"It's symbolic of something, but I can't quite put my finger on it."
Look at Nicolas Anelka over there.
See the tortured soccer player. See the tortured soccer player score two goals for Chelsea in a 4-1 Champions League romp over MSK Zilina. See the tortured soccer player celebrate with insouciance reminiscent of Eric Cantona.
Except, when Cantona did it, you couldn’t help but admire his flippancy, his bravado, his idiosyncrasy, and his stylish rejection of what was expected.
In Anelka’s hands, the same kinds of gestures look clumsy and childish, like the acting-out of teenagers, of those upper-middle-class kids who rebel for rebellion’s sake only to forget exactly what they were rebelling against.
It’s a message to the FFF to remind them that he’s still alive, and that he feels they treated him poorly this past summer. Said Nic, “It was just something for the French Federation about what happened at the World Cup. What happened in summer is in the past, now I’m 100% focused for Chelsea.”
Right. Which explains why you tell us you’re over it, yet won’t explain why he keeps making such curious gestures (disguised as “jokes”) that prompt the media to bring it all back up again.
So, what was I saying about the acting-out of teenagers? I’ll go dimestore psychoanalyst on this and say that Anelka’s really not over the whole World Cup fiasco, and never really got any closure besides a hastily-rescheduled trip home and some evasive comments in the wake of his departure. Maybe that team doctor needs to cobble together another tell-all devoted entirely to NIcolas Anelka, the inner-most workings of his mind, and the complexities of his ego.
Actually, that might be too scary a tome for human consumption.
Of course he’s not over it. Players grow up playing for the NT In Euros and WC’s. For him to be effectively banned is devestating.
He plays for Chelsea and we’re surprised at douchebaggy behavior?
^ Ironic, coming from an Arsenal supporter.
Apparently the clowns weren’t as funny as he made them out to be.
Nicolas Anelka is the Platonic form of douchebag.
@phil: Anelka only exists in the Intelligible Realm?
@pup
If that’s your perception.
@Anon: No, Anelka is The Douchebag, in which are contained all possible iterations of douchebaggery, such that all other douchebags are only poor copies of Anelka.
he really is a douche. supporting evidence: his normal goal celebration.
@whiz
isn’t his normal celebration a nod to his daughter??