Wigan, Eboue, Alonso – Discuss 8 December, 2008

Mornin’ y’all. Fucking hell it’s getting cold here. ‘Tis the season to be jolly and all that shit apparently so if you haven’t noticed already I’ve added a bit of snow to the blog. Isn’t that fun..

No match report for the Wigan game I’m afraid, I didn’t see enough of it to properly comment. I spoke before the game about how important the three points were and that was exactly what we came away with. It wasn’t the greatest of performances but we came out 1-0 winners and that’s all that matters at the end of the day. Adebayor’s 16th minute strike the difference between the sides and it was a long journey home for the 30-odd Wigan fans that turned up.

Like I said, the result is all that matters at this stage, so I’m not going to go into the performance so much. We can build upon that now. You could be positive and say we did well to keep the clean sheet and get the goal even when we weren’t playing so well. It’s not up to the boys to pick their game up before the next two league games – away to ‘Boro then the league leaders, Liverpool come to the Grove.

The performance of one man though took all the headlines – Emmanuel Eboue. It was his returning game after being out through injury and should’ve been looking to make an impact. When Nasri got injured with half an hour gone Emmanuel had a solid hour to make an impression. And an impression he made.

I only saw bits of the game and the highlights afterwards, but Eboue was shockingly bad. He misplaced passes consistently, which you can accept a few times but this was like pretty much every time he had the ball – it was getting to the stage where we wouldn’t pass it to him because he kept fucking up. The worst thing about it was, that when he gave the ball away he just shrugged and let Wigan attack. It that was Clichy, or Toure, or Cesc, or maybe even van Persie they would’ve chased the ball down if they had given it away! There was even one occasion when Toure was taking the ball upfield when Eboue literally took the ball away from under Kolo’s feet whilst he was in possession and then gave it away to a Wigan player. Unbelievable.

He was so bad, and everyone knew it. With only just a couple of minutes to go, Wenger had enough and substituted the substitute. There was a roar of approval when the no.27 when up on the 4th official’s board, it was very clear to be heard and it’s not as if they were cheering on the player coming on, Mikael Silvestre. Then the Arsenal fans continued to boo Eboue as he left the field and went straight down the tunnel.

It was embarrassing. I know he was bad, but I thought it was unacceptable. I wasn’t there though, caught up in the heat of the moment. So I can’t judge the situation properly, but watching it on TV was not any fun. Maybe it was just the reaction of all our frustration and Eboue was just the unlucky bloke who had it all let out on him.

It was very loud though and very concerning. I can imagine scattered fans starting to boo him and then everyone joining in. I wouldn’t be surprised if Eboue never wants plays for Arsenal again, he’s got a big case for not wanting to be here any more after that and I feel really sorry for him.

Wenger’s comments can be read here:

“I felt he had completely lost his confidence and could not keep the ball anymore. Of course then he became a danger. I feel it was very sad.

I think when you are a fan you are behind your players and that is what you want them to do. On the other hand I believe that Eboue will come back and show how good a player he is.

He is a sensitive boy who wants to do well and cares about the club. He was tired because he didn’t play for a month and on top of that it is difficult when you have the crowd on your back. You do not want the fans to do it but if you say to do they have the right legally to do it, then of course they do”

Arsene described Eboue as becoming a ‘danger’ to our result and took him off for the sake of the team. Says a lot.

I used to hate Eboue, but he has been very slowly improving. I have time for him, sometimes. I think his treatment was very harsh and we’ll see the results of this in the near future.

The Xabi Alonso story has come up again as January gets closer and closer. I still think that he would be a great addition to the squad and a suitable partner for Cesc Fabregas. I understand we showed a strong interest in him this summer but left the whole deal a bit late. Hopefully we will renew out interest in the new year and splash the cash.

I’m hoping that Wenger will feel the need for signings after what has been a frustrating start to the season. I don’t think Denilson is the answer, yet, and he definitely needs someone else to be giving him competition for his place otherwise he has no motivation.

I’m worried because I know Alonso had a bit of a falling out at Liverpool in the summer but then he’s established himself in the side now. Hopefully he still wants out and we still want him. Do it Arsene.

OK that’s it for this cold December morn’. Thanks for reading.