Sometimes when I write the blog, I scour the internet for news on arsenal.com, NewsNow, a bunch of other Arsenal blogs, etc. trying to find the latest Arsenal stuff to present to you all. Sometimes something just comes to me that I think I should write. This is one of those times.
I live in Jacksonville, Florida, in the United States of America. I have never been to the Emirates Stadium, or indeed to Highbury, the home of football. In fact, I've never even made it to anywhere in Europe at this point. So why do I write this blog about a team I've never even seen? Because I love this club with all my heart, much more than some who get to go to matches every single week. When I read the shite that's been posted all summer on some sites it makes me wonder why these people ever started watching Arsenal or any football at all. Isn't football supposed to make you excited for new seasons to start and happy even if your team only scrapes a 1-0 win over West Brom on opening day? Arsenal used to be a team with seasons full of 1-0 wins, yet now to many it seems more like a loss. No, we haven't won a trophy in the past three seasons, but isn't trying to achieve that trophy the whole point of it? Everyone says they don't want to be Chelsea and buy a title, yet when the squad isn't exactly as they think it should be then the solution is to buy, buy, buy. My enjoyment from Arsenal comes from winning yes, but also from watching players like Theo Walcott, Gael Clichy, and Cesc Fabregas develop from school boys to what they have become now.
Is complaining all summer about the lack of new signings really going to make people loathe the new season as much as it seems by what some write? Yes, there is a very real chance that Arsenal will not win the title this season. In fact, only one out of twenty teams will win it. I'm an optimistic supporter though so I think we have a good chance to pull it out. I don't think we've gotten any worse than we were last year and we did pretty well then didn't we? If van Persie can stay healthy, Eduardo can come back, and Rosicky can play a couple of matches in a row it's like three new signings that we didn't have at the end of last year. Xabi Alonso is a great player, no doubt, and he'd be great at Arsenal, but if we don't get him it isn't going to make me dread every match day. When you read daily batches of shit from sites like Le-Grove and other blogs that clearly hate themselves as well as just watching football for the fun of it then it is sometimes hard to be optimistic about anything with the club, but we must push on.
Maybe the reason the noise in the stadium is an issue is because too many fans don't really look forward to being there. As someone who hasn't ever gotten to go, I can tell you that when I do get there I'll be fully dressed in red and white and will be signing every Arsenal song I know the whole match, because that's how I support this team, not by bitching about off season transfers and complaining about an incompetent manager. Instead of singing about how greedy Adebayor is, maybe we should try cheering our own players to encourage them to perform for the club? What a novel idea! At the end of the day we all (supposedly) support Arsenal, and should always support Arsenal. I'm not a fan of Arsene Wenger, or Cesc Fabregas, or Gael Clichy, or Kolo Toure ahead of being an Arsenal fan. If any of those guys ever left the club, I'd still be here supporting Arsenal. So why are we getting oh so upset about our team instead of looking forward to another successful season?
My point is that I'm sick of everyone being down on Arsenal and feeling like the season is a wash already. Are you supporters or not? If so, then you should be happy the season has arrived, happy we won the first match 1-0, and thinking that with a little bit of luck, maybe we can bring home that title to the Emirates. And for those of you that continue on with your downtrodden attitudes about the club you "support," I know for a fact that Chelsea still has lots of tickets available, so please go park yourself in one of those seats.
Cheers.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Why I Love Arsenal and Hate Fake Fans
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20 comments:
Well written.
Infact I live in Pakistan (and no I'm not a terrorist) I've been an arsenal fan since forever, I swear the day I get a chance to watch a single match at the emirates, I'd be cheering my ass off for the only thing in my life I turn to when everything else seems so down and yes thats, yes thats the wonder of you Arsenal!!
It's great to hear about Arsenal's international fan base and hopefully you guys can come to the Emirates soon because there are a number of fans who simply shouldn't be there...such as the people next to me who tell me to sit down and not be so loud (wtf?).
