Through the good and the bad times we need to stick together!
Football is unpredictable and football has its good and bad days, but one thing football does is unite and no matter the situation we have to stay together!
Remember December time, we lost three games with two of those back to back and everybody who wasn’t a TRUE Arsenal fan wrote us out of the Premier League..
But we TRUE fans kept the faith or at least some of us tried to, and then the trip to Dubai happened and well 2024 has been amazing so far touch wood!
Discount the loss to Aston Villa this last weekend and discount the so near and yet so far knocking out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich this week, and all in all it’s been great!
Because whatever the weather we stick by this team through thick and thin. I know sometimes we will moan, we will rant, we will criticise and we will be negative but more often than not we try our best to always be positive and at least try to give constructive criticism in order to improve because we can see the potential.
We only want the best for our team and for our players and we always support whoever pulls on our beloved jersey and we try to support whoever is at the helm of our beloved club whether we believe they are the right fit/person for the role at the time.
So as hard as things can sometimes be in football, as our great song says, whatever the weather, our passion means that we live and breathe this beautiful football club in both the good and the bad times!
Keep the faith Gooners the best is yet to come and if it isn’t this season it will be soon because we are getting there just trust the process no matter who is at the club because our time will come!
Onwards and upwards we go Gooners!
Shenel Osman
@sh3n3l_
Let’s celebrate The Invincibles!
Watch the latest video from our friends at DublinArsenal celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Invincibles…
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
Keeping faith that they never be repay
3 straight season of bottling everything in April
We say same thing every year
If we dont beat Wolves we will be told …oh if er beat Chelsea …if we beat Chelsea fans will say well it’s still mathematical possible
Then when we fail we will be patted on head and told it’s progress
Yet the same fans who say this are the ones who didn’t want to listen when others pointed out weak mentality
Good to read a bit of positivity at long.last
Of course every true supporter will be behind the team, surely that’s non negotiable?
What Shenel is NOT understanding, is the fact that one can be critical (as was the case with AW and UE) when things go wrong.
We should have beaten Bayern over the two legs, as they had players out, no fans at the Emirates and, bar Timber, we had a full squad to choose from.
I really don’t understand why, under MA, fair criticism is seen as being disloyal, especially by those fans who, day after day, week after week were more than happy to have a go at our previous managers.
They should be more mature and admit what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
I disagree.
What some people are taking exception to is the unhelpful vitriol being expressed by certain fans.
This season is not yet over but some fans are already writing as if the season has been a total disaster. A number of them have immediately called for him to go. How can that be fair criticism?
Of course you disagree David, it’s par for the course.
Perhaps those who are calling for him to go, see it differently to you and that is their opinion.
The author is saying we should support the manager, after such a disappointing end to our CL run – but that didn’t happen previously did it??
In fact, the most vocal of those saying we should support MA no matter what, seem to be the same fans who go on and on about our previous disappointments under UE and AW…. and even go as far as stating that, because of that, things are harder for MA.
That excuse was being parroted from the very first CL game we played, as we were the “underdogs” no matter who we played.
I’m hoping to see us roar back against Wolves and chelsea and let’s see what happens then – but MA is deserving of being held to the same standards as AW and UE and some might say even more so, after the unprecedented support he’s been given by the owner both on and off the pitch… but I expect you’ll disagree.
For Ken
I am not a fair weather fan. I am not totally distraught that we lost. BUT, there is a pattern in both games against AV and BM. We were the better team in the Ist half and extremely poor and leggy in the 2nd half. So every team has a clear plan to beat us: Defend in the Ist half and not allow us to score. Attack in the 2nd half when we let the pressure get to us.
It needs a real leader in the middle of the park. Xhaka is the one we really missed this season. He does a lot of talking. I personally think we need to change tactics and have both Jorginho and Partey playing together with Rice and get a scrappy win whilst dropping one of the forwards. We can then reset and then grow for the remaining 6 cup finals and hope for a little bit of luck lift the title that weall really want.
👍👍👍
Ken As we are, it seems trying to be honest, why nots lets admit that over the twolegs, BM were a little bit too good for us. Not much, as I did say “a little bit”. They have players far more used to playing in CL knockout stages. We have far fewer.
We put up a good close fight and yesterday were certainly the better team in the first half.
But they upped their game in the second half, esp later on after their goal,and we, being less experienced at that level, could not QUITE match them
Is not THAT, put in that CONTEXT, the real truth,I feel bound to ask you?
