I really felt for Emmanuel Eboue yesterday. I know his performance was shocking but the cheering from Gooners when he was substituted was in my opinion was harsh.
Gooners pay plenty of money to watch Arsenal and maybe feel that they earn the right to behave how they want at games. I agree to a certain extent but I think it is harsh to single out one player.
Eboue will never be a crowd favourite and he can infuriate me with his play-acting but you could see how much the crowd's reaction hurt him.
He was close to tears and nobody likes to see a grown man cry. To see him so distraught wasn't a nice sight.
Wenger says that Eboue is a sensitive boy who wants to do well. I hope we see a positive reaction from him in the next game he plays but I think after yesterday his confidence is shot.
He is an immensely popular lad in the dressing room and I don't think he is as bad as some people make him out to be. In my eyes he is a very good right back but Sagna is better.
Let's hope it was just an off day for Eboue and he comes back stronger from this. A little more effort from him would be a start!
I understand that we Gooners are going through a difficult period at the moment and it is frustrating but please lets not start getting on the backs on individual players.
I think we are looking for a scapegoat and Eboue is an easy target. I know he was shit yesterday but haven't you had a really really bad day at work before? I know I have and it seems once one thing goes wrong the rest of the day seems to follow suit.
It's easy to get on the back of Eboue but lets try not to. After all, he does play for Arsenal.
A little question is at the back of my mind. Would the Gooners who "turned" on Eboue have done the same if it was Cesc Fabregas having the worst game of his life?
I think not.
Keep it Goonerish.................
27 comments:
Of course Cesc wouldn't have been treated like that, but thats because he's shown what a quality player he is and we know that any bad game from him is a blip and nothing more.
Eboue on the other hand hasn't had a good game (and i mean a good game by the whole team's standards not just his) since he was a right back, where he belongs.
Ultimately the fault is down to Wenger for a) putting him in midfield in the first place. And b) for ignoring Wilshere, Ramsey and Vela on two occasions and putting on Eboue and then Silvestre of all people!
Wenger made the whole situation worse by taking him off so late.
Nor should Eboue have been put on the left either. That was more stupidity on Wengers behalf.
Eboue has already played left midfield well this season. And it wasn't that he was crap at left midfield. it's that he gave the ball away twice and the crowd got on his back and he didn't recover from that.
So how does Wenger come into it? He wanted one of his senior players to play in a game the team were treating like a Cup Final.
i am an arsenal fan living in India and a frequent visitor to this blog and i would just like to say what happened on Saturday disgusted me to the core..i currently don't have enough money to come to london to see arsenal play and i don't think i will in the near future.. but when i finally do get to the emirates it will be privilege..and i will hope to see a good game where everyone plays well and we win 3-0 against man u or something..but even if that doesn't happen i will support the lads cause they play for a club that i have grown up supporting..and as fro eboue he always gives it his all which is more than what you can say for some of the other players..i am not saying fans should not criticize or be upset when a player under performs but to boo is utter idiocy..i guess most "gooners" don't realize what a treat wenger and those in the red and white have given them over the years..i read on another blog that this would've never happened at highbury and i think it is true..maybe its because of real fans getting priced out..but i was truly shocked at some of the fans' behaviour
letrs be honest eboue has never been fan favorate and that whats realy about,he he played very poorly,he has not played in over month,the fact is eboue has been playing very well and he been one arsenal best players before he got injured ,in fact fab and song has not been playing that well particualt toure but know would ever boo him because he very popular and eboue is not and thats whats this realy about
good point wrighty,
a small minority of fools have taken to scapegoating a few of our lesser known names whenever things don't go according to plan, while our bigger names never get the blame,
the booing of eboue was not only counter productive in that it was only going to make him play worse and worse, but it was also something that will affect the team negatively in many ways,
those fans who booed him should be ashamed of themselves, i've been to games where eboue has been barracked by arsenal fans when he's been playing well, some people have just made up their minds and are happy to mindlessly abuse him every game,
as for the criticism of the team and certain players after a 1-0 against a very good wigan side that actually played very well, it's been beyond a joke, some people are behaving like spoilt little brats,
some people were saying song gave the ball away a lot, then the stats were revealed showing that 55 of 58 passes found their target and they quickly changed their line of attack,
some people just see what they want to see, it's lazy, and yesterday their behaviour made the majority of arsenal fans embarassed
I think the booing on Eboue is because he isn't popular amongst Gooners and he is an easy target.
