By Tony Attwood
- Inter v Arsenal: 8pm, 6 November. This looks tough.
- Edu to Forest, just as we were noting their figures were misleading
One of the issues that frustrates me occasionally with being an Arsenal supporter is that although many fans, – and indeed perhaps most fans – know about many of the great players of the past, there is often a lack of knowledge as to the huge developments and changes that the club went through since it was founded by a group of football enthusiasts working in the factories and shipyards on the south bank of the River Thames in the 19th century.
Hence, for example, the series I am currently putting together to celebrate 100 years since Herbert Chapman joined the Arsenal – the actual anniversary happening next summer (by which time I hope that series will be completed and the club itself might actually realise what an important moment this is). The latest episode in that series is Chapman: success at Huddersfield, and concern at Arsenal and there is an index to the full series at the top of that page.
I am working on that series because tracing Arsenal’s history in a way that goes beyond just having a list of dates and a “this happened” then “that happened” approach, does I think, give a deeper understanding of how we got to where we are today.
And where we are today in terms of European football, is, in my view at least, something of a mess. The extension of the Champions League into a megaleague of 36 clubs of whom only a few play each other before some go through, some play off, and some are kicked out, means that the new format will increase the total number of matches played in the competition from 125 to 189 (and that numbers is excluding qualifying rounds).
But for what purpose? If there was a meaningful purpose then we might say, ok let’s change the Premier League from 20 clubs to 40 clubs, but keep the number of games the same, so that more smaller clubs can get a chance to play in the League. And why? Why play in a competition that you have no chance of doing anything meaningful in except maybe by chance snatch the occasional draw? Apart from money, there seems no logical reason, and I am not too sure how long fans are going to continue supporting this new format.
Surely the way things are organised in the traditional league system in which all clubs have something to fight for is a better idea. And although this has been eroded somewhat in recent times with clubs that are promoted then being relegated again, there is still a chance of them staying up.
It’s true that the days of Swansea City getting three promotions in the four seasons between 1978 and 1981 are now long, long gone. And although it is true that ultimately they went back down, they survived in the top league from 2005 to 2011 having risen from the fourth tier.
According to Transfermarkt Arsenal have a 24 man squad worth €1.17bn while Inter Milan have a 26 man squad worth €677.30m – so the advantage would seem to be with Arsenal – assuming that squad values reflect quality, and the number of injuries is not excessive.
But the problem of course is the injuries and on this front the Standard has a Potential return date for Martin Odegaard of Wednesday 6 November 2024 vs Inter. That might be a big match to throw him straight back into so he might turn up on the bench.
As for Riccardo Calafiori the Standard says, “The Italian is unlikely to feature for the Gunners before the November international break after Arteta revealed his big-money summer signing would “be out for a few weeks”.”
For Inter (or as the British media call them “The Italians”) The Transfermarkt injury table shows Carlos Augusto having missed four matches with muscular problems while Kristjan Asllani missed the last match, the reason here being “rest”.
Quite extraordinarily, Arsenal appear only to have played Inter twice – at least according to the 11v11 website. The full list of the results of all these matches reads
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Sep 2003 | Arsenal v Inter Milan | L | 0-3 | Champions League |
| 25 Nov 2003 | Inter Milan v Arsenal | W | 1-5 | Champions League |
Whichever way you look at it that is an extraordinary pairing of results. We’ll have a further look at those games next time.
