Who Are Ya?

Rarely would I have expected that watching a Premier League football game would instill such rage and anger inside of me. I was not counting on Mad-Ebayor to pull off so much crap out of his bag. Sitting down to watch the Arsenal versus City game I knew it was always going to be an interesting game. City were unbeaten and looking to establish themselves as a new powerhouse in English football. Two X Arsenal players, Adebayor and Toure were facing off against their team. Being a Gunner myself I held no ill feelings towards either player. They had a good run at the club and if they felt they want to leave then they should. I am never a fan of keeping players against their will as they will never give 100% if they are unhappy. Although sadly in Egypt Clubs tend to think of players as slaves of some sort and anyone who dares think about leaving clubs (especially from Ahly and Zamalek) or actually succeeds in doing so is deemed to have "escaped", yes this is a direct translation of the word used to describe such player, the same word we use to describe convicts and prisoners!

Anyways the game ended in a 4-2 win for City, a shock by itself for me and possibly a reality check that Wenger's youth project is all but doomed to failure for another year. Arsenal were again conceding at periods of the game were they were dominant just as they did versus United, they showed once again they are a team of boys and not men, sadly. I hope Mr. Wenger can prove me and all of his critics wrong.

Saddened by the result I was however left infuriated by Adebayor. He started out with a studs challenge on Fabregas that could have left him injured, an elbow here and there and so on. He then upped his game and decided to step on Van Persie's face while Robin was on the ground. This action was of clear malice. It had bad intentions all over it. One replay angle showed it very clearly, he knew were he was and what exactly he was doing. He should have been sent off. Luckily Robin was not seriously injured except for a bloody face. Why the violence?

Adebayor then scored the third goal that effectively clinched the game for City, good enough.. Not for him! He proceeded to run the full length of the pitch and celebrated in front of the Arsenal away fans, the fans were undoubtedly annoyed and only a miracle stopped the situation from escalating. Why the hate? By then I was fuming and like a friend was telling me if Viera was there Adebayor would have been out on a stretcher, I wished he was!

Adebayor then claimed that he didn't mean to step on Van Persie's face and he was run with emotions and wasn't thinking when he ran 70 meters to celebrate infront of the fans he claimed jeered him last season. These set of excuses are as lame as it can get. Adebayor had an agenda against Arsenal and Arsenal fans and frankly he has no reason to act this way. He was jeered at the start of the season because he had openly talked about moving to Barcelona and Milan, no loyalty from the player...no loyalty from the fans. However the jeers stopped towards the end of the season even though it was obvious to everyone how lazy he has become. When a good offer came to him Arsenal sold him so he can make the money he wants and fulfill his dreams, Arsenal were under no pressure to sell him, he was under contract for sometime. Another person would have appreciated this. Not Adebayor. Toure did and he was a gentlemen as always.

As an African I'm always supportive of talented players from the continent. I'm possibly one of two Egyptians who adore Drogba. With Adebayor I'm breaking the trend. I will cheer on United for the first time in years next week as they take him on. City have now become my new Zamalek/Inter, I used to like them. I will be laughing out load when City finish 5th. Most of all I will be looking forward to seeing Adebayor drop down the table after the FA hits him with a six game ban, boy I hope they do. Just heard he's being charged on the both incidents.

P.S: I'm not putting a picture of Adebayor in my blog:)

United Are Untouchable

I had the pleasure of watching Man United's game against Arsenal on Saturday and I was left with a loss of appetite, albeit after eating like a mad man at my in laws. Arguably this wasn't that bad on that particular day I was spared from watching Milan's 4-0 thrashing by arch rivals Inter...Rock on Galliani and Berlusconi!

The Arsenal game had everything you could wish in football, goals and drama. Showsports presenter Rob McCaffery said it beautifully "And you wonder why people pay to watch the English Premier League". For the neutral it must have been a blast but being a Gooner myself I was left feeling robbed and angry. Yes my perspective possibly is bias but surely the refereeing display on that day by Mike Dean was a farce. United had luck and the referee on their side that day. Where to begin.....?

Before scoring the opener Andrei Arshavin was hacked down inside the penalty area via a blatant double tackle by Darren Fletcher, the ball also might have struck Fletcher's hand while Arshavin was applying the dummy, there was no doubt in my mind...a penalty and a yellow card but to my shock the referee waved play on??? I couldn't believe my eyes. What made things much worse for me was that early in the second half with Arsenal knocking on United's door for a second to put this game to rest Mike Dean decided to award Rooney a penalty. Well in my eyes this was not a penalty and all what Rooney hoped to achieve with his run at Almunia was any contact so he could tumble to the floor. Yes there was contact, but seeing the replay from the back (also the view of the referee) Wayne proceeded to throw his legs up before Almunia touched him. Add this to the fact that prior to contact Rooney had already nicked the ball too strongly and it was heading outside of the stadium and this to me was no penalty. However for arguments sake lets assume Mike Dean didn't see what I saw and we all know how poor referees have only a second to make a decision and blah...blah...blah..... How can he possibly give Rooney's penalty and not Arshavin's? Fletcher in the latter managed to lift Andrei off the ground and bring him tumbling down. All I am asking for is consistency. You can't give one and not the other, period!

Penalties aside, Wenger complained that a certain United player was present to only make fouls on Arsenal, while I think Arsen is exaggerating a bit, Darren Fletcher throughout the game had earned himself a minimum of one Red Card and possibly two. Mr. Dean (pictured above pointing out that 3 fouls was too much) I counted around 5 0r 6 fouls that game two of witch would have warranted a yellow card each for sure. The penalty that was never given, and the high boot with studs showing into Clichey's shoulder, Dean never acted. This case reminded me a couple of seasons back when Paul Scholes used to wear the invulnerability cloak too and in some Old Trafford games he just couldn't be booked if he tried.

Wenger was then red carded at the end of the game for kicking a bottle of water, this had no impact on the game but turned out into a comedy sketch that best displayed the calibre of refereeing in the game. What added to the comedy affair was the fact that the fans that once cheered the king of synchronised diving Mr. Ronaldo for so many years proceeded to jeer Eduardo for a dive (in a Celtic game, earlier in the week) that was no more than what Rooney produced a few minutes earlier.

The game overall was very competitive, hats off to United for grabbing three points, in a game where they were outplayed throughout most of 90 minutes. Arsenal and Arsen have alot of positives to look at as they dominated the reigning champions at their fortress, and lost via a debatable penalty and a fluke Diaby own goal, what was he thinking?. A Van Persie goal was correctly disallowed late on, that on another day could have been the equaliser. The team as a whole and Diaby in particular showed great metal to come back after the own goal and try to level the game by playing their football, but how they missed Fabregas that night. It might seem difficult to imagine this Arsenal team winning the title (I still consider Chelsea favorites) but if Wenger can bring in one or 2 players before the window ends tomorrow it might just happen.