Artlee Mhlanga
The result against Blackpool was not a spectacular one by any means but it was expected. The headlines are beaming with ‘Arsenal close the gap to seven points.’ You would not be mistaken to think that Arsenal will really put some concentrated pressure on Manchester United until the end of the season. But for those who have been following the Gooners far more religiously, they will need more than a 3-1 victory against a team fighting for their survival.
Recently, we, the Arsenal fans have been very vocal in our disapproval at the current manner in which the club is being governed. The bulk of frustration has had to fall on the manager and l am sure that the boos that echoed at the full time whistle last week against Blackburn, were aimed at Wenger. Yes there are players who aren’t performing and there are players who are simply not good enough to play for the Arsenal but are still in the squad.
Wenger has been quick to sing his familiarly frustrating tune of how the team has ‘mental strength and belief’ and in his own way, he sees the club as successful. Successful yes… if you look at the history of the club but we can only measure our success against previous achievements. And if we are to do that, it is quite clear that we have stalled in our development as a club.
Without going on too much about past glory days, the fact that Mr Wenger fails to supplement the rising stars with accomplished players is one that is beyond my understanding, especially as the league is becoming more competitive. ‘Superficial judgement’ is what Wenger labelled our cries. And ‘silly people’ is what Peter Hill-Wood labelled the Arsenal Supporters Trust.
To say that l disagree with these terms would be an understatement. Superficial judgement? In Arsene we trust but Arsene should not undermine the collective opinion of the people who ‘trust’ him. I can confidently state that myself and a fair majority of Arsenal fans have had to consistently guard the pride that we have in the club. Season after season we ‘the superficial judges’ have seen this team with ever-growing mental belief and strength fail to sustain a serious title challenge until the very end of the season. It is tough to take that the Gooners have been displaced from once being Manchester United’s most serious rivals to nothing more than an inconvenience in the past few seasons. Chelsea have tussled for the title and even Liverpool had a go and from the looks of things, Manchester City aren’t too far off.
And so to the chairman, calling the people who have simply been true to Arsenal’s legacy – of winning silverware – ‘silly people’ is not a very smart move. One that can be forgiven but as those in charge of the club, a little more consideration about the fans and their opinion will go a long way.
To the manager’s credit, Arsenal have been getting closer each year and l do still hold the faintest of hopes that this year could somehow, miraculously, end with the league title.
