Well, it isn't like I warned you about the intentions... That said, I work on my thesis and I miss 5 pages of stuff!
I think most "long term" fans realise that success is pretty precarious. If you talk to Everton fans, Newcastle fans, Leeds fans.. they understand that whilst the winning is amazing, and is the "postcard moment" for the players, you really do want a stable side who can consistently do something usefu - one day you can be top dog, and then just fade awayl. Shouting on about "the glory years" and then saying "cant disagree with this.." is rather pointless if you want to actually have a discussion. Partisanship from fans is actually irritating, it's simply two people talking -at- each other saying how great they are.
Interestingly most Arsenal fans know the team isn't great, they know they have one of the youngest squads in the league with some young players who are really stepping it up. This season you will find it hard to talk to Arsenal fans who go to games who -won't- happily tell you how much trouble the team would be in without Arteta doing what he does (we havn't won a game without him playing), RVP scoring for fun and Theo being his usual brilliant one day, **** another self. I'd say the lack of recent silverwear is irritating, but at this point the club was right in the middle of a stadium rebuild for the cost of £400 million. We don't have a rich owner so the club has to earn it to pay it back off. Obviously, that's going to impact the situation, and the back to back CL qualification is instrumental to getting the revenue to 1. keep players and 2. move from paying the stadium off to actually reinvesting in top players.
As mentioned before, I think most fans are positive about the club right now, feel it's going in the right direction, and it's exciting to see youth players come and start to have an impact on the first team, especially because those guys tend to be very loyal to the club who helped the develop into players! I don't think we will be winning a CL any time soon, but I've been reading some very positive things about developing a "team" since Arteta came from Everton and stated talking about how close-knit the Everton team is. Supposedly RVP is organising player outings for players and their partners, is actually helping them grow as a "team". If this is on the money then brilliant, as Arsenal's biggest achilles heel in recent years has been having great individuals but lousy team spirit. With youth players, good management, a few sensible buys and the fostering of a team spirit, you have to hope for better things; but be realistic about what you can achieve in football in the short term.
I think most "long term" fans realise that success is pretty precarious. If you talk to Everton fans, Newcastle fans, Leeds fans.. they understand that whilst the winning is amazing, and is the "postcard moment" for the players, you really do want a stable side who can consistently do something usefu - one day you can be top dog, and then just fade awayl. Shouting on about "the glory years" and then saying "cant disagree with this.." is rather pointless if you want to actually have a discussion. Partisanship from fans is actually irritating, it's simply two people talking -at- each other saying how great they are.
Interestingly most Arsenal fans know the team isn't great, they know they have one of the youngest squads in the league with some young players who are really stepping it up. This season you will find it hard to talk to Arsenal fans who go to games who -won't- happily tell you how much trouble the team would be in without Arteta doing what he does (we havn't won a game without him playing), RVP scoring for fun and Theo being his usual brilliant one day, **** another self. I'd say the lack of recent silverwear is irritating, but at this point the club was right in the middle of a stadium rebuild for the cost of £400 million. We don't have a rich owner so the club has to earn it to pay it back off. Obviously, that's going to impact the situation, and the back to back CL qualification is instrumental to getting the revenue to 1. keep players and 2. move from paying the stadium off to actually reinvesting in top players.
As mentioned before, I think most fans are positive about the club right now, feel it's going in the right direction, and it's exciting to see youth players come and start to have an impact on the first team, especially because those guys tend to be very loyal to the club who helped the develop into players! I don't think we will be winning a CL any time soon, but I've been reading some very positive things about developing a "team" since Arteta came from Everton and stated talking about how close-knit the Everton team is. Supposedly RVP is organising player outings for players and their partners, is actually helping them grow as a "team". If this is on the money then brilliant, as Arsenal's biggest achilles heel in recent years has been having great individuals but lousy team spirit. With youth players, good management, a few sensible buys and the fostering of a team spirit, you have to hope for better things; but be realistic about what you can achieve in football in the short term.
