Arsenal fans should show more SUPPORT for the team

THE ARSENAL FAN’S MIND by JA

Hey guys hope y’all having a great week after what happened against Villa and are looking forward to great things against Tottenham.

So with things going well I just intend to talk about the disappointment I feel towards a whole lot of Arsenal fans, with the way they have a lack of faith in our players when things go wrong.

It’s very disappointing when the good things one does are all forgotten in the blink of an eye because one has had a slump in form. In the aftermath of form slumps we hear things like: ‘sell him off’, ‘release him’, ‘and tear up his contract’. Now I understand your emotions but please tell me of a player you know that has a FULL good season? Let alone one that can go two three seasons without any slump. Can you name 10 players off the top of your head that hit the ground running after an injury? How about after a transfer? Most of the World Cup stars (and that was most) have been struggling for form at their respective clubs.

I think we ought to show a little more respect to Wenger and the players because, much as they deserve our applause when they do something good, they deserve our support when they are going through hard times. If not that, then why on Earth are we there to support them? Aren’t we supposed to be encouraging them when things aren’t going their way?

The Szczesny case
Now I know Szczesny has screwed up a couple of times. But before we slay him with the sword of righteousness about how he’s a championship level keeper and should be sold, remember how many points has he won us on his own? I do remember games when he won us points on his own, like at Sunderland, standing behind a defense of Aaron Ramsey at right back, Sagna and Mert in the middle (I don’t remember who was at left back) – and he managed to keep a clean sheet. Now with no wish to disrespect Ospina, when has he faced any sort of fire since he became the regular Arsenal keeper? If Ospina is being protected by a concrete wall at the front, then all Szczesny had was bed-sheets and cardboard for most of the season. Before we slander him for the poor games he’s had, we should remember that at one point, he was the much awaited savior from Manuel Almunia and Co. In this period where he’s messed up, I think we should be of good mind to help him recover his best form, by cheering him on as loud as we can every time he’s on the pitch, and not by slandering him. The goals conceded at Brighton to be honest were goals he could do very little about.

Mertesacker
For real, we really must be ungrateful to slate this guy – and many reading this article are guilty. Mertesacker got his own criticisms earlier this season when he was played out of position, with a different partner every week, in a role he’s not so good at (the aggressor, as opposed to sweeping). At Brighton, crowd favourite Laurent Kosielny was played in the sweeper role with Nacho for partnership and I’ve seen Nacho look more confident than he did that day. I believe it’s because Mert complements every other defender we have at Arsenal most perfectly. We should appreciate the role he plays. With the right partners, Mertesacker doesn’t need to be as fast as Walcott to be good. With the wrong partners, and poor organization, you could have Koscielny and another partner who happens to be faster than Walcott, Bale and CR7 combined and they’d still get played like babies!

Wilshere, Ramsey and Arteta
A statement I read on this site from someone a couple of years ago as Wilshere returned from his long lay off will stay with me forever. It was replying to a comment from Aaron Ramsey claiming he was looking forward to playing with Jack and the response was “what makes you think you have the right to step on the same pitch as the Jack you piece of sh*t”. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the exact user who put it up.

Right now, I’m so sure, if Wilshere returned from injury and expressed the opposite, I believe he’d receive the same kind of insult purely because he isn’t on form right now. But I’d like you to look back and remember how long it took Ramsey to return to the form he’s been at in the recent past, and then judge. Last season we stood on Ramsey. Mainly this season he’s a bench player? People even seem oblivious to the fact that since the Man City game, Ramsey has returned to the kind of play that brings out the best in him. Quietly running things in the middle of the park, and then maybe arriving into a scoring position. But seriously, this guy is doing what he’s required to do. I know the craze with Coquelin and serious kudos to the boy, but Le Coq being on fire is causing most to appreciate Mert even less – but really. Is it necessary? I don’t think so.

Many others, Giroud, Ozil, Cazorla, Monreal and Chambers have proved that we can be wrong and a player might just be going through a bad time where he needs our support the most, and at that point, we need to offer it.

