There are few things as thrilling, as exciting, as downright sexy as sliding into a Ferrari and opening her up on the highway. It truly is a beautiful site. The sleek lines, the breathtaking speed, the finely-tuned power. When that baby is humming, look out!
Unfortunately, sometimes there are rocks in the road and you have to downshift real fast. But the machine is so finely tuned that it can break down pretty easily when it?s not running at full speed.
Hummer are powerful vehicles. Not the prettiest, but they do have a certain cool factor. They?re tough on the gas mileage too. But once you get one of those things going, watch out because they are tough to stop. What pothole? Speed bump? I didn?t feel a speed bump. Hummer are tough and can slog through the mud when they need to, but their top speed isn?t bad either.
You get one guess which vehicle is Arsenal and which one is Man United.
Sure on a perfect road with no turns, I?ll take the Ferrari. But how often do you have a perfect, straight road?
Once you get out of the group stage of the Champions League, it gets harder and harder to find those nice roads. Traffic gets awfully bad in Italy. Spain? Like a parking lot. Sometimes you need a vehicle that can go off-road, or right over the top of obstacles and not get stuck on them.
I?m not saying Arsenal should trade in their Ferrari for a Ford Explorer. I?m not even saying it should be a Hummer. How about a Porsche Cayenne? Is that possible? Can they add a little muscle to the speed and have it supported by German quality?
It?s very difficult to find the right blend of talent and personality. Last year Arsenal nailed it and for a number of reasons this season they haven?t. A trip to the auto repair place is a must. Maybe even a trip to the dealership to see what the 2005 models look like.
13 Responses to “A Ferrari is only good if you have a nice road”
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February 24th, 2005 at 8:16 am
Man Utd LOST at home in the Champions League yesterday. I guess the Hummer got a flat tire.
Chelsea must be a specially made vehicle with all the most expensive parts. It too has faltered of late. (they’ve lost 2 in a row!) They are lucky to escape Barcelona ONLY DOWN a goal.
Would you rather be down a goal to Barcelona?
Would you rather be down a goal to AC Milan and travelling to Italy for the 2nd match?
Or home against Bayern Munich down 2.
I see the situations as pretty damn similar.
I don’t like our position… but I am not ready to trade the car in just yet.
We’ll just have to see how the Ferrari performs in its own backyard… hopefully with a stadium full of rabid supporters, who become frenzied by an early Arsenal goal.
Belief is important.
February 24th, 2005 at 8:57 am
Clever, Rick.
There’s no doubt we could use some grit and muscle for when things get nasty. At the very least, steel in the back line that gives attackers the minimum of pause. Right now, every striker in the EPL and Europe can’t wait to have a crack at us. That attitude has got to go.
Wenger seems to want to shine up the game, and may have been a little too idealistic and in love with his French sensibilities. Let’s face it, they’ve got a tremendous amount to offer the world, but when there’s a war, where are the French? Not to be xenophobic or collapse into stereotypes?pitch history will kill me there?but they tend to disappear when things lack the gentility they prefer.
Its a balance that’s needed, and one that I believe Wenger was hoping we would grow into with our young talent. He may have banked on precociousness and financially hedged a bit too much this season, but I have confidence in his vision. Athough, I would like to know why he seems to favor midgets.
BTW, where the h*ll is Andez?
February 24th, 2005 at 9:10 am
Ummm…
Cole & Campbell are English.
Toure & Lauren are African.
Senderos is Swiss (cheese)?
Only Cygan is French. He is a back-up at BEST.
Our keepers aren’t French.
So if the problem is in the defense… and there are no French players there… then the problem is not the French players. Oui?
I’d take Gallas and Sagnol at the back any day!
February 24th, 2005 at 9:24 am
I agree I’d take Gallas in a second!
February 24th, 2005 at 9:38 am
I was making a comment referring to a genteel sensibility spread over the entire team, instilled by our MANAGER. Not really talking nationality, as I don’t want to get into an unwarrented discussion on xenophobia. There are examples in every culture.
