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Passion for the Cause

Thierry Henry showed what fans want to see from players in the Arsenal shirt

11 January, 2012 9:00 23 comments
Passion for the Cause

Commitment

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The thing that stood out for me amongst all the hype surrounding the return of ‘King Henry’ was the way in which he celebrated his second-half winner. Here was a man so caught up in the genuine emotion of playing once more and scoring for the club he so clearly loves that he, for want of a better term, went ballistic. The sight of Thierry hugging an overjoyed Arsène on the touchline after his goal said everything you ever needed to know about the way the man feels for the club we all follow.

How refreshing was it to see a player wear the red and white shirt with genuine pride and unbridled joy and passion? How many times have we as a club been let down in recent seasons by other so-called ‘top players’ leaving the club all to easily for pastures new and inflated wage packets? This for me was a throwback to times gone by and one that I will cherish for a long time to come. Just look at the way Thierry celebrated after the final whistle. If all of our players showed the same levels of commitment and passion for the club they play for, where would we be? How many trophies would we have collected over the past five seasons? I wouldn’t mind suggesting an answer of a minimum of three or four.

People say that the game has changed a lot over the past 20 years or so. The reality is the game has changed a hell of a lot over the past seven seasons or so. It is no coincidence that three players from the Invincible season have come back over the past few seasons, and every single time their commitment to the cause has stood out like a sore thumb for me. Thierry and his celebrations on Monday night, Sol fighting like a warrior in a loss at WHL a couple of seasons back, and Mad Jens getting heated with defenders at Blackpool last spring, were all reminders for me that, not that long ago, we did have players that were willing to fight for the cause. They, in my eyes, simply wanted it more than the current bunch of players we have managed to assemble.

Is this an Arsenal-specific problem or a wider change in players’ attitudes as their wages have spiralled out of any sort of control in recent seasons? For me the answer would probably have to be more of the latter. All we can do as supporters is remember the attitude and spirit of King Henry the next time a Na$ri or an Adebayor leaves us for more pound notes elsewhere.

Anyway, I am off to put a curse on Mr Adebayor’s hamstrings for the remainder of the season and I will see you again soon in the near future.

Au revoir.

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23
comments

  1. CanadaGooner

    Jan 13, 2012, 23:06 #16821

    @Ron: who cares what he's milking, 227 goals isnt good enough? you're obviously too clever to be an arsenal fan

  2. Ron

    Jan 13, 2012, 10:48 #16804

    Ted G - Very true. Ive never known Arsenal employ so many idle, lethargic and often useless loafers as they have now though, Wengers sqaud is full of them, but your quite right about Henry. He really knows how to milk and sustain the more gullable fans adoration though. He should become a politician! He d make PM of France in no time at all.

  3. GaryFootscrayAustralia

    Jan 12, 2012, 19:58 #16802

    @ au revoir wenger, are you ok in the head matey? You said "players are not real fans with the exception perhaps of Robbie Keane". Is that the same Robbie Keane that's been a "lifelong fan" of Coventry / Wolves / Spurs / Liverpool / Internazionale / Celtic / LA Galaxy? Take a break on those mushrooms, kid!

  4. Paceyguy

    Jan 12, 2012, 14:39 #16797

    Well said, couldn't agree more. I do think there are some players at Arsenal who give everything but we have far too many fair-weather, pedestrian, carefree spongers at the club. Arshavin must be sold, I'd take £8m for him all day long. Chamakh just cannot cut it in this country, I just can't see what he offers the team, he poses very little threat to opposition defences. Djourou & Squillaci also, they are just not good enough for our club. Let’s face it lads we are a business first and a football club second, whilst the balance sheet is healthy, all is rosy in the eyes of the board. Spurs 9 points clear of us, sad times indeed :(

  5. Ted G

    Jan 12, 2012, 13:50 #16796

    Alister - When Chamakh first played for Arsenal he ran the line really well. Showed for the ball, won headers, chased down defenders and selflessly teed up team mates to try and score. Now he doesn't look like a player who's trying but what you have now with Chamakh is a man who has such a personality crisis that it transcends any kind of commitment issues. He's utterly drained of self-belief who desperately needs a move away from the club to start again.

