Lance Beauregarde
There have been various comments on this website over the last few weeks about a supposed anti-Arsenal conspiracy in the media. Comments abound alluding to the ‘gutter press’ and ‘mainstream hacks’ who hurl completely unjustified criticisms at the club and its players. Some people have even gone so far as to suggest that a form of veiled racism exists among those who question the contribution of certain foreign players, Per Mertesacker being one. The same people have postulated that perhaps those who criticise Arsene Wenger might only be doing so because he is French. Well, I, for one, completely support these perfectly measured and sane arguments. Claims of an evil conspiracy among journalists and pundits alike may sound like an hysterical overreaction by Arsenal fans who think you’re not right in the head if you’re not spending every waking hour sucking on a pair of replica Arsène Wenger balls, but I’m here to prove that this is, in fact, a perfectly justifiable position to take.
To this end, I have trawled the internet and dug out some recent example of journalists and ex-players laying into Arsenal with the kind of intensity usually reserved for serial killers and Katie Price. These are but a few choice cuts of anecdotal titbits, but, if you do your own research, you will find more. We’ll start with the Guardian’s David Hytner, and his scathing report of the match against Dortmund, in which he claimed that a certain ‘Dutch master’ continued to ‘light up both domestic and European stages with another irresistible performance’ (Guardian.co.uk, November 23rd). ‘It is only when you watch Van Persie live,’ he went on, ‘that you fully appreciate the menace and sharpness of his movement.’ The next day Hytner travelled to the UN headquarters in New York to seek approval for an airstrike against the Emirates.
Then there’s perennial Arsenal-hater, Gary Neville, who was sharpening his knives back in August, when he shrieked in the Mail that ‘those fans who criticise Wenger should be careful what they wish for’ (Mailonline.co.uk, August 14th). ‘I believe he is the right manager for Arsenal’, he added, before launching a nuclear-tipped dart at a picture of the beleaguered Arsenal boss. A few months later, Lee Dixon decided to throw his two cents in by claiming that supporters should ‘unite behind [Wenger’s] philosophy’ (Goal.com, October 28th). He then spat, ‘I’ve always backed Arsène and I always will,’ as he bore down on the Arsenal training ground with a machine gun and a box of hand-grenades.
But surely there can be no pundit more steadfast in his hatred of Arsenal than Mr Alan Hansen, who just a few weeks ago had the audacity to claim that Jack Wilshere was the ‘standout’ player of his generation (International Business Times.com, November 7th). He went on to claim that, of the current crop of young England players, he was the only one worthy of a starting place at Euro 2012. I was so outraged by this particular comment that I immediately phoned the BBC and demanded that Hansen have his still-beating heart ripped out of his chest on the next edition of Match of the Day, only to be told that he doesn’t have one.
But seriously, there are several points I want to make here before the inevitable barrage of criticism and ridicule descends on me in the form of irate readers’ comments. The first, and most obvious, is that there is not, as far as I can tell, an anti-Arsenal conspiracy in the sports media. If Arsenal play badly, or if Wenger gets his tactics wrong, or if the players don’t look like they are making an effort, it is the job of journalists and pundits to point this out. Obviously, they don’t always get it right, some of them are incredibly thick after all, and others are little more than infuriatingly self-righteous bell-ends. Perhaps there are even some who do actually have an anti-Arsenal bias. This is not evidence, however, of a widespread and deeply-entrenched abhorrence towards the club, any more than a bite from a dog is evidence of an evil plan by the entire canine fraternity to overthrow the human race and take over the world.
The second point is a pre-emptive strike against those who will inevitably claim that I am not a true Arsenal fan because I actually sometimes agree with what is written and said about the club in the media. Being a fan of any club does not mean you have subscribe blindly to the party line. It is an emotional investment and emotions can be both positive and negative. It is precisely because I love Arsenal football club that I get frustrated when things don’t go as well as I feel they could. If I hadn’t grown up with the club and everything it stands for woven into the very fibre of my being, I wouldn’t give a rat’s a**e. But I do, and I can’t help the feelings of exasperation I sometimes get. To go along with whatever explanations are given by the management, however much I disagree with them, would be to suppress them, and suppressing emotions is not healthy. One of the great things about websites like onlinegooner is that they give opinionated twits like me a forum in which to vent, and that is no bad thing.
The third point is that debate and criticism, when they are constructive, are a necessary and desirable aspect of human society. The debate that usually ensues from the publication of articles which question the Arsenal regime is always interesting and fun, even when it degenerates into childish mudslinging. It is a way of hearing other peoples’ points of view, and this is a good thing, even if you don’t agree with those opinions, because it broadens your own view of the situation and makes you think in ways you otherwise would not. There are those who seem to think that disagreement among Arsenal fans is a bad thing – indeed, you could say that opinion is divided on the issue of whether or not opinion should be divided – but I disagree with the argument that disagreement is bad! A friend of mine recently questioned my loyalty to Arsenal when I wondered aloud whether Gervinho might be keeping a casserole warm in inside his giant head (I should like to point out here that I am not attacking Gervinho – I happen to think that the energy and effort he has brought to the team have been refreshing – it’s just that he does have an unusually large head). Although the exchange was not in any way serious, it did make me wonder what it would be like to live in a world where every supporter of every club did nothing but praise the players and management and agree with each other about everything, regardless of what was actually happening on the pitch. I decided that it would be just plain boring.
So, in conclusion, the day I decide that we should all sing from the same song-sheet all the time will be the day I move to North Korea. In my humble opinion, having opinions is important. What’s more, venting is healthy, debate is essential, and the journalists and pundits who offer up their opinions, whether positive or negative, deserve to be listened to and respected, even when they are complete cretins. Now please, for the love of God, start disagreeing with me!
