Found a very good article which gives some perspective on the disastrous start to the season and comparing it to the one eyed view portrayed by the British media. It attempts to give some context as to why we battled in defence and other issues surrounding the club. Worth a read. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/848971-the-british-media-how-it-loves-to-hate-arsenal
Good post - very valid points in there. We are subject to a lot of over the top conclusions from the media and most of our problems are over exageratted by the media. Take last sunday against Sunderland - we controlled the game and conceeded a goal to a very very good free kick, yet, i remember Alan Smith and that other tosser who's name I have forgotten (as well as the studio panel) opting to use that as a basis to go back to our apparent defensive woes, even though there was nothing we could have done about it! The media are stupid and love to say Wenger fail.
Intersting article, but I do not think there is a media bias against Arsenal..... We have to be big enough to take the rough just as we were happy to take the plaudits during the glory years. There is no point I believe in adopting a siege Milwall mentality, no one likes us..... I have come across many neutrals who admired Arsenal and the style of football they played..... I have read many articles in the past (even in the lean years), that say we play football the way it is meant to be played...... The deficiencies of the current squad in comparison to the glory years is obvious, so saying we are being hoodwinked by the media is an insult. I accept we have to stick together etc etc, but we also have accept we are not good enough to compete for major honours with our current squad.
There is definitely a bias against Arsenal, everything we do is always hyped up or exaggerated for sure. Eduardo alleged dive, red cards, foreign players, etc etc. however, I would agree that the free kick against Sunderland could've been avoided - why the hell did Arteta handle the ball ? what an idiot ! It is this idiocy that costs us. You had Cesc handling in the box against Spurs last season, Djourou diving in stupidly on players giving away needless free kicks, Eboue last season against Liverpool in the box bundling the player over in the back giving away a penalty. We concede penalties all the time because our players are bloody idiots.
there is a definite media bias from the BBC, ITV and sky as well. did anyone watch the match on ITV afterwards? Roy Keane saying: "I don't like saying this but they did well." and then slating our russian. martin o'neill "koscielny doesn't often like to header the ball." ?!?! WTF?!?! does he watch our matches? the BBC saying arsenal scrape win luckily against olympiacos AWAY, while man utd "did well" to tie vs basel after leading 2-0 at half time...
I respect the Bleacher report, I use it for US Sports info, but I have to say I think there's nothing in this. Sky/BBC/ITV employ people to watch games and comment on them, they do not watch every minute of every game throughout the year, they make 'educated' statements on what they've seen so I'd dismiss anything Rednapp or O'Neill says on TV. There will always be periods during a game where commentators have to create a subject to talk about because the action isn't inspiring. Separate point, but the only people qualified to comment properly are those who watch every game live, and I say that because the camera only follows the ball and there is so much work done off the ball that does not get seen on TV. As for a general media bias I can't have it, stats don't tell the whole story - we may well have conceded x less or scored y more, the reality is that we didn't win enough games to win the league or a cup, therefore we weren't good enough. I'm prepared to accept that we're not good enough to win the league and probably not good enough for a cup unless we get lucky with the draw and others crash out.
I knew it would be like that from the start, They have a former villa manager whose first comment was "i don't really like Arsene" and Roy keane commenting on an Arsenal game ffs!
Truly a sordid love affair tainted by the recent decline of both parties You only hurt the ones you love.
and I thought the colonel was about to reveal his secret sauce..... Media bias - yes I thinks it's there, especially when pundits like O'Neil and Keane are used, but what else would you expect? The media kiss Utd's arse on a regular basis, Chelsea to a degree - but when Arsenal are playing well, we do get the respect and praise that is deserved. Recently, we haven't really had much to laud up, but it looks as though we might be slowing turning that around.
The media have been salivating over the football we play for years, we're no longer at the level we were so of course they won't be so complimentary. I really don't see any bias....
The self-important paranoia that we are hated by the media is pathetic really. Newspapers just want to sensationalise things and as we have had a lot of things to talk about recently its not surprise that we are getting talked about a lot in a negative way. Anyone who believes that there is some type of conspiracy against us really needs to grow up.
I think certain pundits have a bias against us, but that's only natural really. Roy Keane was a pundit for the Marseille game, I wouldn't expect anything other than a bias against us from him. But I don't think there's really any wider media bias per se, I think the British press love to knock Arsene (1) Because he's been so successful and when he isn't he's an easy target (2) Because we haven't really been playing that well (3) Because he's French, and overtly or not there's always a thread of anti french culture running through the red top press. That said, and to be fair when we are playing beautiful football and winning, the press pour praise over us and give us the credit that we deserve. There is however a clear brown nosing towards Man Utd and Fergie from the Media, no matter how many people Rooney elbows in the face, he can do no wrong in the eyes of the media.
The brown nosing towards Man Utd is understandable, they've been winning/challenging consistently for 20 years and did it initially without hefty invenstment, they did it through the juniors (now called academys). And as I said earlier, get Keane as a pundit on an Arsenal game and you won't get a balanced view, ITV know that and maybe it was deliverate to try and drum up some public interest in the game, they're there to fill in the gaps where there's no action. Have you seen Martin Keown or Nigel Winterburn do an Arsenal v Man Utd game - I'd say they're about as incapble of providing a balanced view as Keane is...
don't know how you can say that there's media bias against Arsenal when most of the jurno's are self confessed Gooners.Of course a tv pundit who did'nt play for the club he's watching he will be bias,it's natural
