VAR at the 2018 World Cup is the 21st century Russian Revolution. It is the football equivalent of “Seven Days That Shook The World” over 100 years ago. As happened in Europe and the world, for decades thereafter, nothing in football refereeing will remain the same after the VAR revolution at the 2018 World Cup.
Despite the bitter, vicious whingeing in the media by the luddite pundits who bang on endlessly that it is the end of football, i.e. the end of those “good times” when referees, wittingly or not, could erroneously award penalties and off-side goals without real-time review, despite the doubters, VAR has burst on the world stage proving that with technology the accuracy of refereeing decisions can decisively increase, especially on those game-changing decisions.
VAR is 99.3% correct
According to FIFA’s referee committee head, Pierluigi Collina, so far at the World Cup, 99.3 percent of “match-changing” decisions were called correctly at — “very, very close to perfection” — based on assessments by him and other senior ex-referees. Who in their right mind, after seeing world cup after world cup (my 12th tournament since 1970) where usually “smaller nations” get screwed over by a decisive penalty or off-side call, could be against VAR? Which England fan, with two working neurons and the ability to think independently, could be opposed to a video ref review after Maradonna’s infamous “hand of god” goal? Which Gooner, having experienced in the PL a 120% plus increase in Penalties-Against the club in the ten years up to 16-17 compared to the previous period, be satisfied with the current state of affairs?
Defining the revolution
So why is this a revolution? There is no bloody uprising, no raging factions of Girondists vs Jacobins, Mensheviks vs Bolsheviks, etc. engaged in terminal struggle. Yet it is my hypothesis that the impact of VAR is potentially as significant as any other revolution in the sport. First, the absolute power of the refereeing authorities to make game changing decisions without recourse has ended. It may take some months to become reality but the success of VAR on the world stage is the beginning of the end of those refereeing organizations who have delayed and procrastinated on the use of technology to ensure football officials get the big decisions absolutely right.
It is remarkable that up to 2018, football will be the last among the major sports to adopt technology. Is there anything more incongruous; in a world of 4k, ultra definition TV, where viewers can literally see every bead of sweat on a player’s brow, much less a blatant foul or hand-ball offense in real time, the Premier League with all its multi-billion tv revenue, will be the last among the major European leagues to adopt VAR. Truth, they say, is stranger than fiction.
How often have we seen referees dismiss with arrogance and impunity appeals made by players-managers-fans to reverse decisions that were blatant errors on their part. A mealy-mouth apology at end of season via a journalist or some other friendly audience regretting the error will not bring back 2 or 3 points dropped because of a bad decision. Multiply such “errors” two or three times over a season and three lost points multiply to as much nine. One doesn’t have to be a statistical genius to appreciate that in a league of fine margins, with a top-4 place more than a trophy (now the equivalent a gold or platinum plated Preferred Card to the riches of the champions league) that refereeing errors are simply unacceptable in deciding the results of games.
Even more revolutionary, to my mind, is how VAR will restrict the ability of the honchos who are the real power in the various leagues (Premier, UEFA, FIFA, etc.) from being able to appoint their favorite referee to manipulate a game to achieve a desired result. The biggest and most recent scandal, Calciopoli in Italy, centered on the fixers being able to have their favored corrupted referee appointed to do certain games. Fortunately for the Italian investigators, who busted the perpetrators, they had recorded telephone conversations between the plotters. No hard evidence has emerged of English referees being corrupted despite the increased legitimization of gaming companies being involved with English football, the massive rise in sports-related gambling rings in Asia and elsewhere and the reports of certain referees receiving favors from bookmakers. But some of us refuse to be intimidated by accusations of being conspiracy theorists, refuse to abandon commonsense, and refuse to ignore the laws of human nature. Throughout history wherever there is massive amounts of money to be had, without transparency and aggressive policing of the players, corrupting forces will flourish with gay abandon.
