That's My Boy

My son is 22. He has been an Arsenal supporter for as long as I can remember.

I have to confess I never previously took much notice. Neither his dad nor I had any interest in football. His older half brothers are keen - one supporting Manchester United and one Chelsea. But it was never a major discussion topic in our household.

If you had asked me six months ago how much my son knew about football I would not have had a clue. I had certainly never had a conversation with him about it.

Then this summer we travelled to a christening together and started chatting. I asked him how he came to support Arsenal, especially as his brothers support other teams. He recounted a vivid memory from when he was 7 or 8 and first saw Ian Wright playing on the television. He talked about the impact it had had upon him and how he has loved football, and in particular Arsenal, ever since.

It was a strange moment in many ways. Like seeing your own son for the first time. Learning about a passion I had simply never noticed because I hadn't bothered to ask.

I spoke to him on the phone tonight. It went like this:

" Hi Mum"
"Hi Son"
"Did you see the press conference with Capello today?"
"No although I have heard them talking about it on the radio. He didn't speak much English did he?"
"No. He seems to know what he is doing though. I think he'll be good"
" I reckon he is going to cut through some of the crap and play people because they are the right people for the team, not because individually they are some sort of superstar, no matter how good"
"I think he should take Michael Owen out. He seems to get a place just because of who he is"
"I agree. There are a few past their sell-by date. Capello seems to be clearly saying that everyone will have to earn their place every time. That has to be a good thing. Wonder what he will do about the Lampard/Gerrard thing"
"They are both good but I prefer Gerrard."
"Me too. I'm not keen on John Terry though. He seems a bit of a thug"
"He can be. He is good at getting people moving around though on the pitch. I think Gerrard would be good as Captain too. He leads Liverpool with real passion."
"He needs to find a decent goalie. Robinson has been off form and David James, while brilliant sometimes, is inconsistent"
"Robinson is a good goalie. McLaren made a bad mistake playing someone for the first time in that recent match on a poor surface. He really set him up"

Now if that isn't a proper conversation between a mother and son, I don't know what is.