Mathieu Flamini: The enduring legacy of a scapegoat

Football is a funny game. Just ask Arsenal central midfielder Mathieu Flamini.

Less than a minute after coming on for midfield lynchpin Francis Coquelin in Tuesday's Champions League contest against Barcelona, Flamini conceded a daft foul in the box to Lionel Messi, who slotted the subsequent penalty past a diving Petr Cech to double the Catalan side's lead.

It wasn't entirely Flamini's fault, of course, as Per Mertesacker, a towering house of cards on skates, gave the ball away with a limp clearance despite having an otherwise brilliant match.

Many will question why Gunners boss Arsene Wenger subbed an apparently uninjured player who has refined his craft, Coquelin, for one who repeatedly compromises his team's chances of winning.

Others will criticize the Frenchman for including Flamini on the team sheet when January signing Mohamed Elneny was nowhere to be found on the heels of the Egyptian's stellar performance against Hull City in the FA Cup.

Dreams are squashed as quickly as they're conceived, and yesterday's heroes are today's villains. Unfortunately for Flamini, his rare forays into being a hero for Arsenal have been dashed time and time again by naive performances.

Fitting that Wenger would highlight a committed yet wide-eyed effort when speaking with reporters post-match.

"Similar to Monaco last season, naive, and that is frustrating. When we looked like we could win the game, we just gave it away," Wenger told media following the 2-0 defeat.

Gave it away, indeed.

Once a hero following an unlikely brace to knock hated rivals Tottenham out of the League Cup, Flamini has again cemented his place at the epicentre of derision.

The scapegoat for a loss that was hardly in question despite the Gunners' best efforts, Flamini's contract with the Islington club expires this summer and will not be renewed. Many will cheer his exit, offering to chauffeur the three-time capped French international to Heathrow, while others will forever draw parallels between his second tenure at the club as a sign of Wenger's stubbornness and thriftiness.

For better or worse, the futility of hope is something Arsenal supporters are familiar with, and when a match, nay a season, can be dictated by the narrowest of margins, football will always have its scapegoats.

Despite his gaffe, Flamini did not beat Arsenal on Tuesday. Barcelona did.