Archive for European Football
Arsenal’s Sanity Will Pay In Europe
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s been an interesting few days going walk-about, and meeting new folks while working in what I’d describe as a “pulling-your-teeth-out-without-a-local-anaesthetic” type of economy. You know the kind of economy that demands that you bend over, grab your ankles and doesn’t offer you the courtesy of using lubrication while shafting you in the most uncomfortable fashion.
“We’re heading to the dog house”, Joshua reminds all of us round the table discussing how best to stop our client from having to fold its tents and go to the wall.
To which I remind folks that whatever needs to be done should be done by Monday night so I can make my way back home. I have a very important European engagement on Tuesday night with an organization in Germany that specializes in the kind of artistic expression I normally indulge in at the home of football.
“Since when was football an art”, comes the retort from Steve across the table.
See, you have to forgive Steve. Not only does he have the personality of a puff adder, he resents that I call Wengerball and what Arsenal does as art. Personally, I think he’s a closet United fan, but he pretends he doesn’t give a hooting funt about football.
“Europe is fucked anyway. How long will they pretend the frigging elephant in the room is a hippo”, Joshua eloquently brings some order to the table.
And it makes you think. Greece is way past staring at the abyss, and they’re at the point where the abyss is smiling right back at them before it swallows the whole country into a very dark place. Ireland and Portugal like most other fairly mediocre economies were propelled by the smoke and mirrors of a European political plot hatched in Maastricht to create the United States of Europe. A plot which has back fired spectacularly with the impending collapse of whichever is the lesser of two evils, the Eurozone and its single currency, or the European Union in its current form.
The amazing thing is this though. The football establishment still thinks that everything is normal and that what is happening around them will not affect their existence. You only have to listen to the illiterate punditocracy jizzing and sycophanting about the amount of money being spent by a cabal of filthy rich individuals, or in the case of Manchester City, another country’s sovereign wealth fund.
When talking about Everton, a club that pretty much has to ask Barclays Bank for permission to pay the bills – the solution offered is that they should go to the middle east and look for a sugar daddy because that’s the only way to survive.
This kind of “chocolate tea pot” reasoning is what has contributed to a culture of recklessness when it comes to football finance. The expectation is that the only way of working through the challenges of the game is by spending money you don’t even have to buy your way out of it. We’re constantly told that “it’s the way the world is now”. Accept it or take the highway. If you don’t have money, you can’t compete.
The hacks get bemused when Arséne Wenger suggests that football is pretty much going to hit a cash crisis in the very near future. You can almost see their rolling eyes scream out “Wenger should just stick to managing Arsenal and buying the big name, big money players he needs to compete with City and United”.
Mind you, Wenger is a guy who has a masters degree in economics, and it wouldn’t be farfetched to suggest that he actually has a clue about what he says regarding the economy. As they famously say, the tide is coming, and only after it has left will we see those who’ve been swimming naked.
It’s not even about the Financial Fair Play rules. Clubs will find loopholes around that. They won’t be able to cheat the economy though. I hear people say that clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid or even the debt riddled Man United will never be allowed to fail. There’s an Asian tycoon or Arab billionaire waiting in the wings to save them.
The thing is this though, it really doesn’t matter how luxurious and state of the art your yacht is. It could be the world’s most expensive and the world’s most fanciful boat. If you don’t have a lake or an ocean to prounce around in, then it’s pretty useless.
If the economies of Spain and Italy collapse – and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility – the super clubs in these countries will come tumbling down like a house of cards built on a foundation of smoke and mirrors. Ireland, Portugal and Greece are the proverbial warning signs and even though they represent a small percentage of the European economy, they’re the biggest red flags in town.
Italy alone represents 23% of the European economy and it’s pretty much unsavable by the patch up “rescue” packages being pushed around by Germany and France.
And people ask me why I love Arsenal so much. The answer – Arsenal is an oasis of sanity in an orgy of excess.
