The monkey jumps off and the giant roars

‘The monkey jumps off and the giant roars’

An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective

There are a handful of sleeping giants in world football. Juventus, Man United, AC Milan and probably others. There are those that win frequently. Barcelona, Porto, PSG, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Celtic, Man City and probably others. There are those that can’t cope with not winning and their fans and owners lose their minds way too soon and often. I can think of Real Madrid and Chelsea right now.

Some of these 12 teams could claim to believe that their team will be the dominant giant in world football. Many of them have fine players. Many have much more silverware than Arsenal. Certainly in the last 20 years. The thing is though, that even though trophies might be the number one on their list of what is important to most fans, they can’t celebrate much beyond that. They don’t feel proud of anything else because the rest is expendable.

Football, and sports in general, offer many ways to feel proud of the team you chose to support. It’s just that Arsenal have a list far longer than any other team in football.

In no particular order;

• Tens of thousands of people showed up at the Emirates in an unscheduled, organic celebration of joy. They stayed until 4am. There would’ve been millions if they could’ve got there. This wasn’t even the trophy parade which might exceed 1 million people, especially if we win the Champions League the night before.
• Go on the internet/social media and see how many people from all corners of the world were on the streets celebrating. We have a global family. Other clubs have a collection of tourists and glory hunters.

• Our coach played for the club
• Our coach has a genuine love for the club, much like we do.
• Our coach is perhaps the first modern football coach who inherited a derelict stately home and didn’t call the painter first. He called ‘Bob’s Bulldozers’ and went to work on a brand new version of what used to be a beautiful stately home, but needed a new foundation.
• We have Hale End players who are regular starters. This might seem normal, but imagine how difficult it must be for an Academy player at Arsenal to break into one of the top two teams in the world.
• Arteta was smart. He built a team that was NEEDED to win the league. A team of units. I’m sure he would like to offer more flair but the league is more physical than ever and so you have to cede your wishes if you want to win.
• Many consider that Max Dowman might end up being the best player in Europe.
• We have the best goalkeeper in the world.
• We have the best centre back pairing in the world and individually possibly the best two centre backs, also. They will likely end up being the best pair in the history of British football, alongside Vidic and Ferdinand.
• We have the best midfielder in Europe in Declan Rice.
• Would you swap our full backs for anyone else? I wouldn’t.
• We have one of the best back 6’s in the history of the game.
• This is Mikel’s first job
• No other club has a coach that has the same gift of persuasion as Mikel has.

• Alongside Yamal, we have the world’s best right winger
• I’d love to say that we have the world’s best in every position, but no team has ever had that. We have between 4 and 7 who can argue this case which must be close to the best Barcelona team of 15 years ago.
• The vast majority of our players are arriving into their prime and will do so with their new contracts.
• Arsenal don’t have to convince the best talent to come. They don’t need to take a player who is just there for the money. Mbappe might be the perfect fit for our left wing, but he would need to convince us, not the other way round.

• We have owners who are now in tune with the fans desires for the club. A rare thing for a top club.
• We are revolutionizing the game on the field. Fans of our opponents are criticizing, but their team is copying.
• Opponents coach’s and players all say the same thing, ‘Arsenal are so difficult to play against.’ This is normally an unprompted thought. They just have too much respect not to talk about what they’ve just seen.
• How many players that have played for Arsenal are now Arsenal fans? I’ve never seen this kind of genuine draw from any other club. Have you seen players that play for a club currently, show up at 5am to walk around?

• We have a season ticket waiting list large enough to have a stadium for 100,000.
• We are so massive that What’s App did this and changed the colour of their logo….

• We have the best anthem in the history of football. Also, organic not organized and contrived.
• We might be solely responsible for multiple media pundits having to apologize for constantly picking on the wrong team. I expect Arteta to feel more freedom to allow his players more freedom as their shoulders will now be looser. The monkey has gone, so he isn’t coaching a team of players so tightly wound because they haven’t won yet. I’m hoping that we shut down some shows.
• Our podcasts are so good (Arsenal Vision and Arsecast) that Arteta showed the players their Union Chapel celebration in the changing room
• We are no longer seen as the ‘AFTV club.’ Our image (if you ignore the angry heads) is changing to massive respect. The ‘bottlers’ tag might have been fair, but the bottle has changed.

You may not be impressed by that list. If you feel that way, it’s likely because you haven’t learnt anything you didn’t already know. Look at it from the perspective of one of the 12 clubs above. Read the list again and ask yourself if they have or could accomplish what we have.

Those who are objective enough to see with a clear lens are concerned that the giant at N5 hasn’t just woken up, but the monkey has jumped off their back and because of the list (above), are best placed to dominate for years.

The reality of what is likely to happen is that Arsenal are now going to get maximum respect. If they win the CL, then they will be seen as the kings of football. Players will be dying to come. The fanbase will grow much like it did during Wenger’s early years. The stadium will have to expand. The sponsorships will be more $$$$$$. Companies will want their brand associated with Arsenal more than any other team. They will have to create pop-up stores to feed the demand.  Our revenue will grow significantly. If we win the Champions League on May 30th, Arteta will get a statue commissioned and rightly so.

Most of the list above is directly or indirectly thanks to one man who had the balls to do it the right way when other coaches either skip multiple steps or don’t have the talent to build a club from very foundation. Thank you to the genuine Arsenal legend, Mikel Arteta. He may go down as one of the most consequential of all time.

Way back you had a big choice to make.

Choosing Arsenal was the best decision you’ve made.

Mike McDonald

Former Highbury regular. Moved to TN, USA in ’99. Married with 3 kids. Coached in UK and US for 27 years.
Mike McDonald Soccer Academy in Morristown TN, Olympic Development coach, Regional Premier League Champion.