Arsenal ‘criticised more’ than others as ‘identical pattern’ of pundit slams emerges

Arsenal are ‘criticised more than others’ but don’t mistake the fans’ defence of their team for arrogance. Also: Xabi Alonso is actually going to Bayern Munich.

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Arsenal defence mistaken for arrogance
At the risk of fuelling the fire on some pretty nonsensical Arsenal arguments isn’t there a simple pattern that just repeats itself here? It’s basically an identical pattern whether it’s leading media pundits or rival fans. Here goes:

1. Pundits or rival fans take a pop at Arsenal, this could be over celebrating, Raya over Ramsdale, no proper striker, Arteta, bottlers – take your pick. Most of these ‘takes’ are mostly ill thought through, not based on any reality or statistical analysis/fact and often most importantly are ridiculously biased in that Arsenal seem to be the only team called out for whatever it is we’re being criticised for.

2. Arsenal fans vehemently defend their team, pointing out to rank inconsistency and incorrectness of the criticism. Either citing other examples not called out or pointing out that actually we are quite a good football team and a manager who is doing a very good job. And yes, on occasion we will decide to rub peoples noses in it on how wrong they were about Arsenal – that’s par for the course for any fan and means nothing more than a bit of point scoring against rival fans.

3. If it was a pundit with the criticism they do one of the following: a) make out the criticism was a throw away comment and all they wanted was a rise from the fans b) make some self deprecating light hearted follow up keeping their bad take in the news but on their terms and claim Arsenal fans are obsessed at hating on them – some good old gas lighting. c) make sure they’ve covered all bases so they can be proven right no matter what. Gary Neville does this all the time “I picked Arsenal as title winners at the start of the season, not many did…..I still don’t think they have the emotion/maturity/No.9 and they’ll get found out/crumble” win/win, just bury your argument that was wrong and direct everyone to the opposite one which will be true.

If it’s rival fans, as we see on the circular arguments in the mailbox, then the Arsenal fans defence of their team is countered with arguments like ‘you think you’ve won the league already’, or ‘worst arrogant fanbase’, or ‘such misplaced optimism- you’ll bottle it again’

For the record, and whilst I don’t speak for all Arsenal fans I think I can summarise the general feeling here. Arsenal fans feel our team is generally criticised more than others considering what we’ve done, similarly we don’t think we get the credit others do, it’s not a big deal but we have the right (as does any fan) to point out the flaws and inconsistency in the criticism. When we argue against this we do not think we’re the best team in the league/europe, we don’t think we’re going to walk the league, we don’t think we’ve won it already, we don’t think Saka is the heir to Messi etc stop with the straw man arguments. Of course the larger the fanbase the more idiot fans there are and the more extreme and out of touch their views will be, but the majority of Arsenal fans (just like last season) don’t think we’ll win the lot, we’re fully aware we’re up against a City team who win titles in their sleep and a Liverpool team who have serious pedigree at 90+ points seasons. Don’t mistake the robust defence of the criticism as arrogance.
Rich, AFC (prepare the open top bus!)

James, every little thing is going to be alright
My youngest son was unexpectedly admitted to hospital on Friday with a bad infection meaning my wife and I both spent the weekend by his side with him hooked up to drips and oxygen masks etc.

Thankfully, he was discharged last night meaning he could spend his 3rd birthday today at home.

When we left the hospital, the chelsea score was 1-0. I got home just in time to witness us score two last minute goals to win.

It was quite fitting that the chelsea fans were singing “every little thing’s gonna be alright”.

A timely reminder, if ever it was needed, that in the grand scheme of things, football is insignificant compared to the things that really matter in life.

It’s just a game. It really doesn’t matter all that much. Sometimes, I think we all need a reminder of that.
James, Gravesend CFC

Alonso to Bayern
There’s a really weird assumption that Alonso is going to be the next Liverpool manager, especially now that Carlo has signed an extension at Real.

Has everyone forgotten that he also spent 3 years at Bayern? He’s just pulled their pants down and he looks like he’s about to beat them to the title for the first time in over a decade. Now if there’s one thing Bayern are known for, it’s hoovering up the best talent at other German teams, be it players or managers.

Given the resources on offer, not having to go up against the asterisk laden, Pep led behemoth that is Man City and succeeding a failed manager rather than one with a cu*t of personality around him, surely Bayern would be more tempting? I imagine Bavaria is a nicer place to live too, and still in the EU.

