Olivier Giroud or the art of perception

One of the interesting traits of human nature is that we tend to look for confirmation of our views. We also seem to be pretty consistent in our views: that means we don’t change and adapt them each time we find out something new, something that disproves our theory.

It is normal: Thomas Bayes, an English statistician of the 18th century, described each person as an ideal observer, a definition which is now named after him - ideal Bayesian observer. If we put those who never change their opinion on one end of the spectrum and those who do so constantly on the other - ideal Bayesian observer will rest in the middle.

Why am I writing all this? To talk about a player who greatly divides opinion among the Arsenal faithful. He sometimes even swings the pendulum of his die-hard fans and his most pronounced haters the other way. Ever since I registered on Twitter (and it has been the case long before I did) he has been the cause of online fights aplenty. He even outdid Ozil. His name is Olivier Giroud.

But the Frenchman really shouldn’t be the cause of such controversy. While with Ozil it just took time to understand his subtle brilliance (might that be because Ozil is doing much of his work in grey zones?), Giroud’s contribution is there for everyone to see. Let’s start at the beginning.

We signed Olivier Giroud from Montpellier in the summer of 2012 for a meagre sum of 12 million. Let that sink in. Olivier Giroud cost us 12 million. It’s a good sum for a defender, we’d have high expectations for a defender with such a price tag, but it’s small change for a striker. For a good striker. In today’s world, a world inflated by the likes of City, Madrid and Barcelona, it’s hard to get good value for your money.

Make no mistake: Olivier Giroud is a very good striker. In fact, he’s much better than given credit for. In his three seasons, the Frenchman has scored more goals than Robin van Persie, than includes the adaptation season. Do you remember how much United paid for the Dutch Skunk? 25 million.

Right now Olivier Giroud is among the best forwards in the BPL. He is behind Aguero (who is simply world class) and Costa (cost twice as much), but everyone else? Kane probably had a better season overall, though it has to be noted Kane didn’t suffer a 3-month-long injury, thus he played considerably more. Anyway, Kane still has to prove he’s not a one-season wonder. Giroud already did that. He played three full seasons, steadily improving over their course.

This year his improvement has been phenomenal. Goals against big teams? Check. Goals from outside the box? Check. Better technique on the ball? Check.

Yet people scream "replacement". Even Thierry Henry jumped on the bandwagon and went on record saying we won't win the League with Giroud. Instead of asking himself why Arsenal didn't challenge this season, he just repeated what everyone else was saying. Cause if Henry had asked that question, he'd have seen we lost the league in the period from September to November. Incidentally, Giroud was out at the time.

Moreover, I don’t like to deal with abstract situations. You want a replacement? Fine, name one. But remember it should be:

1. A considerable upgrade
2. Available on the market

Let’s forget for a minute there are some players we simply cannot compete for even if they are available. Like Bale, for example. I don’t for a second concede we’ll be able to realistically fight for his signature even if he suddenly becomes available. Firstly because Gareth is likely to want a hefty salary and we all know Wenger won’t break his salary structure (he’s right not to); secondly because Bale cost Real 100 million. While he certainly will go for less, should the Galacticos decide to sell him, it won’t be MUCH less. It won’t be 40 million or so. Spending more at a time when other areas of our team need strengthening is, quite frankly, stupid.

Back to wanting an upgrade, however: do you see such players? Edinson Cavani, maybe? Scored 15 goals from open play in 35 games. Giroud has 14 in 27. Moreover, I didn’t like one bit what I saw from Cavani during the World Cup last year. I realise an international tournament isn’t the best way to measure someone’s true ability, however Cavani doesn’t look an upgrade to me, let alone a major one.

Or Gonzalo Higuain? Big game bottler, 15 goals from open play in 37 games? Does he look better than Giroud? Let’s ignore the fact he plays in Italy, which can lead to him becoming even less productive in England.

