I believe that Emmanuel Eboue may actually be a retard, well, either that or crazier than a shit-house rat.
Seriously. I’ve said it before and I think it still holds true. His career is a veritable cornucopia of various antics on the pitch. It’s well documented that at times Eboue just loses his mind. It could be anything from an Eric Cantona-like flying challenge on an opponent to some bizarre mimicry of Adebayor’s celebration in front of Arsenal fans at City. So, yes, we all know that Eboue is pretty much a retard. In fact, no one is more acutely aware of this fact than Arsenal fans who have to watch as he implodes once or twice a year into a million little insane pieces and then genuflects in front of the referee begging for leniency.
He’s a crazy retard.
But so is Wayne Rooney and I don’t see headlines like “Rooney in CHEAT STORM!!!” or “Rooney compounds idiocy by punching corner flag after insanity of hurling ball at Phil Dowd.” No, instead the press was happy to equivocate and let Ferguson make excuses for his player’s horribly behavior and never once called them out.
So pardon me while I try not to give two fucks about The Independent’s hatchet job on Eboue. Eboue may be a crazy retard but he’s our crazy retard and if you’re expecting something approaching fairness from me (an Arsenal supporter) while simultaneously showing your own bias, well you can eat a whole huge bowl of spotted dick.
Because he simply went back to work after the fans took the piss out of him last year, Eboue has earned my respect and some newspaper’s biased headlines isn’t going to change that.
Speaking of Stupid…
My hero is Jimmy Carter. If Jimmy Carter went on CNN and said “Tim should have shown more class when he celebrated his victory” I would be devastated. I would literally re-examine my life and what I wanted to do with it.
So, I fully expect Adebayor to feel like the turd he is after his hero and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry basically ripped him a new one for his classless display in front of Arsenal supporters at Eastlands.
That statement and his actions after moving to Barca are why Henry is a hero and will always be a hero to Arsenal fans. Adebayor’s statements and his actions after leaving for City are why he will always be a loser to Arsenal fans.
I didn’t want to talk about this issue any more, but I think it’s appropriate to let Thierry Henry have the last word.
Major Leg Surgery
I had the “pleasure” of watching the scintillating 0-0 draw between the Seattle Sounders and Chivas USA last night and it was pretty much the worst officiated match and the dirtiest match I have ever seen played by two teams, and I saw Sheffield United cheat their way to a 1-0 win over Arsenal.
The fouls are basically constant which means that teams, even if they had the required skill level and tactical awareness, are incapable of putting more than two passes together before someone is basically attacked by a defender. Add in that they play on a plastic pitch which makes the ball bounce wildly once lofted at all and the resulting play goes like this:
Ljungberg to Montero, Montero fouled.
Free kick, resulting in…. a throw in to Chivas.
Chivas lump the ball forward, it’s headed away by the defender to a midfielder, who heads the ball toward the sideline, where it is headed by a Chivas player, who heads the ball to a Sounder who… heads the ball out of play.
Throw in to Chivas, which results in a foul.
The free kick is taken and there’s some jersey holding as Chivas try route 1 for the 100th time, oh look an elbow, followed by a retaliatory kick, then some shoving, and a near scrum. Yellow card to the Chivas player.
Wash… rinse… repeat…
78 minutes of fouls and throw-ins, 12 minutes of passing. The broadcasters could, seriously, cut away to commercials and the fans at home would probably only miss a throw-in followed by six consecutive headers which ends in a foul.
That said, I called it Major Leg Surgery (MLS) for a reason; the ubiquitous fouling consists of some of the hardest fouls I’ve ever seen. There were at least two red card tackles which either went unpunished or ended up with a yellow. Incredibly, I think the league feels like it’s cracking down because there were four matches in the MLS yesterday which garnered a jaw dropping 21 yellow cards and three red cards.
In five matches this season Wigan Athletic, the EPL’s dirtiest team (so far) has only managed 14 yellow cards.
The MLS needs to address this and the plastic pitch issue, if they don’t then I’m afraid even the rabid Seattle fans will look elsewhere for entertainment. No one wants to pay to see sloppy play, dangerous fouls, constant headers, and ubiquitous throw-ins, do they?