Disarray in the English media
The striking thing to date is how the VAR revolution has the English media in general disarray. Until recently, anything about the World Cup, particularly Russia, was negative. Football lovers were urged to avoid land of Putin as it was a cesspool of racist, violent football hooligans. Apparently the legions of fans who traveled from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and many European countries to support their teams simply ignored the advice of certain media and were/are only too happy to enjoy the hospitality of the Russians and to party from city-to-city, unmolested.
Pre-world cup the English football media was generally united that they, with a few well chosen propaganda points, could deceive the public that VAR doesn’t or couldn’t work. One prominent example is Barney Ronay of The Guardian, in my opinion their best exponent of Orwellian double-speak, who as recent as last January after only the 3rd trial of VAR by the Football League concluded:
“The fact is, for all the expertise, the manpower, the money spent, VAR just doesn’t work in football. It diminishes the experience of watching in the stadium. It skews the game decisively one way. It is one of those ideas, like bendy buses, or communism, that would simply be better off abandoned.”
Notice by the way the allusion to communism. Apparently you have to be a communist to want fair-play in football. Is there anything more Orwellian?
Eight months later the Guardian is a little more “guarded” (pardon the pun), one may say even ebullient in their assessment of VAR. In a column headlined The video ref is the rising star of this World Cup, penned by a Jack Bernhardt and published on June 19th, long before the conclusion of the group stages of the World Cup, he wrote:
“Sure, there have been a few high-profile mistakes. VAR should have spotted Harry Kane being wrestled to the ground by Tunisia’s defenders last night, and if England hadn’t won the Sun would have run the headline “What a bunch of VARseholes”. But to me, VAR is much more than a silly extra gimmick, or something new and shiny that exists just to irritate Mark Lawrenson – it’s actually changing the dynamic of the sport.
“But if a referee knows they can review a decision, it becomes inherently less arbitrary. As such, everyone has more faith in the system, so there are fewer frustrated outbursts, and less of a need for a referee to stamp their authority on the game. That’s borne out by the stats: with no red cards in the first 14 matches, this is officially the cleanest start to a World Cup in 32 years.”
Beware the counter revolution
The success of VAR is not guaranteed. Like any revolution, there will be a counter revolution. Europe is replete with examples. The French are now into their 5th Republic. The Soviet Union has ceased to exist.
The Powers That Be (PTOB) may be off-balance by the current success of VAR but it won’t be for long. Without a vigilant footballing public I am absolutely sure it will be corrupted to the detriment of fair play. The referees are not perfect and they are swayed by their inherent, historical bias towards the traditionally big footballing nations (easily change that to big-spending football clubs). Carlos Quieroz is absolutely correct that Ronaldo should have been sent off for that deliberate foul vs Iran, not a yellow card after the VAR review. The Moroccans have filed a complaint to FIFA showing 10 instances where they were shafted during their game vs Spain. Similarly the Serbians are still incensed by decisions against them in the game vs Switzerland particularly that incident when Lichsteiner and cohort wrested Mitroivic to the ground with absolutely no call. Already The Telegraph via Keith Hackett are arguing that “VAR officials are hunting for decisions to make and interfering when not needed.” But, as the smaller footballing nations at the World Cup have experienced, there is need for more VAR when the referees have made errors, not less.
As for those of us who support Arsenal and follow the Premier League, it will be interesting to see how our lords and masters react to the success of VAR in Russia. As ArsenalAndrew, who is a long-time advocate of VAR tweeted:
All I shall add, there is a crying need to “ReformThePGMO.”
Positively Arsenal 
Different games to yesterday and less quality on show, but when the drama was good it was good.
