Can Arsenal fans be trusted to succeed? Photo: Reuters/Matthew Childs
A rumble is heard in north London. Evil stirred, and a reverent silence swept along Upper Street, from Pret-a-Manger to another Pret-a-Manger. After years of exile, we are witnessing the resurgence of the insufferable Arsenal fan.
Like most volcanoes or Roy Hodgon's managerial career, they never fade, only dormant. Newcastle United's Jacob Murphy appeared on Rio Ferdinand's Vibe with Five this week and was asked about the toughest team he's faced this season, unfortunately none of the members of boy band Five who, according to apparently boiling somewhere else.
< p>Murphy called Arsenal and was interrupted by Arsenal fan and host Joel Beya, asking him to repeat it «for those who haven't heard it from behind». Co-host Ste Howson leaned back in his chair and moaned, «Why?!» before resting her head in her hands as Beya repeated the question. Je suis Ste.
After their 4-1 win over Leeds, a young guy with a good AFTV speech (born Arsenal Fan TV) said: “We never shifted out of second gear. We knew it was a comfortable game, we knew we didn't have to put everything into it.» Piers Morgan ends his Arsenal tweets with fist-bumping emojis.
None of this is blatant in isolation, but there is a certain collective tone when Arsenal fans scream. It is woven into the fabric of their smugly immaculate retro jerseys, it pervades Louis Dunford's «Angel», the sugary dirge that has now become the club's pre-match anthem. Talksport honorary member Neil Ruddock summed up: «Don't let Arsenal win the Premier League, please…Arsenal fans think they invented football.»
How did they earn this reputation? Like most London clubs, Arsenal were over-represented in the media and when they did well they were fawned over to the point of sycophancy. They then monopolized telephone conversations for years during Arsene Wenger's painful final performance. But it was the implied moral high ground of a team that played football “right” that annoyed many of us “wrong.” Give it up.
Arsenal fans aren't the only ones who think their club is unique. Photo: PA/Adam Davy
Until Wenger invented the pasta, the club enjoyed success under the leadership of George Graham. If you don't remember the protests against his tactics after six trophies in nine years, it's because there weren't any. This makes the alleged Arsenal DNA of the ornate soccer ball as original as Dolly the Sheep.
For a while, the audacity persisted, even when the success dried up. Teams like Bolton and Stoke who dared to play directly and energetically were seen as philistines. As the years without glory continued, the mood changed. The era of banter, as fans posthumously dubbed it, was anything but. These were dark and evil times, and any claims of Arsenal's unique «correctness» died along with the unedifying sarcasm towards Wenger, even if his last years were less pleasant than 14 hours in a car with screaming children waiting to board the ferry. from Dover.
Now no one can deny the Arsenal fans another dose of glory after 19 years of an unbeaten season. Just don't expect neutrals to be happy. When are they ever, for league winners? Over the past 30 years, I can only remember a positive attitude towards Leicester City. In retrospect, Blackburn 95 looks like a miracle, but in their time they were moneybags. 2 million pounds for Stuart Ripley, how gross.
Still, if you put your phone down and get back to the real world, Arsenal is fun to watch. The profile of the typical fan has changed: the «use it or lose it» rule on season tickets has created a noticeably younger and more diverse fan base than most in London. You can't even roll your eyes at the style of football, Mikel Arteta's team is a delight to watch. They are fast and sharp in attack where the sides of Wenger and Unai Emery have become heavyweight. Bukayo Saka also has a talisman that is impossible not to love, like Thierry Henry before him. Unless you're Irish.
Of course, if you ignore the YouTube team, most reasonable Arsenal fans don't take anything for granted. They enjoy it. And if you support any other football team at this time of the season, it's just infuriating.
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