Rentboy, not all the fans are morons. My son was watching the game with me and he saw an Arsenal fan with a 'I 8 Spurs'- t-shirt. I was embarassed that a 10 year old should see something to associate football with hate, football is about joy.
I know, of course not all fans are like that, but unfortunately they're out there in huge numbers.
Rivalry always exist anywhere in the world, more or less violent depending on the region. Either way I agree it's something that may alienate others who perceive how stupid it can be. Most of the time I observe many aspects of this rivalry in dismay, at other times I must admit I've been drawn into it, when taunted by a Tottenham player or when observing such despicable behaviour like those reactions to Walcott's injury. I think stupid behaviours keep feeding this thing until it gets out of control. And it often does, I remember some Tottenham fans vandalising a pub in Holloway Road when I used to live nearby, after Arsenal won the derby at the Emirates 3-0.
I think some Arsenal fans would be capable of a similar feat and some of them did things in the past that don't exactly make me proud.
I think the problem is when it gets out of control, then it must be met with severe punishment.
I saw the '8 Spurs' shirt and the Arsenal fans have a chant that goes 'Stand up if you hate Tottenham' and all that. As stupid as it is (I too wished the fans would be more focused on bigger things than a local rivalry which seems too small for a club that plays in the CL every season for the past 17 years) these things are part of the banter and piss-taking you will find very commonly in English football. I met fans who have a brother in law or something, who is a Spurs fan and they take the piss out of each other, and they take it with good humour amongst themselves. They may chant those words but still have a healty relationship with their peers who just happen to support a different team.
So the '8 Spurs' shirt thing may be a small thing without much to it, but I do worry more when things escalate. There is a fine line between these demonstrations and harmful actions, especially allied to mob mentality and the dispersion of responsibility that it causes. Anonymity makes it easier for people to do stupid and inconsequential stuff.
I've been saying I have less respect for football audiences as a whole, considering especially what happened in the last round of the Brazilian league. For me, it puts things in perspective and I feel ashamed of such things.
Now, referring to the Walcott situation I have some good news. Now that we need a winger and due to the fact that Merengue fans don't like him anymore for some suspicious "genital pose", we might have a chance of an arrival from Ángel di María to the Emirates. If so, everyone would be happy; Bale would have more space in the team, Florentino and Ancelotti would get rid of a pain in the ass, we would get an exquisit replacement and the boy will keep in form for the World Cup. I really hope this eventually happens (I especially want the last one to happen
), looks even more factible than the Özil thing
Di Maria would be fantastic, I rate him highly from what I see of him in the Real Madrid shirt. For me, he's the most dedicated player on the pitch, it looks as though he would run through a brick wall for his team.
But I just don't see it happening. His price tag would be something prohibitive right now, after we spent all that money on Özil I guess. And I can't see why Ancelotti will let one of his best players leave. He's been leaving Bale on the bench every time I watch Real Madrid.
I would love it, but I don't think they would sell him.
The silver lining in this will be if Walcott recovers faster than expected, and we get Giroud and Bendtner back, and still sign a very good striker. Then we would be much better in terms of attacking options.
Wenger has to do something about this, no doubt about it. I don't know what the hell happened to this summer signing Sanogo, because against Tottenham it was Park Chu Young who was on the bench, and that tells you a lot.
As things stand we are dangerously light in attacking options.
the kid was everywhere . He is build like Alex-Ox and their speed was ridiculous. I don`t think i ever saw the quickness of Arsenal all season. The Spurs were known to be a super fast team until tonight.
. He just return from injury- gutted. Cazorla to the right n Pod to the left. Looks like Rosicky was doing a good job on the wing during Theo's absence.
