I get what you mean. I get how you feel about this. In many ways I feel the same. There was a certain charm, an exuberance, a flow to Wengerball that has been admired beyond the lines of club loyalties. But I also believe that one must find their footing and then go for style. We haven’t been very successful in a very long time. We first need to win. And I take solace in the age old paradigm of the game, ‘Attack wins games. Defense wins tournaments.’ And defensively, we have been flawless this season. Hope it stays like that till Match day 38.
Also, whether people see it or not, Wengerball is part of the Arsenal identity. Once we are back to our winning ways and the swagger is back, we will all realise that underneath it was always there. Le professeur has done it again!
What an insightful and enjoyable reply. Thanks James.
I so agree with your "Attack wins games. Defense wins tournaments" comment. And I'm definitely in you camp concerning Arsenal's DNA (that's an fascinating concept isn't it?, that an organisation can carry personality, how does that actually happen in practice I wonder? Anyway, I'm digressing) will carry flowing attacking football instead of developing into some defensive style. We're only half way through the project for sure.
It's just, I suppose, that there's also a wider environment in which the clubs operate, and that wider terrain influences the choices clubs make and what kind of football they play. I read an interesting comment on the Athletic s while back where the commentator was lamenting how the race for success meant it was harder to accommodate quirky fan-favorite type players who weren't totally efficient and powerful and you know, Man Cityish. I think there's something in that.
But yeah, I love the return to swaggering ways, I love players like Saliba (super-efficient and a little charismatic) and Ødegaard (super-skillful, even Berkampesque, maybe less charismatic (😂) and I reckon we're heading in the right direction. I suppose my article was written in response to the Arsenalverse complaining a little about the lack of swashbuckling this season. A kind of attempt to explain it, and a chance to moan about the market of course ;)
Anyway, thanks so much for the comment and for reading.
Arsenal DNA is indeed a fascinating concept. As I write, I am acutely aware of how I am only conversing with you for the first time. And yet, I can relate to how you feel on so many of the aspects you touched upon in this comment, beyond what the words communicate. Simply because we have this common strand of the club between us.
As for your anecdote from Athletic, it triggers something me and my brother often lament over a lot. What saddens us is that in this age of 24x7 news and always on social media, this subtle intolerance for anything unusual, or that which deviates from the "normal" extends beyond the playing field. We expect each and every sportsperson to adhere to our norms and expectations. There is no room for "characters" in today's sports. A 2023 cannot produce a James Hunt, who could party all night before race day. Only to show up late and smoke a meticulous Niki Lauda on the race track. 2023 cannot produce a Harry Redknapp, who once in his early days subbed-in a noisy fan who wouldn't stop complaining about their striker. The fan went on to score, and Harry famously trolled Chapman (the striker in question) in the presser by quipping "truth be told, the lad was better than Chapman" Sports today, might have better records to show, but will be judged poorly when asked to tell the best stories it has to offer.
Firstly, this thing with relatability. I feel the same way (no joke intended:) I think Substack, with it's longer form capacity, when used with respect and gentle kindness has the capacity to encourage a lot of kinship and similarities we all share, as opposed to the divisive and cruel attention-seeking of the usual social media. I've found some beautiful like-minded people on this platform and learnt a great deal from them.
As for your comments on sport changing I couldn't agree more. I grew up really loving tennis, loved the days of Vitas Gerulaitis and McEnroe and those guys. Players who actually went clubbing the night before winning titles, or refused to practice and claimed that playing tournaments was enough. They had such varied styles of play, such personalities on court, such exciting long duels. Now we've got super-human ultra conditioned players playing with a kind of non-relatability, a distance, like watching demigods instead of people. And, most of the success shared between fewer and fewer players with a massive drop off from the top player incomes to the rest.
This isn't a tedious claim that the past was always better, of course it wasn't and things are far more complex as you know, but there was more room for the "human" to flourish within the system instead of the system itself dominating. I love that story about Redknapp and the mouthy fan. Imagine Areteta doing that?!? With expectations redlining and demands so high, such a thing would be professional suicide. And to what end? How is the experience of the fan enhanced? I think that's why last season was so enjoyable, there was a real human connection that we all crave.
Funnily enough, I've been following Arsenal wonderland for a while now.
And I had already read, and thoroughly enjoyed 'Perpetual collapse in spectacular silence' when Paul Wittenberger shared it. But I'm only just learning that both are your work :) Look forward to your posts!
Ha! It's a crazy small world in some ways. Thanks so much for subscribing to The Crow too. Enjoy the game later, hopefully we'll take another three points anyway!
