Today’s post by Bradyesque7

I wasn’t in Copenhagen that night. Neither did I feel the anxiety of having a loved one over there when word got back that there was trouble afoot. It would be wrong of me to suggest how people should feel about prospect of coming face-to-face with the Galatasaray fans again. I completely understand that the very idea of them being invited to a friendly tournament at our ground is unacceptable to many. So with what has gone on in the past, why would the club entertain the idea?

In my view, there is no way that the club aren’t mindful of the tragedy which befell some of our supporters and their families in Copenhagen. To me, this must be a bridge building exercise. It simply must be an attempt to put the past behind us and try to create a more peaceful and prosperous environment.

As an Irish person, I am only too aware of how tragedies and bad blood can last for decades. Were it not for the brave work of a few good men and women, relations between my country and our nearest neighbour would still be fraught with fear and resentment. On both sides, there have been many casualties of that particular conflict but I don’t believe that holding on to past beefs can serve to honour the lives lost.  In the name of progression and peace, a line must be drawn so that people can begin to find some kind of normality without fear.

It is for those reasons that I am encouraged by the actions of the club.

Please understand that I am not telling anybody to simply get over it. I know first-hand that for every life lost in such circumstances, there are many more which are completely devastated.  I firmly believe in trying to build bridges and creating an environment whereby future generations know nothing of such fear.

Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Thanks for reading.  Up the Arsenal!

Since the Premiership began no team has won it that has not gone on a sustained spending spree, in terms of transfer fees and wages, that has seen then considerably outspend their rivals.

Oh sorry.  Apart from Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.  Three times.

Manchester United, one of the biggest sports institutions in the world is the default winner. Everything being equal, as the richest club, they would dominate their own domestic league, much as Bayern Munich does in Germany. It would take something special to take the title from them.

Jack Walker showed what that special thing was when Blackburn Rovers outspent them and won the title in 1995. United responded by buying it back, outspending them and everyone else over the next few years.

Chelsea – or should I say Roman Abramovich – came along in 2003 and went on what we thought at the time was the Mother Of All Spending Sprees.  Two years later they had paid enough to lift the crown.  Conservative estimates are that Roman has now spent north of one and a half billion pounds of his own personal wealth.

Then came Sheiikh Mansour and he really went to town.

During this period, Arsenal have built a new stadium and won bugger all.

It does not take Einstein to work out why.

It seems that we are now in a position to start shopping for players nearer to the top shelf. However, we are still miles behind United, Chelsea and City in terms of what we can consistently spend.

We have a large pot this year and might have a one off splurge. But it will be a one off. And we still cant go head to head in any type of auction with these three.

So what are we going to do?

Settle for Fourth?

I can’t imagine we have gone through the pain of the last eight years so that we can do that.

Well what then?

For starters we are going to have to buy cheaper, less complete players and turn them into world class players. Of course we are quite a way down this road already.  Jack, AOC, Aaron and Gibbs all have a chance of becoming really great players.

We will have to buy not only top players but also players that fit in with our playing style. I say that because millions of fans world wide have chosen to support Arsenal rather than trophy buying teams on the whole because of the way we play the game.  It’s not because of Herbert Chapman, Anfield ’89 or the Famous Back Five. These fans are more and more going to be vital in funding the club and buying merchandising. Entertainment will be paramount in future.

A manager that can follow the vision of Arsene Wenger and work within the parameters set by the board will have to be found.

This manager, because he will be working at a financial disadvantage, will have to be better than the managers at the other clubs for us to have a chance.

I personally believe that with the right two additions to our squad we will be very much in the mix. No matter what you think could have happened over recent years, the fact is we are in a very good position to kick on because of Arsene’s genius.

We need a manager as good as Arsene to take us forward.

In short, we need Arsene.

I have often said to anyone listening – and to a few who probably were not – that there is a certain magical element to football rarely encountered in other sporting environments.  Although I follow various sports and enjoy all manner of different cultural (and less-than-cultural) pursuits, there really is nothing like football for its combination of excitement, intrigue, glamour, history or sporting endeavour.  And that’s just a small and somewhat incomplete summary of the attractions of something that has at different times been called ‘The Beautiful Game”.

Whilst many of us have mixed feelings about the march of technology and social media in particular, this too has also worked to add to football’s magical mix.  There are countless numbers of football followers who ONLY know each other through the pages of social media, be it blogs, Twitter, Facebook and the rest.  Many have subsequently met up at matches as a result of online encounters.  Whilst it’s usually great to get together with like-minded supporters, the main magic has in fact already occurred as technology has effectively done the hard part and made the introductions.

Whilst I can’t speak for all blogs, here at PA we have many more readers and visitors to the site than actually contribute by way of written comment.  I think this is likely true of most blogs.  Whilst there may be many different reasons for a disinclination to ‘join in’, sometimes it’s something as basic as the language barrier.

I myself – and I know there are many like me – have always marveled at our overseas support and the latest bit of football magic appeared recently during the sellout games in the East as local Arsenal fans flocked to the games in Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan in their tens of thousands.  A little surreal?  Perhaps.  Unexpected?  Not totally!  But absolutely welcome.  It also got me thinking just how many follow the club from abroad and what it must be like to do so, possibly knowing that you may never make it to the Emirates in person.  For those fans, the blogs and Twitter are key sporting lifelines that create connections between those close in mind and attitude even though they may be many miles away.

By chance, I was again contacted last week by a hugely passionate and touchingly sincere Arsenal supporter from India.  What follows is the word-for-word exchange I had with one I’m proud to introduce as my friend, Nidheesh.  I wanted to share one overseas supporter’s experience of football – of supporting Arsenal specifically – as he expressed it via his online conversation with me a few days ago via the Direct Messaging facility of Twitter.

