Guest Post by @GBVishJourno
Have you sat down to watch the Africa Cup of Nations this year? No, not just sit in front of a computer and spool through YouTube clips but actually turn on the television and watch ninety minutes of African football.
Well I have, but you don’t need to watch the tournament to know that Gervinho has scored two magnificent goals for Cote d’Ivoire in the Group Stages: one a late winner to seal three points in his side’s opener against Togo, the other a lovely give-and-go between himself and Lacina Traore to open the scoring against Tunisia.
Both goals were expertly taken, beautifully crafted and probably the most important goals of the two games the Ivorians have so far played at the time of writing. A late, late winner always bursts the bubble of pressure that encapsulates players and an opening goal gives a team both comfort on and off the ball.
But why has he scored such magnificent goals for his national team? Wearing an orange shirt is no indication to that. Representing your country does not guarantee you a better performance. It is because the fans are behind him. The nation as a whole wants him to play and therefore support him unconditionally.
But what about those at Arsenal? Can we honestly say we are always one hundred percent behind Gervais Yao Kouassi when he is in the scarlet and white of the Gunners? No. We can’t.
Or at least some of us can’t.
But it is not just Gervinho but a raft of other players who have been booed by some of the most fickle fans in the world of football – in my opinion – if not the most fickle. I can understand if a player doesn’t give it his all in a game and then receives stick for it, such as Andrei Arshavin failing to track back for the Gunners.
I happened to witness one such incident at the City of Manchester Stadium (it was still called that back then) when we spanked Roberto Mancini’s men 3-0. Dedryck Boyata had been sent off inside five minutes and Nasri, Song and Bendtner scored our goals.
Lukas Fabianski was in goal and I was in the first row behind the goalmouth. Throughout the game, the away fans continued to cheer him on. In front of me was not Lukas ‘Flappyhandski’, but an international goalkeeper who pulled off world-class saves time and time again.
My point is, certain sections of fans need to get behind players when they fail to deliver. They don’t just need our roaring adulation and rapturous applause when they are banging in the goals week in week out or effortlessly breaking up play at the other end of the pitch.
They need our support and our backing even more when they fail to deliver. When they are unable to find the back of the net or hold our rearguard successfully.
Unfortunately, the human mind tends to focus more on the negative than the positive side of things. Over time, this can take its toll on even the most resilient of individuals.
Marouane Chamakh was being praised to high heaven when he was leading the line for Arsenal, scoring at will and assisting freely. Much was made about how he offered us a Plan B and was an absolute steal since he had joined us for free. His name echoed throughout the Emirates when he scored those ten goals in the first half of 2010.
But less than six months later, the same group of fans called him horrible! How conveniently they forgot that he had barely played in those six months (or in the next season either). Suddenly, the striker who had earned us a Champions League place and a berth in the Carling Cup final was being derided.
Awful, they called the Moroccan. He was dead-wood, a useless player who didn’t deserve to pull on the Arsenal shirt. How many times had he played since the return of Robin van Persie? He’s scored four goals in that time, a decent return given the rarity of his appearances.
And what of little Andrei, who owned Anfield with those four goals and orchestrated some of the most crucial strikes for Arsenal Football Club. What about the equaliser against Everton, the opener against Aston Villa, the winner against Liverpool on his return to Anfield. The assists he so unselfishly contributed time and time again. He was lazy, they said. He refused to track back, they said.
He was played out of position, they never said. He was no longer the fulcrum of a team, they never said. The meerkat was ageing, they never said. He offered to play alone up front when no one else was available, they never said.
Arshavin dragged us to the Champions League places during the 2008-09 season, after we had lost Alexander Hleb, Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva the previous season. Tomas Rosicky had been on the sidelines for more than a year then.
Sebastien Squillaci has also been barracked in the past. Answer me this, if you will. How many of the mistakes he actually made were actually his fault? Was the one against West Bromwich Albion where Manuel Almunia came galumphing forward his fault? Was the header which he directed away from his goal which unfortunately fell to Steven Sidwell his fault?
Yes, he did get sent off against Huddersfield Town and put through his own net at Wigan, but that can happen to any defender. He might not have adapted to the best of his ability to the premiership and reproduced the displays in La Liga and Ligue 1 that put him on our radar in the first place, but does that warrant the jeers and abuse?
