Sometimes sport can reflect society. For years, online content creators have existed, educated that the fastest ways to gain views are by who can shout the loudest and how many swear words they can muster.
Yet I have seen a change this season where what was once banter has become spiteful.
The Gunners are in the semi-final of the Champions League. How many clubs have been in that position where there has been this level of frustration?
At a time when supporters should be dreaming of something special, why does it feel like our two legs with Atletico Madrid have become an afterthought?
Why So Much Misery?
Have Gooners listened to so much mockery from their peers that they have allowed that to dictate their own point of view?
Has the new format and the luck of the draw ruined imaginations?
Or has it been realised that the fastest way to grow a channel on YouTube is by belittling the club you claim to love?
In the annals of time, have you ever found so many fans of a team so miserable about being two games away from dining at the head of UEFA’s table?
You can see why rivals think we are an unbearable bunch.
We are so close to going to Budapest, yet some seem more preoccupied with the tactics we have used en route.
How entitled is that?
It is a human reaction to be so nervous when you are close to something special.
But what if…
What If Arsenal Make History?
What if we get over the line in Hungary?
The players will become immortal, legends whose names live forever.
I wish I could promise every reader that the next month does not end in heartbreak, that we are not setting ourselves up for a fall.
Yet this is the journey you agree to when you choose to follow a team.
Winning is not guaranteed; you have no defined right to anything.
Who knows how long it will be until our next opportunity to reach Europe’s biggest stage?
If you cannot enjoy the semi-final of the Champions League, then the world has broken you.
Because it might not get any bigger than this.
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For me it’s lost all its magic
Mind you the prem isn’t far behind .
All about money now ….
I do hate the new format and don’t get me started with the World Cup
breaks my heart
@ DK and DS
3 points why, as far as myself: Money, Emotion and Politics.
a) Agree with you about the money. It has spoilt everything.
b) Emotion: Every season I want to win the league title and then the FA cup with which I grew up. The rest is just a bonus (not as important as those 2).
c) Politics: I love visiting Europe and admire its beauty including its football. But we voted for Brexit in 2016. I am a Brexiteer. Should we or any other UK club (apart from Scottish clubs who wanted to be in the EU) be involved in the competition at all?
But overall, I would be happy if we won the CL because I consider JA to be a family and would be happy for the family to be happy even though I personally am indifferent.
So you don’t mind if we loose tommorow? Noted.
@ C
I say it as I see it, personally.
IGL
Firstly I must apologies to you for a rant I had which looking back was unacceptable
I dread the other other half of the draw and possibly coming up against one of them but playing AM gives me tingles.
It will be tough. They are mean and sprinkled with some outstanding players but I imo prefer to be playing them rather the Barca. If we do get through then it is a one off game and winner take all.
Onwards and upwards
@ AB08
A forum for debate should be just that. No need to apologise. I am in my 60’s and thick skinned. Like I said to other I saw the funny side of it.
BTW, I am also dreading the trip to AM, as they are dark arts masters and am worried that they will injure our players leaving us short for the vital fixture against Fulham which we have to somehow get over the line.
IGL, regarding whether we should be in European competitions, I would yes. The UK wasn’t part of the EEC when British clubs triumphed in European competitions in the 60’s and early 70’s.
I also was a Brexiter and like visiting continental Europe, not just for football but for holidays and visiting distant relatives.
HD
Fair point. But it is my view.
Regarding your third point about the Champion’s League. That is run by UEFA, not the European Union. So it doesn’t matter if we’re in the EU or not. For example, Israel, Turkey, Russia and Kazakhstan are all UEFA members too. To not qualify for the Champions League, we would have to leave UEFA also, which makes zero sense, since we are a European country.
@ B
Fair point. But it is my view.
What’s the alternative to being part of UEFA?
@ B
We have chosen Brexit. Alternatives are not perfect but it is my belief that any UK team does not belong.
Alternative No 1: Have no European competition as we are not part of Europe.
Alternative 2: Have a consortium of teams in Europe who are not part of the EU.
