Why I Love Arsenal and Hate Fake Fans

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.