  6. Ted G

    Jan 12, 2012, 13:38 #16795

    Oh this is just bollocks. "How many times have we as a club been let down in recent seasons by other so-called ‘top players’ leaving the club all to easily for pastures new and inflated wage packets?" Whhat, like Henry? Henry is a legend for Arsenal because first and foremost he has extraordinary talent. He often drifted through games showing very little in the way of effort. I remember one game away to Blackburn where he was poncing around doing nothing only to score a fabulous goal after a one-two with Fabregas. His talent scored him that goal, not his 'passion for the cause'. Don't get me wrong he often did show passion but we're looking through rose tinted specs here remembering only the glory days. In his last couple of seasons at Arsenal Henry was a man looking elsewhere. Of course passion and commitment in football is massively important but I also thing it's a big fat cliche spouted by fans who mistake lack of effort for sheer ineptitude. Arsenal haven't won anything in the last few years for various reasons but I genuinely don't think it's through want of trying. There are some players who at times I'd certainly question their commitment. Niklas Bentdner for example. But then on the flip side you have Phillipe Senderos. He tried, but he simply wasn't good enough.

  7. Alister

    Jan 12, 2012, 11:45 #16792

    Watching Chamakh the other night, when Ramsay got to the byeline. The Welshman put in a decent cross cutting out the keeper, the ball was begging to be headed home by a hungry striker, but Marouane jumped pathetically at it, giving it up for dead. No hunger. But as soon as Thierry came on, got his bearings, he was making the runs into space, wanting, shouting, looking for the ball. Chamakh to me, appears to have given up the ghost entirely.

  8. GoonerRon

    Jan 11, 2012, 23:10 #16787

    @ Chris Dee - 'That's why we are disgracefully the third team in London behind Chelsea and Spurs.' Give me a break. Tottenham have been ahead of us in the league for half a season, after finishing below us for 16 years and all of a sudden they are better than us? We may have a higher wage bill than Spuds but since we moved to The Emirates (funded by our own money) they have £100m net spend more than us and Chelsea £175m more (plus a massively higher wage bill). It's hardly a level playing field is it? Let's see how Spuds do when they invest hundreds of millions in a new ground, or how Chelsea fare when they stop being subsidised each year just to stay in existence.

  9. Van de Ed

    Jan 11, 2012, 22:58 #16786

    It's either we accept we've become solely a business interested in keeping shareholders happy & striving only for a 4th place EPL finish, or we kick out Le Boss, Gazidis & co from our club. It's a very simple and clear choice to make, fellow goons....

  10. CT Gooner

    Jan 11, 2012, 20:28 #16783

    When we talk about passion I'm reminded of the second half of the Newcastle game. 4-0 up and then what? I think we did something similar at spurs, 2-0 up and then lost. Where was that "I'll be fu%$ed if you score on us" attitude? It's about keeping it clean, but hard, and showing no quarter. Probably shouldn't be going to France for players if that's what we're after! [wink] (sorry for that last generalization)

  11. redboy

    Jan 11, 2012, 19:11 #16782

    Great bit of magic from T.H but apart from that we could not break down a c/ship defence been the same story at home all season our game is so easy to defened against.What as happen to the arsenal we are now just a average team.

  12. au revoir wenger

    Jan 11, 2012, 16:54 #16781

    Look Henry is one of the greatest players to wear an Arsenal shirt of that there is no doubt.But come on ,all this badge kissing and undying love for the club.Where was it when he courted Barca?Idont blame him for going,it was the only way to be a champions league winner,but players are not real fans with the exception perhaps of Robbie Keane

  13. Rocky RIP

    Jan 11, 2012, 16:54 #16780

    Absolutely spot on. Everybody celebrated that goal deleriously for a number of obvious reasons. The main one being that it not only was a nostalgic throwback to when we were genuinely world class, but just as importantly, to when we had players who gave us everything and fought tooth and nail on the pitch. This now extends to some of our 'fans' who have found their way into our stadium. When TH scored it wasn't long before I was prodded in the back and told to 'siddown!' by some JCL behind. I didn't let him spoil the moment. 'If you cannot celebrate this moment then you have absolutely no right to be here.' Needless to say he'd left on 88 mins and didn't deign to applaud TH off the pitch. You charge opera prices you get opera fans. We need people who care 100% both on the pitch and in the stands. TH reminded us how it should be.

