Have we fans lost perspective?

[IBK]

Interesting piece from Sabotage Times 5/02/13

Saboteur:Christopher Akinrele

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• Premier League

Arsenal Fans Need To Accept They Are The Biggest Problem With The Club

by Christopher Akinrele

5 February 2013

Booing, murmurs of discontent, dissatisfied grumbling: it's been close to eight years since Arsenal once won a trophy and that won't change unless the fans do.


In May it will be eight years since Arsenal Football Club won a major trophy (the Emirates Cup does not count). The club is currently under the stewardship of a board of directors so reactionary, rumour has it that, at present, they are No.3 in Boko Haram’s top ten list of “Inspirational Examples of Conservative Leadership In a Modern Institution”. These are testing times for Arsenal fans.
Stirrings of discontent characterised by rather polite upper middle class booing at the Emirates and a slightly more vociferous offering at away fixtures have been proferred in response to sloppily conceded goals and inconsistent performances. It seems that the patience of supporters previously satisfied by stadium debt repayment, the “trophy” that is Champions League football and a healthy bottom line has finally reached its limit.
No doubt helped on its way by the perceived failure to hold on to established stars in recent seasons. And who can blame them? Rising ticket prices, no trophies and obvious flaws with the team are enough to provoke the ire of any fan base, right? Wrong. It is time for Arsenal fans to look into the mirror.
Man for man, the Arsenal starting XI is the equal of any team in the Premier League. Depending on the weather and whether you prefer your Spanish playmakers clean shaven or slightly more grizzled, on current form a combined XI of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal’s best players would probably see three players make that list (Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs in case you were wondering).
To those who question player recruitment and retention policy, yes Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy have won the league with Manchester City but it would be unduly generous to describe either of those players as integral to such success. In any case, in the form of Kieran Gibbs and Santi Cazorla Arsenal have found themselves replacements of at least equal quality.

More…
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Arsenal Fans In State Of Non-Shock As Shawcross Strikes Again

The sale of Robin van Persie has unquestionably strengthened a rival but transfers to rivals constantly happen in football – Luis Figo from Barcelona to Real Madrid or, on a slightly more mundane scale, Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea to Liverpool (Liverpool are going to finish above Chelsea this season by the way, you heard it here first) – and his goals have been replaced by Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott.
The transfer of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona can be equated to Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid from Manchester United (it’s safe to say that no one accuses United of being a selling club) and the less said about Alex Song the better. No Alex, you are not Socrates reincarnate, defending isn’t a lifestyle choice for defensive midfielders and this is me definitely not laughing at your complete lack of impact at Barcelona.
Faced with the ownership structures of Manchester City and Chelsea the Arsenal board of directors found themselves with a stark choice. Incur massive debt on transient ever depreciating assets or accept that at this moment in time Arsenal simply cannot compete in terms of transfer fees and rely on the continued brilliance of a manager that has secured Champions League football 15(!) years in a row and created a culture within the club that will endure not just for this cycles’ Arsenal side but for generations to come.
Dissatisfied grumbling, booing and complaints simply reflects a failure to appreciate what Arsenal football club is today – a stable institution that has a culture in place with the potential to create lasting success in much the same model that Barcelona have done in Spain – and the, albeit less shiny and infinitely more ethereal achievements of the club. You may not be able to polish a footballing culture or stability but such foundations but they will be around long after the sheen has faded from the replica trophies sitting in Chelsea’s cabinet and Roman Abramovich’s super yacht.

Granted, no amount of positive support is going to endow Andre Santos with the ability to defend or Gervinho with the composure to deliver a killer pass or shot but it will take the pressure off an undoubtedly talented group of young players which in turn will make the end of that trophy drought sooner rather than later.

[Marc Overmars]

The first half is about our on-paper credentials, which means nothing.

The second part is about acceptance. All fans are different but to me I always expect to see improvement and we don't get that, that's where the seed of discontent lies. Even Stoke fans want more now after 4 years of consolidation and there's nothing wrong with that. The burden of expectation and hope is something the club should embrace but it feels like we don't really have the stomach for it, which is a shame.

