Football XXXVIII: Wenger v The Special One

[Cashless Society]

Chelsea killing Arsenal's flow right now, it's over.

[Daeric]

You're like anyone but the BFG.

[Mark Antony]

Damn this ref has had a bad game

[Daeric]

At least its being equally bad.

[Alex.]

Arsenal fans at the Emirates get so indignant whenever other teams don't let them score. Chelsea came here for the wind up not for three points. Lol

[MercenaryChef]

Exactly what I said would happen.

May they draw their way to the trophy.

Jose is a tactical genius.

[Daeric]

Well it makes a change to not get hammered at least.

[Cashless Society]

Arsenal fans at the Emirates get so indignant whenever other teams don't let them score. Chelsea came here for the wind up not for three points. Lol

They did want the 3 points until about 65 minutes, then they were like "nah, fuck it."

[Rorshach]

Mourinho defends and gets a draw. Also:water is wet.

In exciting news, Kramnik held on for a draw.

[Spockydog]

Fair play to Mourinho. He had a plan, his players stuck to it, and they are now well on their way to becoming the worst, most cynical champions since Don Revie's Leeds United.

Worse than Chelsea more or less securing the title at our place was the crowd's treatment of Cesc. Made me ashamed to be an Arsenal supporter.

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

Yeah I still don't get why the felt the need to boo him

[Mexal]

Yeah I still don't get why the felt the need to boo him

Thought it was half and half, from what I heard anyway.

[Raja]

Eh, you can choose to boo him or applaud him, and you'll have valid enough reasons for doing both. I see nothing wrong with it.

On the game itself, we had a few half chances, with Ozil probably having the best one at the end. We had to take the game to them, but I don't think we did that too well. One of Chamberlain/ Rosicky could have helped today. I'm surprised that he latter has not been getting too much game time at the moment.

Quite glad to move past this game, can't really stand the media stuff around Mourinho/ Wenger.

Edit: Lastly, I don't think Fabregas would have fit into our team at all. Watching him today, I can certainly see why we didn't take that option to buy him back, that does not have much to do with his quality, because he did produce one of the finest moments of the game, more so that he's just not mobile enough for our team. We would have had to build a team around him, and I don't think that is something AW wanted to do.

[Spockydog]

Thought it was half and half, from what I heard anyway.

From where I was sitting, most of it sounded pretty vitriolic. Yeah, he did get applauded from the pitch when substituted, but there were plenty of people just sitting there with their arms folded when he went off.

Eh, you can choose to boo him or applaud him, and you'll have valid enough reasons for doing both. I see nothing wrong with it.

Why would you boo him? For choosing to return home after eight years of loyal service to the Arsenal, having given absolutely everything on the pitch, every single game he played? Or for having the bare-faced cheek to sign for Chelsea, a club with genuine title winning chances, after being publicly rejected by the club he loved and yearned to return to?

You can't really blame him for leaving in the first place. He desperately wanted to win things with Arsenal - you could see that, every time he pulled on the shirt. But, coupled with our perceived lack of ambition at the time, and Barcelona's desire to have him back, what would you have done? After all, he was born in Barcelona and supported the club since he was a boy.

And yeah, him signing for Chelsea was a bitter pill to swallow, and I would have had him back in North London in a heartbeat. But you cannot blame the man for Wenger's decision not to re-sign him. To give him the same kind of treatment reserved for the likes of Adebayor and Na$ri was just utterly classless.

[polishgenius]

Why is it okay to boo Nasri, who quietly saw out his contract and then moved to someone giving him a better offer as he has a right to do, but not Fabregas, who refused to train and tour in order to force through his move?

I'm no fan of Nasri, but out of the two of them he definitely behaved more professionally in leaving.

[Spockydog]

Come on, are you really asking why Arsenal fans have a problem with Samir Na$ri? Why does anyone have a problem with Samir Na$ri?

He is despised not so much for the manner of his departure, but his behaviour afterwards. And let's be clear - he did not 'quietly see out his contract.' He still had a year to go when, having put in just one good season at Arsenal, decided to take Man City's money and stick two fingers up at the club, and its fans, on his way out.

[polishgenius]

I have a problem with Samir Nasri. He's the French Ashley Young and one of the most punchable faces in football. But that doesn't change the fact that he left much less contentiously than Cesc did (fair enough, I was wrong about seeing it out- but nonetheless, he didn't do any maneuvering to get it). Yeah, he said some silly things after he left because he's a twat, but I can't help but feel that the main reason one got more hate than the other is the supposed romance of the Barca option.

[Spockydog]

When Cesc left, the club was in a terrible fucking state; one of - what looked at the time - terminal decline. He'd had enough - as we all had as Arsenal fans. When Barca had come in for him the previous season, Wenger apparently made all kinds of promises in terms of player recruitment, promises that were simply not honoured. IIRC, the highlight of our transfer business that year was signing Marouane Chamakh (and Koscielny, but at the time who knew how good a signing that would be). The following summer we signed some players (Gervinho and the Ox), but by then the damage was done, and Cesc's heart was just not in it anymore.

Look, I get it. This is the age of self-entitlement, and if people want to boo, dammit, they're going to boo. But the fact is, when Cesc actually left the club, his Arsenal legacy was intact. There was still plenty of love for him. If he had returned in a Barcelona shirt, there's no way he would have got a reception like he did today. He got booed today 'cos he signed for Chelsea. And that was down to Wenger.

[DJDonegal]

Ospina should have been off and Chelsea had a penalty. I was stunned into silence he managed to stay on at the time.

The referee signalled (didn't see it on replays later) that he gave a yellow because he thought Fabregas left a leg dangling.

Opposite end of the stadium for Cahill handball. Would have been harsh looking at replays... But always taking a risk with arms away from body in the box.

Ramires should have scored.

Ozil OR Welbeck should have bloody scored.

Chelsea got the result they were looking for, I get that. But that's the kind of play you expect from relegation threatened teams - not the Champions-Elect of England who, with all the points in the bag they had, should have at least put some effort into trying to blow Arsenal away. For a second I was happy not to be a fan of a team with that kind of mentality, but then I remembered I would be cheering a league title if I was.

I've never seen a team so effective at choking off all the channels again and again.

[Nas!]

I have a question for live footie attendants on all continents: does the in-stadium replay screen show replays of contentious referee calls during games where you live? I'm not certain if it is an MLS directive or a local phenomenon or a generally accepted practice, but at Vancouver home games they will not show replays of plays that resulted in fouls or cards, or even off-sides on the big screen. It's pretty cowardly, I feel. Last night Whitecaps midfielder Mattias Laba got two yellows that changed the game. Both looked weak from where I sat, and I and those around me let the ref know about it. As it turns out, I'd say both calls were legit (if a bit harsh), but I didn't know it until I watched a recording of the game today. If they had been replayed at the game, I would have felt much differently leaving the stadium.