And why, for the love of God why, was Aaron Ramsey booed? Are you actually booing the player who returned to the Arsenal fold after suffering a double leg break? In that case, why not boo Eduardo as well? Are you booing a player who lost his life-long mentor? Who was stripped of his nation’s captaincy? Who was played out of position at Arsenal? Who was within an inch of joining Manchester United after his parents had gone to Old Trafford first, only to find out that Sir Alex had gone on holiday?
Arsene left him and his parents flight tickets to Switzerland to meet him at the Emirates, and a deal was thrashed out over dinner that night.
Or are you booing Ramsey because he’s actually trying his damndest unlike Eduardo who sadly was left psychologically scarred by that incident at St. Andrews? In that case, you do not deserve to support Arsenal.
And that brings me to Arsene Wenger. He’s tried his best to manage the club with what resources he has, which are limited because of the move to the Emirates. Yet he has managed to deliver us Champions League football season after season after season. We accuse him of not buying, but has he not bought when was absolutely necessary? Has he not stuck with the club despite knowing the constraints moving to the Emirates would bring?
Then why is he barracked so much?
It’s easy to say ‘we want our Arsenal back’. It’s even easier to forget that it is Arsene who has built today’s Arsenal.
As Bill Shankly said,
“If you can’t support us when we lose or draw, don’t support us when we win.”
It is the players who convert draws and losses to wins. Remember that they are also human. They also need to feel reassured, loved and happy.
So get behind them so that they can make us feel the same way.
Positively Arsenal 
Ivory Coast out 😦
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A little harsh on the Spuds there Evil. At least they have one quality player while Stoke have none. *chuckles*
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Did anybody watch d match btw ivory Coast vs Nigeria?
That is wat supporting ur team against all odds can do.
LESSON: get behind the team you claim to support or get the fuck off!!
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Does no one have an answer for me about timings of substitutions?
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I have to confess Lorde I was not watching the Ivory Coast match – I only turned over to see the ruck at the end – I hear Gerv is gutted
No matter son – come back to Colney and we will give you the means of retribution
Sunlun you are next
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George, no one can be so sure abt the timing of the substitutions. We can all just speculate.
My guess is that Arsene feels that is when his players energy will be more effective against a tiring opposition. But I think there are some matches in which the substitution could have come earlier but what do I know?!
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I want to see Gervinho bouncing about like tigger like he was in the opening games of the season – not weighed down with the world on his shoulders – you are quality mate – relax
Like the Positively Arsenal badge – clever buggers on here
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Yes Gervinho was devastated and he wept after the final whistle.
The Nigeria fans @ the stadium were awesome despite the fact that they know that beating CIV was an uphill task. They were vocal all through and contributed their bit to pushing the lads to the finish line.
How I wish the Arsenal supporters will do more than that and help the confidence level of the red and white armies on the pitch every time.
I still hope to be in the UK before the end of the year to watch the Arsenal.
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Great new badge Els, nice one!
Might see if I can get some metal ones made up …
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What a great post. Well done. I especially like your faultless reasoning on the ramsey booing. It’s a disgrace but you nailed it really well.
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Loving the badge els,great work! – watched the extended highlights earlier,amazing what you miss at the game, Andrew’s right,Nacho didn’t put a foot wrong but the thing I picked up on was Diabys performance, bloody brilliant he was,just needs a run of luck and games now- good times!
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Great work Els.
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The way Daiby plucked a chipped ball out of the air ,when he made a run into the box ,was a thing of beauty
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Agree George. Talking of things of beauty Giroud did one of those karate chop stop spinny pass over the head of the defender things again can’t remember who got on the end of it but it was amazing. Been watching a few games on Arsenal Player and he really is a talent.
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I agree steww, I remember being well impressed with some of his little lay offs and delicate touches yesterday. Even when he gets his head to a goal kick he seems to be able to lay it off to a team mate 9 times out of 10. I really can’t see how some are still blind to his quality. It has been evident from day one and as he settles, it is becoming more and more noticeable.
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He was fantastic George,strange thing is I had to watch it back to see just how good he was, I will say (and I said it before the game as well) I’d start Ramsey before Arteta at the moment, I think there’s a fag paper in it but Rambos first thought is go forward, but then we never looked like conceding yesterday with Mikel, but then Stoke offensively were bobbins, I’ve made my mind up, Ramsey it is!
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Hey yeah the badge is up. Great. Happy to contribute. Thanks chaps.
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On recent form I agree mel .but over the piece is hard to leave Mikel out.
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Did anyone else Email Arsenal.com asking for more Adrian Clarke on the match day shows?
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Does anyone know how we can get featured on “News Now” and such like sites?
