Reading Rich Goddard’s article on his refusal to go back to the Emirates until Wenger himself moves out, I feel that AW needs to receive some praise as well. I’m not necessarily an AKB (Arsene Knows Best), but neither am I an AMG (Arsene Must Go) in any way shape or form either.
Unfortunately Arsenal fans are being split into these groups with increasing tension, and I’m rather stuck in between the two; there are two sides to the argument and I subscribe to both of them.
Firstly, let’s look at the negative side of having Mr Wenger as manager: Despite Ivan Gazidis’ declaration that we have £70 Million waiting to be spent in the bank, Wenger refused to spend any money on strengthening the squad, which was what was desperately needed. Stevan Jovetic, Cesc Fabregas, Gonzalo Higuain, Marouane Fellaini, Wayne Rooney, Bernard, Luiz Gustavo, Luis Suarez and many others have been linked with Arsenal (my advice would be to not listen to a word that the press have to say on these matters until said player is unveiled by the manager), and Wenger has declared an interest in a few of these players but none of them have come.
Is it that these players wanted to see other big names arrive first, or did Wenger just not meet the demands of all concerned? Either way, his ways of doing business have failed; so much so that he tried to sign Suarez (the epitome of someone who shouldn’t play for a club with as much class as Arsenal). Arsenal is a club built on a tradition, class and history (something we Gooners remind Chelsea, the two Manchester clubs, Tottenham and a few others that they are lacking in, in at least one of those respects). Wenger has certainly made some history, kept our class intact and kept most of the traditions going.
But you could certainly say that building the Emirates Stadium is taking away a big Arsenal tradition. It is certain that with the arrival of the Emirates, the ‘old’ Arsenal left us. It turned the club into a tourist attraction, causing the standard of the atmosphere to drop (just look at the standard of Arsenal’s outstanding away support as a comparison). It is now a common sight to see a few tourists or a family turning up to a game as a bit of a nice day out.
Many hardcore football fans will agree with me when I say that that is just not the ‘way’. However, it is also not the ‘way’ to boycott games over a simple result. It is not the ‘way’ to abuse the Arsenal manager and players personally, as I saw a man doing behind me at the recent Villa game (my father’s cousin, who is eighty years old and whom I sit next to, simply said; ‘Oi! Shut up!’ Which proved very effective). Although many children sit in the ‘Family enclosure’ (another nasty corporate invention), some still sit in the normal area of the Stadium. This is teaching them that the ‘way’ to support Arsenal is to complain the moment things become difficult.
No matter how bad things get, how much I want to protest, I will turn up to the Emirates, because it is what I love doing. If needs be I will protest before and after games, but I’ll never not turn up for that reason.
Wenger has and still is doing many great things for this club. Building the Emirates Stadium robbed Arsenal of some of its tradition, but we have to accept that Arsenal would not have been able to get anywhere and compete financially with a stadium as small as Highbury. Building that stadium built Arsenal a building block towards success; which makes it such a shame that Arsenal aren’t being successful.
Most of the English people reading this will listen to BBC Radio 5 Live on occasion (perhaps some Americans do too) and those who do may remember that an ex-Liverpool chairman was on one morning, and he pointed out that what Wenger has done, i.e. build a new stadium and still play in the Champions League every year despite having no money to strengthen the squad is absolutely impossible.
Look at other clubs who have built new stadia: have Sunderland had any success? Were Manchester City going to get anywhere near success were they not to have been bought by a Sugar Daddy? However, now we have got the money it makes it all the more frustrating that nothing is being done with it. If I were an Everton or Tottenham fan, I would be delighted with Arsenal’s current position, regardless of the fact that my team wasn’t reaching its full potential. But this is Arsenal we’re talking about. We do our best with the cards we’re dealt. And by God, Arsenal have been dealt a brilliant hand.
For about five years Arsenal have been an a couple-of-signings-away-from-greatness team, and yet those couple-of-signings have never been made. Look at the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons. Despite having next to no players at times and having disastrous results every month, Arsenal stayed in the title race until late April, when they really decided to start losing. Had Arsenal not had to play Arshavin at Centre Forward and signed someone World Class instead, and the next year had Arsenal had a centre-back who wasn’t injured and had signed someone World Class instead, do you really think they wouldn’t have won at least two or three trophies, if not more?
I haven’t defended Wenger well enough here, but if he finally moves up a level from the brilliant foundations which he has built, we’ll all be singing and dancing all the way to Wembley. Give him one more year.
Thanks for Reading, you can follow me on twitter – @notsohuge_o as well as our other massive Gooners – @RoryHarbaugh, @R1chierichguner, @JimPow77 and @TonyNYGooner. Give the site a follow while you’re at it – @LastWordOnSports.
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football or with our new IRC football Chat.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? Find more info at our “Join Our Team” page.