Nidheesh is a reader of many blogs but has previously steered clear of making comments (despite my earlier attempts at encouragement) on account of what he feels is his insufficiently strong grasp of English.  I hope Nidheesh will feel ready to share his views and thoughts in the near-future but for now, he has kindly agreed to allow me to reproduce his comments here from our recent exchange. His words appear in italics with my replies following in plain text; each paragraph represents a new Direct Message:

Hi Andrew, hope u r fine… I cant help myself but ask u that, do u believe what some people here saying Cesc has become a Gunner again?

AA: Hi Nidheesh – I honestly don’t know but some who know much more than I seem to think Cesc may be returning.  Have to wait and see I guess!

Thx for the reply Andrew. I am literally praying everyday for all pieces to fall in the right place come the end 🙂

AA: The foundations run deep and all our structures stand straight and tall; I’m sure we’re going to be just fine. Enjoy these times – exciting!

England is miles away from me. I may not see any of the players with my naked eyes. I wont be evn able to fly to London in my life ever…

But still I feel some telepathic kind of strng affinity for this club. I consider Arsene as a senior member of my family with admiration

 Believ me when we score a decisive goal and when Arsene smiles wholeheartedly, I too is smiling inside… I am exsttic to see Arsene happy

 All my glory hunting plastic club supporters used to mock me nd make fun of our miserly approach.  Earlier I tried to convince them our sitn [situation]

 But now I tell them, “Ya u ppl are right , wht to do?”, Bt inside I am laughing wid a feeling that says “You guys will never know this love”

 When I saw the pic of all Arsenal boys sitting in frnt of the Hanoi Pagoda, I feel them as my own.  I remembered what Dennis said

 U don’t support a football club for its titles or tradition. U support them because u find yourselves in some corner of it.

 Andrew, Sorry if I have went overboard, But lack of my English skills prevents me from expressing my love for The Arsenal to the fullest.

AA: Nidheesh – you have expressed yourself perfectly! For most of my life I lived too far from Arsenal’s stadium, never thought I’d see them

AA: for myself but eventually, after years and years, I finally got there and now I’m lucky enough to have a season ticket.  So I understand you!

AA: Are you in India?  What is your first language if you don’t mind me asking?  How do you get to watch the games on TV?

Please ask anything Andrew, I feel honoured to have company of a match attending gooner. Yes, I am from India, from South India.

Actually, Kerala, my first language is Malayalam.  We get to watch Arsenal on TV.. The premier league matches (3pm) kickoffs usually comes<<<

<<at 8.30 pm here, and the champions league matches comes at around 1.:15am.. I think we are getting the American commentary hre by Tony Gale

AA: Ah, you have to suffer for your devotion! Well the evening kick offs mean most don’t get home much before midnight which is late for those

AA: working the next day.  Also, bitterly cold in winter!  But all worth it.  Hopefully you WILL make it over here one day, don’t give up hope. A

Never felt like a suffering at all, I am working in a post Office which starts around 8.30 am. So I can’t stay all night till 1 am for >>

ECL matches, I go to bed at around 10 pm with alarm set on 1 am, But even my biological clock has understood the occasion and wakes me up

a minute or 2 before the alarm goes, I read somewhere that if u have a strong desire to accomplish something, ur subconscious conspires u to

[make] it happen

Let me go further ahead on the story,  I am an Engineering graduate, but working in  public sector wich demands lesser skills, in fact

the prospect of watching the match at The Grove alone makes me motivated to achve a job that rewards me better and make life bit more [adventurous]

I remember one of ur comments elsewhere, about u getting ur father in law(was it) to watch Arsenal for the first time.. Do you remember>>>

<<the phrase u coined??? The magic wich turns a 70 year man to a 7 year old boy… 🙂

Nidheesh can be found on Twitter @Nidsenal

Today’s article comes courtesy of The Beck.

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Sometimes, when I blog something, I feel like I’m writing about a viewpoint which some simply don’t want to hear or read.  Sometimes, I include even myself in that.  Such people might prefer sitting isolated, in complete bliss, a state which more easily suits their agendas or rationale.  Fortunately, in general, my experience with Arsenal supporters has only ever been good on the whole.

When I meet an Arsenal supporter – on the street, in a pub or online – I mostly find myself laughing.

The people I’ve met from Twitter, for instance, have been amazing and I can’t thank them enough for being in my life. Some people that I had only met once, were sat at tables waiting for me with a ready pint or a shot to start the night, whether I found myself in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the United States,  Canada or the U.K.

Unfortunately there are also times when I find myself speaking to a very small number of people who wake up every morning, feeling the club owes them something.  They also  appear to live with no small levels of resentment toward Arsenal, despite being supporters.

I’ve tried to understand and empathise with these people, but it’s getting more and more difficult for me.

There is also an even smaller number of supporters that perhaps, no matter what the club does, will never be happy, possibly because of ‘external’ reasons – maybe they have either a depressing life or a depressing view on life.

One has to ask the question: Are some supporters too caught up in feelings of entitlement.  Do they simply enjoy moaning?

I’m going to generalize here, and it’s done to make the point.  Sometimes it seems that half of the “Arsenal till I die!” fans, at some point during the transfer window will say something along the lines of:

“Oh! We haven’t signed anyone yet? Arsene out, Board out, Ivan out!”

Whilst we are all customers of Arsenal, we don’t own it.  It may be hard to swallow but it’s effectively the truth. Even if we were part of an ownership scheme, would we have the knowledge or experience to ask for things that are very likely largely beyond our understanding?

Take discussing transfer targets. Some hate it and some love it.  But to demand that your club signs a player, especially a specific player, simply highlights the fragility of your connection to your club. I’ve heard of people who can afford to buy season tickets but choose not to because they feel the club is in bad hands, or because they personally dislike Arsene Wenger. They don’t like what the club “has become.”

This is where we get the hilariously vague demands of “We want our Arsenal back.”

People might say:

“It was never a franchise! I hate Kroenke and his American franchise ways!” 

