Arsenal Schadenfreude Festival in full swing as Gunners hint at England future
The Champions League final fallout inevitably dominates your Sunday Mailbox despite the best efforts of one Liverpool fan to, in an uncharacteristic move, get in there and make it all about them.
We’ve got all sorts in here. Proud Arsenal fans, distressed Arsenal fans, neutrals p*ssing themselves. All sorts.
Let the Schadenfreude Festival commence.
And get your own views on any of it in to theeditor@football365.com…
Arsenal = England
Arsenal’s underwhelming performance in the CL final denied England a clean sweep of European trophies this season but at least it will prepare fans for how England will limp out of the World Cup as soon as they come against a half decent team (or a very average one that knows how to keep possession) in the knockout stages:
1) Score early goal (On purpose, makes eventual loss more crushing for naive funs)
2) Seemingly forget more goals = win game (Math is for teachers pets)
3) Opposition equalizes (Why would they do this to us? They must be working for Putin!)
4) Don’t have another shot on target (don’t want to stress the opposition goalkeeper with such things, it could result in a non-crime hate incident)
5) Have barely any possession (possession is for fruity European types)
6) Never even look like scoring again (A tactic the opposition will never see coming)
7) Run around a lot (Work rate is better than goals right?)
8) Run around even more (The ball might accidentally hit us and end up in the net)
9) Lose on penalties (Only Kane scores)
10) *Insert typical England excuses* (From: tired after long PL season, blame racism, no winter break like those Europeans have, players not used to the heat, Donald Trump, not having an English manager, blame racism again)
60 years of hurt and I have stopped dreaming *sighs*
William, Leicester
Travesty averted
Thank God for that.
If Arsenal had won the Champions League playing that kind of football it would have been a travesty. And really bad for the game.
They’re the champions of the best league in the world, yet had 24 per cent possession in the biggest game in club football. They didn’t try to attack, happy instead to defend an early lead. If they had somehow succeeded, despite barely having a sniff of goal, other times might have been encouraged to set up in the same way, and football as a spectacle would be far worse for it.
Arsenal have found a way to win games efficiently, and have won the league as a result. But it’s horrible on the eye, and the thought of others imitating their blueprint makes me shudder.
They’ve spent a fortune, and its been enough to win them the Premier League, but thankfully the team that play proper football won the biggest trophy.
Rob Pearse
Bring back shame
Well that was a victory for football fans everywhere. 25 per cent possession ffs. £1 billion spent and from the first minute Arteta trying to win like a league one outfit drawn away against a premier league juggernaut in the FA cup. Just dreadful. Arsenal fans have lost the right to complain about teams employing the low block against them for a long, long time
The excitement from the crowd every time Arsenal got a corner was beyond depressing. How can Arsenal fans not feel embarrassed? There was zero moral courage in that performance. Just stealing a goal and 11 men behind the ball trying to hang on for dear life.
The much vaunted Declan Rice was completely anonymous. The forwards were woeful. If it had been in play the VAR that saved Arsenal’s league title would have chalked off the goal for Trossard’s handball.
Arsenal fans I know have tried to portray this shootout loss as some sort of moral victory against the oil states, but labouring under the delusion that Stan Kroenke and Arsenal are the little guys in the realm of European club football is more than a little sad.
Lack of CL cups notwithstanding, Arsenal are a footballing heavyweight. They should play like it, and just as importantly their fans should want them to too.
Robert Vard
A Schadenfreude Festival sounds really good, actually
So, the online “schadenfreude festival” has begun!
One predicted thing that never happened though was the Arsenal demolition. Weren’t PSG going to take Arsenal to the cleaners? Fine, the stats show that PSG controlled possession and had more shots on target than Arsenal. However, other than the equalising penalty did PSG have any clear cut chances? Ironically Arsenal was the only team to score from open play.
Many opposing fans are commenting on social media about how Arsenal were outclassed and were out of their depth and didn’t have the nerve to go for a second goal. That as far as I’m concerned is a naive or blinkered and biased view on the game. Why should Arsenal, after taking an early lead and having the best defensive record in the tournament playing the team with the best offensive record, open up and go on the charge?
After a cracking finish by Havertz they sat back to see what PSG could offer. They were impressive in nullifying PSG and made them look ordinary. As aforementioned did they produce much? Indeed, if it wasn’t for a clumsy challenge resulting in a penalty Arsenal looked relatively comfortable in seeing the game home. If Mosquera hadn’t made that challenge who’s to say Raya wouldn’t have stopped it as it wasn’t an easy chance as such. In fairness, I thought Mosquera to that point played well keeping one of the best wingers in the game at bay.
Going back to my comment about a festival rejoicing in Arsenal’s failure those people need to be reminded that Arsenal’s main objective this season was to win the league and anything extra would have been a bonus. To take the best team in Europe to the wire and only miss out narrowly on penalties (a lottery) is impressive. Ironically it’s the penalty taker line up that is my only real criticism/bemusement. Why was Gabriel so far up the list?
It’s still impressive that Arsenal are unbeaten in normal time and extra time in this season’s tournament. Congratulations PSG but they had to work hard to win the competition.
