This week I have written about left footed centre backs and their rising influence in football for a piece of coursework which you can find by clicking here. It is not fully optimised for mobile yet so desktop viewing is advised.
In place of the usual weekly article, I just wanted to ramble about the situation revolving around the Super League and Arsenal this week.
Amid reports of a European Super League, Arsenal released a statement on Sunday night declaring themselves a founding member of the breakaway competition. The other members were: Manchester City, Manchester Untied, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan.
It came in the wake of the financial stress placed on clubs during the pandemic and the ever increasing wage bills over recent years, resulting in many of the big clubs recording financial losses. Furthermore, it comes in the wake of a decade which included on pitch struggles for many of these clubs.
What these clubs wanted to achieve was an exclusive European competition in place of the UEFA Champions League which would provide huge financial upside for these clubs and guarantee their participation rather than having a merit based system.
First of all, to go through the pandemic which has caused so much damage to people's lives and to football, and then to go and pump in billions of dollars to form a breakaway group is immoral. The owners of each of the founding member's clubs are all billionaires who simply wanted a greater payout.
It has been horrible to watch as an Arsenal fan, seeing 55 people made redundant last summer, the club taking out a government loan all because of the hardship of the pandemic, despite having an owner who could easily take care of the financial issues just like that. And yet that same owner who has sat by and watched, has the cheek to go and sell out football just so he can line his pockets even more. Joining the Super League is the first action Stan Kroenke has taken involving Arsenal throughout the pandemic.
Football is a business, and these owners do very well out of it. But the blatant disregard for everyone who is struggling leaves a sour taste.
Then there is the competition aspect. Anyone who has watched Arsenal the past few years knows deep down that we do not deserve Champions League football, and even based on the performances in the first half this season I do not think we deserve Europa League football. There is no world we deserve to be placed in a competition with the best teams in Europe.
The whole excitement of football is meritocracy. Arsenal won the FA Cup last season because we were better than Manchester City and Chelsea. The feeling of winning under a young manager with exciting players was incredible because we earned that trophy.
The appointment of Mikel Arteta was made primarily with an eye to the future. He is a young intelligent manager who has the potential to turn around Arsenal's fortunes and turn us back into an established Champions League team. He has created a team with the likes of Leno, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Saka, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, a team which is exciting, a team which has promise. A team which, with he right additions, could make a challenge for the top 4 as soon as next season.
If Arsenal were to make the top 4 next season (and even that is hopeful), the club will have gone 5 years without Champions League football. The amount of hope and excitement I have for Bukayo Saka to star against Bayern Munich in a Champions League game is immense and it would be so amazing because he will have been the player who has dragged us to that point in the first place.
Taking a step back from Arsenal, the current table sees Leicester sitting in 3rd and West Ham sitting in 5th. These clubs thoroughly deserve the chance to play European football next season. They have made good signings, been coached well, and have build up to this point. All for 12 clubs to decide they should not even get a chance. As a fan of competition it is just wrong.
Fortunately, Arsenal caved to the widespread pressure of football fans on Tuesday night and withdrew from the Super League.
However, this action will not be forgiven. The fact we even considered joining makes me sick. I can only wonder what Arsene Wenger must have thought when he saw the news.
The saddest part about the situation is that the men responsible will go unpunished. They will continue to go on, looking for the next opportunity to line their pockets - and that includes likely threatening to create a Super League again in the near future.
The only hope for now is that the Premier League takes action and alters the rules to balance the playing field. We cannot allow 6 men to hold this much power.
Sadly for Arsenal, Stan Kroenke will not sell and will continue to do the same things he has been doing for the past few years.
In terms of football for the upcoming week, Arsenal play Everton in the Premier League on Friday at 8:00pm and Villareal away in the Europa League Semi Final on Thursday at 8:00pm. It is difficult to know where we stand with these games given the last week. I am of the opinions these owners need to be punished and the most likely way of doing that is through their clubs, whether that means points deductions or disqualification from European Competition. It is also difficult to know what Arteta and the players think and how this will affect their end of season plans.
Predictions:
Arsenal 1 - 1 Everton
Villarreal 2 - 1 Arsenal
Adam Perry - 23/04/2021