Bayern to crash out in the last 16 or the quarters and Tommy T to be given his marching orders, Alonso arrives in the summer a title winner.
Lewis, Busby Way

READ MORE: Who will replace Jurgen Klopp as next Liverpool manager? Xabi still odds-on

Roy, Chelsea were there for the taking
Well, that was fun, just not for Crystal Palace fans.

*Before the match, statistics were doing the rounds that Chelsea had won 12 consecutive games against Palace, and that Jordan Ayew had played against Chelsea 15 times for his three clubs, losing every single time. This didn’t stop Roy Hodgson naming Ayew to his starting XI, the only real surprise is that he didn’t try to claim the inevitable defeat was somehow predestined.

This is just another frustration of this season; there was a time when the Eagles were a team who bucked trends (good and bad) and bloodied the noses of the biggest clubs. Across Hodgson’s entire career, however, the pattern has always been that his sides beat the clubs below them and lose to those above them, and this had a bigger influence on the result.

*Speaking of Hodgson’s effects on the result, yet another goal was scored just a couple of minutes after he had finished speaking to his players. This just doesn’t happen to other managers the same way.

*Highlighting the duality of man, Sky Sports’ coverage had Jamie Carragher explaining why he thought fans were justified in their annoyance with the club, and Gary Neville explaining why they should trust in the man who appointed him an England coach. To address Carragher’s comments first, I thought he got to the heart of the matter when he said that fans want to feel that the club has ambition beyond simply staying where they are. He produced a long list of clubs that have qualified for Europe at least once, and what was notable was how many had done so through (relative) success in cup competitions, something Palace have too often sought to leave at the earliest opportunity.

Neville, meanwhile, suggested Hodgson had faced difficult moments many times in his career and come through them. Well, apart from at Watford a few years ago. It’s telling that a lot of the praise for Hodgson mentions his consistency over the long term and very little of it his abilities to get teams out of a hole (which he did when he arrived at Fulham). The trouble is, Hodgson doesn’t have very much long term left, he has fourteen games. Palace have 26 points, and since 2013-14 teams have survived with an average of 37.3 points, at an average gap between 17th and 18th of 3.6 points (ignoring the 11 point margin of 2020-21, this is down to 2.78 points). Based on this, they need at least 12 more points from their remaining fixtures.

On top of this, since returning to the Premier League, they have won between five and eight home games every year, though those numbers only once and six or seven every other season. This year, they have won three of their twelve home games (Wolves, Brentford, Sheffield United), and their remaining games at Selhurst Park are Burnley, Luton, Newcastle, Manchester City, West Ham, Manchester United and Aston Villa. This just isn’t a set of fixtures that you can look at and be confident of them reaching their home win quota, never mind earning the bulk of the points they need to ensure safety.

*The most annoying thing about last night, and it’s something that is entwined with the perception of Hodgson, is that this Chelsea team has been struggling for consistency and, unlike the Chelsea teams of a couple of years ago, always looks like they’re there for the taking. And yet, despite taking a lead into the half time break and restricting them to an xG of zero, Palace simply ended up providing their dysfunctional opponents with a much needed fillip. That makes 14 points Palace have dropped from winning positions. There are a number of reasons for this but few of them are the result of individual errors, they are mostly the result of decisions made either to do with tactics or personnel usage.
Ed Quoththeraven

VAR consistency
Reading the weekly piece on VAR decisions by Dale Johnson a remark really struck me: VAR is not there to make decisions consistent. This kind of blew my mind – surely that’s exactly what it is for, what we as fans want more than anything? No, the point of VAR is to avoid ‘clear and obvious’ errors we’re told. Small or less obvious errors are just part of the game. Okay, that sounds reasonable to me. Is that what is happening?

Every fan can pick their favourites, but I’ve seen my team have decisions overturned and made by VAR using as much as 5 minutes of time to analyse every angle, freeze-frame certain images, hell even go back in phases of play to search for issues. The very fact that these reviews take several minutes tells me one thing: there is nothing clear and obvious missed. So, the officials are lying about the use here.

Penalties are the easiest way to score a goal in football. An xG of about 0.8. And thus, in a low scoring game, penalties are absolutely crucial. So for penalties, we’ll get consistency right? Not the point of VAR. So we hear things like ‘well he’s clearly touched him, so the VAR won’t overrule the referee’. I’m sorry, but that’s frankly garbage. If VAR believes that a player has been fouled in such a way as to deserve an 80% chance of a goal, then surely that’s the kind of thing it’s there for?

