I hate Arsenal (I think…)
This article was partly inspired by this incredible piece from the Guardian.
As anybody who has heard me talk about the Premier League, and even European football in general, will tell you, I don’t speak very highly about Arsenal Football Club. I never found any reason to respect them. It seemed all they did was blame referees and bring the game into disrepute.
However, after paying more attention to the mass media lately, I have found that Arsenal (and their manager) are worthy of my respect, even though it still remains very much a love-hate relationship.
Reasons to hate Arsenal
I’ve had a few reasons, but the one that stands out in my mind more than any other is infamous enough to be known by its nickname: Pizzagate. This was back when Manchester United were starting to take over my young teenage mind as, in my opinion, the best team in England, Europe, and maybe even the world. I was young and naïve once.
Any way I look at it from memory, and from reading old press clippings, I will always recall the incident as being provoked almost exclusively by the Arsenal players – Martin Keown taunting Ruud van Nistelrooy like a petulant schoolboy is the prime example.
Another reason I have hated Arsenal, which looks to be on the point of invalidity, is Jens Lehmann. I have a lasting image of him faking an ankle injury to buy time at the end of a close match, although it is a vague image because I cannot recall the season, opponent, or score. When he gets the sack, I will have no more reason to complain about him and his association with Arsenal. And he will get the sack, or at least his contract will not be extended. More on him later.
And, last but not least, one of the most popular reasons to want to poke Arsene Wenger with a sharp stick until he looks like Swiss cheese: his blinding failure to use English players on a team that is in the English domestic top flight. Of course, the incident that stands out is the match (or matches) in which the starting eleven had no Englishmen present.
Reasons to respect Arsenal
These reasons are all more recent, and therefore have a greater bearing on my opinion. There’s no point in hating something if it no longer exists in the same state of being, is there?
The Guardian article that I referenced at the top is a reason not only respect, but perhaps begin to grow slightly fond of, Arsenal. In particular, I enjoyed Arsene Wenger’s response when asked if Lehmann will be offered a contract extension:
Lehmann has been increasingly getting under Wenger’s skin and there was a telling scene at the manager’s press conference yesterday when he was asked whether the German would get a new contract when his present deal expires at the end of this season.
“Pardon?” said Wenger incredulously.
The question was repeated and Wenger snorted with laughter.
Normally, these kinds of things don’t amuse me, but it seemed particularly just that this question wouldn’t even get a one word answer from the boss, but instead just a laugh.
Almunia has also taken Lehmann’s childish antics quite well, and this is the first time he has spoken out in the press so openly about it. (Read the lovely article if you want more, but I have more points to make.)
I also came across an issue of Four Four Two with Arsene Wenger smiling from the cover, and after flipping through it, I found an interview with the man himself, with questions from the fans (Four Four Two’s One-On-One segment).
Some of the statements he made, such as the one about having to let any player (Thierry Henry) go if he wants to leave after eight years of service, the one about football’s role models’ influence on the world, and especially the one about him wanting to make the future of Arsenal based on the academy that is full of English boys (not in the online version) definitely leave me with a different sense of Arsene Wenger. This sense is one of a man doing his job the right way, not a man who belittles referees and calls opponents cheats (although that was never proven by the FA).
Arsene Wenger, and the club in general, deserve respect also because of their commitment to developing younger players. After Arsenal’s Champions League exit at the hands of Liverpool, Wenger stated that the future of Arsenal lies on the shoulders of the younger players. He has always shown this commitment, leaving the Carling Cup to his young guns, along with the previous statement about bringing talent up through the Academy to the first team, and should be commended for it.
My new opinion
My views of Arsenal have changed. Like George from It’s a Wonderful Life, I now realize that if Arsenal and their manager had never existed, or at least not existed in the way it did, Premiership football would have been far less entertaining. Not only would it be less entertaining, in the right and wrong ways, but English football would not have seen some of the advances it has in the players’ diet and team tactics without Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal is not, and never will be, my favorite club. I can’t even say that I like them. However, I no longer think that every Gooner is a moron who can’t reason and do basic mathematical problems.
Despite my new-found respect, I will have no qualms about supporting United on Sunday and in the title chase. But if they do manage to win tomorrow, I won’t gloat like I would have in years past, just like if they lose, I won’t grieve like I would have. To use words Wenger might appreciate: c’est la vie.
