No limp performance

54 comments

1. That huddle round the centre circle was weird, but hopefully it’s effective. Maybe the players sorted things out with each other and the coach, and that will make it easier to fight hard out there. Which is what we’ll need.

   Valencia’s English Twitter account has been trolling Arsenal fans for the past 2 days with the comeback story. It’s pretty funny, but you can bet they’re going to go for it. Especially with our vulnerabilities.

   I wonder if there will be any unexpected changes to the starting lineup (based on the last league game)

2. I laughed yesterday because Man United must be wondering what did they just commit themselves to with OGS? One thing Pocchetino seems able to do is motivate a squad through an obvious language barrier, something I’m skeptical about Emery’s ability to do.

   Credit to Spurs, they fought hard when a rational person would have asked what was the point? Same thing with Liverpool. And let’s applaud Ajax – so nice to watch, what potential.

   1. Agree on OGS. Such a foolish appointment. Hahaha!

   2. “something I’m skeptical about Emery’s ability to do”

      He’s had only one year in England. And you couldn’t fault the man’s effort in this regard.

3. I’ll be cheering for Liverpool as well. They deserve something special from this spectacular season, and it won’t be the title, so let’s back them for the CL. Plus, you know, Spurs. I don’t know if I could handle watching any measure of happiness enter the lives of Dele Alli, Eric Dier, or the mouth-breather.

   As for Arsenal, I fully expect us to Arsenal it tonight. It will save us from having to watch us Arsenal it in a final. Either way, we’re Arsenaled!

   1. + 1

      In every aspect

4. It’s been a bad week for protecting leads. My heart. My blood pressure. Think I’ll sit this one out. But if we get through to the final, I’ll watch. I think we will, nervily.

   1. Limp defense. ✅

      1. Admittedly that was a very nice break from Valencia.

         1. It was. Kinda looked like Arsenal used to.

5. Well, folks, we’re getting the limp performance. What a disastrous start.

6. Heh. The less time Auba has to think, the better the result.

   1. He misses sitters and scores screamers. Infuriating talisman.

      1. Absolutely. In this case, though, nice touche(s) and finish. Nice timing, too.

   2. I promise that I am not trying to start anything here (or cast any personal aspersions), but why is it I only seem to hear that kind of criticism from players who look like Gervinho, Walcott, or Aubamayang?

      I’ve only been following the game for about 13 years or so…

      1. And by “…look like…” you mean players who too often miss easy chances? Or are you projecting something else onto that? (Not casting any aspersions, of course.)

         1. I’m saying, I often hear phrases like “Player X doesn’t have a football brain” or “Player Y plays better with less time to think” used with players of color, and I rarely hear phrases like that used with players who aren’t players of color.

            Similarly with “Player X is a beast” vs “So and so is a unit”.

            It sounds innocuous, but is it, really?

            Although, Auba certainly misses a lot of chances that one would expect a professional to convert, I’m sure you’d agree, or I hope so at least, there really is no such thing as an “easy” chance at this level.

            Again, I wasn’t trying to start anything. I’m sure you’re a fine fella. It was more social commentary than anything else. Something that makes me go hmmm…

            Anyway, bigger problems to deal with, and the Boys did the business. So high ho, happy days! On to Baku.

            1. I understood the racist trope to which you were passive/aggressively referring. It doesn’t assume I’m a ‘…fine fella…” It imposes an awful lot. You inserting your social commentary was misguided and reaching. And that’s why you needed to bring in two players who haven’t been on the squad in years. You may be well intended, but criticism of the easy chances Auba misses is not only justified, but hardly even a new thought. Any other reading of that is something you carried in here in your own.

            2. LONESTAR GOONER SAYS: May 9, 2019 at 1:12 pm
               I’m saying, I often hear phrases like “Player X doesn’t have a football brain” or “Player Y plays better with less time to think” used with players of color, and I rarely hear phrases like that used with players who aren’t players of color.

