England were supporting the Italians in the hope they could achieve qualification in their third game. Sturridge was sending messages of support to Pirlo and the rest via twitter…while the Daily Mail issued an article before the game between Italyand Costa Rica about how to behave when supporting Italy in World Cups, underlining the importance of pizza, watching lots of R.Baggio clips on Youtube and to abuse the ref as much as possible. Gary Lineker was also wearing an Italy polo shirt in the studio apparently…. bless him.

After the Italians defeat by Costa Rica (a defeat which may even cost them elimination from the tournament) the English started packing to return home after completing one of the worst ever campaigns in a World Cup in their 40 years of qualifying for it. This has not happened since 1962.

The english press approached this all with its normal routine default attitude.

They are trying every drama they can to show how to enjoy these eliminations. Just like the guy who has been rejected by the hot girl at the bar but acts above it…as if he dont care – only in their hearts and minds does he/they know how much suffering exists.

At this point we shouldnt ignore or forget how many bestselling books in the country have been written trying to explain and analyse England’s failures in world cups.

Obviously…the reasons vary from ‘penalty curse’ to more serious reasons but none of these books touch on the one single truth –England gets eliminated from tournaments because they don’t have a good enough squad.-Since whichever squad they bring will rely on two or three (maximum) of themost seriously over-hyped players in world football. Players who are hyped up by the powerful UK media that are without international experience, afraid, settled in their cocoons, who by and large full fill bit-part player roles in their clubs where the main guys pulling the strings are foreigners.

The English never had a GREAT world cup squad. Never. What they did have though was an identity ( hey jack…lol) . However this identity has been lost ever since the introduction of the Premier League.

Production of English players has gone down the drain with realistically only a foreigner (Wenger) doing the most to help England produce decent footballers who can pass , run,  are comfortable on the ball , know what to do and when.

The few english players that are genuinely good are paid excessive millions way beyond their actual value/worth and also get over the top -exposed in media. This over the top-exposure clouds peoples judgement on their ability. A goal from Rooney in a derby suddenly becomes huge news and shown over 130 countries, while a goal from Reus in a German derby might go unnoticed. That should not mean that the former is a better footballer than the latter.

The premiership is the richest league and most organised and profitable league in the world. A league that generates billions is no guarantee that it will have a great national team too. If the sheiks tomorrow go crazy and bring to Qatar all the greatest players on earth they will also have a super rich league but their national squad will still be a bad one. The english might think that since they can buy the best players and have the best league product they can do the same with the national team. That is not the case. International football requires work, sacrifice, lots of sweat, and individual and collective ambition. The only thing the premier league offers are over-hyped overpaid millionaires for the national squad. nothing else.

Off course all this happens due to some cultural traits also…like living in their bubble/microcosm , always thinking of being more important than they are.

In the recent past the F.A very optimistically  handed the keys to the national squad to McLaren after Errikson ( who took them to three consecutive quarter finals). A Manger the English media referred to as “McLown“. The F.A thought that a less dogmatic coach than the Swede was what was needed for the players to make the difference. Off course they were wrong. For Euro2008 they didn’t even qualify. Unable to beat teams like Croatia, Israel and Russia . Due to the fact that they don’t know who they are anymore( in a football sense at least).  They followed the opposite extreme of selecting big names and paying for a world class manager : Fabio Capello.The best and the best managed to create a salad that went to S.Africa in 2010 and was humiliated by Germany with 4 goals!

Their ability to drive national coaches crazy is unparalleled in football history. Hodgson is no genius, I give you that, but he did built a tough and solid Switzerland around Chapuisat before Hitzfeld took over and also built teams with tough defences in Inter, Fulham etc.. Alas even this lover of catenaccio couldn’t resist the pressure of the media and presented a team in Brasil with a joke defence and a midfield unable to support the strikers/forwards.

It is this dumb practice coupled with standard gung-ho naivety ( a draw with Uruguay would still keep them in the chase, while they were charging forward in numbers to win the game in ‘glory’..) that has eliminated them form the World Cup.

In the crucial game of the group the difference was made by Luis Suarez…an international superstar and world class player…not just an EPL superstar….there is a huge difference.

Regular readers will have no problem guessing who wrote today’s piece.

If you love football there is nothing like a World Cup especially if you have a national stake in the whole affair. Undoubtedly it is the spectacle of the best national teams on the whole planet, in a sport played universally,  competing on the world’s stage that brings out such intense global attention. My observation is it brings out the best and worst of human beings. The same spontaneous eruption of national pride in the achievements of footballers flying the national flag is also used to engender xenophobia and pseudo-patriotism. The world cup is notorious for the cynical manipulation by despots, military strongmen and assorted tyrants who have manipulated the event as a cover for human rights abuses and injustices.  It wasn’t long ago when dictators ruling Argentina, Brazil, Haiti and Zaire (now the Congo) sustained their rule by exploiting the achievements of their national teams. In contrast, news headlines today are dominated by marches and demonstrations in Brazil protesting against their government and FIFA combining to  rip off the country as billions are misspent on world cup infrastructure with FIFA guaranteed billions in profits at the expense of social spending on education and health necessary to raise the living standards of the people.