1st game was about the story; 2nd a better watch throughout, with a similarly dramatic conclusion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Per Mertesacker Verified account @mertesacker
3h3 hours ago
Today I met every Arsenal Academy player and their families. We have big things planned for this Academy and I can’t wait for the new season! #ArsenalAcademy #wearethearsenal
LikeLiked by 1 person
LikeLiked by 1 person
its Gazidis FC not Arsenal FC
LikeLiked by 2 people
according to Jeorge Bird, Josh DaSilva is not in the picture, he has been offered a new contract but as of today is a free agent. Okonkwo and Omole and new signing Karl Jakob Hein are in the picture
LikeLiked by 1 person
isn’t it amazing how down right lies spouted by the likes of piers morgan, end up within a few days being reported like its fact. Take his bullshit about Wenger refusing to sign Mbappe two years ago cos he refused to pay Mbappe’s agents £7M fees, PM spouts this complete lie, then its picked up by main stream media and bloggers, of course to begin with he is quoted as the source of the story, then it becomes “reports suggest”, then “reports” and after a couple of days its just “reason why” and is now reported as fact. And idiot Arsenal fans lap it up and repeat the lie and will continue to repeat the lie for years to come, never mind it is made up bullshit from one of the most disgusting journos the british media has ever employed.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Rich: About those two books you referenced about the intrigue surrounding the PGMO, the exits of Phillip Don and Keith Hackett and the remarkable rise of Mike “Game 50” Riley, can you provide the titles and authors. In trying to research the PGMO, I have found a total whitewash on Wikipedia in particular. As readers know Wiki pages can and are heavily edited.
One thing to recall from around the time when Eduardo was broken in two parts and later Ramsey, was how Wenger in response argued the need for more protection of players and punishment for overly physical play. That was twisted and turned by the mainstream media especially the pro-United pundits as Wenger wanting to “outlaw” tackling. In retrospect it was a remarkably successful propaganda campaign. Even some Arsenal fans ate it up hook, line and sinker. To this day English officials see no need to protect technical players from the hacking and rotational fouling that many Allardycian teams employ.
But the Powers That Be knew for good technical teams to be kicked out of their game you needed the referees onside. No wonder ex-United CEO, Scudamore and Ferguson placed Riley in charge of PL referees. It all makes sense.
That is why the VAR revolution is so important. Finally we can see the day when the “tyranny” of Riley and the PGMO comes to an end.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Eddy: Isn’t it remarkable how football fans, and Arsenal fans in particular, who should know better, are so susceptible to lies expecially those purveyed by the mainstream media. Where is our “fake news” meter?
LikeLiked by 3 people
shotta, sure.
They’re all autobiographies from refs themselves. I had a couple of years reading as many football books as I could get my hands on, partly motivated by the search for any info on you know who, which I’d found difficult to come by, but it was only in the refs’ own books I found much of what i looked for.
Added Time: Mark Halsley
Seeing Red : Graham Poll
The man in the middle : Howard Webb.
The bit about Scudamore’s bonus was from ‘Be careful what you wish for : Simon Jordan’ but it’s only a small bit and not worth your while otherwise (though it was a decent book about football’s workings
If I remember right, Halsey’s is the best for it, Poll next, Webb last, though they all contain interesting bits about Pgmol workings and history.
It could be an interesting journey if you read those books, as, for me, it helps humanise them and ,if I remember right, brought on some healthy self-doubt about my, erm, quest…but ultimately, no, it didn’t change my mind, just reinforced my belief that while I know they have tough job and I want to support them, etc, I can’t with our lot as i don’t trust them and think we have suffered a lot at their hands.
I loaned two of them form local library which I’m guessing isn’t an option for you, but got the 3rd, Halsey, as an ebook or whatever they’re called from ibooks. Maybe that’ll be your best bet. Webb’s is newest so should definitely be available in that format as well.
There’s a couple more out there which I haven’t read : Clattenberg’s recent one; Jeff Winter : Who’s the Bastard in the black ; and one that might be most interesting The man in the middle : David Elleray.
He was ref who had a famous willingness to send off Utd players when they deserved it, exited around pgmol’s beginning, and went on to be prominent ref figure for FA (who I believe control selection of refs, and probably marking of them,too, for FA cup games, where I think we historically get much better treatment.