The fact is that the way VAR is being used in the Premier League is fundamentally inconsistent from week to week, match to match and worse: within a match. The PGMOL needs to make up its mind. Is there a threshold above which VAR won’t intervene? Then it shouldn’t be sending off Jota after 20 replays, or ruling out goals because a player might have been active and offside if you squint, factor in the potential of an action and so forth. Or is VAR there for crucial decisions to be correct, like penalties and goals? So we rule out a goal after 5 minutes because in the buildup there may have been a foul, but we don’t overturn a penalty where a player clearly dived because there was the ‘slightest bit of contact’ and it doesn’t reach the threshold of clear and obvious? Which is it?

The answer, I suspect, is no one knows. So what’s the point, really? Is anything better now?
Ryan, Bermuda

Ange’s injury excuse
Not too sure where I read it but it was noted that not having an unavailable list of players is no longer an excuse for Ange – which is, in the literal sense, reasonable but there are additional points to be made; Bentancur missed close to a year of football, and due to further absences, was forced to play far more often than he really ought to have – and it’s shown. He’s nowhere close to the presence he was previously.

Maddison has hit the ground running but it’s worth noting his cramping up in the first two matches back highlighted just how integral he is, especially given Lo Celso is injured yet again (what a busted flush the bloke is), so has been thrust into way more action than would be hoped for after three months out.

Son and Bissouma have come back off of emotionally draining experiences, and Bissouma contracted malaria whilst away…we saw the impact on plenty of players post WC last season…

It’s great to have the squad looking back to full strength but to expect those returning players to be the standard they were pre-injury, is a little too simplistic.

Also, it can’t be a coincidence that so many teams have experienced crippling injury lists…
Dan Mallerman

Whatabout Villa’s injuries?
Dunno why, but I’m feeling a little childish. Villa fans are pretty quiet on F365 generally. At the start of the season when Villa were flying, our first-choice defence was Digne, Torres, Konsa, and Cash/Carlos. Villa haven’t had that defence available to them since the Arsenal game. Moreno and Digne are much of a muchness, so you could maybe say since the Brentford game after Arsenal. Mings and Buendia haven’t played all year. Ramsey has been in and out with injuries.

Spurs, Newcastle, Utd, Liverpool… fans have all got their mitigations in when necessary, (and justifiably btw). Just making sure the same is appreciated for Villa currently. Looks like Kamara will now be out for a good few months too. Torres in particular has been a huge miss. The rocky form has coincided entirely with his absence.

The Newcastle and Chelsea FA Cup performances were disappointing. The other draws/losses have had elements of bad luck about them. Or Villa have at least played well, even if only for a half. Just for Angry Mailbox Reader, Staffs; Villa would have beaten Utd comfortably if we’d taken our chances on Sunday. I guess what I’m saying is; it’s been a rough few months, but I’m confident Villa can get back on track.
Gary, AVFC 

Blue Card ‘power play’
No objections to the idea in principle, but I think we all know that commentators will refer to the 10 min period when one team has 11 players and one has 10 as a “power play” and then I will have to stop watching football forever.
Jeremy Aves

More on blue cards…
There are probably some good arguments against the use of sin bins in football but Calvino’s isn’t. It’s not really an argument, just a worst case scenario which I’m sure is exactly the same sort of point that would’ve been made, if we had had the F365 mailbox when red and yellow cards were introduced.

Certainly we already have the severest punishment in red cards and if refs choose to, they could use these to punish the types of offences we’re talking about. So Calvino’s scenario is already possible and has probably happened with inexperienced refs, particularly at a lower level. Refs won’t do this at the elite level though, they’d be hounded out of the game. Yellow cards are toothless for these things, as players will happily take a yellow to stop a promising attack. They might think twice if they have to go off the pitch for ten minutes. And if that scenario does happen then the players a complete melts. It’s their fault, not the rules.

The question is not “if blue cards get used what will happen if behaviour stays the same?” but “will blue cards change behaviours if they are used and what impact will THAT have on the game?”

The idea is that players don’t commit cynical fouls. This should promote more attacking football (although, would teams play on the front foot as much if they can’t tactically foul? Looking at you City and Liverpool). Players shouldn’t be showing dissent to referees as much as they do. This should promote respect across the football pyramid. Are either of those bad things?

Everyone likes simplicity, I know and heaven forbid we should add nuance to a game which is ultimately about kicking a ball into a net. But we’re talking about a different coloured card not another impenetrable change to the offside or handball rules.

