Is it time Arsenal Fans Grew Up?
Every time this current batch of the Arsenal team goes on to lose or draw a game from a winning position, pundits are quick to jump on the case citing a lack of maturity. How these players are not experienced enough to hold on to the lead. How their tender years have allowed the game to slip their grasp. The Arsenal fans are more than gullible enough to buy the hype up from these pundits whose only job it seems is to wind up the fans.
With the January transfer window approaching, it is no doubt the likes of Alan Hansen, Gary Linekar, Martin Samuel etc will once again be paid overtime to churn out articles on why Arsenal will not win the Premier League due to their lack of depth. That Arsenal needs to buy in order for them to compete and other nonsense that they can come up with. It is high time Arsenal fans stop buying up the inflated hype covered materials from these doom merchants and trust their manager, Arsene Wenger. In short, it is high time Arsenal fans stopped crying and grew up.
For the best part of the twelve years that I have followed Arsenal, I have witnessed incredible highs (The Invincibles, The Third Double) and stupendous lows (Champions League Final, UEFA Cup Final). My earliest and to date most grievous disappointment would be the loss on penalties to Galatasary in the UEFA Cup Final. It was the first time I had truly felt a huge sense of loss due to my chosen football team.
Seeing my disappointment, a much experienced Gooner taught me three golden rules. I do appreciate what he had taught me and every time since I always let the moments I share with Arsenal pass with a cause for optimism. I would always look forward to what the next year will bring instead of reflecting on the year that was. The golden rules were:
- It is ultimately the manager who will decide what is best for the team, not You.
- There will be many teams competing for the same trophy, and there are 101 factors that ultimately decide who wins.
- Come next season, the previous season will be nothing but a statistic.
Those three rules have allowed me to develop an intense passion for Arsenal Football Club but it had also, over the years, given me perspective on all things Arsenal and sometimes let me analyse the situation from an outsider view. When I see some blogs whining about why Arsene Wenger should spent money, why Arsene Wenger should buy this or that player, I privately cannot help but laugh out loud. The reason, see rule 1.
When I also see the pundits giving their “verdict” on a club’s stature, I cannot help but privately laugh out loud. The reason, see rule 2. I also enjoy a good private laugh when I see fans of clubs dwell on old glories, some fans stuck forever in 1961. The reason, see rule 3.
I, however, am deeply frustrated by the ignorance of some peoplewho refuse to analyse my beloved club from a critical perspective and thinks that their opinions are the ones to end all opinions. Their attitude is questionable. I, as a fan, cannot do more than hope for the best of my chosen club, Arsenal FC. I cannot say Arsene Wenger sign up David Villa or Lionel Messi or Lorik Cana, in some people’s cases. I understand my place, and it is definitely not to tell the club what to do. I know that even if I did, it would certainly fall on deaf ears. That is something, a majority of the Arsenal fans do not understand.
The current batch of the Arsenal squad has been labeled inexperienced and immature, even babies by some. However at such a young age to perform at such a level in front of tens of thousands of people week in week out, you need maturity that belies your tender years. Therefore maturity is something that this squad has shown in abundance. No, it is the fans that are lacking maturity. The fans are the ones that need to back the squad, back the club. Not tell it what to do, how to run itself. It is high time, the fans of this football club let go of the cradle that is the English media and Grow Up!
The author writes for Gunner Nation
Topics: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, English Premier League
I think it’s time the author stopped making absurd generalisations about the fans.
Many, perhaps even most, do not blindly follow the media “experts”.
29/12/2009, 12:08the fans need to get behind the team and sing to make an atmosphere i am dissapointed by the lack of noise, also people need to stop bringing non arsenal fans to the game we need to pull together and back the the team.
29/12/2009, 12:15I completely agree with the above article…Gunner for lyf!!!
29/12/2009, 12:22I agree. We have some of the worst fans in the world. I live in South Africa and make trips once every few years to catch a couple of games. And in my experience both being at games and watching on TV that our fans can be some of the best in the land. E.g, look at the games against the SPUDS and look how we sing. But then for the rest of the season they are not behind the fans. The 2500 away fans make more noise. its about time they all shut up in terms of moaning and get behind the lads and Wenger who are doing an amazing job.
29/12/2009, 12:23Excellent wirte up. This should be the motto of every fan of every team. Go Arsenal Go
29/12/2009, 12:30well said man!!
