Stick with me son
I had a very nice family holiday last week down in Cornwall. We had decent weather during the day which made for a very enjoyable time away. There was just one thing that put a dampener on things and that came on an otherwise glorious Sunday afternoon right at the start. Even that was going okay up until the point that Cech was once again beaten to his right - it was a very good free-kick by Coutinho but Cech has a serious problem going to that side as he doesn't dive properly in that direction. After that it was nothing more than a shambles from Arsenal who, even when getting back to 3-4 in the 75th minute, didn't have a single shot at goal in the last 20 minutes of play! It was unacceptable, but not quite as unacceptable as Wenger claiming the players were not ready in his interview after the game - something in direct contrast to his programme notes before kick-off. The man is a liar and it is proven on an almost weekly basis these days. As a result of that game I got to learn that Liverpool must have won as I haven't seen so many people wearing their shirts in any week since they last won the European Cup.
One thing really irked me badly in the Liverpool game and that is how we somehow stopped taking advantage of the fact that Alberto Moreno was on the pitch for them. Theo Walcott absolutely destroyed him every time he got the ball. This saw us get a penalty (a poor one from Theo which was easily saved), and then a lovely goal from him to make up for it a couple of minutes later. Within seconds of the goal we had another chance to play Walcott in again - he was in the same position he had scored from but Alexis Sanchez looked up, saw him, and turned in the other direction (I haven't even mentioned the one where Ramsey decided he was Pele and shot from the halfway line instead of putting Theo in on goal) - from there on we didn't go down the right for the remainder of the game. What is said at half-time exactly?!
While I'm on the subject of Theo, and this isn't the popular view, he has been our best player in these opening two games. I have given him fearful stick in the last six months or so, but I always give credit where it is due. He was our ONLY threat at Leicester on Saturday, and an extra 20 minutes of Jack and Ozil on the pitch might have actually saw Theo winning us the match. However, all I have seen online is people going out of their way to smash Walcott. These people ignore the frankly disgraceful performances from Alexis Sanchez in those two games and, let's be honest, Alexis has largely been c**p for most of the last year. Again, not a popular view, but if you actually try and be objective for five minutes you can't really deny it's the truth. Alexis played brilliantly at Leicester last season, and at home to Man Utd. Can you remember any other notable displays from him? Theo is the easy target so people are sticking it to him regardless of how he plays. That sickens me. When Theo plays badly again I will say so, but I will give him credit when it is due every time.
So now we're on to Saturday let me say that Laurent Koscielny was immense and young Holding looked excellent alongside him. You have to wonder how Wenger can go on about the likes of Koscielny, Giroud and Ozil not being ready when you see a performance like that. King Koscielny was nearly undone by Coquelin, who should have been sent-off, and Bellerin's clumsy foul in the penalty area, but Clattenburg was in the mood to be the star of the show and Arsenal got away with it on the day. Anyone questioning what Holding's selection means for Calum Chambers obviously has never watched Chambers play - the goal by Mane last week, where he was too slow even to rugby tackle him, was reason enough to see why Holding got the nod. Obviously the youngster can't play every week and be expected to not make errors, so a new centre-back remains high on the shopping list, but Chambers should really be heading for the door. Debuchy and Monreal can do a better job than him in the centre of defence, and I suspect Carl Jenkinson can do when he gets fit. However, I would seriously stop short of spending £43m on this Mustafi character - I'd rather have Jonny Evans any day, but the fact we didn't even go in for Ashley Williams is totally bizarre. Meanwhile I am yet to be inspired by our one major signing of the summer - Xhaka looks slow and unable to tackle without fouling. Frankly speaking, and it is a very early impression, Mathieu Flamini didn't cost £34m but I'm not seeing much in Xhaka just yet that makes me think he's a better player.
It's the words of Arsene Wenger after the game that form the basis for the title of this piece. The travelling fans were loud in their complaints towards the end of the game. Chants of "spend some f***ing money" have been heard before, but "we want Wenger out" was a new one, especially from the most loyal fans of the club. When asked about the discontent over the lack of spending he came out with some bizarre diatribe about paying the wages of the 600 employees of Arsenal at the end of the month. This man earns in excess of £6m per year from Arsenal yet has the brass neck to plead some kind of poverty on behalf of the fifth richest football club in the world. Is he trying to say that things are bad financially at Arsenal? Are we close to going in to administration? Are Arsenal the new Glasgow Rangers? Does he think we are all totally f***ing stupid? Well the answer to that last question came in his next quote when asked about the fans being unhappy with him. Apparently we are lead by the media. That's right folks, as a football fan you are incapable of coherent thought based on your own feelings and opinions. It's amazing that us football supporters are allowed out without our carers given that we are not capable of cognitive thought without some journalist or broadcaster telling us what it is we really think. This has to be one of the most abusive and insulting things he has ever come out with. It is disgusting that the Arsenal Manager can dismiss the supporters in such a way. He believed we are totally beneath him in every way, but especially intellectually. Of course, this is a man who surrounds himself with "yes men" so the idea that someone can be Neanderthal enough to actually disagree with him means they must be influenced by someone else. The man is not even a caricature of himself anymore and every day that passes simply makes his presence more abhorrent to me. If you don't like that then tough, but at least you're thinking for yourself rather than being influenced by someone else...
No comments:
Post a Comment