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The hypocrites who are criticising Mikel Arteta\u2019s Arsenal and presumably the same people who criticised Arsene Wenger\u2019s Arsenal.<\/p>\n
Thank you for your mails as ever; send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Long time reader, first time contributor.<\/p>\n
I have been an Arsenal fan going on a decade and a half now, and I can truly say what I most enjoy about my teams\u2019 recent successes is that I know I can look forward to each day\u2019s F365 Mailbox without fear of encountering any drivel from that insufferable coward Stewie. What scale are we going to measure Arsenal supporter insufferability on?<\/p>\n So far, in a group chat about poker with my friends, the one Arsenal supporter in the group has sent 11 memes\/links\/images\/clips since the result last night.<\/p>\n That\u2019s in addition to the 21 sent after City drew at Everton.<\/p>\n Jesus wept. No interest in Arsenal, but definitely here for a Gunnersaurus liveblog\/travelog from Budapest. Lounging round the outside pool at a thermal baths, riding the funicular up to the castle, a solemn moment of silence at the House of Terror, what\u2019s not to like. And of course the main event, crashing round the ruins pubs at 1am like a red and green Mr Blobby. Battered. I read Shunt\u2019s letter bemoaning Arsenal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I have 2 points to make<\/p>\n 1 Arsenal got their \u201ceasy ride\u201d to the final by being the best team in the league stage \u2013 in other words it was earned.<\/p>\n 2 I spent many years listening to all the flagging about Wenger\u2019s last teams being nice to watch but winning nothing. So whatever it takes to get at least one monkey of Arsenal\u2019s back is acceptable \u2013 except out and out cheating.<\/p>\n As it stands Arsenal have neither won nor lost the league or Champions league so still plenty to get stressed about. READ: Where would Arsenal rank in the greatest seasons by a Premier League club? Man Utd in danger<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2026I\u2019m still buzzing after Tuesday night. I can\u2019t believe we\u2019re in a Champions League final, it feels surreal after all those years of falling short. If you\u2019d told me 5 years ago that we\u2019d be in this position under Arteta I would\u2019ve scoffed. I\u2019m proud of what we\u2019ve achieved as a club and a fanbase, the atmosphere at the stadium was phenomenal. And that tifo? Incredible stuff, a massive improvement from the limp rubbish from the previous season.<\/p>\n Arteta played his cards well, Lewis-Skelly at midfield might be what we need in the final stretch of the season. Rotating between Eze and Odegaard is surely going to help when we need a different approach. Hoping we can generate more chances from range for Eze to take. Swapping between Hincapie and Calafiori can help us shift our style on that left side with Calafiori being smoother in possession.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been some seriously neurotic behaviour from rival fans and this website. I like to call it FOTA: Fear of the Arsenal. Symptoms: chronic rage at Arsenal\u2019s tactics and behaviour despite many other teams behaving the same way, trying desperately to play down our chances, policing our celebrations as if other teams in our position wouldn\u2019t be doing the same and overusing the word \u201cbottle\u201d to the point of meaninglessness. Honestly some of you need to take a break and go outside. Try talking to some people in real life instead of being terminally online, the vast majority of real life conversations I\u2019ve had with non-Arsenal fans have been quite reasonable.<\/p>\n Anyone denouncing us as \u201cboring\u201d and \u201cnegative\u201d have basically painted \u201chypocrite\u201d all over themselves. You were the same people that laughed at us for being naive, idealistic and \u201csoft\u201d under Arsene Wenger. And now when we do the exact things you mocked us for not doing you\u2019re throwing your keyboards out of your parents\u2019 basements. I pity you hahahahahaha. \u2026A recent contributor stated that Arsenal\u2019s Champions League campaign to date has meant they \u201chave barely had to play any football at all to win those games, just be solid and structured\u201d.<\/p>\n As we know, Arsenal were criticised heavily for focusing on playing pretty, possession based football for twenty years, winning zero league or European titles specifically because of their fundamental lack of solidity and structure.<\/p>\n Criticism of Arteta for fixing all the faults that were correctly highlighted as mission critical by pundits, commentators and armchair experts alike is mere edgelord laziness and demonstrates late stage Wenger idealism, the type the baby Griffin railed against for so long.<\/p>\n Arsenal may yet finish this season without a Premier League or Champions League trophy, but whatever happens, nobody ever wins a \u201cnice playing style\u201d trophy. \u2026Everyone bemoaning Arsenal\u2019s style. If anyone can say hand on heart if they had to choose between being in finals and winning trophies or exciting football, that they would choose attacking football, then you can carry on. If you can honestly say you would rather be Atleti or Barcelona, who scored 35 and 32 goals this champions league campaign but not make it to the final, or Arsenal in the final with a chance to win their first champions league title, fair does<\/p>\n Otherwise bore off, we\u2019re going to Budapest! Lots of people are talking about Arsenal\u2019s style of football. Do you think Greek fans cared in 2004 or Portugal fans in 2016? Their names will be forever etched on the Euro trophy. If Arsenal win the final 1-0 with 23% of the ball and a 10 man defence I will be the first to say \u201cfair play, they won playing to their strengths\u201d.