is recognise that the club have had some success: either winning the league, or the FA Cup.
The next step for Arsenal should be a sustained title challenge. Here’s hoping that happens this season.
Usama
The CS is not the Super Cup and has never been viewed as a proper trophy. Trying to make out it is anything other than a high profile friendly and/or the traditional curtain raiser to the season is laughable and makes you look desperate, or clueless.
Dex
the least you can do is stop personal attacks. I am assuming you don’t know personally most people who comment here. You can criticise their ideas but not them personally. They have done you no harm nor do they mean one. You can disagree with somebody on a particular point but you shouldn’t call names.
When you allow a thought of doubt to enter your mind, the law of attraction will soon line up one doubtful thought after another.
The moment a thought of doubt comes, release it immediately. Send that thought on its way replace it with “I know I am receiving now.” And feel it.
From -The secret .
You need to stop acting like the school prefect. There’s plenty of comments that are disengenuous on here. Get a grip.
@Brickfields
Great story at 12.49pm. I still enjoy your stories as much as ever! Unfortunately between family illness and now browser problems I have been unable to comment much, but hopefully all is on the mend – apart from the browser!
Keep the stories and jokes coming!
Dex,
The primary requirements for the Community Shield or the Super Cup to take place are similar in every nation. The winner of the league faces the winner of the Cup.
It is a competitive trophy that every club who has won it proudly holds it in their history, record books and their trophy room just like any other competitive trophy.
So instead of calling others desperate, clueless and telling the writer of the article to forget about the Community Shield in ill mannered words, try to comment with a valid counter argument.
@ bjtgooner – Sorry to hear about the family , my best wishes for a favourable outcome.
Will continue to post jokes for the faithful .
Not too bothered by the comments from ‘them’ ! They know where they can put them .
@Brickfields
Thanks. Progress is being made, if slow!
Here’s a lovely story –
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/blind-man-and-his-armless-best-friend-plant-trees-in-china/
Rosicky@Arsenal
“The irony of the AAA is that they fail to realize that Arsenal has been finishing top 4 since Wenger has joined.
which in itself is a remarkable achievement”
With respect, that’s the whole thrust of the so called aaa. That Arsenal are satisfied with a fourth place finish and consider that a successful season.
Ben 11:44
I’m waiting for a response countering your post, from those dismissing the CS as a trophy, seeing as the other clubs to have won it count it in their roll of honours as a trophy. But I shall not hold my breath….
Bjt
aaaa – very apt, adding this one to my locker 🙂
Usama
You’re absolutely correct in that CS format is the same as that for the Spanish Super Cup, Uefa Super Cup, etc. I can’t understand why someone would say the CS isn’t a trophy when they can acknowledge the other two as trophies. It just defies any logic to say one is a trophy and the other isn’t when they’re based on exactly the same format. I don’t see how any reasonable human being can reach that conclusion, unless you’re aaaa of course 🙂
Dex
August 20, 2015 at 12:54 pm – what have you won that is better than the Community Shield?
I’m sure there are many dildos speaking on your behalf but I don’t need one to speak for me.
Winning any trophy is an achievement. The benefits of some are not as good as others, but
there is never a bad trophy or a bad win for that matter.
I seem to remeber most of the AAA on here saying that we won’t win anything until we start spending some money.Guess what! We start to spend money and we start to win trophies. The difference between lots of the managers at the top is tiny and its about who has the most money to sepend. Rocket science it isn’t.
Usama Zaka
The CS is a trophy but to assign it some grave importance might be a bit of a stretch.
It’s the equivalent of the Super Cup in other European leagues but not all leagues hold it in the same standing.
When looking at the CS , one needs to look at it in context of English football and its history.
For example, are you aware of the fact that Arsenal refused to participate in CS in 1971 and opted rather to play friendlies with Benfica and Feyenord?
Only after the league champions refused to participate in it again in 1972 and 73 , did FA move it to Wembley and made the participation mandatory.
Hardly an important trophy if our own club opted out of contesting it , wouldn’t you say.
Each to their own but while the CS is indeed a trophy, I don’t attach much importance to it. I’ve been to 2 CS matches – in 2011 at Wembley when we lost 3-2 in the last minute to United and the following year when we beat Chelsea at Villa Park by the same scoreline. After the United game, I was gutted for all of about 5 minutes – if it had been an FA Cup or League Cup final I’d have been gutted for days afterwards – and while I enjoyed our entertaining win against Chelsea 12 months later the elation wore off pretty quick. For me, what’s far more important are the trophies you have to win to play in the CS in the first place (of course, if a team wins the League/FA Cup double then the other team doesn’t actually have to win a trophy to take part) and history shows that the matches aren’t a particularly true indicator of what lies ahead for the coming season. After our 2011 CS defeat Rooney was all over the media spouting off about how United had taught us a footballing lesson yet 2 months later we were spanking Rooney and Co 6-1 in their own backyard. 12 months later we looked good in our CS win over Chelsea but then went on to mount a tepid defence of our league title.
