Long-time readers of this blog will know that I root for the underdog (a relative term, at times…). For the better part of the last two decades, I have rooted for a club that has comported itself with dignity and restraint, all the more so in the face of the craven, covetous, competition it has faced from Chelsea and Man City, and (to a lesser extent) Man U and Liverpool. I love anyone who punches above his or her weight, and that does mean that I have a soft spot of sorts for Southampton. It’s not just underdogs, however. They gotta bring moxie, gumption, cojones. Southampton, Swansea, and Everton, to name a few, prove the old adage, “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”
Before we continue, I have to condemn dog-fighting. Barbaric practice. The whole point of sport, after all, is to afford civilized cultures a non-lethal method for resolving disputes. One side pits its most athletic and determined against the other side, and a winner is determined not on fatalities but on skill. Dog-fighting, like war itself, reverts us to more-base instincts without offering any retreat or surrender, indulging our worst instincts and tendencies instead of elevating us. Apologies for betting too poetic.
Back to the business at hand. As I understand it, we’ve all but signed 19-year old Calum Chambers from Southampton for £12m. If true, we’ve slapped in the face not one but two other right-backs, one of them Debuchy, who was brought in for a similar fee despite having proven himself for club and country, and the other Jenkinson, a dyed-in-the-wool Gooner who is also a Gunner. Color me confused. Yes, I know that there are rumors of a loan-deal for Jenkinson, with West Ham an apparent front-runner. And yes, I am fully aware of the man’s deficiencies. It’s also clear that West Ham could use a young, aspiring right-back to step in for their currently ageing and somewhat-inadequate duo. Still, for as much as I may worry about how these rumors may affect Corporal Jenkinson, I can’t help but worry over larger issues.
Southampton, like Arsenal, is renowned for developing young talent. However, they suffer all too often the bitter disappointment of seeing their best and brightest depart for greener pastures. Where might they be with Walcott, Bale, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaw, Lallana, and Lambert, among others, still in the squad? We might have to add to this list Chambers, Rodriguez, Lovren, and Schneiderlin, among others. For as much as we might covet one or two of these players, we rend garments and punch dry-wall over the departure of our own starlets, and so we have to acknowledge the same suffering when it’s inflicted on others.
After all, it’s not as if the Saints practice a defensive, cynical, or vindictive style, as other clubs so often do. Go into a match against Stoke or Sunderland or Tottenham, and you know that there will be fouls and cautions from here to Timbuktu. The Saints, among a select few others, at least have tried to play a more-attractive, forward-thinking kind of football based on possession, skill, and technique, and fair play to them for doing so with players who, by and large, are still learning the finer points of the game and are in the earliest stages of their careers.
After all, when you’re a manager and you see that your opposition clearly out-classes you, it’s damned-tempting to tell the lads to defend deep and look to hit on a quick counter. Southampton don’t do that. They look to take the game by the scruff, regardless of whom they face. There’s something in that for us to learn from. It’d be a pity if we only learn it by poaching their players from them…
hell no, this is football. if there players don't want to stay that's there problem not ours. were they crying for us when we lost fabregas or van persie. doubt it. if they can't keep their homegrowns, they need to figure out why not and fix it, not come crying to us.
Up the gooners! My brother is a manure fan, and he keeps reminding me of playing good football, and no silverware. The times are a changing my friend, I think we need to be hated and start winning again. 🙂
Do some research dummy before spouting and disparaging decisions Le Prof. has made. You obviously know little about the player. Right back is not the only position he can play long term. He originally was a midfielder and he can potentially play as a centre-back also, with a few tweaks to his game, inc. improving in aerial battles (even though his height is decent).
can't help but feel for them.
Is anybody else going for the New York match? I'm currently boarding my flight from Vancouver to New York, COYG!!
Well, here are a few (rather dubious and wild) theories:1) This is an ingenious “rope-a-dope” scheme on the part of Arsene to fake out everyone else so that he can then counter-punch and swoop in to get the players he wanted while the others are trying to sort out why, much like all of us, he is taking Chambers and not Schneiderlin2) It is a “I am a dope” scheme on the part of Arsene, who cannot get the players he wanted and is just flailing around and acting rashly or worse3) This is what happens when you have enough money and have the potential to add to the club and fill all your club's needs, but have never faced this situation and are at a loss as to how to act rationally4) This is what happens when the players you wanted are already taken, do not wish to come, or are more expensive than you think they are worth but you do not want either supporters or the opposition to realize it and so you make a move just to “blow smoke” in their eyes.5) This is what happens when you can only deal with “the little sisters of the poor” who may need the money and cannot call your bluff6) This is to try to prove that he can be so great a judge of talent that he can mold a grat star out of a young player and does not require all the stars and starlets that have been named for the past month7) This is what happens when you spend several days in New York City and lose all of your concentration 8) None of the above9) All of the above10) ______________ fill in the blank with your own theory it is probably better than mine____________
This is what happens when a long term plan is achieved, (you know the big emirates stadium thing, dah), you will have all the ££££££ in the world, have champions league football, have world class players ( by that I not only mean world cup winners and fa cup winners, but….. Esp pointing to that to all them haters), have an extremely experienced and great manager, and esp NOW become the football club players want to sign for, not just football players but also employ the best…etc Giving the manager the freedom to buy players with any constriction of resources or the need to prove the status of Arsenal as a European Giant, thus gunning for domestic and European glory
This is what happens when a long term plan is achieved, (you know the big emirates stadium thing, dah), you will have all the ££££££ in the world, have champions league football, have world class players ( by that I not only mean world cup winners and fa cup winners, but….. Esp pointing to that to all them haters), have an extremely experienced and great manager, and esp NOW become the football club players want to sign for, not just any football players but employ the best…etc Giving the manager the freedom to buy players without any constriction of resources or the need to prove the status of Arsenal as a European Giant, thus gunning for domestic and European glory
Anonymous (hey Jon, what happened to use of the real name or tags?), am I to understand that Chambers is emblematic of the players now lining up to play at the Emirates and for Arsenal? If so why wouldn't Khedira take a pay cut? Why is Schneiderlin still rumored to want to go elsewhere? Why are some players such as Sagna, TV, Arteta, opting or rumored to go elsewhere?, etc., etc., etc…… It may still be about the money and not a medal or a cup, although it's never that simple. The bigger issue seems to be, why are the most pressing needs and the known weaknesses not be addressed before a back-up who appears to be a substitute for Jenkinson? We seem to be close to one or two GKS (which one?) but still need a defender or two and, for all that alleged firepower, a striker of true quality, unless of course, there will be no major injuries all season, no tired bodies or legs, and everyone plays to 110% of their potential for 90 minutes of every game. As friends what I think was Jon'Stewart point, it would be nice if we could steal a few players from our arch-rivals thereby weakening them while strengthening ourselves instead of from clubs that can ill afford to be losing that many good players.