Just a cursory glance through our first team and it makes me hold my hands up in disbelief at just how many of them have been slagged off and blamed by some of our fans this season. Mertesacker - 'he's too slow' Santos - 'He's rubbish' Djourou - 'He's a liability' Gibbs - 'He can't defend' Jenkinson - 'He's championship standard' Rosicky - 'He's too injury prone' Arteta - 'Panic buy' Song - 'He's non league standard' Ramsey - Where to start ? Walcott - 'He's got no end product' Some of the stuff written about these players has been nothing short of scandalous. I even read suggestions as ridiculous as that we should sell Sagna because he's not good enough !!!! and Song is no better than a non league player !!!! Ramsey is a classic example - The whole team played badly against QPR, but according to some, it's Ramsey's fault. He then has a really good game against Wolves, and yet some people still say he had a **** game and we're supposed to take this rubbish seriously ??? Whilst players do have dips in form, I always thought it was the job of supporters to get behind them and give them a lift, not get on their backs and slate them at any given opportunity. Thank God these players don't listen to the bile thrown in their direction and actually get on with their game, work hard for the team and have proved the critics wrong by helping us to get into 3rd and look strong for the final few games.
The only two players on your list that I have concerns about are Djourou (I didn't like his attitude in the wake of the 8-2 humiliation) and Ramsey (not exactly a convincing season, despite your ridiculous assertion that he's been your player of the season other than Robin).
Jayram you made some decent points in your reply.Perhaps you can retry posting it without trying to start a fight with another member
Whereas starting a whole new thread with the obvious intent of starting an arguement between other arsenal fans is fine.
My detailed post you deleted simply said that the OP is wrong. Most of the players have not been slagged off at all in any general way. One or two posters have issues with one or two players. If you combine everything that has ever been said about every player then you may as well list out our whole team as being slagged off - even RVP. The picture being painted by this thread - for what reason I can't fathom - is way way off target. So: Merts - in no way could you categorise views on this board as slagging him off. Santos - never heard him described as rubbish Gibbs - never heard anyone say he cant defend - certainly there is no way he is being held up as a scapegoat for anything Jenkinson - only heard positive things about the lad for a long time - one or two are unsure about him because of his experience. No one has slagged him off Rosicky - only hear praise for Rosicky with one or two worried he will get injured again. Not slagging off. Arteta - he was a panic buy but that's not his fault. Only heard praise for his performances Song - Only one poster thinks he is non league standard. The general feeling is he is a very good player. Walcott - one poster calls him 'Walcrap'. His end product has been questioned. Never heard anyone else slag him off. The only two players you could possibly say have been singled out are Djourou and Ramsey. Why? Because both have played very very poorly this year. To quote what the OP said - 'it makes me hold my hands up in disbelief' that anyone could list all those players as being scape goated for anything, or that it could be translated as a scandal.
Dont really understand why we cant think some of our players suck. I mean where does it end...if we had emile heskey up front would we be required to say what a world class player he is?
I think the criticism of Ramsey and Walcott is justified, but maybe the degree and manner is not alway appropriate. WRT Walcott, I was remined by someone that Ryan Gigs had 2 or 3 poor seasons at Man U in 97-99 where he too was criticised by no end product. That would put him at about the same age as Walcott is now. The thing with Walcott is that he does crop up and score. Ramsey, well yes he is young, but I don't think he has done enough, now ehere near enough to justify his regular spot. If Arsenal fans seem to have a propensity towards getting on the back of certain players I think it's because we have a manager who has a policy of playing under-performing players regularly, and that often hurts the team.
You were also trying to pick a fight with the OP. For what it's worth my view is that certain players have and always will be scapegoats.Some players could score a hat trick but some fans would moan that the player should have scored four.Scapegoating players is nothing new,it's been happening since i first started watching football nearly 20 years ago Years ago players would only suffer the anger of fans on the pitch or possibly the sports letters page in one of the Sunday tabloids.Nowadays you've got forums,Twitter,Facebook,Radio phone- ins etc etc.
I know plenty of Man Utd who were regular attenders at OT at that time telling me about the abuse Giggs used to get
It isnt scapegoating though. Just because someone doesnt agree with you and piskies views on some players doesnt mean we are scapegoating players. I dont rate walcott or ramsey. Big deal. That is just my view. It isnt scapegoating just an opinion. Respecting other peoples opinions is what I like in people. What the whole OP fails to acknoledge is that sometimes people have different opinions
One could argue that the OP itself is trying to start a fight with about 90% of the board! Anyway, the two players I think you could reasonably say are being scape goated are Ramsey and Djourou. I think Djourou gets less stick because the expectations of him are lower. Ramsey gets a lot of stick simply because of his performances. Think about it - no one came into the season with the intention of criticising Ramsey. If anything he has been cut more slack because we all felt so sorry for him after his injury.
One player i have no time for is Arshavin.I think he is a lazy useless **** but a lot of people will argue how great he is because he scored 4 goals at Anfield a few seasons ago.I think he had a lot more **** games than good ones.
I used to think her was amzing. He was my "favourite" arsenal player for a year probably. But in the end his consistant poor performance led me to note rate him and want him out. For the reasons you say. Linking in with the topic I wouldnt say we scape goated arshavin. We simply thought he was crap for us and wanted him out.
Exactly - and if you add up every persons views on every player, basically the whole team could be listed out as being 'scapegoated' and there being a huge scandal because every player is being slagged off.
When Djourou was injured in the 2009/10 season most Arsenal were gutted because of the good player they thought he was.I remember him coming on against Fulham in the final game of the season to rapturous applause.Eboue was substituted as a substitute and the majority of Arsenal fans hoped that he'd never play for us again.Just a short time later he's a cult hero.Really it just shows what a fickle bunch of ****s we football fans are
I always laugh in the film Fever Pitch when the Nick Hornby character goes to the cafe with his dad before his first ever game.The old fellah launching into his diatribe about Jon Sammels
Booing Eboue that day was a scandal. No matter what you think and/or post on forums, there is no excuse for singling out an individual in that way.
Arshavin was a fans favourite for a long time even though he was playing ****e.The vast majority of players would have had the fans on their backs a long time before Arshavin ever did
Do you remember the scene when they were having a drink before the game, and Paul's mate was getting pissed off because he was being so negative? Great scene because it was such a good insight into how fans think - some positive, some negative. Its a way of dealing with nerves before a game. The same thing happens on this board.
I couldn't agree with you more.I have never and never will boo a player in the Arsenal shirt.I remember at the Spuds game this season one of the lads on our bus didn't stop cursing about Walcott from the kick off.
