Media Flip Flops, Kolo and Surfer Dude

We can be brave again, stand up you fools

- We Can Be Brave Again, The Armoury Show

And standing up is certainly what appears to be happening, according to media reports yesterday. The previously quiet majority are making their views heard and it seems, notice is being taken. Without a hint of irony, the same pundits who were critical of the squad after the encounters with Chelsea and Manchester United, are launching a defence of the manager, whilst failing to acknowledge their part in fuelling the flames.

C’est la vie. Still, if Arsene was feeling life was swinging back in his favour, he can always rely on some former player to deliver a swift blow below the belt. Johan Cruyff is never knowingly unheard:

Barcelona have a lot of home-grown players in the team..I would like to see a candidate [at the European parliament elections] pick up on the 6+5 idea and fight to change the law on this. That way, the national teams would be improved. As a consequence, you’d also stop the trafficking of children – thousands of footballing hopefuls that are taken from poor countries and of whom only a tiny proportion make it.

I had not realised that the Dutchman and Michel Platini were such good friends. Indeed, their words are so ludicrous and interchangable that the pair are in danger of morphing into one entity. Presumably Cruyff was thinking of those well-regarded Catalans Alves, Toure, Keita, Eto’o, Henry, Marques and Messi when making his statement, whilst admiring their compatriots Gudjohnsen and Hleb on the bench. To try to portray themselves as Champions of the Impoverished is disingenuous when they take South American youngsters to their factory farm in Barcelona.

Moving on from that, Kolo Toure has promised that the squad will come back stronger next season:

There is still some work to do and we are such a young team, are improving and I hope that when one trophy comes, a lot will then follow.

In a nutshell, I think that is the mental barrier that contributes to some of the team’s problem performances. Cesc, Toure, Arshavin and Gallas are, I believe, the only players who have won honours with their clubs – I think Clichy may have a PL medal from The Invincibles – but even if there are one or two others, you get my drift. The players believe that they can win silverware but they, for the most part, do not know it. Once that happens, I suspect Toure’s hope may well come true.

Having had his lover’s tiff with the club in the autumn of last year, the Ivorian is firmly dedicating himself to the future:

There is still time on my contract and I hope the club will show that they need me. When you love somebody it’s important that they love you back. I have loved this club for years and I always give everything for the team

It is hard to question Toure’s efforts but even he has admitted his performance levels were not meeting his high standards during the opening phase of this season and the latter quarter of last. No doubt his personal relationship with Gallas contributed. Question marks remain over the pairing when dealing with aerial challenges but Toure’s performances whilst the Frenchman has been out should put doubts in Arsene’s mind as to who is his first choice centre back.

Manuel Almunia has been speaking with a Spanish football magazine, Don Balon. It has come into the British media domain and is being reasonably fairly reported for once, probably because there was little controvesy in his words. He touched on the defensive frailties but felt that the team had to become a tad tougher:

We need more consistency. And perhaps more experience, not in age, but in certain aspects of the game in which we must be a little ‘more bad’ in inverted commas, to play other teams at their own game, being a little more `nasty’ as they say in England. Controlling the ball well is not always easy, on each pitch we must learn to adapt our game to the circumstances

Nobody can deny the adaptability issue but I suspect that being nastier is a borderline issue. Certainly there are times when a more robust approach may be needed but we seem to have the measure of teams like Blackburn and Bolton and are capable of beating them the Arsenal way rather than reverting to type.

Almunia was, on the whole, complimentary about English football, believing that more teams play the game but is in no doubt that the Spanish national team has benefitted from their players coming over here, toughening Torres, Cesc and Alonso up.

He also gave an insight into the mentality of the Spanish players and their long-term intentions:

I believe that all the Spanish players that play in the Premier League want, someday, to return to Spain, but I do not know if it is to play. I, personally, want to enjoy soccer level to the maximum until my body gives in

On a personal level, I can relate to that from Mrs YW’s family; the draw of home is certainly a strong one. And let’s face it, when you play for a club with a vocal minority of the support who are ungracious – to be polite, the hangover must be fading – who can blame any of them for thinking of home?

’til Tomorrow