Manchester Derby
Unfortunately the Manchester Derby did not end in a singularity opening over Manchester and sucking both teams and their supporters into an alternate universe. Instead it was a display of what I called at the start of the season: Man U are a very dangerous team, with a very shaky defense. What I didn’t foresee is a Manchester City team that actually plays like a team. Albeit a team with a non-existent midfield and a very shaky defense.
Still, today’s 4-3 result in the Manchester Derby certainly signals that this season is going to be one hell of a ride. Now, if Tottenham could just beat Chelsea…
Right, I’m off to make some breakfast and then play some football. See you tomorrow for a Carling Cup preview.
(No, I’m not ‘rooting’ for Tottenham, but rather against Chelsea. Frankly, it’s a win-win situation for me as long as one of the two loses.)
So you all watch the Manchumpster derby? Have to say I’d be pretty livid as a City fan. Seems the time keeper was mighty generous; I was hoping for a draw (seemed the best outcome for us). Anyway, maybe ManU is unlucky when I’m not watching them, but everytime I tune in to a Liverpool or Man U, they end up winning in the last second (or beyond what should be the last second). Gotta run out at some time, yeah? Bellamy’s pretty good by the way. Hope you’re all well….
@ArseChicago, I’m feeling better. I’m playing football today so, I must be at least a little bit better!
Martin Atkinson managed to find 6:58 in injury time for Owens to score the winner. Might as well have called it extra time.
Sp**s started bright but have literally been run over by Drogba who over ran Corluka for the 2nd and won a FK after Bassong threw Drogba to the ground. It’s now 3-0 after Ballack bundled over a pull back. 74″ and Sp**s are looking to ‘Arry to throw in the towel. No mas.
Ledley(the one legged defender)King is once again withdrawn at halftime. Bassong, the injury replacement CB from Newcastle U has just been knocked unconscious after tangling w/ Anelka. Sp**s are now once again thin at CB.
Didier(“Dozer”)Drogba has just done damage to his (R) leg and he’ll need a stretcher to get off the field. He has 10 wks to get back for us.
@ctpa, I don’t believe in God, but I prayed to God that Drogba just suffered a career ending injury.
Media bias aside, Eboue is a bit of a circus – the diving, the complaining, the handball. He’s come along since his Wigan booing but he still exhibits shady behaviour. I for one think he really needs to stop trying to con the officials.
The Manc derby was given to United – how unsurprising. We all know these officials can’t have their favourite team drop points if they can help it.
If anyone wants to read a piece of crock writing go check out The Mirror’s piece by Michael Calvin on how our stadium was empty on Saturday.
@WC, I agree WC, in watching Howard Webb’s “nightmare” today I’m starting to wonder if he has a pro-Chelsea bias.
Think about the hugely controversial Chelsea matches that he’s referees and how Chelsea always get the benefit of the doubt when he has the whistle.
It’s uncanny.
Guys we seem to have a new song for TV,its first time iv heard it this season. Its to the tune of KC and the sunshine band give it up,well the chorus bit. Its just his name sung to the tune,but its better than the usual ‘Super Tom’ and the copy of the RVP chant we have been using. Sorry to go off topic guys!
@Gareth26GOONER, oh and it was only being sung at the ‘clock end’ of the stadium yesterday,but i still like it!
@Gareth26GOONER, I’m trying to imagine how it fits this:
n.n.n.n..nn.n.n.n.n.n.n. now. give it up, baby give it up.
n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n. now. give it up, baby give it up.
BTW: you couldn’t possibly be off topic, there isn’t one!
@Tim, its na na etc thomas vermaelen,vermaelen,thomas vermaelen! I guess you have to hear it lol
Jesus, Jimmy Carter, Really?
Extra time at Old Trafford is calculated thus:- ‘There will be four minutes of added time, or sufficient minutes until Mancs Untied, score a goal to snatch a win.”
Don’t forget the brown envelope is always in the ref’s dressing room at OT.
