By Tony Attwood
We know that journalists and editors prefer knocking football clubs rather than praising them – and that knocking Arsenal, above all others, is a favoured pastime for much of the media. But suddenly it seems that the world of football has gone totally bonkers with negative stories, and only one of them is about Arsenal.
That one story you’ll know of course: “Kai Havertz set to miss rest of season with injury in major blow for Arsenal, and Arsenal’s transfer gamble has blown up spectacularly.”
Yes the clear implication is that no matter how much it cost Arsenal, and no matter how much his current club wanted to charge as a transfer fee, Arsenal should have bought another striker because a) they should have guessed Havertz would be injured and b) a striker of quality would have agreed to come to Arsenal even though he knew he might lose his place once any of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, and Gabriel Martinelli return from injury.
Besides which, the media have spent a lot of this season telling us that previous Arsenal purchases and loans haven’t worked, so there is no guarantee that an overpriced buy at this time would actually have been a player to rescue Arsenal.
That of course, would normally be the dominant story, but suddenly the media has decided that football in the Premier League is totally in chaos and can’t be taken seriously.
So we have the surprising report that the Everton v Liverpool game ends in brawl – with four red cards which is odd since we are normally told how good and jolly these northern chaps are with their humorous (if unintelligible) banter.
And what’s this? Actual media criticism of a referee???? That is odd, but there it is: “Liverpool’s Van Dijk claims referee failed to control” a Merseyside derby, and normally of course, at least according to the media, everyone is so respectful of each other. Unlike those moronic southerners.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the north we suddenly find ManU are on the edge of bankruptcy and need a hundred job cuts to help the club avoid going bust
This is all pretty weird but even odder is the fact that the “Premier League has asked its clubs for expanded investigatory powers,” including free access into the clubs’ offices so they can check on what is not being told to them. That looks like a new assault on ManC and other oil-funded clubs. Certainly, it has to do with the proposed squad cost ratio controls which will replace the profitability and sustainability rules. Other rules (and court cases) may be along later.
In this regard the League wants its officials to have the right to enter buildings if a club is found not to have complied with an inquiry. That would suggest the right (which exists in law for the police in the UK) to seize documents. The chance of ManC agreeing to that one are somewhere around 500 points below zero.
And here’s a thing: even ManC supporters are coming in for criticism particularly over a Rodri banner – with the Guardian giving us a whole article on what the banner tells us about how ManC fans see themselves. Even the Guardian wouldn’t have run that sort of criticism a year ago.
Of course, Tottenham always like to join in a party no matter what sort of party it is and there is now talk of a Qatari takeover of the club but with Daniel Levy continuing as chair. That might be amusing as of late one of the main chants at the Hottentot stadium is “Levy Out”.
But here’s another thing: every one of those quotes comes from the Guardian, which now seems to be rampaging against everything in English football. And it is not alone, for the Telegraph is at it too. Although of course they have the expected anti-Arsenal bit with Arsenal’s transfer gamble has blown up spectacularly after Havertz injury
I’m not sure “spectacularly” is appropriate there sine a week before we were being told he was no good, but we move on to find Chelsea in striker shortage before we approach the tiny totts with Levy facing fresh revolt as Tottenham fans plan protest And even the normally protected and precious ManC fans get a bit of a drubbing from No surprise ridiculous stunt by City fans to mock Vinicius Jnr backfired so horrendously. They just don’t know how to do ridiculous stunts up north.
Of course there are other tales of chaos in football such as How Jermaine Jenas’ return caused a mutiny and indeed another tale of revolt and revolution with City and Real – two titans who want to burn football’s house down
Now we have known for some time that football journalism, like football, is in a chaotic state, but for two of the more serious newspapers both to leap on that view at once is heartening in the sense that they have woken up. Although it is a trifle worrying, in that it rather looks like we’ve been right all along.
Except for one little thing. They both forgot to mention PGMO.
