- Could it really be there is something going wrong with football in England?
- There’s something very wonky about the media coverage of Arsenal. Tonight’s Arsenal line up.
By Tony Attwood
And so it was a night of wonderful celebration and joy, as we approach the Champions League final; although we know it is going to be tough, whichever of the other two wins their game tonight.
For these are two serial winners: on the one hand, we have Bayern Munich, who have won their league something like 13 times in the last 14 years (I may have miscounted that; it got a bit tedious seeing the same name all the time). And then on the other hand, we have Paris Saint-Germain, who have won the French league 11 times in the last 13 years.
Indeed, you could try and place a double bet on which clubs will win next year’s German and French leagues, and if you go for Bayern and PSG I doubt anyone would want to take your money.
Meanwhile, the job of the commentator or football journalist is to explain what is going on and then to reflect on the implications of incidents in a match. And this itself is a bit of a contentious issue because it implies that without the journalist, the spectator at a game can’t quite grasp the implications and meanings of what is happening on the pitch.
Now, this belief – that we need the journalist or TV commentator to help us understand football, because the journalists understand more than us mere fans, is important, at least to the journalist, because it justifies the journalist’s existence. And it further suggests that knowing the scores of matches is not enough – we need to know why the game turned out that way.
In some ways, this is obvious. A journalist actually at a game can see more than a supporter understands from the score alone. The journalist sees that Arsenal beat Fulham 3-0, and can suggest that Arsenal should have had more.
But of course, we are now handling something else – a question of fact and opinion, a question of the depth of understanding and knowledge of what a player or manager was trying and what he got right or wrong.
The Telegraph’s writer says “Mikel Arteta’s players finally came of age at the point of the Champions League where reputations are made….” ignoring the fact that it is the media that makes and destroys reputations. We don’t get much say in all of this.
Although for once, there is some agreement that Arsenal got it right. As the Guardian says, “Everything that Arsenal had poured into a hugely impressive Champions League campaign came down to this. It was not about more plaudits, more pride. It was purely about taking the next step, moving to the verge of history. On an increasingly frenzied night, when the ghosts of previous near misses under Mikel Arteta provided a part of the story, they made surely the boldest advance so far under their manager.”
Yet in the last 20 years Arsenal have come third in the Premier League four times, and fourth in that league four times. and second four times. Oh yes and the club has also won the FA Cup four times. Is getting to the final of the Champs League the next step? I think it is probably just another step.
Now I remember, of course, that in the old phrase used against Wenger “fourth is not a trophy” and should Arsenal not win the Champs League something about always coming second or “always the bridesmaid” will be trotted out, but I will retain the view that whatever happens next, we are progressing.
Arteta is the man who has taken us out of the decline into finishes in fith, sixth and fifth, to take the team apart and rebuild it. Which is what he did in his opening three seasons before the run of second-place finishes.
Obviously, such an analysis doesn’t fit into a headline, although something along the lines of “Artetta’s step-by-step rebuild” might have been more accurate. And this matters because headlines and individual match reports don’t get us to the heart of Arteta’s achievements at Arsenal, of which we obviously saw another step last night.
Put simply, football is complex. Arsenal won last nigtht because of issues such as the talent of the Arsenal players both individually and as a team working as one, the knowledge and attention to detail of the manager, the knowledge and ability of the referee, the back ups that the club has to cover for injuries and loss of form, the absolute positivity of the crowd, a spot of chance and luck (which is part of every game) and despite the determination of the opposition.
Which makes the point: football is complex. And although that sounds utterly obvious, it is worth remembering the next time a journalist writes a simplistic explanation of why Arsenal didn’t win. For even in this moment of enjoyment, the Telegraph can’t resist, “Arsenal end 20 years of hurt and decline.”
That is nonsense. Decline is what Tottenham are suffering this season, not ten years in which Arsenal came third and fourth and won the FA Cup twice, while at the same time paying for their new stadium.
No matter what Arsenal achieve, there will always be negativity somewhere. All we can do as fans is live every moment, enjoy every moment, have faith that the management and players will bring us more, and reject the relentless criticism of the naysayers and their pals. They have to be positive today, but given any chance, they will be back. It is us to keep the good times rolling. Next up, West Ham.
