Arsenal – Stoke Preview

In other unrelated News, We beat Stoke (Not without losing 3 key players, ahem)..but we have the three points in the bag....BItcheeeessss!!

As the game starts, seriously, thanks for the laffs. Reading some of the comments on here have made me feel like a lifelong farmer who gets told how farming really works by someone who's spent all their life in a city but once read an article about how to plant flowers in a window-box. Darren, Sandra, et al, you're hilarious. (And muchas gracias, senor!)

And once again, you show your ignorance and arrogance regarding football, football supporters, and anything seen from a different perspective than your own.
You have no idea what I know, and what I have done in the football/soccer world, but because I don't live in England, I must not know anything.
Jingoism at it's best. Congrats.

You seem to be spluttering. Are you crying as well?

Oh, and as you think I'm a pedant...

'Jingoism at it's best' should be 'Jingoism at its best'

Merely pointing out that you fit the stereotypical English fan.

Gosh, who's being jingoistic now?

Since your such a great supporter, shouldn't you be watching the game rather than wasting time here?

If you think that was Jingoism, then you need a dictionary.

Does anyone use foxsoccer (dot) tv? Reviews?

Does anyone use foxsoccer.tv? Reviews?

I just saw tha t Joey Barton (alongside RVP) was pre-selected for PFA for this month. This is really a joke!

I can smell blood already! I just hope it's not going to get dirty. I am a die-hard Arsenal fan but I would rather watch the Bayern vs Inter game

Congrats Martin! 300+ comments - someone's bringing home the cheddar :)

BTW, does anyone have a link to Huth's handball the other day when he faked that he'd been hit on the head? Dirty Stoke.

Let's not forget: in less than 14 months, FOUR Arsenal players left the Britannia stadium on stretchers. Don't tell me Pulis and his towelrugby boys don't go out to maim our players.

I admit I'm very nervous about this game 4 days ahead of our CC final. Glad that RVP won't play. They'd target him of course and I'm sure he'd be out for the season as a result.

HERE IS MUST READING FOR ANYONE WANTING TO KNOW WHY TONY PULIS IS A COMPLETE BELL-END -- it's a long article but the section on Pulis starts with the paragraph "
But this year`s Bellend of the Season" so scroll down:

http: // www. arsenal. vitalfootball. co.uk/article.asp?a=518848

It's an excellent overview of the REAL story of the whole Shawcross debacle, not the bullshit you heard in the media or by the Stoke crybabies.

BTW, Martin, you really made a HUGE omission in your preview. You forgot all about Stoke's most important player: THE TOWEL. They use the towel more than they use the ball.

Delap uses his hands more than his feet.

Arsehole by name, arsehole by nature

Thanks for the game preview Martin. To add my two cents. I think Kenwyn Jones's athleticism and aerial ability will provide Djourou with some serious challenges unlike what he has faced recently...great match up to watch. Also, I think Arsenal has some huge advantages on the middle third but are going to need to rely more on one or two passes and shoot because Stoke's tackling and tight man coverage will really make the give and goes we love hard to pull off. But I really am no expert so I am excited to see that I have 268 comments of strategic analysis below that will guide me into the intricacies of the match up. I better start reading now because I am sure I will understand the beautiful game much better once I get done.

It won't be an easy game, seems like each time we miss an important player, we tend to score less goals. I'm hoping Arshavin has a great game

Don't know how I missed it, but just read the part where some guy insults Gigi for his ability to type in English.
Just want to say Gigi, some days (alot of them) I wish I knew as many languages as you did, and am impressed with your grasp of languages. I can speak and write English well, but I am very poor with even the french language, something I took for many years in school.
Don't let the haters get to you, your comments are valued here, even if I rarely respond to them.

Thanks Darren V! Means a lot that all of you read me!

Wow 260 comments on a Stoke preview? I may well head on over to Martin's local for the match - I'm sure the drinks will be on him.

At the risk of starting a new round of debates...I earlier commented that a few of Shawcross's other tackles looked more intentional or ridiculous than the Ramsey tackle. But I hadn't seen the Ramsey incident since it happened. So I went back and watched some more video and some still-frame photos. And I must say, it was much more reckless than I remembered. The reason is that Shawcross's leg is essentially over the ball, or at least positioned to catch the top of the ball. Any miss of the ball at that point is going to catch Ramsey well above his foot. I have no idea why a player would want to swing with full power at that angle, when another player is right there too.

