Let me stress I am a big fan of the Arsenal Youtuber I will refer to in this article and agree with many of his opinions. However this weekend he gave me a glaring example of what I have said for years.
There are other examples on social media, but as the most watched fan channel on the Internet, I feel it right to point out AFTV’s contradictions which wrongly educate the next generation of gooners.
Everyone is of course entitled to their point of view, but I have long argued that many Youtubers got their viewers by verbally abusing the greatest manager in our history and insisting the grass would be greener once he left.
I’m allowed to write we have gone backwards since Arsene Wenger left, because that was my stance at the time. He would be replaced by a cheaper option; our owner still wouldn’t show any ambition, and we would slowly realise actually how hard it was to keep finishing in the top 4 when Stan Kroenke is your employer.
Clearly though others feel they would lose credibility if they held up their hands and said they were wrong. Which factually they have been.
Hence that’s why suddenly we are hearing conspiracy theories and stories of corruption.
So I’m asking readers in the comments to explain me the difference in these two scenarios ….
On Sunday we came from 3-0 down to draw at West Ham. Post-match DT has a smile on his face saying he’s conflicted, not sure how to feel. He’s unhappy with how we started the game but proud at the end.
To give you some context a draw puts us 9th and ends our outside hopes of catching those competing for a Champions League place.
It was a must-win game, a chance to close the gap between us and the Hammers to 4 points instead of remaining 7.
7 points behind West Ham with 9 games to go is not progress, but hey maybe DT is correct to be proud of the spirit and that we never gave up? In his own words ‘ I’m happy we turned it around and avoided defeat. They are clearly playing for the manager. You don’t come back from 3-0 down if you’re not playing for your manager.’
Now rewind to January 2017 when the very same fan watches us in an identical situation.
3-0 down at Bournemouth, we grab a 3-3 draw. Only difference, that point took us to 4th not 9th …
Yet on that evening he refuses to give the team any credit and asks why they are in that situation in the first place? He swears 19 times compared to the 0 times this weekend.
So how can the same man have a complete opposite reaction, outlook and demeanour to the exact same situation? Either he wanted attention by verbally abusing one manager, or is now scared to criticise the current one.
If his stance is it shouldn’t need to take being 3-0 down to wake players up, how come it’s now evidence that the players fight for the manager.
Same situation, same person … Opposite reaction!
It proves either he simply had an agenda against Wenger so faked anger, or is now being ultra-positive because he can’t admit how backwards we have gone, so he fakes happiness?
Or have we gone so backwards that we are now boasting about a draw at West Ham?
Here are both videos here so you can watch and decide for yourself…
Be Kind In The Comments
Dan
Four and a quarter years between both comments, if my maths is correct, and perhaps he has grown up in that time, or just got a little older and calmed down a bit. I’m sure every single one of us on here has posted conflicting comments over the years, I admit I have, but I don’t have an agenda.
I’m not sure why I’m defending AFTV, as I think it’s a yobish, puerile platform and totally understand why Arsenal Football Club disassociated itself from it and forced it to change its name so that fans didn’t think it was somehow official.
I just like this sentence: “You don’t come back from 3-0 down if you’re not playing for your manager”
We shouldn’t discourage the manager and players, since we’re still in the crucial phase of EL. So if some fans want to make any unconstructive comments on social media, they better do it after we get kicked out from EL
This also applies to Arsenal fan websites’ authors and YouTube channels’ owners, if they really want Arsenal to go to the next phase
Well said GAI
it’s all about opinons
Some agree with some make your blood boil
End of the day I hope we all want the same thing “success and trophies”
It’s been many a year since we last won it and were in the hunt for the ultimate trophy
If the current set of players win EL, they’ll be legends in my eyes. Because it’s been decades since we won a major European trophy
Well the season is over..so there is hope
Even if we do win, bet we still have the die hard MA out brigade shouting out he should have aged a different formation
Onwards and upwards
Can’t finish top 9th and be called legends ?
If they win EL, I wouldn’t care about our final position in EPL
Meant to say isn’t over
Look what happen last season
Doom a.d gloom a d we go on and win the fa cup….😃
If an arsenal fan doesn’t care where we finish in the Premiership then that again proves we have gone backwards
We sacked Wenger for ‘ only finishing in Top 4 ‘ just to battle to be in top 10 and win the Europa ?
– Top 4 finish means CL without trophy
– EL win means CL + one major European trophy
Won’t excuse being 30 points behind top
Declan hit the nail on the head. Angry young man growing up into a more pragmatic one.
I see the similarity- how could you not?
Age has something to do with it, and I’m in no way being disrespectful to the younger generation that saw year after year of top4 finishes under Wenger. They didn’t know what finishing 5th or lower meant
Us oldies have been through the wringer watching Arsenal over the years. Some successes and some failures and expectations of always finishing in the top4 never a given.
👍 Well put, Sue.
