Skip to main content

REALIGN ING PERCEPTIONS


This is no time for hysteria. Facts speak for themselves; a better than average Swansea side beat an average Arsenal side. We have no divine right, despite expectation, to win these games. Our position as an elite club probably remains, but as an elite team the reality is humbling.

Arsenal Football Club does not have an elite squad and struggles to field an eleven that are any better (or worse) than a number of Premier League teams, therefore, as I’ve been saying for a while, we have to align our perceptions accordingly.

Talk of how we’ve turned around a disastrous start overlooks two things; 1. Why we were in a position whereby we had such a terrible start. 2. ‘turning around’ is relative; given our position after those initial games, being amongst the Europa League places come the turn of the year would be viewed as a triumph.  That’s where we are as a club. Those that think we have done the right things at all levels within the club to sustain ourselves as perennial title contenders over the last half a dozen years is at best naïve and at worst deluded.

I love the Arsenal and want everything; however we are currently not in a false position. As much as I would like to think otherwise we are pretty much where we deserve to be if you look at our levels of investment in our bread and butter; the playing staff.

Yes, I don’t deny our injury problems, bad luck, bad refereeing etc etc, but these things have to be factored in. Winning anything has to be achieved despite those problems and by the same rationale under achieving cannot be blamed on those same things.

No one really knows categorically what is going on at boardroom, owner and managerial level at Arsenal but the factual conclusion is that year on year we have declined in the achievement department since our last title, last trophy and reaching the Champions league. All the other stuff; finance, expansion, commerce is of course relevant but a football club is about that old cliché; being ‘there or there abouts’ and Arsenal Football club have not been’ there or there abouts’ for a good length of time.

Coming full circle, my conclusion is that (while I’m gutted at every loss)  we have to realise that our current status is all about winning a few, drawing a few and unfortunately, losing a few.

Until such time as Arsenal the financial institution- doing well in the wallet has the ambition of being Arsenal the Football Club- doing well in the trophy cabinet, we have to deal with mediocrity.

Our beloved Arsenal does so many things right but has the club become so obsessed with financial matters that the powers that be have forgotten our raison d’être ; being a successful football club?

Comments

  1. wellyousaythat16 January 2012 at 19:03

    Comment: See link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAmPIq29ro



    CJTK






    CJTK

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

so I said...

Popular posts from this blog

Reasons to be cheerful?

So November arrives with cold weather and grey skies. Arsenal sit in 2 nd place with a great chance to make progress in the Carling Cup with a home draw against wigan Athletic. Poised to win   our Champions league group and with six months of the season left have 3 of our five tougher away fixtures out of the way, having taken a respectable 4 from 9. I say respectable as, the Man City away trip aside the draw at Anfield on the occasion of Hodgson’s first game was a good result and the Chelsea game I don’t think anyone can really speak of any injustice. That leaves away games at Old Trafford and Sp*rs (who as we know raise their game for this fixture). With injured players gradually returning and the Polish goalkeepers showing signs of optimism, we’re in relatively good shape. Or so you’d think. Yesterday at the Emirates West Ham were put to the sword late on after some stout defending, a good performance from Robert Green and a couple of missed opportunities. The level of indign...
Post a Comment
Read more

There's something rotten in the state of Denmark

A number of blogs are pointing out what was evident to me yesterday; as a season ticket holder and Silver member i like thousands of others made plans to purchase an additional ticket for the Barcelona game using the frustrating and irritating online service, but guess what? no joy, just lots of waiting finger tapping and watching the dreaded 'loading' bar (to make matters worse I had asked my missus to do this as I was doing training). But no one got these additional tickets, that is no supporters judging by the general feedback! It seems to me that the additional seats will have probably gone to customers of a corporate nature. Ultimately for such a marquee (to use an American commercialism term) game I suspect that the club where never going to sell to supporters of the club, there is clearly a undercurrent at the Emirates that the club wants to have the stadium full of customers ie; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ognvWIwjKTQ The Emirates of the future? It will be interesti...
1 comment
Read more

PERSONALITY TEST

Played 23, 10 defeats, 4 draws and 9 victories; that's the factual bit out of the way. What does that tell us? I guess it is a set of statistics that reasonably reflect a mid table team. How we got here is something that countless column inches and hours of debate have gone into. How we move forward is the bigger question. Naturally, learning from past mistakes is a key element to moving forward but have Arsenal Football Club done that? Have Arsenal Football Club realised that a clear vision and plan is needed? When you look at the current squad its relatively easy to see where the strenghts are, and the weaknesses. The manager too, has strengths and weaknesses but one thing that is intangible is the personality of the club. Not so much "where are we" as "what are we?" To know what the club is is to know what the upper echelons think, what their plan and philosophy is and how the manager processes  that information. We can assume that the club decision makers wa...
Post a Comment
Read more