Diarra of the Mouth/ St. Totteringham's Day

Good day to you! I don’t know why my opening sentence is so chipper, but there it is. Wenger gave his Friday “press conference” but I haven’t had a chance to watch it because I spent all afternoon yesterday taking care of a 1 year old with an ear infection. Owing to that I’ve had about 5 hours sleep and I have to get to work so it’s a short blog for you, I’m sure you’ll survive.

I’m not Lassana Diarra’s psychologist but judging by the constant swipes he takes at Arsenal, there is obviously something deeply disturbed about this guy. This month’s bon mot has Diarra saying that Wenger basically destroyed his self confidence. This guy really has nothing to complain about as far as Arsenal. He was NEVER going to get a game in the Chelsea system as he was 4th on the list behind Maka, Essien, and Obi. So, he bitched and moaned until he got transferred for dirt cheap to Arsenal. Once he got to Arsenal, he seems to be under the impression that he should have jumped straight into the first team and been best buds with Wenger who would give him a daily Dutch Rudder before massaging his ego.

Yes, he’s technically more proficient than Flamini but the problem is that Flamini had put in 3 years of hard work to EARN his spot and was a crucial part of that Arsenal team’s psyche. Wait… why the fuck am I explaining this? He was given a chance at the Arsenal and he fucked it up because he is a huge pussy who refused to put in the requisite work to EARN a spot on one of the greatest clubs in the world. Now he’s taking a swipe at Arsenal because, basically, he needs a scape goat for his own actions and knows that the Brit Press will run with this story.

I am very happy he’s gone and even more happy that he’s over in Spain ruining the dressing room for Real Madrid. Anyone who would act this unprofessionally, after three English clubs gave him everything he asked for, in such a brief stint, is a cancer and will eventually turn on his current employers and teammates. This is a man who has no character, who cannot overcome even the smallest obstacle, so no matter how technically good he seems, in my estimation Real Madrid were jobbed in that transfer.

On to the real news: Wenger talked about Gallas today and while Gallas is going to be out for the rest of the year, Wenger does not see him moving on in the summer and I’d like to think, took a swipe at Diarrhea:

He has a year left on his contract. I envisage him to be here next year.  He had a challenging season but I believe he had to cope with a major disappointment. You have to give him a lot of credit because he came back with great performances so he dealt well with the situation.

Totally, tons of credit to Gallas. If he does move on, I’d be surprised if it was anywhere near as acrimonious as the Diarrhea transfer has been: and Gallas is a man who was publicly taken down by the boss, ravaged in the press, and stripped of his captaincy.

So, tomorrow, there will be an early blog, and then some work around the house, and the game, and some beer, and hopefully a win for the Arsenal. More on that tomorrow.

UPDATE

I meant to look this up first thing before I wrote the blog so I apologize for having an “update” but I have great news! With only 7 games left (and a possible 21 points) and Arsenal on 58 points while Spuds are on 38 points, tomorrow could very well be St. Totteringham’s day!

For those who don’t know, St. Totteringham’s day is the annual event marking the day after which it is mathematically impossible for Spuds to finish above the Arsenal. With just 21 points to go and 20 points between the two any combination in which Arsenal win makes Saturday April 11th, 2009 St. Totteringham’s day.

0 comments

  1. Any word on RvP and/or Eduardo? I am not finding anything…

    Also, I twittered Jeremy St. Louis of FSC to ask about the Arsenal situation, here is the reply:

    “It is because of all the LIVE action on FSC that day – DON’T watch FSR if you don’t want to know the result!!”

    I don’t think he gets it, but whatever. He just twittered that he has a four day weekend, so maybe his mind is elsewhere.

    Sorry for the off topic comments.

  2. Oh, a sampling of the LIVE action on FSC on Saturday:

    Chelsea-Bolton (fine)
    Stoke-Newcastle (holy shit are you kidding me?)
    Genoa-Juventus (if you look up “nap” in the dictionary, you get a picture of this match)
    Washington Freedom v Chicago Red Stars (Yep, Women’s Professional Soccer…holy cow)
    Houston Dynamo v New York Red Bulls (There will be gridiron lines on the pitch, that is just complaint number one).

    Then, and only then, do we get Arsenal, one of the top ten most popular teams on the planet.

    Yes, I know as an American I have it really, really good when it comes to Football, but that doesn’t mean FSC should get away with crap like this. I am all for supporting the local game (MLS, WPS), but the reason we all pay our $6 a month is for top flight English football – that’s it.

  3. I am sure all Arsenal American fans have noticed that most of our games this season has been broadcast on Setanta USA. I found out that most of these games were originally owned by FSC and packaged to Setanta. Obviously, Arsenal is not on FSC’s priority list for whatever reason.

    Just another reason why I’m sad that ESPN lost the UEFA package to FSC.

  4. I disagree that Diarra was technically better than Flamini. Flamini could defend, hold the ball, pass with vision, move off the ball into usable space and shoot. Diarra was just more athletic, but he was clumsy in the tackle, never really shot, was clueless on the attack and petulant. Good riddance to bad rubbish!

    I love the blog…keep up the great work and I hope your kid feels better soon!

  5. @Caribkid

    Setanta isn’t showing the Arsenal game this weekend either. It’s surprise, surprise the Liverpool and ManU games, so not too much football for me this weekend – maybe only the Everton/Villa game on Sunday and probably dip in and out of the other games but definitely not the Stoke/Toon game. Could there be a more mind-numbing match-up?

    I’m not sure what Mourinho tells Diarra but he expected to walk into our starting 11 and be a superstar. He can go play for nothing at Madrid because that team is in decline in a big way since the Galacticos all retired or just got old. He could have been challenging on both domestic and European fronts had he given Arsenal more than 3 months but alas he saw the 20M from Real and went for it. He could have been a huge contributor to the club too but no one is bigger than the club and Wenger as always shows the rest of us that “He Knows”. So while we were all bemused at the Diarra sale, Wenger knew the kind of person (or lack thereof) he was dealing with and decided it’s not worth it – he proves himself right.

  6. Lass is a pretty important player at Real Madrid. Really been impressed with the way he plays over there. Worth every penny of that 20 million pounds. And I wish we’d kept him at the Arsenal, because we could’ve used him this year.

  7. Diarra has skill as a player, and we could have used it during our struggles this season. However, he is an agitator and a trouble-maker, and not a positive force in the club. Any quality on the pitch would have been over-shadowed by petulance everywhere else. NC, no class… well done Wenger.

    PS: WPS is actually a pretty high-quality league worth checking out. Definitely MUCH better than watching any MLS swill… with the possible exception of Seattle Sounders.

  8. Aris, thanks for the compliment. I basically write the way I speak. But since I’m writing, I get to edit what I say. Honestly, there isn’t any trick to it, I just read a lot and write every day.

    I looked at your blog and you’re doing just fine. Keep working!

  9. Thanks Tim, your advice is very helpful. Actually I’m still learning on blogging. I started to write what I’m thinking of, and it really works but there are some English errors.

    Thanks again Tim.

Related articles