Olympiakos and So Paddy Got Up
FINAL Champions League group stage games can be funny old affairs.
A fair few times over the years they’ve been dead rubbers, once or twice because we had no hope of qualifying and many more times because progress has been assured. And in that time, we’ve seen all manner of results with already qualified teams getting bashed or eliminated ones taking apart the group winners. And we’ve seen all manner of players playing. For some it has been fair to say the night has been the CV highlight of their career.
So it is hard to read too much into these occasions.
However, whereas whether or not a left-back will have a torrid evening will depend a great deal on the calibre of the players he has round him, goalkeeping is goalkeeping. Yes, your team-mates can make your night easier or harder but ultimately catching a football is catching a football.
And ultimately all last night did was to confirm the fact that our back-up options to Szczesny ain’t up to it. Maybe they’ll come good one day but if you ask the simple question of whether our outcome this season would be severely worsened by either Fabianski or Mannone between the sticks instead of Szczesny, well yes, it would be.
I’m no fan of being so direct in my criticism of players whose shortcomings appear to be ability rather than effort based but it is patently obvious that they are not the answers really and that we need to be looking for another keeper.
And no, that other keeper is not Almunia. Nor Jens for that matter.
We saw the second of our two recognised senior left-backs stretched off last night too. You could ask why he was playing but equally I do think that with the prize money in the Champions League being what it is simply for winning a group game, then if for no other reason than a tenner’s worth of season ticket, we should expect Arsene to send out a squad with half a chance of winning the game. And that he did do in fairness.
Finally, if you do happen to be a reader of this blog but not of Arseblog (unlikely if I’m honest), you may not yet be aware of the launch tonight of So Paddy Got Up, an Arsenal anthology published by Arseblog and featuring contributions from around a couple of dozen Arsenal bloggers (including me), journalists and others. The launch is at the Tollington Pub, a couple of minutes from the Emirates Stadium.
I’ve got no idea what everyone else has written about and I’m a little conscious that my contribution may be a slightly dark one in what I think is otherwise probably a fairly uplifting book. When I say dark I don’t mean moaning, more that I’ve taken a fairly sober look at my own experiences of being a fan and how one’s devotion can be challenged and altered as one gets older by events both in the club’s life and in one’s own life.
I wanted to make it different from what I write on this blog and I was also conscious that unlike some of the authors, my day job is not to follow Arsenal and that there was no point in trying to write a piece best written by someone whose day job it is to follow Arsenal.
I wrote it a couple of months back and I suppose were I to write it now, the tone might be slightly more upbeat. If that sounds fairly fickle, well, that’s one of the points I make in the chapter myself. Anyway, if any of you read it, I hope you get something out of it.
And if any of you are heading to the Tollington, I’ll be there. I’ll be the tall guy with brown hair, which doesn’t really narrow it down much really…
Can anybody email me the words to ‘So paddy got up’
Thanks gooners !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Jesus said Paddy, I sing it so well,
I think I’ll get up and I’ll sing it again,
So Paddy got up and he sang it again,
Over and over and over again…
There you go Rob M. There is a longer version. You can see the full version (it does go on) at fanchants.co.uk/football-team/arsenal/
It also confirmed (again) our back-up options up front simply aren’t up to it. Chamakh terrible again. Arshavin even worse, disgraceful is the only word to sum him up. I thought a lot of the abuse he got last season was a bit unwarranted but can’t stand up for him any more. Sell both in Jan & get 2 replacements in.
Very annoyed with Arsene going on about inexperience after. There were only 3 inexperienced players (Coq,Frimpong,Ox) & they all did ok.Much better than a lot of their more experienced colleagues….
i really wanted to be there..i had to abstain for financial reasons..it would have been an honour to shake your hand
Don’t do yourself disservice, Goodplaya. I actually think your blog is one of the best in terms of writing clarity and skill. Arseblog is good and humorous but I think your match reports are much more concise and analytical.
Goodplaya is definitely a unique and different voice among the arse blogosphere and while I realize that you have not put out much on your blog this season all your stuff has still been well worth reading and I hope you keep it going