Arsenal v Tottenham the team, Fifa injury compensation, and preparing for celebrations

By Tony Attwood

As we have often said, internationals are a menace as they whisk players away from their clubs, injure them and return them with a note saying “make sure he’s ready for the next round of internationals”.

And at least others are waking up to the issue as one that many fans have been angered by for many years. Thus we have just seen the article Do clubs whose players are injured on international duty get compensation? Good to see others are getting the message.

Apparently, FIFA recognised in 2012 it had a problem in this regard and so then set up insurance schemes for players, which have now been introduced. So Arsenal should get something for Gabriel’s absence. Any player with an international injury that keeps them out of the league side for 28 days can claim his wages from Fifa, and the club can also claim compensation through the arrangements. So maybe our moaning over the years helped a bit.

Insurance cover runs from the moment they leave the club until they get back. And of course it is not enough since losing a player can mean losing a title – but once the idea is accepted, as it now is, we can push for more realistic payments to clubs.

So far the funds for the club cover the player’s salary, although not issues such as loss of image rights or medical fees. And the limits on the scheme mean that for top players, not all their salary will be covered – but at long last it is an admission by Uefa and the rest that they are taking the clubs’ greatest assets and just taking huge risks with them. It is a move that is long overdue – although at least they are now admitting responsibility. It doesn’t yet extend to under 21 internationals but we can keep on talking about it, and maybe there will be some more progress later.

So, with a little bit of good news appearing on the horizon, what of today’s Arsenal team?

The media is reporting worries about the fitness of Calafiori. The thought is also that “Either Cristhian Mosquera or Piero Hincapie are likely to replace Gabriel against Spurs, or Calafiori could shift across from left-back if he is fit.” That is according to the Standard.

Their vision of the Arsenal team today is

Raya;

Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori;

Eze, Zubimendi, Rice;

Saka, Merino, Trossard

Meanwhile, there is chitter chatter on X to say that Arteta “called an urgent 10 am meeting with his management team on Sunday morning,” although the articles that proclaim this don’t actually tell us why. They guess in some casese, but I thought it might be to take a look at the league table, so I also thought I had better repeat it just in case it passed you by. Arsenal will still be top tonight no matter what. As for Tottenham, a win would put them above Crystal Palace, which I imagine would herald a week of celebration in the High Road.

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	11	8	2	1	20	5	15	26
2	Chelsea	12	7	2	3	23	11	12	23
3	Manchester City	12	7	1	4	24	10	14	22

8	Tottenham Hotspur	11	5	3	3	19	10	9	18

Yahoo Sport gives us a team of

Raya;

Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori;

Eze, Zubimendi, Rice;

Saka, Merino, Trossard

which if you are paying attention, you will notice is the same as the prediction earlier. Meanwhile, Arsenal news tells us that Gabriel Martinelli, “has hinted that he could be available after a muscle issue. He wrote ‘ready’ on a whiteboard at the Sobha Realty Training Centre when asked to describe the north London derby in one word.” Oh what jolly japes these interviewers get up to!

The article continues, “Martin Odegaard has likewise returned to full training and could be involved in some capacity. And there is more as, “The Gunners have now received a further boost with both Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke spotted reporting for training, in a video released by the club on social media.”

But of course this is the English media and Arsenal so doom and gloom also make a lot of appearances as with “Arsenal battling an injury crisis they must solve to avoid history repeating itself” which comes from the Metro. The notion of history repeating itself, and the warnings that the Metro and others give, all suggest that all the signs are there if only the stupid Arsenal management would just sit up, read the newspaper, and take the action these journalists know all about.

But the reality of course, is that the people who write this stuff are not football managers because they could never make it as a football manager, living as they do inside their own little fantasy bubble. They have also come up with the idea that “Kai Havertz has had a ‘minor relapse’” and maybe that is true, But to see the real bias in place in that article, consider the phrase “Arsenal resume their campaign fully in control as they chase down a first league title in 22 years.” What the journalists and publishers hope you don’t notice is that they don’t write about Tottenham “chasing down a first league title in….” And well, yes, in how many years?

I make it 64 years since the Tottys won the league, but I ran out of fingers along the way so that might be wrong. But really, isn’t it funny that they go on and on about Arsenal’s 22 years, and ignore the fact that for Tottenham you could almost multiply that by three.

Ah well, I’m anticipating a great round of celebrations tonight.

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