10/24/2005
Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City
All the ink for the next couple of days is going to be about the ridiculous Fawlty Towers-esque "penalty" perpatrated by M. Pires and M. Henry. Whatever.
Call it arrogance if you like, but then at least mention in the same breath that Chelsea is leading the league in that respect. Call if shambolic if you want, but at least mention in the same breath that if we win our game in hand, we're SECOND in the league. Not 15th, not 20, SECOND. The press assholes aren't too quick to mention that one in their rush to skewer us whenever possible (at least that miserable fuck The Insider at Soccernet admits that he's a biased little shit. That's fine, if you're doing a fucking blog...when you're on a major website, a little objectivity would be nice, you daft cunt).
Anyway, once again Arsenal are being raked over the coals for not providing a 30-shot on goal, 4-0 or 5-0 masterpiece like they did a few years ago. For fuck's sake, that was then, this is now. It's a different side, one ravaged by injury at the moment mind you. For all the whining about sqaud depth you see in some corners, look at it with some degree of perspective, will you? Do you think the filthy red Manks have more depth than we do? Liverpool? The Lily White Scum? Well, actually, the Lily White Scum have more depth up top than we do, with Robbie Keane being inexplicably bolted to the bench over there. Henry is fit, apparently JAR and Campbell are on the recovery trail as well.
Of course, a buy or two in January would be awesome, M. Wenger.
To give Citeh credit, they're really not a bad side - one point away from Europe last season, and this time around, I think they'll make it. I think they're a little thin up top, but they're decent otherwise. Particularly, they're well-suited for matches like this one, where workrate and the willingness to get stuck in will go a long way. Stuart Pearce has worked miracles over there, and I think he was a better shout for Manager of the Year last year then the guy who had the 200 million-pound bankroll to work with. Just saying, is all.
Oh, and Mike Riley is really not any good at his job. I would bet my paycheck that there are 5 or 6 guys kicking around Division One (again, I refuse to use that poncey moniker "The Championship") who could handle Premiership-level football better than Riley can. To his credit, he man-manages games exceptionally well...he's always talking and explaining his decisions, and he does well in cooling down most volatile situations. Sadly, that's only 15% or so of his job...and, he's always explaining things because most of his decisions are so inconsistent and/or completely fucking barking. He's just a shit, shit referee, although I only think the penalties are being called controversial because they happened to us. If they happened to Chelsea, you wouldn't hear a fucking peep.
Honestly, I think we got two more points than we deserved out of this one, although all credit to the team for hanging on to the one-goal lead. I especially liked the efforts of the back four (even Cygan had a relatively good game), and I thought Gilberto and Flamini did enough to assist them to make it a relatively quiet night. Jens Lehmann continues to have a great season, and while he didn't have to make any spectacular saves, he did have to be sharp several times on set pieces and in coming out to claim crosses. Well done, Jens.
So, the Tott'Scum are next, and I for one can't wait. They're sounding a liiiiiiiittle too confident down the shit end of the Seven Sisters Road, and I personally think they have a bit of a surprise coming. They have a lot to prove in terms of showing whether they belong this high up the table or not. We'll see.
Call it arrogance if you like, but then at least mention in the same breath that Chelsea is leading the league in that respect. Call if shambolic if you want, but at least mention in the same breath that if we win our game in hand, we're SECOND in the league. Not 15th, not 20, SECOND. The press assholes aren't too quick to mention that one in their rush to skewer us whenever possible (at least that miserable fuck The Insider at Soccernet admits that he's a biased little shit. That's fine, if you're doing a fucking blog...when you're on a major website, a little objectivity would be nice, you daft cunt).
Anyway, once again Arsenal are being raked over the coals for not providing a 30-shot on goal, 4-0 or 5-0 masterpiece like they did a few years ago. For fuck's sake, that was then, this is now. It's a different side, one ravaged by injury at the moment mind you. For all the whining about sqaud depth you see in some corners, look at it with some degree of perspective, will you? Do you think the filthy red Manks have more depth than we do? Liverpool? The Lily White Scum? Well, actually, the Lily White Scum have more depth up top than we do, with Robbie Keane being inexplicably bolted to the bench over there. Henry is fit, apparently JAR and Campbell are on the recovery trail as well.
Of course, a buy or two in January would be awesome, M. Wenger.
To give Citeh credit, they're really not a bad side - one point away from Europe last season, and this time around, I think they'll make it. I think they're a little thin up top, but they're decent otherwise. Particularly, they're well-suited for matches like this one, where workrate and the willingness to get stuck in will go a long way. Stuart Pearce has worked miracles over there, and I think he was a better shout for Manager of the Year last year then the guy who had the 200 million-pound bankroll to work with. Just saying, is all.
Oh, and Mike Riley is really not any good at his job. I would bet my paycheck that there are 5 or 6 guys kicking around Division One (again, I refuse to use that poncey moniker "The Championship") who could handle Premiership-level football better than Riley can. To his credit, he man-manages games exceptionally well...he's always talking and explaining his decisions, and he does well in cooling down most volatile situations. Sadly, that's only 15% or so of his job...and, he's always explaining things because most of his decisions are so inconsistent and/or completely fucking barking. He's just a shit, shit referee, although I only think the penalties are being called controversial because they happened to us. If they happened to Chelsea, you wouldn't hear a fucking peep.
Honestly, I think we got two more points than we deserved out of this one, although all credit to the team for hanging on to the one-goal lead. I especially liked the efforts of the back four (even Cygan had a relatively good game), and I thought Gilberto and Flamini did enough to assist them to make it a relatively quiet night. Jens Lehmann continues to have a great season, and while he didn't have to make any spectacular saves, he did have to be sharp several times on set pieces and in coming out to claim crosses. Well done, Jens.
So, the Tott'Scum are next, and I for one can't wait. They're sounding a liiiiiiiittle too confident down the shit end of the Seven Sisters Road, and I personally think they have a bit of a surprise coming. They have a lot to prove in terms of showing whether they belong this high up the table or not. We'll see.
