Let’s All Get Behind The Arsenal

Whether you’re near or far, at the Emirates or watching on the TV let’s all support The Arsenal

Our resident Arsenal men's Player Ratings member of our team, View From The Armchair, issues a rallying cry for Gooners everywhere.

The roles are quite clear.

I get to support Arsenal Football Club, win, lose or draw. Mikel Arteta gets to pick the team.

Football Manager on Xbox and PlayStation is a thing, and you might even be able to be king of the jungle if you choose that path, go for it, but being in the ground is not for you if you want to spew bile and negativity.

So, a massive big up to Gooners at the Emirates, cheering on the Gunners against Wolves, you in the ground, you bought it home on Saturday night.

You stayed with this team, through thick and thin.

Trust the process.

I’ve never seen a divided team win the league with a fanbase not all rowing in the same direction all at once.

If you don’t believe me on that, look at Mo Salad and the disruption he is now causing to the current champions, that’s all it took to undermine them this year, so if being in the ground is not for you, come and watch it at home. 

View From The Armchair Arsenal vs Wolves Crowd Watch

Crowd watch, the all-important, bonus crowd watch from the View From The Armchair, to sit nicely alongside my weekly player ratings - which if you have not read them yet, you really should, get onto it here and here.

(And why not follow him on Twitter here as he's criminally underfollowed - Gooner ed)

Still goalless after half time against the team that is rock-bottom of the Premier League, moans and groans coming down from the stands on the 54 minutes mark were starting to be noticeable, as the frustration of not putting nine goals past relegation-bound Wolves at this point of the game, forces Arteta to make three substitutions.

A trio of changes. Bringing off three players, who on their day, are simply world class in Martin Zubimendi, Eberechie Eze and Gabi Martinelli a mere nine minutes after the interval.

As someone who suffered the ignominy of being sent on a substitute and then being pulled back off again as a youth - just like Leo Trossard at Villa last week - the message is loud and clear, we are not catering to big-time Charlie’s this year. See Liverpool with Mo Salad if you don’t believe me.

All of which means, while the crowd gets more tense, more nervous as each minute passes, the voices are still loud and behind the boys, as the clock ticks down.

Declan ‘we got him half price’ Rice goes close from distance, and the whooooooo’s are loud and on point as Wolves, make their own substitutions.

I’m noticing the lack of boos that players like Emanuel Eboue had to endure when he was pulled off across the late Arsene Wenger years, when the harmony among our fanbase was distinctly missing, and people spilled their bile and negativity onto the players, and onto the team. 

I have not heard the ground this united and all rowing in the same direction since the never-to-be-forgotten night we beat Barcelona 2-1, and a teenage Jack Wilshere left Xavi and Iniesta looking like a pair of Sunday league sloggers.

I was in the ground that night, and then went away for the second leg high up in the Nou Camp gods (with the current editor of the Gooner Fanzine), when a certain Lionel Messi dinked Manuel Almunia three times from the six yard box.

It was almost as if a side bet had been placed in the dressing room beforehand: “I bet I can chip Almunia three times and recover this 2-1 deficit.” 

Despite the defeat I had a magnificent little trip abroad, got to say I’ve been to the Nou Camp, even started a song singing “your tapas is rubbish” that evaporated into the Basque night-time air that wouldn’t have been heard on the telly if I was watching from my armchair that night.

My point is this: Being a supporter is all about the experiences we have with friends, and getting behind our team.

The clue is in the name. Supporters, support.

Thankfully I didn’t get to hear any boos at the final whistle as we somehow get over the line against a now broken WOlves team.

I’m sure there were one or two who managed to sneak in after leaving early, and were getting ready to unleash their bile – but those aren’t supporters, that’s not supporting, remain on course.

The clue is in the name. Supporters, support.

Straight up though, loyal Gooners at the Emirates on Saturday night brought the victory home.

A Word of Caution

Amid the relief at another three points added towards Arteta’s fabled total of 90 - a figure that he believes will be enough to win the title - can I just add a word of caution.

We haven’t won a thing yet. You don’t win league titles in December. And anyways, we have the Carabao Cup to win first.

Come at me on Twitter if you don’t think that’s an important cup for us to be focused on, but it’s nights like Wolves where we need to remain humble, focused on the finishing line in May.

Bukayo Saka has the POTM merits against Rob Edwards struggling side, and I’m hanging on our Starboy’s every word, as a microphone is put under his nose as the final whistle goes, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief - whether we are in the stands about to trudge down to Arsenal tube station like the nocturnal penguins you are made to be at this time of year, or, like me, sat on my armchair cheering on from afar.

Saka’s message is clear and on point.

It’s three points, and in line with the above, we remain humble, we go again, and he, more than anyone in our squad, knows a thing or two about the ups and downs life can throw at us,

Concordia, together we are stronger. 

After all, it's the sense of togetherness, the camaraderie, the bond that comes from having the same team, sharing the same intense highs, while bearing the lows, and taking the joy from being a Gooner, among Gooners. That surely is what is important as a football fan.

Here’s to some longed-for silverware come the Merry Month of May - but whatever happens, whether you’re near, or far, get behind our rip roaring Reds.

Many thanks for reading my regular player ratings over 2025, and this particular article, Gooners.

Have a great Christmas, wrap up warm, and be happy that Jesus is still delivering miracles in 2025.

Love and peace to you and yours for 2026 - I'll see you back on Player Ratings watch this weekend when the roadshow moves to Merseyside.

COYG

PS that was never an own goal, Jesus woz robbed…!

Read View From The Armchair's unique Player Ratings after every game Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side plays. 

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