NolaGunner responds to Keegs – We are championship caliber!
Here’s a response by nolagunner to Keegs’ email. Although it’s not as long, it does contain paragraphs and is without grammatical errors. Once again, a good read, whether you agree or not is a different matter.
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In response the previous post, the email from Keegs, commenter “honolulu” said:
Dude, you are harshing my mellow. I mean, really, that is what he got out of the game last night? Sucks to be him.
Precisely. How could you watch such an amazing game and respond by throwing a tantrum? I wish I could just write Keegs off as a jerk who shouldn’t be supporting Arsenal. But the fact is, his attitude is very, very common amongst Arsenal fans. These fans are, in short, a bunch of spoiled brats who lash out at anything and everything when things do not go their way. They cannot face a universe that does not cater to their every wish, a universe that occasionally dishes out bad luck with injuries, bounces, refs, or facing a team playing above their level. A loss (or even a draw!), and the toys get pitched out of the pram. It must be someone’s fault! Blame Wenger! We must have “an overhaul in personnel, playing style, philosophy and vision!” Remember, this is coming while we are still in the hunt for the double.
Wednesday night was one of the most amazing football matches ever played. The first half was the stuff of legend. Barcelona is coming off the most successful season in the history of football, and they played what their coach called their best away football ever. So we did not measure up to a historically great team playing their very best football. (Except that, oddly enough, we did. The half ended nil-nil. And as the incoherent Keegs also said, “Possession means fuck all if you don’t use it to score.”)
But Keegs thinks we are so far off Barca it’s unbelievable, and this somehow means we “are not championship caliber”. It’s true, we are a lesser team than Barca or Man Utd. at this point, because we have not actually won trophies, and thus lack the swagger that goes with that. But that’s all we’re missing.
Here was the plan going into the season. Move to the 4-3-3, so that the spine of the team goes Gal/Verm-Cesc-RvP. It works brilliantly; RvP takes a few matches to adjust, but he manages to work his holdup play into his already fantastic ball control and shooting. Song develops into a world class holding MF, which gives Wenger all sorts of options. We are just rolling our opponents. Let’s look at our healthy #1 squad, along with their backups.
Almunia (Fabianski)
Sanga-Gallas-Vermaelen-Clichy (Eboue-Campbell-Djourou-Gibbs)
Song-Rosicky-Fabregas (Denilson-Diaby-Ramsey)
Arshavin-RvP-Nasri (Eduardo-Bendtner-Walcott)
Let’s be clear here: everything has gone wrong this season. We never, not even once, got to play that lineup. The two players we absolutely could not afford to lose were Fabregas and Van Persie, two world class players. RvP is why we got to play in the Champion’s League this year. We lost RvP for the season, and Fab for more than a month. We’ve played since November without our second best player, and played a chunk of that without our best. On the rest of the first team: Nasri out for months with a broken leg. Rosicky in and out all season (kind of expected). Clichy out for months. Arshavin playing injured for months. Of the backups: Djourou out for the season. Ramsey out for the season. Gibbs out for the season. Walcott out for months. Bendtner out for more than a month. Eduardo in and out, and never finds his form. We’ve had multiple stretches where the first choice and backup were both out (Clichy-Gibbs, RvP-Bendtner, Gallas-Djourou, Cesc-Ramsey, Almunia-Fabianski). We had Arshavin playing CF!
The preceding paragraph would serve as an excellent set of excuses for a season like, say, Liverpool’s. Washed out the CL group stages, out of title hunt by Christmas, probably out of CL play and maybe Europa too. Just not out year…what can you do with all those injuries?
Except that we’re not in that position! We’re in the title race (esp w/ Rooney and Essien injuries). We just played the Champions playing out of their minds and came out with a draw, and head to the Nou Camp to face a Pique/Puyols free defense and a chance to score at least 2 to get the away goals. We need things to go well for once, but we’re still right in the mix in April.
In David Simon’s The Wire, the Commissioner says “If the gods fuck you, find a way to fuck them back.” The football gods fucked us this year, and we might win anyway. We are watching a team ruined by injuries somehow willing itself to win. How awesome is that?
So please, all you spoiled brats out there: shut up and go to your rooms. The grownups are talking, and trying to enjoy a magical season.
Bravo
Arsenalist, I must apologize to you as well. I didn’t see that you posted a fan review and that’s what that vile POS was. I rescind my comments about ceasing to read the blog and you seem to have stirred up plenty of Gooner-love with that.
Well said. Those spitting out their dummies have no idea what it really means to support a team, to be a true fan. Through thick and thin, highs and lows, you back your side to the hilt. You may not agree with everything the manager decides, or the decision-making of your strikers or the handling of your goalkeeper but by Christ you SUPPORT your team.
So yes, well said.
“The football gods fucked us this year”
The football gods fucked us last year, the year before that and the year before that too. And guess what, they’ve been fucking with us since the day we decided that we weren’t going to sign experienced players and rely solely on youth.
Thank God he signed Arshavin, Nasri, Vermaelen and Sagna in the last two years, all good players who have done the job for us. Now imagine if we replaced Diaby, Denilson, Clichy, Almunia and Bendtner with proven plahyers. I like Diaby and Denilson but they should not be first-choice for a team trying to win CL or Prem.
I don’t get why Wenger doesn’t buy more when recent history says that when he buys, good things happen.
Also – our training staff needs to be looked at, the 4-3-3 lineups you wrote are OK, but how often do we have those players available? Almost never. Something’s wrong.
