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Putting it in to Context: Arsenal Take on 11 Babies on a Bus
A must win. Not necessarily in regards to the table and where Arsenal stand, or want to stand. More in the sense of bragging rights. Come the finish of the Derby tomorrow morning, London must be Red. Not only to shut up all the annoying spoiled Chelsea Business Club supporters; but to send a message to Darth Vader and his bus drivers.
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The importance of this game goes well beyond 3 points for Arsenal, this game is about two footballing philosophies on opposite ends of the spectrum. While I am tempted to dub it good vs. evil, I understand the intense bias in that. It’s about Arsenal’s style vs. what Chelsea fans would call pragmatism, or grinding out a result.
The thing that is so frustrating for me about Mourinho and Chelsea isn’t that they park the bus and play ugly a lot of the time. It’s that they do it with a plethora of brilliant footballing talents, stifling their abilities. Obviously I know that some years we were smashed by attacking football by Chelsea, although I’m not going to go into detail about them.
I’m not questioning Chelsea ability, I don’t think most intelligent Arsenal fans do. What is questioned is why that ability is not put to full use week in and week out during the Mourinho era. I mean for Zidane’s sake, Mikel started last weekend, the lad can only pass backwards and sideways.
The main source of disdain between the two sets of fans, besides the hatred for one another’s manager, stems from the entitlement Chelsea fans feel. Let me be the first to say, Chelsea became a football club in 2003, and have absolutely no useful history prior to that. Moreover, they bought their way into the 10 top clubs in the world. I’m not saying it hasn’t worked out well for them, it has obviously. Yet, it’s so hard for Gooners to have respect for them for it when it didn’t take any hard work, skill, shrewdness, and they didn’t do it with beautiful play.
More from Arsenal News
- 3 observations from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
- 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
- 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
- Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
- 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
For those of you who say it’s all about the results, that is not and has never been what football is about. That is an American concept that Chelsea has adopted. Football is about bringing art and magic to the field. Sure, Chelsea lose less than Arsenal. But they also don’t play football that is more enjoyable to watch. If you’re a football fanatic for results, go follow some other sport.
Look at all the other tops teams in history: the Ajax teams, any recent Barcelona teams or former Brazil teams. I am more than aware that defense is essential to winning any game. Chelsea’s defense, par right now, is superb, but they’ve spent so much money on attacking players, show the fans something exciting for Cruyff sake.
Finally, Mourinho, Darth Vader himself. When Chelsea wins, it’s about Mourinho. It’s about his tactics and coaching, his influence. Yet when they lose it’s not his fault. Obviously he is a brilliant manager, top 3 in the world. That makes it even more frustrating that he shows essentially no class to Wenger. Wenger is another top manager who has won so much with Arsenal. He brings a darkness to the beautiful game and it infuriates me because he was taught to manage at Barcelona of all places! He is one of the best the game has ever seen. So why does he have to be so negative to other managers, arrogant in regards to his own ability, and be so whiny?
I would write about Arsenal’s philosophy and what type of manager he is. But I think both of those things are known very well. Play beautiful with passion and creativity, and be classy.
Under is one of the most Brilliant videos I have ever seen, please, please, watch this.
Next: Francis Coquelin is a necessity