The Flamini Appreciation Society
By Shane
November 30 2013
I'm not sure I agree entirely with the views below, especialy for a player who will be often suspended and probably just as often injured. His record shows he is a 19 games a year player, but Shane makes an interesting case as to why we should appreciate him, so here we go Shane on why we should appreciate Flamini:
The Mathieu Flamini Appreciation Thread new
Posted by: ShaneÖ
Date: 30 November, 2013 00:54
I know what you're all thinking: "F*ck sake, Shane. Your appreciation threads for Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud were brilliant - arguably the best two threads ever posted - but now you run the risk of tarnishing that in your attempts to trilogise the series, much like how Francis Ford Coppola did with the Godfather part III".
But worry not folks, for have I executed more appreciation threads in my day than most of you have had hot dinners - with the exception of Celine....because he's fat.....but he actually isn't if photographic evidence is anything to go by.
Anyways, where as I? Ah yes, Flamini. Why do I think of him? Well, for starters I think he provides a type of much-needed belligerence in the team - the lack of which has undoubtedly contributed to a nine-year trophy drought in my view.
His re-signing was met with mass resentment from the fanbase. This was due to his unceremonious departure in 2008 coupled with the fact we were pining for a marquee signing - not another free agent. However, he immediately won over the doubters - including myself - within minutes of making his second debut of the club in the North London derby.
He came on and went straight through Danny Rose for a shortcut, before making sure everyone knew their jobs from the resulting free kick. Those two acts epitomised what we had been starved of for many years: tenacity and leadership.
As a man, he is a throwback to the type of big characters which you'd find in our dressing room circa 2004. That team had steel and silk in equal measures; a perfect balance considering it managed to go 49 games without losing a game of football. It's easy to overlook how astounding that feat is until you read headlines like "Burnley extend 12-game unbeaten streak".
Why have I got the temerity to mention Flamini and the Invincibles in the same paragraph? He wouldn't have played for them, granted, but the passion in his performances reminds of an era where Arsenal, as a team, were not the laughing stock of English football. His communication skills; his combativeness; his "random pointing"; his willingness to suffer a concussion if it breaks up an attack; his brazeness to bark orders at players who he has never previously played with; he looks out for his team-mates. Hands up who can see him attacking Ruud van Nistelrooy after a 90th-minute penalty miss, for example.
It is a lack of those characteristics within the squad which might explain how the class of 2011 managed to surrender a four-goal lead - the only club in Premier League history to do so - and lose a cup final to soon-to-be-relegated Birmingham City. It's a dearth of Flamini-type characters how we conceded four goals in 26 minutes to Reading in the league cup last year. Ipso facto, it is a shortage of strong personalities like Flamini which has seen the club go nine years without a trophy.
Many of you will remember he nearly took Corluka's foot off with a truly shocking tackle at San Siro when Tottenham visited there in 2011. What you may not remember, however, is the fact that, instead of enquiring about the player's well-being, he gesticulated toward the Milan fans straight after which evoked memories of Russell Crowe's motioning when he uttered the now-famous "are you not enterained?" line in Gladiator.
This is a nasty little bollox we've got playing for us, but he's also so necessary for a team famed for its soft underbelly. We were the spectacle-wearing nerd for many years prior to his re-signing; now we're the nerd willing to fight back and you're sorely, sorely mistaken if any of you believe that talent alone is enough to be successful because it most definitely is not.
It is men like Mathieu Flamini who help drag talent over the finishing line when their ability is negated by opposition players who want 'it' more than they do.
Anyways, what are your views on the Frenchman? Discuss Here
But worry not folks, for have I executed more appreciation threads in my day than most of you have had hot dinners - with the exception of Celine....because he's fat.....but he actually isn't if photographic evidence is anything to go by.
Anyways, where as I? Ah yes, Flamini. Why do I think of him? Well, for starters I think he provides a type of much-needed belligerence in the team - the lack of which has undoubtedly contributed to a nine-year trophy drought in my view.
His re-signing was met with mass resentment from the fanbase. This was due to his unceremonious departure in 2008 coupled with the fact we were pining for a marquee signing - not another free agent. However, he immediately won over the doubters - including myself - within minutes of making his second debut of the club in the North London derby.
He came on and went straight through Danny Rose for a shortcut, before making sure everyone knew their jobs from the resulting free kick. Those two acts epitomised what we had been starved of for many years: tenacity and leadership.
As a man, he is a throwback to the type of big characters which you'd find in our dressing room circa 2004. That team had steel and silk in equal measures; a perfect balance considering it managed to go 49 games without losing a game of football. It's easy to overlook how astounding that feat is until you read headlines like "Burnley extend 12-game unbeaten streak".
Why have I got the temerity to mention Flamini and the Invincibles in the same paragraph? He wouldn't have played for them, granted, but the passion in his performances reminds of an era where Arsenal, as a team, were not the laughing stock of English football. His communication skills; his combativeness; his "random pointing"; his willingness to suffer a concussion if it breaks up an attack; his brazeness to bark orders at players who he has never previously played with; he looks out for his team-mates. Hands up who can see him attacking Ruud van Nistelrooy after a 90th-minute penalty miss, for example.
It is a lack of those characteristics within the squad which might explain how the class of 2011 managed to surrender a four-goal lead - the only club in Premier League history to do so - and lose a cup final to soon-to-be-relegated Birmingham City. It's a dearth of Flamini-type characters how we conceded four goals in 26 minutes to Reading in the league cup last year. Ipso facto, it is a shortage of strong personalities like Flamini which has seen the club go nine years without a trophy.
Many of you will remember he nearly took Corluka's foot off with a truly shocking tackle at San Siro when Tottenham visited there in 2011. What you may not remember, however, is the fact that, instead of enquiring about the player's well-being, he gesticulated toward the Milan fans straight after which evoked memories of Russell Crowe's motioning when he uttered the now-famous "are you not enterained?" line in Gladiator.
This is a nasty little bollox we've got playing for us, but he's also so necessary for a team famed for its soft underbelly. We were the spectacle-wearing nerd for many years prior to his re-signing; now we're the nerd willing to fight back and you're sorely, sorely mistaken if any of you believe that talent alone is enough to be successful because it most definitely is not.
It is men like Mathieu Flamini who help drag talent over the finishing line when their ability is negated by opposition players who want 'it' more than they do.
Anyways, what are your views on the Frenchman? Discuss Here