Chris, Croydon
And people say she’s just a pair of t*ts
In 2006 it felt like the end of an era. Tonight it felt like a stepping stone. Sure, we lost and I’m gutted but, as Dolly Parton said, “you don’t get a rainbow without a little rain”. I’ll be absolutely shocked if we don’t learn, improve, and triumph.
Phil.
The B word
Arsenal’s season still bottled in the end, not because Eze and Gabriel bottled their penalty, but Arteta’s side showing little attempt to winning the game.
It’s always disappointing to lose a final but the disappointment I felt this year was far less than in 2006, even as we only lost in the last kick of the game.
For Arsenal to go on and win more trophies and finally conquer Europe, the pendulum has to swing back to more attacking. Arteta knows this. The team has to be able and willing to match any team in the world attacking wise.
I’d even argue that the current team can do this 99% of the time but they only did 60% of the time all season. That’s down to Arteta’s approach, not his players’ ability.
After winning his first league title, he knows there’s no hiding any more. For more trophies means more attacking and goals. Build on the strong defence not sitting back on it.
Kia Nian
Singapore
READ NEXT: Arsenal not the only Champions League final losers – who was TNT’s coverage actually for?
Wash cycle
I have seen a lot of excited folks on the Internet machines giddy that “PSG saved football”. I get it, partially, Arsenal don’t play the most attractive, flowing football. And I know there are other things folks have a problem with. I get that.
But PSG saving football? The Qatari-state owned team that has spent more money than any team in the world on players. And not by a bit by a little but by bounds. The sportswashing team that allows a repressive regime credibility and a World Cup?
You can be happy that Arsenal lost, I don’t care. But let’s not pretend PSG is a shining example of the way football should be.
David
This Means More
If Arsenal held firm for one of their formulaic one-nil scrapes tonight, it still would’ve been the second biggest story of the weekend. It did look headed that way to be fair, but Paris out-uglied the ugliest in world football to arrive at two on the bounce.
No, the bigger story is of course Arne Slot’s thanks-but-vaarwel departure coming in what must be the longest ever club statement for a sacking. A heavy metal statement. This would’ve been the headline even had Arsenal finally snared a maiden Big Cup.
We have designs on a seventh; we’re a bigger club with bigger clout and bigger following, we inspire your gaffer, your anthem, your fans, your entire club ethos. These are the facts (said in Rafa’s voice) but I’ll stop talking about Arsenal because my thoughts are on my club and how we move forward.
Fella named Alex wrote a great letter in the last mailbox but football moves so quickly one news cycle can obsolete any well-fleshed theories or observations; Konate has since packed his bags and now Slot too. But in the main, Liverpool hierarchy would never commit three at the back as we’d need two additional wingbacks as cover and ultimately it’s a lot of furniture reconfigured for a pattern of rug nobody’s quite enamored with. Two seasons ago Ruben Amorim was swerved for precisely that reason, one can assume the same of Xabi Alonso, this. But I enjoyed Alex’s take and if I dusted off an old copy of FM or Winning XI or Pro Evo I’d have some fun trying out those ideas.
In a vacuum I’d argue Slot probably deserved another season but sometimes it’s not about the deserves, and never is football played in a vacuum. Unfortunately most of the issues were borne above Slot’s remit. He wasn’t great in his second year and his recalcitrance spelt his doom, but he was given a series of hospital passes and the fates did set him up for failure. Michael Edwards has dined out on the glory of his first stint with the club so much so he’s remained mostly bulletproof in all this, but questions must be asked of him and of Richard Hughes. They’ve acted with such hubris in last summer’s window that I cannot find confidence imagining what they might conjure this window, especially with each having a respective foot out the door.
If we had a time machine I’m pretty sure most Liverpool supporters would take Cherki over Wirtz, shift Gakpo and retain Luis Diaz, retain Quansah, retain Kelleher, add Semenyo, Guehi. We’re probably fine without Isak, Newcastle fans wouldn’t suddenly abhor us, and Isak’s cost alone is probably two or three quality backups.
Equally we could’ve bought three or four Cherkis with one Wirtz. **Digression, but this last bit reminds me of a certain family member who comes to LA and has us take her to Erewhon year after year for a Hailey Bieber strawberry smoothie, a £21 beverage that tastes like any other smoothie. But of course in family spirit we all have to get one and suddenly that’s £100 spent on incredibly average smoothies. I’m not tight but we could be getting actual groceries. And water is healthier. Instead we’ve got strawberry Florian Wirtz. Absolute hubris.
Anyway, it’s an odd time to be a Liverpool supporter and it’s times like these I’m glad we have a storied history, because it could be awhile before normal service resumes. We’ll still get a seventh in Europe and to 21 in the league of course, I’m sure of it. I’m just not too sure when, I’m not too sure the people in charge appoint the right people to take charge, and just a few too many question marks heading into the summer. Likely I’ll resurface in August predicting a mid-table finish for us. Yeah. Farewell Arne, we hardly knew ya.
Eric, Los Angeles CA (Was texting one of my mates during the penalty shootout and we both said Eze would miss, his pen-taking walkup face betrayed his nerves. And pens or no pens, the less said of Gabriel’s face the better.)