How about Karim Benzema, the fans’ favourite? How about the fact he’s scored only one more goal from open play, having played two more games than Giroud? Admittedly, he’s more adept at creating chances for teammates (has 10 assists to Giroud’s 3), but he a) plays in a less competitive environment b) has Cristiano Ronaldo c) disappears in big games. Yes, he still looks an upgrade, just not the one worth spending 40 million on.

I personally wanted to suggest two players: Alvaro Morata, who impressed me over the course of the semi-finals and Alexandre Lacazette. When I saw Morata’s stats I just ran away - his counterpart, Tevez, looks a much better alternative in comparison. In fact, his numbers are so good I’d seriously consider forking out some cash for Carlos and bringing him back to the BPL, if he was younger. At 31, Tevez is not the long-term solution we need.

That leaves us with Lacazette. Here we have a completely different set of skills to our own Frenchman and much better key stats, like goals, assists and chances created. Lacazette is just another type of forward: he plays facing the goal, he’s a dribbler and so on and so forth. You can read more about him (and his potential suitability) here. There’s only thing that threw me off balance: out of his 27 goals (in 33 games), Lacazette scored 8 from penalties. That leaves 19 from open play, which is more or less on par with Giroud in terms of games-per-goal. Nonetheless, I still think bringing in Lacazette would make us a better team: unlike the alternatives I’ve touched on above, Alexandre’s style of play is markedly different to Giroud’s AND he’s still young. He also won’t cost us 40 million, at least I don’t think he will.

Conclusions

On our hands we have one of the best, if not the best, back-to-the-goal striker in the whole of Europe. Even a much-lauded Benzema wouldn’t present a major upgrade, not to me at least.

Does that mean Giroud is ideal and we should just sit back and relax? No. Firstly, because Giroud is a bit one-dimensional: that means he’s almost as bad facing the goal as he’s good with his back to it. He certainly improved this season: two goals (against Liverpool and United, respectively) from outside the box and a 20% conversion rate hint he’s decent when facing the goal. I feel we can get even more from him should we put more crosses in.

However, we need an alternative to Giroud. We need someone who can play facing the goal and be successful at it. Right now all it takes is isolating Giroud and marking him tightly to render him ineffective. We’ve seen glimpses at how unstoppable we can be with a plan B: when Walcott led the line. Maybe Theo himself can become our plan B, maybe Sanchez can. If, for some reason or another, they won’t, then I’d certainly consider bringing in Lacazette.

But that doesn’t mean Giroud shouldn’t receive our backing. As I hope I have demonstrated, he’s one of the best at what he does. He deserves credit, a lot more than the Frenchman is currently getting.

Until later

P.S. I think Arsene can also jump-start Jovetic’s career. I used to like the forward a lot before he joined City - I’m sure I’m not alone here. With the right guidance, he can deliver on his early promise. He also shouldn’t cost us much

Extreme isolation?

It’s fair to say I was isolated from Arsenal’s fanbase until very recently. I started supporting the Gunners back in 2005, with a habit of regularly watching their games not kicking in at least till 2008. That gave me food for thought, though my blogging days were still far away. Instead, my family became the long-suffering victims of my unrelenting talk about Arsenal. They took it on the chin and even managed to demonstrate a kind of vague interest.

I’m grateful for it, I could even say I’m indebted to my family for demonstrating this interest: had they opted not to, I may well have abandoned watching football altogether. After a while it simply becomes unbearable stewing on your own thoughts with no outlet. Though I have to add I knew I was not alone: around 2008 I picked up the habit of reading Andrew Mangan’s daily blog. Thus I knew there was at least one person who shared my passion for Arsenal, who suffered as much as I did. Simply put, who cared. Who still does.

Why the isolation, I hear you ask? Why didn’t I do something to break the circle? Go to pubs, find an Arsenal community in Moscow, create an account on Twitter at the very least? That’s the part where I think I have to put my isolation into some context.

First of all, I was 14 in 2008. A teenager. I was still a pupil, going to pubs was out of question, because I was a) not independent enough to wander around a city as big as Moscow on my own b) not of age. Pubs go hand-in-hand with beer and all kinds of stuff like smoking and swearing. Stuff which seems pretty normal to me now, but it surely didn’t when I was 14.

