One of the JustArsenal readers put the above statement into a comment today and I was reminded that we had been in this situation for many years, so here is a post from last September where we were asked to put our differences aside and get behind the team. There is little that we can do about San Kroenke, who could buy every single Arsenal supporter if he wanted, but we simply cannot affect the way he runs the club which includes keeping Arsene Wenger in his current role, but we can still be very real Arsenal fans….
Do we support the team and not the regime? by anonymous
My cards on the table, I’m in the Wenger out brigade and have been for years. Like others who share this point of view, although I respect Wenger’s achievements, I have become disillusioned by the inevitable repeated pattern that Arsenal’s season consistently took and couldn’t see that there would be any change whilst Wenger was in charge.
Whilst some fans point to the lack of titles as the evidence of failure, my personal frustrations has been from repeated mistakes like the lack of investment in transfers and tactical issues on the pitch, because I strongly believe that no team has the divine right to any trophy just by turning up. I acknowledge that the premier league is one of the most difficult leagues in Europe and is not a level playing field due to some of the resources at some teams’ disposal.
Things last season became a bit of a circus, with the uncertainty of Wenger’s contract at hand, the future of Sanchez and Ozil in doubt and the dismal performances on the pitch, which led to planes in the skies, protests on ground and fights in the stands. Meanwhile, all this negative activity wrote its own headlines in the press, further making our club a laughing stock.
Whilst we did finish the season on a high with the trophy of the FA Cup, ultimately we fell one point short of Champion’s League football.
With the announcement of Wenger being awarded a new two year contract, I am concerned that there is every chance that this self destructive pantomime will continue. The one thing that we should all know about Wenger by now is he is a stubborn man and if he has signed a two year contract then he will be determined to see that through.
So here’s the question, what do fans do for the best? Will it be more planes, banners and fights in the stands? OR should we adopt the mantra “support the team and not the regime” and get behind our club? I for one think that if we have all been patient for so long and have waited for the dawn of a new managerial era then we can be patient for surely what has to be the last term of Arsene Wenger’s tenure. Two years, in the great scheme of things, is not a huge amount of time.
However, the potential for fans to throw their dummies out of the pram at the first sign of a sticky period is exceptionally high with our club. To those who will be easily triggered into acts of anarchy they need to think about the harm their actions will do to our club. Wenger will not leave (and nor will Kroenke) but actions off the field could affect the results on the pitch. We have to realise that we have some personal responsibility when our actions make our club less attractive to our transfer targets whilst our club is in a state of flux.
So to reiterate my main point, if we as fans can’t support the regime we need to get behind the team.
Agreed?
I ALWAYS DID SUPPORT ARSENAL;I FULLY SUPPORT ARSENAL NOW AND WILL KEEP SUPPORTING ARSENAL FOREVER.I DON’T CARE ABOUT ANY ARSENAL HATER BUT WILL ALWAYS STAND BY ALL THE FANS.THIS IS NOT JUST A CLUB,IT’S MY LIFE.PRESS THE GREEN BUTTON IF YOU AGREE;PISS OFF ALL THE HATERS…..
Iwobi made me hate the team
Wenger made me “hate” Ramsey. 🙂
Aubameyang has apparently agreed terms with Arsenal! this would be a class replacement for Sanchez! Wont hold my breath but if we sign Malcom and Aubameyang then i wouldnt miss Sanchez. Add to that we must get Ozil to sign and also WIlshire needs to sign asap. Walcott can go all hes done this season is be offside, but wouldnt want him to leave unless we get Malcom or Lemar. We despeartly need to sign a fwd/winger we are very light up front espcailly with Giroud out injured.
Same manager though mate :/. Fingers crossed though ?
Support the team, cheer them up when they arrive at the stadium, but please please please don’t enter the stadium as a protest, we can all suffer later in front of the tele or in ur very own favorite pub. ?
the team is just as frustrating. as wenger. Just a handful of bright spots
Everyone get the banners out
I don’t care if the players are affected by this
They may lose the next 10 games & its not gonna matter as long as we stay clear off the relegation battle
Protest against STAN DONKEY & ASSENE WENGER
First – On Point – I support the TEAM and NOT the REGIME
Second Out of Point: Wenger Must Learn that ATTACK IS THE BEST DEFENSE. IN the just finished rounds of matches we were in lack of two of our biggest players Ozil and Sanchez and look what happened. I really hope this lesson has been taken to heart and the reason we are being linked with wonderful players like Aubemeyang and Malcom.
I want to see changes in the playing pattern and these two brought in quickly. I would let Ramsey go too and bring in Guades from PSG or Lemar from Monaco. I do not trust Kosienly anymore, he is getting injured too much for my liking and despite what people are saying Calum Chambers is not very ready yet. I would look for a CB and Manolas from Roma would be great. Petr Cech too need either competition or replacement and Sergio Rico from Seville would fit the bill. I would go with this pattern and this team:
Pattern 4.1.3.2. Playing with three Attacking Midfielders and Two Central Forwards. No Compromises.
———–Lacazette(CF) -Aubemeyang(CF)——–
——-Guades(AM)-Wilshere(AM)-Malcom(AM)—-
———————-Xhaka(DM)————————
Kolasinac(LB)-Mustafi(CB)-Manolas(CB)-Bellerin(RB)
————————–Rico(GK)————————–
Wenger should have noted that Lacazette performs playing off another striker and their patnership with Aubemeyangwould be very mobile. If we somehow keep Ozil then Wilshere plays where Guades is position but still as one of the three AMs in the side.
