Bastards Wanted
I’ll get out ahead of it and say I know things aren’t like they were 20 years ago. You can’t get away with quite as much retribution as you could in the true blood and thunder heyday of the Barclays. Gone are the days of setting the tone by kicking an opposing winger to paste because you think he’s a coward and won’t be able to take it. Even though that’s behind us, it’s still a physical game. Referees understand that tempers will flare and some shoving and choice words and very specific threats will often be made and there is room for that so long as no one goes and does anything truly criminal.
Being soft isn’t the only reason Arsenal lost Saturday. They have deep issues that will not be sorted out without some smart recruitment under very difficult circumstances this summer, but what they need in addition to the obvious “better players” is some teeth.
Neal Maupay faced zero consequences for shoving Bernd Leno and taking him out of this game, this season, and likely some of next. Not from referee Martin Atkinson, which from an Arsenal point of view is to be expected, but not from any Arsenal players, either. There’s ten of them out there who watched their teammate and Arsenal’s player of the season get needlessly injured and what did they do about it?
There’s a lot more cameras than there used to be. You can’t be as sneaky as you could a long time ago because even if the referee doesn’t see it, VAR will. What you can do is recognize the referee’s leniency and make someone’s day absolute hell.
If the referee isn’t punishing a shove on a defenseless goalkeeper who has already caught the ball, what else won’t be punished? Certainly none of the eight(8) fouls committed by Brighton’s Yves Bissouma. That’s the most fouls committed by any player in the Premier League this season without a yellow card and still Arsenal players just moaned instead of hitting back.
Maupay should have been hit any time he came near an Arsenal player. You can’t break his legs, but you can leave an elbow in. You can rake his shins with your studs. You can do every single thing that you know won’t get you a red card because you have to respond to his violence in kind. If he’d been stepped on for 45 minutes would he have the energy and drive to score a 94th minute winner? Could be. It would have been a better strategy than nothing, especially considering defending didn’t seem to be a consideration.
At full time Matteo Guendouzi took Maupay by the throat but it was a little late at that point. You can’t restore any pride after the whistle. In his post-match interview Maupay said the Arsenal players did a lot of talking and in the end they got what they deserved and he’s right. As with every other aspect of your life, what good are your words if they aren’t backed up with action? Unlike the rest of your life, you can hit someone that has wronged you on the pitch. Take that opportunity.
This approach will lead to the occasional red card but ask Patrick Vieira if he wishes he hit more or less people. Look at what he’s won and ask if it was worth it. The referees will not make it stop. They hear what people say, too. They think Arsenal are soft because it’s true and this influences their decisions. It’s on the players to stand up for themselves.
Understandably there are people who want to do things the right way and won’t want this sort of negativity. You can look at Liverpool now and say they don’t need that to succeed, but you can’t bully Virgil van Dijk and Arsenal can’t afford him. The one thing Arsenal could do to improve overnight is find some courage. That’s free.
