Here is Thierry Henry talking to Declan Rice on CBS Sports after the 3-1 win over Bayern Munich.
I’ll be honest: something is different this year. It’s not the same as before. I used to say that Arsenal can win because I am a fan. Now I say it without my Arsenal hat on. The way you look as a team, as a unit, is different.
Something’s happening.
And here’s Rice’s answer:
You’re right, I see an anger in our players this season. Like you said, I think you could see it in the derby this weekend. You can see it in other games we’ve played.
We have that fire in our stomach, whether we defend, whether we go into a duel, whether we defend a corner kick, whether we want to score. Every action, you know, we’re so hungry to do the best we can. We now have a group of players, a group of leaders who are incredible and a group of guys who will do everything they can to help this team win.
To be clear, due to the online world we live in, both Henry and Rice have made it clear that there is still a long way to go, and no one is taking anything for granted with so much of the season still to be played. Because what happens is that these kinds of discussions get chopped up, chopped up and then presented in bad faith. That’s a side effect of the Twitter fiction and hate-watchification of football discourse, something I might delve into a little more at some point, because I really feel like it’s quite vicious and important to get back to.
But that sound is largely external. Sometimes, as we saw with some reactions to Noni Madueke’s summer signing, it can spill over into reality. In the real world, however, he is being embraced by the fans and this week welcomed to the stadium where he scored his first Arsenal goal. I think it’s far too simplistic to say that match fans are ‘real’ fans, because that’s just not the case. There are real fans everywhere. It’s more accurate to say that there is a small online cohort that cares more about engagement and responses than anything else, and you won’t get anything good out of that warped mentality.
Anyway, my main point was that Rice talked about feeling anger from the players. I find that fascinating because I don’t think it really manifests itself in an obvious way on the field. If I had to describe this team now, I would use words like focused, prepared, determined, determined, committed, etc., before using “angry.” Of course that’s my outside perception, Declan Rice would know much better than I if something is simmering among his teammates.
What’s so interesting is that if that anger is there, which comes from finishing second three times in a row and perhaps from the suggestion that we’ve become some kind of perennial runner-up, they don’t show it in a particularly obvious way. Maybe it’s anger that drives them to take on those challenges, win those duels, compete for 90+ minutes every game, and if there is, there’s a control in it that’s something rare.
Anger usually leads to aggression, and while I think any opposition would say that Arsenal are a difficult team to play against and that there is aggression in our game, for lack of a better expression it is about the facets of football and not man-to-man. I think we’re well versed in the so-called ‘dark arts’, but I don’t think anyone can say we’re a dirty team. We are not violent. And I feel like this is very conscious.
You go back to the season when we were pipped to the title by Man City and we were accused of being too emotional. It always felt a bit strange to me, a bit in line with the Celebration Police aspect of the way we were discussed. “You shouldn’t enjoy anything until you’ve won something,” was the message, which fundamentally misunderstands what football actually is. We should just share manly handshakes and say ‘Good job mate, now on to the next one’ when Reiss Nelson scores a winner against Bournemouth?
It was and remains a dishonest and purposeful way to trivialize something that was really good. Really good is rare in this world these days, in football or otherwise, and every football fan should enjoy the joy that exists in a match, a goal or a weekend without feeling like they are being exposed to Whataboutery C*nts who exist only to diminish whatever little they can because their own lives are so miserable.
However, I can’t help but think there is a direct correlation between this season’s Arsenal, whether in anger or dedication or however you want to describe it, and the accusations of being too emotional. I jokingly described us as a Great White Shark on the Arsecast Extra this week after we won the North London derby, but I think there is something to that. Ruthless, efficient, silent beneath the surface, then we’ll bite your damn legs off and leave your mother desperate.
If we know anything about Mikel Arteta, he learns all kinds of things. The good and the bad and everything in between. That’s how his mind works, and I think the message to his team this season was that he wasn’t giving anything away to anyone. Not on the field, not in the media, not with a modicum of dissent or retaliation. If there is a determination to go better than those three second places, it has to be channeled into the way they work, the way they train and the way they play. That’s it.
Go out there, play, hopefully win, well done. NEXT. Even after beating Bayern, something of a black beast for him as a player and manager he said:
Today is another huge victory, but that’s all. Now we’re going home, have a nice dinner and tomorrow morning we start preparing for Stamford Bridge.
Declan Rice said Arteta was preparing them for Bayern the day after the derby and showing them how they were going to play. There is no room or time for anything other than the job for these players and the manager and his staff. That, I think, is how it should be until the job is, hopefully, done. And I don’t think we would be where we are today without that mentality.
For fans, however, things should be a little different. We have to live this as it happens and recognize how good it is. The journey is important. Henry further said to Rice:
Embracing the fact that you are good is also vital. Do you understand what I’m saying? When you arrive somewhere, that is also vital.
For me he’s talking about recognizing your quality as a team, because that’s important. You often heard how teams that played Arsenal in the Invincibles era knew they were being beaten in the tunnel. It’s a bit cliché, but it’s also true, because of the quality they had, but also because of that look. According to Henry, the way this team can go on and win the title is by feeling this way. Arteta will not allow it to become arrogance, but there is a middle ground that can certainly be positive.
I think this also applies to us as supporters. We must embrace the fact that we are good. We can carry the scars of previous seasons, and I know we certainly do, but it shouldn’t stop us from enjoying what’s happening on the pitch right now. Winning a major trophy this season was probably going to be a heady cocktail of 50-50 joy and relief, but we have to make sure this journey we’re on is part of that joy too.
Okay, I’ll leave it at this, quite a long one this morning! There’s an Arsecast below if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, and don’t forget we have a preview podcast on Patreon looking ahead to our match against Chelsea on Sunday. For some extra reading, Tim’s column this week is about Mikel Merino.
The Goodly Morning mugs are also on sale herewith all proceeds going to charity, so if you really don’t need a Christmas present anymore, give it a try!
See you tomorrow.
#Anger #energy