From Benth Castberg : When Keown speaks
Hi Myles,
Just arrived in Norway after six days in lovely London without internet, the first thing I looked up was ANR.
Nope, I’m not flattering you, just giving the basic facts.
I’ve realised that I have to let my kids see The Arsenal at the Emirates, so they don’t grow up to be Mancs or scousers or something worse. Took their picture in the marble halls, beside the bust of Chapman, so I guess they are on the safe side, now.
Not much to say about the games, though. PSG against Red Bulls. Didn’t expect much of that game, and didn’t get mutch of it either.
Then the main event: The Arsenal against Boca Juniors. No Cesc. Arshavin and Traore at the same side? Are you joking, Professor?
As Spinal Tap described jazz: an accident waiting to happen – an accident that HAS happened..
But in a way we still managed to claim a 2-0 lead some seconds into the 2.half. As the match went on, my little girl fell asleep, and I couldn’t blame her. From bad to worse, it went. And finally it became 2-2, as one could expect.
If you can’t hold on to a 4-0 on a good day, why would someone expect you to hold on to a 2-0 on a bad? Well, as we left the building in a manner Elvis never did, I came to read some words of wisdom on the stadium walls.
A blast from the past, a quote from the days the now forgotten spirit of the Arsenal legends decorating the stadium walls, still ruled the club:
“Early on in Arsene Wengers tenure, I went to a game at Blackburn and Arsenal were having a hard time of it. Blackburn got a corner and Keown clearly felt that one of his teammates – who better remain nameless – wasn’t quite at it that day.
He grabbed him by the shoulders and within earshot of us travelling fans, bawled at him “LOOK LIKE YOU WANT TO PLAY FOR THE ARSENAL” Not “Arsenal”, but “The Arsenal”.
His teammate woke up after that and played well. We won the game. I reckon it was thanks to Martin, a true Arsenal man.”
Regards from Norway.