Kevin Whitcher
There are other reports online about Ivan Gazidis’ meeting with AISA members at their annual AGM held in the press conference room in the bowels of Arsenal’s stadium last night. He talked about self sustainability and ‘petrodollars’.
However one thing that struck me was the emphasis on pride in relation to Arsenal. At the same time, there was apparently trouble going on at Finsbury Park. Although the media focussed on other areas, I have read since that there was some looting.
And looking at footage from the troubles in London over recent nights, it struck me how the representatives of Arsenal Football Club turn up for matches wearing clothes not dissimilar to those kicking in shop windows, looting and starting fires. With headphones in their ears. Jose Mourinho doesn’t allow this at his clubs, and Andreas Villa Boas has laid down the law at Chelsea. Manchester United players, when on duty, wear club issued suits and ties.
The way Arsenal players turn up to matches is no indicator of any sense of pride, of self-respect, of giving a damn about the fact they are representing a once proud footballing institution. For some it may only be a small thing, but for this observer it is hugely symbolic of the gradual decline of Arsenal as a football team. Where was the pride in the performances in a large number of matches last season? Where was the focus, the discipline?
The CEO can talk about pride, but as long as the club’s players, when on duty, wear the same apparel as a looter in Finsbury Park or Hackney, it is so much hot air. The rot has well and truly set in and it’s time some direction came from above. Arsène Wenger is an employee who should take instruction from his employers, and he should be told in no uncertain terms that the message being sent out by players arriving at the stadium for matches wearing casual wear with headphones stuck in their ears is no indicator of pride. Indeed, where has our Arsenal gone?
