By Tony Attwood
It is, of course, hard to imagine that instead of paying to get into a game, the reverse happens, but apparently (according to newspaper “reports”) that is how it is for some countries at the World Cup. Top of the list of “we’ll pay you to attend” is Qatar, who now pay people to turn up and cheer. (Goodness knows what they do if you take the money and then don’t cheer, but then I’m not Qatari, so it is not likely to happen. And of course, it might just be a made-up story by the media with nothing better to say. You can read more on the story here.
But still, one can always tell when the football is getting a bit naff when the media attention moves from the actual games to something else, and the media revert to the phrase “foul-mouthed” meaning the sort of chit chat one hears somewhere in most grounds of a Saturday. (This journalist chap does seem to live a very sheltered life! As in “Jude Bellingham in foul-mouthed bust-up as Ghana taunt ‘lucky’ England.”
Oh yes, and inverted commas around words like “luckty”. Again, an indicator of a lack of news. Here’s another one: “England midfielder restrained by team-mates during row with former Manchester United.
Meanwhile, we hear that being Arsenal’s most expensive player is a risky business. We might recall Unai Emery did sign a man who at the time was the “most expensive” and then Arsenal found it hard to give him away, although they did in the end.
Of course, the record of “most expensive” at Arsenal has moved on to Declan Rice, who is said to have cost 116m euros, which was more than Nikicolas Pepe, who cost just 80m euros.
The problem for Rice is he plays too much – 360 matches, including internationals, since the start of 2020/1 with virtually no extended breaks. In fact, the way things are going, he could end up playing in 70 club and country games by the end of the WC season – and then Arsenal will need him ready for the new league campaign. And I am not sure we have a cover for him when that happens. Rice has been in the starting XI for every England match in the last three competitions the country has participated in.
And now we see the meaning of “managing” his performance – that is to say, have him playing until he drops from pain. As Gary Neville actually said, “You don’t rest Declan Rice.”
But as most of us know, pain is a warning that things are not right, and ignoring the pain can mean making the injury worse and worse. “Playing through pain” can sound very manly, but the long-term damage can reveal the decision to be utterly stupid. And at some stage, the issue that is causing the pain has to be dealt with – but with Rice’s case, when will that be?
As soon as he comes back from the WC, he’ll get three weeks’ rest, and then off he goes again – and most likely the pain will return.
Of course, pain is not an absolute indicator of what is wrong, although players often think it is, but the real danger is that players become used to handling the pain and start changing their style of play to reduce the level of pain, and that makes each one a less efficient player. But by the time he does stop to get the whole issue sorted, it can be too late – the natural style and timing will have gone, which won’t matter too much for England – but will hurt Arsenal next season.
Rice played 55 games for Arsenal last season. And the reason for this is where we started – neither England nor Arsenal have a natural replacement for him. And the biggest problem is that basically England doesn’t mind – they just need him to get through the World Cup.
The fact that Arsenal season ticket holders have already paid to watch the best possible Arsenal team play next season doesn’t bother the England management at all, and that is the nature of the job – we all work for our employers. But the one person who could resolve this is Rice, who could simply say, “Arsenal pay my salary, Arsenal fans back me up week after week. I owe it to them to be fit and ready for the next campaign.”
In short Declan, “just say ‘no’.”