We get another opportunity to enjoy a new European adventure for the 14th consecutive season. We get to play a great team like Borussia Dortmund in an electric atmosphere.
And this is the thing to remember. Because of the foundations that Arsenal has built, we will continue to enjoy being at the high table of football for a very long time to come. While others figure out how to get out of their financial quagmire – well, they’ll probably try find a sugar daddy – we’ll be straddling the European landscape with our brand of scintillating and exciting football.
What more can you ask for?
Jermaine ‘Defraud’s’ Hand Job On Young Boys: Where Is The Outrage?
Posted by: | CommentsLet’s face it – on any other day, the title of this article would be on a docket at the local Magistrate’s court down Seven Sisters Road.
The arraignment session in Court 14 will be filled by lawyers of Jermaine Defoe, Tottenham Hotspur, the FA, UEFA and the various media companies who have a reputation to defend.
“Motion for separation, your honour”, the £700 an hour bespectacled lawyer for Sky Sports would demand. “This perverse charge has nothing to do with us and my client resents being kettled into the position of defending our reputation with this group of uncouth defendants”.
“But he’s British and that’s why it’s no crime”, you can here another lawyer shouting from 4 deep.
The prosecutor, acting on behalf of the interest of the fair minded football loving public and for the interest of the integrity of the game tries again to stipulate the charges amidst the jeers and commotion in the gallery caused by the press corps.
“Your honour, all the defendants are accused of a systematic, calculated and deliberate attempt to show bias, prejudice, xenophobia, favouritism and breath-taking hypocrisy. They have brought the game into disrepute by continuing to mask the cheating that is blatant in the game, and by continuing to turn a blind eye when that cheating is perpetrated by an Englishman”.
“But your honour, my client challenges the jurisdiction of this court on the grounds that Southwark Crown court is already dealing with my client’s business” interjects one goateed and shaven headed lawyer from within the group as the gallery erupts in cheer.
“order, order, order”, the magistrate bellows as he hammers the plank by his side to try and recapture the sanity of his court room. “Who on earth are you representing?” he asks the goateed lawyer with a firm but bewildered look.
“The Tottenham manager your honour”, the reply follows.
“Can someone tell this idiot this court doesn’t deal with tax matters”, the magistrate demands as he looks for the court clerk as if to remind her to make sure those in front of the bench understand why they’re actually in court.
“So let me clarify this”, the magistrate continues while facing the prosecutor. “So who among these defendants actually benefited from the hand job against the Young Boys?”
“Your honour”, the prosecutor responds. “We submit to you that The Tottenham no. 18 Mr. Defoe was the primary culprit who used his hand to shaft the Young Boys, and the co-accused media defendants are all collectively responsible for colluding in that crime by refusing to be fair at the reporting of such heinous acts against association football”.
“Are the people able to meet the burden of proof?”, the magistrate enquires.
“We have comprehensive footage of the crime your honour”, the prosecutor replies with a tint of a smile, “both from the broadcasters as well as the official Tottenham match DVD which is already on sale at the club shop and website. Your honour, we also have precedence to illustrate the systematic and breath-taking bias shown by the English media in favour of English players, especially the divers like Mr. Rooney and Mr. Gerrard who are referred to as being ‘very clever’ instead of the cheats they are. The people will also be submitting crucial evidence against the media in the cases of Mr. Thierry Henry and Mr. Eduardo Da Silva who the media treated like the anti-Christ after similar offenses”.
“But Talk Sport is the no. 1 commercial radio station in the country”, a voice shouts from behind the throng of lawyers. “Surely, we have the right to create controversy in the interest of the English game when the player is not an Englishman? Enough with the bloody foreigners we say. They have caused the English national team to become a laughing stock around the world”.
“Order, Order” the magistrate shouts amidst the cheers and clapping from the gallery. “Bailiff, throw that ginger haired man and his Talk Shite out of my court room”, the magistrate demands in fury.
