I got told to take a day off, so I did. I liked it so much, I bought the company. GoonerAndy is here to take the reins…
Like all of you, I am an Arsenal fan. No more, no less. Arsenal have never done things the easy way. We do things the Arsenal way. Many will attest this is the “right” way and no-one said it was the easy way. Even in glory, we often teeter on the edge of the chasm. Maybe we are just curious to see what is down there, who knows? But this just emphasizes the Schizophrenic nature of our club. Equally capable of the sublime and the ridiculous. Rich beyond our dreams but the ultimate bargain hunter. So close…
Let’s get one thing straight between us: I am an Arsène Wenger supporter. He is a man who has done great things for this club and in truth, football in general. But we are at a point where he is being seriously questioned. A big part of this comes down to the element which makes the world go round: CASH. We are rich but despite many internet wizards’ calculations, no supporter knows the actual amount available for strengthening the squad. And rightly so. If Arsène has been limited to a virtual nil net spend each summer – often actually making profit – he has performed miracles.
If he had greater funds and chose not to strengthen, it is verging on negligence given the past 5 or so years. Is there the fabled “middle ground” in this scenario? No. All too often I wonder if we were only a couple of players away from something special. Not £100m pound players, just a couple of our normal captures.
But that is only half the equation.
Given the players we have, should we not be doing better? If so, is it the coaching and tactics which should be called into question? As fans, I think it is only natural to “big up” our players. Maybe some of our players are simply not as good as we think they are? Mikel Arteta is a good example of this; I like him, in fact I have not spoken with an Arsenal fan that doesn’t. He is an automatic starter. But eight years ago he would not have made our team. So have our standards dropped, or do we over-expect from our players? There are already too many open questions in this paragraph and that is something I wish to avoid as it is obviously subjective. I am, after all, a professional. At what you may ask? And you would be right to ask, but we may get to that later. I digress.
As Mr Zimmerman once mused, “the times are a changing”, and the old sage was right; they are. Or more accurately, they have. Our club is taking a hard-line stance at this decisive point. The original plan of building a great new stadium, becoming self-sustaining but with massive revenue and dominating the footballing landscape was a brave one. And as mentioned earlier, the “right” one. But things have vastly changed since we set upon that path. The changes mean that rewards will not be as vast as first thought but we are sticking to our path and for that we should be applauded. There is a saying “when in doubt, do something”. Personally, I prefer the opposite “when in doubt, do nothing”. Panic and rash decisions are not the way forward, for proof look at the fiendishly posh folk in Chelsea.
Back to our Schizophrenic. It even stretches to us, the mere fan. I begin every Arsenal game with the smug knowledge that we will win. Every time. Even a couple of goals behind with the 87th minute approaching, I am still steadfast that we are just about to score the goal which will turn the game on it head. We will get an equaliser…..maybe even the winner. Yes, that is what is about to happen. And then the full time whistle blows and I can attempt to absorb this surprise defeat in the way only an Arsenal supporter can do. How did this happen? We had plenty of the ball zipped it about very nicely, thank you very much but didn’t create many chances though in truth. The opposition hardly got near our goal; they only had three shots on target – scored with two of them. A glib and tongue in cheek way of looking at things but it struck me after I had committed it to my cheap Dell screen, just how true it was.
The stats will tell you that we concede roughly the same amount of goals as other teams in our sphere but your eyes tell you something completely different. Those damn eyes, the ones often covered with fingers as the ball is pumped towards the ensuing chaos in our area. In truth, we are pretty disorganised at the back and the team shape leaves the back four hopelessly exposed. Our goals against column is respectable because we hog the ball for the majority of the game like John McFastfoot used to do in the playground. Nothing wrong with that either, it is a good method of defence but if allied with a better functioning rearguard, it could make all the difference. We are good with the ball, but not without it.
There is nothing else for it at this point; time to wrap up this stream of consciousness dripping out of every orifice and onto your screen/tablet/phone. I have covered precisely none of the points I set out to which may – or may not – be a good thing. It has been a somewhat cleansing experience for me. I suspect for you, sat out there in the ether of the internet, your eyes may now be starting to bleed a little. I have used the words “I” and “you” liberally in this little rant, but in truth the more appropriate word is “we”. Because when all is said and done, we are after all, Arsenal supporters for good or ill.
’til Tomorrow
Nah.
Bill – agree with you there! Saw him in Las Palmas last year, in a half-empty stadium, at the front; after 2 hours i wanted a break and another beer, but the Boss kept on rockin’ ! Great tribute to Clarence Clemens as well… ppl. were openly weeping.
The problem for me is that I have impeccable taste, possibly the best in the world so naturally I take on the dominant role in any conversation involing musi and I end up mentally shooting down everyones inferior taste in my mind. I can’t help being better.
Shame my typing doesn’t hit the same heights.
Zinc @ 7:35.
You are so full of shite that I I can smell you over here in Texas.
.
Ponyboy.
Springsteen is truly “the Boss”.
Dunno why you’re laughing JJ, that’s easily the least funny thing I have ever written.
Bill – that’s not shite you can smell, it’s Texas. I’ve heard the sausage factories smell awful?…from King Of The Hill.
Zinc
Texas does have its unique charms.
im off to see springsteen in july
hes the opening act in the new leeds arena..
if thats ok with you zinc?
