An Arsenal Fan's Rant - NOT At Arsene Wenger, but at Indian Mancs

DISCLAIMER: These are the views and opinions of the writer, and the writer does not care if you give a 1000-word comment trying to prove him wrong. That being said, I fully expect at least 10 such comments considering the sheer number of people who are going to get aggravated at the end of this post. Either ways, consider yourself lucky to get a proper response if you end up trying to argue your point. Let’s face it, we’ve all got better things to do. Now, on to the rant…

I have a confession to make. I use Facebook a lot. I love the way that closed groups allow you to connect with people on an even closer level – and while to some extent it is fake considering human interaction is truly done face-to-face and not on ‘walls’, there is something about Facebook that makes all of us want to come back again, and again – I know this for a fact because in a way I am addicted; in a way, we all are.

The problem with Facebook is, filtering out the rubbish that comes with adding people you don’t really know. I’m not too sure why I add people that I don’t really know – maybe its because you know that this person exists and you’ve seen him or her, but you don’t talk a lot to him or her. Sometimes you just add them because you pity them (is pity the right word?). And sometimes its because you find it funny to see what people have to say – ESPECIALLY the ones who have to say a lot about the world of football in general. I find it incredibly funny how certain people speak/type with this obvious brashness – almost to say that they’re good enough to become pundits on their favorite sports channel (and considering how bad ‘pundits’ like Shebby Singh are, that shouldn’t be too hard).

'Pundit' Shebby Singh? You're having a laugh!

Now usually I try to tell myself that its not worth replying to people who deliberately put up posts to antagonize myself and Arsenal fans in general. In most cases, I wouldn’t give two shits about United fans’ reactions if they beat us – considering most United fans I know start out as people who jump the bandwagon or as the term goes, ‘glory hunters’ – their opinions don’t, and shouldn’t really matter to me.

But this time has been slightly different for a variety of reasons. Why? Because by winning 8-2, United will find (in the words of a friend of mine) ‘another billion ch*ts to their fan base’. It’s true. There will be more people jumping the bandwagon. We will have more glory hunters blabbering, like they know every single detail and nuance about the game that is football. My Facebook wall and home page will be spammed with yet another hundred-odd posts with little or no value about how United are the best club in the world and Arsenal fans are idiots for supporting a team that isn’t winning and what not.

So I now speak directly to all the Indian Mancs who’ve been bad-mouthing Arsenal after Sunday’s game – I ask you this – if your team went on a 6-year trophy drought, if you lost 8-2 to one of your direct rivals, if you were put in our current situation, WOULD YOU SUPPORT YOUR TEAM?

'course not.

It is obvious that people will automatically say, ‘YES, OF COURSE, DON’T QUESTION MY LOVE FOR MANU’ – but the answer is NO – regardless of what your answer would be – you wouldn’t support them. You’d either say ‘Oh, I don’t like football anymore, cricket is so much better’, or ‘MANU WHO? I SUPPORT MANCITY DUDE’.

Understand that I am not saying that true United fans do not exist in India – they do – but there are very few true United fans. True fans will know enough about rival clubs to appreciate what Wenger has done at Arsenal, and respect what he’s done. True fans aren’t ones that have ‘supported their club for the last 10-15 years – the time you’ve supported your club for makes no difference. True fans will not go on pointless ‘SCREW YOU ARSE-NIL HAHAHA THEY SUCK’ posts which matter to practically no one, because let’s face it, they’re worthless.

Even United know that they've got so many plastic fans, heck they started an 'official' ManU restaurant.

But THIS is why I appreciate and respect Arsenal and (to some extent) Liverpool fans a LOT more than I do United, City, or Chelsea fans. Trophies or not, true fans will support their club, through the good times and through the bad.

Think about it. You don’t have to give me an answer because like I said, I couldn’t care less. 6 years. No trophies. Your best players leave. An 8-2 loss to your direct rivals. Think about it for no one but yourself.

And I had to put this in as well. True fans, this is what they are.

(This was initially posted on Adi’s blog)