Very crudely speaking in my mind he marks point where Utd were still treated quite normally, and we were too (despite all the reds), in comparison to what happened later. Though game 50 was the real turning point for me: a new benchmark for what was possible.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Finally, Shotta, stuff on pgmol board composition was found on the web.
There never was much and i think there could be less now as at least a couple of times I went looking for something i had earlier found with ease and couldn’t find it again (might have been listing of Scud’ on the board from earlier days).
Afraid I went as far as looking at their financial records,etc, to try find anything about the board. There we are, this confirms Scud’ was on there and now Riley is. He’s firmly entrenched it seems
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04195554/filing-history?page=1
Oh well, now I’ve revealed myself fully as a conspiracy nut, I guess.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Rich:
I have had a similar experiences as you when it comes to the PGMO. Two years ago when I commenced diving deep into the PGMO history to provide facts and data for my PA blogs there was stuff available that have now disappeared. When one points out these suspicious occurrences, like many other truth-tellers, one runs the risk of being branded a conspiracy theorist. It may interest you to learn that “conspiracy theorist” was coined and popularized by the CIA via its Operation Mockingbird agents in the media to demonize those who questioned the official narrative concerning the Kennedy assassination.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Aah. Never knew that Shotta. But I despise the term because it is clearly meant to quell dissent and discourage others from engaging with what is supposedly an unhinged individual.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Related note, Shotta
I used to often use function on premier league website which allowed you to look at individual ref history- games each year, stretching aback a number of years.
Was very handy for spotting quirks and oddities like a ref doing a lot of games for one club, or missing long stretches- Marriner went nearly two years without a Utd game after having the temerity to send one of theirs off and displease Lord F*; Atkinson had something similar with them at one stage I think.
(*fuck knows what would happen if a guy had given pens in 5 out of 6/7 games against him, like Oliver did with us this year, but I guess that was unlikely to happen because they are much cleaner defenders than us.)
With us, I liked to see what would happen to a ref who had supposedly made an error in our favour. That was often punished with a spell in the cooler while things against us never were.
Best one was taking Lee Mason out for an unusually long spell- month I think- after his failure to double yellow Coquelin for very little (media made a big deal of it after he was not punished for two very light fouls, which opposition tried making a lot of, when on a booking).
Hard to dispute those enforced demotions or no action at all are not punishment and in this case a warning, so imagine my surprise when his first game back was in charge of us again. In a world where they are clean as a whistle that would have to go down as an alarmingly stupid decision given the pressure it would put on that ref in one direction only (any suggestion of favouring us on a big call, and…)
Anyway, they did away with that feature a year or two back on the website. Guess the admin on it – bout an hour or two a week?- was too much or it was deemed a pointless feature.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey Rich:
Got last copy of Halsey’s book on Amazon as well as Poll’s.
Cheers!
PS: Any time as Shard. As you are aware I do most of my truth-telling on Twitter. PA is a football blog.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I was grateful Conte didn’t start William in the 2017 cup final, he started this May?
Slightly less impressive on the eye IMO then the silky smooth Douglas Costa but always a consistent performer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Regarding the rumoured CM singing.
The twatterati and the blaggers are funny are they not. From watching the player for a few minutes safe to say he’s most similar to Coquelin of recent players in style of play.
We discussed the sale of Coquelin this season and how it made no sense in the context of the last season but as the season progressed and the massive turnover of the squad became apparent it is safe to say the club have and indeed the people at the club who were there last season and now , this is their plan.
Further underlined by the manager’s inference in his opening press conference that he was going to let JW to bring in a non-attacking CM. And to re-clarify in case anyone gets confused without the aid of quotes my concern with that call is the squad will need cover for Ramsey and Ozil especially during the group stage and Xmas crunch. If JW didn’t want a similar role to last season then the opportunity will be there for some younger players, such as Iwobi etc.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Brazilian coach running to celebrate with his team by the corner flag was a definite highlight for me!
I see he’s still persisting with a more attacking line up then the Experts were projecting before the tournament. Ah well, what’s do these leading coaches know about the game?