[Xhaka Can’t]

While I agree we have lost perspective, that is a poor article. Some fans have become serial bedwetters and this manifests itself here on GW with all the pathetic posts along the lines of, 'we should win, but we have Wenger', and the almost apparent glee with which some now embrace setbacks.

What our main problem is as I see it, is a failure by the Club to be bold and make full use of the resources we generate. Until that happens, we are going to see repitition of the same failings which already feel like they have gone on ad infinitum and that will lead to more dissatisfaction expressed.

[Niall_Quinn]

Yep, how much did the last batch of shareholders make from the sell out? That's what you call success and that's the function of Arsenal football club and has been for (coincidentally of course) the period where the trophy cabinet has been bare. Why do these articles never flip the coin over and examine the other side? We look in the mirror and see a broke bloke who has spent a fortune for a deteriorating product. The shareholders look in the mirror and I'm sure there's a beaming smile coming back at them. Millions in the bank for non-performance. Must be the same mirror bankers and politicians use.

[Özim]

I hate the argument of "15 years of Champions League football", what kind of achievement is that when you don't have to really achieve anything of note to qualify?

I just wish they took the places away for at least 2 of the 4 teams and then see how often we'd qualify, at least that way you'd have to be close to the Champions to qualify, as it is you can't be 20+ points away and still get a free pass into the competition.

If we had to win something to qualify, we'd have a much better chance in it, the fact we don't means we can potter along qualifying every season and getting knocked out when we meet a decent team. There's no enjoyment in being also rans and qualifying for what is Europe's Premiere competition.

As for the comparison with Barcelona, that's a pipedream and total BS, Barca have always spent on bringing in top talent and have never settled for 2nd place, it's never been good enough for them.

We've got no hope of emulating that model, we don't invest enough and just don't get the quality of players they do, either through transfers or through the youth scheme.

[-Xs-]

Booing, murmurs of discontent, dissatisfied grumbling: it's been close to eight years since Arsenal once won a trophy and that won't change unless the fans do.

Yep. It's all the fans fault we haven't won anything in years, nothing to do with selling all our stars or our inability to defend

[Kano]

good to see someone starting a thread this week but that article is bullshit, no offence.

in fact, it is amazing how no-one seems to have an idea about where the discontent with arsenal fans lay at the moment. the usual 'well you get cl football and my club would die to be where you are' shite is always thrown up alongside, 'you can't expect to spend like city and co'.

the sense that we are not doing everything possible with what we have at our disposal is frustrating the life out of a lot of fans season on season - that is what 'outsiders' need to understand.

although a sense of perspective can always be found i guess. commentators drone on and fucking on about 7 years blah blah with nothing else to say bar that, yet i would still rather be where we are than a club like tottenham who have won 2 in 20 years.

[IBK]

Yep. It's all the fans fault we haven't won anything in years, nothing to do with selling all our stars or our inability to defend

So you don't think that for whatever reason Gooners are not getting behind our club these days?

[Injury Time]

It's terrible fans are expecting the club to deliver the repeated promises made to them relating to the benefits of the move from Highbury. As already said they have maximised their personal return off the pitch; on the pitch we have been left with a squad that has been asset stripped, and perhaps as a fan the worst of all, players that seem to accept that 4th is the only goal that matters.

The writer needs to look in his mirror and tell himself to fuck off.

[IBK]

good to see someone starting a thread this week but that article is bullshit, no offence.

in fact, it is amazing how no-one seems to have an idea about where the discontent with arsenal fans lay at the moment. the usual 'well you get cl football and my club would die to be where you are' shite is always thrown up alongside, 'you can't expect to spend like city and co'.

the sense that we are not doing everything possible with what we have at our disposal is frustrating the life out of a lot of fans season on season - that is what 'outsiders' need to understand.

although a sense of perspective can always be found i guess. commentators drone on and fucking on about 7 years blah blah with nothing else to say bar that, yet i would still rather be where we are than a club like tottenham who have won 2 in 20 years.

FWIW I didn't think it was a strong article, but it was an excuse to step back. I agree 100% with your point that frustration is driving our discontent (and its as much frustration at not understanding why our club is behaving as it does as much as anything else), but perspecive is still needed.