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A boring encounter with the Odious Chavs

Reflections on the weekend’s draw

23 April, 2012 10:00 26 comments
A boring encounter with the Odious Chavs

Song – Not his finest 90 minutes

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This latest blog was inspired by Fozzy’s Mate, who reckons that I only blog when we’re losing. So this one’s for you, mate. Saturday’s result with the Odious Chavs has provided more food for thought than the ten men who went to Cashley (or something like that). The resulting bore-draw came about for two reasons.

Firstly, we were unable to put the ball into the back of the net – mainly down to Percy, playing his zillionth game of the season and looking completely exhausted. He’s now just one tackle away from another dodgy injury, so let’s hope that, if it does come, it will be in the 98th minute of our last game of the season against West Brom, and then he won’t have to play in all the meaningless internationals all summer long. Hang on, isn’t this history repeating itself? Didn’t Weng make exactly the same mistake last season when Happy Jack was similarly and ridiculously overplayed with disastrous results this term?

The second reason for the bore-draw was the general lack of ambition from the Odious Chavs. There is no pleasure to be gained by watching this lot, and one can easily understand why games at the Chelsea Village Idiots stadium are rarely sold out. I observed Torres ambling around with his mind clearly elsewhere as the game passed us by. The irony is that, if the Odious Chavs had bothered to apply themselves, they could have got something out of the game due to our sloppy passes which persisted at regular intervals.

For the second match in a row, we were spooked for having to change ends before the start, and that’s something we need to sort out before they all catch on. Pelé (alias Song) was dreadful today, and requires a trip to Specsavers to check for colour-blindness, as he appeared to pick out a blue shirt perfectly with every pass. Walnutt was yet again woeful all over the pitch, and too timid to tackle. The fact that we have now lost him for the remainder of the season will surely strengthen the team. The other midfielders were Rosicky, who handed in a sick note midway through the second half, The Ox who was played out of position, and Rambo, who is another one who is struggling, having been overplayed this season. Why does the crowd berate Rambo so much? At least he wears his heart on his sleeve and is prepared to get stuck in.

We were treated to a rare sight of an endangered species when Diabolical strolled on as a 65th-minute sub, and thoughts came back to a couple of seasons ago when Diabolical and Pelé made up half of our midfield. Their flankers (sic) were regularly none other than Ebouseless and Deckchair. And, on a really bad day, we had Barry up front. At least we’ve moved on from those dark days.

The end of the season is quickly approaching, but there are still plenty of restless nights ahead of us until it’s over. Totterington put the smile back on our faces later in the day with their inept display at QPR. We live and pray that Cesc & Co can turn over the Odious Chavs on Tuesday evening. The Bar Codes are coming up fast on the rail, but we now need to hold our nerve against the Pulis morons and then beat Norwich and West Brom. Is that too much to ask for?

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26
comments

  1. Nick

    Apr 24, 2012, 12:13 #21530

    A young girl was standing beside a handsome, but grim warrior, on a bright moonlit night, in the aftermath of an attack on her travelling party by robbers, she asked the warrior who she was in love with, how it was he could defeat armed men so easily, when other , strong men had been brushed aside, the warrior asked the girl what she feared most in life, she replied losing you, he then tossed a pebble to her which she caught easily, he said i am going to throw you another pebble, but if you fail to catch it, i will mount my horse and leave forever , thats not fair she cried, life rarely is was his reply, now i am serious, so catch it, or i leave, he threw low and to her left, she grasped at the pebble and held it, only after fumbling at first , flushed with sucsess she cried i dit it , he asked what she had done , i won she said, he shook his head no and asked again , now i understand the girl said, so what did you do the warrior asked again, i caught a pebble in the moonlight she replied, the moral of this, is that you only know how good you are, when you can do the simple things, under immense pressure, how many of our current crop could catch a pebble in the moonlight?

  2. Arsene is a liar

    Apr 24, 2012, 8:37 #21519

    I don't know why some of AFC (Arsene's Financial Corp) fans are moaning about tiredness of players, their lack of motivation and other things. We are in the promised land of Champions League and will soon wrap up our """trophy""". What else you want?

