And I Am Grateful that I Am A Gooner
The other day I was asking myself how it feels to be supporting, say, Fulham. You begin every season hoping that your team will keep its place midtable and hopefully, in the best case scenario, win a League Cup. Maybe your wildest dream would be to see your team qualifying for UEFA Cup which, to be honest, is the League Cup of European Football. No one cares about UEFA Cup's result. I bet most of us can't remember who won the Cup two seasons ago.
In weekly basis, you would be too happy with one point most of the time. Simply the fact that Fulham's match is on the TV would have made your day. It must be hard to support Fulham.
And here we are, supporting Arsenal. We are gutted whenever we lost. There are times when we win and still we are not satisfied. And I blame the media for that! And ourselves!
The media made us believe that we are one of the very best in Europe and it's compulsory therefore for this team to be up there challenging for title every season. Either we are top or few points away from there, that's where we belong. Everytime we are kicked out of CL or lose to average team, we are deemed to be underperforming. And when we play well, they call us the best footballing team in the land.
And we buy that.
All over the forum, blog and message board, we are claiming that Arsenal are the best club around with the most intelligent manager, a captain who should have won European Footballer of the Year award four or five times, and some talented youngsters who could take on anyone.
Have we ever tried to be honest and consider the fact that we are simply not there yet?
We have problems everywhere, problems that need addressing. Lack of physical presence, inability to mark opponents during setpieces, and inability to maintain the same level of focus and consistency. These problems have been existing for years and it's no secret that average teams have been considerably successful in their attempt to exploit those.
Why didn't we address these problems?
Because our manager somehow believes that as long as his team plays his way of football, they will be able to negate all these weaknesses. And that is unhealthy pride.
I despise Chelsea and I don't really fancy Mourinho. But you have to realise that despite his cocky attitude, back in the training ground, he continuously tries to improve his team. Sure, everytime Chelsea lost, his reaction and comment are often childish. But deep down he knew his team needed to improve and they responded by winning 4-0 the next game. They learn from mistakes and they don't make the same mistake twice.
They are hard to beat not because they have top players. They are tough because they work hard to nullify all the chance of making stupid mistakes. When they lose, it's either because they are outclassed or unlucky.
That's what I expect from Wenger. To be openminded enough to acknowledge our weakness and practice on that. If the weakness has something to do with his football style, then he has to compromise that. That unless winning the trophies is not his priority.
It wouldn't feel bad if we lose because we are outclassed. I will be proud if we lose a match in which our players have given their all. I could accept us losing against CSKA because I know that it was a tough game. And the players gave their all to fight back.
And I would like to see that fight coming from our captain first and foremost. I would be happy had he won the Footballer of the Year award but I don't think winning the award would help him in any sense. Everyone knows that he is better than the Italians but not everyone believe that his Arsenal is better than everyone else. It's time for him to give his all and the manager needs to help him by reverting back to 4-4-2, beefing up the midfield and strengthening the defense.
Well.. I guess what I am trying to say is that we are not perfect yet. We shouldn't be expecting our team to be top of the table because they don't deserve it at the moment. Let's support this team the way they are. They will drop more point this season. Let's accept it. They are a new team shadowed by the Vieira's Arsenal which once dominated the Premiership. They are learning hard to catch up with that old Arsenal. Let's support them along the way.
I remember that the first time I supported Arsenal, it was not because I wanted to support a team that win the title every year. But I wanted a club that I can be proud of. And I think that has been the case all along. I am glad that I didn't choose Man Utd or gosh.. Chelsea. I am glad that I am a gooner
In weekly basis, you would be too happy with one point most of the time. Simply the fact that Fulham's match is on the TV would have made your day. It must be hard to support Fulham.
And here we are, supporting Arsenal. We are gutted whenever we lost. There are times when we win and still we are not satisfied. And I blame the media for that! And ourselves!
The media made us believe that we are one of the very best in Europe and it's compulsory therefore for this team to be up there challenging for title every season. Either we are top or few points away from there, that's where we belong. Everytime we are kicked out of CL or lose to average team, we are deemed to be underperforming. And when we play well, they call us the best footballing team in the land.
And we buy that.
All over the forum, blog and message board, we are claiming that Arsenal are the best club around with the most intelligent manager, a captain who should have won European Footballer of the Year award four or five times, and some talented youngsters who could take on anyone.
Have we ever tried to be honest and consider the fact that we are simply not there yet?
We have problems everywhere, problems that need addressing. Lack of physical presence, inability to mark opponents during setpieces, and inability to maintain the same level of focus and consistency. These problems have been existing for years and it's no secret that average teams have been considerably successful in their attempt to exploit those.
Why didn't we address these problems?
Because our manager somehow believes that as long as his team plays his way of football, they will be able to negate all these weaknesses. And that is unhealthy pride.
I despise Chelsea and I don't really fancy Mourinho. But you have to realise that despite his cocky attitude, back in the training ground, he continuously tries to improve his team. Sure, everytime Chelsea lost, his reaction and comment are often childish. But deep down he knew his team needed to improve and they responded by winning 4-0 the next game. They learn from mistakes and they don't make the same mistake twice.
They are hard to beat not because they have top players. They are tough because they work hard to nullify all the chance of making stupid mistakes. When they lose, it's either because they are outclassed or unlucky.
That's what I expect from Wenger. To be openminded enough to acknowledge our weakness and practice on that. If the weakness has something to do with his football style, then he has to compromise that. That unless winning the trophies is not his priority.
It wouldn't feel bad if we lose because we are outclassed. I will be proud if we lose a match in which our players have given their all. I could accept us losing against CSKA because I know that it was a tough game. And the players gave their all to fight back.
And I would like to see that fight coming from our captain first and foremost. I would be happy had he won the Footballer of the Year award but I don't think winning the award would help him in any sense. Everyone knows that he is better than the Italians but not everyone believe that his Arsenal is better than everyone else. It's time for him to give his all and the manager needs to help him by reverting back to 4-4-2, beefing up the midfield and strengthening the defense.
Well.. I guess what I am trying to say is that we are not perfect yet. We shouldn't be expecting our team to be top of the table because they don't deserve it at the moment. Let's support this team the way they are. They will drop more point this season. Let's accept it. They are a new team shadowed by the Vieira's Arsenal which once dominated the Premiership. They are learning hard to catch up with that old Arsenal. Let's support them along the way.
I remember that the first time I supported Arsenal, it was not because I wanted to support a team that win the title every year. But I wanted a club that I can be proud of. And I think that has been the case all along. I am glad that I didn't choose Man Utd or gosh.. Chelsea. I am glad that I am a gooner
posted by phoenix chix at 5:31 PM
2 Comments:
That was an extremely interesting article and I'd have to agree with you on a lot of things. Arsenal have never really been the same since players like Adams, Vierra and Bergkemp left the club. I'm a staunch supporter of Arsenal ever since the day I pronounce the word Arsenal. I've never supported any other club, least of all Man U and Chelsea, but let's give Wenger some credit. He has done more for the club than some of the managers that were with Arsenal before and I think he justs need to work on that set of youngsters he has with him. They show some promise and I can't think of anyone other than Wenger grooming them to be the next champions, maybe not next season or even the season after that, but I do have faith that if Wenger sticks around long enuf, he's succeed again. Till then, it's Arsenal or nothing :)
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