114 Comments

Could I Stop Supporting Arsenal; Have YOU Stopped Already?

 “No one is bigger than the club.” 

I was asked a simple and fair question on twitter some time ago by Andy Wood@yorkshiregunner .

Tell me George, will you still support Arsenal when Arsene leaves?”

(As people continue to misquote my reply here again  is the blog I wrote about it)

Now I understand that it was a snide question, a loaded question, designed to suggest that Arsene was more important to me than the club. I knew that before I answered with this:

 Not for 100% sure.  It would be hard to think I won’t.  But I could stop. It’s like a marriage for me, not a family. If you follow?”

This of course was immediately interpreted to mean: “I will stop supporting if Arsene leaves.”  Just as I had anticipated!

People then started screaming that one’s support for the club should be unconditional.  “ARSENAL TILL I DIE!!”

And all the other soundbites people use.

Then they saw fit to state the obvious with gems like:

 

No shit Sherlock, I had missed that.

As the Twitter exchange continued, I tried to explain that I could not guarantee always supporting the club, because if it changed into something different to that I was in love with, it would no longer be my club.

This concept seemed beyond the comprehension of a few, and some claimed that NOTHING could make them withdraw their support.  Ever.

There’s an irony here, in case you hadn’t already spotted it …

So I came up with the most outrageous scenario I could think of, just to test their ‘position’ and asked if they would still support the club if the following occurred:

 

The club is bought by the English Defence League and all our players are sold, only white heterosexuals are allowed to play for the club. Do you still support?

Almost every right thinking person would say:

No, it’s a stupid scenario, but no.

My point being that ALL support is conditional. It’s just the conditions that are required to be met are different, and they vary from person to person.

What some people fail to understand is that “the club” means different things to different people.

My definition of “the club” includes the playing style, its class, history and integrity.  The manager, board and players are a large part of that. The whole ethos of the club is what I regard “the club” to be.

Someone told me that “the club” to him was the badge, and that is what he supported. He didn’t mention whether the badge in question was cotton or man-made, so I reserved my judgement on him.

But, nonetheless, for him, the definition of the club was different.

My main point in all of this is that regardless of your personal definition of what the club – or anything you have fallen in love with – is, if that thing you fell in love with, changes to the degree where they or it becomes something or someone you would never have originally fallen for, then it is ENTIRELY possible to fall back out of love.

And this patently includes, even, one’s own chosen football club.

Now, if you are happy to support a club, fuelled by petro-dollars, managed by a hoof-ball specialist or filled with players like Barton, Suarez, Terry, Savage, Cole and Rooney – then great. But I would find it hard to continue that support, ultimately, even if that club was my beloved Arsenal.

It would be a gradual deterioration of the relationship between me and the club, but given the perfect (and frankly unlikely) storm, I COULD stop supporting.

There has been a lot of  “I want my Arsenal back” going around in recent times.

Well, I personally want to keep THIS one.

These people that claim to ‘want their Arsenal back’ are effectively saying this current Arsenal is not “their” club.

Effectively, they’ve withdrawn their support already.

This is evidenced by their relentless attacks on the club and it’s staff – on Twitter, in blogs, on radio phone-ins etc.  Those individuals who have given up their season ticket have clearly withdrawn their support.  They are, as a result, no longer proper pucka Gooners are they?

The anger evident in their remarks is quite possibly driven by the pain they are feeling from losing their love for the club.

Well, maybe they ARE still Gooners.But they have simply come to a point where their support has been withdrawn. Do they watch on TV instead? Or has that been given up too?  Have they stopped reading the papers? Do they no longer talk about Arsenal?

If they are still Gooners, it’s clear that bit-by-bit they are losing – or have lost – their love for the club as the conditions that led them to support in the first place are no longer seemingly evident.

For THEM, at least.

Now people can say that they are better fans than me because they have supported longer, spent more money, attended more games, live in the area of the ground or because nothing could stop them supporting.  I won’t argue.

