Yet another win, yet another three points, yet more character shown by the team when it could have gone either way but yet more negativity. Even amongst the ‘positives’ you managed to throw in the ‘fractious team relationships’. Despite the johnny come latelys, the disgraceful boo boys and the increasing criticism of the team, I have come to expect more positivity or at least a more balanced view from the editorial but not anymore. Whenever, I have picked up The Gooner this season the editorial has set the tone with a tediously negative rant with the odd glimpse of enlightenment. So I wrote after yet another critical editorial post Christmas after we’d actually won!

But for an incredible run of injuries to Van Persie, Rosicky, Eduardo and Sagna towards the end of 07/08 and some rubbish refereeing (penalty at Birmingham, offside given against Adebayor versus Boro) we would have won the title completely against the odds and after selling Thierry. We didn’t. In the summer Wenger made mistakes - inexplicably he didn’t replace Flamini and he didn’t strengthen the defence. In addition we have once again been undermined by injuries to key players for lengthy periods. Yes, injuries are part of the game and yes, other clubs have larger squads but we have been very unlucky and do not have the funds of our rivals to compete for squad size and quality. So it has been a disappointing season. Furthermore, it’s clear that some of the players currently playing in the first team are either not ready to be playing so regularly or are not, and will never be, good enough to play in a championship winning team. Arsene Wenger vies with Herbert Chapman as our greatest ever manager but he, like all of us, makes mistakes and we have not won a trophy since the delicious last kick from one our best ever players. So far so doom, so gloom.

During the reign of Arsene Wenger we have won three league titles of which two were doubles and the other was an unbeaten season which no club in modern times has done (clinching one at the Lane, and one at the Mancs), four FA Cups, reached the Champions League final and played consistently fantastic football - thus transforming the image of the team and whole club. All of this has been said many times before as has the fact that all this has been achieved despite the burden of building a brand new stadium in one of the most expensive parts of the world and all the short to medium term debt this entails. But even all those achievements are dwarfed by the foundations which are being painstakingly built year on year and which will turn into the true legacy of the Wenger era - the ‘Arsenal system’.

Pre-Bosman there was an academy which was the envy of every single club in the whole world, which acted as a production line for a staggering number of world class footballers and led to the consistent capturing of major silverware. That academy was Ajax. I remember once reading an article by Dennis Bergkamp in which he explained his composure, his positional sense and his ability to always find space where no others could. It was he says due to the fact that each Ajax team whether the under 8’s, youth team or the reserve team played the same system and within that system before he reached the first team he had played in every single position to understand the options the player has and his thought process when he has the ball. Moreover, each player is ready to slot into the first team when they are required with minimal disruption to the balance of the side. The last hoorah for that team, sadly after Dennis left, was winning the Champions League in 1995 with nine homegrown players.

Once the new training facilities were put in place with the proceeds of the Anelka transfer to Real Madrid, Wenger began with his vision to build a similar institution but in more difficult times. The players would have to be scouted from all corners of the world with the problems associated with this, language problems, homesickness and lack of identity with the club. But in an era when the rich clubs are getting richer, where foreign markets, image and TV money talk and billionaires are distorting the playing field, he saw this as not just the answer to creating successful teams now but also to safeguard the future of the club. To put this into perspective, since a certain Russian crook took over another club in London the Chavs have won two league titles, one FA Cup, 2 Mickey Mice and reached a Champions League final. During the same period Arsenal have won one title (unbeaten), one FA Cup and reached a Champions League final. Given the unprecedented levels of spending of our dear neighbours that record doesn’t look bad.

This leads me on to my next point which is the delusions of grandeur which more and more Gooners appear to have. Yes we are a big club, yes we are one of the biggest clubs in the country and yes we have a peerless tradition but we are not the biggest club and never have been either here or increasingly importantly abroad. Before the move to all seater stadia we regularly pulled in gates a bit higher than the Spuds but less that Liverpool and the Mancs. Before the move to the Grove our capacity was almost half that of the Mancs, and less than Liverpool, Everton, Chavs, Newcastle, Sunderland etc etc. Throw in the appeal in lucrative areas like Asia of Liverpool and Manure and the wealth of the Chavs and the club we should be comparing ourselves during Wenger’s reign is not Manure, not Liverpool (no league titles), and not the Chavs but the Spuds (two Mickeys!!!!!!!). I would love someone to compare the net expenditure of the Spuds since Wenger’s arrival and yet we have been metaphorically miles apart in terms of silverware, quality of the team and stability.

The 24/7 culture of media seeking news stories is alive and kicking in football and everyone has an opinion. Liverpool were booed after their first 0-0 at home this season which can’t have helped the team relax prior to subsequent home games - many of which they also drew to hand the title to Manure, the Chavs were in ‘crisis’ when they were in third and five points off the top. And we too have been in ‘crisis’ all season despite reaching the last four of the world’s most prestigious competition. As Wenger said when asked about Man City’s new found wealth you could have 20 billionaire owners in the Premier League and you would still have only one winner. There is such disparity within the league that even we and to a lesser extent Liverpool - who are established members of the top four - can in no way financially compete with the Manure and the Chavs and yet we expect to win year on year despite it becoming ever more difficult to break the ‘top two’. Despite throwing £££££s at it every single season the Chavs haven’t won the league for three years and have no better Champions League record than the Gooners. The point is that when we won the double in 2002 the club overachieved, when we went unbeaten in 2004 the club overachieved. It doesn’t mean we can’t criticise some of the decisions made but please let’s get some perspective!

Arsene Wenger is one of the two greatest and will possibly become the greatest manager we’ve ever had. We should be savouring ever moment he’s in charge and we should be milking every moment that we finish above and play in competitions of which the floundering Spuds can only dream. In your most recent editorial you wrote of Wenger ‘this is not the man who arrived from Japan in 1996, and I am not sure I like what he has become’. I’m sad to say that you are not the Arsenal fan who began writing for this fanzine more than 20 years ago and I’m not sure I like what you have become.

(Ed’s note – It’s all about opinion, and I responded to Arjan by email as follows -
Fair enough. I certainly don't expect everyone to agree with me. I so wanted to be wrong with my pessimism about how the season would turn out, but I cannot deny that I felt that spending on experience instead of so many young players (both in terms of wages and transfers) would have meant the team achieved more and performed more consistently. But I have to call it like I see it. At no stage in the season did I believe the team was good enough to achieve the manager's targets and this view was reflected in what I wrote. Were you at the meeting last Thursday evening? My thoughts on the change in the manager’s personality were largely based on that. Some of the meeting was not broadcast on Arsenal TV.