Bourussia Dortmund, a club who have now taken German football by storm, went 12 years with nothing to provide (silverware) for their supporters. They spent time adopting a new approach, a radical, but admirable one at that. This sustainable approach is similar to that of Arsenal’s and from the brink of collapse, they returned to the pinnacle of the Bundesliga. Through all of this prolonged period of hardship and fruitlessness, their fans stood by the club, and now boast one of the most vocal and passionate fan-bases in world football. Visiting their stadium is a daunting challenge for any team from around Europe, as they have proven in the Champions League over the past couple of years. Their approach and their fan base has

For a while I have struggled to decide what to write about next, a common illness which all bloggers, or in my self-proclaimed case ‘Blog-Whore’, find themselves inflicted by at some point, almost definitely on more than one occasion. Of course I have written about players, matches and the likes recently, but not something (forgive the following cheesiness) from the heart. As my followers will no doubt know, I am in general a positive fan. However, in times like these, people seem less inclined to believe that one can be so, apparently, ignorant to current problems that face Arsenal Football Club. Let me tell you now, this is simply not the case. Rather than ignoring or blindly brushing aside the fact that this club is not what ‘it used to be’ (although even that is a dubious argument in itself in the grand scheme if things, but I get what people mean), I simply, due to life lessons/experience, don’t dwell on negatives, but rather think how I can do my bit to dealing with them in a positive way. For some, this is joining movements, or expressing their anger in the hope that someone’s listening, or giving their view of how things should be done, fair enough. Sometimes, to a lesser extent, I do the same, because after all I’m human. As I’ve always said, opinion and freedom of speech is an essential and valued part of being a fan, and I except them when they are presented in a reasonable and non-confrontational manner. Debate and expression is healthy. But for me, I always try (note ‘try’) to express my own opinions in a forward thinking and hopeful way, for without hope and the belief that a situation can improve, where would civilisation be today? To quote the great comedian troop, ‘Monty Python’:

“If life seems jolly rotten

And that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing.”

Now don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say “Oh fuck it, let’s all drink and be merry” when we’ve just lost to a League Two side in a ‘Mickey Mouse Cup’. Not at all *shudders*. But it refers to the grander scheme of things. As a fan, and this is my view remember, I want to spend more time singing for my team than berating it, or individual players (which seems to happen a considerable amount). It is our duty to support our club through thick and thin, not to get on their backs after having not done things exactly the way we wish. Like you all, I have been hurt many times, arguably consistently for the past 7 or 8 years and I accept that is mainly down to the club: the players, the manger and the ‘higher-forces’. But there often comes a point when I think to myself: “Could us fans have done more?”.

Some of you may take offence to this, some of you will laugh, some of you may even stop reading right here. I implore you not to and rather to hear me out. I love Arsenal fans, and I think we are some of the most passionate fans in world football. However, the problem is that a lot of the time, I think we channel our passion in the wrong ways. Complaining and negativity seems to be in vogue. We moan a lot, it’s true. As soon as we see the smallest sign of what some refer to as ‘decline’, which can even be drawing a match, suddenly many of us are thrown off into a blameful state of disarray. For me, this amounts to nothing but the strengthening of a weak mentality that has developed over the past few years. We often refer to ourselves as ‘classy‘ fans of a ‘classy’ football club, yet more often than not in recent times, I struggle to find justification for this self-labeling. Once again, I remind all that read this, this is not an attack upon my fellow supporters, it is simply calling attention to something we often look over when too busy piling blame or acting upon our ‘rights’ derived from a spoilt past, rather than giving constructive support.

Patience

I know that this is something that is hard to ask for in such times, and I accept that many will say “We’ve been patient enough!”  But I sincerely feel, from looking at both other clubs’ histories of ‘trophy droughts’ and our own, that this act will be repaid.

Bourussia Dortmund, a club who have now taken German football by storm, went 12 years with nothing to provide (silverware) for their supporters. They spent time adopting a new approach, a radical, but admirable one at that. This sustainable approach is similar to that of Arsenal’s and from the brink of collapse, they returned to the pinnacle of the Bundesliga. Through all of this prolonged period of hardship and fruitlessness, their fans stood by the club, and now boast one of the most vocal and passionate fan-bases in world football. Visiting their stadium is a daunting challenge for any team from around Europe, as they have proven in the Champions League over the past couple of years. Their approach and their fan base has made for a comfortable setting for their players, encouraging them to stay loyal to the club and feel at home there.This has made their club one of the hardest to prize players away from, something Arsenal have struggled to achieve in recent times.

