Why Trophies Will Follow at Arsenal

During the past four years the fans of Arsenal have become disgruntled by the way the board has behaved after not winning any trophies. The board of Arsenal has acted as they aim for something completely different than winning some much wanted by the fans trophies.

And the cold truth, and no secret to all, is that they aim for profit.

Arsenal is a business.

Even after countless statements made by the chairman Peter Hill-Wood, in which he explains how he loves the club, it is still run as a business.

Let me point out some of the things that become evident when we examine how the club has been run for the past few years.

Firstly, it has become not as important to win trophies to make a healthy profit. In a way this is an understandable tactic employed by the board since there is a global crisis going on in the world economics.

It has worked well so far and because of it Arsenal are in a stable financial position, not to mention that the club is still waiting to capitalise on its residential development of the old stadium at Highbury Square.

In addition, Arsenal has not been able to compete financially with teams like Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City of recent due to the reason that Arsenal has not received an outside influx of resources.

So the choices that were set before Arsenal were either to give in to those teams and concentrate on the long run, or allow a take-over and an influx of money from outside, which would have probably brightened the picture but only in short term.

The reason I say this is because we never know the next idea that may come to the mind of a billionaire.

Can you count on them for supporting a club forever?

Another thing that comes to mind is the sensible approach of the club in the transfer market. It has also been a trademark of Arsenal’s for the past few years.

The most notable signings that signify this approach are exemplified by those of Eduardo for the sum of 7.5m, Andrey Arshavin for around 14m, Samir Nasri – 12.7m, and Bakary Sagna – 6.1m. They are good players bought for a considerably small amount of money.

So how can that way of management of the club bring trophies to the club in the future?

If we compare the spending to teams like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, and others it seems like Arsenal are only aiming to preserve a stable financial position. That would certainly leave the importance of winning trophies on a lower step in the ladder of priorities.

I cannot agree with that.

If you look at the big picture the truth is that Arsenal has also been going through a change of personnel on the field.

The last trophy that it won was the F.A. Cup in 2005, when the “invincibles” have already started to fall apart.

Since then the team has undergone a deep transformation. Only Kolo Toure has remained from the side that was the “invincibles”. But the manager is the same; the financial situation is getting better despite claims that it’s bad.

So, it could be said it is completely normal for Arsenal to go through a trophy-less period after it faces a change of generations and players. The reason I called the transformation a change of generations if that when you look into Wenger’s decisions in the transfer marker you will see the only player that he didn’t want to lose from the team and still lost was Flamini. The others were above 28 years of age.

But now Arsene Wenger, with a little help from the board, has built a new team. Although there are still more holes to be filled, the transformation is looking close to completion now.

The big plus is that so far no players have left the team for this year. With one or two more “sensible” signings we will be looking at a perfectly capable team of winning the Premier League and pretty much everything else.

Even though fans will remember those years as years of famine in terms of trophies, it cannot be denied that Arsenal has made progress.

You only have to look at the results in the strongest competition in Europe, Champion’s League, to consent.

Arsenal is getting stronger and the building of the team is near completion.

So why doubt them. Trophies are coming for sure.

There is a considerable amount of truth in what Arsene Wenger said: “We have to keep the belief and the trophies will come naturally.”

At Arsenal, Robin Van Persie has Undergone a Significant Transformation

A month ago, Robin Van Perise dispersed all doubt that he was leaving Arsenal, when he signed a new five-year contract to keep him at the club until 2014.

The skilful Dutch forward turned down offers from clubs like Chelsea, Juventus, Manchester City and their city rivals Manchester United.

Before signing the contract, Robin Van Persie had set a number in his mind, that number was the wage he felt he deserved - £80k.

However, he agreed to sign a new contract with a wage of £70k per week.

Surely, this is a sign that the player does not want to leave and is fully committed and happy to stay at the London club.

The thing is that a club like Arsenal really needs a player with his skills and not only that, but it has also come to need the personality of Robin Van Persie, a personality that has gone through a significant transformation since he joined the club.

Back in 2004, he was signed from Feyenord for the convenient sum of £2.75m.

In his first season at Arsenal it became evident that Arsene Wenger has signed a player with extraordinary talent. Unfortunately, like in many other cases, his talent was accompanied with some negative sides.

One of the most obvious problems was his selfishness on the field.

In a team like Arsenal where the team effort is put first, such individual displays are not usually the best solution to maximize the effectiveness of the attack. Van Persie’s failure to comply with that rule did him no favor in the beginning of his career at Arsenal.

On top of that, it became evident that Van Persie was an injury-prone player. He suffered a number of injuries throughout his years at Arsenal which put him aside from the action for a long period of time.