               Please say you’re kidding.
               Two of the biggest dopes on this Arsenal squad are Xhaka and Mustafi , both white guys.
               Football brain?
               $hit, I don’t think they have any kind of brain between them.

            3. It’s a valid point and don’t let them shout you down. It may not be applicable here (who knows), but it is certainly applicable in football in general. We’ve all seen it.

            4. You know, I get what you’re saying. Whenever I hear people talking about buying a ‘beast’ of a midfielder, it does seem to refer more to African players than white guys.

               Maybe it’s my own subconscious racism speaking, but I honestly never feel like people are talking about, let’s say, a white Englishman, when they talk about wanting a a midfield ‘beast.’

               I’m sure some of it is my own racist beliefs, but it doesn’t feel like it’s always completely unfounded, even if it’s not coming from a place of overt racism.

            5. Lonestar,

               Your comments are super unhelpful. And, in my opinion, wrong.

               I remember a number of years ago when the pattern of praise centered around players like Henry, Vieira, Campbell, and Lauren, while players like Cygan and Senderos especially endured terrible abuse. I suppose this means the vast majority of Gooners were anti-white? Or could it, just could it!, have something to do with quality, consistency, etc.?

               Please don’t insult our intelligence. And please don’t feed wh*te supremac*st logic, which stipulates that criticism is justified or unjustified based on r*ce.

               I think Aubameyang and Lacazette have been the only bright spots in the last few weeks. They’ve carried this team. I hope that you and others would take that opinion as based on performance rather than the color of their sk*n.

            6. OMG!
               You guys have been super sensitive to Lonestar Gooner’s post. Read through again with a clear mind, and you’ll find that you’ve been attacking him for being exactly on your side on this issue.

               His post was actually a gentle rant against veiled/subtle racism in the categorizations often used in certain everyday language among fans of the game.

               Notice how he doesn’t agree those often used categorizations are “innocuous”, even though they may sound so?

            7. To all your Walcotts, Aubas and Gervs, I can bring Xhaka, Mustafi, Mkhitarian.

            8. Being better with less time to think is a well spread characteristic for football players. It’s about relaxation, about fitness too (are you exhausted after the sprint so that you can’t think clearly?), it’s about expectations (this one is a sitter, I can’t afford to miss it). Great forwards are good both when instinct is needed or cold blood. Aube is better on instinct. It applies to white , black, yellow and all nuances in between. There is NO racist connotation to this. Or at the very lest no necessary racist connotation to this. I don’t think we want to end up in a world where such opinions could not be freely expressed.

      2. That’s harsh, Lonestar. Mustafi and Xhaka get the brain-dead tag a lot. Someone mentioned beast? Kolasinac is called that a lot.

         But these tags are situational. Xhaka is, by anyone’s definition, an intelligent man. Let’s not read too much into these football descriptors.

         1. Yes. There are undoubtedly people who use coded language to express their racism, ie racists. But that doesn’t mean we ought to look for it everywhere.

            But I would like to point out that the caricatures made of Xhaka and Mustafi are Islamophobic and racist towards Albanians.

            (In case it’s not clear, I don’t actually think that)

            1. Good grief Shard, you just had to ruin your post by writing in that last sentence didn’t you?

               Fine then , I also don’t think Mustafi and Xhaka don’t have any kind of brain between them.
               Happy now? 🙂

            2. Not everyone knows me as well as you do, Tom. 🙂

            3. I appreciate the contributions on this topic…even the vitriolic ones. Thanks, especially, to Jeremy, Zedd, Usmanov, and Shard (partly :)) for getting the gist of my comment. Don’t wish to carry the point further. I would just ask you to read Jacob Steinberg’s Guardian article and examine our subtle thoughts and comments, not just from an Arsenal-centric perspective.

               Again, thanks for a good start to a series conversations that need to happen.

            4. I read Jacob Steinberg’s articles. To equate what he’s talking about with criticism of a player because they “miss sitters,” is not reflective of his ideas. I’ve heard that leveled against many players over the years, in many countries, regardless of r*ce.