I certainly won’t care what they think either.Because they can claim all day long that they are the ‘real’ supporters of the club. But the reality, actually, is that they are drifting away from the club with every attack they launch.

***

Finally someone said:

Morals in football are bollocks.

To which I replied:

Morals are only ever bollocks to those without them.

I however ,am the last person to judge people on their morals.That does not mean they are any less important.

114 comments on “Could I Stop Supporting Arsenal; Have YOU Stopped Already?

  1. Gadzooks.

    Delighted with the result – pretty down with the performance. Odd mixture of feelings.

    Positive with the results – very difficult to be positive with the overall game – and yet i am chuffed with a fantastic turn around.

    Football chews your emotions up and spits them out.

    Like

  2. What I rate about Sanchez and would give him a rosette tonight was his constant involvement

    Without the ball in the final third he always the player most open to take a pass, in space, trying to make an extra few inches to open a chance

    With the ball he runs fast, direct and with is a thorn for 90 minutes – he never slacks or hides, he leads the line

    He is the best player we have now IMO

    Liked by 3 people

  3. I might have mentioned once or twice that I’m a big fan of Sanchez, always have been. Loving the fact he is an Arsenal player. He’s going to be even better then he is at the moment.

    This is just the beginning. The others will improve with him.

    Like

  4. If i was playing CM manager with this squad I would pick Bellerin over Chambers at RB, but having two 19year olds in defence is a bit of an ask, so maybe not. Best avoided if possible I guess. I don’t know!

    I prefer Chambers at CB obviously, based upon the games that we have seen. Bellerin unlucky to not start in his first victory tonight? But, yeah, he was probably in there to even up the height ratio if nothing else. It’s all good.

    Where’s the plan, eh? Heh.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Terrific result. Never in doubt and some imaginative and tactically astute substitutions saw us home. Well played the young keeper who made a couple of crucial saves to keep us in it. Seasons have turned on less and although she left it late, Lady Luck finally shone on us.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Thought that Campbell looked lively again, and although the hard work had been done by others he certainly added a sense of pace and urgency.

    Like

  7. Have to shed a tear of sympathy for the commentators.

    They had prepared the ground well with a spiel which roughly ran “Arsenal have been dreadful all season. But their opponents haven’t won in Europe since the Battle of Waterloo. So anything less than an 18-0 win will be a bitter disappointment
    for Arsenal.”

    They could hardly believe their luck when Anderlecht scored and they had free rein to trash everything Arsenal had done throughout the match.

    When Arsenal scored there was a silence of blank incomprehension. And when the second went in, it felt as though there had been a bereavement in the commentary box.

    They must know that a large number of Arsenal fans are watching. So they must believe that this is the sort of commentary which will keep them happy.

    Liked by 4 people

  8. Can’t sleep. Not because of the performance. Just one of those nights. I stupidly went over to the other place and felt like taking my life. They are so negative it’s terrible.

    Like

  9. I watched sections of the game and am genuinely lost as to the depth of wailing over the performance… yeah they scored first, but are games really determined by who scored first? we were the attacking team they were counter attacking… was it so strange they scored? we had up to 60% possession at a stage!

    Liked by 3 people

  10. Wow. I’ve only read the comments from after 10 pm.

    Hurrah, some sanity. Should’ve come here first.

    Well done Arsenal. Well done PA.

    Like

  11. Arsenal bench following winning goal:

    Liked by 3 people

  12. Ha, Ha, Ha. At long last a result to make us chuckle. The journos had to rip up their script, still intact at 1-1, as they prepared their epitaph for Arsene Wenger. Not to mention the Arsenal 5th column, on Twitter and blogs, who must have choked on their own bile having to grin through gritted teeth to pretend some pleasure at our victory. It is true that we are not at our fluent best but there are clear signs that we are a quality team that has room to be at least 10-15% better. In a game of fine margins this is a hell of a difference. Stand firm PA, Wenger will make us better.

