You know the greatness of the scene? It is pure…. and that’s what football does to you, it gets your purest, rawest emotions out.
Did Arshavin’s moment , day-before-yesterday*, come close? It came close, yes. But it was not the same thing.
We, the long-suffering Arsenal fans need another Anfield 1989 moment…
Maybe this is the time…
I am pretty sure this mail will not be published as this is not drastic, controversial or rabble-rousing. But let me say this nonetheless. To Carl (Please Arsene, please give the armband to Vermaelen), AFC, you surprise me. Comparing the Cesc scenario with the Adebayor scenario is pretty damn ridiculous. Adebayor was not a Man City trainee (or a Manchester born-and-bred), and neither was be brought up as a 16-year-old at Arsenal. Why is it so difficult to understand, Cesc has always mentioned in interviews that he wants to return to Barca someday, and all of us Arsenal fans were kind of okay with the ‘he will return someday, but not soon’ rhetoric. Now who decides if that someday is today? Cesc does of course, not us. (Caveat: All Arsenal can do is decide whether they will sell him, and if yes, at what price)
Now similarly, in all the interviews, Cesc has claimed nothing but admiration for Arsenal, and post-World Cup, he has had only good things to say for our club. I have no doubt that he loves Arsenal, we indeed are the club that brought him up from a young upstart to the best central midfielder in the world. I am similarly sure he loves Barcelona more. Is that the right or wrong thing to do? That’s not for us to decide, really. That’s his call. And I believe the two options that are suggested to him by assorted hacks and fans.. those of a) either tell Barca to f*** off as he is an Arsenal player; or b) Throw a strop and demand a move to Barca, are neither feasible to him as he admires both the clubs. So what does he do? He pretty much shuts up, and would talk to Arsene Wenger this week, not to the media. It’s obvious he has decided that he wants to move, but not at the cost of a detriment to the club that brought him up. I think that is a good thing, and the right thing to do. And I sincerely believe that his discussion will be about how much money is enough for Arsene for Cesc to move next year.
Barca has been despicable (Xavi, especially, shut up already you moron), and if I would have been Cesc, I would have lost some respect for the club. But losing some respect does not mean hating Barca and not wanting to move, it probably just means wishing that they would just sit down and not embarrass him any more (and maybe, in 2011 or maybe 2012 when he lands up there, landing a punch up Xavi’s nose…now that would really be good). But Cesc wants out, and it is the job of the club, and M. Wenger, to ensure that they get fair value for him. and that is 60m. In the summer of 2011. Jack will be ready, and Rambo will be back by then.
Fourth paragraph. I really have made it impossible for you to publish this now, haven’t I?
Cannot wait to know…
Barcelona: Valdes, Dani Alves, Pique, Milito, Keita, Xavi, Toure Yaya, Busquets, Pedro, Ibrahimovic, Messi.
Subs: Pinto, Marquez, Bojan, Henry, Maxwell, Thiago, Jeffren.
Inter: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Zanetti, Cambiasso, Motta, Eto’o, Sneijder, Pandev, Milito.
Subs: Toldo, Cordoba, Muntari, Mariga, Materazzi, Chivu, Balotelli.
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Click here to follow the often inane and banal Guardian commentary. I will be watching it over the telly.
[edit: it did not happen. Mourinho's team wasted 70 minutes of the 90 minutes played. But Busquets... what a shame]
First leg of the Champion’s league Semi-final at the San Siro… Inter vs Barca. Last 20 minutes, and Dani Alves bursts into the penalty area, leaving Wesley Sneijder at his wake. Sneijder, in desparation, tries to tackle Alves from behind… he gets nothing of the ball, and quite a bit of Alves’ leg.
Stonewall Penalty….
Not given. Alves is shown a yellow for diving.
Ridiculous decision by the referee.
And, but, for all my love for everything Barca, let me agree that Alves dives. Often. And the referee is human, and made a mistake that was affected by Alves’ history.
Not acceptable indeed, the referee is there to do a job and he failed miserably at it. But…. but cry wolf? Unfortunately yes.
From The Telegraph, 10 reasons why Lionel Messi is the best player in the world.
We are a lucky generation to see him live on TV. And we, as Indians, are unlucky that La Liga is not shown live on Indian TV.
And thank heavens there’s the Champion’s league. Do not miss the match today, and let me be a Mohun Bagan fan on a CL day, for I do not dare to be a culé or a gooner today. I am both.
There was this line I put for the performance of Chelsea against Barcelona in the CL semi finals on my Facebook status
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot…
- Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi.
