Civil War

Arsenal fans are currently involved in a civil war.

There are mainly two camps: the pro-Gallas and the anti-Gallas. If you find yourself defending the likes of Song, Denilson, and Eboue then you are in the first camp. If you want to sell Bendtner, Eboue and Silvestre and think that Arsenal without Cesc is equivalent to the USA without nuclear weapons then you are in the latter camp.

It was a good win last night against Roma. The performance was a major improvement from last Saturday against Sunderland. But despite having one foot in the quarter-finals, the anti-Gallas fans are extremely unhappy.

"How the fuck can anyone defend Bendtner? He could not trap a bag of cement. He's barely a Championship player." This was written after Bendtner had missed two good chances. He also got into good positions to make those chances happen and was involved in a lot of Arsenal's good moves. One of them being his ball to Robin van Persie that won Arsenal a penalty.

"Eboue should never wear an Arsenal shirt again after that miss," one Arsenal fan wrote last night.

The Negatives will never be able to see the potential of Eboue. The man is probably one of our most important squad members. He can play right-wing, right-back and can be used in center midfield, if the situation requires it. With Walcott injured and Arshavin not fit, Eboue is our best option on the right.

Against Spurs, Eboue was our main attacking threat until he got sent-off. When he came on as a sub against Sunderland he added some much needed spark to our lifeless play.

Wenger once compared Eboue to Ray Parlour. The Negatives cried foul. How dare Wenger compare them both. Eboue in their eyes is a diver, a cheat, a theatrical idiot who needlessly gets sent-off and thus let the team down at crucial moments.

Booing Eboue or cheering at him when he gets subbed is The Negatives way of showing their disdain for the Ivory Coast international. They say he can't be trusted. That his petulance and idiocy out trumps any of his qualities. For The Nagatives, Eboue is a time bomb waiting to go off.

Maybe the pressure from the crowd, especially from The Negatives, played a part in Bendtner's and Eboue's misses last night. The constant moans and groans every time they touch the ball would certainly have a detrimental affect on me.

The true test of whether you are a Negative or not is the topic of Cesc Fabregas. The Negatives love Cesc. If Arsenal is The Negatives religion of choice then Cesc is their Jesus Christ.

Cesc has not had a good season. He came back from Euro 2008 looking tired and lethargic. He has set himself high standards to be judged on and there have been games where he has not lived up to his own standards.

But The Negatives are blind when it comes to Cesc. At times they hide behind the truth. If Cesc has a bad game, they will ignore this and instead focus their hate on another player instead. Usually Gallas, Song or Denilson.

Four seasons ago, The Negatives wanted Gilberto out. That was until he got injured and Arsenal started leaking more goals. Only then could they see his true worth.

The Arsenal player that The Negatives really hate is Mikael Silvestre. When he was at Manchester United I didn't like him. But that was mainly due to Manchester United being our bitter rivals. The Negatives say that Alex Fergurson would not have sold a player that he rated highly to one of his rivals. Silvestre in their eyes is old and injury prone. A bad buy.

Silvestre is experienced. He was excellent at left-back against Aston Villa. With Traore and Senderos out on loan, he's a decent stop gap until Arsenal find someone younger and better. He's done well when he has played.

The voice of The Negatives is Arseblog who deride players like Silvestre constantly. On the Arsecast, Silvestre is mocked as a gay, disco diva. When he was signed, Arseblog claimed that Arsenal were "scratching around the bins." That's what I feel like doing, whenever I am in the company of a Negative.