A guest post from The Beck
Dear friends, strangers and haters.
For me, everything is about perspective, I judge people by it, I live by it and I let the perspective of others teach me as much as I can in life.
I’ve been using social media long enough and I have to be honest with you, I still don’t understand people’s logic when it comes to tweeting overly critical things about Arsenal, especially whilst watching them.
Some games…..we’ll barely reach the 30 minutes mark before some wise ass tells you how shit we’ve been and how *Giroud isn’t good enough for Arsenal* and then collectively begin talking about who we should buy in January, knowing exactly what price and what player, or at least pretending to.
The fucking disrespect these Twitter managers show to the players that are already here, playing for the shirt every week, especially when we’re top of the league.
Fans online find it hard to separate their instant emotion from the game, and the reactionary approach which fills them with the need to be a Twitter manager, an analyst, a fitness coach all in one, whilst the game is on.
It results in a lot of disrespectful tweets about the club, the manager and so on.
According to many Twitter managers, players can’t go off form, can’t get tired and cannot have bad patches without being directly replaced. And if a player isn’t replaced when a Twitter manager says so, then the manager has lost it, he’s playing a tired player and should be sacked or criticized endlessly for it, as he’s cost us 2 points here and there with his terrible substitutions.
But we’re top of the league….
(I can’t believe I’m even typing this)
But why is there a need to distribute criticism? why from us? what do we get out of it? I want you to think long and hard about that one. Why is there an interest in fans finding players or managers accountable and where does it lead?
Especially when we’ve done so well.
Why do we want to hold players accountable to their mistakes, and treat them like they don’t deserve to play for the shirt, especially at a time when they need us the most and will most likely play the next game? it seems to counter basic logic.
And why do I even care about the disrespect people show Arsenal players or managers, you can’t possibly love a club that much. The saddest thing is,
I do.
And I feel like many do too, much more than I can ever imagine.
Its not a contest about who loves what the most, its a dialogue in questioning why many approach criticism in this fashion.
I have no idea why I love Arsenal so much, why I’d sit and type up a blog on boxing day after a 3-1 win, about how it annoys me that many people pretend to know so much and in reality they have nothing to back it up.
Is it better if everyone on Twitter just agreed on the same reactionary senseless things and turned against the player’s or manager’s every move? If that is modern football in social media then I don’t think I want to be a part of it. People on Twitter make me feel dirty for being positive and backing the players when they are down, even though it feels like the right thing to do.
And regarding the transfer window, you wise guys, you have no idea who is going to be purchased or why, you have no idea who gets bought at what price, stop pretending. Just stop.
If a member of our squad makes a mistake, the manager will surely deal with him, if not him then the coaching staff. And they will probably do it when they can, or when they feel its best, not according to a Twitter Manager’s timeline.
You personally have no ability to change a thing, yet your Twitter manager tweet suggests otherwise.
Your tweet about when we need to sub a player, its interactive, but that’s all it is, you’re sitting there, telling a manager who is never going to listen to you, who is probably miles away, to sub a player he probably won’t, in the hope that you’ll get it right and say I told you so on Twitter.
Do people realize how absolutely pathetic that is? It’s so sad. (And I’ve read my own tweets, I know about sadness.)
It’s about the tone and its about the language you use.
I.E.
A – “x player needs to get off now, he looks tired”
B – “x player looks a bit tired, it’ll be interesting to see what subs we bring on”
(A), almost makes it sound like you’re in charge, and you’re incredibly demanding, I know you’re fucking not, but you certainly make it sound like you are.
(B) denotes that you’ve done well with your eyes and noticed a player is tired and you’re interested in seeing what will change.
There is a massive difference between them both, it tells people what kind of person you are. Or maybe it just tells me.
Fans need to get over themselves, including me.
If a player is still around, there is a reason for it, even if you might not agree with it, there is a reason for it. I could barely understand why people professed a genius ability to tell others which Arsenal player was poor in a game, when it was fairly obvious.
Twitter managers can’t understand why a sub isn’t made, they have an inability to see things from an actual manager’s point of view. If the manager fails to see it from their point of view, he is wrong, they are right.
