Having wandered into a mathematical world of unreal numbers yesterday, today we face the big issue.
Where do negative stories come from?
Right up to the signing of Mr A yesterday there were stories saying the deal was dead – one I saw said that the FA were going to refuse the deal for being too late. The blogger later admitted that the story was completely made up, but I just wonder where all this negativity about Arsenal originates from. It can’t all come from the Hen and Baskett and those bars in Canary Wharf.
Take today’s Guardian, which says
“controversy continues to stalk the deal after claims emerged that some of the relevant documents had not been lodged with the Football Association by Monday’s 5pm deadline.It is understood that Zenit did not submit their forms in time and there are also suggestions that there was a slight issue with Arsenal’s submissions”
Yes, well, that could be that someone forgot to dot a t and cross an i. Or not. While all the positive bits saying that everything was perfectly ok were all given sources in that story, this negative one (the one that made the headline) remained anonymous.
That’s how it goes in football. There are more people who dislike Arsenal than love Arsenal, so if they run an anti-Arsenal story it will satisfy the readership.
My personal preference is to ignore the negativity and come straight out with predictions and then stand by them (although I guess I might be tempted to take a page down if I got it hopelessly wrong). And when a club or person does something I don’t like I curse them. No half measures here.
Among recent triumphs of this policy have been:
Birmingham City – cursed so hard that there have been arrests for financial and sexual bad behaviour, fraud squad raids, and relegation.
M Flamini – cursed not so hard, but who signed up for what he thought was guaranteed regular appearances for Milan, but has started under half the matches and is clearly unhappy.
Milan itself – a club that buggered around over Ade and Flamini and upset a lot of people. Lost their last few games last season and so moved from being almost certain of a Champs spot, into the UEFA cup.
Real Mad who also messed us around last summer with their pointless tales of buying Cesc. Now see where they are in the league.
Samir Nasri – another long and drawn out transfer – when it had all gone quiet and 2 weeks before the actual transfer, this site said, it is back on and we are about to sign him.
Arshavin – when all seemed lost about a week ago, again the clear prediction – we’ve got him and this is why.
Denilson – a bit slow off the mark here, it wasn’t until a few weeks into the season that the pro-Denilson bits started. He is now shown on stats to be the best defensive midfield player in the league, and was clearly the man of the match last weekend.
There are more but I will leave it there with one more thought – a thought raised in the “replies” section the other day. There is also the issue of why so many Arsenal supporters love to read and believe all the negative stuff about Arsenal. Deep psychological issues are at work. Transference was mentioned. These are concepts that need much consideration.
I could go on, but one of my daughters is just back from 3 months in Australia where remarkably she did not fall off the bottom of the world, so I want to give her her Christmas presents.
More anon.
Tony
People need reasons to hate Asrenal because we play the best football. This is my theory. How can you justify rooting for someone else? Make stuff up about Arsenal and become mildly xenophobic (they dont have enough englishmen…)
Ive noticed a lot of shit stirring coming from the press concerning the Arshavin deal. Some papers even go to the lengths of suggesting that the teams above us in the league should be or will be demanding an explanation from the premier league, who as it happens don’t have any problems. This just goes to show the outright bias and hatred that some rags have for Arsenal. Where there is no story why not make one up. I would have expected better of the Guardian as well.
fantastic player!!! Sell adebayor, AA and RVP will score 40+! One of the best in my opinion! Absolute steal..
Despite some people’s concerns about AA and Arsenal. He is dynamite and i think he will be a massive star in N1. It will also give the squad a moral boost. £15M will prove to be a bargain. Now the only thing to do is think up a dynamite song. I think it should be to the Russian national anthem. COME ON ARSENAL
I’m strongly of the opinion that Arshavin is a special player who will have a decent impact on the club from day one.
