Wenger – The Antithesis Of Evil As Yet Another One Bites The Dust
September 1, 2008 was a black day for football. I’m currently lacking the words needed to describe how I feel and what I think about this indignity. Someone needs to say it but noone seems to step up. Is there a worldwide lack of civil courage? How is this not a cause for deep, deep concern? On September 1, 2008 Manchester City were bought by a foreign investor. Or, as Manchester City so deliberately put it on their official website, “a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) and Manchester City Football Club”, meaning, when said in plain English, that they will be given a shitload of money by their new owners.
You might wonder why that is such a big deal. Lots of clubs have foreign investors and they’re still crap. Well, ADUG is nothing like, let’s say, Fulham’s owner and provider of money. ADUG makes Roman Abramovich look like a poor beggar desperately searching for a hot meal and a place to sleep for the night. To put it in simple terms: they are filthy, filthy rich. They reportedly made offers of astronomical sums for David Villa, Berbatov, Mario Gomez and Robinho, the latter one thankfully being the only presented transfer, all at the same time, only a day after being bought up. Their owner, Suleiman al-Fahim, is saying that he’s aiming to make Manchester City the number 1 club in Europe and, since England is the best league by quite a bit, the best in the world. They think a 4th spot is a realistic target for this season. Now, I’m not worried one bit about Arsenal finishing behind Manchester City – atleast not this season, unless they buy an entire new starting eleven in the January transfer window, but, in no less than 1 or 2 years time, I’m afraid the Big 4 will be expanded into the Big 5 with Manchester City being that 5th member of this exclusive club. Perhaps as the dominant one.
The prospect of another huge team in the Premier League is not at all an appealing one to Arsenal fans, or any other fans who have their sympathies reserved for a team in the English league for that matter, because it will mean another mountain to climb. But that’s not my biggest concern. If only it were on a sporting level. This is about much, much more than that. It’s about morality – an underrated thing nowadays. Is this the message we want the future generations to absorb? That materialistic possessions, success and fame is all that matters? That everything can be solved by money and noone even cares? To me it appears that it’s what the world, not just football, is constantly moving towards. I don’t think that there is a global and generally accepted standard of morality in the world – nor should there be one, although religion sometimes tries to provide it, still I find this shocking, morally bankrupt and disturbingly wrong in so many, many ways.
Incredibly and mind-boggingly rich foreigners who know nothing about the game itself is what my nightmares are made out of. How do I know that they know nothing – or atleast, thankfully, very little – about the sport? Well, in the same interview that Suleiman al-Fahim revealed his ambitions for the club, he also said he was going to bring in players from his country to the club. That’s exactly what Shinawatra did too (who, by the way, didn’t give City a single pound of his own money – but perhaps more on that another time) and just look at how the players from Thailand permeates the City squad. Ehrm.
I really hope that Suleiman al-Fahim intervenes as much as possible with the manager’s plans. That would atleast help us a little bit. It doesn’t save the world from the evils of foreign investment, everything that it means and the reprecussions it will have on generations to come, though. That’s where our very own Arsene Wenger comes into the picture.
Arsene once said that he despises Big Brother, just like I do, for the same reasons that I hate it; because people want to become famous quickly. Not famous for anything in particular, like being good at something, just famous. What kind of goal in life is that? That is exactly what I think and it’s exactly the kind of soulless, materialistic worldview that will ruin society, like a virus or a parasite (or a foreign investor), inevitably leaving the world as a vacuum of individuality and moral fiber; a black hole of shattered potential and despair. Atleast that’s how I see it.
On a footballing level I still do see Arsenal having a bright future. If Wenger stays he would make Arsenal into the complete antithesis of get-famous-quick-clubs like City and Chelsea. If we aren’t one already. I can see players joining Arsenal solely on the basis of ours and Wenger’s reputation. Another positive thing about these trophy-barren years, partly imposed upon us by Wenger, is the love and affection for the club that the players have. Wenger brought them to London at a young age to let them develop together for years, making their ways up into the first team in the future. We are seeing the rewards of that now in the form of Clichy, Toure and Fabregas – players who probably never will leave Arsenal, and more of these example will definitely follow. Hleb, Flamini and Gilberto (although the latter is perhaps not to be considered in the same ungrateful bracket as the first 2, but just do it for the sake of the argument), who all left us during the summer, did not go through the same things at Arsenal like Clichy and Fabregas has done. I think people will want to be a part of that. And when the Emirates makes us a force to be reckoned with in the transfer market I see no reason why we couldn’t be the dominant force in world football – considering teams like Man U and Chavski should be the new Leeds’ by then.
I love Arsenal, the players within the squad (yes, even Eboue), Arsene Wenger, his philosophy and everything that Arsenal stands for; everything from the way the lawn is mowed at the Emirates before games to all the charity work being done – I simply love Arsenal. I would prefer not winning a title ever again than being taken over by that fat, ugly, kind of troll-reminiscent waste of space that is Usmanov and becoming just like Chelsea or Man City. And if you love Arsenal, you should too. Let’s stick by Wenger for as long as we possibly can, because he truly is one in a million. And so is Arsenal.
Well fucking said…! Thank you…!
brilliant, brillaint artiscle. completly agree with everything said and am praying that we win the league to show everyone what reallly counts in football
totally agree!!!
