Why Tuchel as a foreigner has no right to criticise the behaviour of the England crowd

• Using Arteta as an excuse; it had to come sooner or later
• The appalling side of football, neither clubs nor the media will ever admit to

By Dougls Jones

Thomas Tuchel has been criticising football fans who have been supportive enough to spend a fair amount of money and go to England matches, for being what he calls “silent”. 

Of course, he is paid to be there, so we expect him to be communicating and active.   Those who do the reverse and pay to be there surely have the right to be as quiet, noisy, positive or negative as they wish.   If it were free to go in, maybe the FA could ban silent fans, but it is not free.  It is, in fact, extremely expensive.   As the saying goes, “you pays your money and takes your choice.”

Yet there is a bit of a debate going on as to whether he is right to make such a comment, but there is also another debate to be had about what rights the fans have.  By and large, fans are only ejected or banned from grounds for racism, throwing things and fighting, and that means that most fans have the freedom to make comments, cheer and jeer as they wish.   

But Tuchel, who is, after all, not English and thus perhaps not brought up in the English tradition of open criticism, doesn’t like it.   And that raises a point: should England’s FA not be enquiring of its managers as to whether they actually understand England’s football fans, before giving the man the job?

There have been occasions when fans at the current Arsenal Stadium and before that, at Highbury, have booed the manager and/or the team and/or certain players.   No one has suggested that fans don’t have the right to do that.   There have been times when the stadia have been rather quiet – indeed, away supporters used to call Highbury “The Library”.

Which led to the issue, which I still think is a rather important one: do fans have a duty to support their team, no matter how the team is playing?  And then again, is it helpful to pick on one particular player in the Arsenal side and boo or jeer him?

Of course, we haven’t had such situations for a while, given the rise of Arsenal up the league from the depths that Emery left the club in, but there are always critical comments being made, even to the point of people writing here that Arteta should be sacked because he hasn’t won a trophy since his first season.

Criticism is part of football, and although I argue against any Arsenal supporter criticising. the manager or any players, I don’t argue that it should be stopped.  It is part of football to have the club’s own fans turn on particular people in the club.

And of course, that doesn’t just mean at Arsenal.  When I go and watch my local team because there is no Arsenal game on a Saturday afternoon, there are not only a majority of the five or six hundred people in the stadium who cheer the team, but also others who seemingly go to the game to moan.  Of course, in the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands, the crowds are modest and achievements are rare – but we live in hope.  Yet some do seem to love to complain.

But really, whether it is watching my local side or Arsenal, for me, the essence of “support” is being supportive of the players and team.   But if some people want to boo or jeer at either ground, that is up to them.  And I get the feeling most people in football stadiums agree.

Except Tuchal has gone a bit further because now he is criticising what he calls the ‘silent’ supporters who don’t make a noise at England games.   And that is very dangerous ground to be on.  Dangerous, because I do value the freedom we’ve always had to express ourselves within a football ground, and dangerous because I think it rebounds on the current manager, the England team and the whole of football.#

We pay to go and watch football and the tradition has always been that within the limits of the law (for example, on racism) we can say what we like, chant what we like and sing what we like.   And while it is perfectly reasonable for a person of non-English heritage to comment on the crowd’s actions in a league match, where most of the players are also of non-English heritage, it is not reasonable for such a manager to criticise the England crowd.

If the crowd watching an England football match are not free to express themselves (or in this case not) as they wish (within the law), where and when are they free?

Tuchel has, in my view, got this seriously wrong, and most certainly should consider carefully what he says in future.  And if he finds that is too much to ask of a foreigner managing an England team, maybe he should go and manage somewhere else.