It seems like we all want to be right, except it just doesn’t matter, none of our footballing opinions are that good, if they were, we’d be working in football. And I mean real football, not journalism.
Even when pointing out that a player is poor, its obvious when a player is poor or goes through a poor patch of jadedness, tiredness or lack of confidence.
But you’re a supporter, aren’t you?
Except it does appear that in 2013,
Supporter = Critic with a keyboard and nutella.
Opinions are lovely and all…. but….week by week I see thought by thought, passed off as magical management in hindsight, when I feel those type of people would barely last a week in a mental institute, let alone a management position.
Tweets in hindsight, being overly critical and saying x player should have finished this or x player should have done that, its based on expectation, its based on our understanding, which for me personally is so full of shit and overestimation of our own ability and understanding of the game.
And the saddest part about all of it, is that we’re top of the league, after many told me we wouldn’t be anywhere near in the summer, after everyone told me Arsene’s time was up and all of the players he bought were shit and nothing could change that, nothing, no matter how deluded I got.
And Theo and Podolski will be there to pick up for Giroud when he’s having a bad game or not playing, just like they did today (lets ignore the assist cause it fits the narrative).
We are top of the league without Giroud having these two outlets for most of the season so far. With him having to do tireless running on his own.
I try my best to judge them as a team, and even then I’m fairly sure my opinions are worthless.
*All we want is a competitive team*
Well you got it.
*All we want is a striker who scores*
Shut up.
Just let me, tell you to shut up.
Just let me enjoy this moment, as I imagine people reading, being told to shut up, by me.
Just shut up.
I said it before, the same people who were laughing at me for saying we could finish 1st in the summer, are now experts and expect us to score at every opportunity and if we don’t, we’re shit, or we’re lucky.
Even though we’ve had countless of decisions go against us, even though we’ve had a rough schedule and a tired squad, which has been taken away by badly timed illnesses and injuries.
We’re top of the league, it might not last, but where is the fucking credit.
Where is the credit for Arsene for taking us here compared to where we were this time last year? I don’t care that other teams have done worse this season, its their job to win the title, some of them have outspent us both in wages and net spend for over a decade and after 18 games we are ahead of them.
People are so quick to give fast criticism but so slow to praise when praise is due.
They would rather talk about his recent misses, than his overall game and how over a season he might be great for us, even if he doesn’t score, even if we get another player in January, even if we don’t and Podolski and Theo form an outstanding partnership with him.
P.S. I don’t believe Giroud can manage on his own, I would prefer him to rotate with another good striker, but this seems so obvious and it has been since the summer. I welcome any good signings for the good of Arsenal, but its an opinion, its not presented like a fact, like I work there, like I own the club and know all that goes on.
I won’t be that Twitter manager that constantly goes on about how we have to put £20m on this player and £35m on the other, no one is listening to you, you’re just demanding things on behalf of the club, on Twitter, mostly without any inside knowledge or idea about what the manager is thinking, its actually quite cute and special to be honest.
Vermaelen is another one, people are so on his back, waiting for every mistake he’ll make, won’t even give the guy a second to adjust.
Just shut up.
Pressure to succeed at Arsenal, is very high. I don’t think as a supporter you should not criticize, I think constructive criticism is very healthy, I just wish we’d aim it in the right place & ask where current criticism has taken us.
I just think there are far better things to criticize in life.
And I also think there are far better things in life to do, than to pretend to be an expert Twitter manager when your team is losing, and a happy glorified fan when you’re winning.
Have a word with yourself.
(I probably don’t mean anything I say and I’m really sorry)
but shut up.
P.S.
(I accept no personal responsibility for this blog).
Much love and happy new year,
Alexander
Positively Arsenal 
Great! I’m too late! SA and DC beat me to it! Anyways, I’m in agreement all round. Merry Christmas (happy-smiley-yellow face)
LikeLike
What a splendid blog site this is. I concur with everything said here. Except for one little thing. Don’t think Per was having a go at his team mates. He (and Verm) were yelling at the ref for allowing the blatant hands that created the west ham chance in the injury time.
Goonerkam, any Tarantino movie is good in my books, he was a fresh breath of air in Hollywood when he first arrived.
