I’m gonna do a quick roundup of the news before sharing with you an experience I had at the end of the game yesterday that left me feeling very uneasy.

G’day folks. Well, not so much of the ‘good’. As you may know, Mean Lean is away for the week so I’ve taken over the MyVision duties.

I’m gonna do a quick roundup of the news before sharing with you an experience I had at the end of the game yesterday that left me feeling very uneasy.

First up, Arsene has rightly criticised the performance:

“We were not sharp enough in the first half, and our passing was certainly not as good as we expect it to be. I don’t know why.”

We are always crap after international week, but yesterday was worse than most. Denilson was the only outfield player not to play for his national side, yet paradoxically, he was the worst player on the pitch. I’ve gone into detail in my match report about our tactical failings etc., so have a quick gander at that. Arsene doesn’t normally come out and publicly condemn a performance, so you can be rest assured that the players will be hearing about it on the training ground. If they were expecting a Bank Holiday Monday, they can forget it.

Arsene promised a signing prior to the second leg against Twente this week. And whilst we brought in Silvestre last week, I don’t think he is the man Wenger was talking about. At least I hope not. So his quotes to the BBC rather concern me:

“We are not close to signing anybody.”

I don’t believe that for one second. Arsene is notorious for saying one thing and doing another. Yesterday’s performance simply highlighted the need for a central midfielder. Is Gokhan Inler that man? He seemed a stick-on a week ago, but when I heard Steve Stammers (respected journo, close to the Club) saying on Arsenal TV that the Arsenal hierarchy were not impressed with Inler (attitude problems?), I had my doubts. It’s gone pretty quiet on the Inler front, so in classic Arsenal fashion, expect him to be the next man through the door.

The boy Cesc, however, would quite fancy his mate Xabi Alonso:

“What can I say? He is my friend and apart from that he is a great professional, a great passer of the ball, he works hard defensively, he’s scoring goals now, he’s experienced and he is only 26.”

Great professional? Great passer of the ball? Works hard defensively? Scores goals? Sounds a bit like Cesc, which is why I personally wouldn’t Alonso to partner Fabregas. We don’t need another Fabregas, and I doubt Alonso would be happy kicking his heels on the bench waiting for an injury or suspension to his mate to get a chance.

Cesc has spoken in depth about why Arsenal is such a special club and how he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. He also goes on to say how he would love to one day have the armband. There is little doubting that he is the captain-in-waiting once Willy moves on. I just hope that we don’t give him the armband to keep him at the Club, like we did with Thierry. There’s no point whatsoever in giving him the honour just to satiate him for a few years before he goes back to ply his trade in Spain. A successful club needs a constant captain who is wholly committed to the Club, not just for the present season but for the future as well.

Johan Djourou has been further linked with a loan move to Rennes. This time it is with the added possibility of a permanent switch. If that happens, I’d be disgusted. Even a loan move would be the wrong move. I’ve mentioned it before: he has been our most impressive and consistent centre-half throughout pre-season and the early season. I was very surprised at his exclusion from the Fulham game, and with Silvestre now seemingly overtaking him in the ladder, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has had enough and wants out. I really feel sorry for him. His loan move to Birmingham wasn’t a great success last season, and on his return he picked up an injury. Now after a good run of games, he is marooned on the bench. And when Silvestre is fit, he probably won’t even be on the bench anymore. Not good.

Speaking of centre-halves, the great Tony Adams has been enthusing about the Club and how he would love to be the next gaffer. If he can prove himself as more than a no.2, I would love to have him. His comments were intriguing however, and must be directed at Arsene’s lack of focus on the defence:

“I will have strengths and weaknesses, very different from Arsene. I am a different person. Don’t laugh but I believe I am stronger in some areas and in others he is far greater than me.”

Which brings me on to the topic that is burning a hole in my head. I was at yesterday’s game and never have I experienced so much hostility from some fans towards the players and manager. We all know that there has been an anti-Arsene uprising on the Interweb this summer, but never did I expect it manifest itself so disrespectfully on an away day. What with the recent booing of Ade and the general disdain towards Eboue, I guess some of it was expected.

There was a guy in front of me who was constantly abusing Eboue. Even when he didn’t have the ball. Every time the Ivorian – who I thought was one of the better performers on the day – was in possession, this bloke would start his tirade:

“What’s the point of giving the ball to that cunt, you’re fucking useless, boooooo!”

Numerous times he did this, but I managed to bite my tongue. I don’t agree with the booing of players at all. Like Ade for example. I am a bit miffed at him, but I will never boo. Sure, I haven’t chanted his name yet because I feel uncomfortable in giving him all that acclaim, but any time he does something positive I will applaud, and anytime he does something negative, I will groan in the same why I groan when the golden boy Cesc does something wrong.

But to boo a player before he has even had the chance to do something wrong? Outrageous. How is that helping the player? If Eboue could hear the guy, would he be motivated by his vitriol? Or put off by it? It’s a no-brainer.

The final straw came at the final whistle. Instead of applauding the players or merely trudging off, the bloke in front started ranting at Wenger:

“Buy someone you fucking wanker!”

The bloke next to me had enough. He confronted the ranting raver and told him to show some respect, in no uncertain terms. It was getting heated and they squared off, with ranting raver coming out with the following classic quote:

“Why should I?! What are you gonna do about it?!”

He had crossed the line. It’s all good and well to question Le Boss and some of his decisions. I have questions of my own: why not bring on Wilshere? Why drop Djourou? Why keep Denilson on all game?

But any such questions shouldn’t be portrayed the way the ranting raver did. Why insult Wenger like that? I hope it was just a heat-of-the-moment thing. But more often than not, it is in the heat-of-the-moment that one’s true feelings are revealed.

There are two types of Arsenal fans: both sets want success, but when it doesn’t happen one group will start pissing and moaning and booing, whilst the other will continue to chant “We love you Arsenal, we do”. And the sooner these sets of fans unite, the better. Because how can we expect our beloved team to achieve anything if we ourselves are pulling in different directions?

Victoria Concordia Crescit. Victory Through HARMONY. Something that is severely lacking these days amongst the Arsenal faithful. And it needs to be restored.