I hadn’t meant to write another blog post so quickly after my last two, however after seeing “fan” or “supporter” comments on Twitter in response to our recent signings, I felt compelled to write something detailing my thoughts on how we interact and conduct ourselves when discussing the club we profess to love.
Firstly, I often use the terms “fan” and “supporter” interchangeably, without considering if there is a difference between the two. For the purposes of this article I will simply say “supporter(s)”. If you have even the most remote interest in The Arsenal, then that’s enough to be called a supporter.
Second, and most importantly, your opinion as a supporter matters. However the manner in which we give our opinions needs revision. You might be disgruntled with the direction of the club, or decline in league position over the last 10-15 years, the apparent lack of involvement of our owner (a common misconception), a particular player, the manager, the mascot, the price of a chicken pie at half time…. whatever. All these are legitimate complaints (apart from Gunnersaurus, you monster) and expressing your opinion is totally your right. Especially if you spend a decent amount of your disposable income on watching them and buying the merchandise as well as time following them.
However.
Tweeting insults at players is not on. Aaron Ramsdale is a Gooner. Not only contractually but a supporter also. He loves the club. His transfer fee is literally nothing to do with him personally. That is a contractual sum agreed between Arsenal and Brighton for his registration. The fact Arsenal spent £24m (rising to £30m) in today’s market for a talented and developing English goalkeeper is great business. He will challenge Leno (which Leno needs) and will ultimately replace him. What, did you want Neto? An over the hill wage-drain which we would have to spend more money replacing? We have a young Gooner between the sticks now. So many supporters complain that players don’t care anymore and collect their wages dispassionately from the club whatever their performance level. Ramsdale is a supporter too, so you couldn’t be more motivated to perform as a player.
Arteta? A fraud! A fake! He is to blame for our consecutive 8th place finishes! If you think that, you clearly have not been paying attention. If Pep Guardiola (one of the most decorated managers of the modern era) says Arteta is a great coach, then he is a great coach. He visibly wept when he retired from the club, such was his adoration for The Arsenal. He came back as manager as he had a clear idea of how to return the club back to the summit of the Premier League table. All players and those connected to the club speak of the exciting strategy Arteta and Edu have mapped out. This really is not PR. Anyone could see through it if they wanted. Arteta is a talented, young and (extremely) ambitious manager. He has a game plan and has been assembling the squad for it since he arrived. Supporters seem keen to wave away the valid argument he took the job before the covid-19 pandemic and then went onto to experience the most challenging inaugural season any freshman manager has ever experienced. He is dealing with a myriad of issues on and off the pitch from at least least a decade of mismanagement by the Arsenal Board.
Yes all other Premier League managers faced covid-19 impacted season. But none of them are the manager of Arsenal Football Club.
The playing squad is now almost exclusively made up of talent in their early 20’s who have their careers ahead of them. Some are truly world class (Odegaard/Saka/ESR), some have something to prove and other “Elder Statesmen” (such as Aubameyang, Lacazette, Xhaka, Pepe) have bags of experience and leadership qualities that compliment the youth nicely. Is this a top 4 squad? Potentially. I mean seriously potentially. I don’t give much head space to tired pundits lazily selecting Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool or Manchester United in their preseason waffle. Remember, we were only 6 points off top 4 last season. 6 points. If it wasn’t for the horrendous run off games over the winter of 2020 this gap would have been smaller or nonexistent. Arteta has a process and you can debate if he has the calibre of player to carry it off. I think he does now and, being serious, he does need to now demonstrate this on the pitch. I believe he will.
How does abusing a player who plays for your football club motivate them to do well? How does calling someone an insult either from the terraces or on social media fill them with drive and confidence to win? It doesn’t. Imagine if you went to work next week and a customer or colleague called you up and told you that you were “f*cking useless” and a “clown” and told you to quit? Would this give you a spring in your step and extra bounce to your jig? Or would you fume over this all day, be miserable to your family and friends and stew on it until your next customer or colleague interaction? The latter is more likely. Whatever you think of Xhaka (who was made captain by the way as a classic management technique to instill confidence and belief after the summer transfer saga), its not right that he gets so much abuse. I totally understood him when he marched off the pitch against Crystal Palace in 2019 and told the fans to “f*ck off”, I would have done the same. Xhaka is not my favourite player but just because he is paid more than us, it doesn’t give us the right to lay into him when we think he hasn’t had a good game. Again, abuse and insults are not good motivators.
The next time you feel the need to abuse a player of The Arsenal, or the owners or the club as a whole, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I have experience playing football at elite level?
2. Do I have experience as a manager of a Premier League football club?
3. Do I have experience as a top flight football coach?
4. Am I an expert at football finance and player transfers?
5. Do I understand man management?
6. Am I an expert of football tactics and strategy?
I could go on. But in all likelihood the answer will be a resounding “no” to all of them. If so, don’t say anything. Nothing. Write what you wanted to say on a bit of paper and immediately throw it in the bin. No one wants to know. You are entitled to your opinion, but not an abusive one. Being nasty to someone you have never met about a subject you know little/nothing about is not clever, not funny, not constructive and not wanted.
How ridiculous is it that only a week ago, a subsection of the supporter base called our transfer business abysmal and terrible then as soon as we buy Odegaard and Ramsdale our transfer business is suddenly considered excellent! Which is it? So long as the club do what you think it should do, then they are doing a great job? Give me (and the club) a break, please.
What we want now, all of us, is for The Arsenal fanbase to unite as one. Support your team. Cheer for them. Commiserate loses and celebrate victories. Support the manager – whatever you think of him, he needs your support. You might be wrong about him, be open to that. You might be wrong about that player you insulted last week or yesterday. Arteta’s plan might work. Get behind the boys and drive them to win. If they play badly, support them. If an own goal is scored, support them. If we get crushed by Chelsea, support them. It doesn’t matter how much they cost, what their position is, where they have come from or what happened last season. The Brentford result is irrelevant. The next game is all important.
Who knows, now we are allowed back in stadiums to watch football, the missing ingredient to Artetas masterplan might be you – the supporters. Imagine how pumped up the boys will be going out to a blast of noise from the supporters at The Emirates? That injection of adrenalin might be the difference we have been waiting for.
So, next time you want to voice your opinion, please do so respectfully. Don’t abuse, insult, swear, heckle or jeer. Support our boys as the supporter you consider yourself and claim to be. Arsenal are known for their class. Let us as supporters be known for the same thing too. It might make the difference this year. It might make the impending “All or Nothing” docu-series more enjoyable to watch too!
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