    Liked by 2 people

  13. Hear Hear Shotta

    You’re truly eloquent.

    One could sense the desperation of the plundits to witness an humiliating thrashing, thereby re-birthing the “he’s 65 and should retire and Happy Birthday” schtik – and The Arsenal went and spoiled their party.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Labo_Goon – can you tell me what browser you are using (eg Firefox, Internet Explorer) and what device you are reading PA on (phone, pc etc); what you are experiencing isn’t typical for any of our readers, to my knowledge.

    ***

    Well my tuppence worth on George’s article is that whilst I might temporarily suspend my support, it would never cease if cessation be defined as replacement of AFC by N. E. Other Club FC. That said, my support for The Arsenal doesn’t preclude me from admiring other clubs (my hat is presently off for Southampton), liking some (Keegan’s attacking Newcastle) and being amused by others (Spurs being long-term residents in this category but Liverpool definitely the New Gift That Keeps On Giving).

    Of course, the fans attached to the various clubs, including, in part at least, regrettably our own, is a whole other ball game. I’m moderately confident that many, if not most, have a ‘Goner’ element, a group who love – and appear to live – to groan. Eduardo, above, in a typical ‘nail & hammer’ moment rightly delineates between glory hunting elements within a support base and everybody else.

    In that sense, glory hunters aren’t supporting the club at all, merely the acquisition of trophies, bragging rights and the proxy social elevation all that brings to their otherwise impoverished Friday nights down the Dog & Duck.

    Everyone Else is simply along for the ride, through thick and thin, good times and bad.

    That Goners and Glory Hunters contrive to turn good times into bad ones is profoundly irritating but maybe we should stop being surprised by them and stop bothering to accomodate them.

    You are either with The Arsenal – or against.

    Of course, life couldn’t possibly be that simple, straightforward or black and white.

    Could it?

    Liked by 3 people

  15. You can stop supporting – and in certain cases one should – but you can’t change your allegiance. Have a friend who stopped supporting Chelski when the stolen money started pouring in. I really respect my friend for this.

    Liked by 2 people

  16. a great win last night and a good reward for the effort.
    we need to learn to be more accurate on front of goal and learn to take our chances as they come. if santi had been more accurate we wont be talking of last seconds redemption.

    alexis is no doubt our best player if we take individual performance alone. but as a team player, he still has a long way to go. in this squad he is a world class player and at barca, he is the second behind messi on individual brilliance. but in a club like ours and barca that like to plan and work out our goals, team work and giving the ball to the right player at the right time is more important. i trust arsene to help him to be better team player soon. and if he does, the arsenal will be better for it.

    gibbs was motm in my book. the way he took his goal is what i expect from our forward players. just hit the target! not just power but target.

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  17. One thing you don’t expect from Arsenal players is a lack of technical quality – the basic individual skills are normally firmly in place. But last night, and also against Hull, it was noticeable how many first touches were clumsy, how often passes lacked crispness and precision. We gave the appearance of labouring because of these small little errors, and because it often took a second or so to have the ball under control spaces closed down, which made us seem pedestrian and lacking penetrative ability. A side can normally accommodate one or two players having an off night, but when it is 6 or 7 it is hard to look anything but ordinary. What causes a player’s timing to be fractionally off can be down to many things, but I am beginning to wonder if it isn’t down to a change in training routine. Maybe the extra fitness (and for a moment let’s separate fitness, as in keep running fast forever, from fitness, as in not being injured) that has seen us score so many last gasp winners and equalisers recently has been achieved at the expense of the technical ball work that has perhaps characterised previous seasons.

    And so this club, that I am told is in crisis, now has a few days to regroup and consider its situation. What does the immediate future hold? An away trip to Sunderland on Saturday, a week free from midweek fixtures before the home match against Burnley and then the return fixture against Anderlecht before travelling down to Swansea. The players will have been revitalised by the epic comeback last night, for a win does wonders for the spirit, and they would have been down after so many things not quite going right for them thus far. I think it is reasonable to hope that things will start to gently fall back in place. They have a bit of time and space to sort things out now.

