Song...You Lucky Bastard!
This is actually one of those boring Saturdays were you’ll hardly find any Arsenal match preview in the million and one blogs out there because there’s no game to look forward too. While we wait till Monday to play a Wigan side high on confidence, we’ll be faced with the gruelling task of watching two derbies in Wembley.
The high-spending King Kenny and his Red Goons are set to take on the shrewd David Moyes and his Blue dogged Army. The Scot was in familiar surroundings in 2009 when his Everton side needed the drama of a penalty shoot-out to knock Manchester United out.
Arsenal took on Chelsea in the other semifinal but the antics of Lukasz Fabianski late on will never be forgotten in a long while. Truthfully speaking, it wasn’t half as bad as his howler against FC Porto a year later. He’s still a decent goalie nonetheless.
Today’s other semi will see those Sp*rs take on Chelsea in what promises to be another dull encounter. I’ve watched both sides play twice this season and I dozed off watching both games. I think I’ll be better suited playing my Football Manager 2012 this time.
However, Chelsea’s interim boss, Roberto di Matteo, has been on the spotlight recently, calling for an overhaul of the FA’s disciplinary procedures following Chelsea’s failure to get Branislav Ivanovic off a violent conduct charge.
Di Matteo criticized the FA for finding Ivanovic guilty of striking the Wigan midfielder Shaun Maloney during Saturday’s Premier League game at Stamford Bridge. Video evidence was used after the game and the Serb was issued with a three-match ban.
These are the same guys that surprisingly became “blind” when Mario Balotelli almost snapped Alex Song’s leg like a twig with a horror studs-up challenge. Had Song’s leg been planted firmly on the ground, we might have had another Abou Diaby, Eduardo da Silva or Aaron Ramsey.
Di Matteo also wondered why such technology hasn’t been used in reviewing goals and has called for consistency in decision-making. Arsene Wenger on the other hand, has called for video technology to be introduced in the Premier League to help referees make correct decisions.
Wenger believes that video technology will help the referees, rather than question their authority. Skeptics believe that the introduction of this technology would slow down the game but Wenger has denied that it would be the case.
However, football’s Mouamar Gaddafi, Sepp Blatter has backed the introduction of goal-line technology and that he’ll “die” if he saw another World Cup goal-line blunder such as Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal for England.
Arseblogger made an interesting quote in his post tagged “More on Refs and Vids”
“I’m expecting smashed femurs, busted knee-caps, roundhouse kicks to the face like a common Patrick Swayze, karate chops to the neck and a flurry of kidney punches, only for a red card to be shown to the man who gets a second yellow for kicking the ball away. Hey, I’m just adapting to what I’ve seen from Atkinson and other officials this week.”
The match officials and FA have shown more inconsistency than Abou Diaby ability not to get injured, and as expected, they’ve incurred the rage of Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal’s boss is no stranger to engagement with officials, as he has been given a three-match ban plus a fine in the UEFA Champions League for an off-the-field involvement with a referee while the Sporting CP is facing a cheaper fine for the putrid racial acts performed by their fans on You-Know-Who.
Still sticking with that horrific incident that took place last week Sunday, Andre Santos has stated that his actions on the pitch were a consequence of Balotelli’s behaviour throughout the game.Within minutes of taking onto the pitch, Andre Santos earned himself a booking after an infringement on the Italian Mohican. There was still time for the Brazilian left back to give gestures with the forward.
Speaking to some Brazilian media vultures, Andre Santos said:
“In the first half Balotelli almost broke Song’s leg, than he harshly tackled Sagna. Someone had to be hard on him, put him in his place. Someone had to say something to him because he was doing what he wanted, and that’s not how things work.”
“I was watching from the bench. When I was on the pitch I’d have the job to mark him, and that’s what I did. It’s part of the game.”
These quotes have clearly shown that this present Arsenal lot is a close-knit bunch. From that game of the season contender against Tottenham, Arsene Wenger’s men have worked their skins off for each other on the pitch and they have been justly rewarded by amassing 27 points from a possible 30.
When I think of the amount of distance Gervinho had to make up to cover up for Kieran Gibbs against Aston Villa, or the way the team rallied around their captain when he had that bust-up with Tim Krul. When I think of the countless tackles, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky have made or how Robin van Persie slaved to win the ball back in the build up to Arsenal’s third goal against Wolves.
For the first time in a long while, this is one summer I’m looking forward too.
A summer were Arsenal’s finest will represent their nations in European National Football’s elite competition, a summer where Arsene Wenger has promised not to splurge yet we may expect the likes of Lukas Podolski, Jan Vertonghen and Yann M’Vila and a summer where our deadwood will finally be shipped out to free our wage bill.
Most importantly, this is a summer where Arsenal’s squad will be together because these men are on a mission to end the club’s trophy drought as one collective unit.
I just hope that Theo van Persie contracts will be sorted out as well as worthy pay rises for Alex Song, Wojciech Szczesny and others that duly deserve it.
Here’s to Arsenal’s Samba boy, Andre Santos.
I love that gay.
Sayonara.
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