Excellent post Nolagunner. We should quit bitching and focus on supporting this team who have demonstrated an extraordinary resilience this season. Yes, we need a couple of extra players who will improve our long-term defensive capabilities but in the meantime, be grateful for the privilige of supporting this Arsenal squad on their amazing journey. You are dead right, with the injuries we have had to multiple key personnel throughout this season, we should be dead and buried. Come on you redzzzzz! 2 goals at the Nou Camp are NOT beyond us.
Well done Nolagunner. Your views were spot on as well as your analysis of the season. What I saw happen in the stadium on wednesday night was a nerve-racking experience but the joy of the comeback I have not experienced in all the years that I have been going to the Emirates. It was truly a memorable night for all the positive things that Nola said…..we played the best team on the planet who played “The Perfect Game” and we still stuffed them by scoring twice. The belief is on our side now and we sure as hell put the fear of God into Barcelona. We proved that their defense is fragile and without Puyol and Pique we can really have a go on tuesday. While the loss of Cesc is big we have to have the self belief that we can win without him. That was the belief we DID NOT have when Thierry Henry was in his last season with us since everything revolved around him but I have the feeling that this team is far better balanced than that one. Arshavin had another subdued game on wednesday and in any case played no role in our comeback.
Keep the belief and will our team forwards on wednesday!!!!!!!
ooops………tuesday!!!
You are naive to think that everything that Keeg wrote is shit. He is a fan or else he wouldnt be wiritng his concerns, even if they are overly pesimistic with doom and gloom predictions. We will never have the starting 11 we would like for more than a month, since many of these players are are the fragile and small side, and they also play for at least 10 months out of the year, which is very hard for the body to cope with. So we do need to add talent, but not 6 or 7 starters. Just a couple more peices to complete the puzzle.
Wednesday’s game will go down in history, but I think it will be a good taste if we can come out on top in Barcalona on tuesday.
Wenger is doing a great job, but this fan wouldn’t mind Wenger making a few purchases to strengthen our squad so we can fill the inevitable holes that will occur from injury, suspensions and other deterrents. Great stuff on here Alist!! Go Gunners!!
very well said and lot of points well-stressed on!
Gooner for Life and happy to have all you fellow gooners
Bring it on Barca
A R S E N A L
Wow… i love our squad!
wait… except maybe almmunia…
Thanks for posting, Arsenalist. Let me respond to 2 negative criticisms that I think raise important issues:
collge_st: “I don’t get why Wenger doesn’t buy more when recent history says that when he buys, good things happen.”
You might consider that good things happen when Wenger buys precisely *because* he is so careful in buying. He want a good reason to believe that what he’s buying is significantly better than what he has. He can afford to buy, but unlike the Chelsea/ManU/Barca/ clubs, he cannot afford massive mistakes.
conner: “You are naive to think that everything that Keeg wrote is shit….We will never have the starting 11 we would like for more than a month”
I don’t think that everything he wrote is shit, I’m just stunned that THAT was his response to the Barca match. And you make my point. I would KILL to have the starting 11 we would like for a month, if only to see what it feels like. The first six weeks of this season was the closest, and it was glorious.
Almunia ain’t no shit if he can withstand the brawling of the world’s best team for 45 minutes of Barca players taking turns to take shots at him. Almunia has the probably of the best composure. Sure, he came off his line and let in the first goal and committed himself to the wrong side in the second but you would have to admit that Song was at fault for both goals. But then again, we showed such spirit and we were literally like little boys chasing a match against a professional team but always doing our best.
I would still be happy if the match ended 2-1 or even 2-0 or even 3-0. As long as Arsenal continue to paint the picture of football ever so beautifully, Arsenal will forever awe me.
we need to keep cheering them on.. and lift them to the heights of glory
Tomorrow and on Wednesday will be the deciding games.. Glory or not to glory.. I’m still an arsenal fan.. Nobody breaks that strong bond between me and my arse..
I don care how much i bitch or get frustrated! At the end of the day I’m always an arsenal fan! i love the way they play! n as long as they do that i can support them! Yes I want them to win trophies n yes i want arsene to buy one or two ppl n blah blah blah! but i’m a fan coz arsene is a genius!
So Arsene n Arsenal always have me for a fan!
Excellent post, nolagunner.
HAVE BEEN SCREAMING FOR A GOAL FOR THE PAST 93 MINUTES! BENDTNER FINALLY GETS THE GOAL WE DESERVED! NOW IF THAT WASN’T PURE SPIRIT AND DETERMINATION I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS!
ONE NIL TO ARSENAL!
FINALLY ARSENAL SCORED!!! MY HEART ALMOST JUMPED OUT!!! though watching such games are bad for my heart but so long as arsenal score i don mind! bentner’s goal may prove to be vry vital for arsenal’s season! Go gunners nxt will be barca!
brilliant post.. most of my thoughts there.. really emotional us drawing but awesome
Thank You
Here here!
Err.. hear hear!
If people are moaning about this season I don’t even want to know how they behaved last one!
college_st said:
“I don’t get why Wenger doesn’t buy more when recent history says that when he buys, good things happen.”
The fact that good things happen when Wenger buys players, is because Wenger is Wenger, and that he is a manager genious! He buys players seldom, and of course good things happen.
Wenger is the man…
Norwegian Fag = Einareen
Einareen = Norwegian Fag
Yes! Your post should be tattooed on the foreheads of those sad clowns at Le Grove. Thank you.
respect sir!
‘Rome was not built in a day’ and so this Arsenal.
Respect to you Mr. Wenger.
Great stuff – I feel exactly the same I call for a lot of restraint amongst arsenal fans who are overly influenced by The Daily Diss Dot!
Let us all remember – these are still the glory days for arsenal. We have had a rejuvenated period since the reign of the invincibles but we are coming through more healthy as a whole club -
great stadium , great young players , great manager , great directors – Let’s make sure the fans are the same!