Tim Sherwood said something this weekend that really made my blood boil.
The former Tottenham manager turned pundit provided some post-match commentary on Arsenal’s 3-2 comeback victory against Aston Villa on Sunday, and while most of what came out his mouth was typical drivel about “wanting it more” and “grit,” Sherwood had a pretty unique take on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s decision to let Nicolas Pépé take a penalty kick:
“I wasn’t happy with it,” Sherwood told Premier League Productions. “Harry Kane wouldn’t do it, Sergio Aguero wouldn’t do it. I don’t want nice men; I want winners… this isn’t Sunday league.”
First of all Tim, it’s not like he just gifted his teammate a penalty who didn’t deserve it. Although Pépé has been in poor scoring form at Arsenal, Pépé was a prolific penalty taker at Lille, converting 92 percent of all his penalties, meaning that he is 16 percent more accurate over the course of his career than Aubameyang.
Second, there are tons of “winners” who have let their teammates take penalties as a confidence boost. Using your logic, players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are not consider winners. Try telling that to the 63 combined trophies they have won over the course of their careers.
Finally, he made the penalty, and his team went on to win the match! I can see some hindsight cynicism if Arsenal had lost to Villa or if Pépé had missed the penalty, but shouldn’t winning the match, especially in the fashion it did, only stand to show that it played the game with a winning mentality? Winners understand that the team is only as strong as its weakest link; I’m not saying Pépé is its weakest link (**cough cough David Luiz**), but bolstering a teammate's confidence who is struggling only stands to help the team in the long-run and shows that members of the team are willing to sacrifice individual accolades for the sake of the team's success.
Sherwood is just trying to stir up controversy, and while he’s certainly succeeded, he’s done so in the most pathetic way possible.