“Clearly though others feel they would lose credibility if they held up their hands and said they were wrong. Which factually they have been”
Hence the forced defending of Arteta which is getting ridiculous with every bad results to the point now some are choosing only part of the game to praise the manager.
Football is 90 minutes you don’t say we were good in 35 minutes. What about the remaining 55?
You don’t praise the manager for coming back from 3 goals down while ignoring why he conceded 3 in the first place.
The comebacks deserve praise if they are here and there but they are not impressive for a team which has already lost half of their games.
WHY IS WHAT DT THINKS AND HOW HE REACTS OF INTEREST TO ANYONE? Serious qustion; why? IT IS NOT TO ME!
AFTV was a good idea originally, that failed because too many hotheaded semi literate bigots were given too much air time to spout bile and filth. They must now reap what they have sown and that is all I have to say about them!
I fully agree with you on this one.
jon, a few of the commenter on AFTV are knowledgeable about football, are respectful and talk sense. Symtomatic of football fans everywhere.
“Suddenly we are hearing conspiracy theories & stories of corruption “.I think you’ll find it most definitely isn’t suddenly.It’s been going on way back.Started under Wenger.Two or three( there’s many more) particularly stand out.Old toilet 49 ers season,the barcodes 4-4,Brum vs Arsenal league 2-2. & Mike Dean.Really the list goes on for years however you deny it.If those refs aren’t bent well you’re either very,very woke or specsavers need an urgent call…
The pires dive against Pompe y
Numerous decisions against Burnley
Eboue dive against Barcelona
Chelsea red card in Cup.Final.
Elneney not getting red card at home to Burnley
Man United disallowed goal in Cup semi final
Man City disallowed goal in Cup semi final
Sanchez hand ball against Chelsea In Cup Final
Just ignore them because it don’t suit your agenda ?
Arsenal fans are hot headed about our club Jon,when u want the club you love to do well u get emotional about the club.
YES Ben that is true and passion is the lifeblood that keeps the game alive and leads to the all important funding too.
But passion alone, without an ability and a desire to THINK about what you say or write is often harmful. Passion is what leads to murders, esp in domestic settings and passion sometimes creates dangerous, out of control people who can wreak great harm on society. I give you the recent Bristol riots as evidence of passion that went out of control and proved harmful, but harmful to ordinary innocent Bristolians who had done nothing to deserve having their fine city trashed by unthinking morons, albeit passionate ones.
So passion, correctly aligned to intelligent thought can create world class vaccines that rescue humanity from Covid(in good time). I t can build great dams, bridges, roads hospitals and a million other great things in life. PASSION INVENTED THR MICRO CHIP.
But passion without intelligent thought aligned can create great and lasting harm and danger to our world.
It was one mans passion against Judaism in the 1930/40s that was evil and created chaos!
I love passion . But I love passion WITH intelligent thought a great deal more. I loathe lack of intelligent thought, as many hasty youngsters on this very site know only too well. I will fight til my dying breath FOR both passion AND intelligent sober minded thought. They are NOT opposites, as some wrongly think.
If you want to see passion at its finest look no further than medical labs and vaccine trials when it becomes apparent that a cure is found. Those passionate scientists make DT(onAFTV) look the semi deranged amateur he actually is.
For me I take personalities out, and judge the performances and the results. It was not enough with Wenger and it was not enough with Arteta.
I have been talking about consistency, results, and performances during the reign of all 3 managers; the standard applied to Wenger and Emery, but Arteta seems immune from. And it has not been good enough from any of the 3, period.
Arteta knew what he was getting into when he signed, and so did Emery. Wenger was replaced because he couldn’t get top 4 after 2 tries, finishing 5th and 6th so he had to go.
Emery finished 5th and was in 8th when he got the boot, not good enough. Arteta finished 8th and currently sit outside the top 8, still not good enough. Deadwood is mostly gone, and we have regressed in nearly 18 months.
Arteta picked his GK (Leno over Martinez), resigned Luiz, brought in Gabriel, Partey, Cedric, Mari, convinced Xhaka to stay, brought back Elneny and Ceballos, signed Willian, and sent Saliba, Guendouzi, Willock on loan and didn’t let AMN compete.
Arteta decides how we play, makes his selections, tinkers as he pleases, chooses players over others (like Willian), so I don’t buy the excuses.
IF we are not top 6 in December next season, then Arteta needs to go. 2 years and he can’t equal Emery with a better squad of players is evidence enough.
Again I ask, what is our style of play after 14 months? What is his preferred 11? What goals were set at the beginning of the season to judge progression or regression? I despise the seemingly free pass he is given, when Wenger didn’t get one, and Emery did not get the patience people preach for Arteta.
DT’s conflicting statement is due to the conflicting standards associated with the 3 managers.
👍 Hear, hear, Durand.
What are the performance criteria and targets set for an Arsenal Manager/Head Coach? Can anyone enlighten us, given the inconsistency?
Dan if you can’t see the difference between these two scenarios, you will never come to terms with the real reasons why Wenger was removed from the building…of course, you probably still believe that he actually left of his own accord