Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade

Arsenal Worldwide is up, running and growing

By Walter Broeckx from Arsenal Worldwide

The Arsenal Worldwide project off and running.

I mentioned last week the Arsenal Worldwide project has started, and now we really are moving.

It took us some time to get started, and like all new starting things it takes some time before you really get an audience. If people don’t know you exist, they cannot find you between those zillions sites in the world. But even the Arsenal didn’t start playing for a 60.000 capacity crowd in their first games so we all had to start small.

So let me give you an update on what happened so far with this project. Our first article was from my partner in crime Armin Medic from the Bosnian supporters club, or should I say Bosnia and Herzegovina? Anyway if it would have been a darts contest I would say it was in the bulls eye. In Snooker it would been called a 147 break. It was a piece that went right to the heart and was exactly the kind of article you would dream to have as an opener. If you haven’t read it you can find it here.

And then we got the Cape Town Supporters Club from South Africa who came to tell their story. And I must say it was amazing to find out that only a few years ago they started with some 5 persons and now have some 300 members to watch the games together. I must thank them again for their enthusiasm for our project as from the first moment on they gave their support.

We then got an article of a person who most of us already know. Tony Attwood wrote a piece about his own time when he was in fact a member of what Arsenal Worldwide is. As he has spent a year in foreign parts in the world he knows exactly what it’s like to be an Arsenal supporter from afar.

But this is not a site where Armin and I will be writing things and give our thoughts. NO this is a site where everyone of us can have his story told.

And so we published our first story from an Arsenal fan from Senegal who is living in Dakar. And I must say it is quite a story he had to tell. Ibrahima Fode NDIAYE is the name of this fan and even when he is still young, to be honest most people look rather young to me at my age, he has had a well filled life so far. He has had to made a very big decision in his life and he did what Arsenal does: take the right but difficult way. A way that can only be admired. You got to read it, it even has some pictures in it. I really hope he can find many other Gooners in Senegal

The only regret about this article which was written in excellent English is the fact that Senegal is a French speaking country and maybe a lot of Gooners in Senegal cannot understand it. At one moment in time before launching the website we talked about this problem but we didn’t find a solution so far. But I really think the impact of his article would be much bigger in Senegal if it also would have been published in French. Well this gives us something to think about.

Next up will be a story from the supporters club from India, 11 Gunners. And then we will have some other fans who will give their message to the world and I will just name a few countries that you can find in the next days like Malaysia, France, Nigeria, Indonesia,…. . And then to think even I haven’t written an article yet about our supporters club in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxemburg. And Armin also has to write about his experiences in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

And on top if this now Armin and I are thinking of doing a little bit more. We could be doing a match report. Not the usual match report you can find on many blogs but a match report on how it is when you are following the game on your pc or on TV and with all the problems this sometimes can bring. This is something new and have to be looked upon but I think it could be very recognisable for many fans out there in the world.

So after a first week of running the Arsenal Worldwide site it has been fun and I hope that most people will have enjoyed the articles that have appeared so far.

And again I would call upon you, our readers from all over the world, to send in your articles. (walterbroeckx@hotmail.com) You don’t have to be a Nobel prize winning writer to send in an article. If you think your English is not good enough: don’t let it hold you back. Write it in some kind of English and if you give us permission we will try to correct it for you. If you speak French, German or Dutch you can sent it to me in those languages and I can translate it for you.

The only thing we ask you is to write it from the heart, we Gooners will exactly know what you mean when we read it.

Arsenal Worldwide

Untold Arsenal Index

Some other strange stuff that you don’t really want to be bothered with.

Forgive? Yes. But with supporters there is still a limit

By Walter Broeckx

The beautiful (I still haven’t found the right words to praise it) article from Paul Fowler about good supporters had made me think a bit.

Forgiving is indeed maybe a big part of what we as good supporters should be able to do. A good supporter can forgive a striker to have missed a chance. A good supporter can forgive a midfielder for not having been able to track back in a match at a certain time. A good supporter can forgive a defender for making a mistake which lead to a goal. A good supporter can forgive his keeper for making a terrible blunder.

I can understand that at the moment it happens we are frustrated and swear at that player. I wouldn’t do it but I can even understand that other people with other characters and temper would boo a player for his mistake. During the game our adrenaline is running high, we suffer, we are nervous, we have stress and because of this we could lose our reason for a while. After all we are just human beings.

Just as our players are human beings and can make mistakes. No player will make a deliberate mistake. I honestly believe no Arsenal player will come on the field and say to himself: “Hey, why don’t I miss a real open chance in front of goal today”. Or a keeper that will say: “Well why don’t I make myself look like an idiot today and let a stupid goal in”. If you really believe one of our players would think this and do it, then you can stop reading now.

