Abramovich, Russia, Gazprom and naughty Gunners celebrating

Will Ford

Chelsea fans need Roman Abramovich to make a Russia statement, while Arteta builds ‘something special’ at Arsenal. Keep your thoughts coming to theeditor@football365.com.

 

Something special at Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are beginning to build something special. The team seems more than the sum of it’s parts and are all pulling in the same direction. I can’t remember Arsenal’s last injury time winner!
Proud Croydon Gooner

 

Wow, what a game. I’m obviously pleased to see Arsenal win but I’m also feeling euphoric after watching a truly enthralling football match. Arsenal never gave up and despite some excellent defending from Wolves, found a way to get 3 points. Realistically the only players Arsenal had on the bench who could make an impact were Pepe and Nketiah and both of them made a difference. There really is no better feeling than seeing your manager acting decisively and having the players perform to get a result, with a last minute winner thrown in for good measure.

This will probably be Lacazette’s last season at the club. He most likely won’t go down as one of our best strikers ever but he has been brilliant since taking over as permanent captain. He’s more of an attacking midfielder than striker these days but his work rate hasn’t waned. It’s a shame that goal goes down as an OG but he should be proud of the way him and his team performed.
Andrew (sorry, I forgot I’m not allowed to celebrate)

Celebrating…
Apologies Wolves, in a weak moment earlier I did celebrate our victory.

I do apologise.
Joff, Barton Gooner

Arsenal v Wolves

You could be waiting a while…
I’ll try and keep this relatively short given the topic, I generally prefer this forum as a nice little piece of escapism from all the real problems in the world, but I want to share some thoughts with this community, as I have directly with my club.

I’m a lifelong Chelsea fan, but I will not attend or watch any games until I see a statement from the club and specifically Roman Abramovich on their position on what is happening in Ukraine. They are not getting the benefit of the doubt anymore.

Some will say politics has nothing to do with a football club, but as a person and organization of influence this is the opportunity for them to say something, or they are tainted by these hideous events in my eyes. That is whether the owner actively supported what has happened or simply chooses to remain silent for his own benefit.

There are a lot of reasons to say nothing for both the club and the ownership, and I fully expect them to continue posting articles about Marcus Alonso’s favorite athletes and other nonsense. I will be donating the money I planned to spend on games this year to organizations for refugee aid.
MB

UEFA, Russia and Gazprom
I am not a Russian citizen, or even a European citizen for that matter, but I have lived in Europe for over 30 years in both of the (Eastern – 15 years, and Western -15 years) blocks. So I think that my views are as neutral and unbiased as they come.

When I see the reaction of the footballing and political authorities to the happenings in Russia/Ukraine, it brings my mind back to the happenings in Serbia/Kosovo in the early ’90’s. Back then, the WEST was invested in breaking up Serbia disregarding “territorial integrity”, quite the opposite of how they are now adamant in maintaining Ukrainian integrity disregarding “minority wishes”.

It almost appears to me that the reality on the ground for the individuals at risk doesn’t actually matter, rather, we want to be on the side of the WINNER. Just like in Kosovo, truth doesn’t matter, only the probability of being on the winning side seems to matter most. Most people on this forum – and on most European/American fora – cannot tell the difference between a Russian and an Ukrainian! To them, it’s one and the same.

When the UK and its allies illegally invaded Iraq and Syria under (what was always known to be) false pretense, there was no outcry from the footballing world to boycott matches in the UK or ban it’s teams from the European or world cup arena! I do not remember an outcry from the IOC to boycott the Atlanta olympics as a breech of the olympic truce because NATO decided to unilaterally bomb Serbia……..civilians in Belgrade hospitals were killed by NATO bombs over a minority region of KOSOVO. We see an outcry about majority Russian regions in Ukraine!

Europe has been happy to utilise gas and oil from Russia, UEFA has delighted in being sponsored (above market rate) by Russian companies, yet they now want to pretend that they really ever cared about any region in the previous Soviet sphere. Let’s say it as it is – Ukraine only interests the west because it is a means of getting NATO troops and missiles to within 30 minutes of MOSCOW.

If European football had any interest in TRUTH or JUSTICE, why would ISRAEL be in the European qualifying group rather than in Asia?? Why would GAZPROM be the main sponsor for the Champions League?

Forgive me for being so cynical, but I think that we are all being collectively brainwashed and spoon fed to believe what the ELITE want us to believe. BUT, herein lies the biggest paradox. Local FA’s are always sanctioned by FIFA/UEFA if they let (governments) political powers influence the running of football in their jurisdiction regardless of how inept or corrupt the FA may be……but UEFA/FIFA are free to sanction any FA for the actions of politician regardless of the fact that the local FA has no jurisdiction on political matters. What is football playing at? Are we a law unto ourselves? Are we above any and every government? Oh yes, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini thought so too….and that’s how we ended up with a world cup in Russia and in Qatar! Riddle me that!!

