Note to Arsenal fans - you wimps, stop giving up!
Hey! You! Yes, you Arsenal fans, I’m talking to you.
You are 5 points behind Manchester United, 3 behind Chelsea, and only 5 games to go. You’ve drawn a must-win game, at home, to Liverpool’s B-side. You will be up against it away to Liverpool next week. Worse, the champions have a game in hand and will play you at home, the stage of a humiliating 4-0 defeat earlier this year.
The season seems over. What do you do?
Are you going to give up and throw in the towel - cry like babies and start pointing fingers at referees, season-ending injuries, God and Wenger for the near-impossible situation you are in?
Or are you going to man up and get behind your team in every way possible?
Giving up is not an option
The choice is yours. You may not be able to change the league table between now and the end of the season, you might not even be able to change your league position, but you CAN determine how Arsenal’s season ends - with heads rolling and sunken pride or with heads held high in pride.
There is shame in losing, but what is most disgraceful is giving up before the battle is well and truly over. It’s not enough for the manager to say “we have a mathematical chance of winning” (as he did before the weekend) or cut a haggard figure after throwing away a chance to catch up with the league leaders. It’s not enough for Fabregas or Gallas to come out and rally the troops (the former is too young and the latter not respected enough to have any serious effect).
The only people who can really make a difference here are the fans - everyone going to watch Arsenal play week in and week out, starting from the Wednesday game at Anfield, at the Kop, at Arsenal’s most important game since May 17th 2006. Get behind your team and tell them, nay, show them that you believe in them. Sometimes that’s all it takes for someone to accomplish the impossible, sometimes that’s all you need to start believing again.
Despite what Arsene Wenger says, Arsenal had subconsciously given up the moment they let fatigue overcome desire earlier this year. They seem to be coasting along now, bodies bent and spirits broken. The body language tells you they’ve given up, and while you can’t do Wenger’s job (or the board’s job in giving him more money to spend), you can do your part in supporting your club and instilling that faith in those around you.
I’ll leave you with an example from the recent history of your more illustrious rivals.
Manchester United - doing the impossible, again and again
The scene is April 2006 and as Arsenal take solace in their Champions League campaign and Chelsea storm to a second consecutive title, Manchester United are by all accounts a complete mess. Ferguson hasn’t won the title for 3 years in a row, his longest barren run since he ended that 26-year run back in 92-93. The knives are sharpened and friends and foes are speculating about the end of the line for Sir Alex.
Ferguson will have nothing of it. In the face of untenable odds, the man faces the media, passionately arguing that Manchester United could win and showing his conviction that as long as he was there, United would fight for every single point even if they had lost the title and woe betide the player who refused to put himself on the line for United’s cause.
And then Ferguson leads his men to Stamford Bridge, where only the most optimistic of Manchester United fans were thinking of winning, and even then it was just a forlorn hope and not a serious idea.
I don’t need to tell you what happened next. Manchester United were thumped, effectively out of the title race and with nothing left to play for. And still Ferguson continued as before, hoping, believing. United were 2nd in the league table and the best-placed team in England to beat Chelsea (as they had thanks to a rare Darren Fletcher header in November 2005 to stop Chelsea’s unbeaten run).
Looking back, that win against Chelsea at Old Trafford and the belief it brought would have been lost in the Stamford Bridge hammering had it not been for Ferguson’s perseverance and the belief he instilled in his players that they could do the impossible.
After all, under Ferguson Manchester United had done the impossible once before…
Are you for or against Arsenal?
Am I suggesting that Arsenal do the impossible? Of course not - plus they’ve already done it when they went a whole season unbeaten. But when you compare Ferguson’s career - and his history of setting records and doing what no one had thought possible - it makes you wonder how much better Arsenal could be if they stood up and fought now as they have several times this season instead of folding like wimps.
What I’m asking of Arsenal fans is to believe that their team will win, and show that belief the next time you go watch Arsenal play this season. Your players will thank you, and reward you, with performances that you could only dream of.
Manchester United fans will know what I’m talking about - the Old Trafford faithful have been lucky to witness some amazing football in the last two seasons (or if you’re going to be nitpicky, in the last 2 decades).
So - Arsenal fans - what’s it going to be? Will you give up without a fight, or to quote Dylan Thomas, will you rage, rage against the dying of the light?
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Discussion - 33 Responses
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Wow, Ahmed. You really packed some punch in this one.
Dont be daft Ahmed,the game is up.If we only had to catch United but nowadays we also have to catch Chelsea you might be lucky once but not twice.
As a fan it is easy to believe but look at the team they dont.
Wenger is using exactly the same bravado when he is trying to cover cracks and deficiences………..but at the end of the day it can be summed up in one word…….BULLSHIT !!!