255 comments! Martin gettin' paid tonight!

Brilliant description of Tony Pulis!!hahahaha Could 'nt agree with you more:)

darren_v-> i'm going to bed. il reply tomorrow. good chat

Oh, and by way of further explanation, this site is attracting some attention because an individual Stoke fan found it and then referenced if (rather scornfully, I'm sorry to say) on a Stoke messageboard. Other Stokies have obviously come over here to see if it's as bad as it's been painted.

no wonder footie never caught on the states, if they are fed with this shit, you gooners really need to get over it , you are all becoming mini wengers, not seeing what everyone rlse saw an constantly whining.
the FACTS about the tackle are simple.
The ref has said it was NOT a foul, and he only carded shawcross because of the seriousness of the injury.

Every english pundit , mostly ex pro players, studied the replay, and ALL of them agreed it was unintentional, an unfortunated accident that happens in football
After the tackle it was a STOKE player who stayed with ramsey, while the arsenal players were assaulting the ref
the red card given to shawcross Would have been recinded,as the ref had stated it was not a sending off offence, but because the lad broke his leg stoke DID not appeal, showing more respect for ramsey than his own team mates did at the time of the accident
you always choose to ingnore or make up excuses for your own appalling disiplinary record, yet all to eager to point the finger, go on any english fanzine site and ask people who actually go to games,who is the dirtiest team in the prem, ask which team commit the most cynical tackles, ask which teams players constanly cheat and try to con the ref, and ask which teams players constantly dive.
I`ll tell u now, the answer wont be stoke city

See why you say 'English' pundits.

Blatant jingoism in action right there.

well it is English football. There may be gloryhunters like you elsewhere but no one, not even Arsenal supporters, actually care what they think. Would you care what we say about baseball? Its not jingoism, its just a fact.

Yah, keep those furriners out of our heritage, I always say.

It might help to explain to non-British readers of these comments why some of these Stoke responses are rather vehement. Leaving aside the Arsenal rivalry, what supporters of clubs like Stoke really despise are the so-called 'gloryhunters'. A 'gloryhunter', by way of explanation, is someone who picks a club to support because they are successful and/or have a glamourous image.

Football supporters consider that 'gloryhunters' give themselves away by displaying their ignorance of the game. An example of this would be the poster who seems to believe that players don't sustain broken legs in 'tackles' but only when another player is trying to injure them. Now, I played football for 20 years as a defender and saw a few broken legs. I don't recall any of them being a result of a deliberate attempt to maim. I also suffered a double fracture in a game. It happened when I was tackling someone and I fell awkwardly. My opponent didn't mean it to happen and I'm damn sure I didn't. Anyone who has ever played football will, I'm sure, tell you the same.

Another example would be the comment that Arsenal and Stoke's rivalry has only occured in 'recent years'. Actually, it goes back to the nineteenth century and, in living memory, was probably at its most intense in the early nineteen seventies.

Oh, and for the benefit of our blogger, 'trolls' have specific (and unpleasant) behaviour patterns that are very different from those displayed by posters on this thread. And, before you attempt any put-down of my writing style, yes, I have written a blog (albeit on travel, not sport), although it's now offline as it is being published (in the US, as it happens) in book form.

Thanks for that, I was wondering why we were being picked out for so many Stoke fans today.

Look, I know Arsenal is a big club, but we were all glory hunters, as you say, why Arsenal? Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Barcelona, Madrid, Inter, and Milan have all won a lot more more recently than Arsenal have. It's kind of ironic -- we get called "gloryhunters" for following Arsenal supposedly only because they are a big team that wins, and then taunted in the next breath (not by you, but by others) because Arsenal haven't won in 5 years and can't win trophies, etc.

I realize that the rivalry goes back a long way, but the fact is that most readers of this blog and fans of either team weren't around following the game in the 1970s. And Stoke was in the lower divisions for much of the previous few decades. It's England, and the game has been going on for so long that every team has history with some other team going way back, but my point was simply that if you asked any Arsenal fan to name their top rivals (especially prior to 2009), Stoke wouldn't have been anywhere near the top of the list.

And I am curious as to how you would define trolls. I would define them as someone who comes to a site in which they don't have a specific interest for the sole purpose of making inflammatory comments. And that definition has certainly been met by many today.