“But your honour”, the legal aid lawyer acting on behalf of the BBC demands. “We have done nothing wrong and our commentator even challenged the fairness of the situation and pointed out that if the Young Boys had had the helping hand, there would be absolute fury across the country for an English team being denied a chance at European football at the hands of a foreign team and a foreign referee”.
“Save your nonsense for the jury”, the magistrate barks back at the BBC lawyer. “Clerk, set the date for trial. NEXT!”
“Docket number EFJ21468 – the crown vs ….”, we hear as the camera fades out.
I forget what this post was about….LOL! Yeah! Cheating and the blatant disregard of this supposed crime against association football.
Where is the outrage, or didn’t we just see Jermaine ‘Defrauding’ the Young Boys with a blatant hand job.
I wonder what would happen if it was Thierry Henry or Eduardo on the end of that shot. Or if it was Arsenal playing Celtic for a place in the group stages of the Champions League.
Arsenal’s Title Charge Sharpens As Financial Reality Bites
Posted by: | CommentsThanks to Barcelona, The Arsenal is now left with only one task to contend with; Chasing down the league leaders. For a squad that has been injury prone in the extreme through the season, this after a fashion, is a blessing in disguise.
Concentrating our threadbare resources exclusively on the title race betters the odds of our success. Given that Manchester United, sans Wayne Rooney, seem relatively toothless is encouragement aplenty.
Chelsea’s lead, to wit, isn’t invulnerable either. If we stick diligently to the chase, winning every game here on in, the title, with a bit of luck, could still be ours.
The way this Arsenal side have stuck to the job, I will not put it past them to pull the feat off. Yes, the odds are stiff, and the margin for error is nil; but if we keep up the grit and the graft that has characterised our game of late, anything is possible.
That’s incentive enough, I should imagine, for the side to wish to tellingly make their mark.
Elimination to Barcelona, to briefly digress, was painful. But, given the form they displayed over the two legs, odds are that virtually any team in the draw would have succumbed to Barca. Given our injury roster, and the fact that “doing a Gentile” on Messi isn’t remotely in our DNA, the outcome wasn’t really a shock.
I’m not, let me make it clear, taking comfort in excuses. I continue to hold that this Arsenal team, relative to its peers, needs to be better staffed and coached, particularly in defence, to fully realize its potential.
Investigating the rash of injuries that have become routine with this team is an urgent necessity too. Unless we sort these out, I fear, progress beyond where we now stand will prove elusive.
Next at hand, Tottenham. They’re coming off losses to Sunderland and Portsmouth, and are in a stiff contest with Manchester City to secure 4th place. The pressure, therefore, is entirely on them. Recent history to boot, suggests that pressure and Tottenham aren’t great bedfellows either.
All found, therefore, I’d favour us to collect three points if we can bring our recent endeavour levels to the game. A win will put us a point clear of United and level with Chelsea, as healthy a set of incentives as there ever were.
So here’s to three points. We’ll have team news and other relevant updates for you come Wednesday morning.
On the business side of football, recent developments merit a fresh look at the issue of debt in the game, for the consequences of the global slump are beginning to be felt in Football too.
In all, Gay calculates Spanish football’s debt to be €3.5bn. The Spanish federation still owe the players’ union €6.8m and, according to the former president of the union, Gerardo Movilla, an estimated €100m is still owed to footballers in unpaid wages.
The state loses out too; Atlético Madrid owe the tax man €15m; 50% of their transfer income is embargoed.
Manchester United’s financial advisers expect the club to miss out on at least £24m in cumulative match-day revenues over the next two years. That constitutes a decline of more than 11% ….
JP Morgan’s analysis of the club’s financial position, set out in a research document released last Friday, shows United’s 2009 match-day income of £109m to be a high-water mark. Even in its supposed “upside scenario”, in which the club progresses to the Champions League quarter-final or beyond in both years, it anticipates a drop to £98m this season and to £96m next.