7. With the performance LacaMeyang have put on this service, we will look back and realize it was criminal not to have replaced either Mustafi or Xhaka. We could have finished 3rd! This trophy would have been a given. It’s almost as bad as that fateful season when Wenger bought just Cech.

8. Job done.

   Go Frankfurt!

9. Wow! Aubameyang was incredible the entire match, supporting AMN on the right and scoring a hat trick. I think that’s what you call a complete performance!

10. There was absolutely no strategy or style of play from us tonight!
    It’s been a disaster of a season!

    1. You, sir, made me snort in the office… +1

    2. +2

11. It’s Chelsea in Baku. Boohoo!

12. ugh, i haven’t watched any footie all week. good games to catch up on. happy arsenal got the business done.

13. Our win was a major upset;
    …considering the norm., …for once we rose to the occasion. Looking forward to continue breaking the norm in our next two matches.
    Imagine that lot loses by three and we win by 6 our next game……

14. An unpredictable, impossible end of season. Four English teams for Europe’s top two competitions, with two opponents whose fightbacks will go down in history and our opponent who advanced on penalties. You can’t write this stuff, nobody would believe it.

    After abdicating 4th place we simply must finish it now. Arsenal and Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup in August, it’s on!

15. I still thought we’ll just about scrape through, but the first 15 mins were same old same old. Then Auba scored with a great finish, from Route 1 football (This is not a complaint!) and we never looked back. I think I enjoyed this match more than any other this season. The Spurs game was great but more a battle where you sort of get carried along. This was high stakes but freer. Smoother. How it felt anyway.

    Play the kids against Burnley. It will also help assess their readiness for PL football next season. Keep our best players rested and focused on the final. We absolutely must beat Chelsea. This trophy is ours!

16. “Then Auba scored with a great finish, from Route 1 football (This is not a complaint!)”

    Good thing you caveated that part, otherwise the gunner fandom just might take it seriously and use it as one of the sticks to beat Emery with.

    The Spurs game showed we can approach a big game with a sound structure tactically, in that context I can look back on it with more pride, as in “see how far we’ve come” in that regard. That is more than I could say about this Valencia game.

    Still, I think this game is of greater value as it directly pushes us one step closer to achieving priority number one this season -Champions league football.

    1. I didn’t know I had such influence over ‘gunner fandom’.

       Winning the Europa League won’t change my opinion on Emery and his approach. I can enjoy last night’s game though, and I did. I want Arsenal to win this trophy, and then to be better, and play a better style than I believe Emery is capable or even willing to deliver.

       I also believe he’ll be here next season. Unfortunately, I do not carry influence over the Arsenal board.

17. “I didn’t know I had such influence over ‘gunner fandom’.”

    We all do tbf. You’re been too modest.

    Anyways, we want the same thing. We want this team to play free-flowing high energy football majority of time ala Liverpool/Man City style.

    I trust Emery to take us there. You don’t.

    But because I have seen glimpses of it at certain moments during this season (high pressing in big games, beautiful goals in a few small ones)… And that to me is undeniable evidence enough that when/if he gets a proper start with recruitment and dispatching of players this summer, we will start playing fine football in the PL and hopefully in the UCL too.

    I am willing to give me a second year to take us there. You ain’t gonna do that. Fair enough.

    1. High pressing in big games and beautiful goals may just be a remnant of seasons past. There were doubts expressed about Emery when he was hired by Arsenal. I ignored them as overblown, and hoped Emery was more than that. But he’s lived up to all the doubts, and none of the promises he’d made when he joined.

       Among the reasons given for his hiring was his detailed knowledge on every player, willingness to work with them, and not relying on the transfer market. Even if you give him a pass on all of that, he had ample opportunity to fulfill the other promise. Play the kids.

       I understand the need for patience and support. Believe me, it’s what I want to do. Early into the season I was defending Emery from criticism much the same way you are. But it’s not just one year. He’s shown this year exactly what he’s shown everywhere he’s been. This is who he is. This is not what I want Arsenal to be.