He also had difficulties with keeping his discipline in tact, resulting in a dismissal against Southampton in his first season at the London club.

To make things worse, Robin also experienced difficulties outside of the football field. He was arrested in 2005 upon suspicion of rape of a Dutch beauty queen. He was eventually released from jail, with case being closed due to insufficient police evidence.

In contrast to all the problems he had, Van Persie has undoubtedly transformed for the good to become a different player and man.

It cannot be denied that he has benefited from the good influence of the people in the club, of Arsene Wenger, of ex-captain Thierry Henry, and of his countryman Dennis Bergkamp.

A solid proof for his positive development can be found in the examination of his statistics on the pitch.

Van Persie’s performances on the field last season made up his most successful season for Arsenal so far. He became the club’s leading goal scorer, winning the fan’s Player of the Season award.

He managed to score 11 goals in 28 matches, remaining uninjured for most of the season. It is a sure sign that Wenger has found an effective way to deal with Van Persie’s proneness to injuries.

Nevertheless, the most significant highlight of his transformation has to be the change of his style of play.

On the field during the last season, Van Persie was not the same selfish player who had joined the team in 2004. He combined with his teammates, did not hold the ball for unnecessary long periods of time, and contributed a lot the team’s build-up play.

Eventually, Van Persie finished the season with 11 assists, a number of assists which was only surpassed by the team’s play maker ¬– Francesc Fabregas.

Another big transformation that Van Persie has undergone was his change of attitude towards the club. He has fallen in love with Arsenal and he has had not fear of openly expressing this love.

He recently stated that he had signed the new contract because he felt he had received the respect he deserved from the club. After signing the contract, Robin spoke in the club’s website:

“My heart is with Arsenal and I just can’t picture myself in a different shirt. I just can’t see it now because I love this Club so much. If you look at the last five years, look at the steps I have made every season, if you look at the support the Boss and the whole Club gave me, the fans gave me, my team mates gave me – this is the right decision.”

Those are words spoken like a true Gunner.

Undoubtedly, there is a lot more yet to be seen from the Dutch technician but there is one thing for sure. Robin Van Persie has embarked on his long road to becoming an Arsenal legend.

In Today’s News…Breakthrough in Genetics allows Arsenal to Taste old Glory Again

Yesterday, Arsenal’s spokesman William Hill-Wood, grandson of ex-chairman Peter Hill-Wood, announced that Arsenal would be attempting to capitalise on a new breakthrough in science.

Arsenal has failed to win a single trophy for the last 20 years.

The last trophy that came to the Emirates was in 2045 when they beat Glazer-Hicks United in the FA cup (the oldest tournament in football).

The situation for Arsenal has been getting worse lately.

Some of its fans have turned against the current club’s administration, requesting the resignation of the chairman Ben Kroenke. The new technology would be welcomed as a breath of fresh air by the Arsenal board.

The board have voted and accepted a plan to apply for a spot in the government program for reproducing, and request the reproduction of some of the long-gone, past legends of the club.

They have contacted the families of the legendary footballers in question and have successfully obtained hairs, nails, or other parts of the legends’ bodies that contain the needed for the reproduction valuable DNA material.

Many are excited by the prospect of seeing again players like Thierry Henry (remember him?), Patrick Vieira (he was a captain of Arsenal for more than six years), Dennis Bergkamp (The Dutch Magician), and even the most successful manager of Arsenal – the man with a similar name, Arsene Wenger.

The Arsenal faithful have expressed their delight of the board’s plans to resolve the current difficulties.

Fan representative Bryan McDonald commented:

“We had a meeting with a member of the board in the VS (virtual space) on Tuesday.

“Talks went on for hours, eventually ending in agreement between the two sides that this is the right way to proceed.”

“A present was uploaded to the member of the board as a sign of goodwill by the fans. “

It only remains to be seen if the new plan will take the club to a different path than the one it has taken now.

We will have to wait and see.

It should not be a problem since waiting is a process that the supporters of Arsenal are very much used to.

The sheer prospect of seeing Arsenal back into its glory days again justifies the waiting.

Sometimes being patient pays off.

Arsenal Passes Test Number Four as They Defeat Bundesliga side Hanover 96

Despite the departure of one of the longest-serving Arsenal players in recent years, Kolo Toure, Arsenal was back to business for their fourth game of the pre-season against Bundesliga side Hanover 96.

The mixed emotions that have emerged out of the summer developments in the Arsenal squad were nowhere to be seen as the smiling Arsene Wenger seemed to be infected by the good atmosphere on the impressive Amd Arena.