The same goes for communities. What’s the main target of such a community? Gather together and go watch a game. Where do they do it? That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, in pubs.

Furthermore, I have to say that I was unaware of all those things back when I was 14. The thought of meeting, and going out with, a group of completely unknown to me individuals simply haven’t crossed my mind. Even if it had, I’m sure I would have opted against it. That would have been more of an unconscious decision back then, now I am better equipped to explain it.

You see, I’m an introvert. I need to spend some time alone to recharge my batteries. Social occasions sap my energy substantially. That doesn’t prevent me from enjoying certain types of collective activities, but I neither can, nor I’m willing to, frequently go out. When I was 14, school and all the entailing homework drained me. The mere thought of going out after all that would have been terrifying. Not only that: I would have been useless at such occasions. I would have showed up drained already, with no emotions left to enjoy a game of football. I suspect it was also the reason why I didn’t watch football matches at home. Though it might have been the case of games not being aired on TV (we have our own league, why should anyone broadcast the BPL?) and me not being advanced enough to watch games online.

As for the social networks, well… Our VK wasn’t (and still isn’t) a great place for interacting with fans such as myself, Facebook is no such place either (after all, VK’s concept is almost entirely ripped off from Facebook) and the only other (decent) alternative was Twitter. Which was in its inception back in 2008 and which I, until quite recently, abhorred, considering it a mess of mentions and hashtags. Twitter was also never popular in Russia, though it beats me why.

A lot of things changed when I finally went to university. I finally found the time and the energy to do something else, than just study, despite my first year being pretty strained. After my summer exam session I started writing posts to while away the time. Luckily, I didn’t track the views stats, or I would have given up pretty soon!

As it is, I continued writing throughout my second year. I finally found an outlet for my thoughts and kept writing more for myself, than for anyone else. I didn’t even share my posts on social networks, mostly because I was a) unaware of such a concept b) considered Facebook a mess (still do) and didn’t pay much attention to Twitter for the reasons I listed above. Google+ is a pretty poor platform for your posts and VK was out of the equation as my posts were in English. You will be hard-pressed to find a lot of Russians interested in hearing the thoughts of a fellow Russian in English!

As you can see, not a lot has changed when I took up blogging in terms of interaction. I was still pretty isolated. I only knew what I thought and the opinions of several Arsenal fans I found at uni. Then I discovered Twitter. Less than a year ago.

What prompted that discovery was my rather selfish (though, I think you’ll agree with me, understandable) desire to expand my platform and promote my blog. In June last year I suddenly realised that my blog, while nice, wasn’t going anywhere. The simple desire to do it for myself was left behind. I felt an urge, an urge pretty normal for any blogger I suspect, to be heard. To attract people. To have readers that would comment on your thoughts and give theirs.

I approached the matter thoroughly. I found a rather recent book written by Michael Hayatt (can recommend it to anyone who is thinking of creating and promoting his or her platform) on how to build your platform. It’s not very long and most of it I either already knew or felt was the right thing to do anyway. I didn’t need guidance most of the time.

But he did say at least one very important thing: Twitter. That it’s a much more helpful tool than Facebook, for instance. He also encouraged anyone to not give up on Twitter if at first you don’t like it. Persevere. Find people. Interact.

By following his advice I discovered much more than I initially hoped for: a sudden realisation that I’m far, far from being alone hit me. Finally getting heard became a nice bonus, not a sole target. I would have stayed anyway, because I felt a part of something more, part of a family.

I know I’m getting sentimental here, but that’s how it is. Picking up my phone and scrolling through my timeline at half-time makes me understand there are tens of thousands of people who feel the same way as I do. Or they feel different. They echo your thoughts, or they express their own. Opinions vary greatly and every (reasonable) fan has his or her own rationale. However, there’s one thing that unites us all: we all follow the Arsenal. Knowing and, indeed, having proof before your eyes, that you are a part of something more, is great.

Cheers

Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa: 12th time the charm

Triumph. I was looking for one word which can best describe what happened yesterday and I found it: triumph.