  3. Joe S.

    Apr 24, 2012, 7:19 #21514

    Spot on analysis Fozzy. Add Wegner's stupidity in persisting with a lame Walcot and you have all the ingredients as to why this present group will never inspire confidence. Did Wegner contemplate his bench in the second half and really notice how threadbare it was?

  4. norfolk gooner

    Apr 23, 2012, 21:32 #21513

    @ Nick, brilliant article mate, have to agree with all your comments.I said on here only yesterday about going through the whole season relying on one striker was bordering on suicidal. Why a club like Arsenal are taking such risks is beyond me,thought we were the fourth richest club in world!

  5. CanadaGooner

    Apr 23, 2012, 20:25 #21512

    @Peter Wain - we will make the top 4 whichever way we play. As I said at the beginning of the season, it's no longer about how well or poorly Arsenal play, it's more to do with how inconsistent our pursuers are. Spurs, Chelsea (didnt expect them to be so poor), Liverpool all fall away at some point before the end of any season. They're simply not good enough. And this is the reason why finishing top 4 is no longer (or perhaps never was) a huge achievement. We're currently 3rd after losing 10 (TEN!!!!) games! that's 30 points! gone were the days when losing 2 - 3 games is bad enough and losing 5+ indicates you're a mid-table team. But these days, there are only 1 or 2 consistent teams in the league. If you look at the money spent by some teams in the last 5 seasons alone, you could create 3 different leagues out of it.

  6. ppp

    Apr 23, 2012, 19:30 #21511

    @ Viking I think what you say "it defies logic" sums up how wrong you and all the other wenger haters are. "logic" suggests you play the experienced international in place of your first choice right winger - not the inexperienced youth - who "logically" stays on the bench. To do it the other way around would be making emotional decisions - not logical ones. Which is what you and many like you would do. I don't blame you for that - but it's the reason Wenger's the manager - because he makes "logical" decisions, even in the face of thousands of screaming, emotional voices.

  7. CanadaGooner

    Apr 23, 2012, 19:16 #21510

    @Jekyll - I cant say I disagree with your comments. Certainly the latter part of your post is spot on. It's a reality everyone associated with Arsenal FC need to get used to. We need to change our attitude. CC is no longer just a beer mug. New players coming in shouldnt watch tapes of the invincibles, they should watch Arsenal losing to wolves, blackburn etc and get REAL!

  8. Peter Wain

    Apr 23, 2012, 19:14 #21509

    Awful performance given the rest the players have between games. So little creativity in the midfield and no second striker so no chance of scoring. I am not sure we will make the top four playing like this.

  9. fozzys mate

    Apr 23, 2012, 19:01 #21508

    Judge fred as I said after my mates last blog after the Wigan debacle, you need to be a serious code breaker to decrypt a fozzy rant. Maybe he should publish a glossary of terms at the end of the summer. As previously suggested maybe the enigma machine or seconding in someone from GCHQ is the only answer to the problem. Oh that goes for Wengers thought process as well! I fear RVP is sick of carrying the team and when he doesn't we have struggled big time. Trying to understand the subliminal messages/bull from the club in the summer alongside the fozzcode maybe a step to far?

  10. Viking

    Apr 23, 2012, 18:19 #21507

    Fizzy, good article. Fare, well said. Give Rambo a break, crowd getting on your back doesn't do anyone any favors. nick you clearly know your football judging by your assessment of Pers and Santos. Imagine the both of them in our back 4 at the same time next season. We may as well write off next season now. Proper poor panic buys. I for one prefer to see the likes of Rambo, Gibbs, Jack, and Frimps to be given more game time. We have many if only moments, AW screwed up not buying Cahill, reasonably priced, quick, gets stuck in, puts his body on the line and instils confidence. Theo is useless, at least his injury will hopefully give the Ox a run out. Knowing AW, it will be gervinho that will get the nod, it defies logic.