The match started well for Arsenal.

Surprisingly, Wenger had decided to experiment with a different formation than his usual 4-4-2. This time it was to be 4-3-3, with Denilson, Fabregas, and Song playing in the centre of the park.

And the tactic gave results quite early in the game.

In the seventh minute, Bendtner lobbed the ball over a couple of Hanover midfielders to find Van Persie just outside the box.

Changing his trajectory of movement, Van Persie set himself free of his marker and with a beautiful, precise through pass found Fabregas rushing inside the box.

With a nudge of the ball, he released himself from the keeper and keeping his composure, tucked the ball in.

From there until the end of the first half there was only one team – Arsenal. Hanover remained threatening only from the scarce set pieces they managed to have.

After the 20 minutes of play, Francesc Fabregas surprisingly took on the holding-midfielder role, behind Song and Denilson.

Arshavin received a chance to double the score but failed his example to be later followed by Bendtner.

The result remained 1-0 to Arsenal.

Armand Traore was replaced by Mikael Silvestre in the 33th minute.

The beginning of second half signalled the end of the Arsene Wenger’s experimentation period.

Aaron Ramsey, Johan Djourou, Wolceich Szczesny, and Bakary Sagna replaced Cesc Fabregas, William Gallas, Nicklas Bendtner, and Vito Mannone to form the classic and more familiar 4-4-2.

Hanover started more aggressively.

They pushed to equalize and almost got the equalizing goal when Ramsey attempted to clear a cross but saw his header sending the ball a few inches off his own goal.

Robin Van Persie and Karim Haggui reminded us that even in a friendly match there is passion and desire for winning when both had an incident which resulted in Haggui being warned with a yellow card.

Later, Robin Van Persie made things even and also got booked. It is when Wenger decided to substitute him with Eduardo coming on for him.

With 15 minutes remaining, Eduardo was fed a pass from Silvestre but his shot sent the ball wide of the goal.

Until the end of the match Hanover pushed, their direct style of play testing the Arsenal defence. However, it was not to be and although with a few moments of uncertainty, the Arsenal back four successfully neutralized the oncoming attacks.

The match further extended the successful pre-season run of the Gunners.

So far, they have kept in good form. The form the Arsenal supporter would want to see at the Emirates where they travel back to meet another friendly challenge.

They will play Atletico Madrid on Saturday and Rangers on Sunday in the annual Emirates Cup tournament.

The Diary of a Football Fan: Summer Contemplations

Every year the football fan dies, only to be reborn once more after a short period of time – usually two to three months.

For the ordinary man, the summer is the best season of the year - the season when one rests from every-day life.

Just think about it: mohitoes, bright sun, palms, Latino music, time off work, beautiful things everywhere you look at, and water, lots of water.
How could you not wait for times like that?

Surprisingly, a special breed of people exist that scorn this season of the year - the football fans.

These people have spent their year watching matches, discussing them with their friends, and going through the rollercoaster of emotions that the football game is. It has become a way of life for this special kind of people.

Now you understand why the football fan hates the summer. How could he not?

There is no football. What is he a fan of then?

Nothing.

He is just a man, or a woman, ordinary, like all the rest; but not quite as ordinary.
In the morning the football fan wakes up, gets out of the bed, goes to the desktop computer and switches it on, then returns to the bed to lie for a couple more minutes. Then rises up again, sits in front of the computer, and logs into his accounts on bleacher report, and his e-mail.

The next thing he does is to visit all the sites that are relevant to him: his favourite club’s site, and the newspapers’.

He browses for a couple of minutes, checking on the latest news, hoping to see a new transfer singing, just as he has seen it in his head the day before. Then he makes a coffee, which is only an excuse to keep browsing for another five minutes, dresses up, and goes to work.

Of course, at work, the football fan rarely thinks about work. He thinks about football, doing everything automatically, only focusing on the work at hand if it is really necessary.

Who is his favourite team going to sign next? Won’t that be the solution to solve the team’s problems?
He fast-forwards the remaining time to the first match of the season. He imagines the atmosphere on the stadium.

It is a bright and shiny day. People wear smiles on their faces. Everybody is talking excitedly. The teams come out of the tunnel. The crowd roars; an array of ornaments and balloons spring up in the air above the football field.

Then, he is rudely interrupted and brought back to reality. Something is not working properly. Who cares?

He goes on to repair it, smiling cryptically.

The football fan knows there is a match today, a match of his favourite team. It doesn’t matter that they play against a team that he and his mates would probably beat if they wished.

He knows he can watch it online.

