Come on Arsenal, lets 'ave ya

Last night I borrowed a friend's copy of Green Street, the British movie about the Green Street Elite football hooligan firm. The main characters are 'fans' of West Ham and in one particular part of the film one of the main characters is explaining to an American friend the ins and outs of football and hooligan firms and how they are linked. He describes West Ham as a good firm but bad team, Arsenal have a good team but a bad firm and Spurs have a bad firm and bad team. Perfect. If a reputation makes its way from the streets onto the big screen in a matter of fact kind of way then there must be truth to it. I know it was childish of me to laugh out loud when I heard the line, but it amused me no end.

The film also got me thinking about the thuggish behaviour that is still sometimes associated with football. I always believed large scale hooliganism was the sole preserve of clubs who had little else to boast about and hence their fans needed to establish some sort of superiority to make themselves feel better about their identity. How someone can get enjoyment out of battering, or getting battered, by a complete stranger and claiming they are doing it because they are hard-core fans makes no sense to me. In fact I would equate a thug on the street to a thug on the pitch. They just can't keep up with their peers and need to crush others in order to feel superior and give their self-esteem a boost. The fact that Arsenal have rarely been linked with this problem should be a source of pride for all gooners.

Now before anyone accuses me of blindly putting my club on a pedestal, I will presume that in the 70's and 80's we did have our own problems. However, I know absolutely nothing about the Arsenal 'Firm' and their 'Main Face' and have wondered why this is. For example has anyone on here been involved directly or indirectly or does anyone know of where I might be enlightened. I am struggling to educate myself on the facts.

Moving on and it seems as though we will be playing our season opener with an entire midfield and two strikers injured or unfit. Added to that we lost four centre backs since last season and we have replaced them with an unknown and an injury prone unproven. We also look like we will have to make do with Almunia in goal which won't inspire anyone, opposition aside, and we also lost a talented midfielder and experienced striker in Merida and Eduardo respectively.

Chamakh does look like he has some quality and will be a welcome addition but if he, along with Koscielny, are our only additions during this window then Wenger will be taking the biggest gamble of his Arsenal career. It will mean that he will inevitably have to rely on players like Wilshere, Frimpong, Eastmond and Sczesny as the season moves on. Integrating new players is to be encouraged but hinging our season and his future on them is just plain wrong. For someone as articulate, calculating and intelligent as Wenger I am never happy to doubt him, but my worries are growing by the day.

If for example Mark Schwarzer is worthy of playing for Arsenal then he is worth the reputed 4 million pounds that Fulham want. Hell, even keeping people off his back and fans on his side is worth an extra 2 million when you also consider that Schwarzer would be an ideal candidate to mentor Sczesny over the next two seasons, which in turn should be used as an integration period for the young pole and would allow Wenger to concentrate on problems in other parts of the team.

The services of Fabregas have been secured for another season but one has to wonder how much longer his patience and that of players like van Persie will last under a manager who seems happy to spend his seasons proving everyone else wrong and himself right. Progression over the last five seasons has only been made in the eyes of some and now our squad is at a tipping point. Whether they step forward or back will colour the last five seasons and as a consequence will also colour Wengers legacy. Interesting times lie ahead.

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