       The only reason to keep him would be the ‘realist’ view that this is what Arsenal now are. Not that he can take us to where we want to go.

       1. Some of the points you’ve laid out here are hard to argue against tbh.

          Still, I feel like we shouldn’t be piling pressure on him just yet until we give him that second year to prove to us if he can rise above expectations WITH US or not. Fair and square!

          How can we justifiably say we gave the process enough room to develop if after 9 months the manager can sense rejection and distrust?

          He may have tried too much to sweet mouth himself into the job. But, as regards his promises, I’d say we’ve seen certain players improve albeit by a margin small but nonetheless negligible. It’s not been all bad.

          Lets hope for the best.

18. Going back to the Monday game, what a week for English football. Unprecedented.

19. Bun –

    You are missing my point, and I am starting to believe it is willful obtuseness. And what is the deal with your asterisks for “race” and “white supremacist” (a term I never used)?

    I never objected to any critique of a player missing a “sitter”. I object to someone saying a player’s poor performance is down to his cognitive ability. It’s that kind of subtle offense that is even more so implicated in the Guardian article.

    Listen, I have lived with and experienced overt and subtle racism my entire life, and I am telling you that these type of characterizations and comments are not without impact. Sure there are more eggregious examples, but that doesn’t mean we can’t examine routine turns of phrase for other more harmful baggage and govern ourselves accordingly.

    There are plenty of things I said and supported when I was younger that I would never do today, because I have thought more deeply on them. As Maya Angelou once said, “Do the best you can, until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

20. I use the asterisks because those words, spelled in full, usually send comments into a spam folder.

    I thought your response to VIBE4ARSENAL was premised on the “misses sitters” complaint that often gets leveled at Aubameyang, but you’re after the cognitive thing. Ok.

    I still don’t think that a charge of r*cism there is at all helpful in trying to determine the motivation of the critique. For example, how often have we, over the years, used words like “brainless,” “idiot,” “stupid,” “mind-fart,” “slow,” “thick,” etc. with respect to players like Squillaci, Senderos, Mustafi, Almunia, etc. I used to watch Lehmann and bemoan how often he “lost his marbles,” or similar. Have you ever seen how people invariably described Joey Barton?! “Brainless” doesn’t even come close!

    Evaluations of strikers often include language such as “over-thinking” and “instinctive.” This has never been unique to bl*ck players. I remember watching Fowler, Sheringham, and Shearer, while hearing the commentators gush in animalistic metaphor about their instincts and nose for goal. Henry was also said to have a nose for goal (and in fact he often gestured to his nose after scoring a goal). I didn’t see that phrase as motivated by r*cism because I’ve heard it applied equally to all strikers, depending on their quality.

    Metaphors of “beast,” “unit,” “tank,” “machine,” etc., are applied indiscriminately as well. Kolasinac comes to mind. So does Vieira. “Intelligence” and “reading the game” are similarly applied. Watching Chelsea in the ’00’s, you never had to wait long for someone to praise Makelele’s “reading” of the game or his “quickness of thought.” Similar words were often used for Fabregas as well.

    So you shared something personal. I’ll do the same. As many readers here already know, I’m mixed r*ce, and grew up in the kind of small town that often didn’t know what do with “mixed.” So I just got all the epithets for the category “brown” (I’ve been thought to come from half the globe, it feels like)! So I understand impact. But what I’ve started to give up on is trying to speculate on whether something explicitly innocuous is in fact hiding something implicitly r*cist (or hunting for micro-aggressions). It’s exhausting, not worth my time, and doesn’t help me develop understanding and relationship with people.

    We all deal with these kinds of interpersonal situations in different ways, of course. But when I see people worrying about whether references to “over-thinking” or “instinct” stem from r*cism, I get that same feeling of exhaustion. Based on my experience watching the game for many, many years, that language has been applied so many times to so many different players, I can’t even begin to think about how we’d measure its motivations.

    I agree with you that we all should be aware that our words have an impact. But we should also be thoughtful about how we judge the presence of offense. That excellent Maya Angelou quote applies to both points, I’d say.