In his interview the Russian suggests that he may not be sharp enough yet to play against Tottenham on the weekend but I’ve just got the feeling that Wenger could put him on the bench and give him a run-out. What a baptism of fire that would be too, a debut in the North London derby at White Hart Lane. Imagine if he scored? It would be incredible.
Above everything else football-related that Arshavin will bring to the club, I get the feeling that his signing will restore hope not only in the fans but an Arsenal squad that have scrapped their way through the opening half of the season. His arrival as well as the eventual return from injury of guys like Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas, Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky means the attacking side of our game should be restored in some force. All of a sudden it’s exciting to be an Arsenal fan again.
I think that AA will be a great signing if, and only if, Rosicky is history. If Tomas comes back, we will have a significant oversupply of midfielders. With AA, TR, Sami and Theo competing for 2 places, there will be pressure to put Sami into the centre, leaving a queue of Denilson, Diaby, Song, Ramsey, Vela and Eboue waiting for injuries. Wilshire will be looking for games next year as will Coquelin and Merida.
If Tomas comes back, I can see Theo leaving, which will all but destroy Lord Wenger’s youth policy.
Our problem is not in midfield – it is big Ade. He is a shadow of his former self and if that doesn’t change, something will have to be done over the summer.
I guess Ade’s problem is in the mind – not so Kolo. But if he isn’t sorted out before the summer, something needs to be done there as well.
Arshavin will prove to be a crucial signing, not only can he play as a right wing to fill in while Theo is injured but he can also play in Fabregas’ position and as a second striker, so he gives us many options, especially when Wenger chooses to deploy a 5 man midfield. This will also give us that strength indepth for when we need to bring on crucial players to make a difference in the latter stages of matches, as we’ve been lacking that with all our injuries. Something else to consider is we’ve finally bought a player that many teams were interested in (although everyone was put off due to the hefty pricetag) but now it’ll show all the up and coming players at Arsenal that if they have 1 good season, it doesn’t mean they’re too good for the team, I’m looking at you Flamini, Hleb and Adebayor.
Tony – You’re comment re the anti Arsenal stories doesn’t hold up. Yes more people dislike Arsenal than like Arsenal but this is true of all clubs. There has to be more to it and I firmly believe that racism is at the root of it. If I’m wrong can someone answer the following questions for me.
Why do we have so many anti Arsenal stories?
Why are the press not swarming all over the financial situations at ManU, Liverpool and Chelsea?
Why aren’t the press writing stories pointing out that the Spud’s have spent £100 million recently without the income or turnover sustain it?
Why aren’t the press doing in depth research into the financial status of our game and asking will we still have some of the teams currently playing in the PL in 10 years time?
Some very interesting and valid points made, I must agree…perhaps, there is a little ‘compensation’ going on in our dear fellow Gooner’s, where the not too distant past of our glory days yielded fabulous feelings of highs, which have consequently changed down a slightly different route, but unfortunately burst those beautiful dreams of the aforementioned supporters. I certainly agree it is a ‘mentality’ issue that we face.
The ‘everyone is against us, even the media’ idea is curious…but lets face it…we have always had an underdog value as a club, and can be argued that that is why when we do succeed, it feels oh so much more sweeter. It is one of of our driving forces when we have our backs up against the wall, not just on the pitch, but as supporters. That’s how we fight. The Reds against the Blues; the Proletarians against the Upper-Class…the have’s and have-not’s…call it what you will.
I think what Mr Wenger is producing here is just beyond remarkable…Revolutionary, even. The Problem here is that one needs FAITH in order to comprehend and appreciate what is happening at our club…and again, that has unfortunately been shown to be in short supply.
In saying that, it isn’t easy. We chant hypnotic mantras when we are winning, but when we are not so successful, we are rudely awoken with a combination of our frustrations at our club, magnified by our own personal feelings of frustration from whatever it is that’s getting on our tits on day to day life (that’s the projection, and it works both ways). Its hard to separate and control those emotions, so we just expel it uncontrollably…a bit like a nasty bout of diarrhea…
To say that we have to transcend all of this and focus on our FAITH is easy…to actualize it takes intelligence, maturity, compassion and a touch of BELIEF, perhaps akin to a sense of religious spirituality.