But that’s not true either, we’ve always been a type of franchise, some sort of business.  Supporters pay for tickets, tours, kits, events and online subscriptions.  Like it or not, we ARE a franchise, Arsenal football club IS a business.

But Arsenal Football Club is also just that, a football club. A club where emotions and traditions run deep, love flies high and memories are ingrained forever.

Some want to disassociate Arsenal P L C from Arsenal F C but it is futile to do so.  They are self-evidently connected.  They are one and the same and these two sides of the same coin have come together to ensure our club has become one of the richest in the world.  That didn’t just ‘happen’ by the way.

But to develop a great hatred of Arsenal as a business doesn’t particularly present you in the greatest or most intelligent light when trying to support Arsenal as a football club.  Especially when that hatred inevitably spills over to the football side and you suddenly find yourself in a supporter’s No Man’s Land.  Forgotten, misunderstood, no longer represented and utterly eclipsed.

What you might ideally want from your club is for those running it to find a way to balance it all.

Unfortunately, in modern life, supporters are often over-exposed to the business side.  Big numbers appear, complicated equations emerge and suddenly it seems that everyone has overnight gained a master’s degree in economics from the University of Cenral London. And nothing you say to them will be enough to convince them of anything that might challenge their point of view.

If you were to attempt to hold your club to ransom and threaten to boycott all things Arsenal until they got the place somehow back in order, Arsenal would simply find another supporter who IS willing to pay.  And in any case you are, in effect, alone in this.

Trust me.

Even if you get a group of like-minded people to do the same, Arsenal still has a waiting list of people willing to pay for the things some existing supporters currently take for granted and would prefer to ignore.

On a larger scale, if you choose to boycott the club during the playing season, it negatively affects players’ morale, the well-being of the staff around the club and the interests of the remaining fans that are supporting the club despite the rights or wrongs of your own personal position.

If you magically managed to have everyone not pay for anything associated with Arsenal until a change was instigated, it would have a destructive impact on the club, both financially and in terms of the club’s image.  Chances are there would still not be a change that all that many of us would be happy with.  

Everyone has their personal resentments.  Everyone has their personal loves.  Everyone has their own Arsenal.

We could theoretically set up groups, like the black bags, the grey scarfs, the turquoise snoods and what not, but again, each group would only ever represent a minority of Arsenal fans whilst supposedly talking for a majority.  Significantly, each of them would probably think that it is vital the whole fan base believes what their minority group believe.  In effect we would become a group of tiny minority cults within a much larger fan base, arguing with each other like it’s high school.

I’m very certain that if Arsenal listened to every group out there, we’d probably be bankrupt and our club probably wouldn’t even exist any more. However, AFC are professionals, they hire professionals, they are intelligent and they have intelligent visions.  Many take for granted the things Arsenal do behind the scenes – off the football field.  But just because they don’t represent on-field results does not mean they are automatically the negative or bad parts of the club.

I am in effect complimenting a business that isn’t mine because I am in love with the other half of it, the football side.  And I have decided I can’t separate both simply because I might be angry with Arsenal PLC. There isn’t really a point to supporting a club if you’re going to be angry with them every week.

Because that’s not support.  It’s just constant criticism.

If I did manage to separate them, it would feel like I am not really in love with Arsenal but rather with what they used to be and I am just hanging on until there is glory again. I don’t want to be like that, and I hope I never will be like that.

Arsenal have us all by the balls and I don’t mind admitting it.  We love the club. We want it to be successful.  Some of us not at any price and some at any price at all. But if they ARE doing the supporters wrong – and you truly feel that they are – I don’t think you will ever get ‘your’ Arsenal back.

It means you are a supporter of something in the past, not of the present, and the likelihood of you getting what you supported in the past is very slim.

And when ‘my’ Arsenal is gone, I don’t think I will ever get it back either.  I will either have to adapt to the new one, or constantly fall in love with it all over again, every year.  Pretty much like I am doing already.

I want us to be winning, not whining.  But I’m staying pure to the principles of support and my own principles.  Much like Arsenal have stayed pure to theirs in terms of class, respect and sustainability.

I think as supporters we should find a way to balance our love for Arsenal and our expectations of both the business side and the football side.

We should find an equilibrium that makes supporting fun, loving, easy and great, instead of depressing or filled with misery and constant moaning and unjustified criticism. This includes changing expectations yearly based on both business and football developments – or non-developments – as necessary.

I feel it is inexcusable to be angry and demanding with something you’re meant to love and can’t really change. And if our club did ever truly fall into terrible hands, there would need to be an entire strategic plan to ensure that the club stayed intact.  And that plan would be for the football side AND the business side.

Not run by a mob, ruling with impatience, fuelled by greed or the feeling of misplaced entitlement but in ways that are soundly moral and commercially sound. 

Ways that, as it happens, can be found throughout today’s Arsenal. 

Our Arsenal.

You can find me at HighHorseWankerThinksHesAllThat@hotmail.co.uk or, on Twitter @The_Beck_

We haven’t heard from our dear friend Frank for quite a while now.He is most likely doing the Grand Tour of Europe on Lady Nina,but wherever he is,he has my best wishes and I hope he knows how much we miss him.

Anyway,here is an old post from him that reminds us of his genius.

Frank looks back, more in sorrow than in anger, to re-tell a chilling tale of a long-lost summer of love, a terrible betrayal and lots of super furry animals.

I was mugged in Seven Sisters.

To be accurate I was attacked in Seven Sisters since nothing was stolen.

Cold bloodedly gratuitously attacked.  A summer afternoon several decades ago spent with a friend and I was heading home to Tufnell Park.  It was an early evening in July but I could hardly see as I turned into the tunnel heading for the tube, eating sausage and chips.  Out of nowhere something hit me on the back of the head and just as I turned, a fist hit me in the mouth.  I fell to the ground in a daze and the protagonists proceeded to kick the living shit out of me.

