Emmanuel Eboue was booed off by 60,000 people today.
The Ivorian, who has never been popular, had a nightmare after he came on as a sub and his afternoon got a lot worse when Wenger took him off with two or three minutes left. Subbing a sub is rare. Subbing a sub in these circumstances, when no player has been sent off, was something we might never see again.
Adebayor put Arsenal ahead in 16, they hit the post a couple of times, and Almunia made two good saves.It was a very low-match where seven-eighths of the crowd were not in their seats at 2.45 pm.
As a spectacle it never took off and Arsenal went on to beat Wigan 1-0, with Fabregas helping set up the goal that earned his third consecutive victory as captain. What a guy !
When Nasri had to go off injured after 32 minutes, Eboue came on for him on the left side, Denilson was on the right and he might have been switched to a role that he knows better than Eboue does. He had previously played right back, right wing and central midfield, but never on the left side.
Eboue has been out for six weeks and was not fully match fit.
While Wenger might have thought of using Eboue as a sub, he would never have envisaged playing him for an hour, especially in such a tight game. While few fans feel Eboue is good enough to play for Arsenal, and not many have ever had a good word to say about him, many Gooners will feel sympathy for a player who really suffered today. It’s hard enough to come on as a sub in your proper position, let alone in an alien position, and facing guys who have been playing twice a week when you’ve been out.
Wenger said after the game that he took Eboue off because he might have made a mistake that cost the equaliser. It’s true that Eboue was fading physically, as you do when you have not played for such a long time. Wenger took Eboue off because the booing was making him even more fragile, so much so that Eboue had, amazingly, just tackled Toure on the halfway line and passed to Koumas in the centre circle.
However, it is unprecedented for the manager to expose one of his players to such comprehensive abuse as Eboue received as he walked off.
Clearly, the priority for Wenger was the result.
But he must have been shocked by the unanimity of the crowd’s response. Crowds like to pick on one player and their views on Eboue were virtually unanimous before this game. If the Arsenal team had been sharper, and able to score another goal, Arsesnal could have controlled the game and Eboue could have left the field with some dignity.
After being booed by almost 60,000 people, is there any way back for him? At this moment, it seems unlikely that Eboue will play for Arsenal again.