Tuesday, December 28th, 2010 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does
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By Walter Broeckx
But first, The Prologue (by Tony)
Kevin sits two rows in front of me, in the increasingly famous block 99, just above Red Action. At half time we were standing at our seats taking in the glorious goal, debating extraordinary ability of Nasri to twist and turn while taking the ball with him, and commenting on the elegance of Cesc, (even when coming back after a long lay off), when Kevin (to whom I have never spoken before) turns round and says, “I read your blog.”
Never being one to avoid the glories and triumphs of being a world-famous commentator on all things Arsenal, I journeyed down the two rows and shook him by the hand, as warmly as one could in a temperature only marginally above freezing point. (That’s the freezing point of water you understand, not liquid nitrogen. But I digress).
Anyway said Kevin asked me how I thought it would end, and I was nervous, I have to admit. Of course I had seen how we had started taking the game to them, and the way the trio of Jack, Nasri and Cesc had taken control, but the spookiness of Chelsea weighed on my mind, and I must admit that for once I didn’t come up with my normal “we’ll get six”. But Kevin was sure. “We’ll get three” he said, and we did.
So there it is. Kevin, if you are reading this, a prediction slot on Untold awaits you if you feel like it. OK you actually said “3-0″, but don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.
And about that book I was mentioning. It is called “Making the Arsenal”, it is brilliant, and you can get it from Amazon or direct from the publisher (although the publisher offices don’t start sending out copies again until Jan 4).
So that’s the big news from the stadium. Now over to Walter…
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Well, well, well. Oh my, oh my, oh my. The impossible has happened. Well that is if you believe all that is said by the pundits before our game against Chelsea.
We were not good enough. Remember? It will have been said only a few hours ago. Now some will pretend they have never said it of course. And they hope the public will forget what they have said before the game.
And let us not forget the part of the fans who tell us that we are not good enough. The ones that have been telling for ages that Song was not good enough. That he should be sold in January. And the ones that were blaming Song for joining the attack. The ones that were blaming Wenger a few weeks ago for allowing Song to go forward and join the attack. You know Wenger? The manager that has lost it some time ago?
Well, well, well. How annoying that it was Wenger who allowed Song to go forward a bit and that it was that same Song who scored that very important first goal in any big game. Oh and apart from going forward and score Song was also excellent in his defensive duty.
And then let us take a look at Walcott. You know the man that for many fans will never live up to the expectations. And when he started like a rocket in the first games this season, they shut up a bit? But when he found it difficult to get back to that level after coming back from an injury they were at him again. Telling Wenger to get rid of him. Well it was that same Walcott that sealed the game with some steals, an assist and another steal and a well taken goal. How lucky we can count ourselves that Wenger stuck with him today and in the past. And remember the boy is only 21 years old.
And now we are at it. How about our captain. Or El Capitan. We should have cashed in on him this summer, as the expression goes. Well, how lucky that this stubborn French manager of ours did not let him go. His first real game back and man does he look ready for it. He is up for it and he wants to lead by example. And still not everything worked out but you can see that when he gets more game time he will be that great player we all know he is. How lucky we kept him in London. Thanks Arsène for sticking up your fingers to Barceloanus.
An finally let us talk about project youth. You know that project that was declared dead and buried after each game we lost by the you know who. And then look at that still only 18 year old Jack the lad. HE is the first of our project youth. And just look at his game today. I cannot remember an 18 year old playing with such a maturity in such a top game. In such an important game. He gave the assist for the first goal in a very crowded area and for the rest of the game. Well he ran, he ran, he ran even more. And when he stopped for a while he just ran further and more and further and more.
He gave the Chelsea players no rest at all. And to all you out there who have declared project youth the biggest mistake and Wenger’s personal play thing: this is just the first of the production line. And he cost us nothing, nada, niente, noppes, nichts, rien, and whatever language you speak just fill in please. Can you imagine how much he would have cost when he played for another premier league team now? £20M? £30M? £40M? I don’t know but it would be too much for Arsenal to buy him.
So this is the lad that will set the Emirates and England on fire for many, many, many years to come. You could see how he ran his heart out for his team. He was the ultimate Gooner for me today on the field.
So to those congenitally pessimistic people who said we could never win a big game against the other big four you can stay silent for a while. And for all you out there who are against project youth: you can stay silent for a while. And for all you out there who are giving the most horrible names to our manager: just shut it up.
This according to some negativists is a useless team with a useless manager is on the way to great things in the future. And it will be done with players we have grown ourselves and with players we have bought at young age and who will be Arsenal through and through.
And if you think that I get carried away a bit… well yes I am. But this is my right as a supporter of this great club, this still great manager and their players. I know it is only one game won. I know it is only just three points won. But when we would have lost this only one game, when we would have lost this only three points some would have called our team the worst Arsenal team ever, buried our manager with names I cannot repeat and would have declared project youth dead and buried again.
So I guess today is our day. Today is the day for all those fine Arsenal supporters who have stood with their team in(some) bad days. Today is the day for all those who have lived through the difficult periods. Today is the day for all those real and supportive Arsenal supporters who have always kept the faith in this team and this manager. ENJOY IT!! I am and I will enjoy it.
Oh yes and our match commentator over here said that the Emirates was shaking to its foundations after our third goal. Oh, how I wished I could have been there…. Ho, ho, ho what a great Christmas present we have got today.