Indeed, he's an easy target, as are song, denilson and almunia.
Cesc has had some awful performances this year but they are ignored by the same fans who boo eboue.
Double standards and seeing things the way you want to see it.
It's easy to be lazy as opposed to trying to be objective and seeing things the way they are.
Spot on Wrighty! I asked the same question to Geoff on Le-grove blog. The booing was uncalled for. It kills a players confidence and some gooners are just targeting Eboue and song for everything that goes wrong in the team. I like you your objective reporting, keep it up!
Too be fair, I've never seen Fab play acting, i've never seen him be dirty, i've never seen him tackle one of his own players.
Eboue is dislked becuase he is embaressing. His feigning of injuries, he play acting and lets be honest his cheating is what is shameful. We don't like opposition players doing it so we shouldn't accept our players doing it.
Often his play acting acts as a negative to the team. So many times we have to kick the ball out for him when everyone knows there is nothing wrong with him.
Yesterday he was terrible. You can make excuses about match fitness but there is no excuse for tackling a team-mate who is clearly telling you to get out the way and make a run and then to compund that error, pass it infield to a Wigan player with our centre-back out of postion.
I'm not saying booing him is right. Personally i don't boo. I dont like Eboue but i don't boo our own players. I wont sing Adebayor's name after his antics in the summer, whoring himself to clubs then getting a huge and undeserved pay rise from it. I wont sing his name but i won't boo him.
The players are so far detached from us as fans, some of them are detached from reality.
The fact is we pay huge sums to follow our team up and down the country and they are paid fortunes and sometimes look like they don't give a toss. They often don't thank us for our support (Clichy and Walcott always do) and i'm not sure they grasp how much of our time and money is spent supporting them, nor do they probably care.
A lot of the anger and unhappiness stems from the players, percieved or otherwise, lack of care and effort.
Its not just at Arsenal, it's up and down the country. Liverpool getting booed off, Chelsea, Man utd, Sp*rs, West Ham - it's common and it's becoming more common.
We as fans can no longer relate to the players on the pitch and while everyone fights through the credit crunch the players are earning stupid sums of money.
I'll always love Arsenal and love can often hurt.
I believe very few arsenal fans wanted eboue at arsenal before yday. His performance was diabolical. Even if you are playing in a alien position it shouldn't affect the simple aspects of the game.
The fans that booed eboue, and I was one if them, are people that spend an absolute fortune following this team all over Europe. They feel they have the right to express their distress sometimes. Surely every fan has felt the frustration surrounding arsenal recently. It's not always right but let's be totally honest; eboue is a prick isn't he. The amount of play acting in which he partakes is bad enough. But to put in a performance like that? Fuck off.
Thanks Ojaimo!
The pathetic excuse for support at the Emirates has been pretty shite recently and yesterday it sank without trace.
What does the effin cost of a ticket have to do with booing a fucking player? The fact it was Eboue don't make it right and Ive slated him loads, but Id never effin boo an Arsenal player, especially one whose just come back from injury and was brought on loads earlier than he'd have liked, but I dont have to make excuses for Eboue.
Its the plastic football tourists at the grove that need to fucking shape up or ship out.
Away games are soooooo much better for proper support, regardless. We outsung the Chavs all game last week, even when we went one down.
Fuck me! Can you imagine the boos if it was Eboue who'd scored that own goal at the the Emirates???