The recovery from that base will be weak; to £101m the following year. Indeed, United’s own budgets predict an even bigger two-year fall of £29m, with much of the collapse attributed to the difficulties in selling executive boxes.
The document states: “Most of the impact from the economic slowdown was felt in the executive hospitality business, which we would argue is a highly discretionary expense.
Do note too, that their elimination to Bayern in the Champions League will put a further dent in their earnings and cash flow.
And, typical to Leveraged buyouts comes this summation:
Whereas they (Read: The Glazers) have taken near unfathomable millions out of their club – £344m in interest, £120m in fees and other costs, £22.9m for themselves in “management fees” and personal loans –…
Finally, in the light of the recent “rumours” regarding Martin O’Neill’s dissatisfaction, a look at Aston Villa
But you suspect, underneath it all, that Lerner has been expecting a bit more bang for his buck. And that buck has been considerable. Since paying £62 million for the club four years ago, he has invested another £179m.
Some £95m of that is in equity, with £84m in loans. He also underwrote record losses last season of £43.7m.
Consider Villa’s “progress” on the field over the same period, and draw your own conclusions.
My own view is this: Spain is but act one in suffering the consequences of this recession on a debt fuelled business model. The world, and indeed the UK especially, is still in the grip of a deflationary spiral – pretensions like Quantitative Easing being only that and little more.
JP Morgan’s analysis above, in essence, is pertinent to most Premier League clubs at least in the short term. I think things are going to get worse, much worse, before getting better both in the broader economy and in football, and clubs that are already under strain are going to be under the cosh over the next year or two.
UEFA’s debt rules come into force in 2012; but the markets, in my view, will have sorted the situation out, painfully, by then.
Randy Lerner, in a recent interview, put forward the best description of a sustainable business model:
We want to build the club on our attendances. We don’t want to pay all our TV money straight out in transfer fees and wages. We have to invest in developing Villa Park, allowing us to generate our own revenue streams.
Perfectly put, if I may, and it brought to mind a certain North London club; one, I must add, that isn’t competing for fourth place.
Here’s to three points in the Derby. My meaner friends look at it as two for the price of one: Further our own title chase while putting a dent in a rival’s lesser aspirations. But that’s just them……..
Hail The Messiah & An Ode To My Beloved Arsenal
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s absolutely no way out of the need to acknowledge and bow down to Leo Messi for what you can only describe as genius and magic.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele) and Diego Armando Maradona must be wondering if their legacy as the 2 best players of the last century is going to be surpassed by this 22 year old magician.
While the world ponders that thought, I must say it was a privilege last night to watch a play station footballer come to life. I have no complaints whatsoever about Arsenal’s defeat to Barcelona, for doing so will diminish the rightful acknowledgment of the diminutive magician.
I so look forward to the World Cup for this boy’s magic deserves recognition with the Coupe du Monde
As for Arsenal, we shall discuss where to go from tomorrow. The Champions League was not to be for this year, and the boys need to hold their heads up high for they have served the faithful well this far.
For now, here’s an ode to my beloved Arsenal.
If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a team’s will,
It’s all in the state of mind.If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.Football’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can!
I shall never forsake my beloved Arsenal!
Stone Cold Arsenal is looking for new writers. If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
No Balls, No Babies: Go For IT Arsenal!
Posted by: | CommentsThat’s right, you can’t go forth and multiply without the necessary cojones in the same way that you can’t go and wrestle the right to play in the Champions League semi-final without the balls to stand up and be counted.
I think it’s an attribute that someone called ’testicular fortitude’ when describing the audacity of the last minute goal against Wolves over the weekend.
It’s going to be a strange night tonight, a cup final if you will. It’s a night where form goes right out of the window and audacity and courage takes over.
In truth, Barcelona will be cursing themselves for not killing off Arsenal when they had the chance.
Years ago, I was introduced to a fairly unsavoury character who made Tony Soprano look like a pussycat. My associates and I were organizing an event in South East London, and had to shop around for ’security’ because we had a tight budget.