Brillantly said……wake up before it too late !!!
Best comments, well said that man.
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you say, Chelsea have, up until yesterday represented everything that I hate about today's football, unlimited funds to buy any player they want but fortunately playing unattractive football that nobody unless you are a Chelsea fan was willing to pay money to watch. Buying a squad of players and paying them obscene amounts of money does not make a football team, doing it the “arsene way” creates a team and a club.
well said gooner chris.I am tired of watchign transfers taking place at inflated prices.Thia somehow has to stop.Hope platini will be able to do something about this
Article was by Axel, a contributor for the blog, and I agree – fantastic article!
Absolutely brilliant article!
good to hear when all you seem to hear nowadays is the money rolling
although i do worry about keeping the team together as wenger didnt seem to do that this year…
Together, all the way….
Totally agree, well said. Wenger and Arsenal are beacons of decency in a world where morality takes a back seat to purchased 'glory'.
Wenger deserves our total support for building
a team on the training ground and not with his chequebook.
Excellent. You're a credit to the Club.
Agreed completely. EUFA must take action. This is madness.
Well said mate! I felt depressed after last night, and the disappointment of not making a signing, but the more time that goes past, the better I feel, and my love for the club, and Wenger returns. This is a trial of morality for all of us, for Arsene, for the players, for the fans and for the board. When I read forums this morning calling for a fan boycott, I felt sympathy, but now I can see the juicy red apple does indeed contain poison. The best response, the only response to all of this, is to get back to the Emirates and give Wenger more support that ever before.
The good news is we're not the only ones who believe this, if you want your faith restored, then read what Simon Barnes, chief sports writer of The Times wrote on Monday before all this Man City business kicked off, link below. He's not an Arsenal supporter, just a decent man.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnis…
the only person out of approximately 120 people's posts I've read today, who share the exact same view as me. people panic and want wengers head just because there wasnt any players as good as our current ones that was available for a reasonable prize. arsenal will become a rich club because of wengers ingeniousity, not because of some rich man who wants fame.
frustrated norwegian, who trusts arsene wenger untill he dies.
fantastic. you are a true fan, and the club should be proud to have your support.
As more and more money gets thrown into the Premier League, established players will only become more and more expensive. It will become an increasingly untenable situation for clubs with less money to compete with the very deep pocketed ones. Those clubs who bet on the future by leveraging debt to pay for players will have huge pressure to make the top 4 and participate in Champions League football. Lack of success will be punished severely in financial terms, which could send clubs into ruin, a la Leeds United.
That's why Arsene's policy of fiscal responsibility and going after young players who have huge talent and buying them on the cheap is absolutely brilliant. Of course, not just any manager could pull it off. And to turn such players into EPL and CL title contenders is absolutely incredible. That's what makes Arsene so special. Arsenal are indeed blessed to have Arsene as the manager.
That is also why anyone who calls for Arsene's head is an absolute moron.
God bless you my son!
SPOT ON I WONDER WHAT HAPPENS WHEN FOREIGN MONEY GETS TIRED OF THEIR PLAY THINGS…..DOES THE PREMEIR LEAGUE HAVE NO SAY SO IN CLUBS JUST BEING BOUGHT AND SOLD LIKE ANY OTHER ITEM.PLEASE LETS NOT BE GETTING RID OF OUR BOARD AS I THINK THEY ARE ALL ARSENAL FANS FIRST.UP THE GOONERS
SPOT ON I WONDER WHAT HAPPENS WHEN FOREIGN MONEY GETS TIRED OF THEIR PLAY THINGS…..DOES THE PREMEIR LEAGUE HAVE NO SAY SO IN CLUBS JUST BEING BOUGHT AND SOLD LIKE ANY OTHER ITEM.PLEASE LETS NOT BE GETTING RID OF OUR BOARD AS I THINK THEY ARE ALL ARSENAL FANS FIRST.UP THE GOONERS
Well said, I agree with most of your sentiments and i believe that in the not too distant future there will be a cap on transfer fees, wages and some rule about the national
makeup of each team in Europe's premier leagues.
We may not like the latter but it may also be the saviour of those teams without trillions to spend. There may even be a limit to the number of transfers in (of established players) that each team is permitted per season.
The more bizarre ownership and spending become the more likely that UEFA/FIFA will be to reign in the excesses.
In the meantime I support my team of some 60 years (first match at Highbury in 1946/47) as always… I love Arsenal and all that they stand for … what other team now provides such pleasure in watching artistry at work!
I COULDNT AGREE WIV YOU MORE BROV. ALL THAT HAS GONE ON IN THE LAST DAY OR SO HAS JUST STRENGHTENED MY LOVE FOR THE ARSENAL. GOONER 4 LIFE! COME ON GOONERS LETS STICK TOGETHER
big up! this what real arsenal fans think and i hope others hear it too!
all this “wenger out” talk is heart breaking only because it comes from the mouths of other gooners.
these other gooners i can only assume have been supporting the club since we won in 2004. perhaps that was the first season they had actually seen and thought “well, i think i'll support arsenal”. maybe the reason they are so angry is becasue they feel short changed!
we should all just be grateful we dont have a new manager every week. stabilty is also a rare word in todays game but one of the most cherished
hear hear hear
We Gooners should be proud of our club who is doing it on all by themselves and we do it totaly different to other clubs.
