Like yourself I have been absorbed by football for many years (1972 FA Cup Final my first tangible memory).
I have supported Arsenal through periods of mediocrity and now, since Wenger, in a golden age.
I find it fascinating that you have lost faith completely with Wenger.
I read your columns regularly and I am not going to repeat previous writers arguments about how Wenger has done an amazing job through highly competitive times; I am not going to argue against the view that Wenger’s stubbornness is preventing Arsenal from winning trophies; I am not going to dwell upon the point that Arsenal in the ‘trophyless years’ have gained a tremendous global respect through playing football in ‘the right way’.
What I don’t understand is your complete negativity towards Wenger. Are you giving yourself an excuse to stop writing your blog?
Do you feel a distance from Wenger that you don’t enjoy compared to your times with previous managers? It almost makes me think of a reaction of a scorned lover.
People are not forced to read your blog. At times I wish I hadn’t bothered but there are many times when I’m glad I have.
Could you decide whether it’s worth it, as there are probably a lot of people like myself who would like to be entertained by your views for a while yet, but are beginning to get frustrated by your almost vitriolic stance on Wenger. He is not perfect but you look at the players we have, the football we play, the stadium we play in, the stability of our club, and the admiration of millions of fans around the world, and it’s hard to see the justification for the extreme criticism you level at him.
Thanks for putting the effort in over the years.
I hope you can enjoy the future success of Arsenal, which I’m hoping is sooner rather than later!
Myles replies :
I don’t need an excuse to stop writing this blog.
I don’t need an excuse to write a lot less than I do now. I don’t have to write, I don’t have to put up your letters. We could switch off ANR comments very easily, so you can’t write to us.
It’s just masochism. And masochism is very hard to explain. I’m no psychologist.
Marlon Brando directed One Eyed Jacks, a western in which he starrred. Some bad guys took Brando out of a saloon and tied his hands to the rail to which riders tie their horses. Then they battered his hands with a rifle butt, so that he could never hold a six-gun again. Since Brando was directing the film, this was taking masochism to an extreme.
Every time I watched Wiltord, Adebayor and Almunia, every time I see Wenger tell me “I believe in this team”, I feel my fingers being smashed to a pulp.The pain is so great I almost pass out.
I can’t explain masochism. Can you?
Having said that, I had loads of good times with him, lots of fun, learned a lot, was thrilled by stylish power football that I had never imagined was possible, and got a chance to write a book about football, something I’d wanted to do since I was a sixth former.
The Professor paid some hall fees, some rent, some tuition fees, and some Junior Gunners season tickets for our two kids, which gave them thrills and many golden memories.
Caroline saw three FA Cup Finals in a row and then went travelling for 16 weeks on her gap year, so she said, “I’ll miss the Cup Final.” She was in Australia when the FA Cup final was played but Arsenal were not in Cardiff that day. She wasn’t there and Arsenal weren’t there either. Teenagers can be daft and my daughter carelessly assumed that Arsenal would be playing in the Millenium Stadium again. The FA Cup doesn’t work like that. Arsenal had been beaten 1-0 by Man United in the semi-final at Villa Park.
The Patrick Vieira years were very exciting and spectacular. But players as gifted as Bergkamp and Vieira only come along every 30 years
Since 2004, Arsenal declined.
Why? Because it’s impossible to build a stadium and have a winning team as well.