It wasn’t the sort of event that you’d go down the market and haggle for a £8 an hour bouncer to satisfy the minimum requirements of your entertainment licence. This was one of them events that you actually needed the security and had to stretch your budget.
So in interviewing the new prospect, he decided to share some anecdotes about some of the ’challenges’ his boys had to deal with. I suppose he wanted to impress me so as to nail down the lucrative contract.
What sticks to my mind was his assertion that in his type of business, if you have a chance to deck the opposition an finish them, the worst thing you can do is let them get up and come back at you.
For the sake of expediency, I’m sure you’ll excuse me for not going into detail.
His take on the issue resonates with the current situation Barca and Arsenal are in. It’s fine pontificating about the galactic football that Barcelona unleashed in the first 45 minutes of last Wednesday’s opening tie, but the object of the exercise was to win.
The fact of the matter is that Barca succumbed to what Arsenal has been accused of for years on end – Pretty football with no end result.
It was clear that Barca were the more worried team in the last quarter of the match, and for that reason, I believe Arsenal have a psychological advantage.
It’s not going to be an easy game by any means, but Arsenal were past their stage fright by the time Fabregas buried the equalizing penalty. Arsenal had the momentum and Barcelona knew it and it rattled them.
Everyone outside the Emirates has taken the view that there’s no chance in hell for Arsenal to come out of the Camp Nou with a victory. I tend to feel being written off especially in Europe does work to Arsenal’s advantage if you think of previous results against both Inter and AC Milan at the Sansiro, Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, and the Old Lady in Turin.
Both teams are affected by the walking wounded with Arsenal missing 5 preferred first choice players. I doubt if those on the pitch will be taking the view that they are not worthy and that has to be a good sign.
The expectation is that the boys have been forced to watch the DVD of Wednesday’s game so many times that they’ve had to live and breathe it enough to know what is tactically needed for the game.
We have the personnel to address the changes needed and my sense is that the victory has to be driven by our mental strength. Arsenal gave Barca too much respect when they rolled into town, we have to redeem ourselves and yank that confidence away from them.
The boys have nothing to lose. Go out there and play your game.
Show that you all have the balls to fit the mental fortitude and character that you’ve shown us this season.
For tonight’s game, we will be sharing our thoughts and emotions on twitter. Follow us on twitter and join in the conversation during half time and after the game.
Stone Cold Arsenal is looking for new writers. If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
Enjoy the game wherever you are.
What English Football Must Learn From Arsenal & Barcelona
Posted by: | CommentsArsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola promised the purest form of artistic entertainment to the footballing world, and the teams didn’t disappoint on Wednesday night.
I’ll be honest, the onslaught that Barcelona unleashed on Arsenal in the first half of that game was both beautiful to watch and extremely painful to watch as an Arsenal fan.
Nevertheless, most people will acknowledge that it’s probably one of the best displays of football brilliance that they’ve ever witnessed. However hair-raising the first 25 minutes were for Arsenal, we were treated to probably the most ecstatic match we will witness in our generation.
The match was undoubtedly elevated to epic status following the way which Arsenal dug deep, showed character, and tenaciously went about the business of coming back from the dead.
Right in that entertaining mixture of total football and total fight backs is a profound lesson that the English footballing establishment can learn.
There was everything you could ever desire from two teams – exquisite technique, sublime football, commitment and a ’never say die’ spirit, pace, suspense, heart-break, character, determination – you name it, it was there.
There was one thing that was evidently missing. It was conspicuous in its absence and is a lesson for those who insist that playing an insalubrious and uncouth brand of football that’s designed to kick and maim the opponent is an acceptable substitute for what is nebulously referred to as grit, steel and grafting ability.
How many times have we heard that the uniqueness of the English Premier league is the hard type of football that is said to be for ’men’. We are told that it’s a contact sport, and so Arsenal – who have been vocal in detesting the unreasonable physicality we are subjected to, should get with the program or stop playing a game that is clearly for men who are “well ‘ard”.
