“I have seen this video on the internet many times before and I remember the incident clearly.
It was four years ago and I lent over to Michael Ballack who was playing for Bayern Munich at the time and I shouted at him because I felt like I did not make a bad tackle and I felt that the contact was minimal. I did not spit at him. It happens during matches that sometimes you have heated exchanges with your opponents.
I am not proud of it but I was 17 years old. The referee saw it and gave me a yellow card. People can try to find as many video clips as they like from when I was 17 years old or when I was 12 playing for my school team but this does not change anything … I did not spit at the assistant manager of Hull City.”
It’s a pretty categoric denial by Cesc, who isn’t stupid enough to repeat a false story, especially with an FA inquest about to start.
The same, sadly, cannot be said of Phil Brown. Once again, I urge you all to listen to this interview – it is hilarious hearing Brown entirely fail to deal with Victoria Derbyshire’s equally entirely reasonable line of questioning. If I wasn’t in such a rush this morning, I’d take it apart piece by piece. Fortunately, Nick Szczepanik of The Times has done that already, in what makes for a very enjoyable read. It’s worth noting that Szczepanik is a Liverpool fan who has little affection for Arsenal.
The absurdity of Brown’s claims was further exposed when arseblogger alerted me to this video of Brown and Wenger clearly shaking hands up at Hull just a few weeks back – something which Brown clearly stated had not occurred:
With Szczepanik suggesting there is also photographic evidence of a handshake at the Emirates back in September, Brown’s emotional rhetoric is crumbling in the face of cold hard fact. I am certain that soon this incident will be mocked and laughed at in the same way his on-pitch team-talk is.
Finally, congratulations to the U-18s, who won the first leg of their FA Youth Cup semi-final 2-1 against holders Man City.
I wish I had more time, but I don’t. Enjoy your Thursday, folks.
Arsenal 2 – 1 Hull City (Barmby 12, Van Persie 74, Gallas 84) Highlights here; Arsene’s reaction here
In his post-match press conference, Arsene was (unlike his Hull counterpart) desperate to talk about football. So let’s do that first.
In an exciting game at the Emirates, Arsenal triumphed 2-1 to take us onto a glittering FA Cup Semi-Final against Chelsea. Hull had taken an early lead when former Spurs midfielder and partman-part-goblin Nicky Barmby’s deflected volley looped over Lukasz Fabianski. That goal seemed to knock us out of our stride a little, and it wasn’t until the second half and the introduction of Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner from the bench that a resurgent Arsenal took control of the game.
It was looking like it might not be our night when Alex Song’s spinning volley trickled just wide and a Van Persie header crashed off the bar. However, with the clock running down, Bendtner provided the muscle in the penalty area we had dearly missed to get beyond his man and cross to the far post, where Andrey Arshavin was arriving. A lesser player would have gone for goal, but the Russian knew a team-mate was better positioned, squaring for Robin van Persie to plant home his sixteenth of the season.
Arshavin had been doubtful to start the game after having had eight stitches in a cut to his foot picked up in the first half against Blackburn. As late as Monday morning, he wasn’t even able to put a boot on. And yet here he was last night, undoubtedly the classiest player on the pitch. I was excited about his signing, but I think Dick Advocaat may have been right when he said Arsenal didn’t realise just what a good player we’d bought. My favourite moment of his performance probably came when the ball was technically out of play – immediately after Van Persie’s equaliser, he called a halt to celebrations and insisted everyone get ready to pursue the winner. Robin wore the armband, but Arshavin was the leader last night.
The winner did eventually come, with William Gallas nodding home from what appeared to be an offside position. Unfortunate for Hull, but we’ve had our fair share of bad luck this season, and I don’t think any neutral could argue with the fact that on the night we were the side who showed the greater ambition to win the game, finishing it with six five forwards on the pitch. We’re now in our first FA Cup semi-final since 2005 – a year where we went on to lift the trophy after beating Manchester United in the final. Here’s hoping history repeats itself.
Right.
I sit down to write this blog having just done a very brief soundbite on BBC Radio 5 on what is now being called “CescpossiblyspittingatPhilBrown’sassistantbutprobablynot-gate”.  I always enjoy doing stuff for the radio – the BBC in particular – but on this occasion the appearance induced such frustration in me that my keyboard is now bleeding from the beating I’m giving it.
The problem was that my fleeting opportunity to espouse on the whole spitting fiasco was surrounded by opined wailings from fans of other clubs – or what I would describe as “idiots”. First of all, almost to a man, they discussed the incident as if it was irrefutable fact. As far as they are concerned, Brian Horton (who is probably capable of speaking for himself, despite indications to the contrary) is still wiping the gallons of spit from his face.