COYG!

Joe

Tags Mertesacker Szczesny Wilshere

34 Comments

  1. Arsenal fans are the best and have always support the team…

    Arsenal fans have always given great ideas, recommendations in terms of tactics, strategies, who and when to sub and who to sign, who should play, who to sell and many more….

    the best fans of the entire league

    1. Hafiz, STFU. You are a so called fan willing to sell the team every weekend. Hardly an advice one can follow.

    2. Hafiz you are completely deluded m8. I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic but you are none of the above. A quite bizarre thing for you, of all people to say.

      1. gooner10, a long time ago on this forum, Hafiz was completely against spending big on any big name and was all for Wenger doing what he was – pennypinching, I sh*t you not. Then one day, he started with this ‘buy a whole new team syndrome’, and I laughed and thought he was being sarcastic…but he hasn’t stopped since. Don’t know what to make of him qh

  2. Guys i am getting nervous about Sanchez’s injury. Before the match Wenger gave the impression that it was nothing serious and he just did not want too risk him. After the match Wenger said ” He was not very close to playing today”. Also i am not getting any update. Knowing Wenger’s habit of underreporting players’ injury to fans, i do not know what to think. Can someone out here shed a little light ?

    1. “Not very close” translates to “close” anyway so I believe he is just fine. In any case, if he won’t play here’s yet another reason for the team to show that we are not an one man team. Especially against the spuds.

  3. Criticizing our players is wrong but sometimes required in order for them to up there game.

    Its normal even in a household to bash a child if underperforming say at school or an employee underperforming at work. Ofcourse it matters in which you do it as at times you risk making the whole thing worse or sometimes make the person better.

    When underperforming its good to kick players at the back sometimes in order for them to raise there game. We’ve seen how OG and Ramsey have improved and now Ozil showing good signs aswell. We know what these players can do and we know the statue of our club its the reason we get frustrated at times.

    I admitted I have bashed some players several times including the Manager aswell. Now look how things are sharping up, change of approach to the game, players showing more spirit and giving us money for value.

    One thing am happy about is we don’t boo our own on the pitch like RMadrid fans do. Class-less behaviour

  4. Criticizing our players is wrong but sometimes required in order for them to up there game.

    Its normal even in a household to bash a child if underperforming say at school or an employee underperforming at work. Ofcourse it matters in which you do it as at times you risk making the whole thing worse or sometimes make the person better.

    When underperforming its good to kick players at the back sometimes in order for them to raise there game. We’ve seen how OG and Ramsey have improved and now Ozil showing good signs aswell. We know what these players can do and we know the statue of our club its the reason we get frustrated at times.

    I admitted I have bashed some players several times including the Manager aswell. Now look how things are sharping up, change of approach to the game, players showing more spirit and giving us money for value.

    One thing am happy about is we don’t boo our own on the pitch like RMadrid fans do. Class-less behavior

  5. I just don’t understand why a fan would insult their own players. Criticism, I get that. But just down right insulting them I don’t understand. We’ve already got enough people sh*tting on our players. The media are almost constantly sh*tting on us, and whenever praise is handed out, it is either very grudgingly, or in the form of back handed compliments. As well as other football fan (that’s to be expected), and certain officials, there’s more than enough s*it thrown at them without me piling on. As long as you throw on that arsenal jersey I’m going to support you, fan or player.

  6. As I have said before
    Win Lose or Draw
    Gunners never die
    AGA will forever be a Die Hard Fan.
    Coyg
    ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL.

  7. Some Arsenal fans are always too quick to hate a player. Always too quick to want to spend money. Always too quick to attack Wenger. Granted, at times, all of those things are warranted but often it is more a combination of factors and not down to the reasons we attribute so readily in order to cast a scape goat.

