When I say chestnuts, that is not a literal translation of the Spanish word used by Arsenal’s tormentor in chief Troy Deeney in an interview after his Watford side had stunned us with two late goals to complete a dramatic turnaround in our Premier League clash.
Cojones actually translates to something else vaguely chestnut shaped and I am sure you do not need me to tell you what it is. Deeney was actually accusing Arsenal of lacking these and in mentioning Arsene Wenger in the interview reported by the Daily Mail it seems to be that he thinks the problem stems from the top.
The striker said, ‘I’ve heard Wenger’s already blaming that [the penalty] as the reason they lost.
‘Well, I’m not one to tell Mr. Wenger about himself, but the reason they lost wasn’t due to one penalty.
‘Having a bit of cojones, I think the word is. Whenever I play against Arsenal – and this is just a personal thing – I go up and think “let me whack the first one, then we will see who wants it.
‘I came on today and jumped up with Mertesacker – I didn’t even have to jump up actually – nodded it down and the crowd gets up. They all just backed off,’ he said.
‘For me, as a player, I just think happy days. That’s my strength, so if you’re going to let me do that against you, you’re in for a tough afternoon,’
I am a bit torn here to be honest, because like most Arsenal fans I think we do lack fight at times. Then again, most teams will have bad days or spells like this and Watford are no different. I also think Deeney is playing up to the public a bit and showing a well respected manager and players no respect.
It could be a deflection device as well, because almost every pundit has said that penalty decision was harsh, so while Deeney may have loved his role as straight talker, was he really being completely honest or just having an easy pop at Wenger and Arsenal after his team got lucky?
Sam P.