Couldn’t agree more.
Oh, and Wenger out!
one – we have seen for years that wenger doesn’t have learning mind- he thinks that he has nothing to learn and is complete by himself
two – even if he becomes ready to learn, is it fair to let this stubborn man learn at the expense of our beloved club, and Arsenal pays 10m pound per year for teaching him football basics?
third – you said that wenger should buy five star and good players(you mentioned names too), but we knew that there is no way wenger will do it, not five, he is not ready to sign two quality players
so, enough is enough, this rubbish old man should go as soon as possible
Agree with all but Xhaka.
admin sometimes supporting the club means wanting what is best for the club.
in this cas3 it is wenger gone.
Spot on Sir!
Well another LackOfZest from our 50M GBP player, not to mention the rest. It is the same repeated mistakes season in and season out. Sure we can say that some of the blame must be put squarely on the players shoulders , but ultimately Wenger has to take full responsibility. For far too long he has been in control of far too much – we need a hungry coach that wants to win trophies – not a businessman. Consign Wenger to the board he will be better suited there and will Arsenal finally admit enough is enough – this decline has been going on for 8 seasons! Surely the alarm bells must have been ringing all those years ago when being interviewed about the premiership trophy Wenger replied it was more important to be in the top four and it didn’t matter about trophies – my alarm bells certainly did – he should have been replaced then!
I think the problem with Arsenal is we are playing too many newbies in the first team…Bellerin, Chambers, Holding, Ainsley Maitland Niles, Iwobi…those are all relatively new and inexperienced. Then we are also playing another batch of average but experienced players who don’t really offer much to the team, these are, Welbeck, Walcott, Xhaka, Mertesacker…we just don’t have a good balance in the team.
I think I’m actually agreeing with you for the first time ever. But good point.
There are 3 nouns to juggle here not two … The team the regime and the CLUB … Difficult to separate but for me the club comes first and at this point in its history the club is under attack from its own regime and for so long that this has infected the team. part of that is an owner and board who put their profits way above the performance of the team but it is also a manager who conforms to the wishes of the board ( and for all I know may have an ownership stake as well) by putting their short term interests above the long term performance of the team as a result the team itself has become corrupted by the regime through insufficient investment in upgrading the team (all the more damaging as the environment in which the team operates has become increasingly competitive) with ocassional panic acquisitions to meet minimal (but ever diminishing) performance targets to keep fans on board the result is a massively unbalanced team of overpaid compliant players who have been around for too long, inexperienced ( and also overpaid) young players who have not cost the club much (or anything) and small islands of quality players .. The result is a team that I can no longer support but with some players I love … That leaves me where I started supporting the CLUB and worrying how to change the regime and team to put the CLUB back where it belongs …
Well said. I support Arsenal Football Club. I do not support our greedy owner. Also I do not support defenders who are too lazy to learn how to defend. I do not support midfielders like Xhaka who are too lazy to keep up with their opponents. And I certainly don’t support a manager who is too lazy to organise a defence. Who is too lazy to keep up with modern football tactics.
I vote for change now.
Still no Wenger has been sacked news… selling one of our best players to those arseholes United… oh happy days ?
Absolute rubbish, and inaccurate article!
“However, the potential for fans to throw their dummies out of the pram at the first sign of a sticky period is exceptionally high with our club”. Did I just read that? We have a right to protest given the complete lack of respect we (the fans) are given, and we’ve already been incredibly patient! And we wouldn’t get angry at the first sign of a sticky period, as you’ll see with the next manager, but with Wenger it’s about the 80th sign of a sticky period!!! You also say we should be patient for just a little longer as Wenger’s gone soon, but how do you know that? Given what Wenger has said, what’s already happened, and how powerful he is, it’s more than likely he’ll be here longer.
By protesting we’re showing our disgust at the regime (which includes Wenger), so it has to be done in, and around, and during games for full affect. What would be the point of protesting today for example, when Arsenal are not playing? By not protesting we’re basically saying we’re happy with the status quo.
Protesting does not work. We tried it last season and Wenger had the last laugh when he signed his fancy new contract. All we can do now is just wait and maybe support the team. Wait 4-5 more years and Wenger will surely be too old and weak to continue. Let us also learn to give Arsenal the same level of importance in our lives as the club has decided to give to us. We do not matter to the club therefore the club should not matter to us. Don’t stress about it just let things be.
“The club should not matter to us. Don’t stress about it just let things be.”
Are you for real? It is really difficult if you care about the football club you support to do that. Why? Because we care!
The article was written in September as has proven itself wrong.
First of all, there has been almost none Wenger Out protests this season and the support for the team on matchdays has really been there.
But it has helped absolutely nothing. Our slide has continued and we are now in an even worse state than last year.
So this is obviously not the way to go.
It would be right to fight Kroenke/Wenger where it can hurt them.
Do not go to matches and do not spend money in the stadium on merchandise, drinks, food etc. A few weeks of that would really be felt by Kroenke and would be noticed by everybody, and that might do the trick. This season is gone so the goal is to get a fresh start without Wenger. That is the only thing, that will help.
So right. This lazy slogan is not helping the Club.
I don’t support anything blindly. Neither the regime nor the team. I always want Arsenal to win but that doesn’t mean I will support a team or player that doesn’t play for the badge in a way that honors the badge. We have seen too many lackluster performances to warrant blind support.
Show me 90 minutes of fight and dedication leaving everything on the pitch and I will support you win or lose. Show up with an attitude that you deserve to win just by showing up and I can’t identify with you.