But I digress. What has been  interesting to me is how being a gooner in 2014 causes one to see the world cup entirely different from a fan simply reacting to the fortunes of the national team they support.  Only half-way through the tournament, but it is evident after surveying twitter and blogs, that most of us are using the tournament to answer one of the great questions that continue to divide the club during the past season:

 To Giroud or not to be?

 Despite scoring 22 goals and making 10 assists for club in all competitions last season, Giroud continues to be disparaged in many quarters as not being good enough for Arsenal. Two games into the group stages with millions of gooners pouring over the performances of the so-called world class strikers on show, the issue is far from decided. But Giroud has certainly done enough to justify Wenger’s faith in him. By providing the spark for France’s battering of Switzerland with 1 goal and 1 assist, the Gallic hitman has left many of his critics reeling. In fact Balotelli, the great “black” hope of the transfer whores has been so overshadowed by Arsenal’s Joel Campbell in Costa Rica’s match vs Italy plus the loanee’s outstanding performance vs Uruguay, the terms of the debate has seemingly changed. Many are now wondering whether the club give more importance to bringing back the Costa Rican as a pacy, powerful wideman or take the risk of spending big on the Italian with his risky past and seeming penchant for disappearing when the going gets rough.  Meanwhile his current club is already doing as Real Madrid attempted with Higuain last year. Apparently Balotelli’s transfer fee has gone from £25m to about £35m according to Metro (Yes I know how reliable they are). If Campbell continues to perform and Milan gets greedier we already know how this will end.

Meanwhile my English gooner friends are licking their wounds as Roy Hodgson’s northwest experiment with the Liverpool core failed miserably on the fields of Brazil. With nary an Arsenal player making the 1^st Eleven, it seems another English myth is worth challenging.

Today’s blog was given to us by one of the Foundling Fathers of Positively Arsenal, my good friend and ally Shotta Gooner   (@shotta_gooner )

Just how good enough is good enough? At what point does a player become Arsenal quality?  Who decides whether he is world class or just a squad player? And are these judgements set in stone, or can a player move from one state to another? These questions are prompted by two things, the first being a vague conversation I became involved in yesterday about Jack Wilshere, the second in light of the reaction to the possible re-signing of Carols Vela.

I am fascinated by Jack for a whole variety of reasons, and it is possibly easiest just to list them.

• He is only 22
• He has on occasions been hailed as England and Arsenal’s saviour
• He is capable of the most sublime football
• There is a touch of the street fighter about him
• He is a fans’ favourite
• He scored the best team goal that anyone will ever see
• Arsene Wenger has described him as one of the most talented young players he has ever worked with
• He has spent the last three seasons either injured or returning from injury
• He is no longer a favourite of all the fans and some don’t see him as an automatic starter either for The Arsenal, or, more strangely, for England

Not so long ago there would have been little debate about his quality, which would have been seen as top, top, or world class. He was our very own Superjack, and when much else in The Arsenal world was slightly rocky, that at least was certain. But now it would seem it isn’t, or at least it wasn’t to the person I was talking to yesterday, nor indeed to Stuart Pearce who pronounced that Jack wouldn’t kick a ball in the World Cup. I happen to think they are wrong, and maintain my belief that he is an outstanding talent, but the point of this post is not to argue his, or any other’s case (that can safely be left to Twitter and the comments section)but rather to explore what lies behind the judgments that are made about a player’s ability.

Clearly the proof of the pudding is in the playing, but often it is more than that, especially as only a very small number get to see players play for a full 90 minutes with their own eyes. For those that watch whole matches on the TV their view tends to be determined by the shots the cameramen choose to take, and by and large those shots follow the ball. If, say, a quarter of the value of a player to his team is what he does when he isn’t directly and immediately involved in the play, then it is clear that judgments are not based on the full story. Given that even more of those judgements are based on recorded highlights, and that those highlights rely heavily on editorial decision making, with all the bias that such selections inevitably entail, then we can see that most fans’ view of a player is already compromised. Throw into the mix the comments of pundits, who may or may not have an axe to grind (old allegiances run deep, and few past players are totally in love with their modern successors) and suddenly the claim that player X is not world class can be seen to be distorted.

The judgements become even more tainted of course when assessing the value of a transfer target, or when the player in question is being debated in the school yard (yes, I know school yards no longer exist, but what is a comment on football without an appropriate cliché), because then a kind of macho one-upmanship comes into play. Signing Vela is of absolutely no use to that kind of fan. He will not cost nearly enough money (anything under £25m these days is seen as a “Lol, poverty”), he does not come from a well-known club, he has already been dismissed as a failure once in his Arsenal lifetime, his YouTube videos are a little underwhelming, and perhaps most crucially of all, he isn’t talked about in reverential terms by those pundits who are persuaded to talk so glowingly by the agents they spend so much time with. If the dismissal of Vela can be accompanied with a sneering comment about Wenger dithering about in the bargain basement again then so much the better, especially if the twitterliverer of that comment can at the same time proclaim that only he properly understands just what players Arsenal need to even get top 4 again.

