Evening all.
I've been an Arsenal season ticket holder since 1992 and having read a lot of rubbish written about my great club over the past few years I've decided to put down in words my thoughts about everything Arsenal (for what it's worth).
I was at the Emirates on Sunday to see us being outplayed and outclassed by Chelsea. It certainly was not an easy game to watch, although it was made slightly easier by the inevitability of what was likely to unfold. Both my dad and I had already come to the conclusion that we would find it very difficult to get anything out of the game and from the first few minutes it was plain to see that with no height or physical presence up front we were not likely to trouble the Chelsea defence.
Moving away slightly from the match there are a few things that have become increasingly frustrating for me this season:
The attitude of Arshavin
Last season I was so excited when we signed the little Russian and his performances were superb. This season has been a different story, too often he has looked disinterested and frankly lazy. All this talk of comparing Arshavin to Bergkamp is wrong, the fact is that whilst Arshavin may have the skill and the guile to match the Iceman, he just doesn't have the fight. What makes great players is not just their ability but their willingness to fight for the cause and fight for the right to play their football. Bergkamp gave 100% and genuinely loved the club whereas the same can't be said about Arshavin and I can see him leaving the club in the summer. I hope he proves me wrong but I just can't see that happening.
The Goalkeeper
Manual Almunia is just not good enough, I realise that most Arsenal fans feel the same but I feel I have to get it off my chest! I just can't understand how Wenger persists with him, I am hoping the Wenger goes out and buys a top class goalkeeper in January. Talk of winning the title in the last few months have been futile as far as I'm concerned as you CANNOT win a title without a great goalkeeper.
In my opinion we have learned little from last season and it looks like we'll face a struggle to maintain a champions league spot this season.
What really annoyed me about Sunday was all the booing aimed at Ashley Cole, the best thing we as Arsenal fans could do is act like we don't care - all the fans are doing is paying him a back handed compliment. I dislike him as much as anybody else but the fact is that he was and is still a fantastic player and I think it's a real shame that he no longer wears the red and white of Arsenal.
So what now...? My approach to the transfer window has always been more in hope than expectation that we would sign players but I feel this January may be different. We face stiffer competition for a champions league spot than we ever have before and therefore I think Wenger will buy if the right player(s) are available - let's hope they are!
That's all for now, I've hope you've enjoyed reading my thoughts.