    I’ll be first to stand up and say I often slate Mertesacker. BUT I am pointing out weaknesses that are true – I have never once said we should sell or drop the player but merely that we have to account for those weaknesses. I’ll be first to say that Wilshere hasn’t played anywhere near at his own level this season BUT I also have his name on the back of my shirt and am proud to wear it.

    This site, and often the Emirates itself, are a cauldron for blaming for misfortune. Rarely do we talk about the solutions without talking of sending a player out on his heels or sacking Wenger or spending big. Our realism is completely blown, expecting to pay 150M out on players every season so we can challenge. I personally, would much rather be Arsenal. We have loyalty to players – we don’t have a team of mercenaries held together with Duct Tape and the boot straps of the odd player who doesn’t jump ship. We have players like Theo and Ramsay, who can stand there and give interviews with modesty, humility and intelligence. We have players who would have bent over backwards to rejoin us like Cesc, or an ethos where a young player may have a nightmare like Coq or Bellerin but still be welcomed back into the fold. We are a team apart from Utd and Chelsea – who give a crap about our players and don’t fall back on pressuring referees or buying in mercenaries in order to carry us to victory.

    I’m proud to be a supporter of a team who still hold some value to the club. And yes, sometimes it is frustrating because we could be winning and yet lose due to a poor decision or a player out of form. BUT as supporters we should be trying to raise those players up, not assassinate their remaining confidence. Our latest few players who are suffering we should not send on their heels. Sczcesney will come good again and clearly needs this competition to begin to flourish. Wilshere is still an untapped pool of ability and skill. Wenger still has more to offer the club. Us supporters need to get behind the values Arsenal stand for and keep pushing this unity our team seems to have found so that we can finally achieve what we truly deserve to be achieving!

  8. Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez is already considering quitting the club. The Chilean is not happy that he has been replaced as the side’s talisman and fan favourite by in-form Santi Cazorla, while the Gunners’ league placing is a concern.
    Source: Mundo Deportivo

    I’ve never seen a rubbish rumour like this one.

        1. Haha, probably!

          Think objective reporting is no longer a necessity…sports journos are all partisan…so rubbish articles like twigs post are just someone’s attempts to disrupt Arsenal. Jumping on the back of the sh** written by Durham earlier this week.

  9. Arsenal play in front of
    50-60 thousand every week.
    They travel in style are accomodated
    in luxurious hotels and are paid more in
    2 months than most people get paid in a life time.
    Regarless of injury or form they are still paid in full.
    Any one playing badly deserves criticism and the chop.

    1. Spot on. That is why Arshavin used to piss me off so much, earning 70k a week yet walks around on the pitch. There is no excuse for lazy and under performing players, especially after the Sanchez effect.

  10. Wandered about some of the spurs fans websites to see how the ambitious fellas are thinking about the NLD.

    Conclusion : They are scared sh!t of our MF combo of Cazorla, Walcott ,Ozil and Ox. And they are praying that Sanchez does not get fit for the match. Do not worry Spuds. Brace yourselves for a memorable demolition at White Fart Lane.

    1. @Invincibles49
      They shouldn’t be to scared. They did just put Chelsea to the sword…We can’t afford to be too cocky…

  11. Criticism is good if it’s constructive and there is nothing anyone can do about it if it is true. If I under perform at work, trust me I get to know all about it, because it has a negative effect on the whole team and company as whole. The same is applied to players…if they are under performing or lack certain abilities required for the job, they are preventing the team from achieving their goals – and that is to win.

    As fans, we have a slightly limited view on our players as we can only see them on match days. We do not see them in training or what might be going on in their personal lives. A player might perform well at training and seem up for it, but on match day they are horrible. I remember we had this defender for the club I used to play in, he was tall, strong and fast, you could literally feel the ground shake as he ran up to tackle you – an absolute beast in training but for some reason in games, he was poor and never lived up to what he accomplished at training. End of the day, although we might have a limited view, it Is the best view of players performances, because quite honestly it is the performance on the day that counts, NOT in training or anywhere else. In other words, it is unbias account without any predisposition – where as Wenger has all these other things to take into account when determining the value and worth of a player – which is a good or bad thing depending on the manager.