Yep I moan about Arsenal, Yes I criticise a failed transfer policy but that's because I want our team to be successful, I want to go to a parade for winning trophies (there hasn't been one in our new surroundings at Ashburton Grove), I want to dress in red and white, get drunk and party throughout the day and night with other fans...those are the best days of my life as a football fan and until you experience it unfortunately you cannot understand. I'm sorry if it sounds snobbish but it's true. Imagine coming to London in May/June and you are having a street party with thousands of fellow Gooners...you'd love it!!!
The simple fact is that our summer spending (or lack thereof) is the reason for our recent lack of success, how many times must we see our season fall apart in spring because we don't have the squad depth? If Le Boss would for once do more than simply replace the players lost we would be a war machine like Chelsea and Man Utd. This transfer policy has deprived us of trophies, of parades and of the days that gel the fans together and make us feel like a part of the club.
It cannot happen for another season, the streets of Ashburton Grove and Highbury silent as streets in West London and Manchester are full of fans. We are so close to being to being a power domestically and in Europe we just need a powerhouse midfielder and maybe a new goalie and we will be there!!!
well done le arsenole well written. when is ur next podcast cause here r some questions i have got 4 u if u want to answer them in ur next podcast.
mr arsenole 4 ur next podcast could u talk about if we should sign one more player? do u think walcott can make it at arsenal and be a gr8 player 4 the club? theo had an awful amsterdam tournament and he seems to lack positioning and awarness and becomes to predictable, would u put this down to him only have his first kick of a football at the age of 15 and just starting to play the game at 16. compare him to cesc who started kicking a soccer ball when he was 2 yeards old, he would have a gr8ter knowledge of the game. If theo can make it at the gunners do u think he will be a winger or striker? If RVP and Rosicky have another injury plagued season should we sell them and buy new players? How do u think Wilshere will go this season? what r ur predictions 4 this year? how long to u believe cesc will stay at arsenal, will he stay his whole career?
Its great to here from true arsenal fans. Im fortunate to have watched arsenal since i was about 8 years of age (41 now and a season ticket holder)and seen the good ,the bad and the ugly(keown!!ha ha) but at the end of the day Im an arsenal fan and like the comments expressed, players will come and go but that wont change a thing. What is missing is player loyality to a club that makes them big and pays them a lot of money. We do need to get back to winning things but we have been lucky to achieve this in recent years. You have to see the bigger picture and enjoy football for what it is...passion,excitement, and most of all because its enjoyable. The minute its not you need to find another sport to follow!! we had a great season last term and it will continue.As long as the players do their best we cant ask for anything more.
Lol in a comment above theres DAN. He is one of those arsenal fans. "Failed transfer policy" eh? Support chelsea then! "Lack of spending" hahaha so many arsenal fans are like this... pees me right off.
ps-I think toure will be moved into midfield and silvestre into the back four as this is a cheaper option at the moment....
Dan correct, blogger almost. Yes supporting the club through thick and thin is a given, why else would we be constantly reading and writing about the club? But if Arsene's got 30 mil quid to spend and the squad needs depth and trophies/titles don't look likely, the transfer policy has to be questioned.
Wenger has enriched the club tremendously and in the process enriched himself and that is fair and proper. However, nothing lasts forever and as Wenger will one day take that top job at PSG and leave the club(given that crap with the board and DD and all), wouldn't it be preferred that he leave on a high and capture the cl title, the major honour to elude Wenger?
To achieve the cl crown will require not only cash but EVERY OUNCE of Wenger's skill as a coach as well as his legendary transfer market prowess and guile. Silvestre is a coup and demonstrates that Wenger is still at the top of his game. He'll need to be to bring a CL title home.
Arsene, time runs and you know you only have a few years left, splash a little, don't let the money we've got to spend burn a hole in the bank, go for glory and when you leave you'll know you did it all.