29/12/2009, 12:30As a Gooner for 55 years I think this article is spot on. I have never seen an Arsenal team consistently playing more entertaining football than we are seeing today and yet I don’t think I have ever heard more criticism coming from so called ‘fans’. It is following your team through thick and thin that makes a fan into a true supporter and because of the success of the Wenger years Arsenal now seem to have more fans than supporters, who demand and expect a continuous flow of trophies. I fear that one day their continuous carping will drive Arsene away and heaven forbid, if that should happen, we will all be the poorer. By all means have your critical debate in the pub but when you get to the stadium remember you are there to support our team.
29/12/2009, 12:53It must be nice when ‘stupendous lows’ are losing in european finals – such events are but a dream for smaller clubs. That doesn’t stop us loving our team with a passion.
29/12/2009, 13:02Here’s 2 questions for you to chew on:
Do any fans of ‘big 4′ teams have perspective any more?
Are they passionate or just spoilt – throwing their toys out of the pram whenever things don’t go exactly right?
i appreciate luke comment.The fan part is to be behind the team until final minutes.Because we support them by theirs style playing football.we’ve to believe by our players as they make history this year.Believing of the fan as their team win the opponent is as important as the players skill.
29/12/2009, 13:32Well said. I have said for a long time that many Arsenal fans are essentially spoilt brats. Quite frankly, they have witnessed some incredible players and scintillating football over the last decade, even when the teams are in transition (i remember the season before the invincibles year, when Wenger was playing Wiltord on the right wing – the team could counter attack in mere seconds, were devestating, and brilliant to watch, albeit flawed) and yet the fans constantly seem to be whining. Most people would give anything to have support a side like Arsenal. The calls for Wenger’s sacking last year was one of the most disgusting moments i have ever witnessed in football, more so that the people who say things like that miraculously disappear when Arsenal win a game. As an asthete and lover of football, i acknowledge and respect Wenger and Arsenal not just for the countless hours of enjoyment they have given me, but for what they have given to the league in terms of profile. Wenger is not above criticism (esp when it comes to being a bad loser) but any serious denigration i view as sacrilege…and i’m a Villa fan!!!
29/12/2009, 13:47true but seriously arsenal need to buy at least one 20m signing! maybe in attack or midfield. they seem very dependant on fabregas and RVP(who is out till may)
29/12/2009, 14:09but of course that’s my opinion. (I’m a man utd fan and yes i agree with ur article that is if it is Man utd)
As a Utd fan I actually find most Arsenal fans very objective about their team. Many also agree with the pundits by the way.
I understand the blind loyalty but you need to understand that the loss of RVP has raised some questions about the ‘amazing attacking talent’ at Arsenal.
Also understand that nobody tipped Arsenal this year because AW refused to address the DM issue and the lack of depth at the back. Why? Because that has cost Arsenal dearly in the last 2 seasons.
Remember the CL semi against Utd?
I suggest taking a more objective view and trusting the views of your fellow fans.
Every time Arsenal get close this season we get the ‘adrelain rush’ articles. You may be capable of winning it….but I suggest calm and objectivity in the meantime.
29/12/2009, 14:11Idiot…Why are you talking about fans as if we’re as stupid as the media.
29/12/2009, 14:22I think most arsenal blogs are relatively quite sensible bar a few when compared to those of other clubs. Arseblog has had a good say in that. Him, goonerholic and the lot are lifelong supporters and value where arsenal stand today having seen where we came from. The fans need to put into perspective that arsenal’s style and prestige have always outshone the rest of the pack. Trophies will come, sensible true supporters know that. If you dont trust Wenger, you dont deserve to be a gooner.
29/12/2009, 15:09I understand where ur comin from m8 (fans being immature). I mean anyone who boos there own players louder than wen they cheer for them and then justify it by sayin “i paid for my ticket i have a right….” are not right in the head. but i do disagree with wat u say about opinions. as a fan i do realise that wat i say will fall on deaf ears…but so does ur opinion on da last film u went to see, or ur opinion on politics. The fact that you have no control over at goes on doesnt stop u from wanting to have an opinion. arsenal affects people in different ways and we all enjoy conversatin on wat we think is wrong with our club. where we go wrong is wen our opinions creep in2our support (booing players). we all njoy chewing the fat on r beloved club thats wat fans do. 2ndly ud b blind if u cant see that we need to strengthen in jan. not because the team is crap but because we r short of depth…plain and simple. Lovin ur club-or anythin else for that matter- doesnt mean u av blind love n neglect flaws because that is more detrimental than anything else.
29/12/2009, 15:43the cardinal sin AW commits is to refuse to buy when ‘media experts’ exert their pressure on the club to do so. Obviously these experts believe the more you spend, the more likely you will win , never mind the countless stories where teams have been expensivley assembled with no visible end result – think real madrid galacticos, think mancity last summer, think spurs.