<\/p>\n However, when it comes to England I think slightly differently (maybe cos I\u2019m not an Arsenal fan). Let me just caveat what I am about to say by pointing out that England have a maximum 1% chance of winning the World Cup. France or Spain will be the champions, with Portugal and Argentina the only other teams who could win it. Everybody else might as well not turn up. But let\u2019s say that by some miracle England survive five knockout games unbeaten in the stifling heat and bring home old Jules Rimet\u2026.<\/p>\n Would you accept England playing like Arsenal to get it done? Once the initial elation of winning the final had passed, would you be happy in the acceptance that most of the footballing world criticised your style of play and didn\u2019t consider you the best team in the tournament? Imagine the Brazilian and Spanish purist sneers: \u201cEngland won but they are pretty shite and got very lucky\u201d<\/p>\n Personally, I only want to win the World Cup if we are best team in it. I want to see attacking football, chances galore and admiration from the rest of the world. It would have been a travesty if we\u2019d won in 2018 when our only tactic was Harry Maguire\u2019s head. Winning when being clearly the best team is surely the ultimate high.<\/p>\n But going back to Arsenal, best of luck in the final and may the best team win. They could be this year\u2019s version of 2010 Inter Milan. I was a little wacky the other day from some strangely green \u2018baccy, when a weird thought occurred to me, have we got the whole bottling thing backwards?<\/p>\n You see, if you \u2018haven\u2019t got the bottle,\u2019 you\u2019re not good\/strong\/mentally strong enough, (delete as appropriate,) and to bottle something you must, first, have the bottle\u2026 So you see, bottling something probably should be a good thing, (not just entertainment for the haters.)<\/p>\n I\u2019m not expecting to change the narrative of an entire nation, but I found it interesting. As a Spurs and England fan, I am truly grateful for Harry Kanes unbelievable dedication to his craft, his professionalism and the fact that he\u2019s seems to be just a great human who leads by example on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s my problem with the narrative in the English media and with English fans. He was being talked about for winning the Ballon D Or the last few weeks and that just feels so off to me. He hasn\u2019t even been the best player in the Bayern team this season, that award goes to Olise.<\/p>\n But Kane\u2019s real problem is he never delivers on the largest of stages. He was carried in the 2024 Euros and shouldn\u2019t have started the final, Southgate was too weak to leave him out. As soon as he was taken off Palmer and Watkins changed the game and delivered, god knows what might have happened had they both had the whole 90 minutes.<\/p>\n Kane was totally anonymous in the 2019 Champions League final, Pochettino was too weak to leave him out, Moura had scored an incredible hatrick in the semis and deserved to start \u2013 Harry Kane does not have one performance in his whole career locker to match that performance by Moura. He missed the penalty against France and we went out at World Cup 2022 and even his pen against Denmark at Euro 2020 was lucky because the keeper saved it and it luckily rebounded at his feet.<\/p>\n To be classed as world class you have to deliver in the biggest matches, and change and win games with moment of brilliance, and Kane just doesn\u2019t have these performances in his CV. The greatest British player by far of my lifetime is Gareth Bale and his highlight reel in big games is easily remembered and unforgettable. England fans and pundits overuse and devalue the term \u201cworld class\u201d.<\/p>\n English fans will point to stats and goals against second rate teams in the Bundesliga and premier league games, but these aren\u2019t matches where world class status is defined. Harry you are a fine player, a top player, but you ain\u2019t world class mate. I really hope next year you can step up into that category, your career at the top doesn\u2019t have much longer to go\u2026 READ: Harry Kane still waiting for career-defining big-game performance despite late goal v PSG<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n
Brad, Hoosier Gooner, USA<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\nThe worst thing about Arsenal being good<\/h2>\n
Rob, Hove<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\nGunner be great<\/h2>\n
DF<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\nArsenal fans defend style after Wenger-era criticism<\/h2>\n
Peter <\/strong><\/p>\n
Vish (AFC), Melbourne<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Eoin (Bread and butter success beats fancy failure) Ireland<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rob A (I\u2019ll wait\u2026) AFC<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\nWould you accept England Arsenalling their way to World Cup glory?<\/h2>\n
Jamie Bedwell, Cheltenhamshire<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\nHave we got \u2018bottling\u2019 all wrong?<\/h2>\n
Andy, Guatemala<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\nNot sure on Harry Kane<\/h2>\n
Robert, Marbella, Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n