Not a win. You can get 30+ wins a season and still be left empty-handed. Not a success. Success is temporary. One day you are successful, the other you are not. Success isn’t all-encompassing. You can be a successful manager and a bad professor in management.

But triumph is something more. It’s permanent. No one can diminish it, no one can take it away from you. No one can say: “You are triumphant, but…”. If he tried, not only would he break all grammar rules of the English language, he would also defy all logic and common sense.

Yesterday was exactly that: a triumph. The triumph of Arsenal players. The triumph of our way. The triumph of Arsene Wenger. The triumph of Arsenal Football Club.

We delivered. On a big stage. Over the course of 90 minutes. We showed up with a serious attitude. We took nothing for granted. We (or, rather, Arsene) fielded the best squad possible. They may have been only one sentimental choice in our starting XI: Wojciech Szczesny. However, having seen his performance, I wouldn’t say that. More on our Polish goalkeeper anon.

The other 10 players? Arguably our strongest: Bellerin, Mert, Kos, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey, Sanchez and Walcott. You could make a case Giroud is our preferred striker, but again Arsene was spot-on for omitting the Frenchman: Ollie was out of form, Walcott’s confidence levels were sky-high following his hat-trick. Seems a bit churlish singling anyone out after what was the best team performance I’ve seen this season, so I won’t. Consider it the FA Cup Final special.

Wojciech Szczesny: As any Arsenal fan, I was nervous when I saw the Pole start the game. He was hardly convincing in any of his performances this calendar year, you see. How wrong I was.

Woj had little to do (nothing at all in the 2nd half), but boy did he do it well. He claimed every cross during the first 45 minutes and one was a special treat: Chezza punched the ball clear, towering over Benteke. I’m not sure Ospina could have mustered such a commanding aerial performance, so hats off to both Arsene and Szczesny. The Pole may yet have a future with us.

Hector Bellerin: If he would be so kind as to let Grealish out of his pocket. Thanks. In short, the Spaniard owned the right flank, overlapping with Ramsey nicely, while also being dead-serious about his defensive duties. The late shove on Grealish was particularly satisfying.

Per Mertesacker: bossed Benteke. Won the air completely, once even in the opposition’s box (oink, Given). The expression of unrestrained joy on the German’s face as he delivered the killer blow in the 62nd minute shows you how he cares for the Club. Can rival Wenger in this regard.

Laurent Koscielny: Bossielny. Mopped up everything there was to mop, won two headers in Villa’s box (was denied by a brilliant save from Given for the first) and looked really disgruntled to find a shirt over his head when his mate scored a goal. But my favourite moment came deep into the 2nd half, when Kos first won a header, then shielded the ball from Benteke and then just pushed the Belgian to the ground. No foul.

Nacho Monreal: a brilliant run and cross for the first and another solid defensive display. Who said the Spaniard isn’t good going forward?

Francis Coquelin: I can dig up the usual tackles and interceptions stats and I’m sure they will be impressive, but it’s the other side of Coq’s game that surprised me: his dribbling and passing ability.

I noticed before how Francis can power past opponents with a sudden burst of speed (almost Wilshere-like), however yesterday the Frenchman took his dribbling to almost Cazorla’s level, wiggling out of several tight spots with the ball. As for his passing, you remember that diagonal pass for Theo? Of course you do.

My point is that, if he keeps improving his passing and dribbling, hell, we’ll surely only need back-up. We may not need even that.

Santi Cazorla: most touches a player ever made in the FA Cup final (100) and 95% pass accuracy. An assist for Per Mertesacker, superb positional play. Sometimes played even deeper than Coq (geddit? Deeper than Coq. Alright, I’ll stop now). A simply phenomenal display from Santi.

Mesut Ozil: He can find space in Japanese underground. He can create space with a change of direction or a drop of the shoulder. If someone continues measuring his impact based on his goals and assists tally, they probably also think Xavi is shite. Such people are better left ignored.

