Ted Grant
Whipping boys are not a new phenomena amongst football supporters. Some are deserving - or more accurately can be understood, some are misjudged or just plain old mean, some can be attributed to a kind of pack mentality - an unsavoury cultish bandwagon. I think the abuse of Denilson falls in the latter camp.
Give the guy a break. I genuinely feel Denilson loves playing for Arsenal and plays his heart out when he’s on the pitch. He does try his best and I always think it’s hard to be critical of someone who tries his best. Whether he’s up to the job or not isn’t really his fault. Just because he is not slaloming through challenges or hammering forty yard shots in the top corner doesn’t mean he’s a ‘f***ing waste of space’ or a ‘useless Brazilian c***’.
His role in the team is different to Fabregas, Van Persie, Walcott et al. Come on, this doesn’t need pointing out. He’s clearly a squad man who when all our midfield players are fit, and this includes Ramsay and Diaby, would probably struggle to get a place on the bench. You can say that illustrates a lack of depth in our squad but if he is effectively our sixth midfielder with only three places up for grabs you wouldn’t expect him to have the same quality as those higher up the pecking order.
I don’t like saying it but maybe our chagrin should be directed more at Diaby, a supposedly influential player who - because he is either injured or erratic with his performances - has probably had no more than ten decent games for Arsenal in his five year or so career with the club.
