Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
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Gooners versus goners
Don McMahon
Every true Arsenal fan or supporter is known as a Gooner. The origin of this nickname is claimed to lie in the adaptation of the term used for AFC’s players, the Gunners-referring to our artillery badge. However there are now a new group of Arsenal aficionados who I shall term ¨goners¨, coining the American slang expression for those who are on their last legs. Another way of naming them is to refer to them as gooners, with a small g.
What are the characteristics of these purported fans? I have written about them in many other articles but here are their basic attributes:
1) They always look back at our past glories because they fear the future, which to them is bleak and unpromising at best and a total disaster at the worst.
2) They never fail to criticize the team, the manager, the management, the players, the club policies, or whatever piques their negative fancy. A potentially good new signing is, in their pessimistic world view, a less than desirable investment in the distant future or a second rate knock off, unworthy of their high expectations.
3) They are invariably nihilistic and persistently refuse to listen to others’ views and opinions if they don’t concur with their own.
4) The reason I call them goners is that, in their opinion all future success is a goner while Wenger is still manager, and/or the current Board is in power, or while such and such a player(s) is/are still at the Club….they want them gone! It also references their desire to get rid of players they feel are deadwood but they don’t always agree on who fits that category.
5) Finally, all of them have an arrogant ¨I told you so¨ attitude and some even openly wish AFC to lose so the majority,supposedly blinkered supporters (Gooners) will, out of anger and despair, rise up and boot Wenger out. They share a common illusion that confuses AFC with someone who cares about their rancourous opinions.
These goners seems to overlook one obvious fact when dissing AFC’s chances and whining about how crap we will be. There are 6 teams in the fight for the title, including Arsenal. Each of them play each other twice during the EPL season. Each will try and take maximum points from the other 5 and what will likely happen is they will end up tripping each other up. The Spuds and Liverpool are likely to cause a few surprises but in the Tiny Totts case, they haven’t strengthened themselves other than in nets. Liverpool look slightly stronger than last year and if Suarez has another banner year, they could end up taking a few points from the other 5. One way or the other King Kenny will get them playing with heart.
Manure will most certainly drop a few points,like they did last season and Chelsea don’t appear to be getting any younger even with the few new faces they brought in.
The elephant in the room is Shitty. They have more talent on their bench than most non-top 4 teams have on the field. Mancini is an excellent manager but he has an even worse problem this season than last…he has more superstars to keep happy. How he is going to manage keeping 6 guys, all of whom could play in any other team as a starter, satisfied to sit on the bench each week or play 1 in 5 games, I don’t know.
Now to Arsenal. Here is my take on what positions have been strengthened from last year using a scale of 1-10 with 1 being dangerously weak 5 being the same and 10 being vastly improved:
Goal: Szcesny,Fabianski,Mannone – more experienced and mature 6
Back 4: Sagna, Jenkinson,Vermaelen,Kos, Djourou, Squillaci, Gibbs,Traore – slightly better 6
Defensive midfield: Song,Frimpong,Diaby – slightly improved 6
Midfield: Ramsey,Wilshere, Nasri, Cesc?,Rosicky, Arshavin – if Cesc & Nasri leave – weaker 4
Attackers:Gervinho, Walcott, OAC, Ryo, Campbell, Vela, RVP, Chamakh – much stronger -8
substitutes: OAC, Campbell, Chamakh, Lansbury, Jenkinson, Squillaci, Djourou, Traore, Frimpong. Rosciky. improved from last year 7
Do we really need this constant barrage of whining, groaning, agonizing, pessimism pouring out of their orifices like sewage from the Football world’s lavatories? Does this ¨In Arsene we rust¨ rant add anything to the club’s motivation, confidence and enthusiasm for the coming season. Does the occasional booing of players at home improve the climate and the morale of our players? Does the incessant criticism of so-called deadwood leave room for these same players to want to improve and if they do, will they be commended by their same demeaners?
No one is asking any supporter to close their eyes to the issues at the Club. But presuming the manager,the board and the players are blissfully ignorant of their failings or determined to ignore them and constantly berating them in public, seeking to blame all the club’s ills on a few people and rejoicing in the Club’s failures as further proof of their righteousness is counter-productive and villaneous! I personally prefer to look forward to a great season and if things don’t work out as well as hoped, to maintain my faith in the Club, who afterall have done pretty well in their 125 years.
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