Aaron Ramsey: had the best two moments in the opening stages. Hit the side netting after a brilliant run from Bellerin and blasted over when one-on-one. However, he got into those positions and he also helped Bellerin out a great deal. Kudos to the Welshman.

Alexis Sanchez: baby, Alexis Sanchez oooh. He saved the best for last. An assist (a headed assist!) and a superb goal at a crucial time. Goal of the season, hands down. That makes it 25 goals and 13 assists in 52 games. Barcelona won the lottery.

Theodore James Franklin Delano Walcott: he scuppered an early chance and by minute 35 I was beginning to think Arsene made a mistake by starting Theo over Giroud. Then Walcott thumped an opener with his chocolate leg and I went into overdrive. My neighbour from an upper floor came investigating where all the screaming originated from. I want Theo to stay. Badly.

Jack Wilshere: a couple of nice dribbles and some exceptional champagne scenes. Though these came later.

Olivier Giroud: dyed his hair, though was pretty inconspicuous up until the last 5 seconds of the game. Then he showed up in the right place at the right time and completed Villa’s humiliation with a deft stroke of his left foot.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: the manager wasn’t going to sub him on, so Alex subbed him on himself. Played for 4 minutes overall (injury time included) and bagged an assist. Nice outing.

The aftermath

Jubilation. From the fact we’ve broken the record for most FA Cups. From the fact Arsene became the manager with most cups in the post-war era (he’s tied with Ramsay on 6 each on overall). From the fact we’ve won two trophies in two years.

It was a complete and utter...triumph. First and foremost, of Arsene’s philosophy over all the two-bit critics like Owen and Carragher, over all the haters and all the doubters, over world football. It’s something that will stay with him, and us, forever.

Cheers

FA Cup final preview: forewarned is forearmed

So, it all comes down to this. The FA Cup final. Our second in a row. An opportunity for Arsenal to become the most successful team in FA Cup history by winning it for the 12th time and for Arsene to become the most successful manager in the post-war era by bringing the cup home for the 6th time. A chance for me to witness the Gunners lift only the 3rd trophy in my memory.

But before all that can happen we have a final to win. Granted, we aren’t tasked with beating City or Chelsea in it, though there should be no room for complacency. Just think back to last year’s final. A newly-relegated team took a 2-0 lead inside the first 8 minutes and nearly bagged a 3rd goal in the 15th.

Luckily, most of the players that played then will play now. They’ll know what’s at stake. They’ll know any lapse of concentration can prove costly. Add to it the hunger of those who wasn’t there last time and we have a pretty good mix.

Only Welbeck is missing from it. The manager confirmed everyone else trained and can be involved if he so decides. I say “if he so decides” because we have 23 senior players fit. Some will miss out, simply because only 18 can be selected.

My guess is that Debuchy, Chambers, Diaby, Arteta and Rosicky won’t make the cut. Debuchy, Diaby and Arteta can hardly complain, as none of them are match fit; Chambers has lost his race for right-back spot, while also coming across as less convincing than Gabriel at centre-back. Rosicky, however, will feel hard done by if Wenger really omits the Czech. I hope, in my heart of hearts, that Arsene won’t do it. Maybe Le Boss can throw caution to the winds this one time and drop Flamini instead?

As for the starting line-up, I think Arsene only has two dilemmas: Ospina/Szczesny and Giroud/Walcott.

Ospina or Szczesny?

I’d go with Ospina, simply because he is the safer option. He is unlikely to get a rush of blood, unlikely to allow the occasion to get to him and, what is more, he’ll be willing to make amends for his final league game.

However, my gut feeling is such that Wenger will play Szczesny. Arsene didn’t say who will start in goal during the presser, he said even goalkeepers themselves didn’t know that yet, but something tells me it will be Szczesny. The boss will give Wojciech the opportunity to play in the final, an opportunity the Pole didn’t have last season and then we’ll say goodbye to Szczesny. I’m pretty sure Wojciech will be sold this summer regardless. It looks like Wenger’s patience ran out on that cold rainy night of January 1st.

Giroud or Walcott?