We bring up players and yes it takes some time but we are all seeing the best football of the world (almost) everytime Arsenal plays.
Thanks to Wenger and his boys.
Our basis is solid and not like Chelski, ManUSA, Liverbankrupcy, Manchester Arab, … we depend on rich owners who can kill the club at any moment in time.
Like I said before on other blogs: Being a Gooner is more then about winning trophees, it is to be proud of our club who does it on there own way
well said kid…….
WELL SAID!!
THERE ARE TOO MANY PLASTIC JOHHNYCUMLATELY BLOGGERS WHO ARE CALLING FOR ARSENAL TO SCAK WENGER.
most of these thick plastic fans need to geta reality check. the thing they dont get and what WENGER is creating at Arsenal is its not ablut the playesr its about the system of play and creating the players that can fit into the sytem. as we have seen that many players that leave Arsenal rarely achieve the same heights as they do in their carrers at Arsenal.
we did not nee to sign anyone once our injured players are back we will have a strong squad.
ARSENE KNOWS !!!
Well said mate-but would a trophy this year!
Thank God we're finally starting to see some sense being spoken this afternoon!! I've never read so much bollocks as the blogs and their commenters this morning, full of people who dont know a thing about football and the values of AFC. Fuck them all, fuck city, fuck the chavs and every foreign investor out there looking to spread their cancer on the game, up the Arse!!
Brilliant article, the last paragraph was great. Only thing that concerns me is that we will get left behind. Don't get me wrong I love the fact that we remain an English club and I certainly do not want to be taken over by a stinking Russian Billionaire but how long will we have to wait before we taste even slight success again. Long gone are the days when we can repeat the feat of 2002. I am worried Cesc will go abroad as well, and worst of all I won't blame him. He is too good a player to miss out on trophies. I really hope UEFA do something about it because i'm fed up of clubs buying success, it's hardly an achievement. Many of my friends are chavs and everytime I say well done you bought a title they still say “yeah but Jose still had to assemble a team and keep them together!” What bollox!!
Here here! Absolutely agree and I detest all those chavvy supposed Arsenal blogs (eg Gooner Forum) that are full of cries for Wenger's head because he didn't sign anyone yesterday – glory hunters that Arsenal do
not deserve. They all forget that no other team would have played the brilliant football that dismantled Newcastle the other day. Sure they were'nt the toughest opposition but Man Yoo drew against them and Chelski would just have steamrollered them in an unattractive way and Liverpool would have been rubbish againstthem but won with a last-minute goal from Torres again 🙂 For that wonderful game alone we shold stand squarely behind our manager and his principles and our club.
JUST A QUICK MESSAGE TO ALL GOONERS THAT GO TO GAMES- GET LOUD GET AGGRESSIVE GET BEHIND OUR PLAYERS.LETS SING TOGETHER LOUDLY AND SUPPOERT OUR ARSENAL PLAYERS LIKE THEY SHOULD BE SUPPORTED. SEE YOU AT BLACKBURN!!!!
I'm proud that Arsenal behaves the way we do. I love this club.
Yeah so-called foreign business & investment has turned the sport into a friggin casino. This Abu Dhabi Group is just the start of the sport becoming completely outrageous. What's worse is thiese guys are willing to hockey 300 million euro on a whim while people are fucking starving, or dying.
Who are these a$$holes with all this money. Sure they want a player someone else wants and they bid 10-15, 20 million more than anyone else if they wanted from the sounds of it, just because they can. The Saudi's are having a laugh at the Russian & American investors who thought they could keep their own private cashcow to themselves. This is just the start of a new era alright.
what a load of crap the board what a load of greedy cunts i hope we have a real shit season then something might get done we are getting more and more people leaving and not getting replaced im fed up of it i aint paying to watch mark randell his shit if wenger has got money to spend he just must be thick,we aint even spent the champions league qualifying funds??????????????????????what does everyone else think i was sitting up waiting like a cock last night wenger was talking shit to us all
Great piece – I've been feeling the same dread all day. These multibillionaires have no class and no respect for our beloved game. They were even saying they intend buying Cesc, Torres and Ronaldo! Fuck off. Cesc's already voiced pretty much we're all thinking about Robinho's move – he's a greedy little shit that disrupted the dressing room at Real just before the opening of their campaign (my own words) Don't you just love this little guy?
Great article I felt it through my bones haha chris 😉
A truly excellent post mate , brilliant no need to add I totally agree. Its actually quite amusing now we will see three clubs going (not including the moneybags in Spain and Italy )for the same players talk about biddingwars. Arsene has never entered the race for established players as the prices are inflated .. the Abudabi group hace already pipped chelsea once and probably intend to do it again. I bet fat frank and the other moneygrabbing c#nts arent to happy they commited to Chelsea now :=). And as for SWP will he once again be in the same situation or did he make a brilliant move?
I feel proud to be part of a great club, great supporters & a standard of moral ethics that you WILL NOT find in any of the other top 4 (now top 5) clubs.
Arsenal Football Club………..I love you!
