Are you listening Persie?

The 2006 world cup was on the cards. The world was looking forward to a whole new footballing spectacle and so was I. As a 12 year old, I as many,  knew football by Brazil and Brazil by football. I did not know a single thing about the beautiful game before, but was looking forward to see the mighty Brazilians play. And the much anticipated tournament started!

After seeing Brazil through to the quarters, I was fairly happy and satisfied by my 'adopted' nation's performance. Brazil had to play a much less fancied France side in the quarters, who were deemed as not more than a small obstacle for the defending champs. But to my surprise and disappointment, against all odds,  France sent Brazil packing out of the cup. And the goal scorer was none other than 'Thierry Henry'. The Arsenal forward who was little unknown those days, at least to me. I being a neutral, soon forgot Brazil and started admiring Zidane and Co. After seeing my team through to the finals, my heart was broken again as the Les Bleus lost to Cannavaro's Italy in the finals.

The WC memories soon faded away but one name still was well in my thoughts, 'Thierry Henry'. I just couldn't forget this name. I had fallen in love with Henry and his footballing skills. And this was the turning point in my life. I started loving football then anything. I today very proudly say that, it was Henry who made 

me love football.

I had heard of the English Premier League but did not follow it before. For the sake of knowing Henry's club, I just googled the words "Thierry Henry's club" and the name I found was "ARSENAL FC". Now what is Arsenal I thought. So I found out the club's site and gazed through it but couldn't get anything. So I turned my TV on and ran through some sports channels, and to much of my pleasant surprise, I saw Henry playing in a red-white t-shirt with O2 written on it. And suddenly it clicked in my mind, it was Arsenal in action. Again, I was introduced to Arsenal, through Henry. And yes, as a proud follower of Henry, I started watching Arsenal games.

The first time I saw him play

The club, with its silky passing and wonderful goals, attracted me a lot and I quickly became a fan of the gunners. Months passed by and during those months, I had managed to watch each and every Arsenal game. I now, loved Arsenal as much as Henry. As time went by, I fell deeper and deeper in love with the club. I by know, knew everything, from the club's rich heritage to its current squad, from the Emirates stadium to Highbury, from its invincibles to their FA Cup triumphs. And I started admiring the Arsene Wenger philosophy. His philosophy was simple as I quote " We, at Arsenal do not buy superstars, We make them ".

I knew the club inside out by the time the  season ended.  It came as a shock to me as I heard the news of my hero Henry moving to Barcelona. I had to chose between Henry and Arsenal, and I chose to be with Arsene and Co. simply because the club was more than just a player. As the new season came, I knew the Fabregases, the Lehmanns, the Gallases (all of them to be short). This sadly, was the start of the drought at the Emirates.  Arsenal as its philosophy says, kept on making super stars and  kept on losing them to bigger clubs as seasons went by but Wenger's team kept on being competitive despite having no household names in the team. I as many other Arsenal loyalists, kept on supporting my club despite the trophy less seasons. Simply because, I loved and admired the club for its style of play and philosophy and not trophies.

Results were not very good but the club was going into a new direction. A young Arsenal side slowly became matured and the team was converting into a strong unit. Young lads continued to flow into the Emirates as Robin Van Persie, Samir Nasri, Thomas Vermalin, Koschielny, Walcott, Song all came into the club. The team was very young but extremely competitive. The fans patiently held on and dreamt of their budding heroes, one day lifting the trophy. But the dream was smashed as Fabregas (captain and already a legend at Arsenal) chose to move to his childhood club - Barcelona. Samir Nasri & Gayle Clichy (integral part of Arsenal) chose money over loyalty as they left the club for the cash rich Manchester City. But who cares if we win a trophy or not, I love the club as much as I loved it before.

Wenger had to buy some experienced players   (out of his philosophy) to fill in the void left by the players who went. Arteta, Benayoon, Santos, Park Chu Yung & Girvinho were all bought at the end of transfer market. The side after an early slip, became stable as the league progressed and were able to finish 3rd and most importantly above arch rivals Tottenham.

As the new season is awaiting us, rumors are that our club captain, Robin Van Persie is on the verge of quitting Arsenal, The initial meetings for his contract extension have failed. In order to 'convince' him to stay at the emirates, he has demanded new quality signings to win trophies. Well I say, if he had no trust in Wenger and his policies then why did he not say it to the manager in the past 8 years? Just because the ball is in your court and the team desperately needs you, you start 'demanding' things. 

Captain leading by example?

And to 'ensure' our captain, Arsenal have already (very early) signed two good footballers in Lukas Podolski and Olvier Giroud, again against the Wenger policy. This, only to convince our captain to stay at the club. Personally, I didn't like the way we have splashed out, only to convince someone who still 'demands' of  'meetings' with the manager. A player, whom Arsenal 'tolerated' for 8 long years ( he remained injured for lengthy spells) now wants to leave the club when he delivered in his 9th year.

The point is, Arsenal are more than RVP! We love the club, because it has its own unique way of functioning. We love the club for its silky accurate passing, its style of play, it's amazing transfer policies and for it's manager. We are sacrificing everything that we are famous for only to convince our captain. And as many of the readers would claim that going out of our philosophy for Persie is right, than whats the difference between other clubs and Arsenal if we sell and buy players every time when the markets open. We always do things in our way, the Arsenal way. Why should we sacrifice that?

If RVP stays, I would be more than happy, but if  he leaves, Arsenal would be the same as it was during the years. It's only a matter of time that we develop a replacement to our captain. I started loving the club through Henry, superstars went by, years came and went by, but my love for the club only grew. No matter how many seasons go trophy less for Arsenal, I will continue to support the red and white! The cannon will start firing someday, keep believing! Gunner for life!

Note: This is an article by an Arsenal fan who has contributed the article to el sportino. Thus, views mentioned in this article are not those of el sportino.