I have noticed a common theme throughout Euro 2024. There are Gooners getting increasingly sensitive about any Gunners performance being questioned with media accused of only doing so based on their Arsenal agenda.
Now I don’t know the age of every person who leaves a comment on the internet. I have seen YouTubers pull at this thread, asking how dare anyone ask for Saka to be dropped by England?
Or how can anyone question the form of Declan Rice?
My assumption is though that this is just content providers looking for something to talk about while news is slow at the moment.
I have to believe that. If not, I have to deal with the reality that there are grown adults who think that the BBC, ITV, Talk Sport, etc have travelled to Germany and their coverage of the European Championship is undermined by their apparent obsession with the red half of North London?
I write and some read about the club we love. Some make a living out of talking about the side, garnering thousands of views and subscribers.
Some of my peers pay a fortune to follow Arsenal round the country, adapt their work schedule around the fixture list, give up time to be with their family because they are at the Emirates, etc.
It’s okay to be passionate or even fanatical about your interest.
Yet you need to have the awareness that not everyone is going to care as much as you. You might be obsessed but outside of your bubble other things are going on.
Whisper it quietly …….Arsenal are not special!
Our badge is not unique!
Our shirt is not on a pedestal!
We are no different to the hundreds of other teams in the UK.
Roy Keane doesn’t have our crest on his dart board!
Gary Neville isn’t waking up planning what dastardly thing he can say next about our football club.
Rio Ferdinand isn’t campaigning for players to be dropped based on who their employers are.
These are millionaires who have children, businesses and their own lives to focus on.
They give their opinion because that’s literally what they are paid to do. Their point of view isn’t built on being threatened by a team who haven’t won a title in 21 years!
Step back, say it out loud and if it doesn’t sound like it makes sense it’s probably because it doesn’t?
Why would pundits only be picking on Gunners?
Is that actually factual?
What is their motive?
Isn’t it more realistic that they are simply saying what they believe?
One theory was Saka was being spotlighted because of the colour of his skin. Yet fans now unhappy that Rice’s displays are now under scrutiny contradict that conspiracy.
Not that common sense always applies.
I love Rice, he was my Arsenal player of the season but that doesn’t make him immune from critique. The definition of a supporter isn’t based on always being positive for the sake it.
Outside of the back 4, have any of the Three Lions played well in the Group stages?
If you have not played well in three games, why is it wrong to suggest other options?
The Three Lions don’t have a replacement for Rice but if you have Carlton Palmer on the bench what’s wrong some wanting him to start?
If a player isn’t playing well and there is an alternative option what’s wrong with that being considered?
Mikel Arteta would do the same.
So be honest. Is Saka having a great tournament but being made a scapegoat because of his club?
Or have we not seen the best out of him in the last couple of weeks?
The reality is with the options Gareth Southgate has in attack none of his first team could complain if they got dropped in the knockout stages.
If it were only Arsenal representatives being mentioned, then that would be suspicious.
Yet in the last fortnight I have read / heard pleads for Harry Kane, Foden, Bellingham and Trent Arnold to either be subbed earlier or not start at all.
Anyone providing you with content failing to point that out either is doing so deliberately to get some clicks or is wearing Arsenal glasses so brightly they can’t see anything else.
If you don’t play well and you have quality substitutions your spot is up for grabs. That’s been the concept of football for decades.
It doesn’t matter your race, gender, sex, religion or club, it’s as simple as that.
The irony being if your saying Saka and Rice can’t he criticised because of who pays their wages isn’t that you being biased?
If your stance is zero Arsenal players can be dropped, then who really has the agenda?
Dan
Spot on. There’s almost a religious feel to some of the articles and comments I read; it’s like saying anything against arsenal or some of our players is blasphemy. It’s very strange.
Truth be said , most of Arsenal players in the on going Euro competition have not really lived up to expectation. And especially the English players. I can’t say it’s due to a particular reason. But I guess their coach haven’t really found a tactic or formation to bring the best out of them,. It could also be due burnout because of the rigors of the just concluded Epl. Whatever reason it is, Arsenal players need to step up in Euro.
Saka and rice have both been bog standard ,not sure if that’s the way Southgate as set up ,mind you the rest of the said haven’t been any better
Football has the most incredibly intense tribalism and we take it to heart when our players are criticised by pundits etc. it’s bad enough when we argue amongst ourselves on the subject.
Purely answering on the Euros, I put most of the blame for the shambles that England were over 4 games, fairly and squarely on Southgate’s shoulders. Nobody has really come out with flying colours and everyone in that first 11/13 team are standout players in their own clubs.
Of course Saka is droppable. Isn’t that why Southgate takes 25 plus players to the tournament?
In factual terms, individually and collective!y the England back four was decidedly shaky against a very average international side.
The whole eleven has been sub par even the substitute players have failed to impress. I watched the game yesterday and players that I thought to be top players look ordinary. Hence, you can’t correctly point at a player to be the problem or that there’s a player on the bench that can perform magic.
The problem,in my opinion, seems to be the team structure and tactics
The structure of the team is imbalanced due to a lack of left footed left backs and central midfielders.Southgate has been unlucky with injuries to the likes of Shaw and Chilwell but there is simply a dearth of Eng!ish left footed midfielders.He included young Wharton of Palace who is still serving his apprenticeship yet excluded Mitchell who is a very capable, established LB imo.If you compare the England squad with that of Spain and France the lack of quality left footers stands out.Spain have Grimaldo and Cucurella at LB and the very impressive Ruiz and Merino for left midfield.In the same way France can call upon Hernandez,Mendy,Rabiot and the multi skilled Camavinga.In essence these sides do not have to play players out of position which is what Southgate is obliged to do.The question of his tactical ability is another issue which I shall not dwell on but which would attract considerable comment from fans no doubt.
Football tribalism is no new thing. And it is without any cure, as far as I know. Tribalism is inseparable to any sport. Talking and arguing about it is not going to change a thing. It’s not supposed to be a logical and sensible affair.
Strangely Dan, I haven’t seen or heard any Arsenal fan moaning about any of our players being dropped during this tournament, in fact the complete opposite.
I just want them to return fit and well.
We, as a fanbase, moan about our players during the season, but international games are different, especially when Southgate is in charge.
As for our badge, it is the most symbolic part of our club and I would suggest that most football fans would recognise it as such!!
We should petition to have rhe “Victory Through Harmony” returned on the shirts, as this is also part of our history, as can be seen when walking around The Emirates stadium.