- Why Manchester United Are The Best Club In The World
- Arsenal vs Manchester United, Arsene Wenger vs Alex Ferguson
- Gerrard: Liverpool’s success depends on me playing in the middle
- Great Expectations; A Liverpool Fan with a Fondness for the Arsenal
- Arsenal vs Bolton - bravado, Henry, Kroenke, Myles and a lot of love
Discussion - 27 Responses
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I agree with most of the article, Liviu. I suppose you have included it in your ‘new opinion’, so for reasons to respect them, I would have added style of play. I know they can overplay at times, but some of the football Wenger has provided us with down the years has been breathtaking to watch. I am just thinking of the likes of Pires, Ljungberg etc. I remember as a Man City fan being excited about their visit to Maine Road in 2000-01 and we were 4-0 down within 20 minutes. Whether that was more to do with the fact that we had Jeff Whitley in midfield, I don’t know, but just off memory they beat us 5-0 at Highbury that season and beat us 5-1 at Maine Road in 2002-03. It was never pleasant to see but sometimes you just have to take your hat off to them.
It has been - down the years to the present - fluid, penetrative, creative and I can only really think of United who match it which probably started to my mind with the Yorke-Cole combination blended with Sheringham and Solskjaer, along with the midfielders they had in the later 90s. Sheringham akin to Bergkamp with that intellect that is so difficult to find in playing passes and unlocking defences from advanced positions.
Not saying Cantona wasn’t in that mould, of course, and there was the team with Giggs, Kanchelskis etc, it’s just that I was quite young back then, so to my mind it really emerged in the late 90s.
One day people like yourself will realise the future of English football lies with people like Wenger teaching English players from a young age that a successful footballer career is not evinced by a massive wage packet, but by the skills and effort put in, and the results achieved.
The fact that Wenger resorted to a non-English side is simply because English players are alcoholic celebrities who are overpriced. Pennant: a convicted drunk; Bentley: an addicted gambler; the senior English team are overpriced nancy boys who simply are not good enough (with possibly Gerrard and Rooney the exception), but who are happy taking millions of pounds to get pissed and shag slappers.
Many ex_Arsenal English players are plying their trade in the lower leagues where they belong; they simply have belief in their ability which they cannot match with an end product.
Look further into the Arsenal academy under Wenger and you will find plenty of young English players who are learning from a young age the Wenger way: Look after yourself and you will have a long and successful career.
Of course, once everything is paid off we will be able to do what Chelsea do, which is buy a squad full of wealthy players happy to play route one football to Drogba, and are significantly less effective when they can’t.
Now ask yourself why Chelsea have to do tannoy announcements to try and sell tickets for Champions League matches.
No thank you.
And finally, everyone knows Lehmann has been whining like a stuck pig about Almunia instead of fighting for his place. Which is why Wenger snorts - Lehmann did his bit, but now he can go and finish his career at some lesser team.
Why you find it incredible I don’t know; the only thing I find odd is that it took Almunia so long to tell the silly old fart to f*** off. But perhaps it’s because Lehmann knows he’s on the home straight to retirement now.
However, thanks for a thought-provoking, if somewhat flawed article.
Oh come on, Ronaldo dived, Eboue dives in every game and Lehmann buys time. It’s what players do. I guess a lot of ManU fans hate Lehmann because not only can he be a real bitch as a football player (because off the pitch, believe it or not, he can be a real darling) but he also makes saves that can win Arsenal a game, like our last league game at OT when he secured Arsenal’s win.
As for Almunia, that whiny clown: He kept making digs at Lehmann all the time when he was still no 2. It just didn’t get as much media attention as Lehmann’s statements get. And he kept talking about him all season long now that he is no 1. He mentions him in every single interview so don’t tell me he has coped will with Lehmann’s comments. He keps on whining and pounting and he even said he had never said anything about Lehmann in the past. He is a holier-than-thou liar and even worse than Lehmann because the latter simply speaks his mind and doesn’t suck up to Wenger like the little yes-master-can-I-lick-your-feet-slave Almunia is.
Harry Barracuda, how has Lehmann not been fighting for his place? Are you nuts? He worked his ass of in training and did well when he came in in February. The Arsenal fans wanted him to keep his place because Almunia never makes the matchwinning saves. He didn’t get a chance to fight for his place.
And he is going to play the Euros for one of the top 5 teams of the world, something Almunia will surely never get to do.
Lehmann is crazy but that time when he faked injury against Utd was hilarious, you were one nil up and your boys were TIMEWASTING….in every department!
