Tag Archives: She Wore

Arsenal fans need to stop being negative nancies

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If a new manager coming does anything to galvanise the fan base, the first stage will be to change the mind set of a lot of our fans.

Many of our fans are in a negative mind set. Partly due to their hatred for Arsene Wenger and the club they support, and partly because they just clearly like to moan. Hopefully a new manager coming in will make them look on the bright side of life a little bit more.

There are some fans who seem to only look at the negative aspects of the team as soon as any Arsenal related news is out. Personally I would hate to be one of these fans. Football is supposed to be enjoyed, an escape from reality. But how are you enjoying the game, the team you love, if everything you associate with them is seen through negative eyes?

At the weekend against Manchester United, we player a B team, with a load of youth team players. This should have been seen as a positive for two reasons:

  1. It meant that we were finally prioritising the Europa League
  2. It was a chance to see some of our successful U23 players get some game time

Now these negative nancies who moan at everything have spent the last 5 years complaining that Arsene Wenger does not blood youth players. That we do not give young local kids a chance.

Against Manchester United we started the game with Alex Iwobi, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Riess Nelson. 3 young English lads who have been at the club since they were kids (yes, I know Iwobi now chooses to play for Nigeria, but he has been in England since he was 3, he is a local lad).

Also in the starting XI was Konstantinos Mavropanos, the young Greek lad signed in January. Add in Calum Chambers and Hector Bellerin, it was a starting XI that contained 6 players that could have started for our table topping U23 team.

The bench also contained the likes of Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah and  Jordi Osei-Tutu. . Two 18 year olds and a 19 year old to add to 18 year old Reiss Nelson who started.

Add in Danny Welbeck and Rob Holding, our match day 18 man squad contained 11 players who the Premier League class as “home grown”.

Instead of embracing this fact, the negative nancies went straight to moaning.

Rather than being excited about getting to watch Maitland-Niles and Nelson play, they used the blooding of young local lads to highlight how “weak” the squad were.

So they have moaned for years young English lads do not get a chance at Arsenal. Now they moan that young English lads are getting a chance at Arsenal.

The default setting is to moan. Moan about everything. Even if you have previously moaned about the complete opposite.

These people’s glasses are most certainly half empty.

Granit Xhaka was captain against Manchester United. Only Hector Bellerin had played more games for Arsenal in the starting XI. Having been captain of his previous club, Borussia Monchengladbach, Xhaka was probably the right choice.

But all Xhaka being captain did was give fans another chance to moan.

“Why is Xhaka captain?” they cried. “Worst Arsenal captain ever” One stated.

I would understand this if Xhaka had just been named Arsenal captain for the season, but he had not. It was one game. A game which had a load of youth players and he was one of the most senior on the pitch.

Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Petr Cech &Nacho Monreal have all captained the club since Granit Xhaka joined the club. So Xhaka is basically 8th choice captain.

There are plenty of things to moan about at Arsenal, but who is 8th choice captain should not even be a subject. It just shows the negative mindset of some fans.

I wrote an article yesterday stating that despite the result, the performance of the youngster should be something to be pleased about. I mooted the idea that the likes of Maitland-Niles, Nelson and Mavropanos should play every game between now and the end of the season.

Instead of embracing giving youngsters a chance, I had a comment which highlights the negative mindset of some fans:

And play them for the rest of the season even if we lose on Thursday?

So the first team squad get paid in full to take an early holiday and the supporters shell out too money to watch the kids!

So the immediate thought on reading my blog was “we are going to lose on Thursday” and “lets not play youth players”.

It really does highlight the negativity of some fans. That they will look for any reason to moan.

My hope is that a new manager will rid the club of this mindset. That fans will start to look at the positives of decisions made. Not the negatives.

And if after a new manager comes in, peoples minds still go to the negative first, it simply highlights that they are the problem with our fan base. That they will be negative no matter what. And that they should probably just give it up.

If you are unable to be positive about a new manager, unable to be positive about young local kids getting the chance, please stay away from Arsenal, from the ground, the pubs and social media. Your mindset adds nothing. It is not supportive. You are not a supporter.

Positive mental attitude. PMA. That is what we need from the fans going into the new era.

Keenos

PS: I know some will have a go at me for “digging” out fans. The majority of these people have also spent the last few years digging out positive fans and labelling them with acronyms. Conclusion: the majority of fans who moan all the time are also hypocrites…

Arsene Wenger vindicated with team selection – despite defeat

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I am writing the first half of this blog before a ball has been kicked. Despite what the result might be, Arsene Wenger is right in his team selection today.

The Premier League is pointless. We are unlikely to finish higher than 6th and need just 3 points from 4 games to ensure we finish no lower than that position.

With a key Europa League game ahead on Thursday, I would actually argue that playing the likes of Granit Xhaka and Hector Bellerin is a mistake, not failing to play other top players.

I’ve seen countless people “defend” George Graham finishing 10th in 1993 because we “rested people for the cups”. Now those same people are complaining that Arsene Wenger is resting players for league games so that they are ready for Cup.

It is a good example of people changing their narrative to suit the agenda. Which is odd as the only agenda we as fan and a club should have is ensuring that we have the bear chance of beating Atlético Madrid in Thursday.

I’d rather Arsenal play the entire U23 team (plus Aubameyang) for the last 4 games of the season. A group of players who are top of the Premier League 2 (U23 league). Stick some of our FA Youth Cup finalists on the bench.

Let’s give Holding, Chambers, Movraponas, AMN, Nelson, Willock and Nketiah some PL starts. See if any are going to be good enough.

I would pretty much play this for the rest of the season:

Macey
Chambers Movraponas Holding Kolasinac
AMN Willock
Nelson Iwobi Mkhi/Welbeck
Aubameyang

We have all moaned that Wenger has never really given young English kids a chance. Now we moan that he is playing them in a “meaningless” match.