This is a question of one man’s opinion versus another. I shouldn’t have to ask who you trust, nor should I have to explain why Cesc has no reason to lie. But I will anyway: previous indications show that the punishment for an offence such as spitting is a two-three game ban and a fine. Considering that Cesc is out injured anyway and that he has an awful lot of money, he really would not stand to gain that much by fabricating a story.
And now, why you shouldn’t trust Brown…
On the Radio 5 program a couple of callers insisted that Brown “wasn’t the type” to lie. Their justification for this claim (a claim I have never made about Fabregas – I’ve just explained why it’d be illogical for him to) was something along the lines of:
“Hull are a good honest club, and Phil Brown is a very passionate manager. He cares so much about Hull City that he gave a teamtalk to the players on the pitch to show the fans he didn’t accept their performance. That’s how much he cares about Hull. Do you really think he would lie? Fabregas is a boy and Brown is a man. I’ll take his word anyday.”
The above is an approximation, but not an exaggeration.
Why would Brown lie? Because there is one thing that Phil Brown cares about far more than Hull City: himself.  I know the Emirates is a spacious arena, but I’m still surprised it found room for the ego of the terracotta terror of the touchline that is Brown. And whose name is also Brown.
This is a man who the Setanta cameras caught frantically brushing his hair forward in an attempt to shift his hairline a couple of inches further down his forehead just before giving his showpiece interview. As for his famous “Henry V” moment at Man City, that speech destablised his side’s form far more than even Rafa’s rant, and yet somehow receives commendation from a variety of folk who really ought to know better.
Brown’s post-match interview smacked of a sore loser. Whilst I can appreciate that Arsene has occasionally been guilty of the same sentiment, that doesn’t make it right. And I can’t envisage Arsene taking that disgruntlement and attempting to turn it into a national crusade against Jonny Foreigner and his liberal spraying of saliva.
What it will now come down to is Horton’s Brown’s word against Cesc’s. Well, frankly, Brown’s story has more holes in it than 50 Cent. There are inconsitencies all over the place – at one stage he suggested the incident had occurred on the touchline; now all of a sudden it’s in the tunnel. Perhaps Fabregas strolled around the stadium, spraying spit like machine-gun-fire in all directions, causing Brown’s confusion. Or perhaps the Hull City manager is just lying.
It would be easier to take his story seriously if he hadn’t spent the entire post-match interview spouting other unqualifiable untruths. He claimed that it was the protests of Arsene Wenger, and not repeated time-wasting, that earnt Hull ‘keeper Boaz Myhill a yellow card. What does he expect Arsene to do: politely applaud Myhill’s ingenuity as he takes thirty seconds to line-up a goal kick? If Phil Brown feels so strongly that managers should accept the referee’s rule over the game and not protest, then he can stop mouthing off over our second goal.
In a bizarre plot twist, Brown has also criticised Cesc’s dress sense. This from the man who turns up for some games in a coat that appears to be made entirely from the finest rat fur. (By the way, please click that link and listen to that interview. Brown does a decent job of destroying his own credibility in just seven mintues. Impressive, even for him.)
This storm will hopefully blow over in a few days. We already know that Arsene’s Friday press conference will be more focused on Cesc’s salivary glands than his recovering knee ligaments, and that infuriates me. Apparently Hull will attempt to see Fabregas prosecuted. I wish them the best of luck in proving something that it seems only two men in a stadium of sixty thousand people saw. Perhaps they could cite the character evidence provided by the idiots I shared a radio stage with. And when their doomed campaign fails, I sincerely hope Brown is charged with bringing the game into disrepute for his false accusation. Brown claims he is not one for “crying over spilt milk”. Evidently, however, he is one for crying over going out of the FA Cup. We’re moving on. Beyond this, and to Wembley.
We’re three wins from our first trophy in four years. Victory over Hull City tonight would take us to an FA-Cup semi-final at Wembley against rivals Chelsea, the winner of which would face Man United or Everton in a showpiece final. The penalty-shootout victory over Roma was a timely boost, but it is the domestic cup that still represents our best chance of ending the season clutching a shiny prize (unless, as seems sensible, Emmanuel Eboue’s new contract is paid entirely in foil-wrapped chocolate money).
