Philosofooty

By Ally Zazzera, still keeping the faith.

Editor’s note: This piece was original set to publish after the Carling Cup final loss against Birmingham, but after a few changes in sentence structure it remains very relevant in Arsenal’s pursuit to win the Premier League.

Losing the Carling Cup final after beating Barcelona at their own game, then going on to get knocked out of the Champions League and the FA Cup? Talk about from the sublime to the ridiculous. In the space of just a few weeks Arsenal’s outlook on the season has changed dramatically. After the stirring defeat of Barcelona in the Champions League we had our sights set firmly on winning our first trophy of the season, was it too much to ask to expect us to be able to beat a team that had failed to put more than a goal past us this season? To expect to be able to at least outplay them and prove our undoubted footballing skill? Although they were all absolutely crushing defeats in their own way, one especially being a capitulation unfortunately all of our own doing, the fans have got to be able to see past Arsenal’s exits from cup competitions. After every loss, I saw things that both shocked me and annoyed me in equal amounts. Some fans have to realise that while it is a difficult time, acting rashly and in fact overreacting helps no one, and this is why.

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By Eric Beard, not a United fan. Just honestly imagining the possibilities.

It’s actually decent weather, more like Spain than London, though the excuse for a warm night with clear skies is that it’s nearing the end of May. The journey has been a long one, giving the English media all the more reason to incessantly hype this one up like a royal wedding. The culmination of decades all come down to this moment, and it could not be sweeter. Sure, going on and lifting the FA Cup trophy after beating Manchester City in the semifinals was pure ecstasy. Seeing Arsene’s frustration as Rio lifted the Premier League trophy was even better. 19-18, Liverpool. But this is the Champions League final. Everything else pales in comparison.

It may have not been the prettiest of football played to get to Wembley, but the road to the final only got better as the tournament progressed. Making thousands of traveling from the south of France disappointed may have been expected, but going to Stamford Bridge and grabbing a crucial away goal while ensuring that Fernando Torres continued to look foolish was a highlight. The return leg may have been classic catenaccio, but it took United to the final four nonetheless. Lastly it was the Germans blocking the path back to England. Jurado and Farfan were troubling with silky runs, but Evra and Vidic did the dirty work to contain.  There was no point in looking at the other side of the tournament bracket. You always knew what you were getting with Real Madrid and Barcelona. You just hoped that 4 Clásicos in 16 days would be enough to get a few on the injury list and bring a sweeping feeling of exhaustion. Inevitably, it did.

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Mr Potato Head was furious

By Amit Katwala, London

I’m not sure what mainstream football coverage is like for you international readers, but here in England the back pages have been dominated by the growing scandal that I’m going to call ‘F*ck-gate’.

The key point from a pivotal weekend in the title race, in which Man Utd probably cemented their title claim by coming back from two goals down to snatch all three points seems to be the shocking news that Wayne Rooney said a bad word into a television camera while celebrating a goal.

Now, if left to its own devices, I don’t think even the FA would be stupid enough to enforce such a ban, but I can see it happening because the growing media circus demands action.

This is a pretty recent phenomenon, and its not confined to football. 24 hour rolling news and live blogs are great for killing time at work, but they create a tendency to exaggerate the smallest things and blow them out of all proportion. 

In the past, Rooney’s over-exuberance would have perhaps got a line in the match report in the Sunday papers, but Sky Sports News has got 24 hours of airtime to fill, and the papers have websites that constantly need fresh content.

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Are campaigns just for show for European footballers?

Soraya Soemadiredja, writing from Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Dear European Footballers,

If you, your colleagues or your clubs are going to have numerous campaigns being all pedantic about how fans shouldn’t be racist to footballers, how football is fighting to stamp out racism in football and in Europe, then it would be good to try not to undermine those causes and campaigns by being racist yourself.

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By Teddy Barrett, writing from Germany. A reluctant football fan, who should be doing something with his life, but is too busy wondering about Saturday.

29 years of age, only really 10 years of proper regular attendance of football under my belt, and I come here to tell you that you are all wrong.  The cheek of it!  However, I’m afraid that despite perhaps not serving as much time on the terrace of many of you readers, I can still maintain the point that I am right.  Rightminded people live a progressive and positive life until this sport is the main topic on their mind, and to prove the point of how far your life has taken a wrong turn due to this simple game, I give you the following examples.

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