There was a lot a ‘fackin this’ and ‘kantin that’ as the boots went in and afterwards just the sound of nasal snickering.  Before I passed out I caught a glimpse of two of them.  One in white trousers and a bowler hat with ‘Tottenham Droogies’ written across the back.  The other had calf-length faded jeans, docs, white tee shirt, braces …. and a tattoo on his forearm.

A tattoo of a cock and ball.

I must have been out for a while because when I woke up, the ends of the tunnel were dark.  The reek of urine and unwashed bodies was only just bearable.  I was surrounded by squashed chips and, nestling in the gutter by the wall with not a bite out of it, was my sausage.  My head hurt like hell, split lip, bumps and bruises all over but I seemed to be OK.

I’d got away with it.

Could have been killed.  Could have been maimed or paralyzed for life.  Thankfully I had done what most blokes who are being kicked in the head do, I protected my privates.  Death is preferable to castration.

I had survived.

Slowly I got up.  I just wanted to get home.  Brushed off the fag ends, chewing gum, dog shit.  Stretched out my arms and then my legs, moved my head from side to side.  Tested my aching bones.  Nothing broken.  Lets go home, Frank.  Then someone behind me coughed.

I spun round afraid that they had come back to finish me off.

But there standing in front of me was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.  She had on an ankle length yellow dress and sandals.  She had long, long tresses of red hair and her smile was extraordinary; it could fill a room, or, in this case, a tunnel.  Her smell was intoxicating and as she touched my face with her hand I just knew that she was an angel.

I was dead and on my way to heaven.

She asked me if I was okay.  She asked me if I was in pain.  She asked if there was anything she could do for me … and before I could answer she passed me her guinea pig and started mopping my brow.

Guinea pig?

What the fuck?

She gave me a guinea pig?  Well yes she did.  She handed me her guinea pig.  Cleaned me up.  Took her guinea pig back.  Held my hand and took me to Tufnell Park.

That is how I met Maude.

Oh Maude, Maude, Maude – you were perfect.  She took me home to my apartment and stayed for three weeks.  What a three weeks!

Idyllic.

Walking on the Heath.  Drinking in The Flask in Highgate.  Strolling through Waterlow Park.  Saying “hello” to Karl Marx.  Wearing each others’ clothes.

Actually she wore mine, I didn’t wear hers, I really didn’t.  Getting drunk together on Grand Marnier and sick together afterwards.  Listening to a friend play folk songs outside the Admiral Mann.  I even started to read poetry, although it didn’t last.  Mostly though, we just made love.  Anywhere and everywhere.

In that time I was treated to a parade of animals.

Guinea pigs, rats, hamsters, geckos, turtles, tortoises, parrots, budgies, kittens, puppies, fish, snakes, you name it.

Every day she would disappear for a few hours and return with different animals.  Only on Sundays would she return without an animal and on Sunday evenings she was always very tired.  The explanation turned out to be a bit crazy but I could deal with it.  She let on that she was into animal liberation and spent much of her time nicking animals from pet shops and domestic animal stockists.

Her aim in life was to free them all.

Create an animal utopia where they could all live free from human bondage.  How she managed to get plastic bags of tropical fish and a twelve foot python out of a shop without anyone noticing I have no idea.  But she did it.  Insane of course, and I loved her all the more for it.  We were madly, stupidly, giddily happy.

Until that fateful day in early August.

So far we had lived in my flat.  It was OK.  But I was getting more and more curious.  Where did she live?  How long?  What was it like?  Was she sure that she was not using the animals as a cover for her sneaking back to a long time live-in partner or husband?

Joke, sort of.  What was she hiding?

After much cajoling on my part she finally agreed that we could stay at her place.  She lived in a flat on the first floor of a Victorian house on the A10 near to the junction with Clapton Common.  She had been on her way home when she found me in the tunnel.

So off we went.

We spent a pleasant few hours in the Spaniards’ Inn and went to a party with friends in Stoke Newington.  Caught a taxi to hers.  Let ourselves in.

Her living room was full of no-longer-soon-to-be-pets.

It was smelly and it was noisy, but she cleared a space  and we sat and drank tea and chatted amongst the boxes, cages, baskets and tanks.  Finally we fell into bed exhausted.  The following day was Monday and neither of us needed to get up early.  We were very soon fast asleep in each others arms.

We awoke on Monday morning refreshed.  She made cups of tea and brought them back to bed.  Gradually we began to get interested, the way you do.

We kissed and cuddled …

Then Maude whispered that she would like to make love in daylight amongst the trees and birdsong.  Her garden was beautiful at this time of year, she said.  She asked me to open the curtains and open the window.

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.

About as excited as I have ever been in my life I leapt out of bed, hopped to the almost full-length sash window and threw open the red velvet curtains to let the sun in …

The No 149 bus route has been transporting the residents of that area to the City for many years and I believe that it still does to this day.

In the days of the old Routemasters, in the rush hour the bottom deck was crammed full of people, many standing and some dangling from the platform at the back.  Upstairs was calmer and those fortunate enough to get a seat were able to read the paper or a book, do the crossword, do the Pools, knit, or in most cases just sit and watch the world go by.  There are a number of points on that journey where the bus comes to a standstill for quite a while as the traffic gets well and truly jammed.

One particular point is just outside Maude’s flat.

The floor of the top deck on those buses is roughly about the level of the first floor of that particular block of houses, and the windows of the bus are about six feet from the residents’ windows.  You can see awful lot from the top of that bus and on that day passengers had a real treat.

As the curtains opened they were greeted with … think of Leonardo’s Study of Human Proportions according to Vitruvius. 

But weedier and in a state of arousal.

For my own part I just remember seeing an endless stream of tickets coming out of the Clippie’s machine and thinking thank goodness they can’t see my feet because I’ve still got my socks on.  I turned to shout at Maude for setting me up, and as I did so I noticed something.  Something very serious indeed.  Something which caused me to shut out the embarrassment of the last few seconds completely.  I couldn’t believe it.  I froze.  The blood drained from my face and obviously from other places.