Just as on Saturday, there will be rotation in the side. Lukasz Fabianski will play in goal, Kieran Gibbs will come in at left-back, William Gallas is likely to return in place of Kolo Toure, whilst Eboue, Diaby, Vela, and Robin van Persie are all candidates to start. Eduardo is still out injured and Aaron Ramsey is being given a little rest to cope with a few growing pains. After slashing his foot open at the weekend, Andrey Arshavin is apparently “desperate” to play, though the player himself seems to have abandoned hope of that happening. Perhaps the Russian will be picked for the bench (in case of emergency).
Speaking of the Russian doll, this picture of him alongside the Togolese totem-pole Emmanuel Adebayor really underlines just how diddy he is (and, at second glance, is that an owl on his jumper…?). Clearly, his stature has never stopped him hitting sporting heights: his low centre of gravity and eye for a pass occasionally remind me of another footballing gnome who lit up London, and who now manages West Ham.
Whoever does line-up in red and white tonight cannot afford to take Hull lightly – we know well enough what happened back in September. I think that result still counts as our worst ever recorded in the new stadium, though I’d suggest it’s far from our worse performance. On the day we simply failed to take our chances, and Hull scored two absolute wonder goals. It seems unlikely that they’ll be able to manage that again, especially with their momentum having reversed as the season has progressed, but you can’t be too careful.
Things are looking up for this Arsenal side, with ten goals in our last three domestic games sandwiching progression in Rome. An FA Cup Semi-Final and a first appearance at the new Wembley would be a natural but nonetheless welcome progression. If nothing unnatural and/or freakish occurs tonight, we ought to go through. Frankly, we owe Hull, big time. Come On You Reds.
ps. Don’t panic about this. I hear it’s the slightest of set-backs.
When Arsenal won a ninety-second minute penalty against Blackburn, fans in the stadium immediately wondered who might be elected to take it. There was Kolo Toure (armed with the captaincy), Carlos Vela (who had won the kick), or even Andrey Arshavin (who those in the ground might have reasonably believed to be be ‘on a hatrick’). Nobody, not even the most seerish and future-seeingy of Arsenal fans, expected the dancing, wild-eyed figure of Emmanuel Eboue to stride forward. And yet, remarkably, he did. And even more remarkably, he scored. Arsene attempts to fails to explain:
“He wasn’t [the designated penalty-taker] … I don’t know, I will have to speak to Kolo Toure about that. But when you are 3-0 up, of course it doesn’t matter. He wouldn’t have done it at 0-0, don’t worry … I believe it’s a way for him to be reunited with the fans.”
It certainly seems a bit of a gamble. Missing would’ve been a hell of a spanner in the works of the reconciliation between Ivorian and supporters. The player himself, however, was never in doubt:
“I wanted to shoot, but I take my power, and I said to my friends “I want to shoot” – and they gave me the confidence and then I went to shoot.”
Well, I think that’s pretty clear. He wanted to shoot, he told his friends he wanted to shoot, and then he shooted. Glory be.
The aforementioned Arshavin grabbed his first goal for the club in spectacular fashion (no fluke, though – see nine minutes into this video to see him score a replica for Russia) before celebrating with a member of the Arsenal medical staff. The reason for that has now been revealed – it seems the Russian was patched up somewhat at half-time:
“He came to the bench to thank the doctor because he had stitches in his foot at half-time. He had three or four stitches and his foot is cut on the outside, completely.”
Something as small as a slashed-up foot would never stop our teeny-tiny forward, though:
“There was no question about him playing in the second half. He is not a soft boy at all. He is never in the medical room, he is not that type. He is tough. He works hard too. In fact I am quite surprised how hard he works. I think he is a man of challenges. To leave St Petersburg – where he was the star – and go to England at the age of 27, saying ‘I want to start it all again’ you need to have character and like challenges. And he does it in a very focused way I must say.”
It’s been a great start to his Arsenal career, and I just hope he continues his impressive rate of acclimatisation.
One man who the fans seem less enamoured with is Nicklas Bendtner, but Arsene is confident the goals will come:
“I think when you miss the first chance in the second one he took too much time to take it and after it becomes really a problem for you. I believe the most important thing is that he creates the chances – once he scores one he’ll score three or four. “
It’s worth pointing out that he is only twenty years old and is already into double figures for the season. I’m not Bendtner apologist, but at the same time I’m pretty sure he could score twenty-thirty goals for this Arsenal team in a few years’ time.
Finally, thankyou Spurs thankyou Villa for capitulating quite so hilariously in the last few games, allowing us to go from two minutes away from being eight points behind, to ahead on goal difference. Now that fourth place is back in our hands, we simply have to tighten our grip on it. Tomorrow, though, is the FA Cup Quarter-Final against Hull. Must win.