I think the fact that the game allows six substitutions shows it to be a pre season practice match to bed players in for the new season. Nice to win but not the end of the world if you don’t.
Tom,
Correct mate. In 1971, when Arsenal didn’t take part 2nd division champions Leicester played Liverpool instead and won it. In 1972, when Derby and Leeds (league champions and FA Cup winners respectively) refused to take part, City (we finished 4th that season) played Aston Villa who were 3rd division champions! In 1973 we took part again – this time against 2nd division champions Burnley who beat us.
Tom,
I am not trying to say that the CS is of equal importance to the league, Fa cup or even CL. What I mean is that winning the CS adds another number of trophy to the clubs already big number of trophies. Nothing about winning the CS is negative, everything about it is positive even it involves just one match being played to win it.
Zoon, I completely agree with you.
Rocket science is that it is just about the simplest form of science there is. You have some gas in a container which has a little outlet at one end. You heat up the gas, so it expands. There isn’t enough room in the container, so it pushes out of one end, and sends the object in the opposite direction. You can achieve the same effect with a balloon – blow it up, open the end, and it travels away. Simple.
The problem with transfers, as you rightly say is that they are not rocket science. I’d say they are more akin to quantum physics, with its insistence on improbability and being in two places at once.
Zoon – Arsenal have spent money every year on players. So don’t think your being clever selecting expenditure when we win a trophy. The improvement in Arsenal has been partially because we have not had players tapped up in the last couple of years.
I am amazed at the open tapping up of players & the decrepit FA not doing its job. Stones is a prime example. Everton do not want to sell but Oil keeps being poured to slip him out of Everton’s squad. The honour of English business has gone out the window with the oilers abusing all aspects of honest business.
It’s true that frustration and disappointment is very quick to bubble to the surface for some Arsenal fans. It’s a result of so many disappointments over the last decade, so many wasted opportunities.
In terms of the winning percentages and stats posted in the OP, they are of course rather foolish. I would hazard a guess that the vast majority would trade all 4 of our trophies (including the two frinedly pre season ones) for one PL title.
Two FA Cups in two years is a great acheivement there can be no doubt. The fans have had something to be happy about and those two finals are great memories ‘in the locker’. However two tropies in eleven years (an no PL title) is not so good, and given the talent over the past 20 years at Arsenal, nine trophies and only three PL titles is an under achievement.
Overall, however, it is not the trophies or lack of trophies that get some Arsenal fans hot under the collar, it’s the similarity of the mistakes and issues the club face year after year. Frustration is created not from mistakes made, but from making teh same msitakes time and time again.
Excellent Walter.
1. Community Shield is good to win, whether it is a pre-season game or not. If we lost, we would be criticised but when we win it, it doesnt count and we still get criticised! Its all a bit too surreal. If it doesnt matter, then don’t watch it. Simple. Go and do your hair.
Seems to me it only matters when we lose nowadays.
Lest face it, when we win all that happens is a certain group of people try to deny it actually means anything. The very same people who will be screaming from the rooftops had we lost!
Well sod that. When Arsenal win it makes me happy!! I like being happy.
2.BJT the aaa are alive and kicking. I am not sure how many of these are real Arsenal fans because there are lots of ‘fake’ ones too. What I will say however, is that if you visit ‘that’ blog, you will see the knives are truly out for Arsene and those of us true supporters. The two FA Cup wins apparently are worthless. I don’t understand it, one minute they say all they want are trophies but when said trophies arrive, they still bitch. It is all very odd behaviour. I suspect half of them are Chelsea and Spurs fans just having a laugh, true fans wouldnt behave like that. Would they? Interestingly, they all seem intellectually challenged and get great delight from abusing people and using toilet language.
What Arsenal have achieved under Wengers reign is impressive.This club is unrecognisable from the one he joined. From a shared training facility to this stadium; with the invincibles and some of the greatest players in our history, it is a disgrace the way this club and Arsene is treated. Not just by a small section of fans but by the media.
We are a truly great club and we should all be very proud of that.
jayramfootball
“nine trophies and only three PL titles is an under achievement”
Not when you factor in the financial restraints and the money that was being spent by the three ‘rivals’. If you are going to make that comparison, then you have to do so based on a level playing field. For years we were at a disadvantage, so it is disengenuos to make such a statement.Would Chelsea and Man City have had their success without the money and without a competitive Arsenal?
Are you saying Chelsea and Man Citys success has nothing to do with money but is down to great management? If so, then why are none of the ‘big’ clubs clamouring for the services of Di Matteo?