The bottom fell completely out of my world.

In the lower right hand corner of the window was a sticker.  Not a very big one, about the size of a bob-a-job sticker.  But this particular sticker had a motif on it.  A dreadful symbol.

A cock and ball.

We just hadn’t discussed football.  People had the summer off in those days.  No transfer activity.  I turned to her and just shouted “TOTTENHAM” at her at the top of my voice.  At first she completely misunderstood and she laughed and shouted:  “YES. YOU TOO …?”.

But before she could finish, she realised.

It was probably me screaming “YOU ARE A FUCKING SPUD” that gave it away.  Her beautiful face contorted into an ugly grimace and in a vicious whisper she spat “Arsenal.  You are a fucking Gunner?  You bastard”.

I couldn’t stay.

I needed air.  I grabbed my clothes, putting them on as I scrambled through the menagerie in the living room.  I got to the front door and slammed it to, shutting out the cacophony behind me.  I headed for a café on the corner of the block, ordered coffee and just sat in a window seat sipping and smoking.  I half expected her to follow and to be honest I half hoped that she would.

But I realised it was over.

I could take the pet rustling and I could even take being humiliated in front of a bus full of people but I could not take the fact that she was a SPUD.  That could never work.

But that was not quite the end of it.

As I sipped my third coffee, having smoked half a pack of cigarettes, two panda cars and a police van arrived at her flat.  Maude was led out in handcuffs and for the next hour policemen loaded the back of the van with her contraband, Noah’s Ark fashion.  I felt bad about that at the time as I watched her driven away in the back of the police car it seemed unjust that she should go down for stealing animals when she had such good if not misguided intentions.  It turned out in court about six weeks later though, that every Sunday she ran a pet stall on Club Row.

She had been nicking pets and flogging them on.  She also stole them to order.

I will always remember Maude though and if I ever meet her again, which is very unlikely, I know exactly what I will say to her……………

“CARMON ARSENAL CARMON ARSENAL CARMON ARSENAL

ARSENAL, ARSENAL, ARSENAL….ARSENAL, ARSENAL, ARSENAAAAL…ARSENAL, ARSENAL, ARSENAL….ARSENAL….ARSENAL”

Word of warning: I do not have to have the tactical knowledge of a primary school coach, let alone Wenger to fully appreciate or realize all the things Arteta does in the team. I just watch us play and will try to write on the limited things I see.

They don’t get it, do they?

Arteta is Arsenal’s deepest lying midfielder. Arteta is not a temporary solution or a patch up job. In fact, a temporary solution would be the player who plays in that position when Arteta is injured/rotated.

Looking back at our season now, I now notice that our midfield was in particular rarely overrun. Sure, there was the phase when the whole team played with fear and we were dominated. However, I am struggling to think of instances where the midfield two in front of the defense was the weak link.

You notice good attacking play by the buzzing of purposeful activity – the movement, triangles and passes. I am starting to think that the opposite is true for good defense. I think that a good defense is one that quietly and efficiently nullifies threats and brings last ditch defending to a minimum. An over worked defense making clearances, last ditch tackles and the goalkeeper making save after save is the one you notice.

Arteta was a vital piece of our usually quiet and efficient defense last season. If I think of Song in that position two seasons ago, I can picture the numerous times our defense was attacked after the opposition overran our midfield. Usually Arteta would be the one in our box, desperately defending. Now, Song was a good player, certainly much better than the then flavour of the month Scott Parker. Arteta is however much better in the role. That is why I think Song was sold without a fight.

I believe that even if you find yourself in something as physical as a street fight, you improve your chances if you are alert, think on your feet, are aware of your surroundings and look for effective ways to incapacitate your opponent.  That is what Arteta is to the team. He is a thinking fighter. He is not the guy rushing at you predictably with his arm raised. He is not the midfield tank that fells the opposing player. He is the guy who cuts off available channels for the opponent. He is the guy who steals the ball. The guy who turns attack into defense. As an attacker, he can pick a pass, hit a sweet free-kick and is the first person you would ask to take the penalty.

I think it was Poznaninmypants who said that Arteta is an extension of Wenger on the field. There is even a video on his blog showing them animatedly discussing football (It is possible the discussion is about Gervinho’s hair). They are at it for quite a while. I agree with Poznan and I think it is a big plus for Arsenal that we have a leader on the pitch who is on the same wavelength as our manager.

Wishing one of the best deep lying midfielders all the best for the new season and hoping he gets called up to play for Spain sometime in the coming year.

by Sensational Arsenal

Over the last decade, the fan base appears to have divided, firstly in small sections, but now it appears to have been divided further, in even smaller sections. We have a fan base that is so large and diverse; it really is bound to bring in lots of discussion and divisive opinions.

Sometimes I don’t even see Arsenal supporters anymore,  I just see groups of people, justifying within their groups and to each other about the things that go on at Arsenal, like their version of the truth is the correct one, or the truth at all.

The groups often get smaller and smaller, purely because people have grown more confident in their opinion on a certain subject, especially on Twitter.

People with a small number of followers tend to have very little to say, people with many, tend to have a lot, and with them, often strong opinions, that often get increase with time. People with a low amount of followers, often have strong opinions too, but are under-followed and perhaps are not as confident on their opinion on a particular subject at Arsenal, especially in comparison to someone who has gained a few thousand followers and believes that with them following him or her, it in turn, means they agree with his or her mind-set, therefore, they must be correct.

This is the one of the problems in social networking: an incredibly negative person, could attract negative people, because they might be like-minded, and therefore seemingly attacking positive people together for their way of thinking.  They could also seemingly attack those who are not as positive for not being negative enough, and attack each other for the sheer *joy of negativity*.

Of course, this can also happen to people who are incredibly positive, they often attract positive people, which is great, and also people who are in the middle, who often look for little bundles of positivity, but they also attract negative people, either looking for what little hope is left, or hoping to destroy the hope you have.