Jon, this was our tenth CL game this season and the likes of Zinchenko, Gabriel, Havertz, Partey have ALL had previous experience, along with MA of course.
I don’t see inexperience as a reason for the defeat over two legs, rather our inability to take our chances, especially at home.
I do agree that they upped their game in the second half, but considering the players they had missing, shouldn’t we have been able to do the same?
Having said that, I don’t think we can argue that the better team went through.
Ken, You have possibly not seen, but on another thread, albeit one today, I posted that we had less experience than RM of the “knockout stages”
.As THOSE are what matters most, since all teams play better opponents then than in tthe group stages.
That is true, however much you wish to dispute it. They simply had a far more CL experienced squad available to play than we did and were a little bit better, overall.
You may be interested to know that I am inprocess of writing an article, probably not sent in til tomorrow about the two very differen types of fan onJA.
THOSE WHO ACCEPT THE DOWNS WITH THE UPS, AND THOSE WHO CANNOT, AND ARE EFFECTIVELY GLORY HUNTERS ONLY AND WHO DEMAND SILVERWARE as their price for support. You will know which catagory you and I are in.
Such as……, though without specifically naming them in my piece, for reasons of placating Ad Pat.
It is, albeit in part, a generational divide, sadly, and I will be explaining that thought too.
Like the supporters who left in their droves Against Villa .
These are the fans that part with their hard earned cash and even they had seen enough .
Yeah, it’s the match going supporters who drive this club, and more credit should be given to their opinions ahead of the juvenile rants of some distant fan boys.
…and I now include myself in the “distant fan boy”. brigade, having given up my season ticket ten years ago and moved across country.
This is the time for the team to prove to the fans that they have this new mentality they’ve been crowing about more like it…..
Show that and the fans will give you everything
Exactly mate
Do that and no one can say anything
Actually, humans beings in general tend to follow history, pattern and trends.
That’s why they track these things, so they can predict things.
So judging purely based on patterns and history, which more often than not are a good indicator, the worst is yet to come.
There really is no evidence to support that the best is coming. And you can’t call this negativity, rather it’s a dose of reality and tempered expectations.
(P.S. it took Leverkusen 120 years and Byern royally screwing up to break the patterns.)
RootkIt
Yet again you are using emotive language.
“Bayern royally screwing up” ???
Bayern will very likely end the season with 78 points. They won the Bundesliga with 71 points last season. 77 points the year before. 79 points the before that, and I could go on.
Bayern are the highest scoring team in the league. Kane is the league’s top scorer with 32 league goals, 7 CL goals, and only 1 off top scorer.
Takes a lot of credit away from Leverkusen, too, who are having a ridiculous season. Unbeaten, and on course for over 90 points (94 of they win their remaining 5 games). Bayern haven’t hit 90 points since 13/14.
Don’t let anyone lead you to believe that this is a “poor” Bayern side. It isn’t.
Ah! Full perspective and set in proper context too. Such cathartic bliss!
So easy andlazy to trot out myths I suggest, so well debunked than PAT!
Ah, so stats are now to be used to back up a point of view then Jon?
I love the double standards used when trying to prove a point!!
As you know very well Ken, despiteyour attempt at duplicity in your post, I have always said about stats that they need to be used in full context and though they can be useful ,even very useful at times, they are a guide only to an opinion.That is what I say, failrly often, though inFULL.
Will you EVER do me th favour of quoting me fully,in context, which is important and totally honestly ?
Of course it is well known that I PREFER TO SPELLOUT MY WHOLE THOUGHTS in great detail, normally.
So it is a difficult task for you or anyone else to emcompass all I have said, in one or two measly short sentences.
Is THAT not the real truth?? Essentially KEN, it takes time and effort to quote a person such as I am, in full and accurately.
Far easier to give you own BRIEF summary, therefore missing out key points I make, in this case about stats. REALITY!!
Its a trick that many red top newspapers do, much of the time when wishing to distort a quote, for reasons of their own!
Please dont follow THEM into the gutter KEN,
So are stats now OK to use Jon?
That’s the question I’m asking to ALL JA people – for instance, is the FACT that Kane joining Bayern a factor in the stats Pat reported, or should we ask how many of his goals were tap ins, penalties etc?
It seems that one minute we should accept them, the next minute there is a need for context, or they are myths, depending how they are a positive or a negative for one’s opinions.