And we turned the game around and Lehmann faked injury, hilarious after what happened earlier…
If we can´t win the league….I hope you do it instead of Chelsea.
Good article!
Harry I just cannot agree with you on the issue of English players. And your digs at Chelsea are completeley unjutified - perhaps you are still upset that you were shown what it is like to be men, not boys by Grant’s players.
But as far as the English players go, I think that Wenger does not use them because he wants more tactically aware players who know how to play the game. A Rooney or a Gerrard in Arsenal’s team would completely ruin their flow. He wants to use continental boys who have been trained to play like Arsenal do so that he can get away with his game plan and make it look nice and efficient.
Let us not forget that he has had plenty of English players in his time at Arsenal and some of them have been quite amazing (look at Seaman, Adams, and Wright if he was still there when Wenger came).
As for you claim that English players act like overpriced superstars, let us not forget that jusy about every footballer lives that way. Look at Real Madird’s aquad and claim that Guti, Ramos, Robinho and others are just Giggs-like players. At United, Rio and Ronaldo have quite a reputation for being party animals who have orgies every day or two.
I think Wenger is justified at not having any english players, but not for teh reasons you mention so stop going at England’s players. Some of them are amazing. Rio is not the best central defender in the world by a mile and three halves. And I could go on but I have to go.
Lehmann is a total clown but I love him simply for his eccentricity and having no qualms and speaking his mind. If you ever read an interview with him he is actually very bright. And yes I remember his timewasting antics, even that was amusing more so than him costing us the European Cup final. Everyone else just seems to regard his as a rambling old nutter ( witness his longstading row with Kahn) which is also highly amusing. Will be sad to see him go in a way.
LOOK THERES ONLY I TEAM THAT DOESENT CHEAT ITS ARSENAL
All the reasons you give are the same as the ones that are repeated over-and-over in the media.
There is a strange desire of the media to constantly have a go at arsenal and pay great respect to their rivals, particularly the northern ones
My favourite example is the constant and relentless diving of ronaldo which goes unpunished and unmentioned whereas Eboue will now get a booking whether he does anything wrong or not. admittedly he is a diver but he does appear to have at least made attempts to stop.
Theres also the ridiculing of Wenger which takes place particularly in the newspapers for a variety of reasons, whereas Ferguson can just say whatever he wants about decisions or watever, even when punished by the FA, he still wont be told off in the media. He “whinges” just as much as Wenger
come on eboue is the crapiest player in arsenal lineup…. if i was wenger, i would have given him the boot the day adebayor got redcarded because of him- was that last season…wow, time flies….
Ronaldo,kaka,gerrard,zidane every1 dived and will continue to dive.Playing around with the rules is an integral part of every game.You can’t just hate a player if hes time wasting. Jens Lehman was a very good keeper and we judge him by that. That’s no reason to hate arsenal
Arsene Wenger is an absolutely faboulous manager.He has been in the helm of arsenal for so long and its just amazing how hes managed to keep them there at the top when arsenal have much fewer resources then manutd and esp chelsea,esp now after they moved in 2 the emirates.
Who was Thierry Henry?A no-good winger at juventus who was transformed by wenger into one of the greatest players in the world.He just has a magnificent talent of spotting wonderful players even if they arent playing their best football.look at hleb hes a lovely player look at rosicky he only came to prominence at the world cup but wenger signed him before that. He gets the best out of young players.Perhaps even better then SAF.Hes done an absolutely terrific job with cliche and walcott. A lesser manager would have been tempted to start walcott much before. But wenger has used him just the right amount..and that is his gift to english football.Because walcott will turn out to be a magnificent player
Also arsenal play beautiful football unlike chelsea and liverpool and thats the most important thing that can be said
u hate arsenal? wow i dont hate man u cause they whoped our ass on sunday or liverpool won by crap ass gols anyways THEY WERE SUPPOSE TO WIN! chelsea deserve to win we didnt defend well we choked got tired and injured wow it jus wasnt ment to be this yr sadly… ive been supporting arsenal fc now 2 yrs now went thru the henry departure wenger speculations leaving and still stayed put
if u really wana be a lame ass supporter support
LYON - 6 league trophys in a roll
PORTO - un challenged at all in the superliga
SAO PAOLO - 5 liga do brasil champs
AC Milan - 7 champs league titles
Barca - 2 champs league trophys and are behind madrid league champs most times
Real Madrid won the spanish title the most times
6 yrs won the euro cup when it begun and champs league winners overall 9xs most money in the world
Liverpool 18 league titles 5 champs league trophys
before the ferguson era they were the most hated team in england
Man United every american who doesnt watch a liq of football support man u because the history and money behind em
Chelsea most money most recent success no past history last 4 yrs theyve been winning alott
Arsenal challenged united play pretty football dont have financial backing like the other 3
bayern munchin most successful club in germany
5x champs league winners and shitting cash plus have
the attacking genius jurgen klinsman
see the diffrence?