Absolutely correct, I think the premier league is turning into a circus. I would hate to be a city fan right now, to know the only things they'll achieve are through money. I love Arsenal and I respect Wenger so much for his attitude and morals towards our club and in general. Nice to see someone speaking the truth. I believe we as Arsenal fans should stick together and make sure this never happens to us, I would much rather watch our wonderful football and not win anything that be a Chelsea fan and watch boring football week in week out and buy the occasional trophy, i'd like to say we achieved something!
Lennox go back to Gooner Forum with your opinions and you can sympathise with all the other “supporters” who just criticise – did you watch thematch on Saturday – if you thought that was “shit” then I don't know what you expect from a football team
I will stick by AW, but he is playign a dangerous game by not making any signings to bolster the squad, which we must admit has weakened by the lose of 4 midfielders since last January. He could, however, still save the situation by making a late bid for Stephen Appiah. He ticks all of the boxes we need
why don't you piss of & support someone else then you prick!
Yes it is obscene, people complained about Arsenal, but the truth is that we may soon be the only big club turning out players that can play for England. Why bring up English youth when you can buy every player your heart desires? Those clubs will lose their identities eventually.
Still would have liked a couple players to come in, true gooners would have appreciated Appiah or someone 'unfashionable/inexpensive' like that.
We are the Arsenal , we are the best, we are the Arsenal
so fuck all the rest
We are the Arsenal , we are the best, we are the Arsenal
so fuck all the rest
lennox dont even know how to use periods. how can he begin to comprehend how to make a team without a rich arab.
While I agree with most of what you are saying, I do think your view on Arsenal and its players are alittle love-blind. They are a great club, and I love how Wenger runs the club and more clubs should follow suit. However, I do not agree that Flamini was being selfish exactly. He played out his contact as he had signed, and when it was up, he was free to go, and he went to his boy-hood dream team. Fair enough I say. And to think the players who have grown up in the Arsenal ranks will never leave? Wow, my guess is most, if not all will leave one day. Cesc will leave eventually, I do not doubt it. Especially if we do not win anything soon. These players may have grown up in the club, but they have also seen Arsenal sell off their buddies in the mean time, I think they all realize its a business first. Money talks
brillant article mate. We shouldnt blame for Wenger he tried to get Veloso ( loyal to Sporting ), Inler ( agent says perhaps next year ) and Alonso but unfortunately failed. We have to be patient with some players like Song, Eboue ( who played fantastic against Newcastle ), Diaby ( will be back from injury ) and Denilson who will be better and better each game and score goals ( more as Flamini has ever done ). To the fucking foreign billionars shut up and buy cars not football teams. Cesc will never join such a shitty club like Manchester City. Dont get me wrong it is not the same like chelsky but they dont have history like we have. Only to say unbeaten in season 2003/2004. No one will ever achieve this anymore. Only we can do it again. And to some who dont believe in our youngsters. Randall and Gibbs will be first teamers next season. Mark my words!!! We have a bright future!!!
Come on gooners stick all together!! We will win silverware this season!!
Gonner4life
Only one team in 20 can win the league, so for supporters to behave as though they have some kind of right to win is simply a little bit silly. Perhaps it's the actual football we should be enjoying and not just the winning, which happens in all kinds of sports.
If you could spend you Saturday afternoons watching the actual football, how many teams other than Arsenal would you really choose?
The winning is good, but life doesn't stop there. If winning is simply expected, then when do you reach the pinnacle? What makes you happy? What made me sad was when the ref blew the final whistle on Saturday – I was having the time of my life
watching something that George Graham could only dream of.
I don't think I've ever been as proud to be a Gooner as today. UP THE ARSE!!!
FYI – the board do not reap dividends directly from the club's profits. They only prosper when they sell their shares after the value of their shares has risen. Stock only rises when the long-term outlook of the club improves. So STFU, since you don't know what you're talking about!
I salute, laud, compliment, applaud and bow to you for this article which summarize my sentiments almost literally.
How refreshing that it´s at least one article that doesn´t go on about how they´ve been betrayed and how fortunate the club should be that they support the club without realizing that they are the fortuante ones.
There have been several articles from this very site just like that, but you are different and if there were more people like you writing blogs, perhaps fans would appreciate the club more. Unfortuantely this isn´t the case and we are now forced to constantly defend the club from our own fans let alone the media and supporters of rival clubs.
Thumbs up for this article mate and I look forward to reading more from you!
I agree Frank. I am from Germany and it is hard to see own fans want to see Arsene sacked. I was angry too but the game on saturday showed we can beat anyone in style. Manu, Chelsky and Liverpool watch out for us we will beat you in style !!!! And of course Man City !!!!
Very nice piece. Surely there has to be some sort of control in the game to stop this kind of thing. A salary cap similar to that used in the NHL that tries to bring a level playing field to the game? I'm actually more worried about the game of football itself than Arsenal here. Arsenal will always be up there but how long before the game itself becomes a farce with this sort of thing. FIFA will be even more determined to bring a quota on the number of first team players being english or brought through the youth team ranks.