Then you can stop reading and you could be thinking about yourself and how you stand in society. Because most of the thoughts we project on other people are just our own thoughts. Maybe it would be yourself thinking that way? Or maybe it would be yourself thinking: I have called Almunia a bad keeper so if he makes a mistake I could tell people: ‘See, I told you so”. You would rather have Arsenal losing a game, just to be able to tell: “told you so”.

This could be why some people even after every win are still always blaming players and the manager and still are unhappy with one players performance and feel the need to have a go at him.

But as Paul Fowler pointed out forgiveness is a mark of a good supporter so even I can forgive those people. We all have our different view on things and so if they are real supporters and are so depressed or feel the need to be depressed even when we win, who am I to tell them they cannot be depressed. So in a way I could forgive my fellow Gooners for being so negative towards all and everything linked with Arsenal.

So yesterday I did my rounds of the Arsenal internet world and as I stumbled on to the website which if you take its name in to Dutch and translate it you get the name “the rude” or “the abusive”. Until yesterday I didn’t realise it but it hit me when I read the comments the Dutch word came in my mind and my brains somewhat made the link.

I can accept that 95% of the people like on “The Abusive Rude” are real Arsenal fans. Be they “success supporters” or “life long supporters”. But the way some of them focus with their blinkers on and moan about buying this and that and we must do this and do that shows that they are short sighted or only care about winning. But I can forgive them for that.

I also do care for Arsenal being a healthy and financial stable club. And I can accept that to obtain this there can be difficult years and times. Most of them over there cannot accept this and think we have a god given right to win all the time. We don’t. Nobody has. But once again I can forgive them for that.

But when I was looking at what they were writing yesterday my first thought was: this is worse than nursery school.

You know when little kids talk about their father’s job and they are bragging about it and everyone wants to make the biggest impression on what an important father they have. And how there’s one that could silence them all by saying that his father was a general in the army. The boy’s dad was in the army but he was just a corporal and sitting behind a desk all day sharpening his pencils over and over again.

Yesterday on the Abusive Rude they were seeing who could make the biggest insult on Wenger. Someone started comparing him with Mugabe and the biggest bragger of them all ended up with Hitler (maybe someone came up with Stalin or Pol Pot but I stopped reading after that).

Now I can understand that one can be disappointed with us not getting a goalkeeper. I’m not that disappointed because the keepers that were discussed during the transfer window would have brought nothing more to the club than Almunia already gives us, IMO. After all I saw Schwarzer making a big howler right in front of my eyes at the Clock End in the Fulham game last season.

But any normal adult person who has a brain should be able to avoid lowering himself from comparing Wenger with all those people who have thrown a shadow over humanity. I can accept that some fans don’t like Wenger (anymore). I can forgive those fans for not seeing the bigger picture.

But the things I have read yesterday and the abusive and rude comparing of Wenger with those terrible persons out of our world history was so low I find myself suddenly a bad supporter. I feel it hard to forgive those people for doing this. It made me angry, it made me sad. It made me think how on earth can people sink so low. And even now they don’t have the excuse for the stress of a game, the nerves during the game or just after. No in the cold daylight they compare Wenger with those persons and they are even proud of it when people tell them they are going to far. I couldn’t as I am banned over there for being an AKB.

So forgive me but those are things I cannot forgive anymore. Those people who have been throwing around those stupid insults have not only insulted Wenger (who will not care I think) but most of all they have insulted millions of people who have suffered and in some cases are still suffering from those criminal minds. They have insulted the millions of people who have died under their hands and insulted the millions of people who have given their lives to free us from their tyranny. And this I cannot forgive that easy. And when I come to the Emirates this season I really hope those fans have done what they are threatening to do: to stop supporting Arsenal as long as Wenger is our manager. I can only tell them that would be the right thing to do in my opinion. Just hold on to your word.

If you support Arsenal from outside of the UK, do take a look at Arsenal Worldwide

If you support Arsenal from within the UK, you might care to show your support here

If you would like to know what it was like to support Arsenal 100 years ago, try here

And if none of that works, there’s the good old Untold Index

Arsenal’s transfer window experience, plus the “25″ and the 57 under 21s!

Phil Gregory

So with the transfer window shut, and no deals still pending approval for last season’s top three, let’s see how this year’s title contenders have fared in their summer dealings.

Arsenal arrivals:

Koscielny
Squillaci
Chamakh

Arsenal departures:

Campbell (11)
Silvestre (12)
Gallas (26)
Eduardo (24), 11 as a substitute

Numbers in brackets represent Premier League appearances.

