Last night we (my wife and myself) attended the reserve team (Carling Cup) match between Arsenal and West Brom at the Emirates Stadium. The first thing that I
would like to point out is that the stadium itself is a fantastic example of what a modern stadium should be like. If only the FA had commissioned the same builders as Arsenal, we wouldn't have had to shell out a billion for Wembley and we would have comfy seats to watch England games in. Oh well, you live and learn (or maybe not in the case of the FA).
The Emirates Stadium, however, does suffer from one issue that befalls Wembley too. It is inaccessible to anyone who doesn't live within walking distance. According to my GPS, it is 27 miles door to door from our house to the stadium. Now, I know a couple of Kenyans who can run this distance in a little over 2 hours. It took us an hour and a half to drive there. Arsenal FC would have been better served to have built their new ground outside the M25 to allow supporters to get there and back more easily. And, before any Gooners shout about keeping their precious club in the Highbury area, remember you have already moved from Woolwich, another few miles wouldn't have hurt.
Once we arrived at the stadium we were greeted by the sight of hundreds of 'Arsenal fans' all gathering together to have their pictures taken next to Arsenal or Emirates signs. Have they not been before?? This was reminiscent of the sort of thing you see outside Old Trafford and around Stamford Bridge.
To compound the surreal feel to the occasion, Arsenal have a strange habit of announcing only the first name of each player, expecting the crowd to shout out the surname. Hmmmm…..more cheese anyone. I expected DJ Otzi to start blaring out at any second. What makes it worse is that, as Arsenal were playing a mixture of reserves and kids, no-one knew their names and most couldn’t pronounce them anyway.
All in all the feeling was that we had strayed into Football World in the Epcot Centre at Disney World (it’s between Morocco and Canada). A sort of sanitised and Americanised version of what football should be like. All neatly packaged and stamped with an Arsenal badge. At any minute I was expecting a rendition of ‘Let’s Go Arsenal, Let’s Go
On to the game. Arsenal have a reputation for finding and bringing through extremely good young players and I can confirm that the latest crop are no different. The way they knock the ball around, for a bunch of teenagers, is a credit to their coaching system. However, (and there is always an however or it wouldn’t be worth writing a blog) there is on aspect of their coaching system that needs to be changed, in my opinion. I won’t use the C word, but it rhymes with heating and seating.
In the aftermath of Eduardo-gate, you would think that the combined talents of Arsenal coaching staff would have gathered the players together and had a word. Although, as we know, Eduardo got away with it, so I guess it is the fault of the football authorities as much as the coaching staff.
Regardless of their undoubted talent, the Arsenal kids throw themselves about like rag dolls on occasion. One in particular, Sanchez Watt, an obviously gifted player, went down like a sack of spuds every time he was close to an Albion defender. Halfway through the first half I sneezed (from Row 6) and over he went. Now, either he needs to bulk up a little or he needs to be told to pack it in. In fact, the only time I saw him stay on his feet was when he tucked away the opening goal.
This brings me to the sending off. I hasten to add that I, in no way, defend the actions of Jerome Thomas. He is a seasoned professional who should not allow himself to be provoked by a teenager. However, Wilshere rolled around as though he had been shot rather than gently pushed away. In one of the papers this morning there is a picture of the ref holding the red card and in the background you can see Wilshere checking to see if the red card has been handed out so that he knew when it was safe to get up.
Needless to say the incident was not seen by Arsene Wenger. I presume that he falls asleep at the start of most matches and is only woken up at half time and full time. This would explain how he always fails to see any major incidents.
Why do any of these things? These players are obviously good enough to take on most sides on a level playing field and win on the majority of occasions. They don’t need to bend the rules, feign injuries or get the opposition reduced to 10-men. Just play your football as you have been taught to, in the right way, and beat teams fairly and squarely.
At this point of the blog I would actually like to add something positive!! To the Arsenal stewards a very big hearty slap on the back and well done. To the baboon in an Arsenal shirt who spent the entire match trying to provoke Albion fans, you are a complete muppet. It was good to see the stewards spot what was happening and eject the trouble maker. Oh well mate, first and last game eh??
Finally, a message to Mr Peace. Jeremy, make our dreams come true. If we manage to get promoted at the end of this season, take the trophy, take the prize money and then slowly stick 2 fingers up at the Premier League and tell them we will stay right where we are, in the real world.
I know this will never happen, but just imagine how good it would feel if we did it……