I give you a certain ex Arsenal players stats and trophies versus his perceived weaknesses – it’s a really interesting subject wouldn’t you say?
Assuming you can read and properly understand KEN, my full answer to your repeated(I wonder why??) question is in my above post.
I see no reason to repeat what I HAVE ALREADY told you!!
Of course I can read Jon, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to try and understand why one minute stats are lazy myths and another time they are seen as being a full perspective and cathartic bliss… unless one only uses them to back up an argument or dismisses them as they don’t back up said argument.
That’s why I’m asking the question, as you have, on many occasions, dismissed them, only, in this case, trumpeted them.
Nothing sinister or obtuse, just an observation that needs answering in a straightforward way… here’s my take on stats for instance – they tell an incomplete story but are useful if used in the right and consistent way.
Simple really!!
LEAVING ASIDE Ken your attempt to extend another needless quarrel, which I refuse to engage in discussing pointlessly, even though I know how much you like scoring debating points, I am far less keen, .unless it is of RELEVANCE to now or near future. You second para graph is very close, not precisely so but very CLOSE to how I think they can be of use.
Context and relevance is the key. And using them to compare like with like, which in the main ,they cannot do.
However, stats for stats sake, is an industry that stat folk have spawned and largely uses stats to keep some folk in work, but do not bring a great amount of use, normally.
They are far too self important, whereas in reality they are sometimes a useful guide, occasionally very useful, but mostly, hardly ANY GREAT USE. AT ALL.
Much of them are used by anorak types and geeks, keen to show off but out of touch with reality.
They are often a completely useless filler on red top papers football pages. And boring, for so being.
I would use the analogy of brightly coloured football boots which are pricey and gaudy but of no more use than dull black or dark boots. Except fo extracting money from unthinking fools and players so obscenely rich they couldnt care less.
New for being new sake doesn t wsh with me, in general and not just with football either
Emojis are another example of pointless new things being used simply because SOME people want to. They add nothing to debate and only confuse.That is my whole philosophy KEN.
Errr Jon. Emoji only confuse you. Ken and I are both oldies to but you gotta move with contemporary ìfashions.
“I’ve got to”?? Oh yes?? Nothing short of an Act of Parliamemnt would induce me to use pointless and confusing stats.
Remember Pat , I have an English degree and a love of language, so whyever would a bright guy like me wish to confuse folks with nonsensical, childish emojis??
I of course meant emojis,not stats.
I’m not much of a stats fan TBH Ken. I’ver listened to sports commentary on stats obsessed US TV and have to turn the sound down. Just a few facts are good enough for me without going into XG etc.
Agreed Jax, but don’t praise them one minute when it suits you and decry them when they don’t… again, simple really!!
Of course🙄.
I don’t think the subject’s come up before.
Anyway, I saw some info during the game last night which made it look as though Arsenal were completely outpassing Bayern in the number of passes completed, but in truth it was a total made up mostly of our defenders passing the ball forwards and backwards between themselves.
Oh KEN!! The devil , with stats, is in are they of use OR are they not !!
There is no such thing as a one size fits all
. Sometimes they ARE of use, other times they are NOT.
Why can you not understand that, when your OWN above post , in your second paragraph,, said much the same thing??
I do understand that simple FACT, but what I DON’T understand is WHY fans agree with them when they support their point of view, but dismiss them when they don’t.
At least be consistent with them is where I’m coming from!!
I dont know understand either Ken why SOME do as you say
But what is that to do with me and why tell me?. I rarely,if ever at all, praise stats and ONLY when I SEE ANYTRUE USE, as i did when that post about Bayerns points tally in recent years was mentioned.
That shows that far from BAYERN having a particularly poor season this time, , what actually happened was that Leverkusen had this ONE EXTRAORDINARY SEASON.
And that is true, but merely stating facts, which that is, is not truly using stats to prove them. He used actual FACTS about league points gained across a relevent time period.
I would not regard giving facts as using”stats”. Stats are, in their way, also facts, but they are not really,in any true sense of that word.
Two plus two equalling four is a fact and also, in an odd way a stat, if one wants to thinkof it that way, but that is not really using stats in any accurate sense of the word , by themselves.
“FACTS”., rather than stats, was what I praised. You see KEN, HOW A FULL EXPLANATION HELPS ONE TO SEE KEY DIFFERENCES.