    We may be 11 points off the top of the league, but as we have proved over the last several weeks, even good sides can have periods of poor form, and I would be surprised if the gap doesn’t start to narrow at some stage fairly soon. We sit second in our Champions League group, with qualification for the Last 16 looking all but assured, and the chance of beating Dortmund and thus going through as group winners still alive. It is perhaps also worth remembering that we lined up last night short of at least five players who most would have as guaranteed starters should everyone be available. Injuries have not been kind to The Arsenal for a while now, but players are coming back and there will come a time when the manager can pick sides based solely on form and tactics. I am even told that some money is there should the right player become available in January. So from where I sit not all is doomsky and gloomsky: far from it in fact, and if the truth be told last night’s excitements have left me with a decided spring in my step.

    Now about those first touches….

    Liked by 1 person

  18. I had to laugh at the second goal with the Anderlecht player lying on the floor, waving his arms and shrieking at the referee that he had been fouled while we got on and stuck the winner in the roof of the net.

    Play to the whistle – even young children understand that

    I wonder what Untold will make of Senor Caballo?

    Like

  19. The oil in the engine was a little thin. Some squeaking. Ramsey having to shake off a little bit of rust after a lay off. Wilshere either carrying a little niggle from the weekend or playing without his head at times or maybe a bit of both? I have no idea myself.

    One obvious observation is that the Captain is still missing. The player who has been the heart of the team. The Leader, backed up by that other ‘panic buy’ the BFG.

    The Groaners and WOBs and I include those GP mentions above they are so far gone that they miss a World Cup winning player pick up a knock during a game so that they can knock the player afterwards, the club, and the manager. We can observe these people to be inhabiting an alternative reality to that on the the pitch. Which is why and how they denied that a smart staggered rebuild took place at the club, whilst players like Özil and Sanchez began to arrive. They also seem to completely dismiss what Arteta has done these past, well how long has it been, the last three years? Hard to miss? I can write that knowing full well that he’s not going to play every game at this stage, there will be also be injuries, but still.

    You can add strikers, ‘keepers, and more, but watching Southampton this season I think is good evidence if it were needed that CM is an important area, as far as I know they haven’t had many disruptions and injuries there? Wanyama, Davies and Schneidy are still in charge of the engine room down there I think? They looked settled when we saw them the other week. And Arsenal’s good form from last season was built on the Arteta-Ramsey foundation (plus Özil! And OG. And the rest!).

    Liked by 2 people

  20. ‘Coll
    Think it’s safe to say that Untold will say that they’ve seen worse the Caballo!

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  21. That First touch from Gibbo was not bad!
    There is more to come, I think.

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  22. Fins: That other place is so bitter this morning, it is frightening. How could Arsenal snatch a win? After all they have no spirit, no fight, no will to win. What happened to the sign of a good team is playing badly but still win? Well they will qualify and get kicked out in the round of 16. Small consolation but we all know Arsene is past it, the returning injured players won’t make a difference and performances will never improve.
    What a bitter negative existence for an Arsenal “fan”.

    Liked by 3 people

  23. Shotta, some of the people in our fan base are simply not “fit to wear the shirt”!
    I know that over the (last couple of) years there have been an exponential increase in the gulf between the positively inclined (supporters) and the negatively inclined (customers) fans. This has brought about the debate of who is the better fan………well, I think the better fan is the one who does the job (supporting the team) best, irrespective of geography, match attendance, or season ticket status! I don’t understand why fans who have failed in their job want to lecture Arsene and Ivan on how to do theirs.