Whether you've written a blog or not, your comment is clear and reasonable. I apologize if I've come off as a bully elsewhere in this thread, but I think anyone who has read me in the past for any length of time know I welcome constructive feedback from anyone, including opposing fans. So I wouldn't criticize you.

But surely you can understand why it's inappropriate for people to come on and launch into immediate personal attacks. It's one thing to say that Shawcross's tackle was simply unlucky. I disagree with that, but it's an argument. But when people immediately call me a homosexual, a gloryboy, not a "real" fan, etc., etc., I'm not sure how else to really respond. They've made it clear they are not looking for reasonable discourse, so it would be futile on my part to even try.

Anyway, thanks for the comments, and congratulations on the book deal.

Fair reply, Martin. I accept your comments about Arsenal and gloryhunting up to a point (and Man Utd is much worse in this regard!) but maybe you'd like to explain how you come to support Arsenal rather than, say, Grimsby Town? :-)

Just to add more context, Stoke is seen as an unglamourous side and there is a strong north-south rivalry in England (and not just in football), so people get a bit sensitive about these things. That doesn't, since you ask, excuse personal abuse. English football is intensely tribal and attracts all sorts but that's no excuse...

That rivalry (back to the 1800s) is actually quite special, by the way. as there weren't that many clubs around then in what is generally thought to be the world's first league. Stoke City claim to be the world's second oldest club, being founded in 1863. Woolwich Arsenal aren't quite as old but I think they were around in the 1880s. No, I'm not actually that old but I'm steeped in the history, not least as one of my ancestors was an England international Stoke goalkeeper (and some time player-manager until the board discovered he was trying to arrange his own transfer to Leicester City with, I assume, some non-standard accounting practices concerning the payment of the transfer fee).

I've watched the Ramsey incident a few times, by the way. I think Shawcross went in hard but I don't think he had malicious intent. I don't think the Fabregas tackle referenced below was meant to be a leg-breaker either, as it happens, although it was more clearly a foul.

Re trolls... The Stoke site I mentioned earlier has had a couple over the fifteen or so years of its existence. They tend to be abusive but also obsessive to the point where you can't get rid of them. You'll know if any of the posters here now are trolls if they're still abusing you six months from now! That's my view of it, anyway.

Thanks for the congrats, although if this book's like its predecessors (three novels), it will sell in just the way that hot cakes don't. Still, maybe we'll make double figures this time. :-)

(and in reply to Darren, I don't assume someone's a GH just because they come from another country. (Ahem. Although Stoke-born, I live in New Zealand.) And, no I haven't read the whole thread. Man, there just isn't time...)

Fans come to teams in such different manners. Try reading Soccernomics: most teams see tons of turnover in their annual fanbase, and most people in England support two teams. We (in the New World) may cheer for local teams (in my case Vancouver Whitecaps) as well as other teams that we feel a connection to for some reason.

When I first started paying attention to English football Arsenal played the best football and they had this striker named Thierry Henry that was magic with the ball. So I started watching more Arsenal games and came to feel an attachment to the club. I rarely miss games, even if it means getting up at 4:30am and watching a scratchy livestream. Am I as dedicated or true as a local fan who was born outside Highbury? It's not even a relevant question, and especially not to random Stoke fans.

So to answer your question (to Martin): I support Arsenal instead of Grimsby Town because they play great football, their games were televised in Canada ten years ago, and until a few years ago I hadn't even heard of Grimsby Town.

Does that make me a gloryhunter?

yes. Supporting a club has nothing to do with how the team plays. Players, managers and styles come and go. Less than 20 years ago Arsenal were known as the most negatitive team in the league with more than a few dirty players. Would you of 'supported' Arsenal then? Watching a live stream is not support.
Saying that you have never heard of Grimsby Town and still think you are a supporter is shocking. Its about English football, not one division or teams, and its not called the EPL

Fuck, you must bleed red.

Given your logic I should not support any team ever. Brilliant.

Thankfully this is your opinion, and not fact

> most people in England support two teams

And there we have it. (OK, maybe .0000001% of fans support two teams. I've never actually met any of them, but I guess anything's possible.)

Seriously, give Soccernomics a read, chapter 10.

With all due respect, because you seem like a repectable person, you need to get out more then.

What astonishing levels of arrogance! Who's likely to know more about English football culture? Someone who grew up with it or someone who's read a book and/or a lopsided web site?