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! “Theres only one team that deosnt cheat its Arsenal” Dude, I hope you were being sarcastic because otherwise I would have to suggest thatyou go watch some Premier League footy.
Just for everybody to know, Arsenal has been second in terms of revenue among football clubs the past season. So there is no reason to say that they do not have money. They just don;t know how to use them.
i am an arsenal fan,but sadly i’d have to say that i agreed with andrei.arsenal have the money but arsene seems that he doesn’t know how to use it.he should have sold gilberto & buy ben arfa or benzema.perhaps,as rosicky is always injured,he should sell rosicky too.he is a creative player & can bring differences in games he played,but what’s the point if he is always injured?
Right, no offence mate but you support a team that hasn’t played a competetive match yet? And what a typical shite name Sounders is..
IMO, I like the points you have made here (especially the good AFC points :0) but the things you hate about us are things everyone does.. who gives a fuck if we have next to no English players - I think Arsene is smart enough to realise that in England than English players are overpriced, like so many Gooners before me have said Wenger doesn’t hate pommy players no more than foreigners it’s just his youth investment policy if you will, tends to get players unheard of in the UK - say for example that you have a player like Eduardo but from England… every English paper will write up about this ‘wonder boy’ but a player like Dudu is unheard of in England moreorless until Wenger snaps him up.
Anyway, nice article - gave me a ranting point at least!
Nice article raising a lot of points. The two responces of ‘Ronaldo dives all the time but it doesn’t get mentioned in the press’ and ‘Arsenal are the only team that doesn’t cheat’ did make me chuckle.
I don’t think Arsenal cheat any more or any less than anyone else, and I’m sure I’ve heard the fact that Ronaldo dives mentioned in the media at least once….
I understand your hate at times coz as an arsenal supporter i disliked things like the one against Van Nistelrooy. But overall i love this club, its philosophy under Arsene Wenger nd how he’s trying to give football its true meaning-pleasure and entertainment coupled with quality and enthusiasm. Not the win any cost attitude of some supposed great clubs who won’t take risks with young lads.
BRAVO ARSENE!!!
I just went through deleting half a dozen idiotic comments on this article - jeez, I’m away for a day and morons invade the city…
Liviu - good piece. There’s a lot to be said about Arsenal but I’ll hold my piece for the end of the season. There are blinkered and biased fans on both sides, and tbh we all blame the press for siding with the opposition
Thanks for writing this, and don’t let the idiots bring you down.
Kyle - as opposed to the nickname L’Arse? really, think before pointing fingers at names
Didn’t Ade deliberately raise his arms to ‘head’ in Arsenal’s goal?
win at any cost, cheat, etc etc.
The above is now (predictably) going to have Arsenal fans saying that they don’t cheat “as much” as others do, or they only do it because others do.
Might want to bring in better players too…
To be fair, i didn’t see any new arguments for liking or not liking Arsenal. Its just a recap of all the usual suspects really.
But i like the healthy mixture of respect & disdain…
The article really makes interesting reading and it was nice to watch Lehmann return to play against Manchester United and I do agree to a certain extend that Jens Lehmann is a good goalkeeper and temperamental at the time same. I feel that Lehmann is more experience than Alumunia.
Arsene Wengner in my opinion needs to make a purchase or two in order to improve on what he has at the moment especially when injuries plagues him at crucial times.
Yeah I don’t understand where all this criticism is coming from. It’s a great piece, I think. You know what would generate criticism? An article justifying Juventus. in fact, I might actually write one…
Along with Brazil and Barcelona, Arsenal are the global standard-bearers for beautiful football. The pattern seems to be they start out by playing stunning by-the-rules football and then when teams cannot cope with them, they resort to a variety of tactics that invariably cause Arsenal to lose steam and lose patience and lose titles. Something obviously has to be done about this because when you look at things really closely Arsenal should be loved and worshipped. That they are not is more a reflection of the harshness and ugliness of the world we live in and play in than of the weakness of Arsenal FC.