I saw one say “I’m all for giving youth a chance I’m not sure united away is the best fixture for it”. The same bloke would probably complain if we played our strongest XI today and Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil or Alexandre Lacazette went off injured.

We might lose 4-0, but the team selection is right.

The game certainly felt like a pre-season friendly rather than a match between two rivals at the business end of the season.

If it was a pre-season game, you would be delighted by the performance of some of the Arsenal players, despite the result.

Man of the match for me was Ainsley Maitland-Niles. At just 20 years old, he showed class and ability. Of all the youngsters in the field, he shone the most. You could see that he has played more than any of the others last season.

When we sold Francis Coquelin in January, some questioned the decision. But in Maitland-Niles we have a defensive midfielder who is better technically and can also replicate the Frenchman covering full back.

The conversation he had with Paul Pogba at the final whistle was interesting. They were chatting for some time, and Pogba clearly had gained some respect for the Arsenal youngster.

I expect him to play every Premier League game before the end of the season, and be pushing for the first team next season.

Konstantinos Mavropanos looked solid at the back and will cause the new manager a selection headache next season.

You can not give all of Mavroponas, Chambers and Holding the game time to develop. Next season we will have to pick one. The Greek lad did his chances no harm.

It is easy, however to go OTT with the performance of Mavroponas. We saw similar with Holding and Chambers. Maybe a loan deal to another Premier League club would be ideal?

Let Mavroponas play 38 games elsewhere, have Rob holding as 4th choice centre back, and Chambers as back up for Hector Bellerin.

Reiss Nelson looked a little lightweight, but it is important to remember that he only turned 18 in January. He is already staring for the club at U23 level. The fact he has already outgrown the U18s – who are in the FA Youth Cup final highlights his talent.

Another who could do with playing the last 3 Premier League games of the season.

It was a frustratingly predictable result. Manchester United getting a late winner despite Arsenal playing very well.

Thierry Henry called it right, Arsenal are brilliant between the boxes, but not good enough in both boxes.

What is for sure is that there is some talent at the club, and we need to keep giving some of this talent a run out between now and the end of the season.

In the new season, let’s change our default setting of moaning about everything to being a little bit more positive and backing the lads.

Keenos

Diego Simeone fails Arsenal interview

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With 12 minutes on the clock, the interview was over. Diego Simeone got up, left the away dig out and left Ivan Gazidis without a decision to make.

Simeone would not even make the short list to replace Arsene Wenger, let alone be given the job.

As he left the pitch, snarling and swearing at all those around him, he showed why most top clubs would not consider employing him.

There is a huge difference between passion and abuse. Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola show passion on the touch line. Simeone just abusing anyone and everyone.

Constantly arguing with the 4th official, abusing the referee, attempting to intimidate the opposition. He is not passionate, he is just abusive. And his back from staff and players take lead from him. Jumping up in unison at every tackle, demanding a yellow card.

Last nights performance by Simeone should not be a surprise. As a player he was cynical, a cheat. He was the type of player I truly despise. A fake hard man. Happy to rake his studs down an opponents Achilles, always leaving his foot in on a challenge, but you go near him, he would throw himself to the ground and cry, no matter how little contact there was.

We all remember David Beckham in 1998, sent off for a petulant kick against Argentina. Guess who the Argentinian was who went down like he was shot? Yes, your correct, Diego Simeone.

He was an expert in the dark arts, and his Atlético Madrid team have been built in the vision of himself as a player.

Now I know they were down to 10 men early doors yesterday, but the behaviour of their players is no different to if they had 11 men.

Simeone has set them up to be anti-football.

10 men behind the ball at all times, wasting time at every opportunity, and throwing themselves to the ground at the slightest of touches.

Some will say “but he wins things” but this is untrue. Atlético have not won a trophy since 2014. And even if they were more successful, there are ways to win things, and it is certainly not the Simeone way.

Look at Manchester City. The free flowing attacking football wining trophies. Arsenal under Arsene Wenger in the early years. Barcelona or Real Madrid now. These are winners, who do it the right way. That is what Arsenal need to aspire too. We should not be looking to dive and time waste our way to a Premier League trophy.

“But George Graham played defensive football” you cry.

That might be true, and Arsenal were often labelled “boring boring Arsenal” under Graham, but one thing he did do was uphold the class and tradition of the club. Simeone is happy to sacrifice who we are and what we represent to impose his own brand of “success” on the club.

Look around world football, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Max Allegri are often considered defensive coaches. But in comparison to Simeone, they play attacking football, football in the right way.

There are ways of playing the game.

I have been highly critical of Klopp in the past. His lack of success in the last 4 or 5 years is similar to Simeone’s, but what he does is he upholds the dignity of the game.

Klopp plays an attacking brand of football, shows passion on the touch line, intelligence off the pitch, and is a gentleman to the press, media and opponents. He understands the history of Liverpool, the passion of the fans, and he has connected and revitalised them. Simeone is the polar opposite of Jurgen Klopp.

The likes of Allegri, Leonardo Jardim, Luis Enrique and Joachim Lowe are the types of men we should be going for. Men who are intelligent, respectful, and will uphold the traditions of the club. And men who are able to do all that whilst being successful.

I have never been a “success by any means possible” type of guy. I want us to win, but believe we are The Arsenal. That there is a right way to win and a wrong way. Simeone only cares about winning. He would happily drag the Arsenal name through the mud to win a game.

He is a man who lacks the class, lacks the integrity to be an Arsenal manager, and he showed it last night.

We are The Arsenal, we do not need to resort to employing someone like Simeone to make us challengers again.

Keenos