Well, it has certainly been a while since I last wrote.
Such a while that I’m not sure it should be called a diary anymore, because if there were a blogging version of the Trade Description Act I would be hauled before the Office of Fair Blogging for being in breach of the Blog Description Act and have all my blogging tools seized, and my blogging license revoked. Or something……
Obviously, a lot has happened since the last time I wrote.
Well it is never a quiet life following Arsenal these days. It is not like it used to be – pub, football, pub, maybe a kebab, home.
Oh no.
Now it’s more commonly this: Twitter, speculate on the team line-up, meltdown over the team line-up (on Twitter), kick-off, Twitter, half-time Twitter, kick-off for second half, Twitter, final whistle, Twitter, home, argue through the night on Twitter (win, lose or draw), argue through the week over some completely pointless shite. (On Twitter.)
I like to try and bring a sense of perspective to things when I can, and I think – as well as having other things in my life going on that have actually given me some perspective on just how important football is in the grand scheme of things – that’s one of the reasons I’ve not written for a while.
I mean, how do you try to bring a sense of perspective to a fanbase that spent half of last week arguing over whether a player’s celebration after scoring an injury time equaliser cost us three points in a game that saw us go 3-0 down against Bournemouth?
I do get the point, and I am not saying it’s not a valid one, but personally, I don’t think Giroud doing an Eric Morecambe (Google it, kids…) before diving into the crowd justifies a three or four daylong debate.
For what it’s worth, my personal take on it is this: A player celebrated a goal when the more sensible option would probably have been to grab the ball, get the game kicked off a few seconds quicker and try to nick a winner.
He didn’t.
If the situation arises again, I’m sure he would take the sensible option and not celebrate (he does have Twitter after all….)
That’s about the best I can do as far as perspective goes.
“Give that man a statue”
I guess it’s down to the fact that these days more than ever there always has to be someone to blame for everything, and if there’s a chance to blame certain players then they will be jumped upon. Giroud is one of those players.
Let’s forget that he had just played a part in all three goals in the first place and give him hell on Twitter.
We could at least be fair and take into consideration that the poor sod had probably been practising that celebration in front of the mirror for a few days as well.
Tell you what, if you want to blame someone, why not blame Alexis Sanchez?
If his cross hadn’t gone slightly behind Giroud, he scores with a header, doesn’t spend the next few days practising the celebration in front of the mirror to “Bring Me Sunshine” (Again, Google it, kids….) grabs the ball after the equaliser, we score a fourth goal, go unbeaten for the rest of the season, win the league and everyone’s happy.
Let’s be honest, nobody is going to do a celebration where they pretend to do a header are they? That would look bloody ridiculous…..
I would suggest we blame scorpions themselves – as if their very existence is to blame for all of this – but if scorpions didn’t exist, the scorpion kick doesn’t exist, and Giroud just watches the ball sail agonisingly past him and does that frustrated Rylan face.
So there you have it, Arsenal’s failure to win away at Bournemouth was down to a slightly mistimed cross a week earlier, that led to a win over Crystal Palace at home.
Alexis’s Fault
Ridiculous you say? Yes it is. Think about it…..
Come to think of it, maybe that’s why Alexis was so angry at the end of the game; because he knew it was his fault.
Maybe that’s what it was, and it doesn’t mean that because he was angry at the end of a game that we didn’t win, it doesn’t mean “he’s off.”
Or maybe, just maybe he was simply angry because we didn’t win the game, and he’s the kind of player that gets angry when we don’t win games, and there’s no deep meaning behind it all and, in the words of Homer J Simpson, it’s just a bunch of stuff that happened.
Anyway, by half time in the FA Cup game at Preston, #GiroudCelebrationGate had been forgotten about and consigned to the bulging Arsenal drama archive, nestling somewhere between Flamini’s sleeves and Andre Santos’ sweaty Van Persie shirt, as we managed to go in at half time 1-0 down.
Thankfully though, after a nice strike from Aaron Ramsey, that man Giroud celebrated a last gasp winner in neither the style of a late British comic or a venomous arthropod (you can Google that if you like. I did.)
A dreadful first half, yes, but ultimately it’s a case of job done.
Performances honestly do not matter a jot to me one bit in the FA Cup.
So with no midweek action to focus on, it’s been a time to do what Arsenal fans do best and find something to argue about on the internet for a few days, and what better than two of our favourite subjects – a big players contract and Arsene Wenger’s future?
We’ve gone one better this time though and managed to tie both of them together. Fair play to whoever had the idea for that interview.
Will he sign?
Will Mesut sign a new contract?
Will Wenger sign a new contract?
Will Mesut only sign a new contract only if Wenger signs a new contract?
If Mesut wants to see if Wenger signs a new contract before deciding if he will sign a new contract himself, does that means he wants him to stay or leave?
Does that make Mesut an AKB or a WOB?
Is he Arsene Wenger’s man?
Is he better than Zidane?
Do we really think he’s better than Zidane, or could we just not think of anything that rhymes with man that fits the song?
There are more questions than answers that’s for sure.
It is what it is, what will be will be, etc, etc…..
Sometimes you just need to take a step back from it all and give your nut a rest.
Get your replica wall clock here
We are all passionate about The Arsenal; we are all passionate about the game. However, at the end of the day that is all that it is – a game. A game is great to lose yourself in, but not literally.
There doesn’t always have to be someone or something to blame for everything or a mass debate over every single little poxy thing.
You don’t always have to be part of a faction, or #TeamThis or #TeamThat.
People are always going to have different opinions over football, it’s all part of the “fun”, but your opinion doesn’t have to define you.
Sometimes……
Sometimes, once again in the immortal words of Homer J Simpson – It’s just a bunch of stuff that happened.
Anyway, as I write there isnot much going on and we can look ahead to the Swansea game at the weekend and hopefully get our league season back on track.
Hang on, someone’s just made a banner with Alexis’ dogs on it….this should be fun…….
Until next time.
Up The Arsenal.
Islington born and bred, Arsenal through and through.
Published author.
Is Yours Gold? The Arsenal Invincibles Twentieth Anniversary – available now,
Over Land and Sea (and Lockdown), Arsenal 20/21 – The Corona Diaires – released 2021.
Clickbait: Life as a Modern Football Fan – released 2019
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