Chapter 2: Ouch
Ducky’s note was right. My metatarsal is sore. His anatomical reference was wrong though. My left metatarsal is all right. My right metatarsal is the one that’s gone wrong. On the whole you would be right in saying it is a clear case of injury added to insult. However, I’ve heard of this revolutionary UNHEARD of treatment which I’m considering. I’m going to get my foot massaged with goo from a horse’s placenta. Yeah, my tickets to Serbia are booked. I am all set to make a miraculous recovery for this weekend at Chelsea.
So a funny thing happened this Sunday. I got ripped off by ESPN. I mean all that money I paid for a subscription; I settle down to watch an eagerly awaited Arsenal vs. United Premiership game and they show a re-run of last year’s Champions League Semi Final. I think a strongly worded letter to Messrs ESPN Star is in the pipeline. I mean isn’t it enough that I had to watch Almunia gift a goal to a Portuguese dude by catching the ball and throwing it into the net; Us get a corner, see the ball run downfield by 3 players, another sprint 80 yards to knock the ball in (oh all of 5 minutes later) and Park score; ONCE? I wonder what happened to our game though. Can’t seem to find a single reference in any one of; The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, ESPNStar.com et al.
Denial is a wonderful place to be in.
I’ve received some pretty bad birthday presents in my life. This has got to rank as one of the worst ever. And it ranks 1. And I liked it as much as I like our Number 1 right now. Zero. Our Number 23 failed me on my 23rd. Our Number 15 forgot that the number on his shirt refers to his squad number and not his age. Our Number 5’s 5th goal of the league campaign was just a consolation. Our Number 10 is clearly no Bergkamp as he amply displayed in the closing moments. Without the support of these 4, what could our Number 4 really do?
Our basic problem was that, our goalie couldn’t save, our defenders couldn’t defend and our strikers couldn’t, oh wait. What striker? 3 feet tall Andrei Sergeyevich Arshavin? Arsène threw down the gauntlet and challenged him to make the difference. He did, I guess. How could we be in a position where we played United without a Fantasy Football approved, recognized and accredited Striker? Yes, I think Le Boss has made an error in judgment because ultimately the buck stops with him. Not Peter Hill Wood, not Stan Kroenke, not Ivan Gazidis, Arsène Wenger. Don’t get me wrong. I am NOT calling for his head or demanding he splash 40m to buy Huntelaar. All I’m saying is his faith in Denilson and a half ready Bendtner was misplaced. Since there is nothing he can do about it now that is all I’ll say about that.
Is this the end of our title chances? I hate to say it, but probably; unless we take Fergie’s advice and ‘batter’ Chelsea. Is that likely? The chances of that happening are slim bordering on Are you NUTS? Have I given up hope? The chances of that happening are again slim bordering on Are you NUTS? Football is beautiful precisely for that reason. You can never say what is going to transpire. So here’s hoping the ‘Special Effort’ that Arsène thinks will be required to win the title starts this weekend.
I shall conclude by doffing my hat to United. You weren’t the better team in August when you managed to buy the three points. You certainly were Sunday. And it was a masterclass of a performance.
A bit of shame really. I for one thought this wud be the time Wenger would buy some striker. That’s the problem with high-scoring wins. Makes one believe that the team set up is good enough. Some of Arsene’s recent interviews including the one where he mentioned David Villa purely look like an attempt to manipulate the supporters.