5 reasons why I love Arsenal

Why I love the Arsenal? 

While Arsenal may have the media and fans constantly talking about the coveted 4th place in the Premier League, there's a lot more to the North London club than meets the eye. Agreed their performances in recent years have seen them fall from Premier League champions to also-rans but the thought of dismissing Arsenal as a power in Europe is premature and naive.

The North London club have the rare honour of being the only team to have gone a whole season unbeaten in English top flight history. They're also the only English team to have never been relegated and while you may think these are insignificant feats in a world where only UEFA Champions League winners are the true 'winners', ask any manager and the stability that the Gunners provide is nothing short of a dream.

Here are five reasons why I love Arsenal; irrespective of results, achievements and lack of the same.

#5 Attacking brand of football

The kind of players who can potently entertain

Often known as the best attacking team in the Premiership, Arsenal are known to play a quick game focused around short passes and smart runs off the ball. The club were not always famous for this Cruyffian form of football, they evolved from a pure counter-attacking side to a 'tika-taka' side with the former style producing some of the world's finest footballers in the world.

Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires and Fredrik Ljungberg were all instrumental in the way Arsenal attacked as a group. Their blistering pace, coupled with the ability to find the right pass at the right time differentiated them from most of Europe's giants.

Currently, the likes of Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Alexis Sanchez continue to dazzle audiences with their crowds with their ability to create space, find the right pass and essentially 'walk the ball into the net'.

#4 The Greater Fool

A different breed

Even Barcelona – pioneers of the Cruyffian style of football – aren't the same. Simplicity in style isn't working in football. There is no Xavi, there is no Xabi Alonso, there is no Paul Scholes. Football is changing. Much like it always has over the span of a few decades.

Pep Guardiola took Barcelona to the summit but even he knew he couldn't replicate it at Bayern Munich. A football style – much like most of life’s finer things – has a due date. Yet, there are those who will believe in it so wholeheartedly that they think they can succeed where no one else has.

You could lay the blame for Arsenal's failure on Arsene Wenger but he's the only one who thinks the club has it in them to do well when the world is against them. If not for Wenger, I highly doubt a chunk of current Arsenal supporters would pick the North London club.

#3 The Invincibles

Possibly one of the greatest ever British teams

Possibly one of the greatest achievements in English football history, Arsenal are likely to remain the only team who have gone through a whole season unbeaten. The 2003-2004 season saw Arsenal won the title but instead of winning the usual silver trophy they do, they were awarded a golden Premier League trophy – a one-of-a-kind that's on display at Arsenal's museum.

The likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira and Sol Campbell will live through English footballing folklore for generations to come. They're the kind of player every team dreams of having. They achieved one of the greatest ever achievements in sport and remained humble throughout it all.

While we've seen truly magnificent teams from Manchester United, Newcastle, Liverpool and more, the Invincibles will always reserve separate applause. Even the best of footballers quash talks of going a whole season unbeaten, what made this team so special? Who gave them the right to challenge the norm?

#2 Dennis Bergkamp. And Mesut Ozil.

The past and the future.

We've all heard stories of how Arsenal fans flocked to Highbury the night after the club signed Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan. Even though he had two under-par seasons at Inter, he was still the kind of superstar the club needed at the time.

Dennis Bergkamp went on to win four Premierships, three FA Cups and reached the Champions League final in 2006 – which was sadly his last game as a professional footballer. While all these achievements may speak for themselves, its his influence on the pitch – the twists, the turns, the goal against Newcastle that really place him in a bracket separate from most Arsenal stars.

What Dennis Bergkamp was to that legendary Arsenal side, Mesut Ozil can be for this. The German received a similar response from Arsenal fans when he signed in 2013 from Spanish giants Real Madrid and has since gone on to establish himself as one of the better performers.

Having taken some time to settle in the team, Ozil epitomises what Arsenal are about; creativity, ruthless flair and a first-touch that would put the brightest names to shame. Having already won 2 FA Cups since joining, let's hope the German can keep this run going. It's an absolute privilege to watch him for us every week.

#1 The perfect football 'club'

Both of them are Arsenal through and through

Having taken stick for their performances on the pitch, off it, Arsenal have taken anything but. Arsenal are England's only self-sufficient UEFA Champions League club meaning they don't depend on money coming in from the outside. They spend what they earn.

They're also amongst the last few top clubs in the world who produce great talent from within not depending on churning million on signing top players from the outside. The likes of Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Wojciech Szczesny, Hector Bellerin, Alex Iwobi and more have all impressed with their performances for the club. Wilshere and Iwobi especially receive special praise for having progressed through the club since they were 9 and 8 years old respectively.

'Deeper the foundation, stronger the fortress' reads in bold as you enter the Emirates. That one line describes the club in a way no one else can. A sense of doing things right and just is what separates this club from the others. In a world where match fixing and doping are abundant, Arsenal remain amongst a bunch of virgins who still want the game to be the way it was meant to.

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Edited by Staff Editor