Media Awareness, Theo And The Usual Guff

Somewhat later than intended but it was a good weekend in the print pages for Arsenal players and not least the manager. Patrick Barclay in his Sunday Times column praised Wenger:

…remember that Arsenal turned to Wenger when it became apparent that Bruce Rioch could not establish a worthy succession to George Graham, under whom the ruthless achievement of the Herbert Chapman and Bertie Mee eras had been reprised. Wenger combined achievement with generosity of spirit. If football is art, he has demonstrated it over and over again, so that, equally, if anyone has made an unanswerable case for patience, it is he.

The article itself was a prescient reminder to the critics of Wenger that the season is not over. That is not to say that he is infallible; he is a mortal but as he observed recently, he has been in the game for thirty years and may know a thing or two more than those of us looking in from the outside. Barclay hit the nail on the head:

This is where the harlots come in. They — we — have a responsibility. What we usually do in such situations is apply the crocodile-tears technique: “The long-suffering fans of deserve better . . .” Not that they ever do. No football fans deserve anything except admission to the ground and adequate lavatories. Not unless they organise themselves and buy the club, of course, as has been done abroad and is increasingly the fashion at lower levels here.

Large proportions of those who support the bigger Premier League clubs are spoilt brats. In Arsenal’s case, they have been treated by Wenger to the most beautiful football played in this country….since the early 1960s. That is during Arsenal’s frequent peaks under Wenger — but even the perceived trough of now has the team in contention for not only fourth place in the Premier League, but the FA Cup and the Champions League. And still we hear the wails of pain.

Fair play, sir, there is not much more that one can say. Except to chastise, perhaps, when he forgets this standpoint and offers a less than fair critique of Le Boss in the future.

Meanwhile, the media-savvy of two forwards came to the fore; one example good, one that basically makes you put your head in your hands and utter the exasperated, “Dear God!“. Well, OK, some will not but an awful lot will have done so.

Robin van Persie gave a good insight to us all in an interview with Amy Lawrence in The Observer in which he re-iterated that he will be at the club next season but refused to be more specific about his future. The Dutchman had pre-empted any criticism previously by confirming that the money for his contract extension was agreed, it was his personal desire to win trophies that is the decisive factor. This then translated into “I’m Going Nowhere“.

Compare that to the perception of Emmanuel Adebayor. His observations on the summer were a reflection of previous comments he has made. However, he added the usual proviso of not knowing what the future holds. In media-speak, this translates to “I could still quit Gunners“.

The players cannot control the slant that a hack wishes to put on a “story” yet they can dictate the perception. Restlessness is never forgotten therefore it seems sensible that having decided to stay, the emphasis that they put onto utterances for public consumption should be styled in that direction. If not, there can little sympathy when their words are twisted. Obviously, that does not negate the responsibility that we have to read the quotes rather than the comment around them yet life is not that simple. Sensationalist interpretation is king. Maybe that king ought to be dead?

Adebayor’s position is interesting. He has been criticised for not reaching the high levels that he set last season. In fairness to the player, he has been more disrupted by injury than previously and has been affected in his supply at least, through the injuries of others. However, on current form, he is not the lead striker at the club. In Wenger’s mind, he might well be but the return of Eduardo, I think, puts more pressure on the Togolese and it will be interesting to see how he reacts. I hope that he returns to the form of yesteryear, putting the summer behind him for whilst I would be hesitant to agree with his own assessment of himself (at the moment), I would suggest that an in-form Adebayor is one of the leading strikers in Europe.

Roma are looming large in the foreground this week with the likelihood being that Eduardo and Theo will be in the squad. The latter praised the medical staff for his recovery and suggested that he is looking forward to a bit of rough and tumble in the match. A typical boy really; likes to go out and run around in the mud.

’til Tomorrow