Now, can anyone give a reasoned defence of the status quo?
Ash Metcalfe

I am not a strong believer in blue cards or the exact implementation of temporary dismissals/sin bins (despite the point I made in Monday’s Mailbox about this already being tried-and-tested in youth/amateur football). If people think the idea will have a negative impact on the professional game, by all means make sensible points explaining how/why. Tuesday’s Mailbox has several examples.

But please, for the love of God can we please stop making excuses for football players yelling at the referees when decisions are given against them? Calvino, there is no such thing as “he rightfully protests”. It doesn’t matter whether the referee is right or wrong. If Casemiro gets a foul called against him after 5 minutes, he should learn to not yell at the referee in response. If Dalot isn’t happy with the Casemiro decision, he also shouldn’t yell at the referee in response. If Dalot isn’t happy with being booked for dissent, HE SHOULDN’T RESPOND WITH MORE DISSENT. When you get pulled over by the police despite doing nothing wrong, do you yell at the officer? When an airport security agent takes your bag for an enhanced screening process, despite your bag having nothing suspicious in it, do you tell them to f**k off? When a steward at an amusement park asks you to wait your turn, when you see a free seat on the roller coaster, do you ignore them and call them a t*ss*r (do I need asterisks for this? shrug)? How is this behavior perceived as acceptable for footballers, and unacceptable for literally everyone else? You can’t even say “it’s different because it’s sports” – because as we have established, other sports already have/enforce rules against yelling at the referees.

Yelling at the referee is not inherently part of football. It is a learned behavior. It can be un-learned. It should be unlearned. Again, I don’t have a strong view on whether this should be via yellow cards or temporary dismissals, there are pros/cons to either option. But acting like we can’t expect basic human decency from footballers towards match officials is utterly ridiculous.
Oliver Dziggel, Geneva Switzerland 
PS: Related tangent: if Player X on the opposing team yells at the referee and doesn’t get punished, while Player Y on your own team yells at the referee and gets punished, this is not “unfair” for Player Y. Fans complaining about the supposed injustice on the basis of inconsistency is embarrassingly childish. Player Y was wrong and therefore was rightly punished, end of story.

I just thought I would write in with my thoughts on blue cards. To make my position clear, I’m not a fan of VAR which I think has ruined the game and I feel blue cards, under the current proposals will make it even worse. I agree with the reasons for blue cards and that dissent and cynical fouls should be punished, but I don’t believe sin-bins are the way to go, for many of the reasons already stated (time-wasting, injuries etc). I would suggest that if blue cards are brought into the game, rather than 10 minutes in the sin-bin, if the referee feels a blue card is warranted then the player who is issued with that card automatically gets a one match suspension for the next game. Not as harsh as a red but more punishment than a yellow. Although overall I’m not sure blue cards are needed, I think this could be less chaotic than the current proposal.

Also, can I just assure everyone that not all Arsenal fans are exactly the same and act in exactly the same way, which seems to be the general feeling in the mailbox. I agree with some of the Arsenal contributors and disagree with others. I also really enjoy reading the mails of fans of other clubs, particularly those who are clearly as mad as a box of frogs (Barry Fox…are you still out there?). However, to those who think we all over celebrate every win, can I just assure you that I can’t remember the last time I celebrated an Arsenal win because no matter how well we played or how significant it might have felt, I know Stewie Griffin will be waiting to tell me just how awful Arsenal truly are, how Mikel Arteta is the worst manager since David Brent and how we will never win anything again. I don’t know why I bother.
Dave AFC

Blue cards should replace red cards. Football is a game that should, in my humble opinion, be always played 11 vs 11. There is rarely a time when a player deserves to be sent off for the whole match. Harsh tackle – go sit ten mins in the bin, complaining against ref – cool down 10 mins, last man denying a goal scoring oppty – a penalty and 10 mins in the bin.
We have seen so many games ruined by an early or unjustified red card. A blue would fit those occasions well. In fact, often the refs don’t give a red in the first half to avoid ruining big games. Instead, if they could give 10 mins in the bin, then they can still control the game while not destroying the spectacle.

I’ll go even one step further. We don’t need yellow cards either. What purpose do they serve except warning players that the next one is red. Bad tackle by a player – give a free kick or penalty. Extra bad tackle (e.g. threat of injury) – free kick/pen + 10 mins in the bin.

Just simplify the game and get rid of yellow and red. We only need a blue card.
Gaurav MUFC Amsterdam