‘This game has
inspired me to destroy Manchester United tomorrow. If I start, I would score
and dance.’I am going to make
Manchester United players eat grass tomorrow after so much beating.’
So tweeted the Galatasaray player Emmanuel Eboue on
Tuesday evening, demonstrating that ‘Welcome to Hell’ has moved into the 21st
century.
Of course, we assume @TheRealEboue is actually a parody
account, but the wacky sentiments put out there seem to perfectly sum up an
idiosyncratic player still considered a cult hero by many Arsenal fans.
Eboue returns to England on Wednesday in the colours of
the Turkish champions for a Champions League tie against Manchester United at
Old Trafford, a year-and-a-bit since a departure from Arsenal that was
applauded and mourned in equal measure.
Colourful characters: Arsenal's two Emmanuels,
Eboue (left) and Adebayor (right), perform a dance during a 6-2 win over
Derby County
Return to England: Eboue will feature for Galatasaray against Manchester United at Old Trafford
The right-back’s six years at the Emirates were certainly
colourful – a player who often played so poorly that he became an easy target
through which Arsenal fans could channel their broader anger at interminable
passing without an end result and a lack of silverware.
And yet despite his headline contributions during those
six years amounting to some funky dance moves and terrifying his teammates by
dressing up in a tiger costume at a Christmas party, Eboue is remembered with
fondness by many.
It’s another case of fans loving an average player
because he somehow sums up all their wider frustrations at how things are
going.
Good fit: Eboue tries the Emirates Cup for size after Arsenal won the pre-season competition in 2009
Eboue was spotted by Arsenal scouts while playing for
Beveren in the Belgian league and the 22-year-old was brought across the North
Sea and earmarked as one for the future.
His breakthrough came in 2006, when he was promoted to
the first team following an injury to Lauren and impressed in a succession of
big Champions League matches against Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal.
Such was Eboue’s entrance to English football that Arsene
Wenger compared him to Brazilian great Garrincha after a 5-0 win over Aston
Villa in April 2006. With hindsight, this might not have been a great comparison.
He also played in the Champions League final against
Barcelona and, as he flew off to Germany to represent Ivory Coast at the World
Cup, the future looked very bright for Eboue.
But he seemed to come back cursed and the 2006-2007
season was a constant struggle with ankle injuries as he flitted in and out of
the side.
The ankles might have had something to do with the
terrible positioning and lack of coordination that started to creep into his
game, contributing to a leaky defence that was especially susceptible on their
travels.
Wenger’s response was to replace Eboue with Bacary Sagna
and push the Ivorian forward to the right wing. As a defender, he had been good
at bombing forward, but when this was actually expected of him, he seemed to
freeze.
There was often a calamity about his play – colliding
into the opposition, falling over when in a crossing position, falling over
when not in a crossing position and the occasional naughty dive.
A series of abject performances came to a head in a home
match with Wigan in December 2008, with Arsenal struggling to kill off a poor
opponent in what had become an all-too-familiar occurrence.
Eboue, a first-half replacement for Samir Nasri, came up
with one of the worst performances ever seen in an Arsenal team. He seemed on a
mission of self-destruction, gifting the ball to Wigan’s players over and over
again and, to top it all, tackling team-mate Kolo Toure to surrender
possession.
Higher force: Eboue shows his faith after scoring a goal for Arsenal
The crowd was mutinous, using Eboue’s inept performance
as a conduit to vent their frustration at the way the team had been set-up and
the way they were playing. The jeers reached a crescendo when Eboue, a sub, was
remarkably subbed back off in injury time.
Appearing on Soccer AM’s ‘I love football’ segment, Eboue
once said that fans would come to his house and he would always go out, sign
autographs and pose for pictures. After the Wigan debacle, this wouldn’t have
been such a good idea.
But the totally different reaction to Eboue’s spirited
performances thereafter that season proved that he’d simply been a scapegoat
for lingering frustrations about a lack of big-money signings, the club cashing
in on star assets, infuriating tactics and defeats at places where such a
talented team shouldn’t lose.
In fact, Eboue stayed another two seasons at Arsenal and
continued to feature regularly despite strong competition for his place. He
contributed the odd goal too, including one in a 5-0 Champions League win over
Porto and a great left-footed strike at Blackpool in April 2011.
Cult hero: Eboue was still liked by many Arsenal fans despite playing poorly in a number of games
By the end, he was a cult hero among the fans, who even
invented an ironic chant for the opposition fans – ‘You’ve only come to see
Eboue.’
With Gervinho taking his number 27 shirt, Eboue followed
the well-trodden path of unwanted Premier League footballers in joining a
Turkish side, Galatasaray.
His first season brought immediate success, with 31
appearances made in the championship-winning team and now, a chance to renew
what was always a tasty rivalry with United.
Dancing with Felipe Melo after Galatasaray won the league
