From Steve :
“The bigger a corporation becomes, the more totalitarian it becomes.”
Exactly how I feel about being a member of the EU, but at least we have the option to vote out of that!
From Martin : Manchester United
Morning Myles,
Barcelona game was no surprise and it was always about damage limitation.
The only team that have frustrated them in recent years was the Mourinho Chelsea with its dogged attitude and rock solid defence.
No English side can beat Barcelona at the moment, the most exciting football is in the Premier League, the best quality teams are in the Spanish and German leagues.
So thw game meant nothing, was not even excited about it, you get that feeling when it’s a contest.
So onto something where Arsenal should be competitive, where there is parity and that’s the Premier League and going to keep this part quite simple.
If Arsenal have any aspirations to be Champions that have to go to Old Trafford and win, and win well.
This Man United team is average and is on top of that banged up, Champions of previous seasons put these teams to the sword, much like weakened Arsenal teams have been by Champions in recent years,
Arsenal have to show that confidence, that desire, the will to make a statement and put a weakened United team to the sword, and say we are Champions elect.
A soft, safe, showing-United-too-much-respect performance just would not cut it, and would say to me that Arsenal do not deserve to be Champions, ..
From Norrie : two things
Hi Myles,
The Barcelona game highlighted the absence of two things for me: ambition and intelligence.
The club is intelligent off the pitch in growing the business, maximising revenue streams and ensuring continual profits.
Unfortunately, that is allied with a lack of ambition on the pitch – the sine qua non for any sporting team. ventually, this will trickle down. Supporters will only suffer thin gruel for so long – especially when it is presented as caviar for caviar prices.
On the pitch, a team has become an echo chamber of its own limitations because it lacks the intelligence to see outside of itself, to assess itself objectively – the addition of Cech both highlighted the truth of this, and damned Wenger for not going further to address other weaknesses.
The brilliant irony of this is that Wenger recognises this, yet simultaneously seeks to absolve himself of responsibility. His comments about naivety and repeating the mistakes made last year against Monaco are the clearest illustration of this schizophrenia to date.
This is his team; these are his mistakes.
If this team wins the league, I’ll stand corrected. But I don’t think it will.
From David Margolis : Silent Stan doesn’t want to pay bonuses? Seriously?
Hi Myles,
It’s been a while, mostly for the obvious, as everything that could be said about Arsenal is eventually covered.
I told my dad a few months ago Pochettino is Spurs’ George Graham, and there you are making that comparison the other week. Love that GG interview. He was bang on. Almost shocked to hear a manager being so honest. He’d be sliced ‘n’ diced by the media today.
Silent Stan doesn’t want to pay bonuses for winning the ECL? Ridiculous. If Arsenal win the Champions League this season they’d make an additional 28m Euros in prize money beyond this round. Add Market Pool Distribution and match day income and it would probably double.
Check out http://www.totalsportek.com/money/uefa-champions-league-prize-money/.
I think Stan would pay up. What he does with the rest of it is another matter. No, I don’t think Arsenal will win the ECL this year. I promised a friend I’d end my 21 years of vegetarian/pescatarianism if Arsenal beat Barca over two legs. The current diet is looking pretty safe.
Criticize Arsenal’s plan for being risk averse, out dated, too easily out manoeuvred by big spending clubs and fresh coaches, but saying they/he/whoever don’t want to pay bonuses or win major trophies is gaga.
However, there are no more excuses for this group of players and manager if they fail to win the league.
Since the 2014 collapse Wenger has added 11 players (I’m including Debuchy) and let go three regulars, two unmentionables, and Diaby – god, I miss saying, “There’s always Diaby”.
Sure Arsenal have a tough set of away games and they’ve been outplayed by almost everybody at home to this date, but only two points off the top, now is the time for them to increase their intensity and play like bloody champions and deliver. No one will remember the tosh that’s gone before.
A while back you requested ideas for Vancouver documentaries, or docs that can be shot here. One stands out, and with your music background makes sense: Sarah McLachlan. She runs a music school for underprivileged children in Van.
Keep blogging.
Myles says:
Thanks, David.
My wife Jan has been to Vancouver several times and loves it. Her pal Margaret lived there and adores the place. Oddly enough, I’ve been listening a lot to Sarah on Spotify in the last three months.
Saw her band play a fabulous gig at Bloomsbury Theatre on Sunday 30th October 1994, did Later with her, and an interview for The Scotsman the next day.
Sarah is a proper artist and a lovely person and so clever.
Jeff Dexter and I went to the Lilith Fair at the Royal Albert Hall in 1998 (Wednesday 23rd September). Before the gig we attended some media stuff and when Sarah walked past us she saw me and said “Hi!” and I said to Jeff, “This girl meets about 600 people a day. How can she remember me from four years ago?”
That night Jeff introduced me to the wife of an Independent rock critic who said,”My first husband produced Midnight Train To Georgia.“
THAT IMPRESSED ME TOO.