So Vela has no chance, and I suspect that a little like Giroud, even if he does come he will spend his life being criticised for what and who he is not , rather than celebrated for what he is and what he does offer. It apparently doesn’t matter that he has improved significantly, because whilst it is apparently fine to say that a player has regressed or hasn’t lived up to his potential, it is not allowed for anyone to improve. And it is that aspect that I find saddest of all, because I believe the biggest obstacle anyone can have to living their life successfully is to settle for a fixed and pessimistic mind-set. The whole basis of coaching is to help a player unlock his potential and find improvement, the whole point of training is to make progress from where you were yesterday. The best coaches dare to see the potential in players, the outstanding ones know how to help them unlock it. Choosing to adopt a growth mind-set is the most positive difference you can make to your life, whether you are a professional footballer, or gainfully employed in some other walk of life or simply waiting to leave school and to find a job that really suits you – or even, like me, just a student of the game.

If Vela returns he will be exciting, as will Balotelli (and the thought of him coming just makes me smile – I don’t think he will, but it would be kind of fun to see what happens if he does, and there is, in truth, only one manager on the planet who I would trust to get the best out of him).

Eighteen months ago, when Jack Wilshere was driving The Arsenal forward to a Third Round Cup victory over Swansea few would have imagined it was Aaron Ramsey who would make the most progress over the next year or so – but he did, and it was due to his courage and determination, but also to the unshakeable and visionary faith of his manager. I would not offer you any odds at all on Arsene Wenger helping Jack, or any of the others he chooses to sign, unleashing that potential too. And while this may well come back to haunt me, I do want to finish by saying that fitness permitting, I believe that Jack Wilshere will be as good a player as we have ever seen at The Emirates.

Today’s post was penned by  @foreverheady

This interesting post is by our friend Sav.

My first memories of  ‘the world cup’ are from 1990.

To this date I am not sure if its a ‘real’ memory, or one of those you imagine you had by piecing together what you were told of the events that transpired.  As I was only 4 years of age, the details are vague regardless.

Well the stage was set.

World Cup Final.

West Germany vs Argentina.  A rematch to boot!

My father and his brothers were watching the match with such an intensity as I had not yet seen in men.  They were literally on the edge or over the top of their seats, barely able to contain themselves at the prospect of this, football’s golden trophy.   And all I wanted to do was watch cartoons.  Well, we had one of those old TVs, the ones before remotes – and I edged ever closer, eyes flitting between spectacle and spectator, waiting for my chance to change the channel.  My nerve broke and I went for it and changed the channel – only a split second passed and I changed it back as they let out a roar of anguish!  I wanted to watch cartoons during the world cup final.  To this date I am amazed at my utter lack of perspective.

Well by the time 1994 popped up, I had started to follow football.  And by 1998 even I could see that Zidane fellow was quite good.  2002 was during my exams but I remember that goal for Ronaldinho and the final that Brazil won.  The last worthy Brazilian side in my opinion.  2006 came and I stood amazed as France somehow did not win.  Everyone points to Zidane but the turning point was Viera going off (cramp wasn’t it?) – his driving runs from midfield were opening up the Italians.  It was only a matter of time.  Bloody football, eh.  2010 finally came and this time I saw Africa host a world cup.

And after you have indulged me with my incoherent rambling, I shall endeavour to get to my point – eventually.

I am a South African by birth and as such I – along with all of Africa – found great pride to see the 2010 World Cup awarded to South Africa.  I also found it very interesting.  Brazil 2014,  Russia 2018,  Qatar 2022.  These appointments only confirmed a trend.  A trend it seems started under Havelange and carried on by Blatter.

FIFA is an odd beast.  I will admit that I have not gone into in-depth research – but altruism and idealism married to corruption is an odd combination.

I shall outline my contention first and then attempt to show evidence.  Basically, I have come to believe that FIFA under Blatter has a specific goal – maybe not the main goal, but specific nonetheless – of integration.  Integration of regions into the global fraternity.  Getting awarded a world cup does not just affect that particular country – its affects the entire region.  National pride, regional pride – but more than that, a sense of  ‘we have made it’  –  ‘we have arrived’, as it were.

To truly understand why this matters to developing regions requires a history lesson that is not really necessary.  It is also a very touchy topic.  The gist is that Asia, Africa and the other developing regions were demoralised.  There was – and perhaps still is – a very real sense that they were/are not equal to those fortunate enough to be born in western Europe or America (or Canada/NZ/Australia – lets not forget the Commonwealth).

The developing world was and is growing economically but they had need of a morale boost, a way for the everyman (and woman) to feel they belonged in the global community.  A question of belonging, of self confidence. Besides FIFA, I do not see a single organisation making any attempt to address this pressing issue that is so important to the future of all humanity.

