So we scraped the 3 points in the end. My 3-points-sandwich isn’t going to come with extra cheese and they’re definitely not going to toast it for me, but it’s good enough for now.
Early reaction: I thought Song had one of his better games and that overall the Djourou-Kolo partnership looked pretty solid (though they looked a bit shaky in the final 10 minutes). In fact the whole team was so shaky for the final 10 that at one point I thought one of them might grab the bull by the horns and actually score for Wigan.
The guy who looked most likely to do this was Eboue, who appears to have entirely forgotten the most basic ideas on which the sport of football is based. Fine, he was playing on the left of midfield. Not his natural position, by any means, but you get to wondering whether this guy has a natural position or whether he might just be very bad indeed at football.
The key incident came when Kolo ran towards him with the ball and ushered him forward. Instead Eboue ran backwards, tackled Toure and fed a good pass to a Wigan player who looked grateful for this surprise gift and alarmed at the lack of Kolo or any Arsenal midfielders blocking his path to goal. He gave the ball away a couple of other times and kept finding himself on the wrong side of opponents or making very weak challenges in important positions.
As I say, it is unfair to judge anyone when they are so far out of position, but this was idiocy, and our fans weren’t having any of it, giving him a healthy dose of vitriol as he headed for the tunnel. (In his place, that renowned midfield general, Mickael Silvestre, incidentally).
Eboue looked seriously pissed off (though admittedly he always looks pissed off when he’s not dancing in carparks) and people are bound to have a go at our fans for attacking him the way they did. I’d be very interested to hear what people think about this issue. You can vote in the Arse-Poll (top right) and let rip in the comments.
Tags: Alex Song, Eboue, Emmanuel Eboue, wigan
December 6th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
felt abit sorry for eboue however it was for the best, at lest now all the other players will realise we mean business!!
December 6th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
i the fact is eboue has never been a fan favourate but i fee l the fans were extremly harch,he has not played i n over month and is lacking in confedence,plus he is not midfielder,he is realy right back, if this kolo toure would they have boode him off.
December 6th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
he was wrongly booed. arsenal fans need to get behind their players in difficult times instead booeing them.motivate them
December 6th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I was really disappointed to see Eboue come on ahead of Wilshere or Ramsey, who both had excellent games against Wigan in the Carling. I was even more disappointed to see Eboue being despatched to a left forward position. He hasn’t had ONE good game there.
Had I been AW, i would’nt have brought him on today after nine gams out. Manager’s error. Decision and positioning.
Now, I’m not Eboue’s biggest fan. I think his proper position in the squad is substitute right back for Sagna. HOWEVER, the treatment meated out to him by so called Arsenal “fans” today was completely unacceptable. Have any of you ever had a bad day? Was it EVER made better by 55,000 nutters baying for your blood.
I think we may well have seen the last of an excellent athlete with a good heart in an Arsenal strip. The guy’s confidence was low at the start and SHATTERED by the end. think that’s a pity. I wasn’t there today, but I would NEVER boo anyone in a Gunners strip. A very big downer for the entire team’s confidence. Bet the dressing room “mojo” was lower than whale shit.
December 6th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I’m disgusted by the fans behavior. I couldn’t believe it, I was upset for the fist time I can remeber after a win.
If the supporters could cheer half as loud as they did when he got substituted, maybe the team would feel the supporters are behind them. That was the most amount of noise I’ve heard coming out of our new stadium and all for the wrong reasons. I actually feel ashamed to be associated with arsenal supporters today!
December 6th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
its a joke! booing our player. the only reason arsenal were shaky was because some arsenal fans are weak. when a corner or free kicks are taken they sing up until the player is about to kick the ball then stop. they have no belief. so they worry whats gonna happen next. the fans are killing the players morale.you could take enemy fans disrespecting but your own so called family. it takes the piss. are people stupid . we know arsene protects his players like there his sons so how would that make him feel. do people think he has no friends in the changing.how would it make us feel if our friend was being booed . im telling you now forget being loyal to unloyal fans i wouldnt want put my all in for those bunch of pricks.SO EXPECT LOEWR PERFORMANCES. eboue was there watching the kids in the carling cup supporting arsenals future. he knows what support means. where was van persie. how many mistakes does he make. after today. i swear i hope arsene leaves. then fabregas. then all the other important players,because those fans dont deserve winning anything. barcelona ,madrid does things like booing and treating players like robots and meat, but they have won the european cup and its still wrong. some fans know what it takes to be a footballer but couldnt do it. eboue started making more mistakes because the crowd killed him. no player on that pitch played perfect passes. arsenals fans are now doing the work for our enemies. deluded bunch of d***s. ive never seen that happen to an arsenal player. forget that win its been ruined . when them players went into the changing rooms they probably spent time trying to gee up eboue instead of celebrating the victory.cesc has already gestured to the crowd because the fans are trying to kill him and his friends. weak minded fans, media with an agenda, the premier league with their selected teams (not arsenal). ITS NOT ARSENE OR THE PLAYERS ITS THE WEAK ANd ENVIOUS THAT ARE dESTROYING SOMETHING THAT CAN BE BEAUTIFUL ANd WE WOULd AS FANS ENJOY IT. wenger is not stubborn he has faith thats why he is successful and these fickle fans leave the match and go back to there shit lives. these guys are young. your trying to destroy there lives.
December 6th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Eboue received alot of critisism during this season.
I am a season ticket holder and i didn’t join the booing today.
The reason is that in early games of the season he was one of our best players both home and away (remember that horrible performance at patney bridge?) and was still getting stick by most of the so called arsenal fans.
Overall he is a utility player and a very good rb!!
I would’t be suprised if he left in january!!!