100000000000% Spot on
Absolutely spot on this is a great article in my view the other bloggers , (doom and gloom merchants) I have been reading the last couple of days are not real arsenal men. I have supported this club since I stood on the North bank as a kid in the days of Eastham, Baker, Geordie Armstrong et al, we had a great following and superb support in those days even though we didn't win much. Get behind your team you guys and stop the bleating. Realise just what Arsenal is and stands for and hope to hell we don't cave in to a big money take over
The world has become a very sick place and the big brother mentality unfortunately is becoming the norm, contribution is not measured by anything other than the cheque book and the need to be seen to be famous
The only solution for soccer on a global basis imho is for the authorities ie Platini and Blatter to impose salary and transfer budget caps in the way that the NFL have done then we will see the true value of Mr Wenger in his ability to work miracles without the obscene amounts of money being thrown into the pot by these ego serving ( and probably money laundering) Oligarchs and their like
I applaud Wengers approach and given a bit of luck on the injury front we can and will prevail with a largely home grown team of bright young talent. My hope is that the upcoming youngsters Willshire , Randal, Freeman et al turn into a bunch of world beaters to complement our already superb first team. Ok we lost some players this summer and we are probably a player or two short Actually the only mistake in my mind was letting Flamini go even though he was a greedy sod and lets not forget he only had one really good season so who is to say that someone else already on board fills his boots. Nasri on initial impression looks like a great replacement for Hleb ( good riddance lots of activity but no end product ) and Vela promises to be huge. Theo is showing flashes of brilliance , all he needs is consistency. And Cesc , Clichy and Sagna are already world class Sure it would have been nice to get Alonso or Veloso but we didnt so lets get behind what we have and hope that RVP stays fit , Tomas doesnt get injured again and Eduardo gets a bucket full on his return.
At last someone with their head still firmly sitting on their shoulders. Such wise words and ones which I will be repeating to all can bear to hear my rant.
I agree wholeheartedly with what you say. I want Wenger to succeed with his stubborn and admirable two fingers to the rest of em.
How satisfying will it be when we win something against these other clowns at Chelski, Utd, Liverpool and now City.
I can't wait for one of Chelski, Ytd or City to go the way of
Leeds… I don't hate Liverpool that much.
Amazing article. I agree and I think we should be grateful to have a great manager like Arsene Wenger. He is truly a one of the kind.
Arsenal Forever!!
I think it will be that clubs will have to operate within there budget meaning that once gate income,Tv income and sponsership money is taken into account they can only spend what they have (this will happen within two years
Guess what Arsenal wil be the only club with surpless cash to spend
mate what the fuck are you on about? I wanted to read this post 'cos I thought you had good reasons to back the headline. But morality, materialistic possessions and another mountain to climb? C'mon give me a break. There's nothing wrong with spending your own money to please yourself or having a challenge.
I am a gooner and nothing pleases me more than looking forward to when our manager and players will prove to these fuckers that spending astro big money on players is such a waste of their resources and it will only prove how stupid they are, when a team like ours assembled for less than a 1/4 of their total transfer fees wins the Prem or champions league. It should have happened last year, we'll see in the next nine months. Have you ever paid half the price that a flashy friend of yours paid for the same item. My hope is that Wenger and all of us will feel the same come the end of the season. Muppets!
is there still any possibility to sign Steven Appiah? I heard he is a free agent.
I think as loyal supportes we have become cocooned in this false reality that everything is 'tiking along' nicely. However, if people are not seeing the cracks in our transfer policy they are blind as facts speak for themselves (3 barron years). So its all well and good everyone huddiling together and saying nice and wonderful things expressing their emotions but wake up please! You all sound like AW spin doctors trying to make the best of a cake that was dropped from a high rise flat.
The fact of the matter it was another mistake in relation to not being proactive and transparent by Wenger in the transfer market! Although it gives me a warm feeling inside to hear such optimistism being shown we will see in December. Then our true position and ranking will be foretold and we fight for a fourth position battling it out with the likes of Aston Villa and I have a feeling this optimism will evaporate and transform into a bad smell such as that on the tubes.!
However, I am not one of those idiots calling for his (AW) head just a gentle reminder that nobody, NOBODY is bigger than AFC. and the fans deserve better than to be let down in this manner when it is clear that our squad is light and this is without any injuries and rotation. SO PLEASE!
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you……
The fact that we didn't sign anyone last night hasn't really bothered me, the filth I read on some micky mouse blogs this morning made me feel ashamed.
Thank you for restoring my faith in the real support.
I (like my fellows I have read here) am Arsenal through every cell in me, win lose or draw.
I detest the club level no nothings I rub shoulders with at our games.
Yesterday chavski, today citeh, tommorow Scunthorpe. Football in England stands on the presipice and unless FIFA acts to make clubs self supporting we will only be left with memories.
If FIFA acts we are well placed to reignite AW's dream.
VICTORIA CONCORDIA CRESCIT
brilliant article.my bro and i watch every game down here in south africa.we love this club and im glad we can finally stand together on this point.the fake fans wll never feel the same way we do and we (except lennox…c*#t) can b proud of the club we support.the way the club is run in all aspects serve as a gold standard in this circus we are witnessing.lets get behind this club, our manager and our team and know we are part of something unique.
Gooners4life
Those guys are such disrespectful assholes. They're already saying that they're gonna buy all of the best players from their premier league rivals (well they're not on par with us yet) to disrupt them.