East Asia got their boost in 2002.

Africa was recognised as being capable in 2010.

Brazil is an emerging an economic power and 2014 confirms that status to their people and perhaps is a message of hope to all South America.

Russia hosting the cup in 2018 is an indication that they belong in Europe and not ostracised – although goodness knows how the recent events in Ukraine effect all that.

And 2022 in Qatar.  CORRUPTION!!  They bought it!!  Complain, complain, complain.  What balls does it take to give the world cup to a muslim country in the era of  ‘the war on terror’.  The Arab world, the Muslim world, has been villified from the shores of the Atlantic to the plains of Pakistan.  What does a world cup in Qatar – a stable country amidst an unstable region – say to the region.  Surely, a message of hope and of integration and confidence that the region will one day overcome its current strifes.

What’s the point?

Well, I see a trend.  Sure, FIFA are looking at expanding markets and building revenue.  But what about the people?  How do they feel to host a world cup?

In 2002 I was in high school in New Zealand and many of my good friends were from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, let alone Indonesia and Thailand.  They took immense pride in the Football World Cup being played in east Asia.  It was as if they had been accepted into the global fraternity in a very real and tangible way.  Shown to be equals in a way that the everyday man and woman on the street could appreciate.

2010 in South Africa was the same.  And now Brazil 2014.  Although, I daresay Brazil’s organisers have been somewhat the architects of their own demise.  But the trend is there.  Football as integration.  Football as a tool for global equality.

FIFA have previous in these matters.  Germany won the world cup against Hungary after WW2.  It gave a confidence boost to a demoralised West Germany.  Beaten in war, all their young men dead or in a gulag – the country cut in half.  How badly did they need a ‘win’, any win?

It would seem that winning the world cup is a great confidence booster for a nation short on confidence.  And even being awarded a host of a world cup brings about self confidence for entire continents.

What do you think?

Well it appears that Arsene has passed on the opportunity to re-sign the prodigal son. His most likely destination being the bus depot (That’s Chelsea where they park buses-oh forget it then)

Here is what I had to say last week

“The great Cesc Fàbregas debate rages on, fueled by idiots like me who tweet about it and write blogs about it.

Will he leave Barcelona ?

Do we want him ?

Do we need him ?

Is there a buyout clause-how much is it ?

Does Arsene want him ?

Would he disrupt the team spirit ?

Should we go for him just to stop someone else getting him ?

Would he “kill” Jack ,  Aaron, AOC  or anyone else ?

Is he injury prone ?

Is he slow ?

And on and on and on go the questions.

Just like the Arense in/out debate, there is a full spectum of opinions. The fan base is divided .

Least we forget , this is a player that forced his way out of the club.

Arsene did not want to sell him and he had a long contract. The team had been built around him.

Arsene had trusted him to lead us forward in a very difficult time. He was key to the future of the team and the club. We were forced to sell him at less than the perceived market value. It was him who did the forcing.

At the time it was a crushing blow to everyone at the club.

He knew his importance . He knew the love the fans and staff felt for him, yet he forced his way out.

I don’t care a jot that he wanted to go home, win things and play with his mates. He let everyone who loves the club down. He chose to do that. Him, and him alone.

I care even less that he is savvy enough to bang on about his love for Arsenal, for me its just rhetoric. Its like a man who leaves his loyal and loving wife and goes back to his first love. Its poor form and he let us down.

He let me down, ! I was gutted .

Did he go on strike? I don’t know ! No one outside the club does. But I do know that Nasri played and he didn’t. Yet two days after he left he was playing with his first love, running around like a spring lamb.

Am I bitter? You bet your life I am !

However.

He is a fabulous player. He would be a huge asset to us now.

He could cover for Ozil and Ramsey(or alternate ,if you would rather) .

He would make us more dangerous going forward, score and assist as a given.

I believe that before he left he was the best player in the league, he was that good. He would be up there again I have no doubt.

Still, until the questions asked at the top are answered , its a redundant debate.

For the record though, if buying him did not adversely effect the purchase of players in positions that we have a greater need , I would be happy to see him back at the club.

My hypocrisy knows no bounds.”

It looks like Arsene has answered some of those questions and the conclusions he has drawn dont suit a huge swath of the fan base.

Many want the little Catalan cherub back , and cant see any excuse for the club not returning their sweetheart to their loving embrace.

For eight years almost all of us ,man, woman and child adored him. And why not ? He played his heart out with every different set of players that passed through the club.

Sometimes he had players around him that could help him mount a decent challenge on cups and titles. sometimes he had do drag lesser players behind him. But he always gave his best.

He loved us and we loved him.

Then he decided he wanted to go home. Let me repeat that , he wanted to go home

When he wasn’t simply bid farewell and good luck he made it happen. He forced his way out.

Under normal circumstances that would have been enough for most of us to feel sufficiently betrayed to lose our love for him. But  three summers ago were anything but normal circumstances.

Three summers ago we were in full divided camp mode.

