Quote Originally Posted by ItsMe View Post
Best football? That's a fallacy, we haven't been one of the best footballing teams for years....people still harp on about our great football but in reality it's really not that good, it's predictable, ineffective and not direct enough and often ends in us wasting chances of creating goals (or missing them of course).

I cringe when I hear people say we play the best football, have they actually watched us in the last few years? Pre 2005 we were fantastic, but it's been downhill from then on and we're not in the least bit entertaining most of the time these days. Unfortunately Wenger still lives in this little bubble where he thinks he's entertaining everyone and giving them value for money.

There's nothing entertaining about watching a largely brainless bunch overpassing the ball and picking the wrong option time and time again, nor it is entertaining to watch a defence so prone to errors.
I think what Charlie means, is that people were going along post-2005 because of what Wenger had done with the side for the previous 8 years.

i.e they'd been wined and dined on Henry, Bergkamp etc, and naturally assumed the teams would on producing football of that standard.

Tourists came to see the new stadium, and what all the fuss was about....and because many people were unable to get tickets at Highbury, demand was so high.

The drop off has happened in the last couple of years, mainly because:

i) Ticket prices - People can't afford it during a recession, especially with a 6% hike
ii) Our unfailing ability to seem like we're going places, top of league, in four comps....and bang, we implode

People were still going before that because:

i) Fabregas, RVP, Arshavin, Walcott, Nasri to name a few. Big name players, in a big shiny stadium, at a big club
ii) The football, is better than you see at most grounds in the country (Though I agree with you, tippy tappy was boring...prefer the cut and thrust and pace which we have a bit more of now). But to the neutral, or to kids, to families etc, it was still entertaining.

And the people that still go, are not mugs. They go because they support the team through thick and thin