  11. Jekyll

    Apr 23, 2012, 18:12 #21506

    @ CanadaGooner, of course Wenger wants more, but only on his terms. It doesn't work, but the problem as he sees it is everyone else not playing by his terms. He mustn't change, everyone else should. What gets me about him this season in particular is the amount of time he's said we didn't play our 'normal game' or played with the 'handbrake on'. Doesn't he see? To play like that has BECOME our normal game. We've lost nearly 1 in 3, we've scraped by in many of the victories we've had. He talks like he's managing a great team who slip up now and then. He isn't and they 'slip up' all the time.

  12. CanadaGooner

    Apr 23, 2012, 17:55 #21505

    I find it quite incredulous that Wenger, havent tasted 3 premiership wins will suddenly decide he doesnt wish for any more. Not a precedence for that in HUMAN HISTORY. We're made to be greedy. We always want more. So, to read some comments about how Wenger decides not to buy defensive cover, or decides not to buy players, simply doesnt add up. I'm sure one day in the not so distant future, so ex-Arsenal board member will come out clean and tell us all how things really went down. I dont think the desire to win trophies has been retained at the club as a whole, and you have to look at the new folks who have come on board in recent years e.g. Gazidis. They didnt join Arsenal at a time when the club was winning or had an appetite to win. They are a bunch of accountants who couldnt care less for what the fans want (trophies) and I simply dont see much changing anytime soon. So, I've resigned to celebrating each win, and having a moan about each loss; and just waiting to see where we get to at the end of each season

  13. Nick

    Apr 23, 2012, 17:28 #21504

    A couple of seasons ago everybody was saying we needed quality defenders and experience , wenger did nothing ,even when he Knew that Vermallen was out for the season, he did not see fit to buy cover in the jan window, and even lied about the verminator being ready to come back, this season we had the panic buying scenario where he did in my opinion make 3 good signings Arteta, the big german and santos but we only had one proper striker , he obviously didnt fancy bendtner even when he played he used him out wide, and the morracan was obviously not up for it, so he buys park whos not even been used, for an intelligent man he sometimes makes the most stupid and bizzare decisions, relying on RVP to stay fit for an entire season, without backup, was grossly negligent as well as plain bloody daft, and his substitutions smack of a man, who is so convinced of his own initial game plan, that its inconcievable for him to admit hes got it wrong and make a change other than those hes obviously preordained, injury permitting. he hardly ever makes changes for tactical reasons, he is a man who finds it hard, if not impossible, to believe his judgement could ever be wrong, which is why we have had to suffer the likes of almunia and denilson as long as we did, if a wise man comes to know that he is wise, he has then become a fool, i fear that has happened to the once, great man, who wore a magic hat, he needs an assistant, with a mind of his own and possibly fresh ideas,as well as having a pair, arteta or possibly alonso, could and should have been bought when cesc was here, if that had been done and a strong experienced central defender brought in, we may have already ended the trophy drought but i believe it was exactly because people everywhere were saying it should be done, that wenger thought sod em all i know best, dont get me wrong, im not saying he doesnt want trophys as much as us, its that he wants them on his terms, without seeming to take advice from anyone, i fear for us in this summers transfer window and as much as i hope im wrong, i also fear that untill, he either goes, or accepts help, we will not win anything, apart from the 3rd or 4th place trophy.

  14. CanadaGooner

    Apr 23, 2012, 16:55 #21503

    @ CT Gooner - I get the point you're trying to make mate, but Chelsea's 3rd set of reserves are probably still more expensive than Arsenal's first choice team. For a team like Chelsea who have spent hundreds of millions over the past 5 years, there's nothing like 'reserves' or 2nd choice squad, they can produce 3 sets of elevens each more expensive than our best 11. I dont think finishing 3rd in the league is anything to write home about, but for Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool, not finishing first, with the amount they've each spent, has to be money down the drain!