    Liked by 5 people

  24. when we dominate a game and fail to win we are told that all that matters is the result, not possession, not amount of shots, not the number of corners, not the number of times we hit the woodwork, but when we play poorly and win like last night we are told the result only papers over the cracks, and that performance matters,

    We are also told by the same people that the players lack character and spirit, yet all season long they have been coming from behind in games, if any other team was doing this they would be examples of players with character and showing great spirit and fighting qualities. Its part of the narrative the moaners have been spouting for years, if AFC win its cos the opposition is poor, but if we lose it has nothing to do with the opposition’s quality, its cos AFC is useless.

    Liked by 3 people

  25. Shotta,
    We saw that these Groaners had “lost the plot” after the last 5pur2 game, the second one. I could stop there. But I’ll explain for those who weren’t there:

    After that game they were busy raining down “blows” upon those they refer to as AKBs in their desperate drive for “regime change”. Not surprisingly, they failed. Because most Arsenal fans were celebrating a victory in a game of football, whilst they hoped for the “end of an era”. Well, there was a change. Eventually. Not the change they were hoping for, the club could start to buy players like Özil, and Sanchez! I might have mentioned once or twice that Sanchezi was my dream signing of recent times. So they have to deny this change and the rebuild during this process happened. I wish that I was making up this weird tale. Reality can be stranger then fiction. Especially if you disappear up your own Arsenal. They passed beyond the point of return long ago I’m afraid, Reason was abandoned for bitterness and worse.

    Liked by 3 people

  26. They failed.

    And that is why they now try their best to celebrate a draw like it is a defeat. And all the rest.

    If someone hates their club that much then why don’t they have the footballs to go and set up an FC Arse? Would that not be the logical solution? If the boards policies which the manager follows offend you so much that you are compelled to lie about the manager and to abuse the manager (but not the board?) why would you carry on giving them your hard earned money?

    If you are an expert in finance, football and physiotherapy (sports), why would you not do it, go and set up your own team? Surely that would before fun? No? The Utd fans showed them how to do it, they put our black scarf babies in their place – those cheap yellow scarves off the back of lorry from China probably helped to contribute some Wonga towards the start up. Job done. Groaning over.

    The Groaning AAAA can’t even groan properly, can they?

    Liked by 1 person

  27. I met a personal friend of the Chief Groaner last night in t’pub.

    He described his friend as a professional troll. He doesn’t agree with anything he writes. This personal friend of the chief Groaner said this – “we do have some poor fans. Chelsea fans, Liverpool fans, Arsenal fans and Utd fans, in that order”. I was shocked to hear someone who knows the Groaner well place his friends support below the Utd Groaners, the type calling for Judas’ head this week, hehehe! He also said he just does it for the hits and clicks, but we already knew that. Tragically he is a man who aspires to be like Durham. It’s the parents I feel sorry for.

    Liked by 3 people

  28. The Groaners will continue to make things up, ignoring the football.
    We came here to chat footy!

    Layksite
    As our in house Joel Campbell cheerleader I have some questions or thoughts:
    We know he played primarly as a RM joining the attacks last season, did you see him play much? Did he exhibit such tackling consistently, or is that a technique he is showing more confidence in since the summer?

