I woke up this morning with this question in my mind. Last night while watching our game, I got involved in a discussion, as usual, with a fellow passionate Arsenal fan and an argument ensued between us. To him, he felt the players and the coach didn’t love Arsenal as much as the fans do; but to me, I felt he was not totally right. Do you agree?
Now before I start, I would like to say here that I do appreciate that these footballers and coaches are professionals who earn a living by playing football. The boards of directors are also businessmen and they are basically at Arsenal to make a profit. But does this mean that they don’t care how things pan out at Arsenal, as long as the bucks keep rolling in? I don’t think so. These men also care about the club, but just like the fans; the fans invest emotions in the game, these men invest their talents in the game. Right?
When Arsenal plays, everybody equally feels the tension in the air; everybody goes “ooh’, when Arsenal misses the chance to score a goal, and everybody goes gaga when Arsenal wins a game. Everybody here includes the fans, the players and the management team. Nobody in Arsenal wants the team to lose and everybody will do anything to prevent the team from failing.
I quite understand my friend who feels those running Arsenal don’t love the club enough but I would rather say they do love the club but don’t know how to go about showing the love. Or should I just assume that they love the club, only as long as their bills can be paid? Whatever I say here might not be the true reflection of how or what they feel for the club, but I just want to assume that they love the club.
The players and the coaches are the ones saddled with the responsibility of winning games on the football pitch right? But when they lose, are they not entitled to their wages? Does being paid after losing mean they don’t care or love the club enough? My friend thinks so; he feels the players should be considerate enough to share their wages with the less privileged whenever they lose, as a way of showing how sorry they are for letting the fans down.
My friend walked out on me, when I asked him “if you were to be in their shoes, would you forfeit your salary just because you lost a game?” Am I wrong in asking him this? If the players were to show how crazy they love the club by letting go off their wages whenever Arsenal loses, how much do you think they will forfeit, if Arsenal loses more than 10 games in a season?
Sylvester (Lagos Gooner)