merse, we love you, but...
kojodinho - talkingOfArsenal.com
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It would appear that everytime I forget that Paul Merson isn't the brightest spark plug in the engine, up he pops, and reminds me again. Now don't get me wrong - I love the man. I had a real soft spot for him when he played for us, and I sympathised with, and had great admiration for him when he announced, and then sorted out his personal problems.
But... And this is a big but...
I've lost count of the number of plain silly things I've heard him say in the last few years.
One that really got me wound up was when I saw him provide TV punditry a couple of years ago, during the Champions League final. His words at the end of that game during the review went something along the lines of - "...they've blown it. Arsenal are never going to get another chance like this. It's all over...".
Now even I am not going to be presumptious enough to try to predict when Arsenal will win the Champions League. But in my opinion, win it they will - for me it's a matter of when and not if. As an ex-gooner player, I can't see how he can say they'll never get to another final, or that they'll never win it - that's just not on.
Then there were his comments about how he feared for the Arsenal team after Thierry Henry had left. And also how the club were in turmoil due to David Dein leaving. To be fair to him, most other commentators were saying the same thing - but how many of these usually negative commentators are ex-Arsenal players?
Then, (yes there's more) his well publicised comments about how Spurs were going to overtake Arsenal, who were going to drop out of the top-four and not have a Champions League place, and how this would be a disaster given the amount of debt due to the building of the Ashburton Grove stadium.
Anyone would think Merson had something in for the club.
Now I'm not even suggesting for a minute, that Merse should suddenly turn into a 'yes' man, however I do urge him to think before he opens his gob.
To be fair to him, the most recent positive thing I heard him say about Arsenal was that we would beat Spurs convincingly at the last North London derby - I just wish he'd do it more often, and not less.
And now onto the Merson quote I heard on the radio today, that got me thinking that I needed to write about this. The quote was:
"I'd put him [Owen] on the bench. We don't have to win the game - 0-0 will be good enough, I believe - but if we do go 1-0 down then you've got Michael Owen to come on."
Now who would go to a place like Russia, a place which has traditionally been a tough away fixture (CSKA Moscow, anyone?) for English teams, and try to play for the draw? Imagine if we tried to play for the draw, and then went down 1-0 in the 88th minute - how much use would Owen, or for that matter anyone else, be then?
Have some of the things he's said in the past rung true with you? Have I been spoilt by the attacking nature of the new Wenger boys because I find playing for a draw off-putting? Has time and fortune faded the memory of someone who has been an old and dependable Arsenal warrior?
Am I being harsh and unfair on our dear Merse?
Do leave comments and let us know what you think...
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