Here we have to remind ourselves why we support the club in the first place. Ask some real fundamental questions on where our original belief came from. What is our relationship with the club as an entity? Because it cant be only limited to a process of ‘Me-Me-Me’ pleasure.
A lot of people accuse our team of lacking spirit and discard them as being ‘not ready’. It is perhaps more telling when those same questions are applied to the growing number of ‘supporters’ that claim to love our club…
Keep the Faith…COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!
Marc not just racism but fascism. It sounds drastic but. fascism is against free thinking. football can represent life as it is probably followed more than religion. When hitler created his german national team side the team was packed with with big, strong,inflexible ,disciplined players to represnt the country in that light. Arsenal in my opinion are the opposite to this. If arsenal were to succeed with their template world football would have to change their template and it would be less corporate and more connected to the fans. corporations are a major factor for control through fascism. Because arsenals template is succeeding they are more of a threat than ever. The rich get richer whilst the poorer get poorer anyone? Same with the italian game. Its based on caution, sneakyness, anxiety which has created bits of their society. This accumilates to fear thats probably why they resorted too bribery. Arsenal on the other hand project fearlessness. whether its on the pitch, arsenes transfer gambles, or the arsenal way and template. Their a thorn in the side of of the corporate template. When i have watched arsenal at the top of their game there is a sense of freedom especially now with the younger players them being so young but playing amazing football. I dont think its been seen before. . We must must not loose the belief that something special is and can happen at arsenal. Remember chelsea. people thought they played boring football but i seen seen it as fearful football which projects fear. Brazil project fearlessness and as fans we are always drawn to the fearless players. thats why teams who play arsenal have all the men behind the ball because they are fearfull of arsenal fearlessness. so as tony has pointed out they have created rotational fouling of the back of fear. Im 26 years old and only remember the george graham days and arsene has done an amazing job. with somebody like arsene you can only have faith in him. CHIN UP CHEST OUT GOONERS. it sounds like a movie but i believe this is whats happening with arsenal thats why this season we have had fifa putting in their two pennys worth because arsenals success is close. Ultimately ITS JUST MY OPINION
This is an entirely media-driven “controversey” — they’re also claiming that Martin O’Neill is upset, believing that we’ve been given an “unfair advantage” to claim the 4th spot. Of course there are no quotes from O’Neill to substantiate this. Already I’ve seen fans of other clubs on the net (and lots of Villa fans) argue that this just the start of a conspiracy to get Arsenal to 4th spot, just like the “conspiracy” to “steal” Spurs’ 4th spot in the 05-06 season. It’s unbelievable how the media is DESPERATE for other clubs, esp. Everton and Villa, to get upset over this. They’re not even reporting it correctly. On Arsenal’s side, all the paperwork and signatures were submitted to the PL/FA by 4:30 pm on Monday. Geezus, these people are such miserable c—s!
some people always want to be saved therefore they never believe they can save themselves. some arsenal fans cant understand whats going on at arsenal so they go to other sources(media) to get their information(being saved) or wanting a takeover.Thats how you can be led to the wolves. It reminds me of the oliver twist story.”please. more sir ,please”. The dangerous thing about wanting to be saved is you could be at the mercy of someone with bad intentions. arsenal fans need to believe in whats going on inhouse. CHIN UP CHEST OUT ALL GOONERS.
Watched Sky Sports news the morning of Monday (tsf deadline day). It was bizarre. Ridiculous innuendo. SSN “sources” tell us that AA is on his way back to Russia (having paid for his own jet over) after Arsenal offered him only half his Zenit pay.
An impartial view of the media indicates that the most favoured clubs are Tottenham and Man Utd. Accordingly Arsenal get a lot of stick.