I admire this coming from an ManU fan. However, why would we:
“Are you going to give up and throw in the towel - cry like babies and start pointing fingers at referees, God and Wenger for the near-impossible situation you are in?”
Why the FUCK would we do that???
Let us not forget, ever since Henry’s departure everyone assumed Arsenal will be degraded to UEFA Cup.
Let us not pretend, that some of Arsenal’s most faithful lost faith.
Let us not overlook, that throughout the whole season we were labelled the underdogs in every game.
Now for the group of people mentioned above this is what I have to say to you: FUCK OFF!
Seemingly the title is out of hands this season. Seemingly we are going to have to settle for 3rd Place.
And now we have that very same group who are comparing this roster to that of the “Invincibles” and saying how they have run out of steam & not consistent forgetting what they said prior to the start of the season.
FUCK YOU!!!
However, considering what we have achieved so far this season reflects on 3 things:
1) Arsenal have already over-acheieved this season by everyone’s standards.
2) Arsenal has their best squad since the Invincibles. (A few additions won’t hurt though)
3) Arsenal will KICK YOUR ARSE come next season.
Enough said.
Raed
Good article mate. Well done
Graeme Souness got it spot on today after the game. Many people think the San Siro is harder than Anfield.
Souness a Liverpool legend sometimes goes too far in trying to be unbiased an ends up killing Benitez but no one can argue that the AC Milan team are well past it. They were lucky to beat us in the final and had it been for Kaka they wouldnt have got past Celtic!!
who the fuck do you think you are, you fucking stupid cunt,
coming from a fucking Man United supporter whos team only buy players when they are at ’super star’ level-meaning they pay 20million+ for players. Whereas Arsenal buy talent in their youth for under a million, so who does lose more in the long run you stupid idiot
Raed - agreed with #1, but that’s not the point. Keep fighting.
2 - that was like 3 seasons ago. It’s the ‘next’ squad, nothing to compare it with in terms of ‘best since’
3 - dream on
Ahmed Bilal, i apologize for my use of vocabulary in the reaction to the first part of the article, after reading your article again i realise that it is in fact a very accurate article.
My language reflects on how disgusted i am in Arsenal due to the fact that we were 5 points ahead a month back and we are now 5-6 points below.
wow…. with all respect with a team who drew with us in the league and a arsenal squad who had only 14 players fit for the f.a. cup/
with a far less superior arsenal look at this season ronaldo has had eclipsed mr.best’s record ronaldo has carried u on his back score 40 gols watch he will/
benzema called out ur back 4 being slow we just financially dont have support like u fellows arsenal 70 Mill Euros Man United over 100 Mill/
i mean how much did u spend this past off season? look at the gols uve got this season tapp ins by tevez on set pieces and its not like hes tall 5″6′ when u knocked lyonnais out what happened tapp in by tevez 1st leg, tapp in by ronaldo 2nd leg very convincing/
u beat chelsea when they dumped mourninho that same weekend a red card by mikel can it get any easier? mascherano red card 2nd game liverpool/
roma u scored 7 2nd leg last yr aganst em,arsenal young ass hell had u on there toes the english media hates arsenal giggs is not better than hleb this season anderson not better than fabregas neville not better than clichy brown slyvestre not better than sagna rio and vidic i wont lie are better than toure’ and gallas u got 3-4 superstars at strikers saha hasnt got hurt 1nce rooney tevez saha even nani can play as a forward vs adebayor robin glass bendtner eduardo walcott, united came back after we drew calls went aganst from left to 2 right hleb wasnt a penalty aganst milan 2nd leg wasnt a penalty aganst liverpool 1st leg wasnt a penalty today birmingham pogatetz didnt touch the ball aganst us also u have a very very healthy fresh squad sir alex is a very intelligent man i respect that man with admiration as if he were my father but man u still wana play chelsea barca or liverpool in the champs league? ur still convinced? u will blast through them? do u really really wana see us in a 2nd leg 1-1 in the champs at old trafford do u beleive u can shut us down completly stop being biast and answer me that
you’ve got that wrong mate, the media loves arsenal and the pretty football, they get off on it.
neville not better than clichy
Since the Neviller didn’t play this season…your point is?
There are other gems in your unstructured rant (rio / vida better than toure / gallas, you respecting SAD as if he was your father, which will get you killed in an arsenal forum, mind you), but to answer your last question:
Of course I’m biased. But I can at least tell when I’m being biased. So, staying biased…
I believe that United’s style of play is flexible enough to beat anyone, and yes, in a one-off game (no 2nd legs finals for a long time mate) United can beat Pool and Arsenal. Against Chelsea we’ve seemed to be a proper target-man short at times, so I’d leave that at 50-50.
cheers for the token ref whinge. we’ve had it all in the comments (excuses even) today.