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Don’t want to be negative, certainly not here of all places. However Nacho had a moment late on where he dwelled on the ball and got disposesed. I took a positive from it. He lost the ball being calm not the usual mashup of botched clearances and miss kicks. All in all after watching the game twice today I would say that Gibbs has a seriously difficult job to get into the team.
Nacho seems to be the Lee Dixon of left backs. I think he’ll be 100% competent and just do a job without anyone realising. I bet theres a few wingers not wanting to play against him. Also something I always think of, Theo will be playing against this fella a lot in training and that can only be a good thing.
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Pass and Steww, Giroud has that nifty dink in his Arsenal of passing techniques too. Last couple of games he’s chipped a few balls over for runners getting into the box. One of which led to Pods supplying for Cazorlas excellant goal against Wham.
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I’ll email tomorrow, Adrian’s a breath of fresh air on there. Well done to you & Adi by the way,only a week old and this blogs already the dogs wotsits.
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On Diaby I agree with many others, he is seriously good.
Not much more to add to what has been said or written on Nacho. He’s been playing games and been playing well (Malaga topped their CL group), it was exciting to see how a player with one training session (?) with his new team would get on. Haven’t looked at the stats but it’s hard to tell if Stoke targeted the LB, they had so few attacks. So, tougher tests to come, but I also agree with those who see improvements in this team.
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Arsenal fans have different reasons for following this team, amongst other teams, some of them “reserving” their vocal or sustained support for team and players in return for, and to be expressed after, a period of good results. In the meantime, such fans reserve their “right” to sharply criticise or generally wallow in the misery of it all, as they see 7-8 “trophyless seasons” and “many backward steps”, typically pitched of late around “selling our best players”. The worst of this trend, generally of “fan entitlement”, extends to humiliating and rebuking our own current and past players in various ways, including publicly stating how “crap” they are or were.
The sentiments expressed, whether politely using erudite words like “realism” (and typically justified with “Are we now not allowed, as fans, to even criticise?”) or with insults hurled at players and manager are part of the same trend, no matter how often and inventively the polite group tries to distant itself from the anti-support, and no matter how often they begin with “I have always supported Wenger and still do, but ….”
I see it differently, and hence I am very excited by this blogsite. I detest two terms above all, “AKB” and “project youth”. There is no such thing as either, both are meaningless terms of petty abuse. All the former means is that Wenger is a good manager with an outstanding record, and the latter means a tangible strategy to propel and incorporate the inclusion of excellent younger players into team style and tactics, as an advantage to the club. Personally, I have no problem with a critical stance around tactics, players, combinations and all the interesting factors around dissecting perfomances and results. After all, the manager is frequently the most critical of all, and he says it bluntly and sharply. What I object to is losing sight of “identity” by assuming Arsenal is like any other club, or could be, or should be.
Yes, I know there was a pre-Wenger history, and a long-term identity, I was there too at least from the 70/71 double onwards. In my opinion, the best of that identity has been retained in this era; the worst of it has been quietly discarded, and Arsenal has distanced itself from much of the mainstream rump of English football.
If one loses sight of the pioneering spirit of Arsenal in this era, the innovation, it is easy to get confused about everything else, its players, decisions and style. So for me, “identity” (the essential charactestics) is a bigger accomplishment than any trophy, and even than the stadium (although that is tangibly part of the identity).
What if Wenger had never come? Hard to say where Arsenal would be now. But what if Wenger had gone to, realistically, Liverpool for example, or even Tottenham, or Newcastle. Our history, so to speak in its core direction and vision, not detail, might then be their history. Statements like (Invincibles) “Arguably the greatest team ever to grace English football”, or “17 consecutive years in CL” or “On its day, we all know Arsenal is unplayable”. I cannot conceive of the word “Wengerball”, as an identity, or the statement, expressed recently (reference some patches in one or two matches, by a pundit) “Arsenal is back!” (and we know with precision what such a statement means) being attributed to another team!
I cannot predict the future, but I know with certainty that these statements belong at Arsenal, and will continue to do so in this era; and more, that Wenger has his sights on ambitions that would scare the living daylights out of the most vinegary of his detractors. He is building a team to eclipse the Invincibles. The second vintage post-Invincibles failed to win trophies; the reasons are many and quite complex. We are seeing the third vintage take shape, in the reality of a team in massive player transition now with extraordinary speed and decisiveness (witness the speed of Nacho’s arrrival). I know there are inconcistencies, vexations, lapses. I am saying, look at the consistencies to see what I mean. What a privilege!
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