29/12/2009, 17:15arsenal simply do not follow that formula and this irks the experts at sky.
as for experience again that is nonsense. At their age, most of the arsenal squad has participated in the EPL, CL, FA cup and of course the CC. So they have been through campaigns some so called big names will never experience in their life times, and thanks to a visionary manager. compare walcott/ramsey vs bale/bentley today?
Arsene has shown how great a coach he is. He’s been successful both on and off the pitch. Those who criticize him and the team express their disbelief in what he’s doing by making destructive criticism, spineless criticism. Arsene is doing and will continue to do what’s best for the team, like it or not. If we continue to call ourselves true fans of the club then I suggest we give the manager and the team our undying support. I believe in this team and wouldn’t mind waiting another year for a trophy while the squad gains more experience.
29/12/2009, 17:46I’m glad that someone with a whole 12 years of supporting Arsenal has managed to take time out from their ivory tower to tell myself and other fans to “grow up”, when its fairly safe to guess that I’m probably a good bit older if I’ve been supporting the club for 30 years, and I know there are others around who can put my time to shame.
While I despise the people who whine all the time and those who boo our own players (as frustrated as I am with some of them I will _never_ boo a player in an Arsenal shirt), the fact is that fans do have the right to criticise the club, sorry.
The club are quick to charge us “champagne” prices to go and watch the team play, and if season after season people feel that the manager is failing to learn from what has happened, to constantly say he’s pinning his hopes on youth then prefer to play a “senior” player way out of position (Eboue on the left wing?) than give a debut to a youth player, then either the much vaunted youth system isn’t all its cracked up to be or the manager isn’t willing for some reason to make his actions match his words. And I think we’re entitled to ask “why”.
29/12/2009, 17:59Excellent piece, and so true when referring to many of our dumber “fans”. (note the one “nose out of joint” comment from just such a specimen above – especially when they manage to convince themselves that they “have their own opinion” that just miraculously happens to exactly coincide with all the moron “pundits”).
The only issue I might have with the piece is that it is more of an issue that some of our dumber fans are just a lot more vocal than the majority who happen to have a bit more in the cerebral department.
What is truly gob-smackingly dumb is how many of them shout the odds about one or other player not being “Arsenal quality”, only to be singing the same player’s praises the next season and claiming they cannot be replaced.
The fact that they were proven mind-bogglingly incorrect seems to totally escape them, and they have absolutely no problem in banging forth with the next attempt at the dumbest statement going, convinced that they actually do know better than the manager, despite having been proven wrong so many times before.
The irony is absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately these specimens are just too stupid to notice.
29/12/2009, 20:03Wenger knows how to not win trophies
He inherited a side from Graham and Rioch and since they all left/retired he is clueless and our success has disappeared
29/12/2009, 21:01In line with the comments from RobM. Although I have been supporting Arsenal for lesser years than both of you, I feel I want to add something. This article is providing a generalization of arsenal fans. Most of the fans do not listen to pundits and all other things and whinge (I believe). Most of the people love Arsenal for what it is and they truly support the club. But people are capable of making their own decisions through observations. I believe it is ultimately the manager and the board that makes the decisions, but fans should get a say. A lot of the credit goes to the fans for clubs being successful, players and manager well-known,and clubs being successful. Even though I come from a middle class family from Nepal, and now I temporary reside in America and have never been to their game, I can confidently say that I have played a small role in the development and success of the club. A graffiti in Berlin wall said, “Many small people in many small place doing many small things can alter the face of the world.” Give you an example, clubs make most of the money through tv revenue, ever wonder why do these tv giants pay that much, and how will they manage to fill their stadiums if everybody refuses to go. so, i believe fans should have a say, but at this point they don’t. since our stadiums are full, you can make a generalisation that not all people are complaining and crying about their teams, instead they still support the team and are willing to spend their 90 mins watching their favorite team. I believe fans also have the right to critically evaluate the team. Considering and believing that fans don’t have a say on the team doesn’t mean that you have to blindly follow anything. If you love the team, you have the right to evaluate the team and it’s player. For example, I believe Abou Diaby is a very good player. But, he is careless, not confident (usually), losses possession often (simple passes), and doesn’t see a pass fast enough (slow). This is my critical evaluation of him. of course when he rectifies his deficiency i enjoy his performances more than any one cause i feel happy to see that he has tried to rectified and has been successful in doing so in a game. so any fans have the right to critically evaluate a team. it is not right to ask for somebody’s head or buy this player or that but we could definitely voice our opinions or suggestions of what needs to be done logically and wish we get a satisfying answer of it from the team we support. Personally I am happy with the club, I love the way they play and i love the way that wenger manages his team. Even if we don’t win a trophy for next 20 years I would always try my best to watch all of their games. I offer a personal evaluation of Arsenal:
Goalkeeper: almunia hasn’t been confident enough in a lot of his games. fabianski has not shown enough and played enough. mannone not ready yet. so far, with almunia’s worst displays we haven’t seen a change of gloves. fabiansky hasn’t been given a chance, and almunia with his poor performances is still in the team. i have the right to complain about the team because i haven’t gotten a satisfying answer from the team, boss, and the player.
