Everything Is everything

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
16 Sep	7:45 PM	CL	Standard Liege (A)	3	2	Win

It transpires that perhaps the media, and myself, jumped the gun on the chants directed at Emmanuel Adebayor. As this letter to the Online Gooner makes clear. This account has been corroborated by people I know on the Arsenal Mania forum, so it appears we are not quite the bad apples we are made out to be.

I noticed that Gareth Southgate had something to say about it too. What Southgate fails to recognise is that not only did Adebayor greet his pay rise last summer with an alarming decline in effort, he also criticised Arsenal fans everywhere on the eve of the game- as the letter linked to points out, we don't have the benefit of going on Football Focus to explain our ire. Some of us have blogs and some of us do it at matches- to quote Pulp Fiction's Vincent Vega, Adebayor might not have expected the reaction he got, but "he had to expect a reaction".

Before we move on from this sorry little affair, Adebayor has till 6pm this evening to lodge his appeal, I'm sure you've read the quotes from Arsène Wenger, but they bear repetition here. If nothing else they show the events of the last three weeks have not dulled his sense of humour:

"Adebayor's challenge on van Persie looks very bad. You ask 100 people, 99 will say it's very bad and the 100th will be Mark Hughes... If somebody stamps on your head in that way, you wouldn't say, 'thank you very much' and turn the other cheek. Only Jesus Christ did that."

Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised at "Sparky" Marky's defence of his player - after all we've had 13 years of "I did not see it", but also the way Mark Hughes played the game, well he was somewhat aggressive, wasn't he? though, in fairness, I don't ever remember him stamping on an opponent's head. Good of Arsène to point out that RvP is most certainly not the big JC as well.

I quoted Vince Vega above and perhaps he'd be disappointed by Robin and Arsenal's refusal to accept that once a man apologises, "he is immediately forgiven all wrongdoing" but I think in this instance, where Adebayor displayed "such animosity" towards his former club, the Arsenal response is entirely justified.

We've got a game tonight, haven't we? I nearly forgot. Yes, el vía a Madrid begins, for us anyway, tonight. The last time we played Standard Liege, we absolutely spannered them 7-0, having beaten them 3-0 in the first leg of a Cup Winners Cup tie. The season we won our last European trophy, in fact. The season was 1993/94.

That night we were without Ian Wright, I think he was rested to protect him from suspension (that worked out really well) and the rest of the team stood up and put in the kind of performance thought, at the time, to be beyond them. Tonight, we are without Robin van Persie, Denilson and Manuel Almunia. But I think we've got enough at the club to overcome these absences without too many surprises, though Alex Song isn't taking anything for granted. Though I wonder, has he forgotten what football club he plays for? I mean what's this,

"We have to make sure we go on an unbeaten run like 12 games."?

This is Arsenal, Alex. Home of the 49ers. Twelve games is not an unbeaten run, that's barely a jog to us. I'm being a bit silly here, I know. But given that we managed 21 unbeaten last season, I think we can afford to aim a little higher.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing Bendtner and Eduardo up top tonight, so it'll probably be Diaby and Eboue flanking the striker and I'm also looking forward to seeing a goalkeeper that might actually, you know, um, save a shot or two. From what I saw of Don Vito Mannone in the Emirates Cup, he also looks likely to drop a few too. He does not, I have to say, inspire confidence, but then neither does the señor with the silly hair. So, that's probably about equal then. Denilson's injury probably means Diaby dropping into midfield, unless the boss does plan to use him as part of the attacking trident, in which case Aaron Ramsey will surely get the call up.

The return to Belgium for Thomas Vermaelen has le boss eulogising over his new signing once again. What does he like about him?

"He is a competitor; he is a fighter. I liked his intelligence when he played against us. The reading of his game and the quality. I like as well to have a right-footed and a left-footed player at the back, because it's natural and it's good for passing out of the back like we want to play. So that is something interesting, and the fact that he's a resilient guy.

"For me he has everything I like in football; he doesn't talk but is committed on the pitch. There is not big publicity when you buy the player, but he surprises people by the quality of his performances; that's what you like."

Surely just a simple "everything" would have done, Arsène?

Enjoy the game, wherever you're watching it.

Come on you Reds!

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