One or two blaggers are in for a little bit dissapointment when they realise the new Arsenal coach described himself as an ambitious student of the outgoing gaffer.
The relationship both coaches had with Jose Reyes provides one link.
Where others appear to be in denial of objective observations the new gaffer will be have been briefed on the influence of the Neville Nevilles in the league, and with the broadcasters, and even the national team. Not Ashley Cole the only world class full back from England in recent times but the likes of Phil Neville who just polled 5/10 in a bbc survey on commentators – he got pulled off the radio and forced onto the telly as a reward for an older poll, the mind boggles, how does he do it I’m genuinely curious! And so will UE be.
In case you can’t tell:
I support the Arsenal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
< A.Cole could be mute but he'd still make a better plundit!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sokratis!!!!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Greek international Sokratis Papastathopoulos has joined us on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.
The 30-year-old arrives from Borussia Dortmund, where he won two Bundesliga titles and one German Cup. The hugely-experienced defender lists Werder Bremen, AC Milan, Genoa and AEK Athens among his previous clubs.
Sokratis, who will wear the No 5 shirt for us, also has vast experience on the international stage, making 79 appearances for Greece.
This deal is subject to the completion of regulatory processes.
Copyright 2018 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know nothing about the new CB except that he’s scored against the Arsenal!
LikeLiked by 1 person
But finally a welcome replacement for Gabriel. Heh.
–
This is a good commentator (not plundit)
http://youtu.be/tGx-0DHMmQY
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey Fins; I know you made a comment on this already, but as I watched Isco trying to open up the Russians I concluded he doesn’t have a patch on the little magician, the maestro, Santi Cazorla. At least not yet. But who does?
As for Spain, all I can say is Hierro is no Wenger. Arsene would have chosen the same side but he would never be so cautious. He would use the passing as a base to attack the two blocks of four with slick one-twos centered around Diego Costa ( make that Giroud). If that didn’t work, on the 70 minute mark, Big Weng would go to the equivalent of Welbeck (not Aspas) and pound the door down with his big man coming from the flanks. We have played with similar tactics vs Barcelona with a team inferior in quality and while we lost most, we won a few. Big Weng would go for it, not risk going to penalties. Lesson #1 from the school of Arsene Wenger: You don’t win matches playing it safe. Spain proves it; they are back home.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Might be mistaken about his goal against Arsenal.
Aubamayang and Miki both scored for Dortmund against Arsenal
LikeLiked by 1 person
LikeLiked by 2 people
Welcome Sokratis.
Hope he makes a statement of great wisdom, insight and humility to the supporters in his first press conference, it would be somehow appropriate
LikeLiked by 2 people
What a shame for Japan. They played ever so well. Every player showed for the ball.
LikeLiked by 4 people
The heights football can reach when both teams want to play!
I understand the reason for bus parking and negative tactics- they are obvious, and much more defensible the less resources you have or the greater your opponents have- but, near the extreme end, it can never be beautiful : tense, dramatic, even euphoric if the result goes as you want; clever, wise, sensible, pragmatic,too, if the result goes your way and sometimes even without that, but not beautiful.
Japan in one sense were actually being pragmatic- in using their best attributes, not sitting back which would surely be unwise for them against those opponents and with their big height disadvantage- but that takes nothing away from the fact they played bold, clever, intricate and thrilling football, when the vast majority of football teams will now take the opposite approach against a team with clearly superior firepower/ resources.
Should be noted just how much of a long game* it is for a team to have the option of playing as the Japanese did. They could only do so because of the type of players they have- clever, technical, mobile footballers throughout the team- which I’m pretty sure reflects very directly the type of football played in Japan and the football culture there.
In a way, that’s discouraging, as i’d like to see more of it, when for me there’s been a very strong trend in recent years for the direct opposite, safety first approach, though some countries like the South Americans combine this with high technical ability (and the filth which the Japanese don’t go in for).