Titles and trophies serve as the foundation, the bedrock of a club. Would you have known of an Arsenal without it's history of success? All priorities subordinate to the one aim; win. Three years to build a winner and we're as far away from a title as last year(any distance is too far). We are ARSENAL, where good enough is not good enough.
Hey, I am a season ticket holder and I am proud to be an Arsenal fan. I am proud of how our club balance the books and I am proud to watch our brand of football while watching unknown players become world class greats like Vieira, Anelka, Clichy, Fabregas etc etc. I would rather do it our way than constantly buy 30 Million pound players. So I totally agree with your comments. What is more if you do ever make it to the UK and cant get tickets then feel free to contact me and I will get you some because as well as my season ticket I have some silver memberships and would happily make sure that a genuine fan like you could see a game or two!!
If you put a link on your blog so that I could mail you I will provide you with my contact email address.
Tony
Tony, much appreciated mate. There is a "contact me" link on the main page of the site as well as my email address in the About Me section.
anon at 4:23- There have been loads of times Arsenal has gone 3 years or more without a trophy, this isn't like a new thing, people just blow it way out of proportion now. Of course we all want to win, my point in the article was that we are fans of the club, no matter if they are a superclub with 200 million to spend or a team trying to go with a youth movement. We ALL want trophies, every single one of us. I'm just saying we support the club no matter what, where some sites act like they want no part of this team because we haven't spent huge money
Spot on mate i go to about 5-10 games a season where i go to the emirates and the amount of abuse i hear shouted to our players is pathetic. We should sing our songs, THE WHOLE STADIUM and sing them with pride to get behind our team and help them to win the game. Once again, well done mate!
Fellow gunners, it shall be well with us, great post bro. it seems the GUNNERS have forgotten that even Man U went 25 years without winning the league, they also won nothing for some three years recently, when we won it the last time, Chelsea followed it up with two in a row, i didn't hear anyone talk about Man U or Ferguson, we should appreciate what is going on in our great club, we are the best, and the best is still to come. I believe with all my heart that the title is ours this season if no injuries occur. We only need Inler/Alonso or Barry and we are alright, still Song is my favourite for the position, Denilson, don't worry, We are more than capable to win everything.
To ArseNole from anon 4:23, your heart is in the right place and there's no real argument between us. The club is ok run and managed by a genius in spite of a lazy board, but I do like to tease Wenger and some of the fans and let's not forget the epl is becoming ever more competitive, the club's constant striving for excellence and the fans demanding results is what keeps us in the elite, where we are meant to be. One day, hopefully soon, when you land at Emirates you will see firsthand why.
I believe Wenger wants to sign one or two more quality players and Xabi is likely to be one of them(if he can get the price down more to our range). It is my hope that Wenger sees fit to pull the trigger on these additional signings to equip the squad to not only do some serious damage this season but to become real title contenders and that should be within our financial ability. peace out.
I agree with you! I'm an NJ-based fan. Luckily I've gotten to go to the new Home of Football and will continue to do so, so I definitely encourage you to go! I just think some supporters are just spoiled by just how incredible the football we play is, and feel that nothing short of silverware is acceptable. Ridiculous. I encourage everyone to ignore the idiots at Le Grove and not give them any clicks whatsoever.
Hi everyone, here are somewords form a Vietnamese gooner (I think that some of you may wonder where is this country on the Earth huh.) If you live in London and you watch many games in Emirates Stadium, you may temporarily forget that honor. I am not ready to die for once be there, but I can do everything in my life to be there just once. With me, that's an honor. So enjoy your precious moments when you're there. Support the team with your best, stop booing any Arsenal player no matter what they've done or said because they still were the Red and White shirt. Do that for yourself, for every single Arsenal fan on the world, and the most important, for our beloved club.
I'm a member of an Arsenal Fansite here, and believe me, I must have read the moans everyday, every hour. Why he doesn't buy A,B,C..., why he lets X,Y,Z... go, why he is so stingy, why he used these useless players, why, why, why. A lot of why. Some fans start to doubt Arsene's ability, others believe that we are at the same level of Everton or ManCity, and definitely are nowhere near ManU or Chelsea, even Spurs (with Giovanni, Modric and Mr. Big Mouth??!). It seems that this "plague" has spread all over the world.
