Joe Fitzpatrick 
(Ed’s note – This piece was submitted after the cup defeats in Milan and Sunderland, so we are running it as a snapshot of opinion, although that is not to suggest that the author himself has changed his view)
I've been channelling my anger and disgust at what has been happening at Arsenal Football Club into my music recently, and I have found myself playing some heavy stuff rather than getting into a punch-up outside the ground like some kind of monster.
I was working on a cover of Metallica's "Leper Messiah" last night and was struck by how much the lyrics applied to Arsène Wenger and Arsenal Football Club. I'll break it down at the end of the piece for those who don't get why on earth Leper Messiah should be playing over the Emirates PA (come the revolution), instead of that "The Wonder of You" or "Na na nana na, Baby give it up" dogs***e. Doesn't make an atmosphere, that fluffy stuff, does it?
I would like to beg the overly litigious Metallica not to sue their adoring fans and I'm hereby claiming fair use of this song and these lyrics for educational use. Besides, I don't make a penny from being a struggling session guitarist anyway you Napster-slaying Millionaire Gods of Rock!
Leper Messiah
Spineless from the start, sucked into the part
Circus comes to town, you play the lead clown
Please, please
Spreading his disease, living by his story
Knees, knees
Falling to your knees, suffer for his glory
You will
Time for lust, time for lie
Time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
And you'll get a better seat
Bow to leper messiah
Marvel at his tricks, need your Sunday fix
Blind devotion came, rotting your brain
Chain, chain
Join the endless chain, taken by his glamour
Fame, fame
Infection is the game, stinking drunk with power
We see
Time for lust, time for lie
Time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
And you'll get the better seat
Bow to leper messiah
Witchery, weakening
Sees the sheep are gathering
Set the trap, hypnotize
Now you follow
Time for lust, time for lie
Time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
And you'll get the better seat
Lie.
Whether you like to admit or not, you have to admit that Arsène Wenger walked all along the Regents Canal and was known as the Professor by all of my mates who were growing up around Highbury, Holloway and Islington during the early years of the Professor’s reign as Arsenal Boss. To us kids, he was the greatest. He won the league in his first full season and he did it with va va voom to boot. He transformed us from a very decent and typically tough English side into something exciting, something refreshing and something unique. We were all so very proud of our team. Not only could we scrap, but we were a team full of world class footballers.
Even when we lost the odd game here and there to so-called "lesser opposition", we knew in our hearts that we had at least given our opponents a decent game of football. We are now consistently losing to teams like Swansea, Blackburn, West Brom, Tottenham, Sunderland, Stoke and Newcastle. That's Home AND Away, for the benefit of the court record, ladies and gentlemen of the jury.
Under the glorious Arsène Wenger, AFC used to sweep all before them. "Used" and "to" being the operative words here.
Yes, I concede that Arsenal were very quick, incisive and often lethal, with the likes of Wright, Anelka, Overmars, Bergkamp, Vieira, Pires, Ljungberg, Henry, Fabregas, Kanu and Wiltord in the team. We were the Invincibles, and we were kings of London. We must have been something special, because Brian Clough said we were. We Gooners couldn't believe our luck. The great Brian Clough was so enamoured with the Arsenal attack that he actually came to watch us play! The fallen genius that had sensationally won the European Cup with Derby County and Nottingham Forest was passing the torch on to Arsène Wenger that very day.
Arsenal were consistent winners, and every team in the league was terrified of coming to Highbury because they knew in their hearts that they were on a hiding to nothing. Arsène Wenger had successfully blended the world-famous and patented Arsenal defensive organisation with some fantastic attacking signings, and he had done it all on a shoestring budget.
I might not know as much Arsenal history as some of the older, wiser heads who read the Online Gooner, but I'm old enough to remember George Graham's Arsenal team and I have been brought up to understand that Arsenal have a rich tradition of solid goalkeepers and solid defensive play that stretches back beyond even the fabled time of O'Leary, Jennings, Rice and Wilson, when I wasn't yet even a twinkle in my daddy's eye.
My point is that Arsène Wenger grafted his attacking philosophy on top of the traditional "Arsenal way" of playing, and that the Arsenal defensive philosophy must have carried through Wenger's early reign as manager because the players were passing it on themselves.
Graham played in a top-quality Arsenal defence and then went on to assemble the greatest Arsenal defence in history, the mighty Adams, Seaman, Keown, Winterburn, Bould and Dixon through whom the famous Arsenal defensive cycle was peaking. A successful Arsenal defender was now managing the team, and had them all dancing to his tune. Adams et al then passed the torch on to Petit, Vieira, Campbell, Touré, Lauren, Cole and Lehmann. It is not by coincidence that Arsenal haven't won a single trophy since the time when Vieira, Keown and Campbell were involved with the club.
The only way for Arsène Wenger to sort out his defence is to be humble and bring back some of Graham's boys to coach the defence for him. I know that Wenger will always be far too stubborn to allow that to happen, but that is exactly what he needs to do if he wants to remain as Arsenal manager, my fellow Gooners!
