If Arsenal go from being a ‘club in crisis’ to ‘a one man team,’ is that a promotion of sorts? « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager

“If Arsenal go from being a ‘club in crisis’ to ‘a one man team,’ is that a promotion of sorts?”

By Anne

*Much thanks to Shard and bjtgooner for their contributions to this article.

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First and foremost, before I even get into the substance of this media watch report, I want to make the following announcement with all of the fanfare that it  deserves:

WELCOME BACK ANTONY KASTRINAKIS!

As regular followers of this column will already be aware, we have, on previous occasions, documented the exploits of one particular Sun reporter who publishes under the name of “Antony Kastrinakis.”

Mr. Kastrinakis is truly noteworthy for his bold and innovative approach towards defacing the Arsenal and indeed (and I mean this with the utmost respect),  he is a true pioneer and groundbreaker in the field of anti-Arsenal journalism.

As regular readers will also be aware, I published a column way back in August expressing my sincere disappointment that Mr. Kastrinakis appeared to have taken an extended leave of absence from his post at the Sun, beginning in late July, 2011. Indeed, he was completely MIA for an extended period of time, to the point where I was beginning to consider filing a missing “person” (or “persons”) report with Scotland Yard.

However, before I resorted to such desperate measures, I discovered that Mr. Kastrinakis had, in fact, made a quiet and unassuming return to the Sun way back on September 27, 2011. Since then (and I suppose to make up for lost time), he has been quite prolific, publishing an impressive 26 articles in only 29 days. And we will, most certainly, be taking a more detailed look at these recent journalistic efforts in the near future.

However, for the purposes of the present article, Mr. Kastrinakis is most valuable to us in his role as a standard-bearer for where anti-Arsenal journalism is heading next. And on that note, let’s take a closer look at Mr. Kastrinakis’ most recent angle in “reporting” on the Arsenal:

“Super Robin van Persie comes to Arsenal’s rescue

HERO Robin Van Persie rode to Arsenal’s rescue yet again with a double against Stoke.

But his supersub intervention only came after a late fitness test on Sunday morning.

Gunners boss Arsène Wenger had added an extra player to the squad fearing his Captain Marvel might not be fit.

But in the end Wenger was forced to risk the Dutchman in order to get the points after Potters hitman Peter Crouch had cancelled out Gervinho’s opener.”

Yes, so Arsenal is only good because of Robin Van Persie…. This somewhat tedious angle has already been refuted (with no small level of exasperation) by Arsène Wenger, who headed off questions about  “Super Robin” in the post-Stoke press conference with simple statements along the lines of:

“Well, I think we had a solid team performance….”

However, the media has not been quite so easily deterred with regard to this particular angle, which unfortunately necessitates a more detailed analysis of Antony Kastrinakis and his cohorts in this particular article. (Incidentally, we will, in future, refer to Antony Kastrinkis by the more affectionate title of “AK”  as we continue our analysis).

We here at Untold make no secret of the fact that we generally adhere to the belief that Arsène Knows. So, in the present case, we most certainly believe that Arsène Knows better than AK. And where Arsène disagrees with AK’s take on the current state of affairs at Arsenal, we would certainly have to take the position that Arsène Knows better.

However, not all would agree with that position. So I thought that, in this media watch, we’d take a closer look, not only at AK, but at some of his loyal acolytes, all of whom are working equally hard to push the RVP “one man team” angle.

The first such journalist is, surprisingly enough, our own loyal “Gooner” John Cross, who wrote the Arsenal-Stoke match report for the Mirror. In his match report, Cross is heavily pushing the “one man team”/ “super Robin” angle,  asking:

“Where  would Arsenal be without Robin van Persie?

We got a little glimpse yesterday and it wasn’t pretty. Then van Persie stepped off the bench to win the game in the space of 16 minutes.

The Dutchman is a Rolls Royce of a striker but it is Robin the Reliant driving the Gunners up the Premier League.

Arsenal have become so dependant on van Persie, such a one-man team, that it’s not funny. Without him they would be just another mid-table side. That is maybe a bit harsh on Gervinho who had his best game for Arsenal so far, scored and provided the other two assists.”