Wankers, the lot of you, fuck off, you disgust me.
We've won 2 on the trot now, but instead of that being used as a positive, we have to put up with yet more shite in the media thanks to that pathetic mob yesterday.
The funny thing is, thats the most noise most of those twats have ever made.
Brilliant!
Oand what exactly do you reckon the rest of the team thought about the abuse?
Do you think they would've said; Oh, its OK, its not aimed at me, phew!?
Coz Im pretty sure it will have seriously fucked em up. maybe Ramsey or Wilshire will think twice about trying something on the pitch now, just in case they get some stick from their effin own fans! Really gonna help the team that innit?
Brilliant!
Well done.
attacking eboue's "play-acting" falls into the hands of our enemies
rooney dives, ronaldo dives, lampard dives, gerrard dives
pires used to dive a bit and eboue has been known to dive on occassion
but its just been blown way out of proportion by u lot who just wana attack someone and hes the easiest target
it seemd quite clear to me as well that he had made an effort to stop diving this year as well, and as ole gunner rightly stated, eboue had been one of our better players before he got injured
it just disgusts me the levels of abuse he gets
if u want to pick on arrogant, over-rated players theres Far worse in our team - not that id condone that either
at least this guy works hard on the pitch and i really get the sense he loves the club - maybe not yday, but he seems to have been suffering from his injury and obviously the crowd affected him
pires named him as one of our "warriors" and if u think of him, for example against chelsea last year, u see wat he means.
we need more players with his attitude in the side if u ask me
Spot on Wrighty, haven't heard a player booed like that since Kevin Campbell (and I thought that was pretty harsh too).
I agree with what ananymous 17:19 stu said, Wenger shouldn't have replaced Nasri with Eboue. Surely Wilshere, or even Ramsey would have been better choices. I hope the fact that we are out of the Carling Cup doesn't mean we have to wait another season to see the likes of Wilshere, Vela, Simpson and Ramsey in action. I'd prefer to see them play than the likes of Eboue and Bendtner and I think all 4 could cope with it.
Nice post Wrighty. Couldn't agree with you more.
I wonder how much better the team would perform if the fans supported the team, and especially how it would positively affect the following and their perfomances:
Eboue
Denilson
Almunia
Gallas
Bendtner
Song
Football is all about confidence - and its our job as fans to give confidence rather than take it.
No matter what when he wearing the arsenal's colors - he is arsenal and he deserved to be back by the fans. If you do not like - don't support arsenal anymore...
old saying - with friends like you, who needs enemies????????
Embarrassing and absolutely disgraceful. Booing our own player in our own shirt??? Friends who support other clubs can not believe what happened. Eboue is not the greatest thing sliced bread by a long shot but he is, if nothing else, committed. If I was Cesc or any of the others I would be seriously considering why bother when there are these muppets in the ground. They don't sing, they leave the ground half full come the final 10 minutes of any game and they're now booing my team-mates. Go and boo Captain Hook in the local Xmas panto. Spot on geeze1212 - a bunch of spoilt, fairweather fans. Embarrassment to the club and they have just made us an embarrassment to football.