The obvious reference is to the ‘parking the bus’ tactic they used to destroy the game and try to win by hook or by crook…
And on asking about the KKR performance for this year by a friend, I was quick to say
Bungle in the Jungle, and it’s all right by me…
- Jethro Tull, Bungle in the Jungle.
So that get’s me thinking, what can be a few others? Will figure out a few more and put in, as and when I think of any.
Now I am nlsonot a Newcastle supporter by a long shot. My primary interest in them is whether they get the loss they should get against Arsenal, and whether they are able to get a draw or something against the others of the big 4.
But we all know the recent Mike Ashley saga, don’t we? King Kev thrown out… Ashley wining and dining the Arabs, and asking for GBP 400 M… Now really, GBP 400 M!!! And now a Nigerian consortium is trying to buy Ashley out …
And here comes Save Newcastle United. Remember, last season, there were similar talks about Liverpool being bought over by the fans…. but that came to nought. This, I hope is better.
I do know that Newcastle United one of the few other clubs the world over which can claim to be ‘more than a club’. I will agree to Barcelona, and Mohun Bagan. Newcastle, similarly, is a part of local / community pride, and is really a Geordie symbol just like Barcelona is Catalan.
John Nicholson (from oop north himself) puts it better than most:
Now is not the time for faint hearts, the time for the whining and whinging and bitching to stop has come. It’s no use just hoping something better will come along and make everything alright. It’s time to take NUFC, a quintessential ‘people’s club’, to the bosom of those who love and understand it best. A peoples’ revolution to over-throw the regimes which seek only to profit financially from the club or who want to use it as a play-thing or as a place to do their corporate business deals.
Click here for the entire article, on F365.
And here is the site for Save Newcastle United- click here. So if you feel you can do something, please go ahead.
I can tell you this much, if a similar fate befalls Mohun Bagan, I will chip in. with quite a bit of what I have got.
I am what you call a plastic fan. Of Arsenal. And Barcelona. I am from Bangalore, India, and here’s my defense. And that of the millions that you ridicule every day.
I love the game. Having been initiated into football via the magical skills of Diego Madarona in ’86, I cannot think of life without the game. I have played the game at a reasonable level, and still try to manage a game every weekend. Not very different from you, am I?
I have an Indian club I love, Mohun Bagan AC. I don’t stay in my city of origin, Kolkata (Mohun Bagan is from that city), anymore, so I don’t get to go to the stadium too many times anymore (Bangalore to Kolkata is 2000 miles, yes, that was 2000 miles), I used to be a regular. I wept after a defeat, especially to our eternal rivals, East Bengal FC. I was jubilant after wins. I still am, watching the matches on TV. I am what you call a normal football fan, I love my club.
Just like you love Huddersfield. Just like you love Bradford, just like you love Derby.
But I also love the game itself. And I am honest enough to accept that Mohun Bagan, or East Bengal, or Dempo, or Mahindra Utd. , don’t really provide that kind of football. That does not make me love my club any less, that just makes me want to get a chance to watch and enjoy better football too.
And therefore came the Premiership. And therefore came the Primera Liga. I love how well they play the game I love in your country. And in Spain. There is the television, and I don’t miss a match.
I am watching the league from 1998 (that is about the time when the Premier League started being aired regularly in Indian TV, thank you Star Sports / ESPN), I was 18 then. Tony Adams is my hero, and Dennis Bergkamp is only second to Diego Maradona in the God-stakes, in my book. I HATE Luis Figo, he’s the real Judas. I am jubilant when Arsenal wins, I am dejected when Arsenal loses. I follow every match, I follow the post-season, and just like you, I wanted us to have a holding midfielder too. And no, I didn’t want Alonso, I wanted Toulalan. Ah, wishes… I am a fan.
And yes, I have been to your stadia (not to the Emirates or Highbury, sadly. Never stayed in England long enough to manage that yet), and I know that the tears that you cry when your club loses will never be the same as my sadness at an Arsenal defeat. But I know the tears, I have cried them after a Bagan loss.
But does it mean that our sadness at an Arsenal defeat counts for nothing? We came to the premiership looking for great football, we found a club we would like to follow, and we followed the club. And devoted we have been, for the last ten years. And yes we don’t have perspective; they started showing the Premier League on TV only ten years ago. I thought we did the best we could as fans. Where did we go wrong?
I thought it was the universal game.
- Godof86 (don’t ever say ‘third world’ again without knowing what the word originates from), Arsenal, Barcelona and Mohun Bagan.