  15. Dan h

    Apr 23, 2012, 16:14 #21501

    With Ramsey it seems to me it isn't fatigue it's a confidence issue thus the extra touch & being dispossed.It does say a lot about this years PL that we may come 3rd with at least 10 league defeats.We may well limp over the line & require other teams to drop points for this to happen strange season i wouldn't write any scenario off at present.I honestly sense should we come 3/4th we will make two more quality signings to add to Podolski(100% done deal).Not a fan of the management & how we have been run but the noises from within we will have a much more positive summer in the transfer market.We will all have plenty to discuss in the post mortem of the season at this time i hope we do get over the line in the CL qualification stakes.Trying to remain positive it has been good that the fans have put their own issues to one side & have got behind the team these last few months.

  16. Gare Kekeke

    Apr 23, 2012, 15:31 #21500

    Not a great game.................but a decent result. It certainly had an end of season feel to it. Whilst I have no problem with Song improving on his game he should do well to remember his primary role in the team. This is where Wenger has to stamp his authority as the manager but knowing Wenger he wouldn’t want to ‘kill him’. The goals of last season and the assists of this year should not take away the partial decline of his performances since World Cup 2010. Yes, there have been some good ones but some disappointing ones too. Personally I felt that Messrs Squillaci & Koscielny had difficult debut seasons with us partially because of Song’s forward forays that at times left the defence exposed. I don’t agree with the Ramsey bashing either. Yes he is out of form but there are circumstances that have caused this. As I have mentioned on this site in the recent past, his development is being rushed because of Wenger’s insistence that a major emphasis on untried youth is the way forward for The Arsenal. Unproven players like Ramsey need guidance & experience as well as games. It works well at Man Utd so why not us? Although short on fitness which is understandable, we learnt nothing new or positive with Diaby. I get the feeling if he remains fit and yes it’s a big IF along with the returns of Wilshire & Frimpong and the promise of Coquelin then us signing the likes of M’Vila will remain a pipe dream as Wenger as we all know will treat JW & EF as ‘new signings’. I do hope I’m wrong though. The remaining games should not be taken lightly either. With Premier League prize money now on the thoughts of CEOs/chairman/chairpersons usually at this time of the year, points become precious for monetary reasons. Past mistakes at Stoke must not be repeated so Wenger must get his tactics right for that day. A repeat of the fine 3-1 win at the Britannia from February 2010 wouldn’t go amiss and Norwich as well as West Brom are out to finish with a flourish. Up The Arsenal!

  17. Stevo

    Apr 23, 2012, 14:46 #21499

    Can't understand why people on here( and elsewhere ) think keeping van Persie will be Arsenal's priority this summer. Have you all forgotten how the current Arsenal operate? We are self sustainable,remember ? That means selling your best player every summer. No doubt Wenger will make a fuss but it's all the usual bull**** from him, he knows that this is the last chance to get a good fee for a player who has just had the season of his life. We have to get used to the fact that the septic tank is just an asset stripper, Podolski is the replacement not the back up that is desperately needed.

  18. CT Gooner

    Apr 23, 2012, 14:11 #21498

    If you watched the game on Saturday, how can you question the Ramsey doubters? Yes, you can try to make excuses for his disastrous form, but in doing that you are acknowledging there is an issue. In the holding role he looked like he wasn't allowed to support forward progress, and that he just couldn't be bothered. He got more up for the attacking role, but still Lacks the decisive pass or run. I think he'll come good, but he'll never be as good as Mata, who'll always be the one that got away to me. The most troubling thing for me on Saturday was how our best 11 couldn't beat their reserves??? We can talk about how they used tactics, but the last time I checked, that a major part of the game...

  19. maguiresbridge gooner

    Apr 23, 2012, 13:20 #21497

    I think RVP winning the PFA player of the year deserves a separate piece well done Robin definitely deserved i don't know where we'd be this season without you.

  20. Clockender78

    Apr 23, 2012, 13:04 #21496

    @maguiresbridgegooner. Can't agree with you more,after last two pretty inept displays, season end can't come quick enough for me. Some of the players looked like they were already on their hols against Chelski. As I've stated a few times on here, the real business starts close season. Retain the services of Rvp, along with three TOP drawer signings that are required. Along with the shipping out of many deadwood. Still, up the gunners!

