A Draw with Moscow

Sorry for the lake of a post for the last couple of days. You see, I have been under the spell of the most evil viruses, causing every flu-like symptom known to man. While this illness has been ravaging my body I have been able to only eat, sleep, and watch T.V. I’m the type of guy that never misses work for anything, save vacation, and this is the third day I have been out. Excuses, excuses.

Well we played Moscow on Wednesday and the match was as entertaining as it could be. Arsenal were playing amazingly flowing football, dominating the match and creating plenty of chances. Every pass and movement was met with gasp, and ever missed opportunity was met with a next-time-it’s-in groan. The only problem with this match is that we didn’t actually get any goals. But, that aside, this was a brilliant match to watch. If we can play like this every game, we’ll top everything.

Like the rest of the Arsenal blogs, I’m on the supporter’s side that believes the glass to be half full. Honestly, if we perform like we did in the Moscow game in every match, odds are we probably won’t lose again this season. Every miss was a 99% goal opportunity, it just all happened during one match. There were a couple of defensive slip-ups but those seem to be decreasing with every match we play.

However, there are some pundits who disagree. Take for example Matt Scott, a write for The Guardian, who lambastes Henry for not coming down hard enough on his team and for changing his mind in speaking to the fans. Hey Matt, you ever think that maybe the players know they fucked up? When Rosicky kicks the ball right to the goalie while standing in front of a wide net, he doesn’t need to hear from some jackass like you that he screwed up. Rosicky, and the rest of the team, know it. It’s not like this is some public hearing where every miskick must be publicly chastised. These are good players, and responsible individuals, and they want to win games. Let’s let them. They will.

FIFA has proposed a limit on the number of foreigners in a team. Jesus Fucking Christ. This, if ever implemented, could hit us like a ton of bricks. The regulation would call for 6 members of a side to be homegrown. The real catch in the rule will be if these 6 members can be on the squad or if 6 players have to actually be fielded in a match. Right now we have 5 English players, but only 2 of them regularly see match time.

Goodplaya, a gunner that actually gets to go to matches (*jealous*), just wrote on how latecomers have been affecting the mood at the stadium. Even though we are consistently selling out 60,000 tickets, it seems like lots of fans are coming late and going early. Even I, a U.S.-bound gunner, have noticed it on T.V. As early as the last 10 minutes of the match the stands start to look half full. That’s ridiculous. Anyone that has the privilege to go to an Arsenal match should get there an hour early, and leave 20 minutes after the match (after several rounds of chants). God knows I would. In fact, I think it’s really shitty of these jackasses to come and go as they please like this. Do you fuckers even know what I would go through in order to see a match? I’m sure that most of my loyal readers that make it to matches are quite the opposite, but I’m glad to see Goodplaya writing about it.