From Philip Bowles : Fabregas’ handball on Saturday
Dear Myles,
Always read your articles, you are one of the few who think about the perspective before you write – much the best way.
Just interested in your opinion of the criticism Fabregas is getting for the handball. I have watched it carefully and am not convinced he was guilty in the way it looks. Anyone who has stood in a defensive wall knows how you tend to lock arms almost to stop the guy next to you raising his own.
In this case it looks to me like it was Chamakh who lifted his arms involuntarily and because he was gripping Chamakh’s wrist and Fabregas’s arm was pulled up. As a professional, and especially in his current mood,he is unlikely to bother to explain that through the media. Any views?
Myles replies :
I wish. Really, I do. I wish I did always think about the bigger picture before posting here.
The last three weeks have been a bit too hectic, I’ve been in Scotland, Oxford, been going out more than usual, so I have completely lost (a) the rhythm of football events and (b) the backlog of ANRcomments that I should at least read. So I’m sorry this reply has been delayed so long.
I noticed that Fabregas was holding Chamakh’s arm down.
Or trying to hold his arm down. I was not wholly mystified by what I saw. I did wonder why nobody seemed to mention it. As an incident, it was not hard to see. You need brave men in a wall as well as big men. Do Arsenal work on walls? If so, how often? How seriously?
Right now, having skimmed through this Champions League week, and been to the last Book Slam of the year last night, I’m trying to chill out for a little while, and then I hope to find my way back into football. I don’t feel as if I have been on top of it lately. I went to a jazz gig unexpectedly, many interruptions, some unfinished ANR pieces, my Colorado-based brother was staying here for four nights, we took him to the theatre, where we met some Americans.
I need to slow down and think and choose.What I’m trying to say is this : I’m not a good multi-tasker. If do two things at once, I do one of them badly. If I do three or four things at once, I do all of them badly.
Right now, late on Friday night, I’m gearing up to watch Barcelona v Real Madrid on Monday night. I love Messi and Xabi Alonso, rate David Villa, want to see Iniesta and Ozil, have a feeling that Cristiano will play selfishly and blow this Clasico. It should be a pulsating, sparky game.
If it’s an entertaining battle rather than a controversial war, Monday night will motivate me, help me to get back into the only sport that matters.