Every year, the Arsenal contend for the Premier League crown. Sort of. It’s been two decades since Arsenal finished outside the top 4 in the Premier League. But despite Arsenal’s consistency on the pitch, it seems like each season just blends seemlessly into the next. So despite all their consistency, they have failed to win the title for the past 12 seasons.
Arsene Wenger is a world class manager but aggravates his own fans with his stubbornness. He also aggravates opposition fans with his stubbornness, but probably for different reasons.
In any case, it’s easy to resent a team that always wins. Arsenal never have unsuccessful seasons record-wise and have developed a consistent model for success under a strong foundation of players and coaches.
Well, we have certainly found reasons to hate the north London club! Here are the top 10 reasons to hate Arsenal Football Club…
Success. Sort of
Arsenal’s position in the league standings doesn’t vary very often, after all, they are always near the top. What type of fan wouldn’t want his team in the top 4 every year for the past 20 years?
And as such, it’s easy to hate success because it’s so hard to achieve in such a competitive league. Jealously is an ancient reason for hatred, and probably the very first reason. Today, the Premier League is more even than it has been for years, but Arsenal’s consistency hasn’t wavered. Whatever you think of Arsenal – and you can think of a lot of things – if you hate them, it may well be because they’re successful.
Stan Kroenke
Many fans see Kroenke as a senseless, money-hungry dictator who values the business aspect of football club ownership more than the personal, fan-friendly side. This season, Arsenal’s ticket prices were the most expensive in the Premier League. Again.
Kroenke recently moved his American football club, the Rams, from St. Louis to Los Angeles, a bigger city, simply to make more money. It’s this sort of cold, corporate ruthlessness that many hate, and in Arsenal it’s there for all to see.
Hostile and Annoyingly Reminiscent Fanbase
Emmanuel Adebayor agrees with this one.
After he left Arsenal for Manchester City, Arsenal fans booed and heckled him when he met them again in the Premier League.
At the Etihad stadium, the Togolese former Arsenal striker ran the entire length of the pitch and goaded the Arsenal fans after scoring a goal against his former team.
Arsenal fans, too, have a knack of annoyingly petty behaviour, too. Who could forget, for example, that glorious, sunny day when Arsenal Fan TV’s cringeworthy post-match parody of a show descended into farce amongst a frenzy of faux-outrage and thanks to the God of entertainment, an actual fistfight!
Arsenal fans love to relive the glory days of the early 2000s – over a decade ago now – when the ‘invincibles’ were in their pomp. Needless to say, listening to one of the most spineless teams in the top half of the league bang on about ‘invincibles’ doesn’t sit will with opposition fans !
Gunnersaurus
Well, what can we say about this?!
A green dinosaur dressed in an Arsenal kit, wearing a team hat and sporting an odd emblem stopped around his neck. Everything about “Gunnersaurus” inflicts hate. There is no selection of a dinosaur makes no sense, the name itself is egregious and, well, it’s just hideous!
Emirates Stadium
Everything about the Emirates Stadium screams corporate sell-out. Opened in 2006, the facilities are quite clearly top-notch (there’s that jealousy again), but it’s fair to say the lacklustre atmosphere diminishes its overall effect. Ticket prices are expensive and the fans tend to leave 10 minutes before the end of the game. An architectural masterpiece, sure, but Emirates is no where near the most intimidating place to play in England – unless you’re an out-of-form Arsenal player!
Fans’ internet activity
Arsenal fans have made a habit of hijacking online polls over the last couple of seasons, leading to most polls – about almost any subject – becoming subject to an answer akin to #SSNSanchez. They’ve ruined everything. We hope you’re happy Arsenal fans!
Unvarying placement in standings
It almost seems the past decade is lumped together into one prolonged season. Each campaign features the same manager with the same results and the same place in the league. Arsenal are the fourth best team in the Premier League. Even when they finish second!
Olivier Giroud
The question of whether Giroud is a competent footballer is discussed quite often. Arsenal fans have to love his aerial ability, but he isn’t blessed with pace, one-on-one ability or, it seems finishing ability.
Giroud is a totem pole, there to bring others into the game or finish off a move he’s been involved in during the build-up. But it’s hard to like Giroud’s Premier League performances – at the end of the day, he’s an average striker who infuriated Arsenal and other fans alike!
Patrick Vieira
Manchester United notoriously hate Patrick Vieira. His infamous exchanges with Roy Keane exposed Vieira’s fiery nature. The Frenchman’s departure to Juventus angered many Arsenal fans, but he is remembered as one of the greatest players in the club’s successful era. Vieira had all of the physical tools necessary to be a truly great midfielder. Hence the hatred, really.
Arsene Wenger
The manager has nearly finished his second decade as the man in charge, and his seat has warmed considerably. And during that time we’ve been treated on a monthly basis to sour grapes and toys being routinely thrown out of the pram.
Wenger is a Premier League legend – let’s be fair – but if you can’t hate a bitter legend, then who can you hate?!