My brother isn't really a football fan but he follows Arsenal a bit because I do and he said that he would support Man U if we had been bought by this group, I wouldn't ever support those Manc cunts but I wouldn't follow Arsenal with such as great a passion as I do if we were taken over by these guys and started going to other clubs and offering them £135m for one bloody player. Ronaldo will never be as great as Zidane yet tehy're
gonna pay three times as much for him?
Also, I was surprised the article didn't mention Man U's disgraceful activity yesterday either.
nice one totally agree
Great article, I have been a supporter for as long enough to rember Billy Wright and stood on the terraces to watch Don Howe and Bertie Mee's double team.
My only real fear is Arsene leaving for another club or packing up, then we suffer an irreplaceable loss. The pundits and media have written the Gooners off again as they did last year (until we string a few impressive wins together then they change their minds). Lets trust Arsene, yes it would be nice to win something this year if nothing else to keep Cesc from straying but do we want to say goodbye the entertainment served up each year by the Arsenal? Games such as Liverpool in Champs league away and Man Untied both away last years yes we didnt get the breaks and we came off the worse but how proud were you of their display?
Sit and think for a while, who would you want to replace Wenger? I cant think of anyone.
Keep the faith
MK
When they are all owned by superrich owners it will cancel itself.
Football in England has reached new heights and those who spend big will eventually reach a point where the business has to take over and clubs cannot carry on making a loss. When that point comes then that club will suffer and like any business will have to sell their assets to cover their overheads and losses but then another club will come along and do the same and it will be a vicous circle. Remember that we are not in good financial times at the moment and clubs are still spending excessively. The main worry is for clubs like Sunderland, Villa and those clubs that are spending a lot of money but not on an individuals riches. Sunderland especially will reach a point when they cannot go any higher in the league and will not have the resources to get any higher, and if they do not have a good youth system or Arsenal like transfer dealings, will see the club either have to make do with mediocracy or will become bankrupt and sell some of their players and subsequently fall to below mediocracy. We are safe but remember to be a big club and be recognised as a good business as well you need to be able to do both, be succesfull and manage the bottom line. At the moment we are doing the latter and still trying to do the former in a time of fat cat clubs
Well i guess we can forget about Micah Richards.If he is a real fan he would like to join us on the other hand he will now be given shitloads of cash.
i do believe that my day has been made just by reading this article once a gooner always a gooner thats my motto hope rosicky gets better soon cant wait to see how he and nasri coexist
Well said, mate. Wenger is an oasis surrounded by a desert of vulgarity that will eventually self-implode and turn to dust.
Great work…true gunner
Top fkn class mate. I agree completely. These billionaires can buy the world but they'll never have what we have. Up the Arsenal.
have you noticed arsene wenger hasnt said anything yet. so quiet……..:o
haha….the scum that have just bought city want fabregas and torres and ronaldo…fat chance cesc will go to them hes not the kind of player or man to be sold like that. he has already come out and said that hes disgusted with how robinho has treated the situation…
I could hardly agree more – or have said it better. Being different, in ways that we are rightfully proud of. is what makes supporting the club as worthwhile as it is. Arsene is, without any doubt in my mind, the best manager any club coujd have and this sort of message must be got through to him as often as we can get it to him. Arsenal aren't perfect and they do make mistakes. But they are more worthy of our support than ever.
Finally, finally, someone who says what I have been feeling, and occasionally saying, for too long. Thank you so much for your sanity, while so many around us are lamenting poverty and doom, and/or jumping on the Wenger lied to us lie. Enough is enough. The bloated toxic wealth that is inflating everything that AFC has, and, I hope will continue to be against, is going to ruin our game With Wenger at the helm, it will. These people, and I don’t mean these in some racially ethnic sense, rather what they stand for, what the Glazers, the Chelski’s s, and the guys at Liverpool, the fools at Spurs—the lot of them: These clubs are toys for accumulative wealth masturbation. The ruination will come from the inflation. On another blog someone referred semi-critically to Wenger as an economist, saying foolishly that it is about passion, which what he meant was finding over-priced players who will supposedly (I’d like a five year guarantee on that) take us over the top to win trophies.
As if fiscal parsimony is a bad thing, anyway, especially where you see where it’s going, which Wenger has, and appears to be the only one who is willing to talk about the elephant in the room and that the King/PL will be naked and have no clothes These people are playing poker with other people’s money; and even if it is their own, as it clearly is not in the case of Chelsea’s sugar daddy (remember, he robbed the Russian people to get his money), and it is I the case of the new lot from the Gulf, the fact remains that some are going to have to crash and fold because they cannot afford it. There are going to be a lot of bankruptcies, mark my words in the coming years. It doesn’t follow that because more money is concentrated in one club that the product you are selling, the PL, will necessarily benefit; and even if it does, it will nonetheless result in massive inflation.