When we werent under retsratints we won two doubles, three titles and went an entire season unbeaten. When we moved stadium, sold our best players and had to battle the rich clubs, we still managed to remain in the Champions League. Look at the net spend and you will see we ‘over achieved’.
@proudkev
The financial constraint argument only works if you believe it. I don’t.
That is a whole other discussion though and probably best left to a different article.
I will say though that net spend is also a meaningless number.
To answer your question – no, I do not think Chelsea or Man City would have won even one PL title without cheating financially.
Proud Kiev
Well said .
These Arsenal haters will never learn.
Amazing that the completely discredited and exposed Troll Jayram continues to write it’s unrefined gibberish here.
Each to there own I I suppose.
DNFTT
@jayramfootball
You tease. That’s not permitted. Come on don’t be shy. We’re all friends here. Why don’t you believe it? Why is net spend a meaningless number?
–
Is that two thumbs up from the much respected manager Pellegrini for the Mendezian Mule Mangala with his signing of a new CB today?
Not saying he’s hopeless but if you put a polonium loaded gun to my head and asked me to spend some serious Wonga on a young CB from last season’s ‘Supercup’ game then it would have to be, based upon the Football, Chambers every time 🙂
Rosicky , I doubt that anyone that posts here actually hates Arsenal , that’s a paranoid overstatement. They may well not agree with everything that happens and may not agree with everything posted here and on other sites but Hate is a strong word and in all probability inaccurate.
Andy Mack are you inferring that I do not think about what I am posting ?
porter,
I’m sure the negative posters don’t consciously hate Arsenal. They are only in denial of it.
Desperate sad and childish twits, trying to assign some importance to the Community Shield as some sort of counter argument to an invented non existent fiction of football supporters in a pointless attempt to portray themselves as proper fans.
You are hilarious.
Everyone knows The Emirates cup is the bpgreatest trophy to win.
Menace to any kind of rudimentary discussion.
Thick deluded cunt.
Dex
Do you really think calling people a c**t is acceptable?
Just one question, if …sorry when we win the league, does that make it a non trophy, and if so, what becomes a trophy?
Mandy,
The answer is simple. The shift will move to the CL. And when we finally win that one too, and we win the Intercontinental Cup in the process, they will declare this is the end of the World as we know it.
Dex,
Laugh for yourself, while earning your self-righteous praise for the incredible level of intellectual debate you showed you’re capable of.
Walter and Tony, I suggest Dex should be banned if the comments emanating from him/her continues to be uncivil
If and when we win the PL, the goalpost will shift to winning the UCL. If and when, we win this also, the story will change to World Club Cup. If we win this again, the story will change.
How disgusting are the ‘them’ ? Apparently it really happened . You decide .
Three friends, a Rabbi, a Hindu holy man and one of ‘them’, had car trouble in the countryside and asked to spend the night with a farmer.
The farmer said “There might be a problem; you see, I only have room for two to sleep, so one of you must sleep in the barn.” “No problem,” chimed the Rabbi, “My people wandered in the desert for forty years, I am humble enough to sleep in the barn for an evening in their memory.” With that he departed to the barn and the others bedded down for the night.
Moments later a knock was heard at the door; the farmer opened the door. There stood the Rabbi from the barn. “What’s wrong?” asked the farmer. He replied, “I am grateful to you, good sir, but I can’t sleep in the barn. There is a pig in the barn and my faith believes that is an unclean animal.”
His Hindu friend agrees to swap places with him. But a few minutes later the same scene reoccurs. There is a knock on the door. “What’s wrong, now?” the farmer asks. The Hindu holy man replies, “I too am grateful for your helping us out but there is a cow in the barn and in my country cows are considered sacred. I can’t sleep on holy ground!”
Well, that leaves only the ‘one of them’ to make the change. He grumbled and complained, but went out to the barn.
Moments later there was another knock on the farmers door.
Frustrated and tired, the farmer opens the door, and there stood…
The pig and the cow.
jayram
“The financial constraint argument only works if you believe it. I don’t.”
Really? As you say, we probably don’t need another page full of comments about the stadium move BUT…. Surely having to dig deep to finance a huge investment, including not just paying for the stadium but the conversion of Highbury, during a recession and a property crash – while other teams had recently received huge injections of cash from foreign owners, created an uneven playing field?
I appreciate an argument about decisons the club or wenger may have made that were wrong, absolutely fair debate but I really cannot accept we under performed and that we were not financially disadvantaged moving from Highbury. Debating that we could compete with Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd, had no need to sell our best players or shop at a lower level than our rivals is simply wrong. Unless you really do believe the narrative Arsene Wenger did not want to win trophies and deliberately sabotaged the club?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7DsXK5f1Cc
proudkev
Brilliantly put as usual, and almost impossible to argue with, hence the silence from you know who.