To the tune of the Pogues’ Fairytale of New York
Manu eboue
Wears the Arsenal shirt
Came in 2003
From the coast of Africa
And then he raised his studs
And gave Terry a punt
Well that’s ok with me -
Terry’s a right cunt
The chavs they booed him then
But by this time next year
I’ve got a feeling -
They’ll all be City fans
So support the Arsenal
A club with history
Cos Manu Eboue
Plays for the Arsenal
There has never been a player in the history of the game who has performed better with the boos of their own fans ringing in their ears and from what i have heard Eboue was inconsolable in the dressing room after the game. there is nothing worse in a player's life than to hear that audible groan as the ball is coming towards you. You can cut the tension with a knife and rest assured it does not help your performance or confidence. Wenger's decision to take him off might have made some Arsenal fans actually think they went too far in their treatment of one of their own players. The player will now almost have to go through a period of rehabilitation & a rebuilding of his confidence. Wenger may well reintroduce him to the fray away from the Emirates. He is a superb manager and will know how best to restore Eboue to full working order. And the brutal fact of football life is that fans have their favourites and nothing will ever change that. Let's take an example of a player doing five good things, five average things and five bad things in a game - if a player is popular the fans will remember the five good things and if he is not so popular they will remember the five bad things. Eboue is not a bad player and there is every likelihood some fans will applaud him now because of his current plight. It is hard to turn fans around but crowds respond if you work hard and I am sure he will. He will certainly need his confidence lifting. Getting abuse from your own fans puts you under unbelievable pressure and I do not remember anyone who has been placed in that position and has improved as a player. C'mon THE Hammers
one thing that i really cannot understand those so called "diehard" fans keep on critizising the team. . when we play good football but lose they said we should win ugly, and when we won ugly by 1-0 then they said this player no good, that player should sell...With the way you guys critizise it won't improve the situation..lets support the team, the manager and the players thru out good or bad times.
I remember when once eboue was linked for a big money move elsewhere he said he loves the club and he's staying put. I remember i commented that he might suck.. But he's commited player who loves the club and WANTS to do well for the club. I said we'll rather have an average player who loves the club and sees it as his own than to have players who go about whoring to other clubs.
We always talk about players leaving Arsenal, we often hear our players interested in move elsewhere. We get pissed when players like flamini and hleb leaves. Now let me ask you gooners.
What right do you have to demand commitment, confidence and love from your players when you are not ready to give them the same?
Why do you think that a player should stick by Arsenal during its worse moments when you're not sticking by them when they're going through their worse?
Think about it. Grow Up!
maJaa
p.s. If you feel like booing, go watch wrestling. This is a MEN'S game.
Wow the booing was pathetic. I did not watch the game and every other supporter of other clubs gives me crap for a fools boo. I have been supporting the Gunners for year and to be shot for something so trivial sucks. I wish all the abusive fans could leave. We do not need you. Go support Manu. All true Gunner fans show class a bit like Berkamp, so leave before we do a Hleb on you.
Wow the booing was pathetic. I did not watch the game and every other supporter of other clubs gives me crap for a fools boo. I have been supporting the Gunners for years and to be shot for something so trivial sucks. I wish all the abusive fans could leave. We do not need you. Go support Manu. All true Gunner fans show class a bit like Berkamp, so leave before we do a Hleb on you.
I agree with anonymous 07 December 2008 19:42
I never boo an Arsenal player but definately shout to take him off cos he's shit!!! That counts for various players not just Eboue...
People with the Rose tinted glasses looking back at the Highbury days forget Pascal Cygan getting booed when being brought on as a sub on more than one occasion, Stephanovs and even Franny Jeffers got it too so dont talk bollox about it being plastic fans in the new stadium.
I think most of us agree Wenger was at fault sticking him in too early in left mid, when he isnt a good right mid. He is an attacking RB that Wenger is using as another 'project' to change into something else...wenger did the right thing getting him off. imagine if he'd fkd up and wigan scored...we'd all be saying why didnt he take him off!!
Eboue is on about 25 to 35k a week...deal with it. 10% of the crowd booed...
I predict booing aimed at Wenger before the end of the season. Its coming...
we all pay into this club and have done for 25 years in my case, Ive seen us grow into a top Euro side. But Bendtner, Eboue, Song are not class players. Age and experience is nothing to do with it...We can all see Vela, Wiltshire, Ramsey are class already. yeah they need to mature, but at least they stand out with the basics...first touch, tackling, sportmanship...
Wengers got it too cushy.
I would be psd to go to Portugal to watch the reserves in a 'friendly' mood...400 quid at least. Carling cup team...£10 carling cup prices???
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