  21. Cyrus

    Apr 23, 2012, 12:54 #21495

    Are these players tired or simply unmotivated? Seemed to be like they just didn't kick into top gear which i'm sure they would have if we had conceded. Ramsey hasn't played that many games in recent weeks yet was almost dozing on the ball so often that he got dispossesed. Seems his teammates couldn't be bothered to give him a shout either. We've played a game a week for a couple of weeks now, fatigue shouldn't be a factor.

  22. lee afc

    Apr 23, 2012, 12:32 #21494

    good article Fozzy. I can see where you are coming from with RVP as he's not missed a game during the leaugue fixtures this season but currently the team are playing one game a week on avearge since early March. Hardly overplayed. Congratulations to RVP on his player of the year award. Totally Deserved. I had to check twice as I couldn't see Song in the team of the year....disgraceful.

  23. Andrew Cohen

    Apr 23, 2012, 12:12 #21493

    In answer to your question-yes. Norwich, West Brom and Stoke all have managers who will look at Arsenal, set out a plan for beating the opposition and execute it. If Wenger puts Diaby and Gervinio in the side instead of Benayoun and Chamberlain or continues to cripple the team mid way through the second half of each game by putting the footballing equivalent of my granny on the pitch instead of real players, then not even a staunch effort by our players against these sides will work. It is now St George's Day. The next season starts in 3 months time. If we have an ignominious end to the season and Wenger does nothing early in the transfer window then there will be no talks with Van Persie and he will be off. Perhaps Wenger will play Diaby up front instead or coco the clown. I understand that they both have unbelievable belief.

  24. Judge Fred

    Apr 23, 2012, 12:07 #21491

    ........and in English.......?

  25. maguiresbridge gooner

    Apr 23, 2012, 11:18 #21489

    Good blog fozzy Rvp did look tired as did the whole team i agree on the lack of ambition shown by the chavs like i said yesterday they got what they came for and anything else would have been a bonus your spot on about the amount of passes that went astray and i don't think it was touched upon on here at all yesterday walcott was a culprit as well.I started to enjoy my beer even more when i heard the spuds result it was worth a few more pints there is a tricky encounter or two left and i don't think many would bet against a few more points been dropped the season is nearly over and i suspect as far as the players and indeed the fans are concerned it can't come soon enough.

  26. richy

    Apr 23, 2012, 11:13 #21488

    well we did play without pace and fluency. Though I think your analysis is a little flawed Ramsey spent too much time on the ball and was many times dipossessed, yes he did try and get it back but only after he lost it. Song was not much better with his passing but he did not get dispossessed. Well as for walcott he received the ball rewatch the game most of the time with back to goal and as soon as he got ball had two or three players around him showing how much chelsea realised what a threat he i was, yet he managed to get the ball back to sagna or another teammate. I recall van persie having several chances but not converting was that down to fatigue or just not having his shooting boots on or a confidence issue as not scored in ten hours of open play I would say more down to nerves and confidence, however he will score again this season as he has been getting chances they have been saved or hit post even his own team mate so rub of green not there for him at moment. Take a look at who are competitors have to play especially newcastle they have city chelsea and wigan all three are playing well so might be tough for them to get nine points. chelsea have city and newcastle plus one other i cant remember now but two tough games not enough points in it for them that leaves tottenham bolton and blackburn two toughies and two other not a guaranteed twelve points especially on their form at moment a touch of west ham belly going on there i think. Stoke are not morons they are tough well organised and direct and this causes many teams problems they have solid home form this season just away has been poor for them but is the toughest of the three we play I believe we have 7 points out of a possible nine there which should be enough to clinch third. Chelsea to win champions league i don't see it barcelona have too much people say they look tired well for a team who is tired they produced 24 shots at goal 10 of them blocked 6 were on target 8 off this includes four posts hit had 79 possession. yes against madrid they lost but guardiola changed system with three at back brought in thiago and telio who had ineffective games and xavi was so far back that he had little or no effect expect no similar tactics pique will be on from start so will fabregas and sanchez and i take them to score three on tuesday night.