It’s true. Thomas Partey’s injury is all my fault. I caused it. No, I wasn’t training with the Ghana national team. That’s not what I mean. I’m referring to my own match preview from Friday in which i took the piss out of Man U for their spate of injuries. “Droppin’ like flies,” I joked. Well, here we are now with the Black Stars announcing Partey’s injury, which will “could be on the sidelines for a while”. Clearly, this is karma for my loose lips.
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Three matches in, and it’s hard to feel like we’re shifting through the gears. Three sputtering results have yielded seven points from nine available, but it’s hard to draw confidence from that, what with Man City taking nine from nine and three others taking the same seven. A soft-ish string of fixtures should have seen us seize three confident, momentum-building wins ahead of a tricky visit from Man U, but, instead, we find ourselves in what amounts to an existential crisis. Just what is Arteta up to? Short answer: he’s pursuing longer-term goals. Long answer: ummm…
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Okay, so no, they didn’t. Well, a few did. They’re the same “fans” who demanded Arteta be sacked after we stumbled to fifth place two seasons ago, after we failed to win the Prem last season, and after we lost to Man U over the summer. There are some fans whose emotional stability matches that of a ping pong ball in a bouncy house. Yes, on paper, we really should have trounced Fulham. That we ended up narrowly escaping with a point offers cold comfort. Arteta does deserve the lion’s share of the blame.
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There was a time not so long ago when many Gooners were pining for Thierry Henry to return to the Arsenal a third time, this time as coach. Thankfully, that never came to pass. There’s something about being transcendent that can make it hard to transmit to lesser players. Anyway, in his time as a pundit, Henry hasn’t minced his words regarding Arteta. Recently, however, he sat down with another legend, David Seaman, to give Arteta his seal of approval. If a player as legendary as Henry speaks, surely, even Arteta’s critics will have to pause for a moment to consider listening? We shall see…
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A £62m transfer fee. £330k in weekly wages. 178 minutes. No goals. No assists. While it may be too early to label Havertz a flop, pertinent questions are bubbling up. Just what did Arteta see in this fully-formed 24 year old who has obviously peaked already and who benefitted tremendously from the completely stable and nourishing environs he encountered upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge? It’s clearly not an AFTV-level overreaction to label Havertz The Worst Signing EverTM. Chelsea fleeced us. Again.
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