Siege Mentality

‘Mik Arteta’s red army!’
Mik Arteta’s red army!’
A chant that enveloped the away end at the AMEX Arena on Wednesday evening. It’s an old staple that has dropped out of the songbook in recent seasons, presumably because the intonation on Mikel Arteta’s name does not lend itself to the tune quite as nicely as Arsene Wenger or ‘Georgie Graham’.

It’s not an especially witty or memorable chant. But it does lend itself to persistent repetition, it builds and builds and becomes a sort of drumbeat, the final syllable allows the crowd to push off vocally into an armyyyyyyyyyyy, before bleeding into the next rendition. You can clap along or stamp your feet to it as well. In short, it creates a sort of wall of sound.

I mention this because I hadn’t heard the chant since Arsene Wenger left. (Unai Emery’s name is ill suited to it for much the same reason that Arteta’s is). There has always been a chant for Arteta, to the tune of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Bad Moon Rising’, but that is a feelgood, chug along song. There is a jubilance to it and the length of it doesn’t suit repetition.

The choice of song from the away end was a deliberate one, it was about tailoring a song to the occasion as Arsenal closed in on a huge 1-0 victory at Brighton. As Brighton fruitlessly tossed crosses into the Arsenal area only to see them repelled by Gabriel and Piero Hincapie, the away support wanted, I think, that sense of constancy and to build a wall of sound around the Arsenal goal.

In short, it was to provide support in the most literal terms, to be a vocal ally during a time of tension for the team. There was a context to this game which was somewhat unique, it was the first time that Arsenal and City had synchronised kickoffs since the 26th October. Every single game has been defined by either the need to lay down a marker or the need to respond.

City’s stutter at home to Nottingham Forest unfolded in real time as Arsenal gamely defended a one goal lead, the confluence of these events added an urgency to the support. To me, it felt like the first time in many months when the support was not defined by anxiety or fear but by defiance and support in the true sense of the word, the idea that the team and the fans were one composite body united in effort.

I say that non-judgementally and do not separate myself from that sense that the support has been defined by angst and nerves for much of the season. I do not need to rehash the reasons for that, we all know what they are. On the pitch, I got a sense of a team that was calm and in control, defending a one goal lead but not through desperation, through skill and leaning into the qualities that this team majors in.

It didn’t feel as though it was through nerves or a lack of other ideas, it felt like a good defensive team embracing their identity and holding their opponent at arm’s length. In short, it was a team recognising who and what it really is and the supporters rallied behind that. It felt like a meeting of minds at a time when the external noise has never been higher.

Brighton’s fans, rallied by their manager, had made their minds up about Arsenal. Fabian Butt-Hurzeler’s pre-match whinge fired up the home support. That is fine, managers and supporters are not supposed to make life easy for the opposition. I do think the air of apathy around Manchester City is a marginal advantage for them in this title race.

I don’t think opposing fans relish creating a hostile environment for them. They have won a lot of trophies in recent years, they don’t have a particularly big fan base so, unless you support Manchester United or live in Manchester, it is unlikely that you encounter too many City fans in day-to-day life. There is a lack of enmity and their success is easy for opposing fans to compartmentalise and, ultimately, dismiss psychologically.

I fully understand why there is a greater resistance to the idea of Arsenal breaking a long (by their standards) title duck than there is Manchester City racking up another league title that few people especially care about. There are probably some (115) reasons why this shouldn’t be the case in an ideal world but, like I say, I understand it even if I don’t endorse it.

Wednesday evening on the south coast felt significant to me in the sense that it feels like Arsenal have been taking on the world and, sometimes, even their own fans. (The previous caveats apply, I am not judging and I am very much a part of it!) On Wednesday, it felt as though the team and the supporters felt comfortable with who they are and created a siege mentality together.

As well as taking five points off Manchester City, Hurzeler’s other great contribution to this title race might have been creating a common enemy for Arsenal and their supporters. Because if the title dream has not always united the players and the fans, the idea of flicking the v’s at the outside world certainly does.

The option to choose the constant drumbeat of ‘Mik Arteta’s red army’ felt supportive, but it also felt defiant. As an Arsenal fan of a certain age, I would love for us to proudly bellow out ‘Boring Boring Arsenal!’ too in the closing weeks of the season, but maybe we can save that for another time.

The game was ugly, the performance questionable, but there was a marriage of minds and a unity I had not felt for a couple of seasons, since Arsenal first competed for the title three years ago. The team also looked more comfortable in its own skin, comfortable working at the coalface, clocking in and grinding out for victory. And the fans seemed not only to accept that but to relish it too.

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