Just published: 100 years since Chapman joined the Arsenal – part 22, success did not come at once.
By Tony Attwood
And so we approach the next match which is against…. Real Madrid on Wednesday at 8pm. It’s on TNT.
What is interesting is of course what the two clubs have done in the build-up to this match. Arsenal gave some players a rest and got a pretty awful 1-1 draw against a team they would on any other occasion have beaten with several goals to spare. But at least everyone came out more or less ok.
In Spain however, it has been a different matter as Kylian Mbappé decided to go around fouling anything that moved and so got himself sent off. This being Spain, Alavés also had a player sent off so the game finished 10 v 10. Unfortunately for Arsenal, red cards in the League don’t carry over into banning orders in the Champions League so Mbappé will be free to kick whosoever he chooses during the match against Arsenal.
And anyway in that last game in Spain at the weekend Manu Sánchez was also sent off making it a 10v 10 game. Still, it is fun trying to keep up with all the shenanigans in Spanish football as Carlo Ancelotti wasn’t able to be at the side of the pitch because he’d already amassed five yellow cards for jumping about, shouting, running up and down and other such offences. What was also interesting however was that Mr Ancelotti senior nominated his son, Mr Ancelotti junior to take his place as manager for the day.
What we did see in that match however was a really interesting new tactical approach which involved Antonio Rüdiger knocking the opposition goalkeeper to the floor while Asencio levered himself up on the shoulders of one of the opposition defenders in order to head the ball.
All in all, studying these antics, it does show that the game has evolved in numerous different ways in different countries and that while PGMO are utterly bonkers in their mega-secrecy approach, other countries are also going their own ways in reworking the laws of the game.
Speaking of which, it appears there are some regular everyday events in the matches in Spain, which allowed Ancelloti to announce that Mbappé is not a violent guy. Which makes one wonder what counts as violence in Spain these days. It’s many years since I have been there, so I don’t really have much evidence to call upon.
But it was also interesting that the boss went on to complain that “many small fouls were committed against Mbappé” which apparently “made him react.” Well, that’s good to know. Don’t foul Mbappé or else you might get a fist in your face. OK got that. It seems fair enough in terms of Uefa rules. Although, if you want to abide by the rules of football there are different concepts, such as don’t foul a player because that in itself is against the rules.
Back in England, recognising that there is an increasing danger that Manchester C might finish outside the top four, the rules have been backdated and adjusted to ensure that the fifth-placed team gets into the Champs League next season. And by chance that fifth-placed team is indeed…. well you know…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 32 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 74 | 31 | 43 | 76 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 32 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 57 | 27 | 30 | 63 |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest | 32 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 51 | 38 | 13 | 57 |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 31 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 56 | 40 | 16 | 56 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 32 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 62 | 42 | 20 | 55 |
.
Incidentally, there are a few interesting odds around if you fancy having a bet. Tottenham for example are 750 to 1 to finish in the top four. And 500 to 1 to finish in the top six. It’s good to know there are still some ways that Tottenham supporters can spend their money.
But what makes this quite interesting is to look back at the odds given at the start of the season. These odds are taken from OddsNow.com and they have very kindly left the relevant page on-line. So their figures at the start of the season were
- Tottenham to win the Premier League – 28/1
- Tottenham to finish in the top four – 9/4
- Tottenham to finish outside the top six – 11/8
- Tottenham to win a major trophy – 3/1
The only one of those that made any sense was the third one down, but then the odds were a paltry 11/8 which suggests that while the journalists had no concept of what this Tottenham team is all about, the bookies did. And do. At 11 to 8 it’s hardly worth picking up the phone.
Tottenham are currently 500/1 to get relegated. Actually I don’t think they (avoid it that is since we are now in a league in which the top three go up, then go back down, then quite probably go up and then….) so it’s all planned out and really not that much fun to watch.
No doubt some Spanish commentator will say that Mbappe “is not that kind of player”
I’ve just done the best I can to find out (although it’s from BBC live text so not the best) and it appears that Mbappe wasn’t fouled once during the game or at least the ref didn’t give any fouls in his favour.
Looking at whoscored.com though, it does appear that Mbappe was possibly the worst player on the pitch with just a 75% pass completion and not one other action of note in the game. Seems to me that he doesn’t like it very much when things don’t go his way. Let’s hope he throws his toys out of the pram on Wednesday….without injuring anybody!