goon wrote:
There's also a weird idea prevalent in this place and in football in general about what having an accountable culture is. As if throat grabbing, abuse and being a dick is what it means to be accountable and creates an elite mentality.
You set a player a minimum set of expectations, if he doesn't meet it or work towards meeting it, he's out. That's all the pressure and accountability a player needs. Don't be fooled by stories from the invincibles squad members, these guys love harping on about their mentality despite cracking under the pressure several times. It was their talent that made them successful, nothing else.
This is the point.
All this bollocks about fans not being supportive, as a reason for the likes of Al-fucking-munia and Denilson of all players not performing and constantly underperforming is absolutely asinine.
Players underperform 99% because of either talent, or wrong fit due to manager or tactics etc.
If a player has talent, a few jeers or insults is not going to put them under.
Arsenal fans at home are by and large , some of the tamest fans you will see. Our away fans are fucking superb.
To bring out some of the claptrap from Wenger about the fans, which was only to excuse his own incompetence bringing in some of those players is really telling.
I was at Highbury when Wenger came in to replace Rioch, and let me tell you, if you wanted to know what anxious fans were, that was the time. First time the fans actually saw Arsenal try to pass the ball out of the back.
Forget the fans, I think Adams, Winterburn and Dixon were more anxious than the crowd 😆
There simply was no patience for it, the crowd were on their backs, as really it was the first time in English football anyone had seen such a thing. The media were on us as well, decrying this “foreign football”.
That is pressure. The insults that came with it. “Donkey” Adams trying to pass the ball out.
That is being insulted.
And guess what? They proved to the fans, media and country alike that they could do it.
Why? Because they had a modicum of talent to begin with. So getting on the fans who actually pay to watch the team, is frankly insulting. Football has been dog eat dog, and you have to show heart and perform in order for the fans to be with you. That has always been the case.
The fans never booed Almunia or Denilson in their first games for the club, nor their second. It was after serving up a load of shite over a period of time. Remarkable consistency from them both to be fair.