Morning, it’s very Interlully, so let’s do a bit of ‘On this day’ to see us through today’s blog.
November 18th 2023
Everton have been deducted 10 points for exceeding PSR thresholds. I wrote:
I don’t know what’s going to happen, but the Everton decision feels like the first crack in the dam. Where it goes from here remains to be seen, and how quickly anything happens is anybody’s guess. But if what Everton did is worthy of a ten point deduction, and potential legal action that could run to tens of millions, if even half of what the other clubs have done is proven, we’re going to have to see some extraordinary decisions based on the precedent that has just been set.
Hahahaha, I am a stone-cold idiot. Imagine thinking that by now we might have some kind of resolution when it comes to the Man City case. ‘Extraordinary decisions’, you fool Arseblog. You damned fool.
November 18th 2021
Denmark take a stand re: the Qatar World Cup, outlining ‘initiatives to mark the continuing struggle for the improvement of human rights in Qatar’. I wrote:
It’s basically 12 months until it [World Cup] takes place, and in that time many of us will have to wrestle with the idea that a tournament we grew up with, and that has provided some of our best football memories (I so loved Mexico 86!) will be played when its never been played before and with such human cost to it. It’s an extremely unpleasant position for football fans to be put in, but pretending like it’s not reality isn’t the right way to go.
It now feels moral compromise/cognitive dissonance is even more necessary for football fans. I think questions around the Qatar World Cup were absolutely reasonable, for all kinds of reasons, as they were with Russia in 2018 too. Now, after a week in which we saw the pure joy football can bring, attention will turn to next summer, and at what point do similar questions start to be asked about the games being played in the US?
The political climate there is febrile, to say the least, and the actions of the current administration, ICE deporting people who don’t look right to places they don’t even come from, military on the streets of big cities, and lots more, should demand the same kind of scrutiny. Will fans be safe if they come to follow their team? So far those assurances have been less than convincing.
November 18th 2017
With a North London derby on the horizon, we played one on this day eight years ago. I wrote:
We have no measure for ‘wanting it’, or ‘passion’, but there are big questions about this Arsenal team and this manager at the moment, and today provides an opportunity to answer some of them. We all know the stories of derbies from days gone by, just listen to Ian Wright on the Arsecast this week talk of a terrifying Tony Adams in the few minutes before kick off and, whether we can quantify it or not, desire and a will not to be beaten plays a part in these kind of fixtures.
It’s a slightly different dynamic this time around. We sit top of the table now, Arsene Wenger’s side then went into this game in the back of a pre-Interlull 3-1 defeat to Man City. The kind of result that would become commonplace over the next few seasons, although they mostly stopped us even getting the 1. This one turned out pretty well.
Defensive stalwart Shkodran Mustafi headed in from what appeared to be a pre-VAR offside position, then:
Before they even had the chance to consider how they were going to cry to their friends in the media about how unfair life was, we scored again. Bellerin set Lacazette behind the defence – again a suggestion of offside and again I would ask you to think of a number larger than infinity to represent my shit giving – he crossed it for Alexis who took a couple of touches and blasted into the net above Lloris who was demonstrating his incredible powers of falling backwards for no reason.
Some more of the same on Sunday please.
Bonus ‘on this day’ from 2012, another North London derby win, writing about one of the 5-2s. Which one? The one when Emmanuel Adebayor scored then got a red card for a nasty foul on Santi Cazorla of all people (who later scored a goal himself), before William Gallas – then wearing the chicken on a basketball – inadvertently contributed to an Arsenal goal.
A former player coming back to score against us isn’t uncommon, a fact of footballing life, but a former player, who raises the ire like few before him, opening the scoring then getting himself sent off and letting us back into the game, well … it’s delightful really.
November 18th 2010
Sebastian Squillaci, a summer signing from Sevilla, talks about adapting to English football. He says:
I knew that it would be physical with some good sides, playing good football. The strikers are big and strong and it is a great contrast with Spain where the strikers are faster and not so strong. But it’s not going too badly. I’m stepping up to the challenge and it’s getting easier.
How did that work out? Oh …
I will say he came with decent pedigree really, but he never got to grips with the English game. I do recall an interview some years later where he, like a soldier suffering from PTSD, tried to explain what it was like to be a defender in an Arsene Wenger team when you found the opposition/enemy, swarming towards you through midfield. I have some sympathy. Imagine seeing one of your central midfielders being overtaken by a referee as they head towards your box.
Sometimes it doesn’t work out for a player at a club, but so as not to dwell on the stuff that went wrong, he did score one Premier League goal for us in a 1-0 win over Pulis/Shawcross/Delap era Stoke. Unfortunately that was the game before the Carling Cup final when Cesc got injured and we played Birmingham that Sunday and, well, we’re right back into the stuff that went wrong.
November 18th 2006
Arsene Wenger talks about the award of the Balon D’Or to Fabio Cannavaro:
Congratulations to Cannavaro if that’s the case but for me there’s only one candidate this year and that’s Thierry Henry. He just deserves it. When you look at what this guy has achieved in his career as a player, I can tell you there are some players in the Ballon d’Or who have a lot to answer for when you compare them to Thierry Henry.
Individual awards in football are not to everyone’s taste but it’s mad Thierry never won this. Perhaps Cannavaro, Italy captain as they won the World Cup that summer, made some sense, the year he lost out to Pavel Nedved was a genuine injustice. Anyway, water under the bridge now. I just looked up Cannavaro and he’s now the head coach of Uzbekistan, what a time to be alive!
As for Thierry, I saw some social media pics of him in the gym, which I recommend you do not look at if you don’t want to feel more inadequate than you already do. Holy cow.
Right, I’ll leave it there for now. There’s an Interlull Arsecast Extra below if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet. Till tomorrow.