LikeLike
Read this post yesterday and was dying to comment on it but didn’t have the time. Apart from being the right post at the right time it absolutely hammered ( told you it was the right time 3-1 ) the nail square on the head.
All that’s happening in reality is the whingers are getting more and more practice at whinging on the many media outlets.
There are very few games you win in the first 45 minutes, if you did im sure the tv companies would have invented a shortened form like 20-20 cricket.
Just like the those who insist in leaving the half and the game early how many things do these keyboard junkies miss. If you stare at qwerty all through the game how are you going to realise just how good giroud was against west ham or which way a game tipping.
As been proved many times, the last eight seasons ( 9 if you include this one 10 if hate Arsene and are exaggerating trophyless seasons) we have been punching above our weight and realistically we should not win the league this but Arsene seems to always get that extra bit out of his sides and that’s what gives us a chance.
Crap and delusional fans are another part of the new modern, media driven, money orientated football and unfortunately are here to stay. It is something we have to put up with, most are told what to think in every aspect of their lives football, politics who to vote for in the jungle etc and that is small havens of common sense like this site are so vital to the sanity of those of us who use it ( enter many banned smiley faces )
LikeLike
Aob, isn’t it ironic that the only thing that might justify the fans unrealistic expectations is the very manager they want out.
LikeLike
Great posts folks!
Redshark and Santi claws comments especially good.
More please.
LikeLike
Many great new posters here, place is kicking.
LikeLike
To The Beck
Excellent, thanks.
LeoS
I’m having that (27, at 4:50 pm) – and will send it to all the ****s for their perusal (cos they’re rass clarts).
(That was a well thought out and classy response, don’t you think?)
LikeLike
Apropos .I pinched that comment for twitter(11.41)
LikeLike
Good heavens! What has happened to our old hunting ground? What a depressive, miserable place. Lost it I noticed. Reading both blog and comments, you would never believe that this club has racked up more points this year (79) than any other club in the PL. Arsene and AFC has pissed all over them. Remember this was the “end of an era” for a manager whose teams always had a bad autumn, couldn’t make big signings and was tactically inflexible.
Reading yesterday’s b.s. what is apparent to me is they are still fighting the war of autumn 2o12, which they thought they won when the positivas were either binned or voluntarily quit the blog. The Beck’s piece is a timely reminder that having a platform to spout an opinion is no substitute for subordinating your emotions and ego to supporting the greatest manager currently in football and giving him the time, space and support to rebuild a football club weakened for years by the need to finance a new stadium and the unequal competition from oil-financed clubs as well indisputable advantages of the biggest club in England which is Manchester United.
Can’t say they were never warned that they would end up on the wrong side of history. A few of us who hung around before George and others were able to set-up PA practically begged for a return to the old blog of rock-hard support, to forego the anti-Wenger manifesto, to support the rebuild as this was the team in transition. Like Levy and Tottenham at the beginning of this season they were caught up in hubris. Won the initial battle, but lost the war. Big time.
If anything this to me is my biggest football lesson of 2013.
LikeLike
Privilege is mine PG, hope you won’t have to take too much flak for it. But if you look at where we are in the table, the only plausible explanation to it, for me at least, is one Arsene Wenger. But anyway, here’s another irony for you, do you think they realize the more they talk down our players, the better the job it must mean the manager is doing?
LikeLike
I mean we have a tactically clueless manager who buys shitty players for no money, yet somehow we are top of the table. For those who doesn’t believe in the manager, they must believe in something far greater than him, because it must be a fucking miracle.
LikeLike
And apparently moaning helps.
LikeLike
gains
That’s drifted now to 4:1 against the bar codes. Arsenal are 21:20 on to win, but the Geordies are 4:1 for a home win. It seems the bookies reckon Arsenal will win quite comfortable, as does our own Pendantic George.
There is no higher authority on the matter, he even tells Mr. Wenger what to do.
4:1 for Theo to score and Arsenal to win – I think I’ll have a slice of that pie.
LikeLike
I’ve already picked the team for him.And its well know that anyone with more than 500 twitter followers is an expert.