WOW! what an article, great going! You’ve really inspired some fans today. Being an Arsenal fan myself, I truely thought that we can’t win anything this year but, with Manchester Unites 5 points clear the Premierleague title is well and truely theirs.BUT the Champo league is still up for grabs and it is something that we can focus on now. With the tie between us and Liverpool now in place at 1-1 we muct score at least 2 goals and concede none at Anfield if we are to go through to the next round.
why because im not biased and can give credit when credit is due? unstructured rant? who cares getting killed ina arsenal forum hes a successful manager sir alex why not respect him? ur telling me even tho man united fans hate arsenal u dont respect wenger? wise men stay quiet while fools talk united are good enough to beat anybody BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE PLAYERS! last yr united wasnt good on set pieces defense plays more together especially after kaka went straight through 4 of ur defenders like a knife through wedding cake at old trafford last yr united are 1 more together and have massive depth united chelsea liverpool (not as good) barca all have depth,look
1 ur suppose to repeat….
2 ur suppose to be better than chelsea or arsenal….
3 ur suppose to go deep in the champs league….
wow united over achieved damn and using great tactics i mean lets look past ronaldo never gets moved outta position right wing or support striker damn ur right!!!!
Stop talking stupidity, whatever has happened are not the players’ responsibility. Wenger is going to slowly destroy the souls of your fans.
Why on this earth does he want to harvest from the ground he has persistently failed to provide with fertilizers, he has had the same ground exploited for 4 years without getting harvests.
He shall never get good harvests because he does not put fertilizers in the field, He needs to find world class players to supportb and motivate the other players.
He is given money, he refuses to spend, he knows AFC problems come btn January and May; but never thinks twice, he has some of the lousiest players in Zboue, Gilberto, Adebayor, Diabey, Lehmann, why keep them?
He lacks a good assistant near him; he makes poor tactical decisions 95% he does not listen to advices, and at the end he blames the defenders etc, how many chances does Adebayoy get to score and uses none, how many balls does Eboue destroy out of poor decisions? How many times has he been told that Rosicky shall never play 5 matches consecutively, the same with Van P? Why not sell the useless players? Why 11 players and no recorgnisable bench.
ALL PROBLEMS STEM FROM WENGER’s POOR DECISION MAKING YEAR AFTER YEAR, AND LACK OF RESPECT FOR THE ADVICE GIVEN TO HIM.
AFC management should remember that they are still in business because of the supporters, it is their money; they expect returns for all they pay for, not silky players who don’t have respect for fans’ wishes i.e. getting good football + trophies.
I REPEAT, U CAN’T GET HARVESTS FROM A FIELD YOU DENY FERTILIZERS; PLAYERS NEED TO BE ENCOURAGED BY WORLD CLASS STARS NOT HOPEFULL PAYERS ONLY. COMPARE TORES & ADEBAYOR??? 26M & 7M???? WAS TORRES WORTHY INVESTING IN?? IS ADEBAYOR AN AFC QUALITY STRIKER??
WENGER WENGER, STOP FOOLING afc and start producing results not only free flowing football, your football seems to be for money making but not the kind of play that can result into trophies, THINK.
#8, shut up and be objective. you sound like your stupid blinders manager wenger. how many of our young stars did u know about before they came to United? Not even CR7 was on the radar back then you cunt. Look at our second team that beat your lame ass second team in the cup! how many of them were and are household names? arse only pays that much for players because the manager is a mean , no money spending miser. We all know he has it to spend, he’s just a mean old miser so stop bitching you fucking loser!
its a great piece of article but one can see the hypocrisy behind it. it is hypocritical only because it is coming at this stage of the season when apparently arsenal do not seemingly pose any threat to man u and probably chelsea of late, atleast with their recent performance. i remember when arsenal were sitting right on top, u ahmed never said anything like this and the only reason why u are out here tryig to motivate and encourage arsenal fans is because things have fallen in favour of man united recently, they have been performing and getting the results fair play to them. i remember u said gallas was not a good captain when arsenal threw away the lead at st. andrew’s, as an experience player this is what gallas 4saw and he was quite bitter albeit in a premature way. now that it has become a truism, u want to play the role of a motivator, unfortunately people can see through you. As good as your article is the motive is to taunt arsenal fans, who as far as i am concern have the right to feel the way they are feeling having thrown the title away and may as well have seen the end of another trophyless season.
but i have to agree that as fans (good fans 4 that matter) no matter what happens to your team you have to support them and encourage them, every great team goes through what arsenal are going through but like many have said it is time to bring out the check book and strengthen the arsenal team. If u ask me wenger was arrogant to have thought that he can win the epl with a small squad of inexperience players, there is only a thin line between self confidence and arrogance, 4 failing to strengthen esp during the transfer window, arsene was simply being arrogant and he is paying 4 it now. on a positive note, arsenal have over achieved considering what so many have said about them at the beginning of the season, so no matter what happens they should be proud of what they have achieved with a small squad, get up dust themselves and try again next year, right there my friend Ahmed is where u are dead right.
and mr. bilal does it again…
Arr Ahmed - fuck off mate, We’re giving up?
