Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does » 2010 » May » 09
16-1, I should explain, was the number of shots for each side.
And there isn’t too much point in doing any analysis of a match like this. We needed to win, and Fulham were thinking of the Europa League, and we did what was necessary. Most amusingly Tottenham didn’t.
Djourou came back and had a bit of a game, and looked solid, Vela showed that he hasn’t forgotten how to do it all, Eboue starred with his children, and Wenger got huge levels of support and applause. Where ever the catastophists were on sunday afternoon, they mostly were not in the stadium.
But what really surprised me was the inclusion of Henri Lansbury. Just seeing him on the bench was unusual – he has just finished a season long session at Watford, for whom he played 34 games plus four as substitute. He also scored five goals. His last was from 30 yards in his final game for the club.
Lansbury also captained England’s Under-19s against Germany – and managed to score the winning goal. So he’s a bit of an up and coming what-not.
Normally that would be enough for a 19 year old. No one else was called back to the club after his season ended, and absolutely no one then got on the bench.
I wasn’t too sure what to make of it all, until he came on the pitch. And I have to say I was totally impressed.
I have only managed to catch one Watford game – and watching a player in the Championship it is hard to say how he will develop and cope with the big step up in class in the EPL. But Lansbury not only looked extremely assured (as young England players tend to do) he also scored a terrific goal, edging his way through two players with sublime ease. A sort of tall version of Arshavin.
When youngsters suddenly get their chance in a match they can try and do too much, running around here and there and failing to settle down. Lansbury didn’t do that at all against Fulham. He knew where to be, and he played his part perfectly.
Who can I compare him too? Patrick Vieira? Gerrard? Beckham? All of them? Is that a bit dumb, even for me? Well, maybe for a 19 year old, but from his bit part in a match that was long since won, I still think there is someone about to explode into the first team. The thought never occurred to me when watching him for Watford, so maybe I am seeing it all wrong, or maybe he has changed. (Incidentally Young Guns called him a classy, strong, aggressive, goalscoring central midfielder, so that helps classify him a bit.) But he could just be one of those big-time breakthroughs that just suddenly happen.
Apart from Lansbury the other highlight of the day was a display by an 18 year old total prat dressed as a police officer. We were all standing outside the Triangle, as we do for every game. There was no trouble, there never is, but technically we are all breaking the law because are drinking in a prescribed area.
Suddenly out of nowhere this utter dickhead cretin who really ought to have been at school wearing a dunce’s cap, or at least at Hendon learning a little bit about crowd psychology, starting screaming at the crowd, for no reason, telling everyone to get off the road and onto the pavement by the pub. (I should add that all the roads in the area are closed for the duration of the match, so there is no traffic doing the rounds).
Of course the crowd reacted – although with far better humour than this total idiot, who probably thought he was showing off to the woman PC by his side (but she looked as if she was just utterly embarrassed to be near such a twirp.) And of course the reaction was absolutely not one of moving onto the pavement (which incidentally is still illegal under the Act).
Anyway, seeing that he had managed, within something like 20 seconds to turn a quiet, calm, friendly pre-match drink and chat into a situation in which 100 or so people were jeering the police, he broke out into a swet, and called for urgent emergency back up.
Fortunately the back-up when it came, was made up of older and wiser heads, and immediately the experienced police were all smiling and joking with the fans, and sharing stories about what an extremely unfortunate individual the young copper was and how the world would be a better place if he fell down a manhole. He was quickly moved away, and everyone relaxed.
Where they get these people from is utterly beyond me.
Final thought: the programme. Really dodgy article about Henry Norris in it but high quality top class guest writer. Full of stupid errors and childish blunders that anyone who had spent 2.5 seconds doing a bit of research would not have made. Hey ho – but of course there is one place where you can find an accurate description of the man who made the Arsenal.
So, that’s it. Final game, idiot policeman, potential superstar, 3rd place secure, wrong info about Henry Norris. Now a slight pause, and then we start all over again.
Tomorrow, how to fry a jumped up junior police prat in cod liver oil
Tony Attwood (spell checker now working again, spellings sorted)