Goodwill to all Wen!
Time for Wenger to tell it like it is – says Clarets FanZoner
Arsene Wenger has been brilliant for British football. Arsene Wenger has worked minor miracles in the transfer market. Arsene Wenger is possibly the finest moulder of young footballers in the world. Arsene Wenger is a role model for virtually every other manager in World Football.
All are true.
Arsene Wenger is also probably the least gracious manager in the Premier League!
On Wednesday we played out a very enjoyable 1-1 draw at Fortress Turf Moor. It was two sides who like to play football the right way, a fast tempo, open game with both sides attacking. And myopic as it may seem I thought we had the better of it.
We hit the post, we hit the bar, we could have had a penalty and we had a goal wrongly disallowed. Arsenal had chances, sure, but we had better chances and there was only one side who was trying to win it.
Not according to Arsene.
They “dominated” the second half. Burnley ‘s pitch is very poor. We are a physical side. Apparently.
Listening to his post-match interview slightly took the edge off what was an excellent game. I got home and watched the match on Football First and was delighted to hear Martin Tyler say how wonderful our pitch was around three minutes into the game. I was even more delighted to see the “physical” Burnley side have their midfielder larruped by Cesc Fabregas which caused him to go off with an injury.
That went even further when the “physical” Burnley side were awarded a penalty from a reckless challenge from the Arsenal centre half. And then to top it all off it was fantastic to hear Trevor Francis say that Burnley were the only side looking like winning it in the second half.
Faith
My faith was restored. Watching the game again and listening to impartial observers disagreeing with everything Wenger said made me feel much better.
We have played Arsenal four times over the last 18 months or so and a pattern is emerging. Burnley play well and lose and Wenger is very complimentary about our style of football and what a wonderful club we are. We play well and beat them or take points off them and we are physical, our pitch is poor, it is our cup final, our goalie has had the game of his life. Credit where credit is due please Mr Wenger.
And so to Sunday. The point on Wednesday will be meaningless if we go to Wolves and get turned over by them – as we usually do away from home.
The law of averages says we have to get something away from home at some point, and Sunday seems perfect for me – otherwise my FanZone record will go 0 for 2 and I’ll start thinking I’m some kind of Jonah.
My big concern is Mick McCarthy’s massive squad and that we don’t know who will be picked. Mick clearly has 22 players who he thinks are good enough to go and play at Old Trafford and not be concerned about the laws surrounding fair play, and on that basis it will be impossible to know who he will pick.
I do know that footballing luminaries who lit up Old Trafford, household names like George Friend, Segundo Castillo and Steffan Hasslehoff (I might have got that one wrong) terrify me. I do hope they don’t play against us…
Tune in to FanZone this Super Sunday to hear Kevin commentating for Burnley – press your red button.