I don't care what your book says, brenton. If it claims that most people in England support 2 teams, it's obviously complete bollocks. (If you don't believe me, try going onto the Arsenal fans' messageboard and asking how many of them support two teams.) (Prepare to be laughed at, though.)

An astonishing level of arrogance is one how claims to be a better and proper fan than others, simply because of where they happen to be born.
By your measure of who knows more, Alan Shearer must be a terrific pundit since, you know, he played for how long, and scored how many goals? Clearly he is the most able to be a pundit.

You need to better understand correlation and causation. Or start learning them.

As I wrote a couple hours ago, I don't like the current financial system at all, where only a couple of clubs can compete for the biggest prizes. But think about it honestly, if you're an American who likes soccer and wants to follow a team playing in one of the top leagues, who are you going to pick? Nobody wants to subject themselves to the endless torture of following West Ham or something. I'm just being honest about it.
In the mid-90s, when I first became aware that there was such a thing as the EPL, my first favorite team was actually Leicester City. They were in the top flight back then, and their goalie was Kasey Keller. I picked them just for that, since Americans in the top foreign leagues was quite rare back then. Then as more Americans started playing for good teams, I realized I shouldn't keep changing favorite teams based on who had American players. About that time, Arsenal had a season where they came from way back to overtake Man Utd. And I knew I always hated Man Utd for some reason. So because Arsenal was the only team that could beat them back then, and because they had a couple players I really liked, they became my permanent team. But at least I've stuck with them for the "lean" years.
Anyway, that was a long and boring response. But mainly I think you should put yourselves in the shoes of someone with no geographical attachment to a team, and ask yourself who you'd follow if you picked a team today.

You’re going to start getting abuse from West Ham fans next!

Actually, although supporting a struggling team can be painful, it can also be glorious. If Stoke win the FA Cup this season (there’s a chance we will, after money troubles meant we spent years in the wilderness) I think it will mean much more to use than it would to Arsenal fans, who’ve had much more to cheer about over the years.

That said, I don’t really have a problem with you supporting Arsenal given the circumstances. Actually I have a soft spot for the Packers, having spent some time working in Green Bay and eating most nights in Brett Favre’s restaurant. (Although I must admit I don’t understand the first thing about the actual game the Packers play.)
The thing that gets supporters of less wealthy clubs like Stoke upset, though, is when we have to put up with people telling us how much better than us ‘they’ are when they’ve never even seen ‘their’ team play. And Martin, without wanting to abuse him, has written some ill-informed and slanderous comments about Stoke, especially given that our disciplinary record (based on red/yellow cards) is one of the best in the premiership (and considerably better than that of Arsenal).

It’s true Stoke don’t always play pretty football but we’re trying to survive in a league where some teams, thanks to their overseas sugar daddies, have near-infinite war chests.

A couple of minor points: the game’s called ‘football’ and the league is the Premier League, not the EPL! (I think the ‘Premier League’ thing probably comes from the fact that the English league was originally called ‘The Football League’, because it was the first.)
It may seem a bit presumptious but, after all, you former colonials have your ‘World Series’, don’t you?

By Stoke logic, you are not allowed to have a "soft spot" for the Green Bay Packers, sorry. You are not allowed to watch or appreciate games, root for the team, and CERTAINLY not allowed to ever voice an opinion on the game or celebrate when they win a championship. You see, the only way a person could ever properly appreciate American football is if you were born and never set foot outside America, and the only way you could ever properly have "a soft spot" for an American football team is if you were born within a 10 mile radius of the stadium in which that team plays.

Did I get that right? It was tough -- I'm used to using actual logic, not Stoke logic.

I don't mean to pick on you, because your comments have been very reasonable, but surely you can see how it might be offensive and small-minded to labeled "not a real fan" and incapable of appreciating something simply because of where you were born and where you live? Especially when I can pretty much guarantee that over the years I've had this blog I spend way more time and energy following my team than those blasting me for being a dilettante?

If you want to get technical, it's the "Barclay's Premier League". And soccer is a perfectly acceptable term.

soccer is not acceptable. And technically its English football, there are 4 professional divisions, not one and its certainly not recognised by its current sponsor, plus there are many semi professional divisions

You do realize that the term 'soccer' actually comes from England right?

Only technically. Barclay's is a bank, for f*ck's sake. That stupid name is just part of the moneymen's evil plan, to get the game away from the people it really belongs to. Screw 'em.