The transfer dealings were fairly self-explanatory for Arsenal this window. By September last season, we only really had three central defenders as Djourou was out for the season by that point, hence Sol’s arrival in January. With the departures of Gallas and Silvestre, we needed two reliable central defenders, and we certainly seem to have got them in Koscielny, who has been solid so far, and Squillaci who has an excellent record. Djourou’s return from injury covers the departure of Campbell, and he’ll be fourth choice this season.

In terms of quality, we’ve certainly improved the defence overall. A lot of Gunners have been understating Gallas’ quality last season now he’s gone to Spurs, but he really was excellent for us. Some would point to his troubled injury history with us which is valid, though certainly last season with us being so light at the back thanks to Djourou’s freak injury, perhaps we played Gallas at times he perhaps should have been rested, and that contributed to his injury troubles. Either way, he’s gone and we’ve replaced him with Koscielny, who has looked excellent so far. Laurent has big boots to fill, but he certainly seems capable of doing so, and he fits the jigsaw well, what with him being both good on the ball and capable in the air. Both of our first choice defenders have the quality despite barely being in their mid twenties and will only improve with time and further experience.

It originally seemed that Chamakh was coming in to simply offer greater depth up front, but with the departure of Eduardo, numbers wise we’ve simply covered our outgoings. Eduardo’s Arsenal career was a real case of “what might have been” which has been covered many times so I’ll leave that side of the transfer be. In terms of roles however, Chamakh fits into the 433 brilliantly and can function as a traditional target man. I’d certainly argue the attack has improved as a result of this transfer window.

A few question marks remain over the midfield. Seeing Frimpong’s development, Wenger decided not to invest in further competition for Song but then the youngster was hit by a long-term injury. This leaves us a little light in that area of the field, though Craig Eastmond was the man to step in last season. Denilson can play there, but he and Song play the position in different ways. Song offers us height in the middle of the park, and can move back to make it a back three if both fullbacks surge forwards. Denilson can’t do that, he doesn’t have the physical side to his game that the Cameroonian does, so he relies on reading the game, and making interceptions.

An interception, don’t forget is much better than winning a tackle, as you have possession (it could go anywhere from a tackle), and you are in control of the ball. This means you can move the ball quickly to exploit the gaps left as your opponent attempts to get back.

Against the weaker sides, Denilson’s possession game in the defensive role would work well, especially as most of these type of teams play with limited ambition. If Wenger didn’t want to ask too much of Song, these would be the games where he could rest him. Given all that, the midfield has stayed about where it was last season.

Between the sticks, it was clear we wanted Schwarzer in. Wenger didn’t want to pay more than was necessary, which was expected. Some question why he couldn’t pay an “extra couple of million, just this once” but deal-making doesn’t work like that. Wenger has a reputation as a hard bargainer, that’s how he gets such excellent value (Vermaelen cheaper than Smalling, for example). As soon as he reneges on his principles, he loses that reputation, and everyone demands more money from us in the future. Sure, it is irritating for those who wanted a new goalkeeper in, but we forget the times when this policy has got us absolute bargains that would’ve otherwise been out of our reach at their “true” price, such as Arshavin.

Back to goalkeeping, anyway. We’re neither any better nor any worse off, with Almunia being a good keeper but nothing exceptional. Our cover in this position can be a unreliable, but fortunately Almunia is not especially injury prone.

My overall view of the changes in the quality of the squad by position

Goalkeeper =
Defence +
Midfield =
Attack +

Chelsea arrivals:

Ramires
Benayoun

Chelsea departures:

Belletti (11)
Joe Cole 22 (of which roughly half were as a substitute)
Ballack (32)
Carvalho (22)
Deco (19)

As the champions, Chelsea were very much the team to match last season. Looking at their ins and outs I’d be slightly concerned if I was Chelsea fan. John Terry’s has a couple of injury problems going into the season, while Alex and Ivanovic both had their spells out last season. Effectively, they’ve lost a centre back who played a big role for them in Carvalho and haven’t replaced him, while there are doubts over the two remaining centre backs, while one of whom ended up playing right back for a large part of last season.

It’s a little more positive in midfield, where they’ve lost Ballack and Deco who together played a quite a few games, and replaced them with the impressive Brazilian Ramires. Neither of the two departures played exceptionally well last season so Ramires will likely be an improvement, but it is a further thinning of their squad, and they’ve got absolutely no cover for Mikel in the holding role since Ballack’s departure.

There’s not much between Joe Cole and his replacement Benayoun. They’ll get more games out of Benayoun,but it seems unlikely he’ll have a key role in any title bid this season.