Dear FA’s, UEFA, FIFA, football fans, whoever. Let’s just enjoy the beautiful game. If we consent to getting into bed with the devil, let’s not pretend to be surprised when we wake up with a sore behind and bloody sheets all around! Let’s have principles ALL the time, not just when we stand to gain.

I already bought (plane and hotel) tickets to St Petersburg for my 14 year old soccer mad daughter to attend the ECL final (regardless of participant). There’s no war there, what’s the big deal??
Drew (disgusted at the hypocrisy – LFC for #7) Dublin

It’s good to see that in light of the horrific actions undertaken by Putin with regards to invading Ukraine, that UEFA have taken the only logical step they could and removed hosting of the Champions League Final from St. Petersburg.

However, I can’t be the only one to have noticed that literally every CL game is plastered with sponsorship from Gazprom, a Russian state owned energy company.

Surely this agreement also needs to be fully reviewed and revoked as well? Otherwise Putin’s making money off games without needing to even host them and the whole move becomes entirely illusory??
Paul (Spurs), T.Wells

 

Short-term narratives
So Spurs are Spursy and Manchester United lurch from one crisis to the next with alarming regularity.  We get it.  But like the current war in Ukraine, there is an element of trying to project control over situations that are just what they are.  Instead of Conte losing all confidence in himself or Rangnick unable to get control of an undisciplined rabble or the West becoming a bunch of Chamberlains, maybe it’s just what it is and doesn’t need an explanation because we can’t control it anyway.  Spurs are forever a mid-table team, United are going to spend years in the wilderness, and Russia will always want a viable buffer against Europe.  You don’t need to say anything else, so don’t bother unless you are in a position to do something about it.  So that probably just means Levy, the United owners, and China.  It’s endlessly boring this short-termism going from one match or day to the next demanding entertainment to make our popcorn taste better instead of consuming news with an understanding that the world is shaped in centuries not clicks.  Conte, Football365, and the West need to stop trying to control everything with endless short-term narrative.  No amount of hard work or coaching or new players or sanctions is going to fix this rot.  So just stay on your social media pretending any of it matters while the real world moves on oblivious to your designs and pronouncements and tweets and weakness.  Just tweet “I’m sad” with a picture of your sad face about whatever it is and shut up.
Niall (the shutting up part is so hard), Bethany Beach

A Yank’s PK take
As a Yank and a relative newcomer to the game (LFC since Stevie vs. West Ham, 2006), I’ve always been curious about PKs.

It’s hard to say that the punishment always fits the crime. I don’t think the Reds were on the verge of scoring when Robertson’s cross hit Dallas’s arm. It seemed unintentional on his part, yet the result was a Salah spot kick and a 1–0 lead. Seems rather Draconian to me.

Also, when Mane was fouled in the box, why do Liverpool get to choose the taker? Would the consequence be fairer if the player fouled (Mane) or the player who launched the cross (Robertson) were required to take the kick?

I don’t think it would be less of a deterrent (still a likely score, whoever takes the chance), and it would shift the balance more towards skill in open play and away from who can best convince the ref to blow his whistle.

Anything that reduced the referees’ influence in the outcome seems desirable to me.

Clarification of misconceptions on my part most welcome.
John, Pelham NY (LFC)

 

Mailboxer of the Month
I have a humble suggestion that I’d like to see F365 pick out a Mailboxer of the Month.  If I were voting this month, I’d give it to Ed Quoththeraven this month for his interesting takes on all matters, including outside the big six.  His Palace passion sometimes obscures the fact that he gives a true fan’s take on the whole league.  Anyway, I just wanted to say he’s one of the many (but main) reasons the Mailbox is my first stop in the morning with a cup of coffee.  Less banter, more insights please.
Niall, Bethany Beach

 

Spurs’ spursy destiny
So Spurs have now had Mourinho, Pochettino, Nuno & Conte. All 4 of them are arguably excellent coaches who have always improved the teams they have managed. Two of them are serial winners! So the question remains…..are Spurs destined to always be Spursy? Because even the best of the best managers are unable to help.
Aman (They need a manager who has 100% oversight on all)

 

Owen the charisma vacuum
I for one am glad to see Michael Owen has been taken to task by Chris Sutton and to a lesser extent Rio Ferdinand. Why on earth is he disagreeing with Sutton about concussion protocol and potential temporary substitutes? It’s obvious that things need to change and his opposition amounted to whataboutery. It’s a serious issue and you are asking a man who demonstrably doesn’t have a brain to talk about brain injuries?

How Owen continues to be employed as a pundit really is beyond me. The man is terrible at analysing football and has absolutely zero charisma. He doesn’t even have the shock value of someone like Roy Keane, he’s just there. Where is Neville Southall when you need him.
Andrew (I’ve personally never forgiven him for saying he hates films)