My pick is Theo. He had a cracker of a game against West Brom, he showed he can be that centre-forward we all crave for and, finally, Theo is a confidence player. His morale will be on a high following the hat-trick and as such he can destroy Aston Villa. On top of that, Sherwood’s preferred pair of central defenders (Okore and Vlaar) are far from being pacy. Theo can ruthlessly expose that drawback.

And once again I’m pretty sure Wenger will start not who I would: Giroud. What can be said in defense of this decision?:

1. Ollie is our established centre-forward. Though Giroud, like Theo, is a confidence player (though, UNLIKE Theo, his confidence should be pretty low), the Frenchman is also a proven forward. Theo isn’t. FA Cup final is not the place for experiments
2. Giroud will deal with the aforementioned Vlaar and Okore better. In a purely physical sense. Theo can be bullied because of his height/weight, Giroud won’t. He is a machine himself
3. Finally, Ollie is an asset on set pieces, both ours and Villa’s. This could prove vital when marking Benteke

Ramsey or Wilshere?

I know I said Wenger only has two selection headaches, however, I’d still like to think that Jack has done enough last weekend to claim a stake at starting on the right. I’m sure Wenger won’t start Theo there, Walcott and Bellerin can be too suspect defensively, while starting Oxlade is a risk. Alex has only made one substitute cameo since his return from injury. Though it has to be noted that, back in January, Ozil also made only one (against Stoke), before starting every other league and cup game. Mesut spent three months out with injury prior to that, so there is an outside chance the Ox will start, if my logic is anything to go by. But I wouldn’t bet on Oxlade’s involvement from the off.

I feel Jack is a better winger than Ramsey. The Englishman tends to hug the byline more, which is an advantage if Giroud also starts. However, in every other regard Ramsey is better (at the moment of speaking). He is a more disciplined defender, for starters. A better physical presence. The Welshman is also very obviously Arsene’s favourite. So, while I’d personally go with Wilsh, I’m pretty sure Wenger will opt for Rambo.

Predicted line-up: Szczesny, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey, Sanchez, Giroud.

Predicted bench: Ospina, Gabriel, Gibbs, Flamini, Wilshere, Oxlade, Walcott.

The verdict

We most certainly have what it takes to win tomorrow. We have an almost fully-fit squad (Welbeck being the only absentee), the vast majority of our players is in good form and we have options in every position.

We possess the needed mentality. Having played in one cup final, the lads know what to expect. They know what they are capable of. They know they have beaten Villa already, despite it being in a league game (two, actually). They have identified the main weakness (i.e. slow starts to the game). They are forewarned.

All that is left is to put their knowledge, desire, hunger and ability in one place, focus at the task at hand and be ready when the whistle blows.

So come you Gunners. Bring that trophy home

Why Mathieu Flamini’s example epitomises what is wrong with our fanbase (or most of it)

At the end of November Mikel Arteta suffered his second severe calf injury and the Arsenal fans went into overdrive: the only option left was Mathieu Flamini. Blame was apportioned accordingly: Arsene Wenger got his fair share for not bringing in an enforcer during the summer and consequently overplaying Arteta, Arteta himself was accused of “being old and not up for it anymore” (which returned most to the first point) and, finally, Flamini’s flaws were dug out and ruthlessly dissected.

The subsequent results did little to soothe the nerves: two narrow wins over West Brom and Southampton (the infamous banner appeared after the former) and then a loss to Stoke, which led to an even more infamous incident at the train station. 4-1s over Newcastle and Gala followed, as did a 2-2 draw against Liverpool, but it was only with the emergence of Francis Coquelin as a potent force that Arsenal fans were able to set their minds at ease.

Around mid-January a new culture appeared: a culture of mocking and ridiculing Mathieu Flamini. People were enraged every time he made the bench (most still are), they openly expressed their hate in all kind of polls (speaking of polls, you do know we are ruining the Internet, right?) and demonstrated signs of unrestrained joy at the thought of Flamini’s inevitable (or so it seemed to them) departure from the club in the summer. Some even counted days to the “grand” occasion.