And whether something is acceptable or not is for each of us to decide and many of us in the home of football consider that 'soccer' isn't acceptable.

But thanks for the mini-lecture.

Ah, the ol' home of football argument. Someone kicked a round ball in England with King Henry and you're still trading on it.

The ignorance on this blog is at an all-time high, thanks to some new guests. OK, let me state this one last time. Soccer/football is a global sport. In some countries, they spell it futbol. I'm sure in some countries, who speak other languages, it's called something totally different. Whatever. In this country, we call it soccer. Same with Australia and Canada. So honestly, are we not supposed to watch at all, because we didn't invent the game or something?
Next, I'm not sure how many of y'all watched the movie "Cool Runnings." It's about the Jamaican bobsled team from years ago. When they were going to the Olympics, they wanted to imitate the Swiss bobsled team. And at the start of the race, they counted down in the German language. Then they had an epiphany that they're all Jamaican, and they should "bobsled Jamaican." And so they started using their own language and style. And I thought, "good for them."
Anyway, that was a silly movie, but I decided I'll follow soccer in the American style. I'll call the field a field (not a pitch). I'll call it a tie when they end up with the same score at the end (not a draw). I'll call it a schedule and not a fixture list. Etc. etc. And I'll most certainly call it soccer.
Now, the reason I say EPL is because there also happens to be a league to the north of where y'all live. And some of us actually keep up with it. And I refer to it as the SPL. So, shockingly enough, there's another league that calls itself the Premier League. And to clarify what I'm talking about, I call one EPL and the other SPL.
Finally, I totally agree that calling the baseball championship a "World Series" is stupid and lacks perspective. I never call a North American professional sports winner a "world champion." When Americans do that, we're lacking the same global perspective that y'all seem to lack as well.

Cool Runnings ftw!

300th comment!

Hold on... you are talking semantics of EPL and Premier League, but when you are corrected on the real, correct name of Barclay's Premier League, that is 'Only Technically'?
Try not argue semantics if you are going to dismiss a semantics argument at immaterial. It discredits your argument.

Yeah, being pedantic only works if you are good at it. You can't do it only when it suits you, and then get called it and be dismissive that it's not a big deal that you were technically incorrect.

Also, not for nothing, but the word "soccer" was invented by the . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . English. It was originally a slang form of "association" football, and popularized in the late nineteenth century by prominent English footballer, Charles Wreford-Brown.

Oh dear. It was tongue in cheek, guys. Try employing a sense of humour.

And yes, I was aware the word 'soccer' was coined by an Englishman, just like 'rugger' for rugby. It doesn't mean that people in the country whose game you claim to know so much about like it.

Just because you don't like, doesn't mean anyone has to care what you think. If you come to an North American blog, except North American terms or references, because that is what the majority of people here will presumably understand.
Soccer is a global game, not an English game. It seems as though you are unaware of this.

You need to work on your sense of humor.

I'm pleased to hear you don't care what I think. Now, if I could just work out why, that being the case, you seem to be so obsessed with responding to my throwaway comments on a completely insignificant point of terminology.

Regarding 'sense of humour', I'd try explaining it to you but i suspect it would be like trying to explain Socrates to a warthog.

Stop using a double standard, and your attempt at humor would likely be more apparent.

I felt compelled to reply to this particular comment because as a African American male in America i chose to play soccer(football) at a young age and since soccer was/is not nearly as popular as baseball,football and basketball in america i got alot of crap from people( family members as well) for playing soccer and not any of the other big sports in our country especially since im black and according to most ignorant people who dont watch soccer for example when i first started playing socccer and when people would ask me what sport i played i would reply with "i play soccer" and they would respond....... "soccer?, black people dont play soccer" and i would hear this constantly from alot of different people (not just black people said this) and at the time my grandma who has always been highly supportive of my soccer playing/ambitions told me about a "black french soccer player who is currently considered the best player in the world who plays for some team named ARSENAL :)" so one day i decided to watch an Arsenal game( i believe it was against everton) and Thierry Henry scored a beautiful goal and that was the day i became an ARSENAL fan/supporter for life :) Im am now 19 years old and that happened when i was 11 so i would like to thank all the HATERS of football for without you i would never have found this GREAT TEAM and LOVED the BEAUTIFUL GAME sooooo much and thankyou Theiry Henry for the inspiration you gave me when i was younger and I LOVE THIS CLUB AND MY FELLOW GOONERS! and i have followed this site for about a year and i am very glad that i did becuase it is filled with others fans of Arsenal and football/soccer and MARTIN you do a damn good job on this site!!