Top 2 or 4 of EU play top 2 or 4 of non EU in a knockout competition. Bit like a world cup scenario.
IGL, all though we aren’t in the EU anymore, the UK is still part of Europe last time i checked.
HD
Of course you are right.
Like I said, it is my belief that any UK club should not be playing in Europe.
Seems a bit isolationist to me and the majority wasn’t exactly a landslide. I can just imagine those ardent football supporters across the UK wondering wear to put their cross on the ballot sheet if it meant no chance of European football ever again
*where not wear🙄
Both these ideas would be really, really bad for Arsenal and English football, though.
Of course we should be in this competition, it’s got nothing to do with being in the EU, I’m a Brexiteer too but we are in this competition as we are part of UEFA. Perhaps we shouldn’t be able to compete in Eurovision either😂
GB
I seem to be in a minority regarding Brexit which has hardly been the roaring success people voted for. However, it is what it is and enough said by me on that
Funnily enough, of all the choices you could have made, the Eurovision is the one I’d be happy to be booted out of or leave voluntarily
For once SueP I totally agree with you.
Crikey
Positive vibe and optimism conveyed through this piece critically needed at this tight run in moment. Gooners love it. Well done. COYG!!!
From the point of view of the format, I actually quite like it as it involves playing more teams, although I don’t know on what basis the teams get picked to play each other.
The original format which I grew up with is a world away from what we have now. I loved the European Cup because it was supposed to be the best from each league. The idea that a team finishing 5th can win the CL diminishes it, but it does mean your chosen team doesn’t go out in the first round after drawing a particularly strong opponent.
I do think our reactions to our tactics, or the recent anti Arteta conversations since City caught up to be unhelpful to the team at a critical time in the season. I don’t hold the view that nobody should have an opinion but there is a self destruct attitude which can’t possibly help when still competing on two fronts. I am sure that nerves play a huge part and the constant moaning only accentuates it.
SueP
Todate MA tactics have been spot on or else we wouldn’t be where we are today and in the semis
Its all about the mo ey nowadays
This format, the coming world cup
I quiet like it.
There a very few dead rubber matches now and ranking relate to money 💰 and who you might play in the group stages
They had to do something to curb the break away league for the big clubs
Ps
Watching Pool back pass 1000 times to clemance was laborious even though it got them the cup
Onwards and upwards
MA makes mistakes like all managers, both Liverpool games this year standout as a big example for me. More often than not though he gets it right though. Their is a reason Saka didn’t go Liv/City, Saliba didn’t go Mardrid, Rice choose us over City, Zubi choose us over Liv.
In europe and amongst footballing circles Arteta is considered a top coach and Arsenal one of the best teams in europe. Yet in the uk and among prem social media Arsenal are considered awful it’s an odd position.
I quite like this format from a fan perspective too, though I do feel a bit for the players having to play yet more games. The demands on them are getting to superhuman levels. A successful Premier League team making a run in the domestic cups and the CL, can now play 60 games in a season.
While we’re talking about players, I also wish those “fans” who insist on launching repeated attacks on individual players would take a breath and get some perspective. They’re not “trash” if they’re getting selected to play for the Arsenal – they’re one of ours and should have our support unless they are doing things that are beyond the pale. There’s always stuff going on behind the scenes that we can’t see. If a player isn’t performing, that can have multiple reasons, from individual fitness to tactical issues.
Ultimately we’re in a competitive title race and a run to the top of the Champion’s League. We should all be behind the team right now and save the whining until we’re out of contention.
I find the new CL format better than the previous one, but in my opinion the European Cup was better. Teams like Brugge, Malmo, Benfica got to finals, very unlikely to see that happen again.
Like a lot of the older fans on here, in my life time we’ve won 6 League Titles, 10 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and 1 Fairs Cup and 1 CWC. For a club of our size to not have won the top European competition is terrible. The CL is the one I want to see us win.
Yeah, being also an Ajax fan from my days living in NL, I miss the old European Cup days too 😉
I feel like we should be able to make it to the final this year, we’re fully capable of beating Atletico.
