Upon completing his move to the footballing mecca of the Northern Hemisphere, the Etihad Stadium, (does anyone else appreciate the irony that Etihad reportedly means United?), Samir Nasri has tried to ingratiate himself with his new supporters by insulting his previous paymasters.
The 24-year-old Frenchman stated:
‘I can see they are really passionate and it reminds me a little bit of Marseille. Arsenal have good fans, but not that passionate since they moved from Highbury to the Emirates. I remember when we played against City, when we lost 3-0, the crowd was amazing. That is what I want. When you play football it is for a good atmosphere.’
Apparently, us Gooners aren’t as passionate as our Mancunian friends. Also, it seems that Nasri likes his men with lots of tattoos;
‘They’ve got tattoos, the fans, of Man City. That’s what I like.’
Each to their own, Samir, each to their own.
You can’t blame him for trying to win over the new support by telling them how much he likes their tattoos, or that there is nothing sweeter than the sound of 40,000 drunk Mancs singing Blue Moon whilst stroking the aforementioned tattoos and winking seductively at the players.
But did he need to stick the knife into the backs of his old supporters?
For a start, Nasri never even kicked a ball at Highbury – why he even had to bring that up I’ll never know. And as for atmosphere, someone needs to point out to the snivelling little brown-nose that last season, in an independent study, Arsenal fans are (on average) a whole 6 decibels louder than their counterparts in Manchester. Here’s the proof – (click here)
I don’t know about you, but I’d have much more respect for the man if he just ‘fessed up and said; ‘you know what? City have tripled my wages. I like to go home after a hard days training and rub used £50 notes over my body as I dream about big hairy Northerners with lovely tattoos. That’s why I’ve moved.’
Instead he’s dressed it up as something completely different. He’s tried to make it sound like this transfer is purely about sporting reasons. Well, Samir, it’s quite clearly not.
Considering all this has led me to think long and hard about what it must be like to be a supporter or player for a super-rich club.
At what point do you say; ‘it’s all about the money for me’, turn your back on your team-mates and go off in search of that big pay day? And how can you justify it? Why not come clean and be honest with us; after all, most of us aren’t stupid.
And, if you’re a supporter, at what point does the team you’re following stop being your team? We’ll see the City fans gleefully crowing about their achievements, much in the way we’ve seen Chelski do over the last decade. But when does the act of winning become more important than earning your win through graft and determination?
I don’t care what City go on and do over the coming years. I’m sure they’ll do pretty well. After all, they are paying top dollar for their success. But after the initial buzz of winning wears off, will it feel as sweet? Sadly the answer to that, judging by Chelski fans, is probably yes. But we know, and they know, that they haven’t really earned it. It’s like buying all the tickets to the raffle and then jumping around the room when, surprise surprise, you win all the prizes.
When, eventually, we get back on the trophy podium, we can be proud of what we win. Why? Because we’re earning our success. We know when we look at our team that we helped to build it. They are an extension of us and our support. All the money in the world can’t replicate that.
Enjoy your success at City, Samir. You really, really haven’t earned it.
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slugging your former paymasters appears quite fashionable when you remember the likes of adebayor, diarra, hleb etc have all done the same thing. unfortunatley a club as often said, is much bigger than any individual player. when you then see those same players now grovelling for a second chance when the once covereted new pay masters prove less than welcoming then you see the folly of it all. how many times has alexander hleb said he wished he’d never left wenger? does diarra now see the playing time he so hated wenger for denying him(more important now since he is much older?) would adebayor have been better off playing in the champions league than being forced to forgive his racial tormentors – now his flirtation with ‘beyonce’ has seen its better days.