Interesting take from The Evening Standard: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...030106-rude-arsenal-fans-should-be-ashamed.do Those Arsenal fans who chanted "you don't know what you're doing" at Arsene Wenger should be ashamed. It was the antithesis of support, rude and disrespectful, and exemplified the contemporary nonsense - interactivity gone mad - that the lay masses are equal to the specialist, in this case Arsenal's greatest post-war manager. The supporters were entitled to their belief that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should have stayed on the field because he offered more threat to Manchester United than Andrey Arshavin was likely to. The instinctive reaction of Robin van Persie was understandable and a communal roar of "no" from the crowd would have been equally human. But Wenger knew what he was doing and I don't blame him for being touchy afterwards, pointing out that he had been "30 years in this job and made 50,000 substitutions" and sarcastically asking if he had to justify every one. He did, however, owe the tens of thousands of decent supporters the explanation he offered, which was that the teenager had tired. That should have cleared the matter up, even though Arshavin was judged partly culpable in United's winner. The question of Arshavin remains. When Gary Neville called him "the most disinterested player in the League", he meant "uninterested" but the point was made. All Arsenal's fans want - and are indirectly paying for - is an enthusiastic impersonation of the thrilling footballer in whom Wenger invested £15million three years ago. If Arshavin has, for some reason, lost confidence and therefore form in much the same way as Fernando Torres, that is acceptable. If he has lost interest, that is not. But only Wenger, his staff and players are close to the truth. Spectators may, of course, speculate; it is all we can do, given the reasonable reluctance of managers to spell out contributory factors to any player's mental or physical condition that might be commercially sensitive. But there is a time and place - and no excuse for bad manners.
I can understand the frustration, but at times the concept of the '12th man' is totally lost on some of our fans. In fact booing a player / the manager / the decison - simply plays into the hands of the opposition.
Disagree, you pay good money for a ticket and have every right to vent your frustration at the players/manager who have given you such poor value for money this season. Whether you should do it or not is up to you.
Were the fans wrong though ? He didn't know what he was doing and his actions led to us losing the game.
Red Half, not my opinion necessarilly, but an article from the Standard. For the record, I don't think bad manners are ever acceptable, especially swearing in front of children - It just shows ignorance and stupidity.
As long as you are only there to watch the match and don't care who wins, you are right. As soon as you deem yourself as a fan of a club, shouldn't you be doing everything to help that club win? There is no way that booing is going to do anything positive for the team at all. We can debate whether it is time for Wenger to go or not, but booing is not going to even make a difference to that decision. I think that the fans attitude is a significant factor in the poor performances of some of our players. Confidence is a huge factor in modern sport. I suspect that the booing of the substitution by the fans was a larger contributing factor to us losing the match than the substitution itself.
Yeah but at a football match .. you have to swear, you can't make football all sterile, there would be no fun in that. I don't like this idea of football matches being this friendly you can take your whole family for a great day out sort of event, where women and kids are everywhere. Kids should be in a kid's section and if women don't want to hear swearing they better cover their ears. My uncle once had a go at me for swearing when I played for his team, I told him, "Unc, I have to swear, its part of the game, its part of the passion". Needless to say he gave me a lecture the next time I swore and I was reluctant to play for his team again
I think there's a difference between swearing and booing our own players. I'm all for fans expressing their passion in the stadium, that is after all what they go there to do, but I have to admit that I have a massive problem with fans who boo our own - they might as well be cheering on the opposition, it has the same effect.
Hence the family section. Anyone swearing there should be kicked out. Anywhere else you take the risk. I would only take my kids in the family section if I took them. But, the article is about Booing. How in any way shape or form does that help the team? Plus Wenger justified his substitution. The fact that I like most fans were horrified by his decision, he is the manager and has earnt my respect. As for the NEED to swear, I think that says more about you than anything else. It's a bookable offense on the pitch.
If, as Wenger has explained, Oxo was tiring due to his sickness in the week. Then it's quite likely that he may not even have tracked back at all (it's a part of his game that needs developing anyway) At least Arshavin tried to track back. It's too simplistic to say that this decision cost us the game. It was a combination of Djourou being culpable for the first goal, and Vermaelen being culpable for the second - the booing, I would suggest, didn't exactly help to boost the confidence of the team either.
Well seeing as it's been 7 years since AW has won a trophy due to some of his more mystifying decisions it could be said booing him is in the best interest of the club... Much like Blackburn feel regarding their owners and manager? It was one horrendous sub that no one (Neutrals included) could understand and i think fans are human enough to be angry at that sort of blatant mistake from their manager. A man who is supposed to be doing everything to help the club win.
Just because no one could understand it, doesn't make it bad. An as many have pointed out, we will never know for sure. I could argue that Wenger's magnificent decision prevented Ox from suffering a career ending injury.
Wenger said that Oxo was tiring as he had been sick in the week. If he had left him on and Oxo hadn't of tracked back due to tiredness, the same people would be lambasting him for the decision not to sub him.
I think it was the fact Arshavin replaced him and of course made it a whole lot worse that Arshavin didn't exactly make an ample replacement. Benayoun would've been a better choice from Wenger imo.
Thanks RedHalf for actually reading the article, but it was taken from the Standard, not my writing. I do not think it helps booing the team, regardless what anyone thinks.
The key is in the wording. SUPPORTERS A team needs support most of all when things arnt going well. Far too many plastics at Arsenal, plenty on this board too. I have nothing against criticism of the board or manager but the team needs encouragement.
Booing your team when the match is still on and it is 1:1 with ManU is so wrong, it is beyond belief. It effectively killed the game. Fans are as guilty as vermaelen and Arshavin for the 2nd goal. You can boo if you wish but only when the match is over. Or if it is 2:8 - this is understandable. But 1:1 ? With ManU ??? There were 5 ! Certain starters out - Wilshere, Santos/Gibbs, Sagna, Arteta, Gervinho, - that is half the team - and still we were doing just OK against the champions. And then they started booing... Excellent. Just think about it.
Careful mate! Your correct statement will bring you abuse for being an "in Wenger we trust" peron. Ergo you must be naive and stupid...
