Don't you think that Wenger has had a free ride from the press for a long time now? Many are still defending him and saying he's one of the greats, based not on the recent record in front of them but what he's done in the past. LVG and Maureen weren't afforded that courtesy when their time came.
Regarding the club, for me the worst bias against us is this ever enduring idea, fair or unfair, that we are soft and don't like a fight. I believe that has transferred itself onto the pitch and into the minds of referees and has actually influenced results. It's true we are all on the lookout for bias against our team, a form of bias in itself I suppose. But I'm convinced the years long, lazy media narrative about Arsenal's southern softies up against plucky old Bolton, Stoke or "dominant" Utd has cost us points and player layoffs. When we get kicked we're soft. When we kick back we have lost our discipline. And the refs play along, not with 100% consistency but with just enough bias in there to affect what is after all a game of narrow margins. How many injuries have we suffered because a ref has "encouraged the flow" of the game? How many times have we picked up the first booking of a match having been kicked from pillar to post up until the point of our first retaliation?
The campaign against Ozil has been the other, recent, notable bias. Because he hasn't performed at a world class level week-in, week-out the press has taken what have been a mix of performances ranging from excellent to average to occasionally poor and decided he's "nicking a living". The contrast with their attitude to Wayne Rooney, who has been off form for years now, is marked. Rooney can't even get a game, but this is translated as him being "too good for the bench." Their pro-Rooney bias is nothing more than irritating, but their campaign against Ozil has conceivably taken a toll on the player.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