You see, I differentiate between contact sport on the one hand, and martial arts and violence on the other. For too long, kicking and bruising opponents has been accepted in the EPL as a strategy for those who are not able to cope with players who are technically superior to themselves.
Euphemisms like “you need to get in their faces”, “you have to get up their noses”, or “you need to get close to them and let them know you’re there” are bandied around like they’re going out of fashion.
In truth, those who spew these stereotypical euphemisms are just promoting thuggery and violence in the name of association football.
Arsenal were outclassed and outplayed in the first half an hour of Wednesday’s game, yet the team didn’t resort to the kind of mindless violence that we so often see in the EPL in response to such footballing master classes.
The Gunners dug deep, absorbed the pressure, and mounted a fight back. We fought and tackled hard when we could, and we moved the ball and pressed Barca back in their own half when we had the ball.
Nobody can say that Arsenal or Barcelona were not shy about committing to tackles and encouraging the healthy dose of physicality within the ’contact sport’ without descending into thuggery.
Can we now stop this nonsense of insisting that the only way you can play against a technically superior team is to kick them off the park? The law of averages suggest that players will get injured.
Arsenal and Barcelona have shown what teams can aspire to in terms of the quality of attacks and how to play against that attack. Arsenal were starved off the ball and this is not something the Gunners are used to – but they found a way of fighting back without resorting to violence and kicking the hell out of the opponent.
Arsenal focussed on playing football instead of being anti-football as we’ve seen so often in the EPL.
The bigger lesson I think is for the English FA who would have seen what they need to aspire to in order to improve the fortunes of the English game.
Enough with this ’kick, push and move’ brand of football augmented by an obsession with physicality. It’s a brand of football promoted at all ranks of the English game and is frankly speaking not entertaining in the slightest.
The English game can learn a lot from the epic encounter at the Emirates last Wednesday, not least that there’s another way to play football – and it doesn’t involve maiming opponents.
And enough of this ’grit and steel nonsense being used as a substitute to compensate for the inability to play football.
Speaking of anti-football, you might have missed our mini-series on Anti-football, Anti-Arsenalism and the misguided self preservation of English football.
Don’t forget to subscribe to Stone Cold Arsenal to receive regular updates of our content.
Arsenal ‘Never Say Die’ In Night Of Irony & Media Hypocrisy
Posted by: | CommentsIf there’s two things this Arsenal team are guilty of, it’s the fact that this season, they don’t know how to lie down and die; and secondly, they have perfected the art of inducing heart attacks amongst the supporters.
I don’t think there’s a script at London Colney that encourages the team to do anything the easy way, and it has to be said, it ain’t good for the heart. I wouldn’t have it any other way though – it’s beautiful.
Last night was one of the most entertaining matches I’ve ever watched. Don’t get me wrong, as an Arsenal fan, it was bloody uncomfortable at least in the first half, but Barcelona came to play, and play they did.
The Catalans produced a master class in possession football that totally starved the Arsenal, a situation that I honestly don’t remember us ever being in.
I guess we were all feeling the same way other teams feel when we run riot all over the Premiership with our possession football. Nothing wrong with occasionally getting a dose of your own medicine.
Once Arsenal had jolted themselves out of the self inflicted stage fright, I was reminded about why I love this team so much. This season, we’ve risen from the dead more times than Lazarus or any phoenix, and the fighting spirit, courage, tenacity and character of the team makes me so proud.
Even so, the match last night was filled with irony from every corner.
The irony that Almunia is the only reason Arsenal are still in with a chance to upset the apple cart, yet a few days ago, he was the Anti-Christ if you believed what you read on the internet.
The irony that Barcelona were guilty of everything Arsenal have been accused of for years – playing pretty and majestic football yet failing to kill off teams that are screaming to be executed and buried. How many times have we been told that the only statistic that counts is the one on the scoreboard?
