Ed. Note - This is now a tad old, but ScottyUS took the time to put together a well reasoned submission, so here’s some Sunday reading for you…
Arsenal 0 ? 2 Old Style English Football.
We were never going to get it together on Sunday. I had that feeling from kickoff. I knew we were going to be beaten and bruised, and fail to live up to our brand of spirited and beautiful football because, for the most part, we don’t have Plan B: kick ‘em back.
Why? Wenger refuses to “lower his standards” and endanger his players by allowing them to resort to what he sees as distasteful thuggery. But I think only he, DD, and a few others see it that way. His major complaint? ManU and Riley failed to support and maintain the “correct spirit” of the game. If you ask me, he’s right. But I’m a Gooner.
Tony Adams is NO Henry and vice versa. Henry is a trained and cultivated thoroughbred. You don’t drag a thoroughbred’s game into the mud and turn him out at a rodeo. He does what he does: plays classy, fleet of feet football with others of his breed at AFC, who rely on the referee to call the game in favor of flowing, stylish execution. Not in England, lad. If he can’t play HIS game, THE game, he is going to be quiet. Not his job…or so he thinks.
The Arsenal play exhibition football. They put on masterclasses. They DO NOT, for the most part, show up when things get ugly.
And fair play is in the eye of the beholder?of yellow and red cards, that is. Riley and his ilk are as sick of protecting what they must deem as our “poncey” style just as much as the rest of the EPL. We went unbeaten last season and much of this one, made teams look clumsy and foolish in the process while branding a new style to the game. But there is no doubt in my mind that everyone outside of the Arsenal organization was DELIGHTED with the result. Riley included. He knew he had no one to whom he must answer. If we didn’t manage to net prolifically, we were going to lose that one and it wouldn’t have mattered to anyone but us. Whether Riley wanks to posters of Rooney, SAF and RVN is his business, but I’m willing to bet that, according to him, things are more right now. Its his job, after all, to make them that way.
Wenger. A thousand billionaires would be more welcome to the EPL than one multinationally-minded, geniously-gifted eye for young talent. Tradition is under attack. Heck, the whole world is! Wenger embodies a new era?a kinder, gentler, more skilled era. Perhaps the timing to be embraced is not right. The Arsenal are lauded, their abilities admired, but we are not liked by the ugly step-sisters. Explains the teflon career of RVN, to me. ManU play ugly, but effective given the current acceptable climate. ‘Tis why many of the TV contracts are the way they are around the world?bloody, attacking football the English way. Wenger is a man without a country.
Did we foul? Of course, in the Arsenal way, the new stadium blue-blooded way. We fouled trying to get the ball, and we retaliated with a cynical foul here and there when we felt pushed out of football and into rugby. None were fearful. Sol played Rooney poorly, creating the perfect opportunity for His Thickness to perform his best immitation of his mentor. Ronaldo was an actual foul, but was supposed to be a make up non-call. Clever, Riley. However, none of these “fouls” would have made a difference if Ferdinand was watching from the stands in a suit where he should have been. Not blaming…just facts.
Some more facts: Arsenal are too busy trying to pass the perfect ball and net the tidiest finish then to play the Old Game. Wenger will never allow it…it is beneath his vision and the talent of his “finds” to do it. He sees our players as precious, not as warriors. He sees them as Total Footballers, not as grunty poachers and hackers. Wenger will receive his overturn of Sunday’s result in Football Heaven, it there is a God.
Aftermath? We will take from this game nothing but a small stretch of nervy resolve that will amount to a sound beating for lesser teams. We will beat the mid to bottom teams enough to win the league, and draw or lose to the others when the going gets rough. And we will win the league not because we can unhinge the mighty by thick-headed kickabouts and unbalanced officiating…we will win because we can PLAY the game better than all the rest. Every single Manc at the pub, as stupid as they are, would fail a polygraph if they suggested otherwise.
As for the CL? That’s another post, but suffice it to say we will live and die by OUR game. As of now, I don’t feel confident. Not a comment on our abilities, but on our willingness to adapt.