I kept my thoughts on the matter to myself. Firstly, I knew Flamini’s contract expired in 2016, simply because it was announced in 2013 when the Frenchman signed a 3-year deal. Secondly, I didn’t want to join in the outpouring of hate and feared I wouldn’t be understood if I backed Flamini.

Yesterday, during the media day (or whatever it’s called) Mathieu stated the bloody obvious: he has one more year left on his contract and he’s not going anywhere. My fellow writers Dave and Darren were there to reflect on the situation. You can read their posts here and here respectively.

What was the reaction among the Arsenal faithful upon receiving the news of Flamini staying? That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, more hatred. This time I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer.

I asked myself as a simple question: “Why? Why the hatred?” and I’ll try to find an answer here.

Is he a bad player?

Granted, he’s not the greatest player that ever lived. But he’s not the worst either. He is, first and foremost, a team player. He’s ready to plug any hole that needs plugging. Even over the course of these two years he played at DM, LB and CB.

Mathieu is also the engine that never stops, never gives up and is (almost) never injured. Moreover, he’s a leader. Some ridicule his clapping and shouting, but reality is, I’ve seen very few players at Arsenal do that recently. Most choose to ignore the fact Flamini must have a point when shouting: he’s an experienced player who understands what is going on on the pitch far better than most Arsenal fans think. He’s earned his right to shout and point.

Admittedly, Flamini is a worse player than either Arteta or Coquelin. He’s not such a slick passer to displace the former and not such a good sweeper to be prefered to the latter. However, he did his bit to the best of his abilities when called upon. Flam did his job, worked his socks off for the team every time and I distinctly remember he had a good half a season last year, snapping into tackles and committing cynical fouls when needed.

Is he a bad person?

"If you look at the stats we nearly won every single game since February

"It's a situation I accept. Competition makes you better, but there's not much to say when the team is winning every single game.”

How’s that for humbling? Has Flamini thrown a tantrum he is not being picked? Has he asked to be sold? Can you recall one occasion when Flam criticized the manager or the players? I don’t mean constructive criticism. He’ll always say “We had a bad game” when it was the case. But he never said things like “I disagree with the direction the Club is going” and didn’t go on strike to be allowed to leave for Barcelona.

In short, he comes across as an honest and hard-working chap, who, by the way, is also a kind of cheerleader. Like Santi or Sanchez.

Then why all the hatred?

I think that Flamini is just the latest scapegoat for Arsenal fans. People in general (not only Arsenal fans) tend to search for a reason behind events, a kind of smoking gun. The entire first half of the campaign Arsenal faithful were searching for one. And those who search always find.

Bar Sanchez and maybe Oxlade, not one player escaped the wrath of Arsenal fans. Szczesny? Error-prone. Ospina? Unconvincing against Southampton. Chambers? Shit right-back and defender in general (let’s overlook the fact he made 25 appearances from August to December). Mertesacker? Useless snail. Monreal? The culprit behind every successful attack down the middle. Ramsey? Glory-hunter in attack. Wilshere? Forever injured. I’ve seen people blaming him for McNair’s tackle! “Oh, he shouldn’t have held onto the ball for so long”. Cazorla? Most were adamant the Spaniard is past it and needed to be sold. Until he grabbed two consecutive Player of the Month awards. The list can go on.

Only those who didn’t feature escaped the outpouring (though people accused Wenger for not giving Poldi and Campbell more minutes. Wonder if they still think he was wrong on that front, eh?)

I honestly can’t find another reason other than that. I struggle to understand how Flamini can attract almost universal hatred when he rarely does something wrong. In fact, he’s one of the few who actually cares for the Club, who’s a Gunner through and through. And people are out in force saying he shouldn’t get an FA Cup medal if we win it. Saying he doesn’t deserve it.

But then I struggle to understand many things. Like how you can clap Fabregas and boo Sagna at the same time. Or blame Ozil for shirt-swapping. Or want Song back.

It’s really sad. At times like these I don’t want to be associated with GoonerFamily.

I’ll leave it here. Hope I gave you something to chew on