If Man U do not get a trophy over the next few years like Arsenal, are they going to be able to pay the ridiculously inflated price for Berbatov-like players, or the absurd fee that was offered and taken for Robinho, or the ludicrously funny money paid by Liverpool for no-goal, 28 year old Robbie Keane. One could go on, not least if all in terms of what this is doing to players. The point is, this article has captured the need for a wake up call, to stop the buying of players at all costs because we apparently (not actually) need someone to cover for this or cover for that based upon what evidence? Blog Rumors, the Sun, and youtube . You would think that the dealers in player retails out there were ubiquitous (big word not really– just being everywhere all the time), enabling them to know about every player in the transfer market. Where the hell do you you get your information. How many times a have you watched them play, what is the ability to play sixty, let alone 90 minutes in the exacting Arsenal style? Yo’ let's get Inler. I saw him, as most people did, through two sources, the occasional game I got to see him play in Serie A games, and the three games he played for the Swiss. That’s about as good as it gets for most people, who, unlike our extensive scouting system, have no clue and derive their information about all and sundry from speculative BS. Let’s get some overpriced players none of you have ever seen except on your “knowledge”, in fact OPNION sources otherwise know as speculatively asinine blogs, or the wonderfully informative ten second summaries (as I have said before, have you ever seen a bad play) on youtube?
What Wenger has done, is develop a unique model; it is one that has succeed fairly successfully up until al the really funny money came into the league. It may not work, but despite all this money coming in, it may yet. Of course, these new billionaires will offer both stupendous sums of money, which the likes of Cashley Cole and Hleb will sniff an gravitate to, telling us it's not about the money but the chance of winning trophies, etc.. Some players will go; after all mo money begets mo money, and even the principled player will be tempted, indeed urged on my his agent who will get their proportionate cut. But people, we have to stand, and fall by the model that has taken us this far. If nothing else, this latest entry of monopoly petro-capitalism take over will put multiple cat among the pigeons, and there are many other questions that we will all have to ask– not least of all, can other capitalists compete with this, or will they, as I have speculated, fold, and in some instances, close shop.
This is a watershed moment for football; in general and the PL in particular, not because it creates a fifth challenger, which I think, is in and of itself good. It is more the nature of this challenge, one that Chelsea started Manu U got on board, took on the passenger Liverpool, and Spurs decided it would like to participate in, but none of who might want to finish because it might finish them. One team that has should and hopefully will stand above it, so we are still standing when al of it as shifted, is Arsenal. May we remain the same, and continue to play the same football that is the envy everywhere.
GOONER FOR LIFE!
great article mate!
TRUST IN WENGER HE WILL PROVE EVERYONE WRONG GUNNERS 4 LIFE
That's some comment!
i rarely take much notice of the crap spewed out on blogs but in this case ill make an exception. this is an excellent, impassioned piece full of love and decency for the right things. spot on.
gr8 article,,
me too, my tummy started hurting when i read the news.. sadly..
we REALLY don't need another chelsea, we're already having problems competing with one and another wealthy club is just too much to handle.
Great post mate! Well said. I love Arsenal and what it stands for too.
Long live Arsene Wenger
Ben
I noticed West ham annouced today two transfers and said something about “international transfer certificates” as the reason for the late annoucement. I guess there is a glimmer of a chance that perhaps the silence from the Emirates means something is coming … or not.
Great article mate, My thoughts exactly.
Dont want to take the topic away from the article, but I am waiting for a Wenger interview to explain the lack of transfer activity
there are rumours Appiah will have a medical on thursday and make pen to paper for 1 year with an option for more 2 years. Hope it is true perhaps Wengers last ace. We will see.
think we shouldnt get our hopes up anymore, trnsfer winow closed, if there was any possibilites it would have been leaked by now
appiah is free agent so it still could happen over transfer window. We will see
I totally Agree with you Lional! I love the optimism but it is not looking good for arsenal
GREAT ARTICLE…I KNOW WHAT YOUR SAYING AND IF IT COMES TO ARSENAL NOT HAVING ANOTHER GOOD SEASON I WILL BE PROUD TO SAY AT LEAST WE DIDNT BUY OUR GLORY!
BUT…YOUR ARTICLE IS STILL WAY TO PROUD…THE THANS SHOULD BE ANARCHISTIC AND ANGRY….OUR MANAGER LIED TO US AND DIDNT SIGN ANYBODY! IM ANGRY AND UPSET…I DO NOT BELIEVE WE CAN WITH THIS SQUAD!..AND IM BEGGINING TO BELIEVE THAT WINING WAS NOT WENGERS AIM..JUST TO STAY IN THE TOP 4 ANOTHER SEASON!
This is the best article I've ever read on a blog. Well done mate
The reason Arsenal are one of the best teams in the world is the system, i.e. WengerBall. He brings in players who fit into the system, not the other way round. Even if we had the abscene cash being thrown around at the moment, AW wouldn't buy the superstars as they would destabilise the team and not fit in.
C'mon – open your eyes and see how lucky you are to support a great club who's not willing to whore itself out to the nearest billionaire. It'll make winning so much sweeter when it eventually happens.
big up da truth
arsenal da wun n onli
n dat investarrh is probs gna get a new strtin 11 who crnt play together and go bust lyk da credit crunch
as 4 arsenal
we will always be safe n always provide showarrh footy 4 all
i believe Denilson, Song n Diaby will hve 2 step up to play wid viva las fabregas
n r defence seems stable
r strike 4rce is alot bettah dan da ova top 4s apart 4rm da individual of torres buh dts bout iit.
we need 2 drag out mor goals 4rm r team by bein mre clinical n wunce dat happens da footballing world iz gna gt merked fam
hang tyt gooner talkage init
I think we should be prepared for more rich investors – into other clubs. Newcastle would be a prime target. We would then struggle to keep our best players. If someone offered £70 mil for Cesc and paid him obscene wages – what do you think he will do. Any right minded individual will move – no matter how much he loved the club. So be prepared for January and more filthy rich investors in other clubs.
over here in america, we have a name for your type. HATER!!!
