Friday, April 26, 2013
Giuard Of Honour Debate Shows How Far Arsenal Have Fallen
My column in Jakarta Globe 26/4
Manchester United have claimed their record 20th
title with Dutch striker Robin Van Persie netting a first half hat trick and
while United’s legions of fans around the world have been celebrating others
have been more sanguine.
Take Arsenal fans for example. For a decade they were
United’s sole sparring partner. They had a duopoly on the trophies that
counted, they were equals. Not anymore. Now Arsenal are a spent force,
seemingly incapable of mounting any kind of title bid of their own when
United’s team is arguably less of a force than their turn of the century pomp
but are still able to snatch trophies out of the ether with monotony.
Now Arsenal are just one of a handful of clubs who are
neither good enough to challenge for the title and too good for mid table
oblivion.
It is a role the club have brought upon themselves. The move
to the Emirates, a soulless bowl sandwiched between a couple of railway lines,
was meant to be the springboard to even greater success, an opportunity to
build upon that great team built around the dashing Henry, Pires and Veiria and
keep challenging for England and Europe’s top honours.
Except of course that hasn’t happened. Fans have become
increasingly disillusioned at selling the crown jewels, the likes of Cesc
Fabregas and Robin Van Persie, to be replaced by Barbie & Ken jewelry.
Last pre season it was the turn of Van Persie to leave with
Manchester United, smarting from that final day drama that saw Manchester City
snatch the Premier League thanks to Sergio Aguero’s last minute winner over
Queens’ Park Rangers.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson swore never again and
determined to do something about it. He wanted the best and for sure the best
last season was Van Persie. Putting the needs of his club ahead of his one-time
rivalry with Arsene Wenger, Ferguson picked up the phone and asked for what
would have been impossible perhaps even five years ago.
He asked Wenger how much he wanted for his talismanic
striker who single handedly dragged the club into the Champions League after a
dreadful start to the campaign.
Wenger had no choice; he had to parley. Van Persie had made
it clear he wanted out implicitly suggesting Arsenal were a club who weren’t
going places. Fergie knew what he wanted and splashed the cash to bring in the
man whose goals he saw as crucial to any title bid.
Arsenal were impotent. Van Persie had said no to Manchester
City and there weren’t many clubs willing to spend big on a 29 year old striker
with a long record of injury. They had to take the money no matter where it
came from and fans can only admire Fergie’s swift identification and purchase
of a target, given Arsenal’s own dithering in the transfer market to save a few
pounds .
It is that feeling of impotence that hurts most in North
London. The trimutive that rules the club, absent owner Stan Kroenke, CEO Ivan
Gazidis and Wenger have convinced themselves, and much of the support, trophies
are no longer the be all and end all in football. In their eyes a healthy set
of accounts and regular Champions League football are the benchmark of a
successful modern football club, as if loyal fans will rush to get the
2011/2012 accounts tattooed on their biceps..
With diluted targets so the players being brought in were of
a lesser quality than the Arsenal faithful have been used to. Chamakh, Park and
Squillaci regularly appear in fans lists of the worst ever to wear the shirt
while the likes of Andrei Arsharvin were frequently played out of position
before being all but frozen out of North London.
Arsenal are now left with chasing a Champions League place,
a trophy most fans realize they are a long way short of lifting, and finishing
above North London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. They are no longer setting the
agenda, they are being left in the slipstream of others whose boldness make the
Gunners look like a doddering Etonian wondering whether he needs to install a
new carpet in the boardroom.
They are left with the prospect of seeing Manchester United,
with Robin Van Persie, being given a celebratory guard of honour next weekend
at the Emirates, a sign of respect to the champions, and they don’t know how to
react. Do they boo, do they turn their backs, do they heap vitriol on the one
man who saved them the previous season?
That dilemma shows how far the club have fallen. The fans
see Arsenal as a big club but a look at the utterances from the board room
suggests the club think otherwise. The club are waving the white flag and the
supporters are left with debating how to react to United’s success when they
take to the Emirates billiard table smooth surface next weekend.
# posted by Me @ 6:22 PM 
Comments:
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Let Wenger and the Board be the guardofhonour - padan muka (serve them right). Please spare the players. Am getting out of town for this one, sickening...
win this and the totts will be sliding off their seats...if we win
honestly think best chance we have is if fergie fields a 'weaker' side
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honestly think best chance we have is if fergie fields a 'weaker' side
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