Arsenal 4 – 0 Blackburn (Ooijer 2 (og), Arshavin 65, Eboue 88, 90 (pen)) Highlights here; Arsene’s reaction here
It’s now March. We have not been beaten in the league since November. It hasn’t been particularly pretty, but the table doesn’t lie: for this morning at least, we’re back in fourth place.
The weaknesses in the side remain the same as at the start of the season. Their are serious doubts about the centre of our defence, and the midfielders who patrol the area just in front of them. However, there have undoubtedly been improvements. A more conservative appraoch from our full-backs and better possession play has seen the back four tighten up, but just as we plugged the leaks at the back, we suddenly began to lack attacking inspiration.
That now seems to be forthcoming in the form of several players – some of whom, as Arsene insisted they would, feel ‘like new signings’, and one of whom actually is a new signing. I may have misused ‘whom’ in this passage. Knowing/caring is somewhat unlikely on a Sunday morning.
Yesterday the two players who came to the fore were Andrey Arshavin and Theo Walcott, with the latter making his first start since returning from a dislocated shoulder. They lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation that saw the likes of William Gallas, Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue, and Robin van Persie rested. Instead, Johan Djourou came into central defence, Alex Song started alongside Denilson, and Nicklas Bendtner provided the focal point for the creative talents of Nasri, Arshavin, and Walcott.
Increasingly I believe this formation represents the future shape of this Arsenal side, as us to accommodate a few of our surplus of midfield schemers, as well as deploying Cesc in the deep-lying playmaker role he craves.Â
It’s also a formation with fantastic counter-attacking potential, which yesterday we were able to demonstrate after grabbing an early goal. That came when Bendtner neatly turned the ball around the corner for Theo Walcott to charge on to. The winger, playing his last game as a teenager, squared towards Andrey Arshavin, but the ball ricocheted in off two Blackburn defenders and will surely go down as an own goal.
The truth is that an aesthete such as Arshavin wouldn’t want it as his first goal as a Gunner, and in the second-half we would understand just why by seeing exactly what the Russian is capable of producing. The rest of the first-half, however, was memorable more for the idiocy of El-Hadji Diouf than any outstanding football. The Senegalese lunged into a tackle with Manuel Amunia, who wasn’t sufficiently damaged to stop him pulling off one good save from Morten Gamst Pedersen.
The second half is when the fun really started. Samir Nasri, who had begun on the left, was switched to a central position, from where he began to pull the strings to great effect. Alex Song transformed into a marauding midfielder, winning tackles then charging into the box at the other end. And Bendtner’s awareness combined with Walcott’s pace gave Blackburn such troubles that they brought on the pacey Olsson to combat the England international’s searing runs.
But it was Arshavin who was destined to be the hero of the day with his first Arsenal goal, our 100th league goal at the Emirates, and the best goal seen at the stadium since… well, since Eduardo’s strike at the same end last week.
Receiving the ball wide on the left, the stocky playmaker dribbled into the penalty area, feinting to his right then using his left foot to slip outside of the helpless Danny. As he moved in on goal, Nicklas Bendtner (who despite playing well had missed a hatful of chances) was screaming for the ball, but Arshavin had other ideas. From a seemingly impossible angle, he lifted the ball over Paul Robinson (fifteen games against Arsenal, fifty-odd goals against) and into the roof of the net. His trademark finger-to-lip celebration was followed by an emotional, exultant roar into the arms of a member of the medical staff. His relief was palpable, but his statement was made: this is a player whose talent befits his status as our record signing.
And then came Emmanuel Eboue, with a cameo so starry it almost overshadowed Arshavin’s magic moment. First he poked home after the Russian’s volley had been parried, then tucked away a penalty after fellow substitute Carlos Vela had been brought down. I couldn’t work out what was funnier: Eboue’s dancing celebrations, of the fact that he now somehow has three goals from his last two home games.
The only sour point on the day was the reaction to Bendtner’s substitution, which was ‘mixed’ at best. I understand the fans’ frustration at his missed chances, but they ought to acknowledge that he played a pivotal role in a good performance and a great result.
We’re not in a position whereby a Spurs win against Villa today would see us stay in fourth place on goal difference – something which joined morale in receiving a timely boost yesterday. I spose the best way to look at today’s game is as a win-win-win. Spurs win, we win: Villa have lost. Villa win, we win: Spurs have lost. Draw, we win: they’ve both dropped points.
I’m off to have brunch. But it’ll be a little late. Sort of a lunchy-brunch. Or a brunchy-lunch. Till tomorrow.
ps. didn’t have time to spellcheck this. Apologies for inevitable mistakes.