I wonder how an emoji, which you use but I DO NOT, could EVER do the same!!
Simple Jon – the stats were produced with NO explanations as to, for instance, how many penalties Kane scored.
BUT, as it suited the point of view regarding our performance and result, it was greeted with complete acceptance.
As for the emojis, as a forward thinking fan, I embrace modern technology and, as a realist, I understand one must move with the times 🤔👍😂
But KEN Kane hasalwqay taken pens and scored many while at Spurs . And with England!
I dont see thpont you are making TBH!
Surely you are not expecting other poster to go into the sheer amount of chapter and verse that I choose to do? Even I DONT EXPECT THAT IN OTHERS.
. Sometimes it would be welcome, for purpose of PROPER AND FULL debate,but human nature being what is it and folk trying to be brief( not me of course) it would be sheer fantasy on anyones part to EXPECT detailed posts, other than with me , naturally We live , sadly IMO, in the age of the unexplained soundbite only!
I think most by far have already been getting behind the team.
The Emirates is a completely different environment now, fan got behind the team.
Kroenke spent 800 million and still going! If that’s not getting behind the team, I don’t know what is!
Also the fans believe this team can actually accomplish something; a trophy, win the league, something to make their mark.
Unfortunately this team continues to bottle chances when they appear. Top 4 several years ago, the title last year after sitting on top for months, Bayern in the CL, and Liverpool stumbled and we had a chance to go 3 points above plus game in hand and 2 points over City; instead we can’t seize the opportunity.
Sorry but the excuses are wearing thin at this point. At first is was about spending, can’t complain now. Next it was patience with Arteta, now into his 5th year.
Tired of the excuses. We gave up standards and expectations, and this is the result.
Wenger had top 4 or else, and he achieved that for 20 years straight! Emery had top 4 or the chop, despite no control or his choice of players.
Lower standards, lower expectations, and you lower the results.
Let the excuses roll in about how we could not or cannot, but never about why we should or will.
No-one has given up standards but expectations need to realistic. Ranting and raving is going to get us nowhere.
Realistic expectations like what for example?
5th year in charge; squad built on his chosen players.
800 million to fund his chosen squad, and still going!
5th year and all the patience required, despite missing out on European football, 1st time in 2 decades.
What exactly would be “realistic expectations”?
Top 4? Wenger did that for decades spending far far less and using youth, and was mocked in the end for it, yet many Praise Arteta for the top 4 trophy now.
Winning a trophy with his chosen squad of hundreds of millions? How about an FA Cup with HIS players, not the “deadwood” deemed not good enough and sold or released for free.
Just asking what we should expect is all. Some say “be happy we finished 2nd last year.”
So top 4 is good enough then?
“Be patient we are a young team.”
So progressing from 8th, to 5th, to 2nd is enough then?
Just wondering why it is taboo now, because Wenger and Emery were held accountable and ultimately moved on for not meeting the “expectations.”
I disagree
“Ranting and raving” was out of control before our two consecutive defeats.
Remember when we beat Porto and some where saying we would win the CL?
What about the ranting and raving when, after our great run when we’re scoring goals for fun, fans were saying the PL was a given?
That CERTAINLY didn’t get us anywhere did it David?
Once again it seems that there are rules for one kind of opinion that doesn’t apply to the opposite!!
I would just add for “expectations” ask yourself this,
“Is Arteta or the players satisfied and happy without trophies?”
Of course not, so why should fans settle for less?
Even Arteta has spoken about winning trophies, although he likely will never publicly blame or berate the players as some fans do. That doesn’t mean Arteta and the players are happy or content falling short yet again.
I don’t think David can “disagree” with that post Durand!!
DUARND THAT IS NO DOUBT TRUE.
But, unlike some fans , players are not given to using social medai to rant and rave at their own teammatesand manager and if any ever did( which HAS happened ,on a tiny few very rare aoccsions) all hell would be let loose within the club and dressing room.
Just this week GARNACHO “liked” a post on Twitter or X as I believe,which criticised his manager Ten Hag and all hell is happening at Old TRAFFORD, and in newpapers and media too,unsurprisingly.
So yes someplayers may well feel like some fans do but they never, well hardly ever, write such criticism or speak it in public. True fans also ought not to rant and rave, as Konstantin regularly does when showing his great immaturity.