Wtf man… typical mancs - well actually like all your supporters you aren’t a manc, nowhere near Manchester
lol
bilal…..on to motivate gooners….thankyou mate…..
just when u r feelin happy that the cat is in the bag,u come out and taunt us……
now let me give u mr.bilal,the happy owner of old trafford.net(soccerlens.com in other words):
who the fuck said we r giving in and that we r cryin like wimps?????
who the fuck said our season is over????
we would have and should have won both matches against poolscumbags if the referees had shown a little more justice….denying us 2 penalties……if those two were given….there wouldnt have been an article like this…..
we might not have played to our best…but still we merited a victory in both matches……..
we still have the champions league to play for…..any gooner who thinks arsenal will fail to score at anfield is a retard,its just a question of how many we will end up conceding….
and we still have the second place at our beckoning…..
at the end of the season,i will be very happy with a champions league trophy(cmon arsenal,kill those lucky bastards) and a second spot in the bpl,considering the squad we had and the injuries we sustained……
I think the media also dislikes arsenal (dont even get me started on Liverpool). Chelsea and utd are the medias play boys.
Reina would have saved the pens anyways
!!!
I dont think its a 100% Arsenal will score either. Both their goals were from set pieces and im sure we wont make that same mistake against the same team 3 times in a row
is it me or do anyone notice bilal’s obsession with arsenal fc, most of his articles are either directly or remotely directed to the arsenal.
I believe in the Arsenal.
What Wenger does is how the game is supposed to be played. He doesn’t buy winners, he develops them. We as supporters of the club can never stop our support, no matter how the team plays. Those people who turn their backs on the players/manager as soon as they are not winning cannot call themselves true Gunners. As for the article and the responses to it, true fans don’t give up. True fans don’t whine. THey pour belief into the team no matter the situation. Man Utd fans seem to vanish into the shadows when their team struggles. We need to look at the most loyal fans in the world and take a page out of their book - look at the Toon Army of Newcastle Utd. For 2 seasons now they have faced relegation, but they still worship their team and have faith in Owen, no matter how out of form he is.
Screw Man Utd. If they lose ROnaldo, they lose over 30 goals. A team should not be carried by one person. Besides, with the experience of the 2 seasons they have had to build, the kids of Arsenal WILL be unstoppable next season.
Trust in the Arsenal team. Let them know that they have the greatest supporters in the world.
We beat AC at the San Siro, last season we beat Man Utd at Old Trafford. If the guys have a good day, they can beat Liverpool at Anfield. I have to watch the game from SOuth Africa, but I wish I could be there! I have heard that the ‘Pool fans are the most vocal in England, am I right?
Fully agree with everything you’re saying, Ahmed. What the fuck kind of fan gives upon their team? And what the hell kind of sports team slumps off in defeat before the season’s done as Arsenal did as long ago as that match against Birmingham WHEN YOU HAVEN’T EVEN LOST?
If I was a Gunner that scene would have pissed me off.
Arsenal need to keep their heads so they can gift the title to Chelsea. One more result is all we need - we’ll do the rest.
Where did I hear that one before? Oh yes, last season
arsenal need atleast another good striker, a good scoring midfield winger, a good centerback, considering Rosicky and RVP’s consistent injuries. some of these ‘kids’ even if given five years under Wenger’s tutelage can never become worldclass coz they were not born to be i.e bendtner and others. time and teamwork alone is not enough. bring in new players Mr.Wenger. much as we respect you Arsene, your arrogance is getting on our nerves. which point do you want to prove?
# 25
“If they lose ROnaldo, they lose over 30 goals. A team should not be carried by one person.”
His name was Thierry Henry
On to the big game on tuesday v Liverpool. Ok when Liverpool got that away goal last Wednesday everyone said that gave them the advantage. Fair point BUT if Arsenal grab a goal in the first half hour on tuesday then the advantage is gone and should we grab another then surely all the pressure will be on the home side. There’s still a long way to go in this tie yet! Come on you Gunners!!
stupid MU FAN..MU always depend on freekick or penalty goal..Ronaldo stupid actor..