READERS complained when I said Arsenal didn’t excite me.
Readers complained when I talked about REM and the Rolling Stones, comparing them to Arsenal and Manchester United.
Several enraged readers asked : Are you a Gooner ?
Taking the third complaint first, I have never said I was a Gooner.
What I said was : I’m a journalist who didn’t give a toss about Arsenal until one Saturday in August 1986 when Charlie Nicholas scored a goal to beat Manchester United. A slim, dark-haired, immaculately groomed Glasgegian hard man came into the press room and gave us a two-minute pep talk.
Those two minutes hit me like a thunderbolt. I had met dozens of football managers but this guy was something else and I knew something would happen. George Graham changed my life. Meeting George Graham for the first time changed my life and my work. That is what I said.
I’m aware that I am not a Gooner because I know a lot of Gooners. And I know Gooner families. A Gooner to me is somebody who was taken to see Arsenal by their dad or uncle when they were six years old or maybe eight.
WHY DID I say, after the Everton 1-1, that Arsenal don’t excite me?
That is a complicated subject, so I’ve been thinking about it. What did I mean by that? Why did I say that? Why did I try to describe something complicated in two sentences ?
Firstly, I agree with what Ian Grant said in his Everton report : Arsenal miss Eboue. They need the explosive power of Eboue on that wide right flank. They need his pace, his crosses, the momentum he generates. Also, Eboue is spectacular. In a big stadium, Eboue excites the crowd nearest to him on one side of the ground, but his yard-devouring raids are so spectacular that they lift the fans on the OTHER side of the stadium as well.
Secondly, Arsenal need to mix it up more.
They need to use some longer passes as well as knocking the ball around in their well-rehearsed patterns.
Football is about possession, support and penetration. Often these days they don’t have enough penetration. They have more possession and support than ever because Fabregas, Rosicky and Hleb are so skilful and so indefatigable, but they don’t have enough penetration. They had 72% possession against Everton and drew 1-1 at home.
But these things happen in football. You move on to the next game and the one after that. And you try to improve from game to game, as Arsene always says.
WHY DID I talk about REM and the Stones?
Five days later it’s still hard for me to say why I wrote that but I’ll explain it as best I can now.
Clearly, its risky to compare an English rock group that started in 1962 with an American rock group that started in 1980. A lot had happened between 1962 and 1980. Mainly, punk had happened in 1976 and amplified music was different after that.
So don’t even go there.
If you do go there, don’t compare rock groups to football teams. If you do that you are asking for trouble. And while some readers believe that Myles Palmer writes stuff that is deliberately provocative, that is not my game and never has been and never will be. I don’t write to wind people up.
When Manchester United blitzed Bolton with pace and power they touched all bases. They scored four goals in open play. No corners, no free-kicks, no deflections – just fast, first-time passing by Carrick, Rooney, Saha and Ronaldo. Three quick strikers with bottle. And Saha’s movement is incredible, a fact not generally appreciated.
That fast-passing game is the Arsenal style which Sir Alex wanted to copy after his Veron experiment failed, so he sold Ruud van Nistlerooy and went for it.Against Bolton, the first half was as good as it gets.Sir Alex said it was they best they’ve played in three years.
Here is my thesis : In two periods, Sir Alex Ferguson was profoundly influenced by Arsenal managers.
Remember, Sir Alex took six years to win the league, George Graham won it in three years and Fergie looked at that and saw that the running power of Rocastle, Thomas, Davis and Marwood gave Arsenal six strong attackers and eight strong defenders.
So Sir Alex came back with Kanchelskis, Keane, Ince and Giggs.Those four players had phenomenal running power.
I’m saying : Your rivals make you stronger. Your biggest rivals make you stronger.
Then, when Arsene Wenger turned Sir Alex over at Old Trafford with that Overmars goal in and won ten in a row, Ferguson came back with Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs. Balance, drive, running power
The Arsenal double was the springboard for the Manchester United treble. Arsene Wenger raised the bar and Fergie had to react. Wenger forced Manchester United to improve to the point where they became good enough to beat Arsenal in extra-time in an FA Cup semi-final. By becoming powerful enough to beat Arsenal in that replay, United had become powerful enough to win the treble. So 1998 triggered 1999.
The fast inter-passing of Vieira, Bergkamp, Anelka and Overmars, and the speed of the Invincibles, obliged Sir Alex to find a way of scoring goals that didn’t come from the crosses of the long-departed David Beckham.
Having watched these two teams closely for 20 years, I saw, in United’s 4-0 annihilation of Bolton at the Reebok, attacking moves played at a stunning speed which had, until now, been achieved by only one English team : Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.
Carrick released pace, just as Bergkamp used to release pace, although Carrick will never be as good as Bergkamp. One is a half-back, the other a half-striker- I should not compare them.
It was only one game, as I tried to make clear.
In that game United’s attacks were bold, colourful, stimulating, dynamic, spectacular – they played like stars.So to me they were a bit like the Rolling Stones when the Stones were at their best : Wembley Arena with Mick Taylor.
Jagger romped onto the stage in a skyblue silk jumpsuit and they crunched into Brown Sugar and it was everything that rock music can be and should be and hardly ever is.It had a monster riff, a tight sound, a fantastic groove, a sexy front man, a killer lead guitarist who sent ribbons of splintered steel out to 10,000 fans. That was as exciting as amplified music ever gets.That was as good as it gets.
There are people who make music and there are people who make music happen – Tina Turner, The Who, the Jackson Five, the Stones.
Compared to United’s thriller at Bolton, Arsenal, against Everton, were samey, predictable, a bit dull, didn’t penetrate, didn’t put the ball up for grabs. You knew what was coming, you saw what you saw five minutes ago and ten minutes ago and fifteen minutes ago. So that game did not excite me.
That was what I was trying to say.
YOUR EMAILS were split, however. About half were abusive. But many agreed with what I was saying, or agreed in part.
One such was Steven Feldman, who wrote :
Could be worse, at least they weren’t Yes (long over- complicated solos that eventually put you to sleep).
Truth is you summed it up – we never looked like we were going to win.
Where was TH14? Will Wenger ever consider subbing him? Because on a day like Saturday we would have been better off without him. Wash my mouth out with soap – did I say that?
Thanks for the most thoughtful and honest comments about our beloved Gunners.