People wanted to blame Arsene , Ivan, Stan and the board for anything they could.

Who could blame our little Spanish darling for wanting out of a club like ours ? They said !

In other words he reaped the benefit of the prevailing mood.

Instead of blaming him for leaving us in the lurch, he became justification to attack Arsene and the club.

In my view, he made his escape relatively unscathed.

Finally (well for today at least) If he ships up at a hated rival, I wont blame him for that. I don’t care what he has said about loving Arsenal and hating others. I don’t think he can be accuse of hypocrisy. If we have had the chance to sign him, and we have passed, he is free to peruse his career anywhere that is best for him. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but hey-ho.

Good luck too him (bar twice a year).

Today we have a guest post from Seebs  @arse_or_brain

The ARSENAL collective has long been able to stretch its tentacles across all terrains of this greatly undulating earth, only now in greatly enhanced numbers. So there is no surprise that opinions will differ from time to time however the vastness of the differences is surprising. I’m not sure whether its nature or nurture, as in many cases, but do know the so called civil war has not just two sides , people are approaching from all angles.

There are many complete aresholes that just like moaning and would moan if we won the league every year, these are just very sad people and some of these even give the youth team shit. To slag off sixteen year olds that are often playing against a sides on average a year older and who are brought from all over Europe on big wages is lunacy. Our hale end graduates should be supported at all cost as their assent to the top is more difficult now than ever.
There are another group of the unsatisfied who been disadvantaged by the PL and sky and how football changed after Hillsborough and its acceptance for corporate rather than your traditional fan. This group are angry with the commercial world but their anger unfortunately is misdirected. The hatred of the ordinary fans by the government of the early eighties meant they could use all crisis and disasters to completely change the face of the working man’s game. The early interpretations of the Taylor report were designed to fade football away but as always the game was ready to fight back. When you are at your lowest you are susceptible to all sorts of evil and the devil that appeared was capitalism and the sale of the games soul. I do have some sympathy with this group until they dig at the manager, if they look at the bigger picture he is actually the salmon swimming upstream. The clubs status has depended on the success of the spawning and fertilization of the great mans ideas.
Then you have the group who have only seen the PL and are comparing Arsene with well….Arsene, obviously forgetting that early Arsene didn’t have to contend with the obstacles recent Arsene has had to climb. They assume money has no bearing on football and often use the old its still 11 v 11 and you still have to get them playing as a team. The trophies round the center of the stadium bear no relation to them, they believe chelski are the most successful London club and have always been in the top division. Apparently Ryan Giggs had played since the beginning of time and BoB Wilson just some ex-player.
Occasionally you will get the good old ARSENAL brigade who believe we were always the biggest club in the world and the gaps between the thirties to 48/53 and then to 71 and then to 89/91 and then to 98 just don’t exist. While Herbert Chapman’s legacy was to make us recognizable to even tribes in darkest Peru ( Patrick Barclays latest book is testament to this and well worth a read) the regular silverware and innovations stopped with the war. “THE ARSENAL” still had massive standing without ever really collecting the glory.
Obviously one of the worst groups, the ones who will believe absolutely anything tv, radio or the red tops tell them. After reading the headline Arsene Wenger ate my hamster you’re not going to think he’s a nice bloke are you. I hear the agenda biased media load the gun only for some lunatic with a red and white label to run around firing it off in all directions. Strange how their ideas always come just after a media suggestion although they think it is completely unique. Maybe there is something in this conception lark after all. Once again I have sympathy for this group but for a completely different reason…. it just worries me they have the vote as recent elections have shown.
As Passenal has previously commented some people will go to the game just to moan and some have literally been brought up this way, in the years since the move fans think this is a natural way to support your club they have been taught it, the more you criticize the more knowledgeable you are about your club and therefore the bigger supporter you are. If you shout out your not fit to wear the shirt it appears you have the knowledge to know what players have worn it in the past and you care so much more than any player ever could. This I believe is an unfortunate by-product of the move and the new entrants to regular ARSENAL whether they had been fans for a day or years. A different dynamic was definitely born with the new stadium.

After years of not going to away games the first day I went back to old Trafford I couldn’t believe they didn’t sing, it was deadly quite until they scored. chelski couldn’t even sell out their ground in Romans first years and so really in a way we shouldn’t be surprised about the discontents at our place however when you managed to acquire tickets to 75% of Wembley and get outsung from the start by a couple of northerners that’s when it gets embarrassing. When I first went to away games it felt like I was amongst a small group of gladiators fighting a massive army and our voice and our songs were weapons, even when the bottles came reigning in. To be outsung by a small group of other supporters was unthinkable.     Fights among ARSENAL fans were reported at both final and semi final and although I thought this was a modern phenomena the ARSENAL historians at A.I.S.A have told me different as apparently the gents between the wars were partial to fisticuffs.
One final thought is the sudden change of attitude of those fans who said silverware was more important than fourth place until our defeat to everton and the abyss was being starred in to, amazingly Thursday nights didn’t seem so palatable.