Let me take the country out of the comment as I should have at the outset. We’re a team that doesn’t do well when kicked. Its beneath us. That’s what I was on about before the Gallic contingent starts in.
February 24th, 2005 at 9:41 am
And let me add that I’m awarae that we’ve shown examples of aggression on the pitch. My comment should be considered in terms of our style, echoing Rick’s argument’s thrust.
Forget it. I’m having my lawyer look over my posts before I send. :^O
February 24th, 2005 at 11:42 am
Ledly King!
then we’d be like a Ferrari with an optional snow plough
February 24th, 2005 at 12:09 pm
You do have to question the belief that the players have in Arsene Wenger. He has failed dismally so many times in Europe that he is appears unable to give them the motivation and belief that they can win in the competition.
This problem now appears to be eroding the confidence of the players in ALL the big games. If you look at the statistics they are shocking. If you take Arsenal’s biggest rivals to be Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs domestically:
01/02/05 Arsenal 2 Man U 4
12/12/04 Arsenal 2 Chelsea 2
01/12/04 Man U 1 Arsenal 0
28/11/04 Liverpool 2 Arsenal 1
13/11/04 Tottenham 4 Arsenal 5
24/10/04 Man U 2 Arsenal 0
25/04/04 Tottenham 2 Arsenal 2
09/04/04 Arsenal 4 Liverpool 2
06/04/04 Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2
03/04/04 Arsenal 0 Man U 1
28/03/04 Arsenal 1 Man U 1
24/03/04 Chelsea 1 Arsenal 1
That’s the last 12 games against our major competitors:
Arsenal W2 D4 L6
We are really struggling to beat top class opposition at the moment. And not just this season, even last season.
What is more worrying is that Wenger did not make a single decent buy last summer or January, when it now appears that he has had decent money to spend.
We all know that the Premiership season last year was phenomenal, but we were lucky with injuries, very lucky. We all knew that if Campbell got injured for a lengthy period then we would be in real trouble. We also knew that Lauren, Lehmann, Cygan are not Champions league players and have continually let us down. Our saving grace was Toure, but he is inexperienced and now even he has succumbed to the pressure of trying to hold the defence together.
Why didn’t Wenger buy in the Summer? And when he could see the mess that our defence was in, why not in January? What has he been doing? Does he really believe there is not a single better defender in world football than Lauren or Pascal Cygan? I can think of a dozen that are better in the Premiership alone. He appears to have gambled the entire season on Campbell staying fit, and lost.
This squad urgently needs a boost. Edu will be gone in the summer, and who knows whether Gilberto will ever be the same after such a long period out. These players cannot mask our defensive frailties. Maybe Wenger needs some help, a No.2 to coach the defence,motivate the team, help him tactically and find appropriate players. I’m not sure Wenger is up to it by himself anymore.
I know I will be criticised for having a go at Wenger, considering everything he has done for the club. But what is being a true Arsenal fan? Sitting and doing nothing, not caring, or speaking out and trying to stop a team in decline. And yes, it is in decline. This squad is incapable of winning anything, unless our 11 best players are fit every single week, and even then it’s still not good enough in Europe. The chances of having another season like last year with injuries in unlikely, it might not happen again for 10 years. You cannot gamble on it.
Wenger is standing still. This summer will be the biggest test of his management yet. Either we become a force again or we will be in decline, and for the first time people will begin to fee restless under the guidance of Wenger.
February 24th, 2005 at 12:35 pm
I appreciate the metaphors of cars and after living in Germany for a time, I truly appreciate, being able to take out my car and actually drive it like it was built to do. The problem with the anecdote of cars is that for most of us we never get to drive them like there meant to be driven because of rules and restrictions of the road. After driving in Germany for some time and coming home to Canada driving down our Canadian Freeways is like taking a nap, as you set the Cruise Control to 120 kph, which is still 20 kph faster than the law permits and 10 under the minimum speed requirement of 130 kph in Germany.