Bayern is clearly a massive force to be reckoned with. But we can do it. Might need a little luck, but most games at this level do…
Bergkampfwagen, how did I forget Ajax 😲, that great team that won the European 3 years on the trot. The beat us 2-1 on agg in the quarter finals in 1972 iirc.
It will be 2 very tough games against AM, but I do think we can win the tie.
Call me old fashioned, but I preferred it when it was called the European Cup. Only the champions of each country could play in it.
But all the other big boys wanted their piece of the pie, and so this ludicrous name of the Champions League was brought in. A champions League, that also contains teams that finish 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and even more in some cases.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see us win it. But it’s lost a lot of it’s shine under it’s false name if you ask me.
Totally agree, I have been fortunate to get a ticket for tomorrow and next week and I am loving it, we have been better in Europe than the PL, we are difficult to break down, and I am hoping the return of Saka who has probably had his worst season to date will galvanised the team as they really need that extra to get us over-the line
I prefer the current format. Why? Because it tests the real strength of individual teams because now they play more games in group stage. Secondly, there is an element of surprise where a team finds itself against any other 7 teams instead of the previous three. This means that the winner will have played against 7 in group stage, 1 in round of 16, 1 in quarter final, 1 in semi final and 1 in final which makes it 11 teams in all. However some teams may play against each other twice in the latter stages of the competition. To me this is more exciting than the previous format.
David Rusa,
It should be for the Champions only. The Champions League as a name is a complete joke.
especially when we had 6 English sides in it this season and could again next campaign
Derek, do you remember the Ronseal advert ? Well the CL is not what it says on the tin.
Perhaps it should be renamed the Europa League….oh hang on a minute 🤔
To the contrary, I find the champions league in its present format more fun! Some of the champions you talk of are just champions in name! Do you mean to say that the champion of Lichstein is better suited for champions league than someone who finishes 10th in EPL, La Liga or Bundesliga?
This Bayern/PSG match… I had forgotten how entertaining football could be
It’s mental. Constant attacking. Amazing how much energy these teams have left at the sharp end of a season.
Watching the PSG Bayern game, this should have been the final.
I totally understand why a neutral would not want Artetanyahu winning this competition. Given the boring football we play
Who gives a fcuk what the neutrals have to say. If we win it on penalties after a boring 1-1 draw I’ll be happy, just like the Chelsea fans were when they won it in Munich.
Well said, we need to get past Atletico first. Then we can hope
At this stage of the season, no club in the PL could put out that level of energy in a half shown by both PSG and BM. chalk and cheese
Bang on the money BB 👍
Yet we’ve seen Liverpool and City do it
Not even close, imo.
So I was hallucinating City winning a treble? Liverpool achieving 97 points in the league & a UCL trophy?
You’re not hallucinating but none of that is remotely related to my original comment.
Arsenal have already played 5 or 6 more games than either PSG or BM according to Wikipedia which must make a difference
SueP, not as much the number of games but how the games are played and the relative competition involved. Even Ancelotti at BM once admitted to and recognized the difference in demands and conditions.
8 games more than PSG, and 9 games more than Bayern…
Germany and France have only one cup competition (we have both the FA Cup and the Milk Cup) and Germany has less league games. I suppose you could look at the extra (Carabao Cup) games as practice opportunities though.
Nevertheless the current quality of competition, defensive tactical style, and the sheer physicality we face each week is somewhat higher than both those leagues too, making recent seasons gruelling for EPL teams. It’s true that EPL teams have done well in the past, but it’s also true that they’ve struggled in the Champions League this season for the most part…
That’s a lot of games in my view and the fact that both PSG and BM dominate their leagues on a regular basis allows rotation against the smaller clubs they face to actually work in fact rather than just principle
A humdinger last night by all accounts (I only caught the last 15 minutes) with Rooney and Seedorf wondering about where the art of defending had gone. So obviously a great spectacle but a defensive nightmare. So we can wax lyrical about the joys of such football and hope that our defensive prowess rises to the surface should we get past AM. 🙏
Yeah the game yesterday was epic. I don’t think the defenders actually made many mistakes. They were thin on the ground, more of a tactical issue. It was more that the Bayern and PSG attackers were just that good!
you kidding?
defending was terrible lol
9 goal thriller. Pure theatre of entertainment for a neutral like me.