By Bootoomee

Fans have always had different reactions to different players and such reactions have not always been logical. Players are not necessarily beloved because of the cogent contributions that they make to teams; they are often valued based on how they make fans feel. It is for this reason that flair players and the sort who wear their emotions on their sleeves are the usual fans’ favourites. You can see the flair even if it leads to nothing useful; or even counter-productive at times. Players who show passion on the pitch act exactly the way the watching fans would have probably acted in most situations. It is therefore not surprising that these 2 types of players are the most loved.

How many times have a player been criticised and abused for being crap only for the numbers to be broken down for fans (and most irresponsibly, the media) to now realise that they were wrong? Sometimes, the criticisms are well justified but most of the time they are not. I can’t recall a more unjustly criticised player than Olivier Giroud of Arsenal FC this season. I hear people criticise him and I wonder if I have been watching the same player or there is something wrong with me.

I have an attitude when it comes to Arsenal player that I must confess to my dear readers: I never abuse any player as long as they are in the service of Arsenal FC. I have complained about a few players during the heat of the game but that is it for me. I never take my hurt at how a player performed in a game away from that particular game once the final whistle is blown. I don’t necessarily forget how poor a player was in a game but as long as they are still wearing Arsenal’s red and white, I continue to support them and hope that the manager (who knows more than anybody alive on how to turn players around) will get them sorted and performing on top soon.

This attitude has saved me from having eggs on my face on countless occasions. I feel extreme pride in myself when I read comments from Arsenal fans on how they used to give Ramsey grief but they are now glad to be proven wrong. Fuckers. You are not supposed to be giving the players of the team that you love and support grief, no matter how poor they might be performing. It is not your job. There is a man employed by Arsenal FC to do the job of setting our players straight both tactically and with harsh words if necessary and he is pretty good at his job.

It is not my place to harass players or call them names like “Flappyhandski” or “van Porcelain” when they make mistakes or are struggling with injuries only to then whine about Arsene Wenger not giving them long contracts when such players seek more opportunities to play or earn more money elsewhere. (I am not too sympathetic with the Traitor but calling him names then was wrong all the same). Ironically, those who have abused our struggling players in the past would then follow up their mea culpa with immediate abuse of a current struggling player.

How many times have you read this line: “I am one of those who used to criticise Aaron Ramsey but I am glad that he has proven me wrong ……. But that Sanogo is never going to come good or Carl Jenkinson is not good enough, we need to get another RB”. You would think that someone just eating crow would have learnt their lesson but you would be wrong.

Of all the players that Arsenal fans in their infinite stupidity have treated unfairly, I struggle to find anyone like Olivier Giroud. We can say that some players have underperformed in the real sense of the word and that while this doesn’t make the abuse right, one can at least understand the reason for it. Giroud’s case is a strange one for me.

The guy gives our defence very good cover during set pieces and tracks back when we are under constant attack to help out. He is in the midfield during battles. He is a very selfless striker who would not only willingly pass to better positioned team mates but would celebrate their goals like he is the one who actually scored it. And, he scores his fair share of goals too. With 16 goals in the premier league and 22 overall, I think he is exactly where Arsene Wenger expects him to be this season.

What Giroud does better than any player in the league, in my opinion, is that famous link up play of his. He is bloody good at it. The way he keeps possession at the opponents’ goal area and calmly waits for his team mates to take good attacking position is superb. And the flicks, oh the flicks! Giroud has some of the most delicious assists in the entire league this season. Statistically, he is where Thierry Henry was at the end of his second season with Arsenal. True, he is older than Henry was but he is not at the peak of his career yet so there is room for improvement.

Now, why has the guy been treated like some bumbling doofus by the media and many of our fans? Why?

Apparently, he missed some good chances in some high profile matches unlike, you know, every striker who has ever played the game! Luis Suarez scored none of his 31 league goals against a top 4 opposition. That is zero in 6 matches!

Arsenal’s attempt and failure to get Suarez last summer is probably most responsible for the animosity of many of our fans towards Giroud. Most of the criticism and abuse are borne out of nothing but covetousness. Many wish we had Suarez and because we actually went for him but failed because Arsene Wenger wouldn’t write a blank cheque to a club that was unwilling to part with their most treasured resource, these souls took it out on Giroud.

Every time Giroud played, he reminded those Gooners of what could have been. His minor errors are exaggerated; they are errors that Suarez would never have made. His missed opportunities are those that Suarez would have converted. In the end, Giroud was not being judged on his own merit but with another player that they wish we had. Giroud was portrayed as one of the worst strikers in the league. Ironically though, you would often see the same detractors whining about what would happen to the team should he get injured. This bit gets me every time. Why would the team miss a player that is so crap?