Many of our supporters have become more individual and have a much more personal Arsenal thanks to Social Networking, each believing their opinion for logic and truth, or they follow the opinion of someone with a lot of followers, sometimes without really breaking it down in deductible logic, which is quite worrying.

I’m not so sure everyone thinks the same on all things Arsenal, though many are divided into two groups, we’re very individual and we react to what suits our agenda, sometimes truth or logic suits our agenda and that’s the best kind of agenda to have.

This list is very long but the average Arsenal supporter has an opinion on everything (me included, I’m a bastard).  And I think compared to most football supporters. Many of the things we have an opinion on, is almost always divided into so many different ways, based on so many different stories, rumours and experiences.

These are some of the things our fans worry and argue about, yearly (some fans worry about these daily):

Arsene’s substitutions.

Arsene’s way of coaching.

Arsene’s way buying.

Arsene’s way of selling.

Arsene’s way of developing youth.

Arsene’s coat.

Arsene’s control, or lack of.

Arsene’s ability prior to Dein, after Dein.

Arsene’s ability before oil money, after oil money.

Arsene’s ways of lying to media, sometimes fans, to protect financial future of club.

Arsene’s ways of using his poker face, exceptionally.

Arsene’s negotiation skills.

Arsene’s way of ruining a player, by playing him out of position and Arsene’s ways of making a player world class, by playing him out of position.

That’s just Arsene, I’m sure there are lots more.

Gazidis’s job description, where he should be, what he should be doing, when he should be doing it, when he should go on holiday, when he shouldn’t.

The same goes for Dick Law.

Gazidis’s way of *failing* to get us player X, or selling a player that wanted out and more than we could offer him.

Those that feel Gazidis & Dick Law’s ways of helping us secure Koscielny, Arteta, Mertesacker, Monreal, Cazorla, Giroud, Podolski and also securing the long term contracts of Ramsey, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Wilshere, Chamberlain, Walcott, our British Core, has been ignored by those critical of Gazidis and Law.

Transfer Window: Cesc lovers, Cesc haters, RvP was right to leave, RvP as wrong to leave, RvP is a cunt , you name it, list is endless. The casual *we shouldn’t have let Flamini go in 2008*, or the usual *Sigh, they’re not like The Invincibles* & the ones that follow with no shit Sherlock.

The board’s lack of willingness to spend.

The board’s willingness to help us spend when we could, prior to stadium move (and decades before that), which helped set the stage for the, then to become The Invincibles.

The board’s sustainability concept being wrong or disappointing.

The sustainability concept being right, or great.

The values of the board and their vision.

Stan Kroenke is so silent that I’m sure some Gooners would sign him up for The Voice or X Factor, Usmanov is so loud that some would prefer they swapped P.R. groups.

The white lies the board have said in stating year after year that they would financially back Arsene, from 2006 to now ( what else are they supposed to say).

You can also find a huge difference in opinion on things not even concerned with football, but within the fan base itself.

People get angry over terminology, over acronyms, being part of a gooner family, being called a goonerette, a person’s attitude to values you hold dear.

Unreasonable demanding supporters &, reasonable demanding supporters arguing who is right and who is reasonable and who is unreasonable.

Supporters that don’t wish to abuse players, supporters that think it’s okay to abuse players, even if it’s their first season.

Foreign versus Home Support.

How quiet the Emirates can be.

Booing a player.

Not Booing a player.

And that is just within our club.

Twitter is just a huge giant mess of angry and often lovely Arsenal supporters at best.

Then you have the complainers, then the ones who complain about the complainers, and another group who complains about the complaints of the complainers.

Then you have wankers like me, who feels compelled to write this stuff like this and people like you who read this stuff, it’s all very tiring.

This summer has felt incredibly long even though it is the first summer in a long time where any player we buy effectively means we’re actually strengthening and not selling any key players. It’s not helped by people who are frustrated with all things Arsenal, just sat at a computer, with a readied negative response to anything.

It can get tiring. It is tiring.

Did I mention it was tiring?

It really is. Not just on Twitter, but in real life too.

Our fan base worries about so much so often, that I feel we forget what it’s like to support this club. We forget how easy it is to just enjoy *or stress in an orgasmic way* to a 90 minute football match.

There’s over a 100 things people disagree about in the club, based on who they know, what they’ve done and what they’ve been told. 90% of it might all be bullshit and they follow with conclusions to suit their emotions and yet they believe it to all be true, that’s what you’re dealing with all the time in our fan base.

Some of us, we all know each other too well, we’re all too busy picking arguments or trying to be right that we’ve all perhaps become a bit predictable and many have become grumpier and grumpier and are mocked for it, whilst others still hold on to the positive thoughts they have regarding the club and are mocked for that.

That list is very long, and it could get longer, debates are fun and they are a great way of communicating within a fan base, but ours seem to distract from the beauty of the game sometimes and focus on the blaming side of it. You don’t need to be waking up every day with someone to blame. Like you are a victim of being a supporter of Arsenal, waking up every day feeling entitled, like they owe you something.

We may need to stop worrying so much and get behind the team.  Actually, we definitely need to stop worrying so much collectively and get behind the team, all the time.

Confidence is a huge factor in performance; you can see that with Ramsey and many of our players.

I am sure no matter what our line-up is come August or September; they’re going to need our support. And in the end, that’s what we are, supporters, right?

We’re all fallible in so many ways and we don’t have the answer to everything, both in life and with Arsenal and that is completely ok.

I will leave you guys with a quote I attribute from my good friend Travis @Zitov2

 “People need your support at their worst, not at their best.”

 And although I believe Arsenal to be far from their worst, it still applies to many.

Have a great day!

 If you want to abuse me or love me after reading this, you can find me @ The_Beck_

It could just be me but I’m struggling to recall a time when there was more than merely the ability of players to be considered when thinking about the possibility of new signings.

