Welcome to the Gunners’ town

A popular description of America is “the land of opportunity”, this has been emphasised by many high profile footballers venturing across the continent to finish off their careers. 

I get scared watching horror films. I remember watching Nightmare on Elm Street behind my sofa, too scared to look. I remember looking in the mirror trying to see if I was brave enough to say “Candyman” five times to see if it really does come to life, but stopping after three just in case. But, nothing prepares you for the fear of watching me beloved Arsenal defend!

Forget winning the World Cup a record five times, forget hosting the 2014 World Cup – in this edition of Meet the Global Gooners we speak to the Brazilians who only want to talk “Arsenal.”

Where else can I start other than saying… “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”. Yes, for any Arsenal fan there’s not much to write home about at the moment, certainly not in a positive light. But, the positive thing about adversity is that there is something to come back from. If you never get relegated, you can never get promoted… is too early to talk like this?!

I only got into football when I was 10 years old, so I have been spoilt as an Arsenal fan with the North London derbies. Since Wenger took charge, Arsenal have only lost in the league twice to Tottenham, and that was only in recent seasons. “St Totteringham’s Day”, the day where Spurs can officially no longer finish above Arsenal, has been celebrated since 1996 and the gulf between the red and white of North London became massive.

It is rare that a footballer playing in North London will cross the divide between the two fierce rivalries of Arsenal and Tottenham, Sol Campbell has not only done that but also established himself as a legend in North London.

Ever since we started investing seriously in our youth academy, there has always been an excitement about our young graduates becoming the ‘next big thing’ in Arsenal’s first-team. While the likes of Wilshere, Ramsey, Szczsney and Frimpong have become valuable members of the squad, the one who is conspicuously missing from that list is Henri Lansbury.

This summer was arguably Arsene Wenger’s most challenging at the helm of Arsenal football club. Key players left, and the doubts continued to grow over whether the Frenchman can produce a winning formula in his ongoing experiment. But despite all the events of the past few months, he continues to be regarded as one of the very finest managers in world football. So what exactly did Arsene get right this summer?