The media fanned the embers of this discontent amongst Arsenal fans, as they have always done with our players whenever they notice our fans getting on their backs. News reports and analyses were written mocking and berating the guy with emphasis on how he shouldn’t be Arsenal’s leading man. It would be safe to assume that Giroud would score very low in any rating system used by the media. Afterall, they couldn’t stop slating the guy. But it turns out that the Telegraph scored him 214 which is only second to Suarez’s 290. All the other strikers scored less than 200. I am not a believer in the Football Fantasy points of players because I utter distrust the media when it comes to player ratings, which bad enough, is subjective on its own. However, Giroud’s position here is interesting to me because it got me by surprise. It also means that while the guy was being written about as inadequate by the media, their subjective player ratings system is showing a different result.

Here are the top 5 rated strikers in the league (courtesy of Andrew Crawshaw of Untold Arsenal):

Luis Suarez 290
Olivier Giroud 214
Daniel Sturridge 197
Sergio Aguero 180
Edin Dzeko 180

The fact that our very own much maligned striker is ranking this high (even though this is an unscientific rating system) shows that much of the abuse and criticisms that the guy has received are illogical and mostly unfounded. If a rating from a media publication – who are not known for being Giroud’s fans – put him this high, then he must be doing something right for us. Not that I was ever in doubt of Giroud’s contribution to the team but I hope that those who berate him and call for someone else to be signed to take his place would just calm down and show the guy the respect that he has earned.

Rotation is harder than you think. Back in the late seventies, Sussex CCC was blessed with four outstanding International cricketers: Imran Khan and Javed Miandad from Pakistan, Garth Le Roux and Kepler Wessels from South Africa. Two fine batters and two exceptionally quick bowlers, the quickest I ever kept to. The only problem anyone could see was that the cricketing rules at the time stated that only two “overseas” players could play at any one time, but that was felt to be easily overcome. Fitness levels, natural rotation and an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition would all come into play, and the management confidently expected to play every match that season with two top, top quality players ready to give their all for the club. Except it didn’t quite work out like that: in fact it didn’t work out at all. It soon became apparent that each of them needed to feel that they were the best at the club, that they would be the automatic choice for the most important games. Other issues came into it of course: exact contract details, personality clashes and political allegiances all had their part to play, not to mention the age old distrust of batters for bowlers and vice versa. However, at the heart of it, or so it seemed to me watching them on a daily basis, was the atavistic impulse to be the alpha male.

When I look back to those times and recall the bitter jealousies and furtive conversations I realise that it wasn’t a very happy club at all. And I go on to think about how hard it must be to manage young men not only in the prime of their life but also at their most aggressively competitive, and then I think of how easy it is for us Arsenal watchers to call for squad depth and regular rotation. But I also see that the whole notion of depth is perhaps fundamentally flawed, because you simply can’t have a squad of 24 players all good enough to be automatic first team choices, unless you have unlimited resources and extraordinary man-management skills. Imagine for a moment what would happen if everyone stayed fit, and how you would keep everyone at a peak of match-readiness, given that only 14 can be actively involved in any one match, only 18 chosen for the team. Think what would happen to those internationals who don’t quite make it onto the bench, and for how many matches they would stay happily involved with the project. I doubt it would be long before the whispers and the accusations of favouritism began to spread, and before you knew it you’d have a divided dressing-room and small groups playing for themselves rather than the club.

Injuries do happen, of course, and it is prudent not only to expect them but also to cover them. I do wonder though how many long-term injuries it is realistic to expect in a season, and I doubt if anyone would think it would have been as many as The Arsenal suffered in the season just gone. Peter Wood of Le Grove fame would argue that many of the injuries were caused by lack of rotation and the over-playing of key individuals, and to an extent I think he is probably right. However, that initial lack of rotation was caused by key injuries to Oxlade-Chamberlain, Podolski , Cazorla and Walcott, while Wilshere was also in the process of returning from long-term injury himself, and so was perhaps not the force he has been (and we very much hope will be) in that exciting yet ultimately damaging pre-Christmas period. To have adequately foreseen and covered for those absences before the season started would have required a crystal ball and huge spending: to have managed all of those players (and those covering for them) had no one been injured may well have been virtually impossible.

Before the Cup Final I did what many fans always do, and tried to pick the Starting XI and bench – and found it hard to do. It would have been that much harder, of course, had Walcott and Chamberlain both been fit, because that might have seen Podolski and Cazorla on the bench, and Rosicky and Wilshere not even in the squad. I am using these names as examples, rather than expressions of preference, but they do help make the point that once you have genuine squad depth and more than 17 fully fit outfield players you begin to run into real management problems. How long would any competitive player wish to stay at a club if he doesn’t even make the bench for the top games? We often hear the cry go up about some prospective fancy signing of “how would he cope with a wet January night in Stoke?” but of course the fancy players don’t have to cope with those sort of nights, because they are left to the journeyman squad members. The real question is “how would Podolski cope with those nights” if due to depth of squad they are the only ones he gets picked for? My guess is that while he would cope with them very well because he is a wonderful player, he is sufficiently competitive to be straight on the phone to his agent with instructions to find him a club where his talents would be showcased in the glamour fixtures.

