Covid certifcate, car insurance, empty seats at £10 each… another Arsenal night

By Tony Attwood

There are euphemisms and euphemisms.   The Guardian today says, “Jürgen Klopp’s side mustered all their street-fighting experience to hold them [Arsenal] at bay.”

That’s one way to describe it. 

Looking at the team many would probably say that the return to the squad of a 20 a season centre forward could help as well.  But overall the fact that we used Thomas Partey who had only just got off the plane, while not resorting to tactics about players testing positive when they aren’t, showed that we play by the rules, no matter what, but were getting a bit desperate.  Apparently the manager was a bit annoyed with him.

As Mikel Arteta pointed out, half this side had not even trained before the match.  The reasons were the usual: Covid and injury.  Certainly from where I was sitting Tomiyasu didn’t look right either.

So how have we got into this state?   The Africa Cup of course has caused us problems, but we’ve known about that for years, and injuries come and go, as does covid.   Yet despite all this we have let 14 players leave this season, for a variety of reasons.   Quite why Ainsley Maitland Niles was allowed to go to Roma before this match I don’t know – maybe Roma said “now or never” or maybe Maitland Niles was refusing to train to force the loan.   Would Sead Kolasinac have done better in defence – at least as a sub?  Maybe not, because he has been out for so long – but anyway he is now at Marseille. 

Indeed we have 14 players who have left the club this season on loan or transfers, including two who left without immediately having another club to go to (Dejan Iliev and David Luiz).  We have been left short.

Of course, we know that last time Mr Arteta undertook a revolution, when he changed the defence last season, he gave us a glorious last two-thirds of the campaign.  So yes I guess that we have to have faith that this is what he is doing again and that this is an intermediate stage before the newcomers arrive.  Although it didn’t look too clever last night.

On the positive side, if anyone didn’t know it already, Martinelli is an astonishing, amazing player, and undoubtedly the mega-sized offers for him are going to come in soon.   One wonders what on earth Manchester United were doing letting him come to us for virtually nothing.  But then I guess that is Manchester United for you.   And indeed with Saka, Odegaard and Smith Rowe on form we have an utterly amazing forward-looking side.  It’s just they were not on form.

What else from last night?   Well despite tickets at something like £5 and £10 each, the stadium was far from full, even for a cup semi-final, which suggests enthusiasm for Arsenal has indeed waned.

And yes there are still idiots around who think it is fun to run on the pitch.  And the stewards are still quite unable to deal with them, and so I guess Arsenal have just accepted it will happen.

However Arteta’s track record in taking gambles is brilliant – most notably with sacking Ozil, the tactical change last season, and buying an entire new defence last summer.  All have paid off, but in all cases have had very uncertain starts.  So it looks like this is where we are again.

But quite what the next revolution is, I really don’t know, although indeed I was rather slow in working out the “don’t tackle” approach last year.  (My only defence is that I did get it before others.)

Perhaps we will see a range of new players suddenly emerge, or be brought in, in the next nine days, and we’ll have a superb final part of the season in order to reach the glorious “not a trophy” position, which was once taken so much for granted.  I really don’t know at the moment.

So as I don’t know, let me end with a real piece of nonsense.   To get into the ground yesterday everyone (at least at the entrance I was using) had to show a covid pass.   I’m treble vaccinated and of course have one and keep it in my wallet, next to my car insurance (always handy to carry in case one is stopped by over enthusiastic young police officers).

The gentleman standing by the side of the queue looked at me, and I looked at him.   “Covid pass” he said, so I took out my wallet, removed the paper work, and by mistake showed him…. my car insurance certificate.

He waved me through without a second glance.

Good to know we’re all safe in Arsenal’s hands.

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