The Parasites or: Why He Could Care Less What You Think

With great success comes great exposure.  When we went out and achieved the impossible, becoming Invincible, becoming Untouchable, we were naturally going to acquire more fans.  The buzz surrounding Arsenal FC was higher than ever, and we were irresistible.  The following year, we started on fire, but eventually succumbed to dodgy referee decisions and fading confidence.  To some surprise, all of the fans stuck around.  They trusted our foundations, mostly Arsene Wenger, and for a lot of people, they had found the football club they were going to support.

Unfortunately, this has downsides.  Most of it is greatly positive.  New fans buy more products, ensure that the Emirates will be full, and strength in numbers is usually a good thing.  The unfortunate elements are as follows.  Because of such unparalleled success, fans get impatient too easily.  This is a symptom of the bandwagon fan.  Except, for some reason, even with such "disappointments" as not winning a trophy for three years, they stuck around.  Only, they were growing increasingly vocal about it.

This year, there were so many suggestions that Wenger should be fired.  Blogs, left and right, lending support to such faulty reasoning, without ever suggesting who could possibly replace Wenger.  The Board has been slaughtered by some for favoring profit over winning.  Fans can say what they want about the two I just mentioned, but their attacks lack any real credibility.

So, the next natural target are players.  The William Gallas hate train began as soon as he came over from Chelsea.  He could never really be "Arsenal", he was always Chelsea, and nothing he could do could convince them otherwise.  Even formerly respectable bloggers came down on this end.  I once heard from a friend that an Arsenal supporter told him that he couldn't support Gallas because "he threatened to score an own goal against his former team."  After dealing with the English media being anti-Arsenal, here was an Arsenal fan who actually took words written by them and actually presented it as if it were fact.

Last week, Sagna stated how he couldn't believe how everybody had it out for Gallas, and how he has no idea how Gallas got over the demotion and continued to play so well for Arsenal.

Emmanuel Eboue was next.  To be completely fair, there is some justification for this behavior.  Eboue is prone to theatrical dives, sometimes doesn't try hard enough, and is generally perceived as a clown.  I've previously stated why I value Eboue as a commodity in an earlier post, so I won't go over that again.  Let's just say that the people willing to rip Eboue the most are the fans we attracted after we went unbeaten.

Which brings me to the main player I wanted to discuss, Nicklas Bendtner.  Bendtner is a 21 year old full Denmark international.  At age 19, he was the best player in the Championship for half of the season until he unfortunately broke his leg while playing at Birmingham under Steve Bruce.  At age 18, Bendtner eclipsed Lupoli as the most impressive striker in the Reserves.  His combination of playing with the ball, accurate finishing, and link up play drew praise from anybody who saw these performances.  He is now valued highly by Michael Laudrup, a proper legend, and Bayern Munich.  He has never had a consistent run of starts with a proper partner (contrary to popular belief, he can play with Adebayor, but it's not the most favorable partnership).  He has played out of position (on the right wing) and done well for us.  He has scored crucial goals in substitute appearances.  He has scored a goal in his first touch against SCUM.  He has a bright future ahead of him, and he will be a good player somewhere, hopefully with us.

He supposedly made comments that he believed that he should play every minute as the leading striker at Arsenal FC.  To these comments, I didn't understand what the fuss was.  Isn't a striker supposed to think this way?  Perhaps he shouldn't make these comments publicly, but I want all our strikers to think that way.  He has previously stated that Arsenal FC was his dream club, but stories painted him as wanting away if he didn't play frequently.  Again, do we really want players who would be satisfied at staying on the bench merely because he was an Arsenal player, instead of trying to improve himself?  No, we don't.

After the match, he clarified that his quotes were taken out of context, and that his teammates would never believe that he said that.  He didn't have to clarify his remarks, cause it didn't bother me in the least.

That didn't prevent the English media ripping him for being deluded.  That's fine enough, it sounds like fodder for weak journalists with little imagination.

What bothered me was that at the pub where I watch Arsenal games, an Arsenal fraternity, recently formed of idiotic fans creating senseless songs, decided to rip Bendtner every time he made a mistake in yesterday's match.

Taking away from the great vibes gained from Eduardo's spectacular resurgence, every time Bendtner made a tiny minute, this group of Arsenal "fans" started to chant "every fucking minute" repeatedly.  When Bendtner scored a remarkable header, going against four Cardiff players in the air, they naturally celebrated and smirked.  They couldn't believe he delivered.  Right before the half, when he missed a sitter, they turned on him again.  One of the Arsenal frat boys said, "Nobody wants you here, you Cunt!  Yeah, I said it!"  Well, I want him here.  I want him to blossom at Arsenal.

Yesterday, he scored a crucial goal, had an assist, and could have had another one if van Persie had converted a sublime cross.  He missed a sitter, sure, but we were up 2-0, and such aggravation was unnecessary.

These parasites feed to destroy our club from within.  They support our club, but only in their comfort zone.  If they hate a player, they're done with them.  It takes a mountain to win them back.  It started similarly with Adebayor, and it's only after scoring buckets of goals last year that they've embraced him.

These fans do not represent who I am.  These fans do not represent the club well.  These fans are the byproduct of our success.  We have to deal with it, but it doesn't mean that we have to like it.

And for all these fans who mercilessly ripped Bendtner yesterday.  He could care less what you think.  He's playing at Arsenal FC, and Wenger supports him.  Who cares what you fucking idiots think?

On a final note, there was a story in the Daily Mail today about Martin "Tiny" Taylor.  Why should I care what this guy has to think?  In the interview, he didn't utter the word "sorry" once.  He said he didn't feel guilty cause he didn't mean to injure Eduardo.  Suffice it to say, I wish this guy would just go away, and I wish it wasn't such a blatant attempt by the English press to absolve a guy of blame who does deserve some blame for his role in destroying Eduardo's leg.  The real story is the resurrection of our Crozilian striker, not how his foolish aggressor feels.

Eduardo, it's so wonderful to have you back.