Cross also chose to publish an entirely separate article on the Stoke match, which contained no additional relevant information on the match itself, but did re-emphasize this same “super-Robin” talking point:

“Wenger insists Arsenal are not a one-man team

Arsene Wenger denied Arsenal were a one-man team – even after supersub Robin van Persie came to the rescue again.

Wenger left two-goal Van Persie on the bench to give him a rest and revealed he nearly left him out altogether because his aching muscles were vulnerable to injury.”

So, aside from Cross, who chose to jump on the “Super-Robin” gravy train?

How about Sami Mokbel at the Daily Mail? Similar to Cross, he began his Arsenal-Stoke match report by stating:

“Another Sunday, another Robin van  Persie show to drive Arsenal on to victory at the Emirates.

Arsene Wenger tried to prove Arsenal are not a one-man team by leaving his Flying Dutchman on the bench for Sunday’s visit of Stoke.

But Van Persie entered the fray to rescue his side again, contributing to the feeling that the Gunners are developing a worrying reliance on their skipper.”

And also like Cross, Mokbel chose to accentuate the above point with an entirely separate article headlined:

“We’re not a one-man team, says Wenger, despite another RVP brace”

Mokbel goes on to assert that:

“ArsèneWenger insists Arsenal are not wholly dependent on Robin van Persie, despite another superb display by the Dutchman.

Van Persie was rested by Wenger for the visit of Stoke on Sunday — but he came off the bench to secure three points for the Gunners. ‘Are we a one-man team? I don’t have that feeling at all,’ said the Arsenal manager.”

So, is it just me, or is all of this “Super-Robin” talk beginning to sound just a bit repetitive? Well, the fact of the matter is that it is repetitive to us here at Untold Media, because we’ve actually been predicting this  next anti-Arsenal “angle” for quite awhile now (although we still do appreciate the final confirmation provided by AK in this regard).

For example, following the Sunderland match, UM contributor bjtgooner reported the following:

“1. Daily Mail Mon 17 Oct 11. Reporter Matt Barlow.

Headline ‘Silky Robin in a class of his own’. The article was illustrated by three photos of RVP.

Barlow started his report with RVP’s excellence, but very quickly and deliberately wandered off the match to use his report to cast doubt on RVP’s future with Arsenal: –

Para 1: – ‘Yesterday on the Robin van Persie show: a close up of the sheer brilliance of the Holland striker and a glimpse of the issue which promises to eat away at Arsenal’s season.’

Para 2: – ‘Van Persie is in simply outstanding form. He won the game with two wonderful goals, either side of an equally good one from Sebastion Larsson.’

Para 3: -’The Dutchman does not appear likely to sign a new contract,………..’

Para 21: – ‘Ultimately, Van Persie proved to be the difference. Only right, too. After all, it was the Robin van Persie show’.

So was this praise being heaped on RVP to reinforce the earlier thought that RVP, our best player, would leave? If so, was this an attempt to unsettle the fans and possibly the board?

While RVP showed his class, we did have 10 other players on the field, most of whom Barlow ignored. He failed to record a good team effort by Arsenal!”

Very good point, bjtgooner. We DID, in fact, have another 10 players on the field. But it seems as though certain “parties,” deprived of their ability to report that Arsenal is in a dire “crisis,” have chosen instead to diminish the team’s success by attempting to lay it all at the feet of one individual player.

And as for what might be the ultimate aim of this “individual player” angle, I’ll leave the question to Shard (who independently raised the same point that bjtgooner hinted at above):

“Have you noticed how the past few weeks, all the commentators have been bigging up RVP? Suddenly he’s ‘World class’ for them, and his every touch is praised. That and his contract story have come up at the same time. It’s like they are making it out to be that Arsenal will lose a THIRD fantastic player in 2 years.”

Yes, Shard. I believe that to be the PRECISE angle that they are going for. Well spotted in advance.

However, AK and his akolytes have only so much power when it comes to persuading fans to buy the ideas that they’re selling. Because they have to persuade. And if they are unable to make a persuasive case to the general public, attempts to compensate for that through brute force will only weaken their position further… Just saying…. Unlike them, I have been known to take pity on my strategic enemies…

So, there you have it… A “thinking point” to begin the article, and a “thinking point” to end it. Personally, I prefer these “thinking points” to talking points.