Whilst the prospect of Higuain appears relatively free of controversy, only Fellaini and to a lesser extent Gareth Barry have enjoyed the more ‘conventional’ outcomes of debated good enough/not good enough verdicts being cast upon their vaunted moves south.

The ethical and moral dilemmas many fans of Arsenal find themselves in when wrestling with the Rooney/Suarez demons could likely only be surpassed by news that we might be about to sign Chelsea’s John Terry.

For different reasons, both Suarez and Rooney have been the rotton apple in the eyes of many neutral’s. For some Arsenal fans, the return of Cesc Fabregas to these footballing shores is also not without its difficulties, but for very different reasons.

Suarez is difficult.

For his antics at the World Cup, his unfortunate tendency to use his teeth in attack and the use of language that may or may not be technically racist but to most appears to be sat firmly in that particular corner of the room; he presents problems to supporters simply not used to their club’s reputation being potentially sullied by a player with his kind of baggage.

And Rooney is also tricky for many of us for, well, being Rooney, mainly.

That, but also for his regrettable tendency to play really, really well against us over many years; the absence of any kind of shyness when it comes to cheating (again, awkwardly for today’s consciences, something he has also done to us, with devastating effect), a largely regrettable history of personal PR disasters off the field that have at times made him something of a figure of fun and distaste in largely equal measure in the eyes of many (well, most of us, let’s be honest).

Yet, as I write, both these apparent undesirables seem to have a fighting, biting, diving chance of joining our beloved club. Which means, as supporters of Arsenal we may be shortly in the invidious position of, by extension, supporting one or even both of THEM.

On the upside, at least both are winners.

But for some of us, it’s not just winning that matters – it’s HOW we win. By this criterion, Cesc’s hypothetical return causes us the fewest problems; regardless of his occasional back-heeled lapses on the pitch and a somewhat ‘relaxed’ attitude towards contracts, he was never really known as a cheat; he was always more likely to throw the pizza rather than try to eat it – or his opponents.

One of the luxuries of being an Arsenal supporter is that we were never Leeds.

Or Wimbledon.

We never will be Stoke.

We’ll almost certainly never be managed by Sam Allardyce. Or Tony Pulis.

The closest we came, at least in recent memory, to cringe-making tawdriness is the alleged bungs of George Graham. But then we went and spoilt that by immediately sacking him. We have had the odd player behaving, well, oddly – few will forget the loss of Tony Adams to prison for excessive drinking and Paul Merson was clearly sailing close to all manner of windy excess. All hugely regrettable but rarely the cause of genuine, hand-wringing condemnation, at least at the time. At the time, George (Graham, not Blackburn) shouldn’t have got caught, and drink-driving wasn’t taken as seriously as it is today. Gambling, well, odds are it’s a mugs game, innit?

In some ways, this goes to the heart of our distaste when looking at the possibility of signing either Suarez or Rooney. We have never previously been desperate enough – or ambitiously mercenary – to win at all costs.

We have never previously needed to be.

Sure, we’ve been fortunate enough not to have to fight for our league status on a regular – or even occasional – basis. And we have never required our players to sacrifice their reputations in order to win games, to win the league or at the very least, prevent our opponents from doing so.

But one of the less commented upon downsides to the outstanding success of Manure’s mighty commercial arm is that these huge contracts facilitating their financial riches – which only now are Arsenal beginning to replicate – is that Manchester United HAVE to win. Their marketability depends upon it; their future survival as a top club now relies upon it. This is the price they pay for the scale of their sponsorship dealings. When Rooney dived to win the penalty that enabled his club to end our unbeaten run at game number 49, it wasn’t just to piss us all off mightily. It was cheating with one eye on winning a game and the other on helping to protect and promote United’s commercial interests.

They simply could not afford to have us running away with anything.

And, to some extent, this is the place Arsenal FC now start to find themselves.

As every season goes by, we are seemingly blessed by the opening up of new sponsorship channels. But none of these deals have been struck on the basis of the club resting in mid-table, or, even, doing a Liverpool or Spurs and merely threatening to break into the elite (and, whisper it, never quite managing to do so).

We are – or shortly will be – in the position where we, like Man U, HAVE to be winners on the pitch in order to justify our existing commercial relationships and facilitate the generation of new ones. Not just coming 4th or even 2nd but actually dusting down the trophy cabinet on periodic and timely basis.

The supreme irony of this is that, in future, we will need players of the calibre of Suarez and Rooney, prepared and capable of doing anything and everything on the menu to win for our club. It’s a shockingly distasteful truth but leaving aside these two, it’s worth taking a moment to consider that even The World’s Greatest Player (Messi, not Bale), routinely dives to gain advantage for his side. Yes, he does. And as for the Player of the Year, I’ve actually lost count of how many times Bale has been booked for diving and other simian simulation in the last season alone. (Okay, maybe he’s not been booked for his appearance). None of these players have been cast adrift by their clubs, at least, not up until now.

There will be many Arsenal supporters for whom this will be of very little consequence – many will be happy to adopt a ‘win at all costs’ mentality. Their anguished howling in the columns of Twitter are evidence they are already amongst us. And looking at clubs like Manure, Chelsea and City, it would seem that whilst you are winning, exactly HOW you are doing it is unlikely to be at the top of most fan’s discussion agenda. Even if the rest of the football world views things a little differently …

For those of us who DO struggle with the idea of Wayne or Luis coming to the club, the future could prove almost as challenging as, say, the last eight years or so of sticking by the club come what may, defending it against its own fans as much as the media and our opponents.

Up to now, our club’s quest has been a noble one, based on paying our way, self-sufficiency, ethical behaviour and any number of other white horses of virtuosity that have ridden our way.

But we may look back in a few years and smile at the summer our consciences’ spent so much time wrestling with the prospect of players like Suarez and Rooney.