The good news about “49″ is that it will likely last for longer than this site, and may become our rallying cry. We can also revel in knowing that we did it by trying to elevate, not just the style of play, but the way we THINK about the game. If there were more one-touch, laser beam pass, and pass-finish teams in the league, maybe referees and FA boards would assist in our high-minded attempt. As it stands, other, lesser teams will be allowed to hack their way to contention, but never to greatness. Such is the EPL.
The Arsenal…in a league of their own.
9 Responses to “The Arsenal: In a League of Their Own?”
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October 31st, 2004 at 7:22 am
Agree. The ManU game was pure thuggery, evil and spiteful. I hated watching it because of what that kind of game is likely do to brave and gifted young players - Reyes, for example, who wasn’t half the player he normally is by the end. I think it was absolutely right to use Edu rather than Cesc. We don’t want Cesc wrecked before he’s developed.
The subsequent mind games are equally distasteful, but fascinating as well. Fergie is now trying to get Thierry punished/banned, whereas Wenger - this is class! - is professing an interest in Mutu! Not such a bad idea actually. Mutu was a star in serie A, before Chelsea wrecked his confidence. And it would be a typical Wenger signing: a talented, very intelligent player for whom things have gone wrong. It would be satisfying to restore him to his former ability, and that kind of goal poacher could be just what we need. Though I suppose a two-year ban is quite likely so it’s not really on the cards.
October 31st, 2004 at 7:37 am
A truely well-thought article as suggested by Rick, good work Scott. There are so many things to response to this post of you, will wait till a bit later.
just read something from the net, sorry for breaking this thread for a while.
Some of us have accused Wenger acted like a cry baby after the Man U match. Look at the headline today “Sir Alex is angry at Henry’s one challenge on Heinze and decided to present the video to FA see what they will do…”
It was after their Portsmouth defeat.. and he’s still talking about the Man U match, and talking about some incident apperancely only he himself had spotted. So tell me who’s the cry baby.
October 31st, 2004 at 7:47 am
Trying to be unbiased (very hard for a season ticket gooner admittedly !)
The bright side of all this is that back in the Man U dominated days we would go into games and try and bully them off the ball as we really had no consistent answer at the time for what was a fantastic team.
Now, the boot is on the other foot. Man U are that poorer team and now they have to resort to the game that can win them the match.
That, fellow gooners, is proof positive that we have overtaken Man U in the footballing stakes and, more importantly, that they know it !
October 31st, 2004 at 8:37 am
First of all congratulations on a top site. It rises above many of the ‘home made’ jobs that pose for Arsenal fan sites, and 99% of the time your content is spot on.
But enough back slapping…
Having had a week to mull over the events at Old Trafford and reading today’s post, I was left with a single conclusion. Not only have Man U replaced Spurs as our most despised rivals, but thay have taken on their inferiority complex.
Their need to beat us has superceded any other goals they may have had for the season.
It’s a scenario played out season after season at N17 once the first few games of the season have been played and they realise they’re still a million miles away from a serious title challenge.
But, no matter how badly Spurs are playing in the league, they never fail to give us a tough game because they make it very physical. It’s accepted by refs because it’s expected to be like that. That’s why Fergie sent out his mob to do a hatchet job on the likes of Reyes, Pires and Henry.
But after the dust has settled (and even after ending our magnificent unbeaten run) nobody really expects Man U to pass both ourselves and Chelsea.
If the evidence provided by their results and performances this season wasn’t enough already, their reaction to ‘beating’ us was there for the whole world to see on Saturday. They got beat by Portsmouth (just like last season).
In days gone by Spurs would do exactly the same (now they’re not even good enough to get close enough to kick lumps out of players).
Fergie’s sudden (a whole week after the fact) decision to try and get Thierry Henry banned for an accidental challenge of Gabriel Heinze is his usual smoke and mirrors trick.
He is so afraid of the media suggesting that his side are merely a Cup team, who can get themselves up for a ‘big’ game but can’t deliver consistently, he has to come up with some crazy accusation.