I myself have a very simple vision. I've worked as a designer for 5 years, so Arsene can't be better than me in this field. Arsene has worked as a football manager for 24 years, my only experience about football managing is through PC games, so I'm not able even to clean his shoes in this one, and I believe there are a lot of similar cases out there. That's the reason why I never ask why Arsene did/didn't do so. It's ridiculous to try to be an expert in some fields that you are really not and criticise a more experienced and much wiser man than you.
My perfect weekend is also simple : my big sofa, two bottles of beer and an Arsenal game. It's quite hard to see every Arsenal game from the TV. Watching our football may be the happiest moment in my life (well, I'm not married, so it's quite true until then) and I hope all of you can enjoy them with a free mind and a big heart.
Best wish for all of you and for all of our players.
Hey, I'm an Indian living in the Persian Gulf and i'm about 14 which mean i'll probably make it to the Arsenal 1st team in 2-3 years (hahaha!!). But seriously, what i've loved ever since I've supported Arsenal(about 8 years now) is Wenger's transfer policy. Everyone questions it, but I think that watching players like vieira, cesc, the way flamini developed last season, henry, and now pretty much the whole team improving by leaps and bounds every year looks a lot better than what chelshit and real madrid seem to do. I'm surprised to hear that "fans" abuse our own players from the stands. Where is the passion for the club? Many of us who support Arsenal and dont live in Europe would do just about anything to watch a match at the Emirates, even if its a reserve game. Despite Adebayor and his behaviour in the transfer window, he is still damned good for scoring 30 goals last season. Sure, there are times when I think we should be getting a couple more players but its not the end of the world if we dont. Maybe, when the environment for supporting Arsenal is harder(never had a chance to go to the Emirates and go to a school chock-full with manUre fans), one does try all the more. I think the 1-0 against WBA was a sign of things to come and in a good way. We played extremely well, and I got to laugh at everyone else's faces when manUre drew with newcastle(hahaha!!Ferguson, your time is up!).I dont think we have the cup winning squad yet but we still will win it. Why? Because thats how arsenal functions! So all of you non-believers out there, start believing because nothing can ever(not a 3 year drought, not the loss of henry, not flamini walking out for free, not any other club) stop Arsenal from being the greatest football club in the world!!!
GILBERT, is one of those Arsenal fans that need to **** my *****, the f*****g *****!!! I'm tired of these "Gooners" who fly off the handle whenever a realist says our transfer policy over the last few years hasn't worked. Anyone with half a brain could read my comment and understand that firstly, I love my club and secondly, I believe wise spending and selling in the summer is necessary for a good campaign and that is true for any club. Obviously Gilbert doesn't have that half a brain.
"Support Chelsea then!" what a c***! What an insult, I'm disgusted shame on him. I'm sorry Arsenole for posting this comment but it really does my head in. Gilbert must enjoy every summer seeing our experienced players shipped out of the club to...(you know what I'm gonna say it)...bigger clubs in Europe, Barca have had a couple, Milan and Juve too, it's a dangerous trend that needs to end.
Oh and for Gilbert's information I'm not even that enthusiastic about the link to Gareth Barry, despite the fact that all us secret Chelsea fans what to see us spend millions we haven't got...that's a joke by the way Gilbert. I'd take Stephane Mbia for £5m, he'll do the job needed.
Fulham at the weekend and I can't wait (and no Gilbert not because I'll be near to my beloved Chelsea you p****) I wonder if Vela will get half an hour or so. Peace out global gooners!!!
Rain, you idiot.
great post
I agree as a person from outside of England that the thought of going to The Emirates and singing throughout the game is as tantalising as any.
To Dan:
You are an example of the glory hunting fans which this article preaches against, go support Chelsea where you will have all the money in the world to make your own "Dream Team"
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