I love Arsenal not because of emotional or unreasonable love. The only club with emotional bind is only Persib Bandung, simply because I was born in Bandung.
Why I love Arsenal FC?
I love them because of how they play football. Arsenal is one of two (the other is MU) clubs in English Premier League that always play brilliant attacking football. They always find a way to kill the game, even when facing super defensive club. When having unbeatable season in 2003/04 (26 wins 12 draws), they played their football at the highest level. The tackle was so clean and well-timed, the break was fast and sharp, the pass was perfect, and the finishing was clinical.
I think there are two people at Arsenal that define their success in the past few years. Frankly, I don’t know whether I will be their fans if these two people leave Arsenal.
The first is Arsene Wenger. What a brilliant coach (selain Jose Morinho). He definitely knows what kind of game he wants to play. It’s fluid movement and quick passing. He is also a great ‘businessman’. He always controls salary policy, and contracts (no player with age more than 30 can get more than one-year contract). In the transfer market, he knows when to let great players go (Patrick Viera, Emanuelle Pettit), and when to develop new talents.
Last year was Wenger’s worst performance at Arsenal. Still, he could manage to finish fourth in Premier League and second in Champions League. This was amazing since his 4 back players‘ (Flamini-Eboue-Toure-Sanderos) age average was below 20 years, and his playmaker was only 19 years old (Cesc Fabregas).
The second man is Thierry Henry. It may be controversial whether he is the best striker in the world at this moment. But if we take out aerial and diving ability from the criteria, he is definitely the one. He is the striker that can turn the game around with his magical goal. Goalkeeper always hates to duel one on one with him, since his finishing is excellent. He can score from freekick and long range also.
Final say, it is really a thrill to watch them play. Even against the mighty Chelsea (and lose in the end), they still can keep the attacking style to make Chelsea defend. So unfortunate, currently in Europe, there is Barcelona (who also plays sexy football). Otherwise, Arsenal will win the Champions League last year.