LikeLike
PG
Take him down to saville row and introduce him to your tailor, a decent coat is a must.
He eschewed Anicoll’s advice to pick up a decent Italian off the peg number in Naples.
LikeLike
Apparently there is a parody twitter account of l’grove.
But I can’t tell which one it is.
LikeLike
@lolgrove, its funny as.
LikeLike
I for one, speaking on behalf of all Gooners, would like to take this opportunity to encourage any rumours of Mario Ballotelli’s moving from Milan to North London.
And can I say a big Ciao and benvenuto to him and his lovely lady friend.
She does know he’s nuts, right?
LikeLike
Talking about Twitter managers, do you recall when a significant section of our support bitched at Wenger for not buying Ashley Young? If it was up to them our bench would consist of Samba, Young, Darren Bent and a whole host of journey men, which is a kind alternative to calling them shit.
LikeLike
Morning/afternoon all!
LikeLike
Gains I remember that melt Jabba insisting he was better than Theo and was a gooner.(Young)
LikeLike
Very good post Le Beck and many first class comments, especially from Leo.
It’s worth making the point that whilst twitter seems to have more than its fair share of numbskulls, there are plenty of decent people and fans on there too.
I was unable to watch the West Ham v AFC game live on tv and could only sneak a glance at proceedings during play via twitter updates. Despite having a fairly carefully maintained ‘timeline’, what I read about Arsenal’s performance during those 90 minutes bore little resemblance to the reality – something latere confirmed on MOTD’s abbreviated highlights. And I know I wasn’t the only one given a version of events so distinct from what actually happened, courtesy of twitter.
I’ve long been of the view that there are a good number of twitter accounts acting as agent provocateurs, which attract a following comprising the easily led who themselves take their starting point from that day’s newspaper headlines. It’s not the comments of those who are mildly critical that bother me so much as those who ONLY make negative comments, these individuals that disappear for lengthy periods during the good spells and suddenly reappear, as night follows day, following a draw or defeat.
I just do not recognise any ‘Arsenal’ in these accounts and can only conclude they are mischief-makers.
It’s the ones who claim to have supported the club for 40+ years that make me most suspicious. I too have supported the club for many decades but have never sought to reinforce a point made by reference to this time-frame (apart from now). Similarly so with those making reference to their ownership of a season ticket or a share certificate in the club.
These just seem to me to be faux remarks intended to artificially lend credence or credibility to comments, statements or claims that are otherwise wholly at odds with those intending to support the club. I find it hard to conceive of a genuine ST holder using the fact as a way of attempting to patronise, belittle or generally insult, say, an overseas supporter.
In my eyes at least, such individuals have zero credibility or standing as a supporter and for the most part I simply disregard them.
LikeLike
Quite disappointed at the abuse the OG is getting. I think he has been our most important player. He does the dirty work (holding up the ball and all that) and frees up our creative players to do their thing. He is exceptional in this role. I think the goal lack is down to him being tired. I believe he will be fine with a decent rest.
With the return of Walcott and Podolski do we really need another striker? I don’t think so.
LikeLike
Oh Jabba………and Sugar3! I wonder where such folks are at this time!
LikeLike
Come on Chamakh!
LikeLike
Who is Santi Claws?
LikeLike
Silva gets injured and City are in trouble.
Norwich left Manure off the hook. What a disappointing result for them when they dominated the first half.
LikeLike
Yeh Gains, United we’re quite fortunate.
Surprisingly, Pulis has Palace playing some good ball.
LikeLike
M.City gave palace enough scoring chances to get a draw, m.city were very wasteful when in attack themselves.
As for the red scum – all I can say is a dozen other teams in the league would have beaten yawnited today. The canaries gifted them the goal with a dumb ass defensive mistake. They are only up to 6th because tiny totts and Newcastle aren’t genuine top 4 challengers.
LikeLike
Formerly known as Emmanuel, George! Am I in trouble?
LikeLike
No,I just wondered.
LikeLike
Who wants to write tomorrows preview(don’t all shout at once)
LikeLike
Cowards.
LikeLike
Fuck it,I will do it myself then.
LikeLike
….tumbleweed….
LikeLike