Chelsea, will prove our closest rivals once again this season. While Man U will scrap it out with Liverpool, Newcastle and ‘Boro for the last two spots in the Champions League.
Pizza anyone?
October 31st, 2004 at 9:44 am
Great article Scotty…
I believe Wenger is going to have to rethink and devise plan B… for just these type of matches. I would say alot of us felt the match was going to be this type of match. Man United needing to play very physical football (and even thuggery on grass) to try and slow down the Arsenal Football Machine. We all knew it!
The last few years, AW would adapt his team for just this fixture. We would play Keown… we would play Ray Parlour… we would play Wiltord… I felt that the losses of Keown and Parlour were significant. BULLDOG mentality… old style British football if needed. It was needed last Sunday, and we only have a few players left that can play that way. We don’t have any that want to!
We need Plan B players. Other teams might try this style against us. It worked… and not much else has in the recent past. Chelsea certainly can’t play that style… they are fashioning themselves after us! I bet United will play the same exact way against them…
So, maybe we DO get a few players in the transfer window. I don’t know… how about a mean spirited midfielder who can play in a few matches when called on… a la Ray Parlour. How about a defender who can play a mean physical style when called on in a few matches… a la Martin Keown or Tony Adams… We need players with that EDGE. That walk the line between fair and rough play. They are called ROLE PLAYERS. We lack those at the moment… and I can’t help but think of the Boston RedSox and their role players that won them the World Series. They weren’t the most talented players, but they offered something specific to the team, and contributed it when called upon. (Dave Roberts, Pokey Reese, Menky, Kapler)… Without these type of players willing to sacrifice… sometimes the title can’t be won.
October 31st, 2004 at 12:39 pm
Scotty, great post.
Yes, it just shows that yes we are the superior players of the game. Now, of course, we kinda lost the plot a bit yesterday (it seems; I didn’t get to see it), but when it gets to the point where Man Utd needs to resort to the tactics they did on last Sunday, only to go back to business as usual, sandwiched between a goalless draw to Birmingham then losing to Portsmouth…yeah, right.
Oh and that Henry attacking Heinze evidence? Fergie, eat a d!ck OK?
— Geoff
October 31st, 2004 at 5:39 pm
Good work, Scotty.
I wholeheartedly agree that Arsenal must develop a “Plan B” for those occasions where our opponents have decided to go down that road and the officials are opening the gates. As everyone knows, I am the biggest proponent of organized mayhem and violence on the planet. Watching tons of Rugby and Hockey will do that to a person. I believe we have players available who could turn the tables and play this style. Ljungberg, Edu, Vieira, and Tore’ are the ones that come to mind first, although Cole and Lauren have never seemed to back down from a “street fight” if one is placed before them. Even old man Bergkamo has a nasty streak that shows up from time to time.
A big part of the problem is that Wenger feels he must keep his players on a short leash since Arsenal have the “reputation” of being an undisciplined outfit. In fact, Dein himself came out and handed Arsene an ultimatum after last year’s BoOT.
It really amazes me that so many pundits (and heavy drinking Scottish managers) go on and on about how horrible Arsenal are, about how they need to be reigned in when it is usually Arsenal that get kicked off the pitch in these rumbles. ManU didn’t used to do this to us (think OT in 2002). They came out, trying to kick lumps onto everyone’s shins, and by the time the dust had settled Arsenal had a goal or 2. Wenger has got to find a way to get back to that, and fast.
October 31st, 2004 at 10:59 pm
With you 100% on this one. I think the lack of ‘englishness’ in the squad is costing us something, but that’s a topic for another day…
October 31st, 2004 at 11:29 pm
A-G… I don’t know if I would qualify it as “Englishness” per se… because Vieira has/had this style of play, I think he has been asked to tone it down, and avoid the yellows and reds. Parlour and Keown were obvioulsy Brits. We played Wiltord against United often…because he was a big strong bloke who wasn’t going to get the worst of a battle. They Reyes and Henry mode of finesse football is what suffers…