    I ask this because it is my suspicion that although he is a little older that his first few months at the club have been similar to Chamberlain’s – Deeeeefensive coaching and other stuff, conditioning, possibly an extended rest after the WC too, for those reasons keeping him in reserve as with Rosicky who needs looking after these last few seasons for the second half of the campaign. I’d mention tactics too if I knew what they were. A fresh player to come in in case others are lost to injury *coughs*. So many reasons to consider why he’s been eased in, all of them logical and sensible.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Certainly LG is a den of negativity that seems to be a dumping ground for other psychological issues through the prism of AW hatred etc. Today one person wrote that they hope Arsenal get nothing at the end of the season just to get AW out. That really is an AAA! Thats isnt supporting AFC thats supporting other issues.I wonder how the players respond to that?
    To be honest I dont think anyone at UA or here puts AW before the club, I dont thats for sure.Outside of the UK the thought is “whats wrong with the English re Wenger?”. Except in Köln where Poldi is the Prinz and AW doesn’t understand how to play him, and nobody but the Kölle know how to play him anyway!.But thats all.He is really well respected.
    And today as always UA got a stuffing(by LG) being called a religious cult etc. Well if they are (although they aren’t at all), then WTF is LG? Righteous and full of love and light?My ass.
    I think to LGers AW is no longer an actual person but a persona, a mythical position,not even human and it seems that they themselves are the unwitting (duh) victims of the cult(ironically) of ultra competitive ultra critical society, where one can be left feeling empty and then project all their frustrations onto a game that’s based on anything but probability (duh) and therefore believe AW is the root of all their problems and the clubs.If only football were so simple.If only life were so simple.
    Its a psychologists field day.
    Recently I read that even the great beast of LG “Gammon Egg” or whatever hes called didnt even know when the team were playing or the recent scores.Proving he wants more for the club than AW etc or the “losers” at UA or PA come to that. Its all there to read.
    Whoever comes in next after AW will also be “this” or “that” and the problem,LG is a black hole of endless blame and hindsight mixed with expletives and hollow youthful threat.Any basic psychologist will tell you that they are full of fear.It difficult to operate under fear.
    And re their jealousy of Chelsea they should know this of that team: “the cat shall mew and the dog shall have its day”.
    Jacks the latest scapegoat(theres always somebody at arsenal isnt there?) at LG having been hailed a hero a few weeks ago. So I leave you with a single thought about LG :what kind of minds collect there? And if UA (and we can count PA too) is full of paranoid losers what is LG full of ?…Im not actually joking, its a serious question.
    Long live PA.

    Liked by 2 people

  30. Anicoll: “I wonder what Untold will make of Senor Caballo?”

    I think he was absolute shit. One of the worst refs we’ve had all season. He let their midfielders exercise their rotational fouling without as much as a warning.

    Like

  31. Fin: “I met a personal friend of the Chief Groaner last night in t’pub.

    He described his friend as a professional troll. He doesn’t agree with anything he writes.”

    I always suspected this. If he was a positive person he wouldn’t get as many views as he does by being negative. It has been my experience that people who comment on the internet are more likely to be motivated by negativity than anything else.

    Liked by 4 people

  32. Fin, Campbell is probably being held back due to the physicality of the league. He has played in leagues that are a lot more technical than physical and Arsene is making sure that he can handle the contact.

    Liked by 4 people

  33. I wonder if I am alone in feeling out of step with the footie world around me, or are there others out there who are equally bewildered by all the rage, vituperation and bile which is vomited at the club, the players and the manager – and dare I say it, at other fans too?

    I am just a fan. Specifically an Arsenal fan – I have known no other footballing state of being, and I will always be an Arsenal fan. Always.

    Am I an expert in running a football club? No. An expert in selecting the best players? No!
    Am I an accomplished, experienced manager who can easily tell why, when and how Mr Wenger makes mistakes in team selection, tactics, or man-management? No!

    Then what the hell am I?

    Well, I am just a fan. Not a good fan, or a bad fan, or somehow a better supporter than anyone other fan.

    You might say I am a simple ‘binary’ fan, with only two states;
    [1] Is my state of exultation as Arsenal win.
    [0] Is my state of despair if Arsenal lose.

    That’s it – 0/1 — on/off. Everything else is pretty much irrelevant.

    I blog for the companionship and enjoyment of other Arsenal fans – to chat – to be amused – to brag about our wins – to commiserate about our losses – and look forward, with hope, to the next game.
    I do not want to moan, or ‘listen’ to other fans moaning, but, for reasons beyond my ken, many sites are full of people who seem to enjoy doing so – and in a free world who am I to argue with that?