ADUG are free to buy to any club they want and spend as much as they feel like. It's their money, quit hating.
i just hope uefa bring in these regulations where clubs in huge amount of debt cannot compete in the european competitions. then that wil see man city never being a big club.
amen! this club is special and it is fans like you who make me proud! we do things the right way and when we do win….and we will….it will be so much better and make me so much prouder than all of the trophies that other clubs fans savor. its not all about winning its about supporting something you believe in and agree with and I find that in arsenal football club and wenger. come on gooners be as classy as the club you support! stop the bitching and booing and get behind the lads! including eboue!
Well said sir !
It seemed like the end of football yesterday, at least as I would remember it. But your comments are true, Wenger has never let us down and every knows the football the Arsenal play, even if we do tend to try and “pass it into the net” as opposed to shoot.
Gooner till I die
Why would Flamini's exposure to life at Arsenal be any different to Gilberto or even Toure. The penultimate paragraph is at odds with truth and reason.
Great article. Congrats!!
Arsenal 4 ever.
I think some people forget that Arsenal is a business first and foremost. Morales have little to do with it. We seem to make money every transfer window and this has nothing to do with ethics or morales, it's to do with greed. Not greed for trophies and glory but greed for money. You have to strike a balance, if you sell your best assets you get rich short term, but if you don't replace them you ultimately end up poorer. We charge more for our tickets than anywhere else in the world!! We have a huge amount of money coming in each year! Where is it all going? Nowhere I can see. And you still think we are a morale club? Please. Wake up.
You quite obviously misinterpreted the article.
have gone through…. Berbatov doing a Teddy Mingerash on our sad deluded marsh dwelling neighbours… and Robinho doing a mercenary on the Chavski Globetrotters and joining Chav Citeeeeeh instead for loads more filthy lucre (now isn¿t that ironic plastic Chavski fans?). And was I really that upset? And are we really in such a terrible position as a lot of our moaning supporters think? Just ask yourself if you¿re in this for the long haul of supporting a real live breathing club or following a fad like the Chavs or ManUre and all the bandwagon hopping scousers (aged 30-50) who latched onto the Liverpool Stealers?? Because I wouldn¿t swap places with the finances of any other club in the Premier League (just remember our monies for the stadium are owed for legitimate reasons under a business plan) And I certainly wouldn¿t want an egotistical sugar daddy surrounded with sycophants running my club as his toy and I¿m absolutely 100% certain I wouldn¿t want any other manager than Arsene Wenger in charge. I¿m definitely not going to be envious when the next club sells its soul and goes on an unethical spending spree but I do reserve the right to p*ss myself laughing when Michael Platini gets his way and all the clubs built on shifting sands collapse. Ok we didn¿t buy the player we all think we need… but the most important person at the club disagreed with us all… And I for one am happy to have jam tomorrow.
spot on mate
Great post and it is very true what you say. I don't think a signing is necessarily the way to go but to stay injury free is the key key thing for us this season
Great article that makes us all think. I agree with much of what has been said. However it is important not to get too carried away though. Winning trophies is still what really excites, not just playing great football.
We don't want Arsenal to become a ceremonial team, where people start talking about 'acadamies of football' and all that crap like they do about those losers at White Hart Lane and Upton Park.
What has made us so special as a club has been the style of football and winning the league, which is why u see kids in Middlesborough, Birmingham, Rome and even Riyadh wearling Arsenal shirts.
I dont know how I will feel if at the start of a season one is resigned to the fact that the boys will play fantastically well but will finish 5th or 6th at best…. hope that day never comes
oh shut up wenger!!! Dont talk anymore!!
Your a big let down..
Only English in the comments please.
I thought Arsenal have plenty of debt at present too.
No, u shut up !!!
Since u're nobody, so STFU !!!
Quote “And when the Emirates makes us a force to be reckoned with in the transfer market I see no reason why we couldn’t be the dominant force in world football”
You hypocritical arrogant Larnderner
Quote “the evils of foreign investment”
Whats your stadium called again??????
It's good to see an Arsenal fan complaining about foreigners in the English game. Anyone for a Russian Oligarch, French manager and the only club in the country to have played a side without 1 UK player in the side.
You want to pontificate to Man City with a Welsh manager and a side that have produced 26 First team players from its Academy and which has 2 current England Internationals, 1 Replublic of Ireland Inrenational, 1 Welsh International and 3 England u21Internationals in the side
Do me a favour? The so called big Four have had it their own way for too long and I like many would welcome the break up of this cosy cartel and I hope that Aston Villa and others break into that group only then might we see the best players being shared around rather that the unedifying sight of always the best four competing for the best talent by offering Champions League Football.
Lets see what happens to Fabregas if Arsenal finish 5th this season would he think it suicide to go tyo Man City the?
Man City wont have debts you idiot. These guys deal in cash. Man Utd have £700m debts Chelsea owe Abramovich £540m
That would be us generating our own money without being taken over by a rich outsider with no connection to the club. I suggest you read more carefully, or perhaps think, before you post rubbish again. Sponsor deals are completely different.
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