For many neutrals, Patrick Viera and Roy Keane were brutes of players, always being booked and sent off for cutting loose with the rules and paying scant regard for the health and safety of their opponents. For the fans of both those clubs, they were simply probably the best midfielders in their club’s respective histories. HOW they came to be so effective was rarely criticised by their own fans and today is hardly even mentioned.

If you are a player who courts controversy, for as long as you are a winner, your licence to perform is unlikely to be rescinded. Our tolerance for those living on the edge of what is deemed acceptable will always be greater if they end up on the winning side. And whilst I’m not comparing Viera or Keane to Rooney or Suarez, there is surely some truth in the point that had they not been winners, their playing styles would have caused them to be labelled liabilities and their reputations would have ended up being very different.

And it’s worth remembering that Michael Owen was condemned by few for his World Cup dive against the Argentines – he won a penalty. Beckham was once castigated by all for his soft World Cup sending off – HE was blamed for that loss. No-one said a word about Gascoigne’s tearful semi-final booking as, in the end, it didn’t matter anyway, we never made the final. All three, one way or another, broke the rules, but our subsequent treatment of them all was very different.

If either Rooney or Suarez do indeed join us, some suggest that Arsene can be relied upon to rein in their worst excesses. Which, of course, he could well do.

But who will rein US in, with our expectations of success and tolerance for the behaviour of those who deliver it, wayward or otherwise?

Exactly how much are we prepared to pay for success?

ArsenalAndrew@luckietwit

A lot has been said this summer, when you consider how little has happened. The transfer window is a time for liars and their prey to come to the fore. While it is largely irrelevant what is said by would-be “ITKs”, it does create anticipation among fans. Anticipating something which may not happen usually only brings disappointment. When we talk about football fans, we can safely assume that the disappointment will be promptly followed by anger and petulance. Some of these swill merchants have been kind enough to identify themselves with ridiculous handles like Agent1324 or JohnTheAgent, but there are others. Others who believe things they are told and pass it on as fact. The recipient, mindful of just how confidential this “information” is, instantly passes it on to his pal – In the strictest of confidence. Before you know it, everyone is certain that something is happening, except it’s probably not. Knowing just how fragile fans are, I feel a little more responsibility is needed.

I don’t really have much more to say on that issue, so here’s this…

A moral dilemma has befallen the club and it is causing a lot of debate among the Arsenal faithful. Three players who have been linked with the club have caused outrage among certain sections and it is hard to blame any of them. Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas are all top names in football and two of the three, I believe, play the game to the highest standard. But it is not their ability to play which has caused such a kerfuffle. Suarez’s various offences are well known, Cesc, allegedly, went on strike in his last season with Arsenal and almost certainly left the club under a cloud of acrimony, while Wayne Rooney is widely known as one of English football’s knobheads. So should a club of Arsenal’s standing be entertaining the idea of signing such divisive players?

I believe that most people who object to our former skipper rejoining could be appeased by a carefully put together statement from the player and manager. Fans pour their hearts into the club and expect the players to do the same. Fabregas could reiterate his never-ending love for the club and, I believe, most objectors would come around pretty quickly. Of course, some will feel that you should never go back and “once a cheater always a cheater” but they will be the minority who will only be swayed by a lengthy display of loyalty – A completely understandable position to take. There will also be some who seem to believe that any error of judgement should be punished and never forgiven. Theirs is the position I can relate to the least. These are people who have never made a mistake and, therefore, don’t know what it feels like to need forgiveness.

Rooney is a notorious cheat, ref-abuser and, most heinously of all, unbeaten-run-ender. To go along with all of this, Rooney presents another problem. No matter how good you believe him to be, one cannot deny the deterioration of his form. He hasn’t become the player that I personally expected to see by now – Instead he is a temperamental sort who, on his day, can cause serious problems for opponents, but is often found to be frustrated and angry during games. For these reasons, for me anyway, the Rooney dilemma isn’t one at all. I would rather we didn’t sign him.

The Suarez situation is far more complex than that of Rooney. His football is better and his offences are worse. Diving is unwelcome in the sport, let alone our club, but it is forgivable to most people, I suspect. A few of our players have done it and I haven’t seen calls for them to be sold. All a diver needs to do to be forgiven is stop diving. The biting incidents show an angry and dangerous side to the player but this is not something for which, I believe, a guy should be very heavily punished. Angry people need help, for their own sake’s as well as those around them.

Then there’s the big one. RACISM! Discrimination is, sadly, a daily occurrence for many people. In all its forms, discrimination is disgusting. Be it a casual comment or the systematic oppression of a group, discrimination is affecting the lives of billions. So how could anybody be OK with what Suarez has done? The truth is, very few people are OK with it. However, we must also recognise that people are products of their environment. I’m not going to suggest that what he said is a term of endearment in South America or any such rubbish, but it is clear that Luis Suarez has somehow come to the belief that he is entitled to speak to people like that. That makes him wrong, not evil. From a moralistic point of view, it’s his apparent lack of remorse which causes me the most concern. ‘Footballistically’, £40,000,000 is a lot of money for a guy who spends chunks of time suspended.

An enquiry concluded that Luis Suarez had used racist language to abuse Patrice Evra but that Suarez was not a racist. Anyone citing either of these findings to support their U-turn is, in my view, disingenuous. If you believe every ruling from the courts, you’re a fool. If you know that justice is handed out to those who can afford it, or fit the correct ethnic profile, and you still use the findings of the enquiry to support your flip-flop, you’re a joke. What won’t you say to better yourself?

It is nothing new in such debates to have extreme views on either side, with the majority lying somewhere in between. I believe that most Arsenal fans enjoy the fact that our players are not inclined to be in trouble with the authorities, and generally don’t bring the game into disrepute. I also believe that every Arsenal fan would like to see us compete for the two big trophies. So, is there a compromise to be made? Can we find it in our hearts to forgive? If one of these players arrives, will the fans support them and allow a fresh start? I do hope so.

Of course, we could always sign Higuain and please everyone.

Thanks for reading,

Up the Arsenal!

By @Bradyesque7