danebanksheik
Well-Known Member
How dare Arsenal fans call City boring when they gloried under Graham?
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opi...a-from-Fifa-s-Sepp-Blatter-article666329.html
The boos that rocked the Emirates at the final whistle on Wednesday came from a very strange place.
As Arsenal fans were swift to point out, they were directed 100% at Manchester City's negative philosophy, their unambitious players and manager, plus their owners and fans for being content with spending £500million on a squad which travels to title-contenders' grounds in the hope of boring them into a coma.
I heard one on an after-match phone-in saying how much he pitied City's followers.
Buying the League was bad enough, he said, but buying it in such a dour way was almost criminal (before realising his slip and correcting himself by predicting they won't win the league anyway).
I think they do protest too much.
How much of that booing came from the knowledge that the old Invincibles of Henry, Bergkamp and Pires would have cut through that City side and taken all the points?
How many boos were sub-consciously aimed at Arsene Wenger and his board's lack of world-class investment in the squad, which could mean them being by-passed for the second time in a decade by a free-spending club who may not play beautiful football, but are more likely to be champions?
Because if you are going to criticise a game (which as a neutral I actually found riveting), at least be honest.
That draw enhanced City's title-winning credentials and shrunk Arsenal's.
And despite their claims to have played City off the pitch, the truth was, apart from an early flurry of woodwork-hitting, Arsenal never looked like breaking them down, and as the game went on, the visitors looked the more likely winners.
City have spent obscene amounts of cash chasing a dream, and it has many of us baffled that it hasn't yet translated into inspirational football. But how can anyone tell their fans what they should be thinking when the big sign at Old Trafford is about to show 35 years without a trophy?
How can Arsenal fans blame a team for defending their way to a title? Remember 1989 and 1991 and "one-nil to the Arsenal" sung with pride?
Was part of Wednesday's booing down to the realisation that the game should have been a statement-making one for Arsenal, but while they have the wayward Theo Walcott in the starting line-up and are relying on Nicklas Bendtner to come on and conjure up a piece of magic, they are only going to fall further behind a City team which is still being assembled.
With Emmanuel Adebayor auditioning for a role in Fight Club II, Mario Balotelli yet to settle, Roque Santa Cruz told to leave and Jo an extremely-limited player, City's only out-and-out striker this season has been Carlos Tevez.
If Edin Dzeko signs and Balotelli improves that will all change and City may soon turn the nil-nils at their rivals' grounds into 1-0s and 2-0s.
Maybe that explains the almost primeval howls of abuse from Arsenal throats on Wednesday.
Maybe they saw the type of highly-organised, title-challenging performance that George Graham would have approved of, and realised, with Chelsea's demise, they may just have been watching the closest challengers to Manchester United.
And it wasn't them.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opi...a-from-Fifa-s-Sepp-Blatter-article666329.html
The boos that rocked the Emirates at the final whistle on Wednesday came from a very strange place.
As Arsenal fans were swift to point out, they were directed 100% at Manchester City's negative philosophy, their unambitious players and manager, plus their owners and fans for being content with spending £500million on a squad which travels to title-contenders' grounds in the hope of boring them into a coma.
I heard one on an after-match phone-in saying how much he pitied City's followers.
Buying the League was bad enough, he said, but buying it in such a dour way was almost criminal (before realising his slip and correcting himself by predicting they won't win the league anyway).
I think they do protest too much.
How much of that booing came from the knowledge that the old Invincibles of Henry, Bergkamp and Pires would have cut through that City side and taken all the points?
How many boos were sub-consciously aimed at Arsene Wenger and his board's lack of world-class investment in the squad, which could mean them being by-passed for the second time in a decade by a free-spending club who may not play beautiful football, but are more likely to be champions?
Because if you are going to criticise a game (which as a neutral I actually found riveting), at least be honest.
That draw enhanced City's title-winning credentials and shrunk Arsenal's.
And despite their claims to have played City off the pitch, the truth was, apart from an early flurry of woodwork-hitting, Arsenal never looked like breaking them down, and as the game went on, the visitors looked the more likely winners.
City have spent obscene amounts of cash chasing a dream, and it has many of us baffled that it hasn't yet translated into inspirational football. But how can anyone tell their fans what they should be thinking when the big sign at Old Trafford is about to show 35 years without a trophy?
How can Arsenal fans blame a team for defending their way to a title? Remember 1989 and 1991 and "one-nil to the Arsenal" sung with pride?
Was part of Wednesday's booing down to the realisation that the game should have been a statement-making one for Arsenal, but while they have the wayward Theo Walcott in the starting line-up and are relying on Nicklas Bendtner to come on and conjure up a piece of magic, they are only going to fall further behind a City team which is still being assembled.
With Emmanuel Adebayor auditioning for a role in Fight Club II, Mario Balotelli yet to settle, Roque Santa Cruz told to leave and Jo an extremely-limited player, City's only out-and-out striker this season has been Carlos Tevez.
If Edin Dzeko signs and Balotelli improves that will all change and City may soon turn the nil-nils at their rivals' grounds into 1-0s and 2-0s.
Maybe that explains the almost primeval howls of abuse from Arsenal throats on Wednesday.
Maybe they saw the type of highly-organised, title-challenging performance that George Graham would have approved of, and realised, with Chelsea's demise, they may just have been watching the closest challengers to Manchester United.
And it wasn't them.