I get what you mean. I get how you feel about this. In many ways I feel the same. There was a certain charm, an exuberance, a flow to Wengerball that has been admired beyond the lines of club loyalties. But I also believe that one must find their footing and then go for style. We haven’t been very successful in a very long time. We first need to win. And I take solace in the age old paradigm of the game, ‘Attack wins games. Defense wins tournaments.’ And defensively, we have been flawless this season. Hope it stays like that till Match day 38.
Also, whether people see it or not, Wengerball is part of the Arsenal identity. Once we are back to our winning ways and the swagger is back, we will all realise that underneath it was always there. Le professeur has done it again!
What an insightful and enjoyable reply. Thanks James.
I so agree with your "Attack wins games. Defense wins tournaments" comment. And I'm definitely in you camp concerning Arsenal's DNA (that's an fascinating concept isn't it?, that an organisation can carry personality, how does that actually happen in practice I wonder? Anyway, I'm digressing) will carry flowing attacking football instead of developing into some defensive style. We're only half way through the project for sure.
It's just, I suppose, that there's also a wider environment in which the clubs operate, and that wider terrain influences the choices clubs make and what kind of football they play. I read an interesting comment on the Athletic s while back where the commentator was lamenting how the race for success meant it was harder to accommodate quirky fan-favorite type players who weren't totally efficient and powerful and you know, Man Cityish. I think there's something in that.
But yeah, I love the return to swaggering ways, I love players like Saliba (super-efficient and a little charismatic) and Ødegaard (super-skillful, even Berkampesque, maybe less charismatic (😂) and I reckon we're heading in the right direction. I suppose my article was written in response to the Arsenalverse complaining a little about the lack of swashbuckling this season. A kind of attempt to explain it, and a chance to moan about the market of course ;)
Anyway, thanks so much for the comment and for reading.
Arsenal DNA is indeed a fascinating concept. As I write, I am acutely aware of how I am only conversing with you for the first time. And yet, I can relate to how you feel on so many of the aspects you touched upon in this comment, beyond what the words communicate. Simply because we have this common strand of the club between us.
As for your anecdote from Athletic, it triggers something me and my brother often lament over a lot. What saddens us is that in this age of 24x7 news and always on social media, this subtle intolerance for anything unusual, or that which deviates from the "normal" extends beyond the playing field. We expect each and every sportsperson to adhere to our norms and expectations. There is no room for "characters" in today's sports. A 2023 cannot produce a James Hunt, who could party all night before race day. Only to show up late and smoke a meticulous Niki Lauda on the race track. 2023 cannot produce a Harry Redknapp, who once in his early days subbed-in a noisy fan who wouldn't stop complaining about their striker. The fan went on to score, and Harry famously trolled Chapman (the striker in question) in the presser by quipping "truth be told, the lad was better than Chapman" Sports today, might have better records to show, but will be judged poorly when asked to tell the best stories it has to offer.
Firstly, this thing with relatability. I feel the same way (no joke intended:) I think Substack, with it's longer form capacity, when used with respect and gentle kindness has the capacity to encourage a lot of kinship and similarities we all share, as opposed to the divisive and cruel attention-seeking of the usual social media. I've found some beautiful like-minded people on this platform and learnt a great deal from them.
As for your comments on sport changing I couldn't agree more. I grew up really loving tennis, loved the days of Vitas Gerulaitis and McEnroe and those guys. Players who actually went clubbing the night before winning titles, or refused to practice and claimed that playing tournaments was enough. They had such varied styles of play, such personalities on court, such exciting long duels. Now we've got super-human ultra conditioned players playing with a kind of non-relatability, a distance, like watching demigods instead of people. And, most of the success shared between fewer and fewer players with a massive drop off from the top player incomes to the rest.
This isn't a tedious claim that the past was always better, of course it wasn't and things are far more complex as you know, but there was more room for the "human" to flourish within the system instead of the system itself dominating. I love that story about Redknapp and the mouthy fan. Imagine Areteta doing that?!? With expectations redlining and demands so high, such a thing would be professional suicide. And to what end? How is the experience of the fan enhanced? I think that's why last season was so enjoyable, there was a real human connection that we all crave.
BTW, you might enjoy my other Substack Jonathan Foster's The Crow. Just a blatant pitch for myself here :)
https://jonathanfostersthecrow.substack.com/
Funnily enough, I've been following Arsenal wonderland for a while now.
And I had already read, and thoroughly enjoyed 'Perpetual collapse in spectacular silence' when Paul Wittenberger shared it. But I'm only just learning that both are your work :) Look forward to your posts!
Ha! It's a crazy small world in some ways. Thanks so much for subscribing to The Crow too. Enjoy the game later, hopefully we'll take another three points anyway!