And this is where I find transfer talk so hard, because I know that for every top, top player that comes in, one of my favourites will either become ever so slightly surplus to requirements, or will leave the club pretty quickly. And I think it is probably also true that given reasonable luck accompanied by top medical support you don’t need a squad of much more than two keepers and 20 outfield players who are genuine first team players. But even with those numbers you are going to have rivalries and disappointments unless you have an outstanding manager with a proven record of earning the loyalty of his players and inspiring them to impossible achievements, like, say, going through a whole League season unbeaten. We have that man, and I am thrilled that he has committed for a further three years. I know that he will add to this group of players, but I also know that he will do it in a way that somehow manages to keep all of them happy. They are going to be very good indeed.

 Today’s post was by @foreverheady

My dad was an Arsenal supporter – still is, at the tender age of 97. I say supporter, rather than fan, because he’s never lived near London, so opportunities to attend matches have been limited. His attachment to Arsenal began during the days of the great Herbert Chapman, just as many have been drawn to Arsenal during the days of the great Arsène Wenger.

In the 30s, we were simply the best team in the country, and because we didn’t acknowledge that football was played in any other country (except, perhaps, Scotland), we were considered here in England to be the best in the world.

So I was brought up as an Arsenal supporter. My first memory of Arsenal is of listening to the 1950 Cup Final on a large wooden radio, or wireless as we then called it. That’s how I enjoyed my first taste of Arsenal success. Arsenal 2 Liverpool 0.

Just as well, really. There were very few successes in the years to come. Very occasionally a league title. Or an FA Cup win. Long arid patches (18 years was the longest) not just without a trophy, but languishing half way down the table with little to play for except winning the match itself.

And as we began to realise that they did indeed play football in other countries, we also realised our place in Europe. Which was nowhere. While teams like Liverpool, ManU, Nottingham Forest and even Aston Villa were winning the European Cup, just twice in 25 years we managed to achieve success in competitions for Europe’s second rate – competitions we’d be embarrassed to be in these days.

And so things remained from the end of the Second World War until the mid nineties, the first fifty years of my life. I don’t remember anyone being too distressed by all of this. Of course, we moaned and cursed when we lost. From time to time we had some brilliant players. And even the occasional manager who was a cut above the rest (Whittaker, Mee, Graham) and whose star spluttered with the glow of brief success.

And then, in 1996, along came Wenger and our world changed.

I won’t rehearse in detail what’s been achieved since. In summary, a glittering period of league and cup wins, an unbeaten season, consistent qualification for a European tournament we’d rarely before been good enough to get into and the wherewithal to build and move into a stadium big enough to match our ambitions. All this followed by a period of retrenchment in which, astonishingly, we have remained financially stable while maintaining our place at Europe’s top table.

And, perhaps most tellingly, a complete overhaul of our expectations.

At last we had a manager with both a flair for immediate success and a long-term strategy for the future. Planning in sport is a dangerous game. The elements of luck and timing which poker players call “variance” can quickly derail a plan. The pattern becomes clear only over time and few clubs have had the luck and judgement to retain a true visionary for long enough to see the map unfurl.

All these reflections were brought to mind by the jubilant scenes which followed the Cup Final, Who knew in just how much affection Wenger is held by players and fans alike? A true antidote to the poison of the clamorous small-minded who have constantly belittled his achievements for the club.

When a decision taken in a match backfires, it’s perfectly reasonable to criticise the manager (though much more interesting to work out why the decision was taken in the first place). But could anyone be as successful a manager as Wenger if scarred with fundamental flaws like excessive stubbornness, unwillingness to spend, poor man-management, tactical naivety, incoherent transfer strategy and all the other frailties which are routinely cited against him?

It doesn’t need a deep understanding of probability to work out how unlikely all of that is. Those who peddle these humdrum banalities seem blind to the fact that they are simply parading their own vacuity.

Even harder to take is the hypocrisy of those who understand full well, but pursue these rancid arguments simply to sway the emotions of others they see as gullible. (Especially when these “opinion-formers” are driven by financial motives.) Or those who insidiously suggest – without a trace of evidence – that we can ignore his earlier successes because he is “past it”. Or those displays of wallowing self-regard which dare to propose that future success or failure will depend on whether he has learned to do it “their way”.

Well, everyone’s entitled to a wrong opinion (though few of us know what it’s like to hold one), especially when spiced with a little wit. Like Shankly’s one-liner about football being more important than life and death, it doesn’t have to be true to be entertaining. So we can (and should) tolerate a wide range of views. But many of the attacks – from snide sniping to absolute abuse – are neither witty nor wise, and step well over the limits of acceptability.

Too much to hope, of course, that the criticisms of the intellectually bereft will now be silenced. There’s money in mindless denigration. Which is why the outpouring of joy not just for the club but also for its manager during Cup Final weekend was so striking. Surely the bellyachers must have noticed.

So perhaps we can hope, fervently hope, that he remains at the helm long enough to achieve the one outstanding ambition for him and the club – the Champions League.

Wenger must go.

But not, please, for a very long time.

Today’s post was by Merlot