Epikoinos
11 Mar 2005, 11:03 PM
This has been brewing inside my head for a few days now, and while I hardly have the history on this board that many others do, I just felt the need to get it out in writing instead of having it bounce around my brain all day again.
One of my friends is a longtime Man U fan, and after I gave him a hard time about his boys checking out of the CL a day earlier, he came at me Wednesday night. At one point he asked me if I was in mourning.
That phrase stuck with me. Hell no, I wasn't in mourning. Yes, I was disappointed that we didn't get through. But all in all, I feel pretty good about this team right now, all things considered.
But we won the game. We kept our third straight clean sheet. Some of the younger guys -- such as Senderos and Flamini -- continued to show promise while playing in tough circumstances. Henry scored a beautiful goal.
It got me thinking about the season and Arsenal as a whole, and what it means to be a fan -- or supporter. I think I prefer the term supporter, because fan is short for fanatical, which implies some mental imbalance.
I am a supporter, but I do not believe that I have any mental imbalance (even though my wife and my non-soccer friends would disagree). I cannot go a day without hopping online and checking out what is happening with the Gunners. I schedule events around match days. I have plenty of Arsenal gear I proudly wear. But I do not blindly trust everything the team says or does.
For example, I don't like van Persie, at least not what I've seen of him so far. I don't like his attitude, and I don't like that he rarely finishes his many chances -- of course, I'd be plenty happy if he proves me wrong vs. Bolton. And I'm not sure I'm wild about an Arsenal shirt with "Fly Emirates" on it, considering every time I see those words, I think of Chelsea and get angry.
My point here is that I try to be a realist. So to see posts on this board from fans ripping on Henry or calling for Freddie to be pulled in the first half of Wednesday's game, I get angry.
Henry obviously showed up for the match -- but it is hard to be a striker when the ball is stuck in your end. What I love about this sport is that it takes everybody to be successful, not just one player. And yes, Freddie didn't have a good match Wednesday, but he probably has been our best player over the course of the season. To pull either of them in the first half Wednesday wouldn't have made any sense.
As for our defense, I agree it has not been very good this season -- even at times when Sol has been healthy and playing. I believe it does need to be improved over the summer. And goalkeeping has been shaky, but both Lehman and Almunia have shown signs of being No. 1s. But if we all agree the defense is questionable, how can the keepers consistently be blamed? I get the feeling that no matter who our keeper was, he would be ripped whenever a goal was conceded. And even last year, we allowed goals.
But the bottom line is, we still score goals. We're still fun to watch. Counting the Community Shield, we've played 45 matches -- 26 wins, 13 draws and six losses. We're in third place in the Premiership with a shot at second, and still alive in the FA Cup. I think that's great considering all the injuries we've had.
I agree that we should be shooting for first in the Premiership and winning the CL. But you can't have everything all the time. Last season was magical. I hope everyone enjoyed it to its fullest -- I know I did -- because they don't come along very often.
But am I in mourning? Nope. I said it in a post in the dying minutes of the Bayern pbp thread Wednesday, and I'll say it again: I still believe.
I still believe this can be a great season -- wouldn't it be great to finish ahead of Man U, make Chelsea squirm coming down the stretch, raise the FA Cup? I still believe in Arsenal.
So tomorrow morning, I'll roll out of bed at a little before 6 a.m., get my Arsenal shirt on, hop on the couch and flip on the TV. I'll be fired up, just like I am every match day. In mourning? No way.
Whew. That feels better. You can now return to your normal BigSoccer message-board reading and posting. Thanks.
One of my friends is a longtime Man U fan, and after I gave him a hard time about his boys checking out of the CL a day earlier, he came at me Wednesday night. At one point he asked me if I was in mourning.
That phrase stuck with me. Hell no, I wasn't in mourning. Yes, I was disappointed that we didn't get through. But all in all, I feel pretty good about this team right now, all things considered.
But we won the game. We kept our third straight clean sheet. Some of the younger guys -- such as Senderos and Flamini -- continued to show promise while playing in tough circumstances. Henry scored a beautiful goal.
It got me thinking about the season and Arsenal as a whole, and what it means to be a fan -- or supporter. I think I prefer the term supporter, because fan is short for fanatical, which implies some mental imbalance.
I am a supporter, but I do not believe that I have any mental imbalance (even though my wife and my non-soccer friends would disagree). I cannot go a day without hopping online and checking out what is happening with the Gunners. I schedule events around match days. I have plenty of Arsenal gear I proudly wear. But I do not blindly trust everything the team says or does.
For example, I don't like van Persie, at least not what I've seen of him so far. I don't like his attitude, and I don't like that he rarely finishes his many chances -- of course, I'd be plenty happy if he proves me wrong vs. Bolton. And I'm not sure I'm wild about an Arsenal shirt with "Fly Emirates" on it, considering every time I see those words, I think of Chelsea and get angry.
My point here is that I try to be a realist. So to see posts on this board from fans ripping on Henry or calling for Freddie to be pulled in the first half of Wednesday's game, I get angry.
Henry obviously showed up for the match -- but it is hard to be a striker when the ball is stuck in your end. What I love about this sport is that it takes everybody to be successful, not just one player. And yes, Freddie didn't have a good match Wednesday, but he probably has been our best player over the course of the season. To pull either of them in the first half Wednesday wouldn't have made any sense.
As for our defense, I agree it has not been very good this season -- even at times when Sol has been healthy and playing. I believe it does need to be improved over the summer. And goalkeeping has been shaky, but both Lehman and Almunia have shown signs of being No. 1s. But if we all agree the defense is questionable, how can the keepers consistently be blamed? I get the feeling that no matter who our keeper was, he would be ripped whenever a goal was conceded. And even last year, we allowed goals.
But the bottom line is, we still score goals. We're still fun to watch. Counting the Community Shield, we've played 45 matches -- 26 wins, 13 draws and six losses. We're in third place in the Premiership with a shot at second, and still alive in the FA Cup. I think that's great considering all the injuries we've had.
I agree that we should be shooting for first in the Premiership and winning the CL. But you can't have everything all the time. Last season was magical. I hope everyone enjoyed it to its fullest -- I know I did -- because they don't come along very often.
But am I in mourning? Nope. I said it in a post in the dying minutes of the Bayern pbp thread Wednesday, and I'll say it again: I still believe.
I still believe this can be a great season -- wouldn't it be great to finish ahead of Man U, make Chelsea squirm coming down the stretch, raise the FA Cup? I still believe in Arsenal.
So tomorrow morning, I'll roll out of bed at a little before 6 a.m., get my Arsenal shirt on, hop on the couch and flip on the TV. I'll be fired up, just like I am every match day. In mourning? No way.
Whew. That feels better. You can now return to your normal BigSoccer message-board reading and posting. Thanks.