  14. maguiresbridge gooner

    Jan 11, 2012, 15:02 #16779

    Spot on hampshire we maybe have two or three players with that kind of passion that said apart from rvp how many times have we seen them or any other player thump their chest or kiss the badge sadly passion is just something else we can add to the list that is lacking at our club right now.

  15. James

    Jan 11, 2012, 14:56 #16778

    We could have bought Scott Parker for £5m.And dont anyone say he hasnt made a massive difference at the Spuds.You dont have to spend £30m to get quality.For too long our club has bought potential.But just look over the last 5 years at the players who were supposed to have potential but flopped.Denilson Diaby Djourou Senderos and Bendtner.$ of those players are still registered to us.Walcott has been at the club 6 years has he realised his potential?No.Gervinho may had done ok in France but he is like a fish out of water in England.

  16. Mark

    Jan 11, 2012, 14:27 #16777

    passion and commitment of the GG team and Adams, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Wright, Parlour was renowned and had massive influence on Cole, Campbell, Lauren, Toure, Viera, Petit who came in behind them. do NOT underestimate this please. since Arsenal has become completely Wenger's club i.e. all past influences gone - the last 4 or 5 years - all passion has GONE ! all fight has GONE ! Diaby, Rosicky, Almunia, Eboue etc - do me a favour we could beat these guys on hackney marshes on a wet sunday morning whereas the team 6 years ago would kick our ars !!

  17. Der Projekt ist Kaput

    Jan 11, 2012, 14:06 #16775

    If Arshavin had attempted Henry's celebration, the effort would have killed him. If

  18. Rob

    Jan 11, 2012, 13:53 #16774

    Great post, i was just thinking a similar thing earlier. A lot of people have noticed and commented upon the 'distance' these days between the Arsenal fans and players. Long gone are the little touches that brought us together eg Kolo and before him David O'Leary's little warm up routines with crowd acknowledgement, the 'Seaman, Seaman' chant and subsequent applause, Lukic do the twist etc etc It was noticeable to me that Szczesny was the first player out all the way from his goal to hug Henry !! Now theres a personality that can create a rapport with the fans, we even forgive him mistakes, not just because we recognise his talent, but because he's likeable. Who else in the current squad is there with a connection? Wilshere maybe (this would be more to do with his nationality than anything) And maybe Frimpong. I'm not even sure the connection with RVP is that great although I'm maybe being harsh there. Its defo no coincidence that great sides are made of great player characters, aside from our own invincibles, look at Man Ure down the line (pains me to say but even the Chelksi team, odious as they are, have big personalities) To be fair I think the manager has finally recognised this fundamental flaw (and is doing something about it) although £6 million per year and many recent competition failures should have ensured it didn't take him this long to realise it... Finally, I do think the characters are still around (every Prem team has at least one), they just need to be plucked, assembled and moulded into a team. Thats the managers job....or maybe the next managers job !?!

  19. Tony Evans

    Jan 11, 2012, 13:05 #16773

    I think you have hit the nail on the head. Yes many of our squad are not good enough but more importantly too many of them simply do not have the will to win that was so evident in Wenger's best sides. I know the great players we so enjoyed back then do not grow on trees but what irks me is that Wenger seems to have given up looking for them at all. He pays enormous sums of money to players (we all know who they are) that have not even proved themselves in an Arsenal shirt and are more then happy to take the money for nothing tangible on the pitch in return. Now we can not shift them and this severely limits the possibility of better players coming in to replace them. Correct me please if I am wrong but it is this issue over and above everything else that causes more anti Wenger feelings than anything else.