I do have a soft spot for Hank Hill despite his right wing polical beliefs.
well i tell a huge porky..
elton johns the official opening act but the boss is giving the place a ‘test’
hes breaking it in for everyone..
Fucking hell, Mumford and Sons? They’re fucking awful. It’d be great if i never had to listen to one more of those shitty new banjo twiddlin bands ever again.
and thats coming from someone who likes blur??
ha
Not really JJ, but if you’re going from Mumford & Sons to Bruce you’re heading in the right direction. Keep going!
i’ll tell you waht happened
it was one of those nights that wasnt planned by me..i get dragged along cos sometimes you do these things to get laid..
i ended up really enjoying it..probably out of shock but there you go, they were good
would i go again? no
do i have any merchandise? no..
are they in my all time list of amazing musicans? no
but they were good live..yeah..
the best football game ive seen live was down the local park..sometimes it happens like that..
ok?
You don’t have to defend your terrible taste in music JJ, we all have our weaknesses.
haha you bellend..
Blur is rather fine band but like i said earler JJ it takes all kinds mate. Im just taking the piss.
me too buddy..
if we cant take the piss out of eachother then we might as well be nuns..
youve had me in stitches anyway..
Can’t forget about Teenage Fanclub. Heavily influenced by the great Big Star and also happened to be Kurt Cobain’s favorite band.
King of the Hill rules. Such a great show. Anything Mike Judge touches is pretty much gold.
I’m back
Nice write up GA, or at the least an interest read. I am a fan, I know I’m a fan because the disappointments of late have been crushing my soul. It is not all bad, I know I’ll be back for more punishment next year, with or without European Football.
I’m of the mind that the team has lost its identity and until they come to grips with who they are and how they play, we’ll see more of the same old Arsenal of this year. We are not an efficient football team, we play a high possession game yet lack the creativity to deliver from that possession. I don’t think it is because we don’t have capable players, it is increasingly obvious that the players are becoming more strangers than team mates. I wish I knew what Arsene could do to turn it around, the malaise is a blight on the good name of the club. Transitional period again? maybe, but the club has to take ownership of that.
My greatest fear now is that the club will sell to offset the losses of the CL income. It is not a done deal of course that we won’t make it, but to hope we get in whilst others drop points is missing the fact we have been incapable of sustaining good performances together for almost all of the year.
“Zinc
March 6, 2013 at 8:19 pm
You don’t have to defend your terrible taste in music JJ, we all have our weaknesses.”
Sorry mate but I just went out checked again and the odor of shite is definitely coming from you. Tough luck, must be difficult keeping friends.
.
In all honesty, I’m due a shower.
You might want out what I wrote about the Fix at Man U- Real Madrid match. It was a great match until that point. bobby gee wordpress. It is two stories about it. This BS is killing the game. It is banana republic stuff
Poor game in Paris
Hope Valencia nick it as PSG dire
Wow Gandy, good job man!
By god that was poor
I’ve seen better in the Championship
Or Stoke
Ghandi – nice try, altho’ to be frank I can’t remember much of what you wrote. I hope you’re eating better these days.
Freakin’ JJ and his need to get laid to Mumford and sons ~ it’s the stuff of nightmares. At least we have the Bobster’s blog when in need of sanity and original thought. ACLF – something for everyone…
English hopes lie solely on Arsenal.We can do it because we are the arsenal.
Nope, the best we can hope for is that the scoreline isn’t embarrassing.
I thought that was Old Goldenballs gunnerlife?
Zinc – Heh, I usually take your line of thinking when discussing music. Everybody is entitled to their opinion of course, its just that mine is the only one which which is right. If somebody does not like a band/artist I do, they are simply mistaken the pour soul
Mumford and Sons were on at a festival I was at last year in Holland. As was Springsteen. When they were on I naturally used the opportunity to spend some quality time at the bar and laze in the sun. I debated attempting to throw a cup of piss at them , but couldn’t be bothered. And also thought it would be a waste of piss.
I meant poor
JJ
> best band ive seen live were mumford and sons
Yea Gods…
Good write up GA.
Right, enough about football.
Noel Gallagher( despite his team)
George Harrison
Tom Jones( for Ramsay)
Noddy Holder
Adele
These arent my top 5, by the way, just omissions.
Lennon the man
I will tell you a band worth watching live. The Hives.
I never play their music, but don’t dislike it. They are amazing live. I have never seen a front man (Howlin Pelle Aqvist) work the crowd like he does.
Saw Clapton and Winwood and RAH lat year, still brilliant.
Phil – He was certainly more effective than Theo at the weekend.
Back to football temporarily,
To JJs point made about 100 posts ago,
We have had sufficient funds to compete.
despite the stadium, we have frequently had 2nd, 3rd, or 4th highest wages bill.
It’s not as though Wenger has over achieved, using wages as a barometer.
Having the 10th biggest wage bill for example and consistently finishing 4th, would be overachieving. We are roughly where we belong. Winning the title requires more investment, and smarter decisions on personnel, and yes extracting more from the players we have.
I can’t believe I missed that!
Good embarrassing pick up GA
No problem pony boy, you’ve gotta love the Waterman.
http://www.aclfarsenal.co.uk/?p=10765
Another post hits the world before mid-day – this could be a record…