Strength of both teams: Do not know where to start. Highlights: Olise and Kawratshkelia are the best wingers I have seen in Europe. Unless you have a pure defensive setup any team would struggle against them.
Weaknesses: PSG: Poor at defending set pieces.
BM: Too much one on one defending leaving open spaces for counter-attacks.
They are both beatable.
Olise, another one from our academy that was let go 🙄
HD: Isn’t that just a sickener?
IGL, it certainly is.
Herr Drier,
Don’t forget Arsenal let Eze go and then he returned.
I wonder 🤔 if lightning can strike twice. 🤞
Olise was 7 at the time and spent less than a year with Arsenal. Chelsea had him for 7 years 7-14, City for 1 year after that, Reading for 2 years after that before he went Palace and built his career.
Would hardly call that one Arsenal let go.
This was an epic game for neutrals, yeah. One of the most entertaining Champion’s League games of all time.
I agree, they’re both amazing and fluid in attack, but they are also both so open at the back… These are the kinds of teams we often do well against, but they’re also a level higher than most.
Kvara and Olise are incredible. Diaz, Pavlovich and Dembele (despite his big miss early on) were all outstanding.
Kane’s recovery later on underlined one thing I would say overall. mMost of these guys, on both teams, were fighting hard for the entire game. Some thing I think we all would love to see from our lads the next few games.
Would have been more exciting for me personally if they are actually playing to a defined pattern and not looking like one mishap away from a hideous thrashing.
They don’t have to be prime Barca,but the worry is they don’t even look like prime Athletico Madrid.
For a season that started so well it feels so depressing,only the greatest of optimists can look at what is going on in the field of play and believe that this team stands a chance against the Bayerns and PSGs of this world.
Sorry for my rambling, it’s genuinely depressing.
@ K
It is from the heart. It is not rambling. Many of us have done it.
It’s rambling and doesn’t make sense. Far too many are just rubbishing the team unnecessarily.
David,
It’s not rambling, if that’s his opinion then that’s his opinion. But I guess that because he said something negative, he got you’re hackles up as usual.
It is curious how we have the most points in the prem since Christmas, have made the semi final of the cl whilst the other prem teams went out last 16 (4), quarters (1) and the narrative is Arsenal are playing so awfully. The effect media can have on people is fascinating.
We all know that lately the creativity was down and that was a worry but when your most creative players, Odegaard, Eze, Merino, Saka and Trossard have all been out extended periods during that time it’s not exactly surprising.
One of the weirdest set of bizarrely negative comments I’ve read yet.
We’re in the CL semi FFS. Cheer up!
Fantastic article Dan as was something I was just thinking about. To add to what you have said we have gone unbeaten in the competition, we sat top of the table but yet no excitement.
Not sure if it’s a symptom of the world , it plays a part, but it’s our club so I think we can change the narrative as fans we set the tone and heartbeat.
I’m not saying be naive or cancel criticism, but just everyone be balanced.
I’m looking forward tomorrow, it starts wearing the colours all day even WFH on camera . Arsenal mug for coffee then beer later on….
The quality on the wings from Bayern and PSG in 1 game was better than our wingers combined for the entire season…
Imagine if Arteta had Kavara and Olise, he’d stick them in our half to cover the full backs.
I guess I’m one of the negativists that Sue P, referred to earlier. No. I’m not excited but that is down to the quality of the teams as much as the format. I remember the Barcelona vs Milan final and the star players in either team, similarly the A.C.Milan vs Liverpool final. Class in every position. I look at Arsenal and cannot see beyond Decline Rice. Perhaps Saka if he’s back in form or even Dowman if he is allowed to play. The rest of our players are a bunch of boring drips hand picked by you know who. Atletico’s are not much better. Simeone runs a shoe string operation and plays money ball.
Gabriel, Raya would 100% get into any other team in the CL semi finals. Saliba too despite his little dips this season.
