We care. . . but we want Arsenal to win again. NOW!
We care. . . about winning.
When it really boils down to it, no one ever became a supporter of a club because of their ability to be financially sound or have vast amounts of money in reserve.
Sports is entertainment. At a minimum stylistic, free-flowing football is entertaining. Goals are entertaining. But what is more entertaining is winning. Being champions of something is what we want.
Sure there is a certain pride in knowing that our club is financially sound in these financially rough times. We are buoyed by the fact that it’s unlikely our club will end up like Leeds, Pompey and Blackburn. It’s reassuring to know all this. But the comfort it gives is minimal.
Many people have said it – there are no prizes for being the best with your finances. The only prize that matters to anyone is the one you get at the end of a cup run or at the end of a season. Our meeting minimum requirements are – okay. Not great. They are okay. But they can’t be the hook we rest upon.
Arsenal are not just a club to ‘get by.’ Sure we’ve had dark eras before. Ask anyone who lived through parts of the 70s and 80s. But we’ve gone out of our way to position ourselves as one of the premier clubs in Europe. We hold our continued presence in the Champion’s League up as a testament to our stature.
But in this modern era of football saying you are a big club and acting like it are two different things. Arsenal’s record of competing in Europe is par excellence. To be sure. But if we don’t move beyond just getting there at some point it’s not enough.
Our growth in stature overseas is an amazing feat. But how long does that last if you don’t have the silverware to support it.
The improved commercial deals are excellent but wouldn’t they be better if we actually won something? Every day we hear of some new deal at United – simply because they’ve won. Winning begets success not just on the pitch but off it. The Puma deal is outstanding (if its true) but consider this – wouldn’t Nike, next to Adidas the pre-eminent brand in global football, paid more to retain the brand if Arsenal had actually been winning.
Brands want to be associated with success. Adidas dumped Liverpool because their status no longer aligned to the actual feats on the pitch. Sure Warrior came in with a bumper deal. But let’s not kid ourselves, they came in because John Henry has an association to Warrior through some of his other businesses. Every scouser will tell you differently but straight from Adidas, they dropped Liverpool.
Are we sure that Nike even came back with a bid? We don’t know. Nor will we ever. Puma’s deal if true certainly gives Arsenal more financial clout but what good is it if it’s not used.
So why this rant?
Because it bears beating this drum. Someone at Arsenal needs to wake up and take stock of what’s really important to its primary constituents – the supporters.
Sports have gone global and as such it, like all global brands suddenly finds itself having to please not only the supporters but the global partners they have courted. But those partners will come and go. Whether it’s the term of a contract, the downfall of an economy or just because they didn’t get what they wanted from the sports club.
Supporters never leave. Those that do were never supporters to begin with. Supporters are there because their fathers, grandfathers and other family members were likely there before them. Others like me found ourselves loving our team on our own but our love isn’t any weakier than others. We don’t leave and its time the clubs, in particular Arsenal, remember this.
We’ve been fed over and over again in the last few years, that the club’s desire is to win. To compete on the global stage. Prove it. Show the commitment towards doing that.
Words are ringing hollow now. Actions are going to be the only thing that moves opinion. Sure, we understand transfers can be difficult. We understand that sometimes you come up against a wall that you didn’t expect.
But for Arsenal it’s the same story we hear every year. Something isn’t adding up.
We don’t expect Arsenal to suddenly to invest in winning like Chelsea, City, PSG or Monaco. No, we’ll settle in investing in winning like Dortmund and Napoli who spent money wisely and come out of it with stronger squads and looking every bit the challenger for their respective titles.
There is plenty of time in the window. There isn’t before this weekend’s premier league kickoff. I’ve moved beyond thinking anything will get done before then. It will be September 2nd when we finally lock down any transfers in my opinion. I hope I am wrong.
I want more than anything for Arsene Wenger to have real success one more time before he heads out into the sunset. I’m happy we made it to the Champion’s League for another season. But it simply isn’t enough any more. Like many, I want to see actions and not hear words.
This season presented Arsenal with the ripest opportunity to compete for a title. United, Chelsea, and City all have new managers. Pre-season signs show that all three squads are having issues adapting to them. Those issues won’t last long and a good start to the season is imperative to doing something significant.
Arsenal’s starting XI is as good as any in the top 4. Nothing you can say will make me think otherwise. It can compete. The problem is, that outside of the XI we lack significant alternatives and backups in case it goes pear-shaped in a game or a string of injuries occurs.
We can’t hear that there wasn’t value for the money. We can’t hear that our silverware aspirations are going to hinge on a squad with a lot of promising talent backing up a good core XI. It won’t suffice. Inaction is going to be majorly problematic for everyone in a leadership position at Arsenal.
We care about all the things the owner, CEO, board and manager all care about but we care about winning more.
