I just want to note that i have left writing this blog post until things died down and digested everything. I have also been writing several features this week for other media outlets so its been waiting in it’s wings.
When the game of football mutated from a lawless kickaround into an amateur sport of great possibility, it mutated into a game of competitiveness with strong tackles, gamesmanship and general hardiness.
Today’s game features none of the above. This may seem bold. Football must still have some of it’s old values. And yes you are right in thinking that. However these exist in the lower echelons of the never ending football pyramid. And sometimes you find them in the Premier League (however, very rarely). What i’m talking about is the Premiership and the war of words and actions that erupted over the Arsenal Stoke game.
Wengers comments after the Stoke game were to say the least, inappropriate. His deluded belief that Arsenal’s tactics reserve the right for other teams to change theres is completely ridiculous. I cannot see why Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross should mark Emmanuel Adebayor any different to say Carlos Tevez of Manchester United. It is absurd.
What his comments show us, is that Arsene Wenger has extraordinary arrogance. By saying that his team are top of the fair play table because they are clean is arrogant. Arsenal are top because they have tactics that mediate zonal marking and limit rough tackling. The fair play league does not show us the quality of the tackles. Arsenal are no better or worse at the tackling aspect of the game.
These tactics could also explain the reasons to why Arsenal have quite timid defending at times. Wenger should realise that Arsenal play in a English league with English players. It is a hard but fair league which centres usually around good defending.
Mick Dennis said on the Sky Sports News Channel that he believed that the game is becoming more continental and that Arsenal shouldn’t expect tackles like that. What he fails to see is that why should Stoke change their tactics to suit Arsenal. Surely Tony Pulis is playing his game and Arsenal should be thinking about trying to work around it. The games changed, i know that, but it hasnt changed beyond recognition.
Pulis and Wenger couldn’t be further from each other in respect to management styles and it shows. Arsene Wenger chooses to play that way and Tony Pulis chooses to play his way. Pulis said afterwards that he believed Wenger was a bad loser, and i have to agree.
Arsenal suffered a defeat. However they suffered much more than just that. They suffered a culture shock. It’s an English league, English players, English managers and sometimes you get English tactics. It’s high tide Arsenal get used to it instead of moaning about it.
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