Last weekend marked the return of the Premier League season, and it was a disappointing start for Arsenal. After losing out to underdogs West Ham in a 2-0 defeat at the Emirates, many fans of the club were disappointed with the result and are already (perhaps prematurely) bracing themselves for a headache of a season.
However, while those watching from home and even in the stands likely limited their opinions of their squad’s performance to discussions with their friends, family and posts on social media, there were a variety of Gunners who decided that they should take their half-baked ideas on what manager Arsene Wenger should/shouldn’t do to the streets, and engage in debates with strangers outside the Emirates Stadium. These exchanges are recorded for posterity by ArsenalFanTV, which is a YouTube channel you should probably subscribe to even if you aren’t an Arsenal fan yourself, due to it supplying viewers with a hefty dose of cringe with every passing game.
ArsenalFanTV’s coverage of the the club’s first Premier League match in the 2015/16 season does not disappoint, with them having captured a particularly enthralling exchange between a crowd of Arsenal fans and one rogue Manchester United fan, who had seemingly taken the wrong turning at some point during a train journey and ended up at the Emirates, with him then having to decided to loiter around outside the stdium in order to engage in lengthy, pointless debates with complete strangers.
The highlight of the video comes when Moh, an ArsenalFanTV regular, decides to insert himself into the conversation by wagging his finger at the rogue Man U fan, saying: “Fella, don’t talk about spend… talk about net spend.”
Watch the video below:
Moh, who has the dead-eyed stare of a man who works in a call centre on the weekday but moonlights as a serial killer, is one of many regular faces who stand around being interviewed by ArsenalFanTV on a weekly basis, offering opinions that are as worthless as any other armchair football manager’s but doing so whilst operating under the illusion that their thoughts actually matter. They talk as though their words carry any importance whatsoever, and that maybe one day Arsene Wenger will come bursting through the Emirates’ door, run right up to Moh and say “Moh, I really need your help with some key decisions during the next transfer window – will you be my protege?” To which Moh would respond: “Yeah, so, let’s talk about net spend, not spend.”
Watching ArsenalFanTV’s videos is an experience that could be equated to slowly slipping into insanity, where you start to feel like you’re a part of the lives of these season ticket holders who spend their spare time on a Saturday afternoon shouting at people who have differing opinions about football. It’s like watching an Internet comment section come to life, where no one is willing to be proven wrong, everyone believes that they’re right and absolutely no progress is made.
Inevitably, some people don’t appreciate strangers walking up to them and telling them that they’re wrong, especially football fans who have spent the best part of a Saturday afternoon sinking pints and cheering until they sound like they mixed gravel into their cereal that morning. This unfortunately meant that Ty, another ArsenalFanTV regular who can be seen sporting an Arsenal shirt, an Arsenal jacket, an Arsenal beanie and an Arsenal-themed pair of Beats headphones, found himself on the receiving end of a physical attack which should probably convince him to stop hassling people outside the Emirates Stadium, but likely won’t.
Arsenal fans will be praying that the team ups their game considerably over the coming months, but the rest of us are hoping that the drama continues in order to witness the likes of Moh, Ty and co. reach their breaking points.
