All the reasons Arsenal fans are entitled to expect better…

Ian Watson

Surely you’ve all had enough of your families by now. Talk to us instead: theeditor@football365.com…

Arsenal expectation
As JN picked out Arsenal fans in particular, let me give you some reasons why expectations are as they are:-

– we were promised a title challenging side when we moved stadiums after some short term pain (this was 13 years ago BTW)
– our CEO at the time compared us to Bayern Munich in terms of the size of club we are
– constant statements by management and owners that they have ambitions to win the league and challenge in the CL (stop laughing)
– we have the highest ticket prices in the country
– we have had a pretty sustained period of success from the appointment of George Graham in 1986 until the last decade so comparison to the 1970s are a bit of a misnomer
– we are the 3rd most successful side in English football league history

So yeah, I think those facts speak for themselves as to why the fan base expects a competitive side
Tom (sorry I can’t adjust my expectations to a mid table side) London

 

Patience will pay
* I”ll start with an anecdote from the late Burt Reynolds about an audition he and a colleague* failed at, They were given the reasons they didn’t get the part as they were leaving, he turned to the guy and said you are in big trouble my friend , I can learn to act ,you will never get rid of that huge Adams apple.

* I’m writing this before the Newcastle game and that anecdote will ring true either way this current group is going to be inconsistent as hell if the result today is a win loss or draw analyse what went right and what went right and shave faith that the current management will be able to fix it.

* Klopp deserves all the respect in the world ,but claiming that OGS has to get 51 points out of the next 60 is ridiculous , the circumstances in each case are different in terms of squad strength ,The upturn in fortunes arrived as much because of the new manager The main reason Utd cannot open teams up is there is no one to unlock those teams a situation every coach since Moyes allowed to fester.

There is finally a clear plan ( Build a young team augment it with players you need and eliminate those who aren’t good enough ) which is why the architect of that plan should be encouraged to succeed not because he is the reason for some our greatest memories of the late 90’s football.
* I disagree with Allens position on Utd not promoting failing youth, Chong and Gomes have not taken their chances in the games they have played Greenwood and Williams have and are integrating into the team. Those two have played comfortably more than Rojo, Jones, Matic or Mata.

Ole has handed out more debuts in this one year than every manager since Ferguson . Gomes and Chong have been too good for the 2-23’s but amongst the worst players in the Euro/Carabao matches . They are also demanding pay rises to sign what are already improved contracts who has failed who ?

* We could go the “safe”route and get f365 and the media’s Argie crush but I’m not quite in the mood to take advice from the same people who said we must get Maguire when they knew his deficiencies, and now look at us and tell us he is a bit meh.That’s been going on for too long a cheque book manager should also not be a priority, get someone who can work with the team that is emerging and choose who the weak links are and continue to fine tune it ,

* Recruiting properly is right now Utd best chance of catching up especially as most of the core of Liverpool team as a group reaches 30 next season

* Colleague turned out to be Clint Eastwood so he didn’t do too badly either
Roode, MUFC

 

We’re all the same
in reference to Wiks message about technological superior races and coffee coloured people. There are no races, no technological advance race, no coffee coloured or any other coloured race. All humans belong to the human race and have black ancestors. Racism will not die out any time soon as education is not enough. There are plenty of people in the world who only believe what they want to believe regardless how established the evidence to the contrary is. Even in supposedly well educated and advance countries there are flat earthers, anti-vaxers and people who believe eating broccoli will cure cancer. Ultimately people have such over inflated views of their own intelligence that they will believe anything if they think it will benefit them or make them superior.
Marc LFC.

 

Going deeper
I think the problem with the racist abuse in stadiums at the moment is actually a symptom of a much larger problem; forgetting that footballers are humans,

I imagine the fame, success, and wealth of footballers triggers in many people a type of reverence that elevates them to a position of “post-human”, a type of superhuman that is different to your average person, but they’re not. These are people who will experience devastating life tragedies, live with the demons of their youth, and are plagued with the same types of insecurities and fears of what lies around the corner just like anyone else.
Research in psychology shows that our life circumstances only account for around 10% of our happiness, so all their wealth and success means very little in that regard. In a lot of cases as well, we’re talking about men who moved away from their families at 12 years of age – think of the trauma in that alone.

The stadium owners are guilty too. There is a twisted morality at work when an organisation is tolerant of their employees receiving the level of abuse that footballers are subjected to within their premises. The FA and the premier league provide the structure these systems function within, and are guilty as well.

I’m not cynical, but stamping out racism won’t do much. Next it will be homophobia, then xenophobia, then religious discrimination, so on so forth, until the real issue is tackled. People see these guys on the television, driving to training in their bentleys, and think that makes them different to them, but it doesn’t. It’s a consequence of our materialist society that we’ve mistaken these decorations for the substance of life, and consequently miss that the uniting qualities beneath the surface between people are the same. Life is hard, A real superhuman is someone who makes it easier for others.
Anonymous

 

Sectarianism in Scotland
Having watched the Spurs v Chelsea match and like everyone being appalled i have to commend Gary Neville. Whilst he admitted he didn’t do enough as a player he was brave enough to call out the authorities in England namely the PFA for their total lack of effort in dealing with unacceptable issues at matches.
I know he’s now apologised but Dave Jones certainly handled it badly albeit the voice in his ear left him sadly with little choice.
Here in Scotland there are still a handful of teams fans who subject sectarian bile . My own team Rangers has a section of fans who being the Protestant team like to sing about 1690- William of Orange…the Billy Boys etc despite having sections of the ground closed by UEFA for European ties.
Across the city Celtics Green brigade often have anti poppy banners and enjoy singing IRA songs despite numerous fines by UEFA.
Through in Edinburgh it happens albeit to a lesser extent between Hearts and Hibs. These problems are certainly up here due to society and for some their cultural upbringing.
I sadly cant see it changing here for some time yet. At least you don’t have those issues down south.
And have to agree with Kevin. The Edinburgh derby is the European match to watch! Although as he said it wont be pretty.
Merry Christmas everyone. Personally wasn’t sure id be here for this Xmas after getting ill this year so i hope everyone enjoys the fixtures on Boxing Day.
And big thanks to F365. You guys run the best online site and its appreciated!
Best
Neil, Glasgow

 

Pogba and Maguire don’t compare
Just want to point out that Pogba has been at Man United for a three years and have accumulated a lot of baggage during that time. In addition, he had been with them before and didn’t leave under the best of circumstances (including a falling out with SAF).

By contrast Mr Most Expensive Defender has been there for 4 months, very much still in his honeymoon period and is still very much an improvement over what came before. Even then Maguire has had his criticism too, especially due to his price tag and being compared to VVD.

I’m not disputing your overall point necessarily, I just don’t think this is a good example of it.
Yaru, Malaysia