Why do I love Arsenal?

@SreeSince91 – A boy born in South of India. A nation known for its love of sports, infinite fan base & an unlimited source of banter. I grew up around all kinds of sports. Played tennis at the age of 4, Cricket was in my blood (like every Indian) and I always believed I was born to play football. But alas, things don’t always turn the way you want it to. The only consolation I have is that I might be a top sportsman in a parallel universe. :-P

I was around the age of 13 and the season was 2003-04, the season of “The Invincibles”. I could end this article by saying “Enough Said” right now, but let me explain why I really fell in love with the club. Until then I just enjoyed the game and never had a favourite team as such. I was pretty young too and knew little about the footballing strategy and tactics. It was the first time I watched an Arsenal game (don’t remember the opponent), but when I got to see Dennis ‘Iceman’ Bergkamp, Freddie Ljunberg and Thierry ‘The King’ Henry in action everything changed. I fell in love with the way they played the game of football. I fell head over heels watching the way Arsenal tore the opposition apart & moreover I knew then and there that I love this team through and through! And the fact that RED was my favourite colour I never had a second thought. When I think back to that day, I still feel surprised how 1 single game could’ve influenced me so much. And 8 years from then I am still thankful that Arsenal is the team I choose. I never got to watch football on a regular basis but I made sure I followed the league every week, at-least by checking the scores.

Years passed and my love for Arsenal just kept increasing. Watching them play gave me so much excitement. When Arsenal has a bad week, I would feel like shit. When we were on fire, it would make my week. Everything Arsenal gave me goosebumps and every Arsenal player was my idol. The pace, the passing, the skill, the finishes. The game that I watched ended in a draw, but victory was never my criteria for loving the club. It was always beautiful football. Many would say that the most important thing in sports is to win. I’m not one of them. And ironically we’ve had to be content with beautiful football over silverware for the recent history. But I’m fine with it. That won’t stop me from loving Arsenal since I never loved Arsenal because they win. I loved Arsenal because they play the most amazing brand of football I’ve known. I love watching them play because I know I’ll get to see beautiful football.

I may not know the long history of the club or know every single player who has played for us in the past, but that is what the Internet is for and I got to know a fair share of the things I’ve missed. And I would score 10/10 in “10 Important Rules of being an Arsenal Fan” (http://bit.ly/MxFwuz).

So all in all, you could say Arsenal is the reason I started watching football. Henry, Bergkamp & Freddie are why I fell in love with Arsenal. Wenger, Van Persie, Fabregas is why I continued loving Arsenal. Beautiful football is the reason why I will always love Arsenal.

The Curious Case of Robin van Persie

EPL’s sizzling topic of late has been Robin van Persie. Everyone is talking about Arsenal’s number 10. Their own opinions, assumptions, version, whatever you may call it. But have you ever stopped to wonder what would you have done if you were in his place? Surely we as Arsenal fans will jump up & say, “We would sign the contract this very moment.” But it is not as simple as you think.

Think about it like this. You are 28, almost 29, and you are at the peak of your career. You have given your best for a club for 8 long years & have 1 year left in your contract. You are currently worth the highest market value you could ever be at in your career. The next contract you sign will probably be your last one before you retire. You have got great talents & played for a great club but not many titles to show for it (not that you need title to prove your greatness). You have just come of a dream season for your club & yet managed to win nothing for the club. The way other teams are playing you know that you are nowhere near challenging for the title unless the club makes some major changes. Europe’s top clubs are hunting for you, ready to throw money at you for your services. Now, what would you do?

The word loyalty is over-rated. Yes, he has played 8 years for us. Yes, we have stuck by his injury woes & helped him on. This is what any club would do for a player who they feel has great potential. It is not exclusive only to Arsenal. So in the end Robin owes us nothing. He played for us, he gave us many happy moments, great goals and a fantastic 2011-12 season (individual performance). Does that mean he has no right to choose what he wants to do with his career?

No one exactly knows what went on between him & Wenger during the meeting held on Wednesday (16-05-2012). One among the various theories floating around is that he wants quality additions to the team. Well is it wrong to ask your coach to add more value & quality to your side in order to boost you title chances next season? If you think that is wrong then you are plain damn stupid! Another popular theory is that he wants more pay. Well football is a profession & in any profession if you feel you aren’t paid enough for the work you are doing then you feel entitled to ask for a raise. Don’t you think he is worth more than what we are paying him right now?

If he really did ask for more signing to be done then I think it is out of his best interest for the club. Or if he really did ask for a big raise then he probably deserves it. Arsenal is a big club and big clubs need to spend to keep their top players! That is truth about modern day football. If Robin decides to go, then it isn’t his fault. It will only be the club’s fault of not doing enough to hold onto him because players have left us in the past under similar circumstances & for similar reasons! We will now know whether we have learnt our lessons or not.

Another theory moving around is that Robin is playing it with Wenger. Think about it, you are the most valuable player of your club. Being in that position of power, you have the ability to dictate terms to your coach. A form of decent threatening! What if Robin is trying to pull that off? Wenger knows very well what a loss it would be if Robin left (Experiences of last year’s Cesc & Nasri departures). What if Robin is using his power to pressurize Wenger into making some world class signings! Possible isn’t it?

All in all, thinking about what Robin is going to decide is a waste of time. No one really knows what is going to happen other than he himself. We gooners are used to having a long summer of uncertainty. Whatever has to happen will happen. And whatever does happen, we will still continue to support our lovely Arsenal, continue to chant loud & continue to fight for our honour against other clubs!

Only thing to remember is: No one player is bigger than a club. Certainly not bigger than a great club like Arsenal. So it doesn’t matter if Robin decides to leave. Life goes on, season goes on. Like it or not, he becomes another piece of Arsenal’s history. He did his bit for the club & he decided to move on! End of the day it is not in our hands. To be a true Arsenal supporter means to support our team, no matter what! Footballers come & go but a club is there forever!!

WISH YOU ALL A LONG SUMMER ;-)

@SreeSince91,

Gooner4Life!