UNTOLD ARSENAL » 2009 » February » 22

100 years ago football was in total crisis, with games regularly ending 0-0, and 1-0 being a treat.  The football authorities responded (although rather belatedly) by changing the off side rule from needing 3 opponents to 2 in front of the attacker when the ball was kicked, and restricting handling by the goalkeeper to the penalty area (prior to this he could handle anywhere up to the half way line).

The difference between that crisis and the current problem is that no one has got a clue how to solve it, nor the wit or will to do anything.  The best that can be said of Sunderland is that sometimes they played with 10 behind the ball when Arsenal attacked, although mostly it was the now standard 11.

They also adopted that most appalling and shameful of tactics – the “Villa” (named of course after the club that initiated it this season).  When the opposition attacks and you get kicked, lie down and hold your head so the game gets stopped, and the attack broken up.  It was done so blatantly in the first half that serious questions must be asked of the ref – I’ll come back to that.

Their other tactic was rotational timewasting – which actually started in the 2nd minute – an all time record I think – when the keeper held onto the ball for about 15 seconds.   He also did the usual bit of taking more and more time to take each goalkick, and of course he wasn’t punished – another refereeing oddity.

Of course it is up to Arsenal to find a way to overcome the total negativity and manipulation of the rules – rotational fouling, rotational timewasting, and now head holding, along with 10 or 11 behind the ball, are all part of the game, and that’s what we get, match after match.

Obviously when Arshavin gets used to the style of play, when we have Cesc, Theo and Rosicky available, when Eduardo can play regularly up front, a lot if not all of our problems will melt away.

But the real tragedy of football is what has happened to the refs.   The programme yesterday reminded us that it is not just Italy that has corruption – the editor of the foreign news section did a piece on fixed French matches – and it raises the issue.   The ref should have taken action against the time wasting , not to mention the shirt pulling and general holding back.  It also looked to me from the upper tier near the half way line, that several decisions went very much the wrong way.

So was he just incompetent, or is he obeying some sort of EPL or FIFA rule (don’t book keepers for time wasting, and ignore the five second holding rule), or was the match fixed?   It seems quite preposterous to start suggesting EPL games are fixed – after all we are English, and we leave that sort of thing to the Italians and the French.  But I am seriously starting to wonder.   If yesterday’s game was not fixed, then we still have to answer the question why the timewasting and five second rule were ignored, and why nothing is being done about the head holding ploy, or the rotational tactics.

Arsenal had 14 shots on target yesterday to Sunderland’s 3 by my counting, but it wasn’t football as it should be played.  In real football both sides have a go at winning, and not just sit back and play for 0-0 with the hope of a break at the end.

Off the pitch, there were two things to notice.  The RedAction section got out their flags of St George again.  I don’t know how they think this makes our non-English team feel, but it clearly warms the hearts of UEFA and the FA with their plan to introduce rules that would stop us ever again signing young players like Cesc, Denilson, Vela, Merida, Bishcoff etc.

And I see that the papers are saying that Arsenal were booed off the pitch by their own fans.  I don’t think so.  Such booing as there was related to the fact that this is not football that is being played at the Ems.  Football needs two teams wanting to play, yesterday, once again, there was only one.

(c) Tony Attwood 2009