Learning to draw ugly, and footballing romance

Accept it. That is as ugly and grinded a performance you will ever see from the Arsenal. If you are ever expecting a Mourinho/Drogba-esque boring victory or a Fergie-style 4-5-1 performance, you are really barking down the wrong tree. Intelligently holding on to possession, smart interceptions and not going gung-ho, but actually picking our moments was the ‘ugly’ we can do. It seemed quite poetic that in our ‘ugly’ draw, we scored off a corner in the dying embers of a game.

There were a lot of good performances, with a difficulty in singling out singular performances as being much better or worse than others. Mertesacker was colossal, and had such a ‘German assurance’ about his game. Our wing backs have yet again proved me wrong. After harping for the whole pre-season about the need for a right back, I owe Carl Jenkinson, who made David Silva look like Downing, an apology. What an improvement! Arteta, so seamless and ever present. Also, an impressive cameo from Giroud, again! His movement off the ball was incredibly good, as was his ability to create space for the midfielders to get into scoring positions. Amidst all this, lest we forget, was an absolutely moody and forgettable performance from Diaby, symptomatic of why he sharply divides opinion.

Footballing romance

An Arsenal fan with a playing contract with a club two divisions below, Charlton Athletic! He is not deemed ready enough for Charlton Athletic and sent on loan to Conference South sides, Eastbourne Borough and Welling United. (Honest to God, but for Football Manager, I would not even have understood where these clubs lie in the footballing hierarchy). For an Arsenal fan, whose bedroom looks like this, to end up signing with the club is what romance in sports is all about.

For that kid, to now rise by leaps and bounds to become an assured first team player, is a story Hollywood movies are made of! Amidst the Carlos Tevez and Van Persie brand of footballers, it is so reassuring to see a story that revitalizes your belief in the romance of sport yet again.All I could end with is..