I an sending in tomorrow a JA article discussing polar different types of fans ; true fans who ACCEPT downs with the ups .And,on the other hand,those who do NOT and who demand silverware as the price of their fanhood.
Such types are NOT, IMO , PROPER fans at all.
Emery didn’t get the chop for not finishing 4th, he got it for being around 14th in the autumn of his second season and what was obvious to see, having lost the dressing room from which there is no obvious way back. I am sure you will recall, Durand, that the magic dust was beginning to fail Wenger when he finished his illustrious career at Arsenal and unsurprisingly there were rumblings.
I cannot accept that it is fair to compare Arteta with Wenger and Emery. Had the board appointed Ancelotti or similar and the results in the first two years were as they were, then I have no doubt at all, that we would have been calling for his removal. Arteta was the untried and untested new manager and was consequently given time to implement his plans. Do you think that he should be sacked at the season’s end because this year we only made it to the QF of the CL and finished in the top3 in his 5th year? Is there not the brick wall stopping all comers that has been ManC and Guardiola? Or is that just me making excuses?
Sue. Can I ask you? How long should Arteta be our manager without winning the “major trophies” 5, 6, 7 years? Or do you accept City are the untouchables and cant be caught. I am not calling for the sacking of Arteta but I still and have always said, I don’t think he is good enough to win the league with Arsenal. Am i happy with that? No. If he can’t win the league with the investment, get someone in who can and has. We are now spelike a big club, thats something, I cant ever say, we did before.
Not spelike but “spend like”
They never answer that question. I personally have asked Sue a number of times over the years and I am still waiting for an answer.
They are always selling us the future because it’s the easiest way out of an argument without conceding being wrong.
Where is that future 5 years after? When is it coming, 2075?
Perhaps to some Arteta is the trophy.
I don’t feel the need to say next year or the year after just to satisfy your craving for an answer HH because I don’t know the blinking answer myself But rest assured, when I think that Arteta has no chance of delivering then you’ll be one of the first to know
Happy now?
Evening Reggie
I presume you accept that Arteta has been on a learning curve?
I think by now that you know I would have gone for a top manager but I can’t help it if the board decided to give Arteta a go. I mentioned Ancelotti because he was available and had all the experience in the world. My patience would have been sorely tested if he wasn’t doing better than Arteta was at the time
I have based my thinking on a) the board thought he had the balls
b) that it would take quite a while for a baby in management terms to turn it round. I did think there needed to be a reboot/rebuild and moving players on and bringing in new ones takes time.
c) it’s undeniable that Pep has dominated the league since Arteta arrived and until Chelsea were forced to change ownership were also a force to be reckoned with
Do I have a time scale? Not sure I do as it depends on so many factors. If we are struggling to maintain CL football and/or the emerging teams below us now overtook us, then I’d accept that Arteta’s days would be numbered. But I’m not going to join the calls for a change based on this season
Ok, Sue. Im a little more demanding because we are now spending like a big team and I expect more. Yes he has been on a learning curve but other elite club would give time, like we do. 3 to 4 years is unusual, without a tin pot.
Reggie
I wouldn’t say I’m not demanding as I was pretty clear that Emery had to go.
I’m not great at explaining at times, but I more or less gave Arteta a free pass for 2 years. There was a lot wrong with club. The sheer length of Wenger’s tenure followed by a difficult year for Emery and a rookie in charge was a lot to process.
Taking the year we finished 5th, last year and this with a 2nd place and a top3 place on the cards, then I’m happy with where we are.
I’m not impressed by a couple of the signings. It’s 50/50 on Raya v Ramsdale. A no for Vieira, Sambi and Tavares and I’m not anti Havertz like many are. Those outfield players have taken up space in the squad without adding value to it which then diminishes our chances to rotate properly. I think the next season is a really big one for Arteta and Edu Nobody wants another burnout come April 25
No one is anti-Harvetz but truth is he doesnt deserve to be playing for AFC considering the money spend on him. The Harvetz case is just a very clear message on how agents are influencing recruitment of players rather than the players talent and workmanship.
I guess the answer to the question is this – as long as the owner backs him.
Kronkie was content to see our club make money by finishing in the top four and winning cups under AW, but I believe his son has more ambition for The Arsenal.
We’ve seen massive investment and support since he became involved and it seems we are about to go into phase five under their and MA’s stewardship.
I can only summise that this must be the last piece of the puzzle, so that means one more season to see the final result, one way or the other.