defenders: gallas and vermaelean- terrefic. their cover: silvestre – i don’t even need to say anything. then djourou- out for rest of the season. senderos- definitely leaving the club in jan, and then song- ok fair enough. not satisfied but tht’s ok. rb and lb fine we have 2 rb and 3 lbs.
midfielders- cesc, diaby, denilson, rosicky, arshavin, nasri, song. thts satisfying. only question- who will cover our DM position when song goes to ACN.
strikers- RVP out for the season, bendtner- still 3 weeks out, vela- needs more time, eduardo- short of confidence but hope will eventually come out good, walcott- only has pace, his finishing and decision making is not good. we have seen the effects of not having a tall and good finsiher. now do i have the right to question wenger about what is he going to do about our striker situation. i believe i do.
Now it is up to you to decide that am i complaining or am i looking for answers. If the boss says we are challenging for trophy this season, not answering all these questions ofcourse makes me a little bit nervous.
29/12/2009, 21:05Only stupedt fans will do that.
I’m big fan of Arsenal, and I would never give up on my team. Always have the believe in Arsene.
True, we’re still winnig nothing, but sure it will come sooner or later.
30/12/2009, 06:37I agree with BD Condell. RVP’s loss has been a major dent in the armor of Arsenal’s arsenal and AW needs a target man – in my opinion – which I assume he shares – only if he gets the man at the “right cost”.
As far as the main article is concerned, I think you need to let fans express their views, just as a basic right to freedom of expression. But yes, there are very few things in the article which I don’t agree with.
30/12/2009, 07:44Hi to everyone who read this article,and i certinely agree with that,just remember that everone cant win the number one spot,cause if that is to happen who would get relegated,just hope for the best for the team,i think that the manager is doing fine with the team,a new stadium just built we slowly getting out of debth although all the teams are in debth also,but i think that we are doing great or even better than the rest.so i just hope that the fans are looking at that also,and we are doing better than most of them,always in the top four.
30/12/2009, 17:52Brilliant article, spot on!
31/12/2009, 15:31I’m a big fan of the Gunners,And i will never give up on ma team i Alwayz have faith&belive in Arsene.Now time has come for us to stnd up&cheer for our team to their EPL trophy this season belive me. It’s now or Never.ARSENALI YEEE,ARSENALI YAAA.Wish u a Happy New Year 2 al Arsenal Fans.
01/01/2010, 08:58I’ve been a Gooner since c.1958(I think the first matched I watched at Highbury was against Newcastle when George Eastham played for them!) so have seen a few more downs and ups than most.
I think I’ve matured enough to take the good with the bad so am fairly sanguine if we don’t win a pot in any given year.
Living in France(and not far from Barcelona) probably gives me a better perspective not least to totally ignore media debates from the plethora of “experts” we get on the box and in the papers.
Most are not worth a light and just go withe flow(gnerally Liverpool and Utd bias).
You should see some of the local French and Spanish papers especially if Barca lose (although that has not happened much of late)
I think the writer means well in his support for the reds but generalising that the fans are immature is probably going too far.
We all want our team to win. It’s how we react when they don’t that is important. I love the Gooners but don’t live my life through them.
Having said all that I’m quietly confident, even with all these injuries, this mob will do the bizz for us this season so be patient.
From deepest Northern Catalunya.
p.s.Just be thankly you were not watching in the fifties. The current crop, when on blob, play the most sublime football I’ve see from any team anywhere so they must be doing something right
05/01/2010, 11:36Does anyone else think its a co-incidence how “the author” has supported Arsenal since their first back to back Premier League and FA Cup double?
10/01/2010, 00:14Its quite shocking also that someone who is obviously such an enthusiastic writer would not know how to spell “LINEKER” who commonly played for his teams biggest rivals.
May I suggest Google as a wonderful tool you can look at, from your armchair, at half time during Arsenals next match!