The irony that despite being kept under unimaginable pressure, Arsenal knuckled down, fought like mad and took their chances. How many times have we been hit hard by teams who are ruthlessly efficient despite our dominance in possession?
The irony that Arsenal’s ’scapegoats du jour’ – Denilson, Walcott and Bendtner – played out of their skins and were the players who totally changed the game for Arsenal. How many times have these characters been bashed beyond recognition and charged with the crime of being unfit to wear the Arsenal shirt?
The irony that despite risking Fabregas, the Arsenal captain has already done enough to leave his mark by opening the door for his team-mates to finish a job at the Camp Nou. How many inspirational leaders on the pitch give you an equalizer, and takes out two key players (Pique and Puyol) from the next tie?
I can just picture Cesc cursing “If I ain’t playing next week then these 2 bastards ain’t playing either”. Getting two players suspended and burying a penalty for good measure is a job well done for the captain.
The irony that Leonel Messi (was he really playing last night?) was sacrificed when they went down to 10 men to give him a breather after spending most of the game in Denilson’s pocket.
The irony that Barcelona are shit scared of Theo Walcott (who totally made Maxwell his bitch), yet they refused to give Arsenal the ball and bullied us all over the park in the first half.
In truth, we started the game really badly and froze, but the spirited return and strong finish will do our confidence the world of good. It was evident that the key to Barca’s game is working harder without the ball than they do with the ball.
They showed they can’t sustain that tempo for the whole game, and Arsenal’s propensity to be anal with fitness and our ’never say die’ spirit became their worst nightmare.
The match wouldn’t be the match without the roller coaster reactions all over the web and all over news columns and air waves. Reading some of the comments on the Arsenal boards during the game, I must say that I thought I was in a psychiatric ward with schizophrenics running the show.
There is the mother of all ironies there when you see Arsenal fans spew so much garbage and show their total lack of belief in this Arsenal team, and their total lack of fighting spirit as Arsenal fans.
How is it that Arsenal supporters expect their team to fight to the death (and believe me – this team has fought admirably to the death all season), yet at the small experience of adversity, these same so called fans whimper away and hide behind the sofa.
Get a frigging spine I say to all those who still have the audacity to question the resolve and determination of this team. Yes, you may question tactics and individual or collective team performances, but it’s unacceptable to question this teams resolve.
If you want to understand what type of fans I’m talking about, check out our definitive anatomy of an Arsenal doom and gloom merchant.
Also, if you think Arsenal fans were pissed off, try checking out how Barca fans feel for throwing the game away.
And of course, the equation wouldn’t be complete without the hypocrisy of the media. I found it painful to listen to the ITV commentary, even when we had the comeback on and were giving Barca grief in the last half an hour.
I switched over to Radio 5 live only to find Alan Green reading out Arsenal’s obituary.
If Manchester United had fought back the way we did and clawed back an impossible 2 nil deficit – they would be waxing lyrical about Man United. Nobody remembered that United were totally bitch-slapped by Bayern Munich for 88 minutes in May 1999 before they smuggled the European cup from the Camp Nou to the horror of the Bavarians.
If Liverpool had fought back the way we did and got the 2 goals back, the media will be waxing lyrical about the invincibility of Gerrard and Torez. Nobody remembered that Liverpool were totally bitch-slapped by AC Milan in Istanbul in May 2005 before they too smuggled the European cup from under the jaws of the Italians.
When is it that this Arsenal team will get the respect its due – instead of the snide and contemptuous remarks about Arsenal getting away with murder?
The media didn’t give us a chance in hell to even make it to the 4th place champions league spot, let alone challenge for both the EPL and Champions League titles. What hypocrisy the show for applying selective amnesia to the mental strength of the teams they favour, yet the evidence is all there that Arsenal have time and time shown that despite adversity, they have formidable mental strength.
They point out that we can’t do it in 5 days time because – wait for this, we have key players out with injury.
So what’s new? Arsenal is still here and we refuse to go away.
Tue 13th September 2011; 19:45, Dortmund