December 6th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Sometimes fans can be so unforgiving! Booing Eboue was so wrong, I can’t remember a referees wrong call that infuriated me more than that! He was playing out of position, after more than six games out and everyone expects him to be better than Zidane! I can’t believe that! Anyone in their right mind, who claims to support Arsenal cannot be proud of that kind of conduct. It is worse than what opposition fans dish out to us. I remember Arsenal playing Real Madrid, Eboue played a blinder! he singlehandedly got Cicinhio shipped out of Real. Zizou gave him his shirt after the game. I also remember TH14 scoring an unlikely header in that last minute that helped Arsenal beat Manure home and away. Guess who provided the laser guided cross? Eboue. I remember him in the game against Juventus. He did not put a foot wrong. He is a right back forced to play further up on the pitch. To blame him for one or two misplaced passes on the wrong side of the pitch, after a long injury lay off is beyond comprehension. With all due respect, some of the fans are victims of a media-led anti-Arsenal conspiracy. I will not scream incurable idiocy but …
December 6th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
hes generally a good player, technically and physically hes actually unbelievably good, just makes bad decisions
i hate how ppl get on his back cos he usually works very hard and adds some physical presence to the team
especially when theres players like walcott, who lose the ball on the edge of the box trying to dribble out, and dont contribute much defensively
its a bit disproportionate isnt it the levels of abuse eboue gets and the praise walcott gets (I realise hes young but its no excuse for arrogance)
December 6th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
It`s not very nice to hear supporters booing and chanting when a player leaves the field. I think the booing was more intended for Wenger than Eboue and that the crowd intended to get teir message across, heaven only knows the man needs to listen.
December 6th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
These morons should be ashamed, what kind of an idiot boos his own player? How the fuck does this help the team?? These people aren’t true supporters or even casual fans they are parasites who are only here for the glory. No one booed Hillier, Morrow, McGoldrick or Selley during the 90s, though I doubt anyone booing today would even know who I’m talking about. True gooners need to shame these people – what the hell must the likes of Fabregas be thinking hearing these idiots booing one of his own team mates? I wouldn’t blame him if he decided to clear off back to spain – why on earth would you want to play for such morons?
December 7th, 2008 at 5:39 am
We all know fans play an important role on the match that is being played on the field. Not the biggest of roles, but sometimes u need that extra li’l something to win the game. I mean why do you think home games are slightly easier than away games. It is because the home team fans have their players’ backs and there are less away supporters to boo the home team.
But what happens when your own fans boo you together with the away fans. It is then when you feel lonely and unappreciated. In eboue’s case he was killed by the dagger in heart. Just look at his face when he was leavin the field. It was the sad face of a man who was being estranged from his own family. There have been a lot of critism for our manager and players…but today i criticize myself and all of u that we are arsenal fans. We are probably the worst fans in the world right now. I feel disgusted.
Forget about Eboue. Think about all the other arsenal players. What was going on in Fabregas’s mind when we were booing Eboue? It had to be something like this “Today my fans are booing Eboue, tomorrow they are going to boo me when i play bad”…and in that way not only did we decrease Eboue’s morale but the morale of the team as a whole. It’s a fact.
We, the fans, have to fix this somehow…and fast!
December 7th, 2008 at 11:29 am
WHY NOT START A POST WHERE TRUE GOONERS CAN SEND A MESSAGE OF SUPPORT TO EBOUE AND LET HIM (AND JUST AS IMPORTANTLY THE OTHER PLAYERS) KNOW THAT WE ARE NOT ALL MINDLESS MORONS AND THAT WE DO ACTUALLY SUPPORT THE TEAM. YOU COULD THEN PRINT IT OUT AND SEND TO THE CLUB WHO COULD PASS IT ON TO EBOUE. I WOULDN’T BLAME HIM, OR ANY OTHER PLAYERS, IF THEY NEVER FELT LIKE PLAYING FOR THE ARSENAL AGAIN IF IT MEANS BEING ABUSED BY THESE PRAWN SANDWICH MUNCHERS. I USED TO BE SO PROUD OF ARSENAL FANS COMPARED TO THE BEHAVIOUR OF OTHERS, BUT NOW LOOK WHAT IS HAPPENING AT OUR GROUND. WE NEED TO REDEEM OURSELVES AND SENDING MESSAGES OF SUPPORT WOULD BE A GREAT WAY OF DOING THIS AND RESTORING CONFIDENCE. TRUE GOONERS NEED TO STAND UP AND TAKE BACK OUR CLUB.
December 7th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Disgraceful
I would give anything to be at Emirates each week but unfortunately I live in Australia. These supporters need to realise its not their gog given right to see Wengerball and cricket scored racked up each week.
December 7th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I would love the privilege to be half as gifted as eboue but as it stands I would be shamed playing sunday league football. We as Arsenal fans need to understand the incredible stress exerted on players attempting to appease 60000 fans. We need to appreciate Arsenal when they play badly and win as it has been a worry to fans of our not being able to win ugly. Come on the gooners.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Guys, lets face d truth, Eboue was so BAD he did nt bother to shave his hair. We dont nid mediocre players at arsenal who dont giv a shit abt winning as far as they are paid there salaries. We nid to win something and if it means Booing bad players like Bendtnar, denilson, eboue, Gallas, silvestre, so b it, we
December 7th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
it’s quite frankly sickening. seeing eboue having to wipe off his tears like that due to a section of the 60,000 emirates crowd abusing the guy relentlessly, thats a grown man. its no wonder he lost his confidence, and i doubt he’d be getting it back any time soon.
ive criticised eboue many times, but to boo the guy when he’s in posession, doing his best for the team isn’t on – it really isnt.