Overall, they’ve probably improved on quality slightly, while lost numbers dramatically (cutting wage bill perhaps). It’s easy to say they’ll decline due to the age of some big players, but Lampard hasn’t looked like slowing down, and when you hear Drogba was playing with an injury last season… There’s no reason Chelsea will be any better or worse this season, but even a few injuries could quite easily derail their title bid given the thin squad.

Goalkeeper =
Defence -
Midfield + ( more quality but slightly less depth)
Attack =

Manchester United arrivals:

Chris Smalling
Javier Hernandez
Bebe

Manchester United departures:

Ben Foster (9)

Manchester United will certainly be a stronger outfit this season. A big issue last season was one of depth up front, but they seem to have sorted that with the signing of Hernandez. While I think he’s being massively overrated off the back of a fairly good World Cup (Lee Dixon said he could be the next Ronaldo!), he’ll be an option this season, and pace off the bench is never a bad thing to have.

I had half-expected the arrival of Smalling to lead to the departure of Vidic for big money with one eye on the Glazers’ debts, but they’re not quite at the Liverpool stage it seems. The squad is good on the whole, with the only weakness in the first eleven being the right back slot. There is certainly a lack of depth in the middle of the park, with Anderson out injured and under-performing and Hargreaves surely nearing retirement now. Ben Foster wasn’t the greatest of goalkeepers last season, but to replace him with a totally untried academy goalkeeper is certainly trading down.

Overall, they’re probably marginally stronger that they were last season. Again, much will depend on how the injuries fall. Bar a couple of games with a decimated defence, they got through unscathed and unsurprisingly fell apart as soon as Rooney got injured.

Goalkeepers -
Defence +
Midfield =
Attack +

Having considered all that, I’d certainly say we had the best window out of all the title contenders. While the transfer window wasn’t absolutely perfect (a goalkeeper and a fit Frimpong would’ve made it that) we’ve certainly improved, something the other two teams can’t say as assuredly.

Below is the Arsenal squad list including home grown’s taken from the official Premier League declaration. Keep scrolling down to the under 21 list and just be amazed.

Player (Home Grown, yes or no, after each name)

1 Almunia, Manuel No
2 Arshavin, Andrey No
3 Bendtner, Nicklas Yes
4 Chamakh, Maroune No
5 Clichy, Gael Yes
6 Denilson, Pereka Neves Yes
7 Diaby, Vassiriki Abou No
8 Djourou-Gbadjere, Johan Danon Yes
9 Eboue, Emmanuel No
10 Fabianski, Lukasz No
11 Fabregas Soler, Francesc Yes
12 Koscielny, Laurent No
13 Mannone, Vito Yes
14 Nasri, Samir No
15 Rosicky, Tomas No
16 Sagna, Bacary No
17 Song Bilong, Alexandre Dimitri Yes
18 Van Persie, Robin No
19 Vermaelen, Thomas No
20 Squillaci, Sebastien No

Arsenal – Under 21 players (Contract and Scholars)

Afobe, Benik
Aneke, Chukwuemeka Ademola Amachi
Angha, Martin Yves
Ansah, Zak Andy
Barazite, Nacer
Bartley, Kyle
Bihmoutine, Samir
Boateng, Daniel
Botelho, Pedro Roberto Silva
Brislen-Hall, George
Bunjaku, Alban
Campbell, James Andrew
Charles-Cook, Reice Jordan
Coquelin, Francis
Cruise, Thomas Daniel
Deacon, Roarie
Eastmond, Craig Leon
Ebecilio, Kyle Stephen Joel
Edge, James Michael
Emmanuel-Thomas, Jay-Aston
Evina, Cedric David
Freeman, Luke Anthony
Frimpong, Emmanuel Yan
Galindo, Samuel
Gibbs, Kieran James Ricardo
Glasgow, Benjamin Luke
Hajrovic, Sead
Henderson, Conor Alan
Hoyte, Gavin Andrew
Lansbury, Henri George
Martinez, Damain Emiliano
McDermott, Sean
Meade, Jernade Ronnel
Miquel-Pons, Ignasi
Monakana, Jeffrey
Monteiro, Elton Almada
Murphy, Rhys Philip Elliot
Nordtveit, Havard
Oldfield Spence-Neita, Nigel Paul
Ozyakup, Oguzhan
Ramsey, Aaron James
Randall, Mark
Rees, Joshua David
Roberts, Philip James
Shea, James
Smith, Steven Robert
Sunu, Gilles
Szczesny, Wojciech Tomasz
Traore, Armand
Vela Garrido, Carlos Alberto
Walcott, Theo James
Watt, Herschel Oulio Sanchez
Webb, Callum Taylor
Wilshere, Jack Andrew
Wynter, Jordan James Cecil
Yennaris, Nicholas

NB: Not listed – Wellington da Silva

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