If UpForGrabsNow aspired to originality, then today would be all about Ryan Giggs.
It would be original in the sense that it would be an Arsenal blog about a man who plays for our detested foe. But it would be original mainly because nobody, absolutely nobody, is making the point that Ryan Giggs is having a good season. I find it unbelievable.
Oh no, hang on. There’s this. And, erm, this. In fact, it’s pretty much impossible to click on a website, turn on a telly or open a newspaper without finding some eyebrow-preening ex-professional noisily pointing out that Ryan Giggs is a good player as if this incredibly talented bloke had somehow been overlooked for the last 20 years and as if the journalist’s groundbreaking discovery comes tragically too late for poor anonymous Giggsy to ever really make a go of this professional football shenanigan.
I mean, it’s not like he’s won much during the last 20 years at Man Utd,is it?
What annoys me is that sports journalists get paid to do this. Surely they’re meant to watch sport and come up with original insights about it, right? They’re meant to have a knowledge about the game which transcends the humble understanding of the common man, you or I, we swarthy flat-capped North Bank sorts. Aren’t they?
I want to read an article about the hidden genius of Helder Postiga during his time at Tottenham, about how the young man justified his exorbitant transfer fee with a string of lung-busting performances and should never have been sold. It might be bollocks, but at least it’s contentious and thought-provoking.
Put it another way: who’s going to seriously oppose the claim that Giggs is good? Admittedly, there were large sections of Utd’s idiotic, infantile crowd who were screaming for Giggs and Scholes to retire last season while Arsenal were on top, but then presumably those supporters can’t read and are only in football for the nice shiny brands.
So, in the spirit of innovation and controversy, here are my thoughts on the Sunderland game today:
We should win. Sunderland aren’t very good.
Hopefully Arshavin will play. He is Russian.
Hopefully Eboue will not play. He is not as good at football as Arshavin. Or me.
Hopefully Vela will play a bit too. He is a bit like Eduardo, who unfortunately can’t play because his leg is sore.
Hopefully we will win. This is my opinion because I support Arsenal.
If you have any similarly shocking ideas about anything Arsenal or otherwise, stick ‘em in the comments. Don’t forget to enter our superb Philosophy Football Competition. Good luck!
Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Ryan Giggs
February 21st, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Yes would be nice to not see Eboue today and for that matter Abedayor his African friend who is just a lazy and useless
I think with Abedayor in the side Arsenal,s play is just hoof it up from Almunia and hope
Well hope Abedayor very rarly wins the header or holds the ball up he cant hit a barn door from 6 yards
We are so close to having a great squad with additions in the summer and replacemt of Abe who i hope will be sold to Real Madrid in an exchange deal with Huntular
February 21st, 2009 at 2:21 pm
You’re a real idiot
Eboue may not be having a good time of it but hes a pretty good player
In terms of pure skill, ie ball control and dribbling, hes better than most of the players in our squad, and hes a better athlete than most players in our squad
I duno if ive mentioned this here, but theres a ridiculous difference in the way eboue is treated in comparison to the other players
the best example i can give is walcott
that guy got into the arsenal team WAY too early and has given some ridiculously bad performances
just before his injury i noticed him getting caught trying to dribble out of defence 2 games in a row! and no one said a thing! his decision making has always been quite poor in the final 3rd, just like eboue
Sure eboue deserves some criticism, it was stupid for him to get sent off last week, but notice he was actually having a good game, he does have sme talent
to turn the guy into a joke like this is just ridiculous
Song was on the verge of becoming a joke to sites like this as well until recently when ppl have startd to notice hes not the worst player in the world
the only reason i can see for this is that walcott is english, and so he gets a pass, theres no other explanation, everyone wants him to lpay and do well
I want him to do well also, but not to the detriment of the team – right now i think hes an awesome sub but shouldnt be starting when others are fit, just my opinion
so yeh, get a grip, criticism is fine, but turning the guy into a joke is just harsh and disproportionate
February 21st, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Thanks davi, I have a lot of respect for what you’re saying. I guess the joke i was (obviously failing) to make was more about originality and sports journalism than any kind of serious analysis of eboue as a player. Was probably ill-advised, you’re right.
I can see that he’s not useless and that’s obvious simply by the amount of patience Wenger has for him. I also appreciate your point about double standards in judgements against players like eboue, however you must appreciate that though it’s a factor, it’s not all about nationality. while a player like theo is a model pro, eboue has earned himself a reputation for petulance, snide violence and diving. You can argue that other players have done all these things and been loved, but then they were Henry, Vieira and Pires (respectively) and they are all-time greats.
also, eboue is 25. walcott is 19 and so more patience is naturally his. you also have to consider that top bosses such as eriksson, capello and wenger have all been won over by his talent, and that while he has, as you point out, had a few poor games, the moments of brilliance eg against Milan, Liverpool, Croatia mean that the supporters at least know what he is capable of. Obviously, Eboue’s is a less glamorous style of play and he doesn’t get enough credit for the games he does play well in, but he has very rarely been brilliant in the way walcott has.
Put in another way, more brutally, Walcott can shoot and score – Eboue just can’t. Fans will always respond to the player who can score.
Finally, you’d be wrong to box us with the anti-Song blogs. That’s not our style at all and hasn’t been since we started. I think both Denilson and Song will become excellent players for Arsenal and in particular think Denilson has had a fantastic season considering his age. (That’s not to say I wouldn’t rather have a more established players in there right now, either).
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.
February 21st, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Grabs
I must apologize then, I guess I saw the headline and made unfair assumptions
You are correct about walcott’s ability to shoot and score making him more attractive to the fans
I do think that before his first injury this yera eboue was one of our best players
The one issue i have is that im not sure about walcott being a model professional, I see the same primadona attitude in him I do in frankly too many of the arsenal players – i say this because, while its sometimes good to take on the shot, he will almost always do it, even from impossible angles, which frankly hes never shown hes good enough to score from like van persie
My personal opinion of walcott is that he will become a good player but not great for us like i feel of players like wilshere, ramsey and merida
And honestly I believe if people really got behind eboue, and i actually think itl happen eventually, he will find a place up there with former arsenal greats – the ray parlour analogy will seem more fitting
Anyway, apologies for the slightly personal attacks – i did realise the point of ur article was different, it just really gets to me, the eboue hating i mean
Cheers
February 21st, 2009 at 5:11 pm
In the spirit of your post here’s something not so shocking then …
Arsenal Drew with Sunderland