Oh well. Another four years. I hope they continue with their way and am real sorry it didn’t yield them a historic victory today. They left more of a mark than plenty of nations who have got past the last 16 stage.
*Over the long game, I do not believe bus-parking offers anything more than a slight advantage, pound-for-pound, over more attractive, bolder football. But only over the long game. It requires a long-term commitment.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sokratis Papastathopoulos welcome to the Arsenal you are now a “pyrovolitis” a Gunner!
(Pyrovolitis pronounced piro-vol-it-is, “pyro” and “voli” are Greek for “fire” and “missile”, so now you know!).
Modern Greek surnames can reveal much.
1) the “opoulos” ending is/was mostly associated with people from the Peloponnese (southern Greece). Indeed, Sokratis is from Kalamata. “Opoulos” also means “son of” , likewise “opoulou” would be “daughter of”
2) Papa implies son or daughter of a priest.
3) Statho is derived from the name Stathis the diminutive of Eustathios (Eustace in English).
So, Sokratis has an ancestor who was a priest named Eustace!
Here ends the sermon…
LikeLiked by 3 people
we have signed 3 players so far this summer, Leno, Lichtsteiner and Sokratis, all 3 are players Arsenal have been linked to for several years, so not sure if diamond eyes Mislintat has been reading Steve Rowleys old diary or if maybe less has changed than some would have us believe.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Eduardo. The main change we have now, wenger is no longer in place to dither, meddle and ultimately pull the plug on transfers, or so some would have us believe
LikeLiked by 2 people
Deion Sanders
Verified account @DeionSanders
All athletes please understand this is a business 1st. Nothing comes b4 the business part of professional sports. You can be a fan favorite,a team captain,a blessing to the community and a darn good player but please remember its business 1st. #Truth
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s like listening to how great the economy and everything is since Brexit
LikeLiked by 2 people
so the Sweden players are saying they have a plan to get Xhaka sent off in today’s game, I hope the Ref has been made aware of this and stamps down hard on the swedes
LikeLiked by 1 person
not sure what I think of the new Arsenal kit, I think I seen it somewhere before
LikeLiked by 2 people
Georgaki-pyrovolitis
I was hoping you would give a breakdown on Dino’s name
as a follow-up lesson
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m right in thinking if England and Switzerland each win they meet each other, aren’t I?
Got an English gran and me ma was born there as well, and normally support England in tournaments, but oh the idea of a Xhaka masterclass appeals to me if they meet (sorry, folks)
Imagine the build-up in the press if they meet, and now they can have a go at (crazy) Lichtsteiner,too.
On that note, it’s going to be mighty interesting to see how media and pundits talk about Liverpool’s new boy Keita. He has a worse disciplinary record than Xhaka, with a penchant for wild straight reds, whereas Xhaka was all about double yellows before he met pgmol. Will it be talked about constantly?
LikeLiked by 3 people
Ed, the list is pretty big of players we’ve been linked with repeatedly over years, but I get what you mean.
Certainly interesting that 3 ex-Dortmund players, two direct from there, have come in early in Sven’s reign, plus another from Germany, but I’m not reading much into that other than Sven knows them well and his contacts/past relationships surely came in handy.
Definitely like the early look of his one diamond eye-ish lesser known capture Mavropanos. Feel we need a few from that range (young and not chased by cash giants yet) to come off big time if we are to enjoy huge success.
Wenger said often that there are no unknowns for anyone these days, so we can expect all clubs are aware of players like Kante before Leicester move, Torreira pre world cup, Lozano before PSV move, etc, so it feels like task if one of choosing the right ones among that large group of up-and-comers early enough and getting there before someone else makes their move.
I really liked what I saw in couple of games of the Swiss centre back Manuel Akanji, stood out same way, surely destined for bigger things, as Manolas did while at Olympiakos, but Dortmund swooped in January.
I’m happy with the experienced guys brought in and, maybe greedily, hoping that is now supplemented with a couple from the younger age range.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Jeez. Neville and his alternate reality a bit much for me then.