Barcelona, arguably the best side in world football also went through a period of ‘drought’ from ’99 to ’05, while they focused on creating a strong core from within the club, something that Wenger has started to bang on about doing. By improving their academy and focusing on producing top, young Spanish talent, they created a team that had, in the most part, been schooled the same way, knew one-another well and thus produced excellent performances on the pitch. Yes, they still have spending power, but how much have they really had to use that in recent years compared to the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea and City? Not an awful lot. Their fans, like ours are extremely demanding, and had to wait 6 years from 1999 to 2005 before they saw a trophy. Now they can’t stop winning them.

This isn’t necessarily supposed to make us, as fans of a club that hasn’t achieved (silverware) in nearly 8 years, feel better about our situation. I included it to give some perspective to those who have seem to still be expecting the same level of achievement as we had during the ‘Invincibles’ period (arguably one of the greatest sides in English footballing history).

Avoid Succumbing To ‘In Vogue’ Detrimental Negativity

In the modern age it is hard to avoid popular opinion, with sites such as Twitter and Facebook dominating our social influences. As result, I can’t help but notice that more fans than I’ve ever known have begun swaying in and out of various moods and viewpoints, often glamorised, or rather encouraged, by certain movements and powerful, manipulative voices, through popular revolutionary-esque persuasion. As I’ve said, I can’t stop people having an opinion and, quite frankly, I wouldn’t want to. I just believe that more often than not, it seems to be the case that people who demonstrate positivity and sentiments of hope, are accused of not being ‘proper’ or ‘true fans’. I’m sorr
y, but thats simply b0ll0cks. For some, who aren’t as extreme, and have valid, rational views, I apologise for the following…

Fans who see it fit to relentlessly hurl abuse at certain players or other figures associated with the club, are achieving nothing by doing so. If you judged everyone in your lives in the same way some ‘fans’ judge members of our own club, I think you’d find yourself becoming a very isolated and insecure person. The relationship between a club and fans is based on trust, if you feel that is being abused that’s fine, just articulate it in the right way. But also, just remember that trust is a two way street, so to speak. In my opinion, if we can’t trust our club to repay our support, then it’s not worth supporting at all. I have no qualms with questions and constructive (*note ‘constructive’) criticism. That is part of being a fan. But I can’t stand irrational and quite frankly immature abuse, which goes for interaction between fellow fans as well.

The worst example of this, which really drives me round a rather large and significantly, fucking annoying bend, is booing at half time. Do you really think that hearing their fans boo them off in the middle of match is actually going to spur the team on to do better? Maybe some people do. To them I say: You’re wrong. This act instills a sense of nervousness and negativity amongst the players and, in my view, is conducive to nothing but further detriment. I can understand why fans would boo at the end of a game, after a dire performance in the middle of a bad run. Fine. But at half-time in a home match? (of course this applies to home games, our away support is second to none!). I simply can’t fathom it. Add to this, the recent whispers of a boycott of the Arsenal v Swansea FA Cup replay and I think to myself: “Who are these people? And are they interested in us winning crucial games, or too busy trying to heroically over-throw the ‘evil’ forces at work at Arsenal?” There’s a time and a place. In the middle of a season in which we’ve struggled and when the team needs the maximum support it can get, is certainly not it.

Rounding Off…

Such a view, with such pleas attached, will spark debate. I’m prepared for many to disagree. I know that we pay through our noses to watch this team play football, and are sometimes left wondering: “Was that worth the money?”. This, of course, justifies us being entitled to moan and complain when and where we want. But it’s up to us as people whether we want to spend time being miserably disgruntled and, quite frankly, a bunch of Piers Morgans, or slightly more constructive, hopeful and, like myself, positive. There are fans in much worse positions, that have faced much worse issues than we have, yet still retain a loud and proud support for their clubs. We were spoiled at the turn of the century having gone through a period of prolonged fluctuations between achieving and mediocrity. Now, our club has been stabilised and has adopted an approach which promises greater things to come very soon. I trust in this clubs resolve, I believe that it’s rich history stands for something, I hold the metaphorical view that the sun is rising and I can already begin to feel the warmth. I live in hope, forgive me for doing so.

Follow the author on Twitter: @EducatedGooner