    1. Bun – Many thanks for your reply. It was thoughtful, personal, and persuasive. I hear you and understand your points, especially the feelings of exhaustion (in my case, exasperation).

       I grant that your football experience is broader than mine. Perhaps those terms are more evenly applied, and my 13-year, Arsenal-centric, sample size is too limited. However, I would posit that, even granting your point, it is a bit different saying this or that certain “white” player (I hate having to use these terms that derive from the American experience) is “brainless” as opposed to using similar terms to a “black” player. With the caveat that I am purposefully speaking in generalities, the average “white” player is generally assumed to possess a certain level of intellectual bona fides; therefore when such player is called “brainless” or the like, the comment is immediately interpreted as a critique of performance, not capability. The same isn’t generally true with “black” players.

       Take the NFL. The most important position in American football is the quarterback. I came of age in the time when you didn’t have Black quarterbacks (they weren’t deemed smart enough) until Doug Williams led the Washington D.C. Professional Football team to a Superbowl victory. Even today, when you have more Black quarterbacks playing in college and the NFL, you will invariably hear presenters praise such quarterbacks ability to “prolong the play with their legs” or “make the difference with their arms” much more so than their ability to use their gray matter.

       Indeed, after a particularly poor Week 2 performance from their young (like 23 y/o) quarterback, who happens to be Black, one Houston Texans fan (a grade school superintendent no less) stated on Facebook “when you need precision decision making you can’t count on a black quarterback”

       I guess where you and I differ, is that I am now exasperated with giving marginal comments the benefit of the doubt. I am tired of large offenses and small slights. I am sick of waiting to overcome. I am ready for old thinking (and the older generations who harbor such thoughts) to go the way of the Dodo. I am sick for my 10 y/o daughter and my 6 y/o son who will have to make their way in the world (in an America) that thinks merely expecting better behavior from people in public and private is “political correctness.”

       I know this has nothing to do with Arsenal… so thanks, Tim, for letting me vent.

       Come on, you Reds (this one time, I mean to include the Scousers as well)

21. To put your example in the context of football / soccer:

    A statement such as, “when you need precision decision making you can’t count on a black striker,” is unquestionably r*cist. However, a comment such as, “he needs to be more precise in his decision-making in front of goal,” when it happens to be applied to a black striker, requires some thought before imputing r*cism (and impact). Does this language get applied indiscriminately to all strikers? In other words, is this just how we talk about strikers and their job? Do we judge them, all of them, based on their cognitive ability and instinct (in addition to skill / athleticism, etc.)?

    If someone had approached Thierry Henry and asked him whether the “nose for goal” praise was r*cist because it drew on an implicit animalistic association (that is, instinct rather than the more cognitive “quickness of thought”), I actually think he would have been offended by the question, not least because it relies on and perpetuates a terrible r*cial association that he clearly never perceived in the first place. I.e., this is just how we talk about all strikers — instinct and thought — which means that to pose the question only to a black man is, in some sense, to make or re-make the r*cist association.

    Similarly, imagine that we could only use “mindless,” for example, to talk about what a white player might do on the pitch (because they are assumed to be smart); would this not perpetuate the r*cist association that black people aren’t as smart as white people? Every conscious singular use of “mindless” for a white player would in that situation call to mind why it cannot be said about a black player, namely because the assumption is that it’s only fair to use it for people who are actually assumed to be smart.

    What is to be gained by censoring or being suspicious of any and all terms of cognition when it comes to evaluating black players only? No more “thoughtlessly gave it away,” “that was mindless from [x],” “he’s overthinking it again,” “didn’t read the play,” “what was he thinking?!!,” “kicked it away for no reason,” etc.

    For me, such comments imply r*cism if they’re applied primarily to black players and/or if the language attached to it includes reference to their identity. I don’t even think those examples are marginal. It’s just how we talk about all players in the game.

22. And that broke my heart what you said about your kids.

23. Thanks for your kind thoughts, Bun. We’ll have to continue this discussion over a pint.

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