#60
 
 

Museum of Loneliness

by Chris Petit

MoL went to the Emirates Stadium, predicting the same score as the Chelsea match: Arsenal 3 Norwich 1. Always a supporter of the lost cause, MoL has followed Norwich through thick and thin, mainly thin, since 1959. 4-1 in the end but Arsenal didn’t need to carry on playing after three so MoL has deducted the last goal, leaving it 3-1 as predicted. For long spells of the game Norwich took the game to Arsenal, until Arsenal got bored and went down the other end and scored. Quite easy. Gone is the pretty, pretty passing that resulted in nothing. Now they seem quite efficient and ruthless even. A unit. Ozil looks like he has been playing there for years. After the fourth goal Wenger gave a thumbs up, an extravagant gesture for him. Nicklas Bendtner is back from loan, in yellow boots now not pink, and being Danish it looks like he has been watching a lot of Borgen because he has grown a beard like the spin doctor’s. In fact, MoL is thinking of rebranding teams by style rather than name. It would field a Bearded XI. There would be a Bald XI (different from the Shaved-Head XI). Then there would be the Sex Scandal XI and the Adultery XI. And an open dressing rooms at half-time, with cameras allowed in for the tactical talks. You would have trouble putting together an Openly Gay XI. Chelsea fans gave Graham Le Saux a terrible time when he played for them, convinced he was gay because he read a serious newspaper and collected antiques.

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