🙄 I only suggested that when there is a semi final to play tonight and 4 games left in the league that overly criticising a team that has struggled for goals and charisma lately is counterproductive. The media have been relishing getting their teeth into our relative decline as it is.
You live across the globe so I don’t know what your record of getting to games is like, but I’ve been to several this season from January onwards) and the crowd clearly transmit their nerves when it’s edgy. In the 2 European matches I’ve been to, the away supporters were noisy, excited and behind their team till the bitter end. The Utd game which we lost reminded me of why the term Highbury library existed. You could have heard a pin drop for about 15 mins after the goals. Not exactly the best way to urge the players on. I can only hope that the supporters next week are up for it and get behind the team.
Ateltico have spent roughly 932.25 mil in transfer since Arteta took over. Arsenal have spent roughly 1.080 mil in that time.
this year our wage bill is estimated 30-60 mil more than them. 22/23 Ateltico had a higher wage bill. 23/24 arsenal 172-235, Atletico 228 and 24/25 arsenal 170-235, Ateltico 128-238 were close to even.
That should have been Barcelona vs Manchester United final. To my glee Barcelona destroyed what was a very talented Manure team .
I guess the other semi final answered some of our debate. The passion and skills of players allowed to express themselves was a joy to behold, something which has left most of the football world stunned. We already know we are not going to get more of the same tomorrow. Both teams are mirror reflections of the other put together and coached by two managers whose first priority is fail safe. I don’t deny Eamon12 that the defenders you mentioned are top class, but is that the reason why you love football . What do we have at the other end? I think we will probably still defeat the Madrid team over the two logs but Iexpect a slog. Sue P, unfortunately I haven’t experienced a live game in an actual stadium in the U.K for some years now. I watch most of my football in Jleague while in Japan. The fans there are amazingly loyal and passionate. While in England during 80-81, I attended about four games at Highbury but mostly went to away games because I wanted to visit as many of the old grounds as possible and during those games I would stand with the away fans to savour the atmosphere and listen to the anti Arsenal jokes. For some reason I also found it easier to make friends with non Londoners, perhaps it was just me. Also Arsenal were in flux, having just lost Liam Brady and going nowhere under the management of those two sergeant majors. Neil and Howe. It also explains why the Highbury crowd found it difficult to get excited.
You wanted to savour the atmosphere while listening to anti-Arsenal jokes?
Reading through some of the opinions is very fascinating but perhaps too idealistic, almost bordering on the utopian! What is the purpose of competitive football where people have spent billions buying clubs and players? Is it to entertain the viewers? Every competitive sport has as its major purpose the desire to win. This winning is in many cases at any cost. It will even involve foul play and unfair practices. The viewers are relevant because they are the ones who pay to keep the games going. The question is: How many fans would want to keep losing? The issue of entertainment is good but it should result into positive results. If it remains without positive results it is not worthwhile. That is why many fans of other teams ridicule Arsenal that we are always bridesmaids, never the bride! That is not a label we can’t take pride in. That is why every true Gooner should be more interested in what we achieve rather than the style of play. At the end of the day people will count what you achieved, not how you did it. A goal from a setpiece is as good as one from open play. So, any serious person should concern themselves with results rather than niceties! Once we get accustomed to winning trophies on a regular basis, we can begin to talk of flair and skilful wins. Before that we shall be putting the cart before the horse.
The score yesterday 5-4 kind of scares me if we are able to get to the Final. But anything can happen I guess
nah Steph defensively we wouldn’t let that happen
The Psg Liverpool 2-0/2-0 was more scary given our poor results against Liverpool this season.
If either plays/defends like they did yesterday against us we’ll smash them if we get no new injuries in between.
a good point madde here is that nerves are playing
with the players mindset. As a team we are not
there yet to compete on 2-4 fronts. But the MA
hate some utubers utilise is disgusting. He has slowly transformed the club but imo lacks ruthlessness in some area´s, square peg´s in round holes etc.
Remember Forest in 78-79. Nobody looked upon them but they won it twice