From PÃ¥l : Marseille 0 Arsenal 1
____________________________
Dear Myles,
I watched Arsenal beat Marseille 1-0 on TV, and Arsenal should be lucky Ramsey got the good chance he scored on because most of the Arsenal players would probably have wasted the chance. We know Ramsey has a good shot.
It was, all in all, a very poor football match between two very average teams from start to finish. Both sides made numerous passing mistakes from even the simplest of passes when not challenged, and there was very little movement from players who did not have the ball.
When I heard before the match that Marseille do not well in the French league, I said the match could well end with goal less draw which it nearly did.
Marseille did not manage to create one good chance, but it was not so much down to good defending from Arsenal because Arsenal`s defense did look shaky sometimes from Marseille`s poor attempts to score.
Besides Ramsey`s goal, Arsenal had one good chance Van Persie missed. Arshavin should have created more, but we know he lacks stamina, and we know he finds it very difficult to inspire himself to do his best in this very average Arsenal team.
Many people called Arsenal boring for winning often 1-0 before Wenger arrived, but this was the most boring football match I have seen for many years.
Arsenal supporters should never pay top money to watch just mediocrity over and over again.
Playing like Arsenal did tonight, many people might well not bother watching this team, even when given free tickets.
Myles replies :
That is a point I should have emphasised this morning : that the chance fell to the player most likely to score from it.
Szczesny had nothing to do. No shot to save in 93 minutes
A friend, a season ticket holder, thinks the crowd will be 8,000 short of normal for the Stoke game on Sunday. Another friend, also a longtime season ticket holder, thinks there will be 12-15,000 empty seats.
These are not the cynical opinions of an old author-blogger-beatnik.
These are the honest, heartfelt, considered views of two educated and serious lifelong Arsenal supporters. They know that the club they have loved all their lives has disappeared and will never come back.
But I’m not gonna go into that because I’ve been ill since having that flu jab at 10.10 am on Tuesday. My last five flu jabs have not affected me but I now have a sore throat, a cold, feel lethargic and I’ve lost my voice.
I hope to croak back into print sometime over the next three days.
And that’s cool. Gives me time to consider my position.
Because I’m really not sure the world is ready for what I want to say next.
Today’s emails suggest not. But I’ve never let that stop me in the past.
Why am I here? To tell you what I think.
Nothing more, nothing less.