He leaves work earlier than usual, says goodbyes to his colleagues and heads home. When he gets there, he murmurs a greeting under his breath while passing by his girlfriend, goes straight to the computer, and switches it on.

The morning procedure is repeated. This time without the coffee - no excuses are needed.

The match has started. He is excited – like when he was when watching the Champions League final.

He yells and gestures, falls down from his chair – his team has scored.
The football fan in him is happy. He lets his thoughts drift toward the first whistle of the new season again. A happy moment, and it’s coming – only three weeks to go.

Bloody summer!

Arsenal's Preparations in Austria Going on Smoothly

The pre-season preparations of Arsenal in the Austrian training camp are continuing as planned.

On Tuesday, Arsenal trounced third-division Austrian side SC Columbia in their second friendly match of this year’s pre-season preparations.

However, two familiar faces were missing from the squad for this match: Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo.

Tomas Rosicky took part in Arsenal’s first pre-season friendly against Barnet and it came as quite a surprise that he was missing from the line-up for the match against SC Columbia.

“Rosicky played on Saturday but we allowed him to rest after that, as he had not played for 18 months. He will play on Monday.” - Arsene Wenger explained on the club’s online TV.

The same goes for Eduardo. He will also be featured in the line-up against Szombathelyi H. on Monday.

Despite the extreme temperatures, in excess of 30 degrees Celsius, the team looked intense and motivated. Arsenal’s centre-back Johan Djourou shared his opinion on Arsenal TV about the current status of the squad.

“I think there was a real hunger in the squad because like the fans, we are disappointed with how things went at the end of last season.”

“We live for the club. We wan to win trophies and of course, we are disappointed that it hasn’t happened.” Djourou said.

“We are hungry for success, and you can see that in training. Every one is really focused, and they are getting ready for the start of the season.”

Meanwhile, Robin Van Persie expressed his regret that his team mate Samir Nasri sustained an injury and will be out of action for two months.

Van Persie said:

“I thought it was a bit sad for him and, of course, for us, because he is a good player for a couple of months.”

“But in football you just have to move on. It is hard because I will miss him for the first couple of months.”

“Hopefully, he comes back really soon and in a good shape as well, because it’s a nasty injury.”

“He played over 40 games. He was a regular so I will miss him, and everybody will miss him. He is a good player who can play on five, six positions.”

On Monday, Arsenal takes on Hungarian team Szombathelyi Haladas in their third friendly match before the start of the new season. Last year, the match finished in a draw: 1-1

A fan of...It is Time to Choose

What does make a man choose which club to support? People, who like football, can enjoy it without being a fan of some team. Why do we choose a team to support then? How do we make that choice?

Those are simple questions and I’m sure all of us have our own simple answers to them. Generally speaking, it is a choice made subconsciously by most of us. Has that happened to you?

You saw a team playing and you liked their kit colours, or their style of play appealed to you, or there was just something about the atmosphere on the stadium that you liked, or the team was very successful and famous. There are many different reasons that could tempt us to support a football team.

I’ve heard of many different stories as to why and how people have chosen the teams they support. A friend of mine made his first steps of becoming a fan of Manchester United while we were playing the new, at that time, game FIFA 97.

He was wondering which team to choose, and of course as the good friend that I am, I immediately suggested the Red Devils. “Pick these guys they are good.” I told him. He’s been making my life miserable, every time Manchester wins the League, since then. Why, oh, why didn’t I offer him Bolton for example, or Hull City?

And another example is my cousin who, due to the reason that I am an Arsenal fan, decided to choose the Red Devils as his favourite team for the sole reason of annoying me.

Funny as it sounds, the smallest of the reasons can drive us to make a decision that could influence out lives. Even the most insignificant of reasons which out decision was based on can have bigger consequences than the ones we thought they would have.

To tell you the truth, the reason I become a fan of Arsenal was based on my previous fondness of the Dutch side Ajax. The team had red and white kits. Needless to say that Arsenal has very similar kit colours. Once, while browsing the channels on TV in 1996, I saw a team with red and white colours on their kits and I, immediately, found them appealing. I would have never thought that such a small reason would make me the fan of that club that I am today.

Of course, that does not matter to me anymore, as I’m sure for you as well. My love for the club grows stronger every day. My perception of it is much changed, and expanded. It has become and obsession for me. Arsenal FC has become an institution with witch I identify myself with.

Isn’t that why we all have favourite teams? Maybe, we see a tiny bit of ourselves, our personalities, in those teams. Maybe, we’d like the teams that we support to remind people of us when they see them.

We all have our reasons to make the choices we have made, even if those reasons sound so insignificant now. Some decisions have the potential to change our lives.

Why do you support your team?