    Liked by 6 people

  34. We need more footy chat and less about other blogs.
    And yes, the irony of me saying that is not lost on me.

    Liked by 5 people

  35. Sorry about that, all apologies.I felt it was relevant to the state of support re AFC and the article.

    Like

  36. Yes I didn’t mean you Mills, I mean us all, and not just today. To be clear, I don’t mind it one bit, its just we seem to have forgotten to chat about the footy.

    Liked by 1 person

  37. I thought Arsenal were lucky last night, and that’s a good thing.
    We’ve played better many times and been unlucky to lose, so complaining about a lucky win is silly.

    Liked by 2 people

  38. The tactical substitutions were exemplary by the Boss.

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Agree with pedantic george. I do sometimes find the moaning about other fans tedious here as well. It’s just that one is sometimes so flummoxed by the behavior of the negative fans. I’ve been playing around with the idea that the differences in how you act as a supporter must stem from different basic personality types. By moaning and complaining they somehow protect themselves against disappointment (an unavoidable part of being a fan). Or feed their sense of entitlement. Or maybe they perceive it as being tough and manly (as compensation for having really small dicks). Or something. Would be interesting to hear the opinion of someone who actually knows anything about psychology.

    Well, now I’ve managed to both agree with pedantic george and done what he asked us not to. Apologies.

    Liked by 2 people

  40. I believe there was a punch up in Brussels last night between the Outies and the Innies.
    Anyone know about this?

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  41. As FH noted above,
    That free week next week will do the team a power of good if they get a few extra days to iron out a few rusty old problems at Colney.
    Theo & Arteta, will be with the team.

    Liked by 1 person

  42. Mickey, a bloke called Kenneth Widmerpool went into the psychology of negative fans earlier this summer on UA.

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  43. I have watched Kieran Gibbs goal again and that is a very very good finish . I would really like to see more of the player going forward and picking up some more goals. The occasional goal from a full back was always on offer up til Ashley left but since then they have been few and far between. Silvinho Winterburn all chipped in and against massed defences you need something a little out of the ordinary.

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  44. A5, actually i agree alexis is our best player however he chose the wrong option so many times yesterday and against hull. I think he knows how important he is to the team especially with the players that are out and hes trying to hard. He doesnt need to beat a player every time he has the ball. I thought he epitimised the whole team and the way we have been playing well so nearly with something just missing. when the forward line and attacking midfielders get that pass or dribble right it will help with the way we have been conceeding as well as I believe alot of the goals have been down to impatience, creeping to far forward with to many players. As usual when we get it right we’ll be on fire and hopefully with a more consistent 11 that will help.

    Liked by 3 people

  45. a_or_b – I can’t agree with you more. If our attack was clicking, I would feel comfortable of overcoming the occasional major defensive blunder that happens in almost every game. But the integration of Alexis in our attack is a major challenge to Wenger. He is a quality player and a fighter but currently he can be wasteful with the ball and it seems to be a communicable disease among previously very sound tecnical player. It reminds me somewhat of Suarez’s first year at Liverpool. Let us hope he makes that same progression. We are potentially an awesome team.

    Liked by 2 people

  46. PG, how can we write about the footy, if thisteam is so dreadful?

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  47. “@Blackburngeorge 3h3 hours ago
    I notice a lack of movement from the team when Alexis has the ball , is that because they dont think he will release it or don’t know where?”
    Discuss

    Liked by 1 person

  48. I’ve felt all year that when Sanchez learns to play within the concept of the team and the team learn to play with Sanchez the goals will start flowing. He is soooooooo good but plays as if he’s the only man out there or has something to prove. You can see the frustration with him in some of his teammates faces recently but I have no doubt it will click.

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  49. Kenneth Widmerpool is if course a nom de plume, the name being a central character in Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time. Now many intelligent people are fools but the chances are that a familiarity with a set of novels like that does mean his views are probably quite well thought through.
    My instinct about Alexis is that he will lead to a very different Arsenal type of play and player.

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