That was beautiful. As someone who also sees the blatant ignorance some people show towards soccer, it inspires me that people continue to love the sport.

Thanks for the comments, Rickey. I almost got misty-eyed while reading. Come back and comment again too.

Assuming someone from another country is simply a glory-hunter for that reason alone is quite simply naive however. Ask people why they support who they do, and go from there. You have no idea why 95% of people support who they do unless you ask, therefore you are unfairly judging them.

I have played the game for almost 20 years myself, and have had countless injuries. No one sits here and claims they don't happen by accident or from freak results, and clearly not all bad tackles result in broken limbs. The issue with Shawcross and what brought about so much ire is the immediate 'he isn't that kind of player' type talk, despite the history of severly injuring atleast two more players with rash challenges.

Have you read through this comment section? There are some severe trolls here, that much is obvious.

First of all get it straight in the situation on the way we signed Messi, he was rejected by most clubs in Argentina only to be told he was to small or to much of a risk. He came to us at age 11, there is no transfer free ever paid for an 11 year old. Second many hard core fans in Argentina would take Tevez over Messi any day because how Messi never played in their league. Anywho Martin I see you a type out of your ass kind of person since you never have any facts to back up your statements. With that said good luck to your and hope Stoke goes mortal on you guys. March 8th once again..we shall see. Summer time again for Cesc.

So these guys just jump from blog to blog just talking shit for no apparent reason? I mean I understand why this blog is targeted: Arsenal, North America based, lots of foreigners (you stoke nutters better call up your cousins for this one: the other blogger for this site... is a GIRL!!)... I would say such lowlives come with every team, but apparently they don't since this has never happened before. And its sort of unfair since if Arsenal nutters wanted to go screw with a Stoke blog they are shit out of luck... because really... a Stoke blog? lol...

The irony of all this hatred for Stoke is that if the Arse had had the central defensive partnership of Huth and Ryan for the past couple of years they would have undoubtedly won major trophies. Huth and Ryan are good strong defenders and decent footballers, something you haven't had for the past few years..

I'm not quite sure there's any irony there. We've just had different defenders.

Now, if they were Arsenal youth players and we had let them go for being too soft, then you'd have some irony.

Blackpool 3-0 Spuds, 88th minute.

Also, I think it's relevant to note that today, Aaron Ramsey scored the second goal in Cardiff's 2-0 win over Leicester.
We're winning this one for you, Aaron.
(And for our league challenge. But still, mostly for you.)

Wow. Just wow. I'm pretty sure this is a record, albeit one done in a negative fashion.
Can't wait for Fabregas, Nasri, and the other classy footballers at Arsenal to not only walk Stoke out of the park, but to shut these jackasses up with yet another loss against a top side.
Have fun battling relegation, come on Arsenal.

201 comments? Martin, what did you write?

In totally unrelated news, it's currently Blackpool 2, Spurs 0.

darren_v-> i'm going to bed. il reply tomorrow. peace

3-1, final. Great result. But I think Stoke could be tough, so I'll refrain from celebrating too much until we have 3 points in the bag.

67th minute, still 2-0 to the good.

I only have one thing to say to you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

I'm sure this will be a little controversial, but I'll say something in defense of teams like Stoke and others.
OK, I'm a big fan of the (American) professional football league. And the thing that makes it great, more than anything else, is that all 32 teams have some type of realistic chance of winning. In fact, the team from the smallest market in the league just won the Super Bowl. This system, which hopefully will continue, has been brought about by a salary cap and revenue sharing. I've wished for years that soccer would have that system too. Of course it exists in MLS, but I have a hard time getting too excited about that league because the quality isn't as good.
So as someone who really likes the sport of soccer, I have no choice but to follow a a team in a league where there is great imbalance in the ability of teams to compete. The other reason why I think I can accept the EPL's system is because it's always been that way as long as I've been a fan. On the other hand, I used to be a fan of baseball as a kid. Then when I saw that my favorite team (Pittsburgh) had no chance of keeping up with the big spenders, I totally quit following the sport. The economics ruined it for me.
Anyway, I wish there could be a salary cap and revenue sharing in the EPL, so that all the teams could compete. I don't say this as an insult, but I have no idea how teams like Stoke have any fans at all. It's just that there's no hope of actually winning a big prize - ever. Maybe by everything falling into place perfectly, a team like Portsmouth can win the FA Cup. But then they were relegated shortly after that, so I'm not sure how great those memories are for their fans. Anyway, I honestly don't know what fans of most teams ever have to dream about. And the system is set up that way, so that only a small handful of teams can ever compete for the biggest prizes (unless a major sugar-daddy comes along).
OK, so since that's the system that's in place, and we Arsenal fans follow one of the big clubs, I don't think we should also look down our noses on the way that smaller teams play us. Now I'm not saying I condone thuggish tactics. But so often we complain about how smaller teams play boring, or use the long ball, or don't try to string passes together. And it just comes off as a bit arrogant. I mean, we like the fact that our team will always be one of the ones at the top, and the smaller teams will always be below. But yet we want them to play our style with inferior talent, so that we can thrash them more easily and play a more appealing game against them. I dunno... I don't begrudge their tactics at all, provided they're not playing dirty. It's just the way the game is set up right now, and probably will continue like that as long as we follow soccer.