  20. Ron

    Jan 11, 2012, 13:00 #16772

    The squad has lacked character for quite some years. Its why people say that the nationality balance in the team has been wrong thus causing a 'passion by pass'. Im not saying Brits add more fire per se, but many of them do, at risk of a slight drop in technical skills i.e Parker types and other committed, worthy and honest examplea as opposed to cretinous, pond life types like Terry and others. Equally so, not all imports are feint hearted, but many are it seems to me. Too plegmatic and fairweather by far in many cases. Weve had too many of them, who have never quite 'culturally' become Gunners players as TH and Pires and Bergkamp so willingly and successfully did. The Coach is to blame to a great degree. His persona is ultimately reflected in his teams. Weve had sulking lightweights and mardy arsed, weak willed non competitors cluttering up the squad for far too long and in my view, despite out oft seen technical excellence its this that stopped us geting over the line so often. It doesnt take say, a world class defender to get his body or head in to block or a world class middle man to get a tackle in where it hurts or a top class Keeper to get amongst the bodies at corners to catch or punch. We ve had far too many whove been too scared to mix it up and get physical for far too long. Football is that way in England, whatever aesthetic objections Wenger may have about it.Fans love it too. Cold, precise and turgid technical excellence is OK in its place, but without the other in England, youre an also ran. Fergy has never forgotten this and his team 'balances' never ignores it, thats why hes a better boss than AW in the main.

  21. Gee

    Jan 11, 2012, 12:53 #16771

    CanadaGooner has hit the nail on the head. We have no footballing men at Board level anymore. The last one was Danny Fiszman, who very unfortunately had been all for a period of time. Basically Gazidis, Fox and a few others run the club now. The board of hill-wood, harris, keswick etc. have zero input and just nod and agree with Ivan. They've had it and need to move on. the problem is Gazidis and his men have zero influence on the football side of things, like Dein and Fiszman used too. Gazidis can't swing Wengers opinion one way or the other when it comes to the team, where as Dein and Fiszman could. Don't get me wrong Wenger has always had the say on who plays week in week out, but Dein and Fiszman could get him the players and firepower he needed and wanted. Gazidis knows jack all about Football and running a Football club. He maintains the stance of "I'm a fan too", but taking a £600k bonus when we've declined on the pitch over the past 4 seasons is not what any fan would do in his position. He's already rewarded handsomely on about £800k per annum. Wenger has no tried and trusted allies on the board. The board can not input in the playing side because they have no knowledge and Arsene knows it. No one can challenge Wenger apart from Football men. Gazidis, Fox and co are not these men

  22. chris dee

    Jan 11, 2012, 9:32 #16766

    We have a higher wage bill than Spurs. So lets leave the money excuse alone. It's commitment,resolution, a will to win and a manager who is not so arrogant that he does not try to nullify the opponents strengths but believes our 'football' will see us through in any match.That's why we are disgracefully the third team in London behind Chelsea and Spurs. If many of the players lack these essential traits then it's the fault of the manager. A Carl Jenkinson is worth more than Arshavin,Chamakh and Djourou put together.

  23. CanadaGooner

    Jan 11, 2012, 8:19 #16765

    Good observation. it's exactly what i've been talking about for months. the team we have isnt as poor or unskilled as everyone would have us believe, what is lacking is PASSION & COMMITMENT, which we lost when we stopped being a football club and became a business. we brought in people like gazidis who would quite gladly manage the post office or a basketball team tomorrow. we've lost real footballing minds at the helm of the club and kroenke is used to an american system where there isnt anything like relegation or bragging rights: all is well again after a hot-dog. what we consider failure (no trophies) isnt the same to them as long as the money keeps flowing in whether by sale of our best players or through participation in the champions league for players like Henry, winning games is what it's all about, and in an arsenal jersey he wont settle for anything less. for arshavin & co, it's all about cashing their pay cheque and going home happy. as for players like adebayor, who refused to play for his country unless he got paid huge sums of money, and nasri who is simply a mercenary and would join man utd tomorrow if asked, playing for arsenal was simply a job and nothing more