I see it more like music at the moment. I play a Tin Whistle, Uilleann Pipes, and the Bodhran Drum: instruments used in playing Celtic Music. Studying Celtic music has revealed a few things to me through understanding the lyrics of some songs. What I noticed is that some songs are shared by all three of the British Isles or UK?s States, Ireland, Scotland, and England. What I find amusing about the difference between the three differing cultures is the attitude reflected through the different lyrics to the same song. Being Dutch I?ll site an example of a Press Gang song, which is shared by all three cultures, and that song is ?The Lowlands of Holland?. In the Irish version, the male is pressed into service on a British Naval Ship to go and fight in the Wars with Holland on his wedding night. His lover pines for his return and makes an oath never to love another until his return. Then along comes her mother and says, ?There are men enough in Galloway?, find another and get over it. In the Scottish version, the lover builds a ship, it is crushed in a storm with all lives lost, she builds, yet another, and it is lost at sea. A dark conclusion as all is forlorn.
What?s the lesson that we can learn from this metaphor as song. Well I think it?s a valuable one for not only soccer but also maybe also life ? damn how weighty. The lessons are simple and I think to put it this way makes it the clearest.
The Irish have always known that ?Shite Happens? and then you get on with it compromising or changing to find joy or consolation.
The Scottish, bless their determined spirits, have the same spin on this ?Shite Happens? but go one step further by postulating the question ?Shite Happens ? But why does it always happen to me??
That?s were we are at just now with Arsenal. What will the lads do now? Try to find a ?silver lining? and work towards finding away out of this consternation or just resolve to the notion that all is lost.
Shite Happens!
As for cars and me, I?ll take the new Aston Martin DB9 and a highway in Germany. This is a ?shite load? better than a German car in England with controlled speed limits.
Please note that I respect the Scottish resolve of keep trying until you get it and I love their music - it also wouldn?t be fair to also note that the lover in the Irish song also elects to wait for her lovers return. I just wanted to create a stage to make my argument using song.
Gerard Pas
February 24th, 2005 at 12:39 pm
We have the players to play a different style in Europe but we pick a team hoping for a performance like at inter.playing luxury players like Reyes and Pires on a snowy night in Munich is one option. Another would have been to start Flamini and Eboue pack the midfield and hope to get them on the break with just TH upfront. I don’t fault the manager but our style is not suited to Europe and if you disagree you have not been watching for 5 years.
Our ability in the air has been our downfall all season, any free kick or corner is a great opportunity for ANY opponent and our chances of not conceding against Bayern look bleak especially with Ballack coming back and Sol out.
Let’s concentrate on the FA cup, give it a go against Bayern and try to play some good football for the rest of the games in the premiership.
February 24th, 2005 at 12:59 pm
Excellent Post.
I agree with you on team selection.
Have a go at Highbury… give an all out effort. I believe we can overtake them if things fall right, and we start well.
JUST PLAY GOOD FOOTBALL THE REST OF THE WAY. Concentrate and play hard in both League and FA Cup. If we are able to overcome in the CL… fantastic.
February 24th, 2005 at 9:38 pm
excellent points elloarfur.
why wenger insists on playing HIS style every game is beyond me. he has shown a tactical naivete that belies his contribution to this team over the past 8 years or so.
i agree that on that night, we should have gone in playing for a tie. leave henry alone up front, and pack the midfield. but wenger never changes tactics. he will live and die with the 4-4-2 formation and so will us fans. i am tired of it already. we can’t play our elegant style every game, the really good teams won’t allow it. they change their tactics to nullify ours, and then we have no reply. the games against palace, soton, west brom early in the season are a perfect example. for me, that is where we lost the season. if we had adjusted our game, we could’ve and should’ve beaten those teams handily, and we would be only 5 or 6 points off the pace, and licking our chops as chelsea have begun to get hurt.
what if…..
February 24th, 2005 at 9:45 pm
well done to list those scores. they solidify your point completely, and i do feel we are in some sort of decline. though i don’t think it is a freefall…yet.
the summer transfer period will be interesting, and it looks as though the board really want us to buy some top players. hopefully, wenger will buy established defenders and not try to use a players athleticism to create a defender where once there was a midfielder. this has proven costly in ‘05, and could become worse if left to fester…