Same guy who, with his brother, was allowed to kick us brutally and who in general used fouls as one of his primary assets as a player sneers at Xhaka’s merited booking for a shirt pull.
Maybe his brain is adapted to the reality that clear yellow card tackles against us did not constitute indiscipline because he knew ref would not do his basic job properly in those games. Who knows.
Anyway, he and that other great, Jenas, stuck the boot in mercilessly, for the crime of losing out three times as players ran past him (not a strength but not terrible in that area either), for a couple of things not coming off or being blocked, and for ‘thinking he had a decent game because of a couple of sideways passes’- totally wrong because, as always, he was the main player for the Swiss in making progressive passes, and while it wasn’t his best day for it, he still made some decent ones and was in no way deficient.
The usual trick, following from commentary, of saying zero for any positive action from Xhaka yet commenting every single time he makes the smallest mistake or misstep. Confirmation bias galore or just sheer c***iness
Neville called Xhaka a ‘fake’ player. Oh boy. Guess you and old Jenas know a lot better than Ottar Hitzfeld ey, Phil.
Very much doubt there would have been any mention whatsoever of Xhaka post match were he not an Arsenal player.
I really needed to see Xhaka take on that English midfield, but it was not to be.
I guess I’ll just switch to desiring to see him excel in a successful team for us, like he did in the cup final when fantastic against Chelsea and like he has on plenty of other days.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Xhaka wears number 10 for Switzerland. They look to him every time they need creativity. He’s a deep lying playmaker, not a DM. Yes he has defensive flaws. He’s worth his place in the team despite that.
Two more celebrated players in the Swiss side are Shaqiri and Rodriguez, both of whom were really poor today with their efforts in attack. I am sure there is no word about that in the English media.
Shaqiri in fact gets a lot of positive press because he scores the occasional golazo. He’s a poor man’s Alexis in that he’s not a team player at all. (And then he feels the need to say how much better he is than his club teammates. Though since it’s Stoke he’s probably correct) Some rumours that Liverpool will sign Shaqiri since the Fekir thing didn’t happen. He’ll become a great player overnight if that happens.
LikeLiked by 3 people
absolute disgrace by Neville, not one other player in the entire tournament has been called a “fake” by any of the pundits, but as Xhaka plays for Arsenal, the BBC see nothing wrong in allowing one of their main guys say it, and the rest of their panel snigger about it like stupid little kids. People asked would the narrative from the media change towards Arsenal once Wenger left, well I would suggest that they have no intention of changing, and this “fake” analysis today, says to me that they view I have held all along, – that the media stance on AFC is far deeper ingrained in them than any distaste of Arsene Wenger – and will continue unabated, as long as AFC as a club keep allowing it, journos left right and center need to be banned from all AFC press calls etc. For once, follow the example of Sir Alex, take no shit from them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
shard did you hear the panel say Kante is a deep lying play maker
LikeLiked by 2 people
ed
I thought it was very interesting that Unai Emery named ‘the media’ as one of the 4 legs of the metaphorical table that is Arsenal. I can’t exactly place why else, but it seems to me he knows what is up and wants the club to be more proactive. I think he mentioned something along those lines in his first press conference but I can’t remember what.
LikeLiked by 2 people
ed
I usually switch off the TV between games. Although I probably have better pundits on TV here than you do. Except David James who was so disappointed that Russia won that he was saying how poor they are technically and how boring a game it was. Some of these guys are dead inside (or just pre-programmed?)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Arsenal confirm that Mesut Ozil has changed his number from no.11 to no.10
LikeLiked by 3 people
Chambers new 4 year contract confirmed by Arsenal, his second new contract in a year. Wenger’s pet.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Columbia are rather ropey….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tunisia match was the perfect preparation for this match
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel no excitment in this match
It has been quite boring
LikeLiked by 1 person
xhaka, lichtsteiner and ospina should all now play some part in preseason
LikeLiked by 1 person