West Ham 1 – 0 Arsenal: The Battle of Upton Park
622 comments November 6th, 2006
Sometimes, what can awaken a great team is the grimacing face of adversity. In 2003, Arsenal went to Old Trafford as nearly men, and came away as Champions-in-waiting. The events of that day instilled the side with an unbreakable spine that was the basis for the remarkable Unbeaten Season.
Yesterday has one major difference, in that we lost. But there were striking similarities: the ongoing battle between ex-Utd Johnathan Spector and Robin van Persie, controversial refereeing, the managers having to be seperated, and another ex-Utd player, Teddy Sheringham, seconds from a brawl with pizza-thrower in chief Cesc Fabregas.
The only hope for our Premiership season is to respond to the adversity we will surely face with an “us against the world” mentality. With Arsene refusing to speak to the press after the game, it seems that we have already begun that insular outlook.
One man who doesn’t seem part of that is Thierry Henry, who laughed and joked with the West Ham players despite the animosity on the pitch. That’s all very well and good, but as captain of the team, he needs to stand up for his men.
What’s more, Henry’s performance on the pitch has drawn yet more criticism from some disgruntled fans. Whilst I continue to support Henry, it’s clear he’s having a bad patch. Maybe it’s due to the formation we’re playing, perhaps it’s because of the anti-climax of staying at Arsenal this summer and failing to win the World Cup. Either way, it deserves it’s own article, and it will get one later this week. I’m sure we’ll hear more about the Pardew/Wenger incident soon, and there are rumours of other goings on between the teams in the tunnel. As soon as I know anything, I’ll put it up here.
I know I said it’d be today, but I was lying: come back tomorrow to discover how you could win an Arsenal shirt signed by Arsene Wenger, Theo Walcott, Gael Clichy, Jeremie Aliadiere, Jens Lehmann, Cesc Fabregas, Kolo Toure, Freddie Ljungberg, Gallas, van Persie, Lauren, Thierry Henry, Flamini, Gilberto, Senderos, Poom, one man called “Alminia” and two men, one our own Tomas Rosicky and the other named “Rosiky”.
Till then.