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I have been a fan of this north London club named Arsenal since the 2002-03 season. The very next season, the team under Arsene Wenger achieved the title of ‘the Invincibles’. It was during those days that I fell in love with the classic and effortless display of the beautiful game that was on offer by the Gunners. Writing this article now after being a fan for almost a decade, the affection hasn’t changed; what has changed is getting a feeling of sorrow and grief when the weekend fixture crops up on either ESPN or Star Sports. The Arsenal team that brought a smile across the faces of millions of Gunners all over the world has now been replaced by a bunch of eleven individuals straying out haplessly on the field. The likes of Henry, Viera, Pires have disappeared and the current team cannot seem to find any substitutes for those legends. As a result, it has been almost eight long years without a trophy in the pack. We, the loyal fans sit and ponder (as there are no other options, we cannot go out and play games for them; although we’d want to) as to what went wrong. We all know the reasons, but the most unfortunate part is there seems to be absolutely no light at the end of this tunnel.
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If we scan back to the past seasons, very few players would make it to the regular team that has spanned for multiple seasons. The integral part of the team would always be changing with players choosing the exit option due to the lack of silverware at the club. A long list of players features in this exodus; the likes of Cole, Henry, Fabregas, Viera, Nasri, Adebayor, Flamini, Clichy, Hleb and it could go on. What this phenomenon did was it shattered the team spirit and left the team in disarray. After Henry left, the team was in search of a leader. We believed we found one in Robin van Persie. The Dutchman also left, thus taking us back to square one. It has been a saga of coming and going for Arsenal but no one has anchored himself to the club. When both Fabregas and Nasri left, there was a gaping hole left by the duo that needed to be filled. As a result, we saw Wenger finally breaking away from his youth policy and adding experienced midfielders like Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun to the side. However, these were only stop gap measures and they could never really provide the edge that Fabregas did or the depth that Nasri provided. Since then, most of the transfers have been measures taken to save the team from some very mediocre finishes to atleast a face saver in the form of qualifying for the Champions League regularly.
There has been no ‘team’ in play at the Emirates. It is more of a bunch of players who come, train for a season or two and leave as and when they feel their skills have ripened enough. This is a sad turn of events that has left the team wanting in every department of the game. The very recent example of Nacho Monreal, who was bought as a replacement for the dismal Andre Santos, gives the perfect example of what the transfers have been like at Arsenal. Mostly they have been ad-hoc measures and not transfers done to build a team or create a solid core for an impeccable starting XI.
What the team had in 2003-04 (sorry for the repeated comparison, but being a loyal grief stricken Gunners fan, that’s the only thing we can cling on to and share a smile remembering those golden days) was a regular team of players who had experience in an Arsenal jersey and bench strength to match the potential of those on the field. That is no more the case with the current crop of players. Players are not retained, no quality transfers are completed and moreover with the recent advent of strength mixed with skill, Arsenal is highly lacking in that department. When you know you have a pillar in your midfield in the form of Viera, you can be rest assured that tackles would be won, possession regained and opposition attacks broken down to pieces. The current team had Song to fill in that department and he did show some flicker of hope with his performances. Sadly, he left as well, following in the footsteps of fellow Gunners like Henry, Fabregas and Hleb to the Spanish utopia known as Barcelona. This constant trickle of players choosing to exit has been an unfortunate consequence of the team not winning trophies and this again is the very reason why the team is not winning trophies. In essence, it is a vicious cycle seemingly having no way out.
Unless a strong captain and motivator arrives to restore the pride among players playing for Arsenal, there can possibly be no end to the miseries. Jack Wilshere has been the only glimmer of hope and expectation but then again it is a matter of time before he chooses to leave his boyhood club for greener pastures. The way things are, it is a sad sight and if this mass departure of players is not stopped then the gloomy days are to continue.
So here’s another Gooner, signing off, with lots of hopes and good wishes.
