A welcome return to footballing action after the events of last weekend although as is customary this week, it is the media who take centre stage. At his press conference, Arsene demanded that more protection be given to the players whilst observing that the club are pretty much the most hard done by when it comes to being punished for misdemeanours on the pitch. It was all pretty much standard fare for Arsene and in light of recent events, pretty much understandable that he should be upset by things.
Sections of the media have decided though that it is once more Arsene talking out of his Arsenal. Sky Sports News got their abacus out and found that Blackburn (!) were the most fouled team over the past three years - Opta say Manchester United - whilst they took a look at the current season and found that Arsenal were the second cleanest team – curse those pesky kids for ruining their attempts to debunk Le Professeur’s claims – but did not bother mention the point about Arsenal being the most severely punished in terms of cards per foul because even the Murdoch Empire know this is correct.
It was apparently a ‘spikey’ press conference with Arsene playing rope-a-dope with the assorted journalists present. Never mind, The Voice of Reason brings you the full glory of the red cards in Arsene’s reign in an attempt to vindicate the codswallop that is peddled about how ill-disciplined Arsenal are. If the thing that wrote the piece had a brain, it would still rattle around in his head like a coin in an empty glass jar. And yet in publishing the piece, the fool in question proves Arsene’s point exactly.
Why is it that way though? Some of the dismissals on the list were unbelievably soft - Fabregas and Bendtner at Everton over the years for example. Are the Arsenal players are more ‘accepting’ of decisions than the thugs of Stamford Bridge and have a manager who does not intimidate officials with his presence? Fair play to Ferguson, he knows the psychological hold he has over the officials and uses it to his advantage.
The list also highlights the inconsistencies of the match officials. Eboue fully deserved his red card at Old Trafford but quite how Dirk Kuyt avoided a red for his double footed jump and lunge at Phil Neville in this season’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park remains so baffling that even Mulder and Scully would have been incredulous had they been called upon to investigate.
Still, never let it be said that they are not even handed for they have destroyed the media friendly interviews by Martin Taylor. You know the ones, the outright apologies for his actions, admitting it was an awful challenge instead of bleating that it was unintentional. Yeah, I missed those interviews as well. I did see the ones where he blamed Arsene Wenger’s response after the game for making the situation worse, for which Arsene at least had the decency to admit he had been totally in the wrong. As Arsene said, only Taylor knows if he meant it or not and he has to live with the consequences of his actions. Arsene also admitted he is the reason that Britain is going down the pan (© bone idle journalists),
Yes, I’m responsible for everything in this country. How much unemployment have you? I’m responsible for it as well
Interestingly, Graham Poll points out weaknesses in officiating,
When Premier League referees first venture into European football they are often told their performance was that of ‘a typical English referee’. When I was told this I thanked the assessor, thinking he was paying me a compliment. After a number of years I realised it was, in fact, a criticism that I allowed too much physical contact to take place and played too much advantage in wrong areas of the pitch
And people wonder why English teams concede so many fouls in Europe?
Arsene also took time to defend William Gallas which is much to the media’s chagrin as they wanted blood. The Q&A session resembled an Arsenal away game; lots of attacking, some pretty stout defending and Arsene leaving the venue with the points and the media bleating about something or other.
Onto more pleasant things and Aston Villa return to The Emirates, a season on from setting the tone of the inaugural season at the stadium and a couple of months on from being on the receiving end of forty-five of the most scintillating minutes Arsenal have produced this term.
Martin O’Neill has praised Emmanuel Adebayor’s contribution to the side this season and is impressed by Arsenal
But what I am surprised with is how well Arsenal have done as a team so quickly after Henry’s departure. I thought it might take them a year or so to get over Henry but this season, as they have gathered momentum, they have not missed Henry
Of the Togolese international he says,
I’m not surprised about Adebayor filling the void left by Henry. I’m not surprised about him becoming a top-class player. Just over two years ago he showed signs of being a great player
O’Neill’s platitudes could lull the team into a false sense of security but the feeling I have is the players believe they have too much to prove to let this opportunity slip. Certainly, with United travelling to Fulham they cannot afford to do so.
Arsene said,
From what I have seen in training the team is focussed and ready to get the best out of our potential. We are determined as team to get what happened behind us. We have been deeply disturbed but I feel something has been deeply touched within the team and I am confident that will come out in the game
Robin van Persie and Johan Djourou have apparently returned to training but have no chance of playing today or Tuesday. Kolo Toure seems to ‘think’ he will make Milan which I was left thinking meant he was the only one who believed that scenario. With Abou Diaby being the only face returning to the squad, it seems unlikely that there will be any changes to the line-up that started last week, barring Bendtner partnering Adebayor up front. They have played together infrequently and it showed last week. A massive improvement in understanding will be required to get things moving in the right direction.
Villa will be far from a pushover but with all of the recent events being channelled positively I would expect Arsenal to power past them with a busy display. So 1 – 0 it is then with the goal rebounding in off the referee’s backside. Who cares? Three points will be welcomed whichever way they come.
To contrast the opening negative tones, I’ll finish on some positive. Firstly, I want to give David Dein a huge hug of thanks for persuading Alisher Usmanov to clarify his immediate intentions as far as the clubs’ ownership goes. And a great big knife in the back for introducing the slug to the club in the first place. I fully appreciate all that Dein did for the club as a director and his contribution to bringing us to where we are now. I also fully appreciate his role in bringing such an insidious presence to the ‘game’ and creating pockets of uncertainty off the pitch throughout the last seven months.
Finally on a serious note, Gavin Berman, a season ticket holder at The Emirates, has asked that we support his fundraising efforts in support of the Treehouse, a national charity for autism education and Arsenal’s chosen charity of the season. You can support him here as he prepares to run in this years London Marathon, which is madness - get a car if you are going to travel twenty six miles; it’s much quicker.
Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ‘til Tomorrow.