    As fanatical, devout and loyal fans to this club, we watch every game we can, sometimes more than once. We get to see the finished product of players and this is my honest assessment.

    1. Sczcesny – not commanding enough in the box and makes too many rash and indecisive decisions. His habit of smoking does not help his cause either. Benching him was spot on.

    2. Mertesacker – I disagree with the articles assessment of Per. It goes on to say “you could have Koscielny and another partner who happens to be faster than Walcott, Bale and CR7 combined and they’d still get played like babies!” This is untrue as first of all, have we even paired Kossie with any other CB other than Per this season for a long period of time? No. In fact, it was the other way around and we saw just how much Per struggled without Kossie.
    Perhaps the author is talking about the combination of Vermalaen (when he was still a gunner ofcourse) and Koss. which still wouldn’t apply, because although they are both quick CB’s, they both unfortunately had this knack for bolting up field leaving the defense exposed. Essentially, I agree that Mertesacker if very disciplined and when in the right position he is ok. But his speed it a MAJOR problem and quicker strikers rub their hands together when they see his name on the team list. Another thing is that for his height, Mertesacker is poor in the air and rarely wins even 1 on 1 air duels. I was told the other day by someone on this forum that height has nothing to do with being able to be good in the air. I then went onto mention that Peter Crouch is 6.6ft and excellent in the air, to be told that Crouch is actually poor in the air. After reading some stats, in 2010, Crouch was the 3rd highest striker out of the top 100 strikers in the BPL to score more goals from headers than foot. So to say that height has nothing to do with being good in the air is quite a silly statement. It is an obvious advantage, one that for some reason Per cannot utilize properly. So ultimately he is slow and poor in the air enough reason to replace him with some better in both aspects.

    3. Wilshere. As much as I admire him, there is no way for him back into the 1st team right now. Santi, Rosicky, Ramsey, Coquelin, Ozil are all top of their game (bar perhaps Ramsey) but those players have just gelled so well together, to change it right now wouldn’t be smart. Wilshere should only be used as a sub quite honestly at the moment.

  12. Hey Big Gun – I am the “someone” who, to paraphrase you, said “that height has nothing to do with being able to be good in the air”. I also said that Crouch is crap in the air and is not, and never will be rated as a great header of the ball. He has accumulated 26 headed goals over 6 or 7 seasons purely on the back of the single asset he possesses – height. The stat you quote is a %, his overall goal tally is pretty paltry, many strikers have scored a greater number of headers. Around 4 headed goals a season is pretty dismal. You primarily need an ability to jump and good technique to be a great header of the ball – if you have height you will have an advantage in certain situations. Crouch has height, no jumping ability and no technique. He has accumulated 26 headed goals from 7 years of people pumping long looping balls in to him. If you want to place Crouch in the pantheon of great headers of the ball then OK with me but bit of joke to even compare him with properly good headers of the ball around at the moment; Andy Carroll, Edin Dzeko and even our own Giroud are in a different class. And one of the best exponents of modern times has been Tim Cahill who trounces Crouch and only 5’10” to boot ie: height doesn’t correlate with heading ability. Go back a few years and there is an endless list of great headers of the ball that shame Crouch; Alan Shearer (average height, great technique, good jump), Duncan Ferguson (tall, could jump and good technique), Speedie (short, good jump and brilliant technique).

    And knowing you like your stats/facts, and coming back to whole premise of what you originally said ie: “Mertesacker is poor in the air and rarely wins even 1 on 1 air duels”.

    2014-2015 PL stats (90 min metric):

    Aerial duels won:
    Mertesacker: 2.68
    Koscielny: 2.36
    Kompany: 1.41
    Terry: 2.39
    Cahill: 2.62

    % aerial duels won:
    Mertesacker: 67.05
    Koscielny: 47.54
    Kompany: 56.76
    Terry: 73.33
    Cahill: 68.35

    “Poor in the air”, “rarely wins 1 on 1s”. I’m sure you will come back with “he should have a 100% stat”, but hey whatever I think you’d be best advised to ignore the facts in this instance.