One line in this novel says it all, "I don't begrudge their tactics at all, provided they're not playing dirty..."

I'm completely with you on style of play, however it may be, if it gets results, so be it. The one caveat to all of that is, "...provided they're not playing dirty," which more often than not, that is the case when having this style of play (long ball, bus parking, etc.)

do your baseball, basketball or other sports' sites get these comments from foreigners who claim to be suppporters of your top teams? I wouldn't of thought so, its English football its not your game so stick to torturing muslims, mass shootings of students, obesity, screwing up the world economy and whatever else passes for fun over there.
You are not Arsenal supporters and you never will be.

I am not an American...can I pls be allowed to watch English football and be an Arsenal fan pleaaaaseeeee..?
Dude are you an Arsenal fan? If so do you wish your club to have worldwide fans?
I am friends with a North London born gentleman (one of my clients actually) and he was thrilled to see that I was also a gooner, and ever since, he sees me as a fellow gooner.

Wow... Really?

You should go ask your grandparents about America. Specifically, ask them to explain why you're able to follow English football today and not the Bundesliga.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Its an English league with a large percentage of players from abroad, so based on your logic, they really shouldn't even play in England. Are you some sort of xenophobe? I mean, that would explain quite a bit; I am more curious than anything.

oh dear, one of the gloryhunters favourite replys. Are you going to go through the full list?

Hmm is it? Not sure how being a so-called "gloryhunter" has any correlation with asking if you're a xenophobe. I'll have to poll all of my fellow gloryhunters out there to see if their favourite reply to any question from an Englishman is questioning if he is a xenophobe.

Englishman - Do you like Arsenal FC?
Foreigner - Are you a xenophobe?
Englishman - Huzzah, I thought you would say that!!

Gotta love these Stoke trolls. All their posts just mean more $$ in Martin's pocket. lol

Replace those dollar signs with cent signs and you're getting closer to the truth....

But we've probably set a record for comments with this, which is good, I suppose -- the very definition of quantity over quality.

LOL Stoke Trolls. I hope they realize their hypocrites to the tenth degree.

I've posted this before and I'll post it again because I can:

A word of advice on trolls which served us well when we had a boatload of them this past summer: Never engage in banter with idiots. They'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

I just want to get this game done and over with. I hope we could thrash them 6-0 but I suspect it'll end up being quite tight

Whoa, did I miss something here? Sorry if I'm not seeing something up there, but where is the controversy to bring about 143 comments to this post? Damn, Martin & co, however it may be, your ranking on google/yahoo must be out of this world today in regards to search terms that are "all things arsenal."

198 and counting.

I'm enjoying adding to the tally ;}

Yes man! These losers gave Martin the lead and now will have Facebook knocking to buy his rights! :)
BTW still thinking about my related Arsenal player name!

Same old Arsenal again. Nasri recovered recently but RVP and Koschelni just get injured. It's like there will always be some major players injured at any time. I honestly thnik there's something wrong with the fitness or medical staff.

I agree, I ve always said that there is. Just because our players seem to be more injured than any other. A little less lately, but like Perry says, seems they will be back soon...man I really hope so.

If this is any consolation, their injuries are not so terrible.

Wow. Some very ignorant stoke fans posting on this blog. Go on home stoke bloggers go on home, have you got no f@*kin blog of off your own!

WE HAVE NOW