Spuds denied two penalties, once again dubious refereeing wins the day.
Think V5 will be as a big an acquisition as our beloved Denis B. This guy is a class act.
Viva!
@viva los gooners, PS Pic of Eboue suggests he is hearing those voices again, or it’s a message from God, who knows?
Viva!
It’s God. Must be. I once saw Eboue kneel down and pray in the centre circle. Did you read arseblog on God and the custard slice? It made me laugh.
@viva los gooners, admiring the optimism but serious DB10 is almost untouchable. If hes half as good as Sol was i will be more than happy
Wenger is going to raise the issue of “anti-football” w/ the FA. I prefer to call it ‘tactical fouls’, a steady array of nickel and dime fouls that don’t get a yellow but disrupt our passing flow. They deserve yellows because its a team wide strategy of persistent fouls.
@ctpa, makes us sound like moaning cunts and gives people more ammo against us if you ask me
@ctpa, Yep they should do something about it, Technically they are fouls that go unpunished. But it will make the referees job so difficult to try to stop play afterevery little offense, the FA will do nothing about it and as Gareth indicated it will just be more ammo for the Arsenal haters out there. But I still think he should raise it though.
Adebayor will never be a loser to me Tim. He should pay Titi no attention whatsoever. Whether he celebrated in front of the fans or not he would never get respect from the majority of Arsenal fans, neither will he give it back, and why should he.
Adebayor does not owe Arsenal and particularly Arsenal fans anything. Arsenal bought him for cheap to work for them, they did not bring him to give him a better life or better career. He was getting far less than any other first team top 4 striker when he came, so he was working for cheap. Arsenal then agreed to sell him for £25 mill when it appears he never even asked for a transfer. I think we have profited from Adebayor’s acquistion, his hardwork and ability has got him the profile and reputation he has today as one of the best strikers in the league. Yes, the transfer to such a big club helped to raise his profile also, but that was for our benefit not a favour to him as some fans seem to imply.
I see no reason why Titi should get involved and make a public statement maybe he is unaware of the provocation Ade received. If the fans were singing songs with racist connotations and calling his mother a whore all game I would think Titi would have shown his angst in someway or other. And really cares about the perception of “class” from a bunch of classes fans who showed how classless they were whilst singing that disgusting song and behaving like caged animals after the Ade celebration. Titi was hardly classy when he used to visibly scowl at his teammates when they made a wrong move so he is one to talk.
I can see that you love Adebayor so much. Good for you. Now go and buy him for yourself; case closed.
@arthur3sheds, FAIL.
@arthur3sheds, Things just didn’t work for Ade at Arsenal. Everyone can take some blame, but what is done is done.
All of us can speculate what led to his trade, but certainty of the issues is in doubt. Ade has the opportunity to prove Arsenal and their fans wrong OR he can confirm reasons for the trade.
Time will be the best barometer for our analysis.
@arsesession, Trust you to give the only intelligent reply.
We made a huge profit and it appears there were definitely issues between him and his team mates, the reasons for the trade is justified. No matter what a success he becomes the sale will still be justified because of the team mates issue. The only thing that Arsene may regret is selling him to what evidently now seems to be a close rival.
He wanted a big tranfer fee that only City were willing to pay and retrospectively that now appears to be a gamble. Time will tell whether it was one worth taking. I cannot envision us missing out on the top four even if City break into it, so if that is the case from a finacial perspective it may be worth it. But if the missing quality of Adebayor is the difference between us winning the title or some other trophy then I suppose the 25 million would seem of little consequence. Conveniently for Arsene his quality is unquantifiable and the fans hate him so much they will never get on Arsene back for selling our most effective CF, but he will get it anyway for not replacing him.
He’s our mentalist.
BBC Match of the Day (19/09/09) did a little bit on Eboue. It was just a brief comment on his form/treatment by the supporters in the Wigan Athletic of last December and his performance last Saturday with video to back up their observations. Their conclusion, he’s done his ‘talking’ on the pitch and not anywhere else. Most good.
Very true. Eboue just got on with it. Perhaphs Adebayor can learn to do the same.