    1. You are missing my point entirely. I originally stated that players with height have an advantage in the air. This is a no brainer. I also said that Andy Carrol and Peter Crouch are great headerers of the ball and their height gives them this extra advantage. You replied by saying Crouch is poor in the air. Well it just so happens in 2011, the top ten headerers determined by duels won AND goals scored of the ball both include Carroll at no 3 and Crouch at no 5. These players not only won aerial duels, but also scored goals by doing so. Taking defenders stats into account is based solely on them being able to win the ball first in the air, no matter where it goes. Per might have 64% aerial duels won (you were off by 3%), but who is to say he effectively dealt with those headers?

      From what we have all seen, Arsenal are extremely poor at defending corners and free kicks. I very rarely see Mertesacker win air balls in situations like this, and this is where it matters the most. Strange because a player with his height and ‘stats’ he should be winning more of those don’t you think?

      1. Big Gun – I come in peace on this one. A few inches height wise in a player who cannot jump is easily negated by an athletic 6 footer. Might be both missing each other’s points to differing degrees. Height is an advantage when the duel is with both feet planted on the ground – but not if you can’t jump then much of that is nullified. Both PM and PC cannot jump but will be reasonably effective with a height advantage. You might just as validly ask why Kos doesn’t do so well stat wise in the heading department when he has a better jumping ability than PM. If you research “great headerers” in football you will find all sorts of shapes and sizes in the list and they all share athleticism and technique but not all have great height. There are very few who combine athleticism, technique and height – Andy Carroll is the best modern example. Sorry but Crouch is not in the same ball-park as Andy Carroll when it comes to heading ability. You only have to google “Crouch” and “heading” to find hundreds of articles as to why is actually pretty underwhelming in the air. But in fairness, all the criticism is only there because people assume you should be good at heading if you are tall. He also gets stereotyped by people assuming a tall person won’t be much good with the ball at his feet – and as we know he has fairly decent “feet”.

        1. I agree that you don’t have to be tall to be good in the air. Tim Cahill is a perfect example. All I was saying is that height is an advantage and most players who are tall are all generally good in the air. 8 of the 10 players in that list of top headerers of the ball in the BPL were all players over 6ft. Saying Crouch is not good in the air is like saying Messi is not good with the ball at his feet. The majority of goals Messi scored are from his foot. The majority of goals Crouch has scored are all from his head. I still cannot understand how you beg to differ.

          Anyway I also am not trying to be hostile, I just feel that Mertesacker, for his height, should be offering more in terms of dominating air space against corners and free kicks. When an opposition has a corner or free kick, they usually aim for their best headerer of the ball, someone who can make the most of the set piece. In this situation, Mertesacker should be the one to counter this type of threat. I’m not sure, perhaps his positioning has been poor or the dreaded zonal marking is making things tough, but Mertesacker needs to start showing some more strength in the air. He already is the slowest player in the BPL which alone is something to concerned about. Let us see how the rest of the season goes, perhaps I have judged him too quickly when it comes to aerial ability, but his lack of speed worries the crap out of me when we play teams like Liverpool, Chelsea and United.

          1. Crouch is effective but not particularly good at heading. You can either accept there is more to aerial ability than height or reject it; technique and athleticism are far more important criteria. Crouch, like PM, cannot jump and unlike PM has poor technique. If you look at the absolute stats (not proportion with head where you will find more players who rely primarily on height to score headers) then the average height of the PL’s all-time headed goal scorers (Fowler, Heskey, Cole, Cahill, Sheringham, Ferguson, Yorke, Ferdinand, Dublin and Shearer) is a shade under 6ft. If height is a huge advantage you would have to say Crouch has underperformed at 6’7″ – the only other striker in the all-time list within 4 inches of Crouch’s height is Duncan Ferguson.

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